Trip report - day 1 of 20 or something like that

[ImBeka]

Hi HO. So here I am starting my trip report for my 3 weeks in Florida. the first 3 days were spend driving to florida and spending time with my mother & father in law we had a nice time visiting and now are on to day 1 at WDW.

this trip, our players are:
Myself, DH, DS16 and DS8. Day one was arrival at Saratoga Springs. We have a studio this trip, because last year we got the 2 bdrm and brought friends so we are a bit shy on points. DH suggested that I figure out how to rent points because its a BIT smaller than we remembered (or could it be that the boys are BIGGER now and have more STUFF?!) from the last time we stayed at a studio.

So we check in on on Sunday 3/16. At check in, I was told I couldn't pay for my dining plan with cash. I thought that was a little weird. She said I had to give a credit card. Who doesn't take cash? *SIGH* - I did go back and ask later and a different person said I could pay in cash, they just couldn't take it NOW. I had to come back at the end of my trip. I STILL thought this was weird, because they HAVE my CC. What difference does it make if they take the cash now or later?

I picked up the owners locker I rented - I realized I hauled 2 boxes every year that could probably be left in Orlando. I brought a little wheeled hand truck (dolly) so I wouldn't have to carry it. Everything fit nicely into it. YEA!

We freshened up and set off to Magic Kingdom. I bought annual passes, which I have never done, but decided to, since I am bringing the boys back for Star Wars weekend this year. (SHHHHH, don't tell them) We got the passes at Customer Relations and had a short time before we needed to get on the boat to Ft Wilderness for HooptyDo Review.

We went ahead into the MK and came in just in time to see the flag being taken down for the day by a guest (Vet). I actually cried. it was great.
I suggested that we just walk main street since we usually TEAR past it to get to rides. I made sure to point out details and DS16 took lots of pictures.
we walked up the right side and turned around at Walts statue with Mickey. we came back down the left side, and I happened to catch site of the easter bunny, so we had our family picture with Mr & Mrs. Easter Bunny. Almost no wait.

we exited the kingdom and hopped (no pun intended) the boat to Ft Wilderness. I have never been there from the water side. DS8 loves riding the boats. Saw River Country - seems such a waste?! Wish I had seen it in the days when it was running.

We had a bit of time before the review so we went to the General Store, then the playground, got sodas and just relaxed. At check in you get your photo taken and then you head in to the show.

Now. I am a simple gal and am easily amused, but I must say, if you've never been, you must take your family to HDR. At first when I told mine about it, they sort of look at me like I was nuts. Of course they are my family, and I _am_ nuts so I am used to this. But during and after they said - you did it again mom! They had a great time. We left happy and full.

Instead of taking the boat to the kingdom, they had busses back to our resort, which was really nice since we wouldn't have to transfer and it would be much faster.

Overall a great first day - 8768 steps on the pedometer.

 

[ImBeka]

Trip report day 2
Up early for Epcot. after sending DS16 to get fp for soarin, we got on Test track, then over to the seas for Nemo ride, turtle talk and a walk around the tanks. Hopped on soarin and then off to Canada. after watching the new OCanada show - cute and very beautiful, we ate at Lecellier. it was OK. Just OK. we can say we did it and be satisfied with not going back.
After that we slowly toured the countries, something we usually blow thru. then we hit innovations for almost 2 hours. actually the three boys hit it, I hit the chairs and cranked up my DIS podcast

after we went back to the hotel and swam. we ate at the artists palette and headed back to the room.

 

[patti2533]

I can't wait to hear more about your trip! I am so jealous... I miss SSR and I am counting the days until we return in late June (we are at 100 today! ). We also own DVC at SSR and love it!

 

[ImBeka]

trip report day 2 - part 2

interesting side note. it is spring break for many colleges and apparently one of them is next to us. at 2am several of them came back to the room - shouting like tarzan and yelling at the top of their lungs. Then came the techno music. I like to think I am not that old, but I HATE being woke up. I did give them about 20 minutes to settle in but when that didnt happen, I called the front desk. I don't know if they ever did anything because I fell asleep around 3 with the music still going.

Sure makes getting up early to get to the parks hard!

