Up, down and all around...a trip we will NEVER forget - COMPLETE 1/19

[disneydusted]

Awww.... isn't it just the saddest thing ever to be walking your last walk around Disney and you see other vacationers arriving or planning their day or waiting for the bus to your favorite park? But you are going back!!! And a few days!!!
It is amazing how fast your kids grow... seems like I was just helping our ds walk and now he is 12 yrs old, 5'8" and wearing a size 12 shoe! It's all good!
Hey, did you know that you did send a dusting of snow our way yesterday? Our kids were so excited to see a bit of white on the ground when they got up! We were at 8 degrees this morning but warming up to 21 I think. I can't believe you had snow and ice IN your house!!! Here's hoping for 80's in Florida for you guys!

 

[kschafer]

I'm glad someone else around here can appreciate our pain in Iowa. They were listing on the news this morning the cities that in the last 36 hours have set a record for ALL-TIME low temp, yikes!!

SIGH Wilderness Lodge is SO beautiful!! I dream of staying there someday!

Sorry to see your trip come to an end but only 4 more days till your next trip

 

[SoonerGirl]

Oh my gosh - I love, love, love the pictures of Henry smiling ear to ear while you explored the WL! And the ones of you helping him walk across the bridge - just precious! Two big thumbs up to Joe for capturing that moment on film

I'm sorry your trip home started out badly, and it sounds like it's going to get worse

 

[thewesterberg]

Hey Brook - A friend just sent me this poem. I thought you'd appreciate it!

It's winter in Minnesota
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Minnesota

I'm frozen to the ground!

 

[princess&her4princes]

Hi Brook,
Can't believe your TR is over!! I hope you're doing another for your trip back 'home' in just a few days now?!! The pics of Henry holding your hand over the little bridge are just priceless and so are those moments, thanks for sharing with us!! You must be SO excited to get out of that cold weather to someplace a bit warmer about now!! It's been a long Winter here in MA, I can only imagine where you're at!! The boys need to get out and run sooo badly, Spring can't come soon enough!!

Safe travels in a few days! And looking forward to hearing all about it...hint, hint!!


PS- is it me or did all the "smilies" change today? I have new ones I've never knew I had before..lol!!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

I hope everything else works out getting home!

I love all the pictures of WL and Henry walking on the bridge!! they growup way too fast!!! He's just too cute!!

 

[TeaForTulips]

I just finished reading your TR! Henry is too cute! I cant wait to hear about the ending of your trip with the change in flights. Also, how exciting that you are about to leave again!
I look forward to reading more! You are def helping my Friday @ work along.

 

[DWFan4Life]

I'm new to this thread and I really enjoyed reading your review and watching pics. Looking forward for more reviews.

Have a nice day.

 

[girlfriend]

I just found your TR today and read it while at "work" I'm originally from MN too, am curious what your small town is? As well, I LOVE CARIBOU COFFEE and am spoiled that the company I work for has one right in it - dang!

 

[CJsMom]

The pictures of you and Henry on the bridge are precious and I'm wiping a few tears away myself (as I listen to my two "babies" arguing about who's going to play Star Wars Battlefront on the Playstation next). The time goes by SO fast! So sorry you had problems on the flight home - ugh -that's gotta be the worst.

 

[maxie]

Enjoying the TR!

 

[MeMom]

Great pictures of Wilderness Lodge! Henry is so cute as he walks (sort of) over the bridge.

We've not gotten over to the Villas yet. Maybe on the March trip. If not, then this summer for sure.

That's one short countdown you've got going there! I guess that makes it easier to handle all that snow and ice, knowing you're soon leaving it behind for palm trees and sunshine!

I like the idea of Disney having their own airline, CP!

 

[Camster0307]

Oh Brook - I'm feeling your pain of departure day. Lauren and I did the same thing - hung out in the WL lobby and took lots of pix. And also sat there and secretly hated every new family that was checking in!

And I can't believe you got around to making a new countdown calendar! My trip is still a month away and I haven't even thought about it!

BTW - if you're running low on the MickeyHeads and need some for your Dec.trip, just let me know. I'll get you some more. (what are the dates for your Dec. trip? I'm booked for 12/5-13th)

 

[A's Princess]

Just found your awesome TR - the kids are going to bed late tonight as I couldn't stop reading it!

Our first family trip to WDW we stayed at WL lodge too. Reading your TR brought back many happy memories - thanks!

Henry is adorable! I wish I had taken pics of DD as she tottered across the bridge.

 

[GreatBiscuit]

Just found your TR today and read it all. Loved it!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Awww.... isn't it just the saddest thing ever to be walking your last walk around Disney and you see other vacationers arriving or planning their