 

[ImBeka]

Day 3

Hollywood studios. I actually thought we were going to be late, but we got there for the rope drop. I have never seen the RUN but there it was - we were all headed for the tower of terror The boys rode TT while I got 4 fast passes for Rock&Roll RC. We then headed over to Star Tours, rode that, then saw the Jedi show. We went back to RRRC, got another fast pass for it, then rode it. After that we went to Muppet Vision 3-D, then Lunch at Sci Fi Dine in.

after lunch we went on the studio backlot tour, waited for the Lawn Grass and Shears band to play, then over to the Great movie ride. We used our fast passes for RRRC again and then called it a day - out by 2 and over to the pool.

We love getting out between 2-3 and spending the rest of the day at the pool!

side note:

Neighbors got in at 1:30 am and had a loud and lively discussion about urinating in public and the merits of not peeing on your friends. There were lots of 4 letter words peppered in there. Again, I gave them about 20 minutes to get settled in, but it just wouldn't stop. (one of them was apparently the one peed on, so he was "pissed off") I called to the front desk, but if they sent anybody, i do not know because about 10 minutes later they finally settled down.

Ahhhh youth.

 

[ImBeka]

Day 4

The Magic Kingdom

did you know that 7am is really early? I usually WAKE UP at 7am. the thought of BEING somewhere before then, especially on vacation is really really sick. SOOOOOO we were a "tad" late, arriving at the kingdom just before 8am. Still turned out fine. Got FP for Space mountain, then jumped on Buzz lightyear, then Stitch's Great Escape, (we hadnt been on it in a couple of years) Monsters Laugh Floor, and the Carousel of Progress, a quick trip on TTA, then onto Space Mountain.

We bolted Tomorrowland and sent DS 16 to Frontierland for FP for Big thunder Mountain. We stoped at Country Bear Jamboree because we hadn't been there for YEARS then got FP for Splash Mountain. Saw the new Haunted Mansion - nice changes. Then rode BTM followed by The hall of presidents (we were waiting for our reservations for lunch to come up) Lunch at the Liberty Tree Tavern - NICE will definetly go back there. *special effort by our server. (name forgotten, sorry) My son had asked for 2 days for a milk shake and I had told him I would find SOMEWHERE to get one. we were having this conversation because there were no milk shakes on the menu and I was explaining this. Our server overheard this and said - Vanilla? I said yes, she said not a problem. I had to smile. If you have read the book GOOD to GREAT, you know why. She came back with a vanilla milkshake even though it wasn't on the menu. This is a good server. a milkshake is MILK and ICE CREAM and almost every restaurant you go to has these on the menu but not necessarilly a milkshake. yet all you need is a blender......
After lunch, we did Splash Mountain, a quick parade, then the enchanted Tiki room. We would have done pirates and Jungle cruise, but both had waits over an hour, and I DONT wait more than 20 minutes, for anything.

off to the pool we go


Side note. Tonight the neighbors came in around 2am, shouting " USA USA USA!" now being as patriotic as the next gal, I had to see what this was about. I looked out the peephole and saw 2 of them with some sort of -I AM NOT KIDDING- helmets on that say USA on the side. as they are letting themselves into the room, they realize that one of their roommates has locked the door from the inside, and they cannot get in. So it begins. they start shouting his name and telling him to open the four letter words door. banging cussing and threats to send text messages with picture attachments to all his friends of something that happened the night before (!) if he doesn't open the door. I suspect he is passed out inside and cannot hear their threats. SO one of them tells the other to wait right here. He runs around the back of the building and starts to scale the building. (we are on the second floor) guy number one sits with his back against the door and starts CRYING (dude is drunk ya know) Guy number one gets in the balcony sliding glass door, and yells at his drunk (hes drunk too you know) roommate (guy #3) about what an SOB he is and then opens the front door, to which guy 2 falls backwards into the room.

after this things get quiet so I dont bother to call. BUT WAIT< roomate 4 comes home with 2 girls about an hour later and HE is locked out. no one answers the door. so HE scales the back of the building and lets everyone in. again, no loud noises (other than the banging and shouting that woke me) so I go back to sleep and all is well.

 

[ImBeka]

Day 5

Animal Kingdom.

we did not get up early!! It may have worked out for the best, because it was raining in the am. we got to AK about 9, and immediatly got FP for Expedition Everest. The boys rode Primevil whirl twice, then we did Pangani Forest exploration, stopped for a quick snack then got a second set of FP for EE before riding it. Then Tough to be a bug, a walk around the tree of life then on to lunch at flame tree bbq. Barely time to digest, we were back at EE. By then, the people were flooding in and we decided to go back to the POOL

We spent several hours a the rock pool, then early to bed

No noise from the neighbors so I got a good nights sleep!

 

[ImBeka]

Day 6

So sad, today we leave Saratoga. We slept in until 9 – MAN that was nice. Packed everything up and had the car ready to go. Then we headed over to Magic Kingdom. DH got Richard Petty Racing for Christmas, and transportation to the track is from MK. So we went to the park for lunch. I was thinking counter service, but DH LOVED the experience and the food at liberty tree so he wanted to go there. OF course I pooh poohed him because I always call 180 days in advance to get reservations at WDW and figured there was NO way we could just walk up and dine. HM. We got there at about 11:15 and I explained to the CM that I understood if she couldn’t get us in. She asked our name and handed me a pager. BEFORE I SAT DOWN it went off. So DH probably thinks I’m nuts to get up at 6:45 180 days in advance!

Our server was great and we picked her brain about why she chose to live in Orlando and work at wdw. It was great. Yah learn a lot by asking questions J

After lunch DH left for RP and DH 16 went for fast passes to Poohs adventure, which we have never seen. (passive aggressive behavior in defiance of the removal of toad?). DH8 and I went to Pirates, again we had seen it last year, but the wait wasn’t that long so we hopped on. After pirates we went to Tom Sawyers Island. The kids thought it was a bore, but agreed that the 3-6 year old set would love it. We had never been there before and I guess I blew it by waiting this long. We also talked about it would be a nice place for a picnic, or if your kids are having a meltdown from sensory overload. They can run and blow off some steam or you can sit in the shade and relax.

We went on pooh and all agreed it was cute, again, too young for my kids, but they enjoyed it just the same. Then we were on to philharmagic. After that, we grabbed a snack – somehow we had gone all week and only used 5 snack points. We decided to go back to the hotel and go swimming while waiting for DH to finish driving in circles.

DS8 swam and I finished using our snack credits at the artists point getting drinks and snacks for the road. DS16 got some last minute souvenirs, and both boys visited the arcade. DH finished his driving and made his way back to Saratoga. He had the neatest plague with pictures of his NASCAR adventure. Probably the highlight of his trip!


Off to MIL house until Saturday night…….

 

[ImBeka]

Day 7

Had dinner at in laws last night. Nothing like eating at your MIL to totally prove you can’t cook! LOL I would gain 20 lbs if I lived with her !! spent time with them until Saturday afternoon then I had to take DH and DS’s to the airport. They flew home and I settled into a Marriott brand hotel here in Orlando. I originally was going to go back to my MIL until Monday, but shes 1.5 hours from Orlando, and between gas and time, I just figured what the heck. So I am alone, reading O magazine and watching what _I_ want on tv. Very cool.

 

[loribell]

You are my hero! I would love to spend a week or two in Orlando alone doing what I want to do. Can't wait to read more.

 

[ImBeka]

Day 8

Ok, now you can’t tell anyone. For Easter Sunday, I booked spa services at Saratoga. My mother will be pleased when I tell her I went to EASTER SERVICES while I was at WDW. Kidding. After my spa experience (DO IT) I hopped a bus to Hollywood Studios where I went into EVERY shop and walked around. I saw a show, walked thru one mans dream and watched several character interactions. It was so nice not to be in a hurry. I then left Hollywood and boarded the boat to Epcot. Is it just me, or is the swan and dolphin an incredibly ugly building that does NOT fit in at ALL?! I walked thru all of Epcot, again, visiting every shop and taking pictures of all the things I wanted to buy. (Christmas list!) I caught some shows and acts, and ate at the Japanese pavilion. Finally I visited the flower and garden attractions and called it a night.

 

[ImBeka]

Day 9

I ate a quick breakfast and checked out of the Marriott. I drove over to All Star Movies and was able to check in early. I went against my better judgment and headed to the magic Kingdom. Of course it was packed, but I wasn’t riding rides so it didn’t affect me as much. I went into every shop I could find. I also got FP for Jungle Cruise because I don’t remember going on it ever. I saw the parade, and a show, as well as had my first dole whip (Yum) and turkey leg (uh… not sure…about that) I then headed back to Epcot, via the monorail. I got to be the co-pilot and sit in the front! I missed spaceship earth when the boys were here so I rode that, played with some of the interactive parts after and then made a trip into the art shop. (Different stuff from what’s at the one in the magic kingdom) all in all, a good day!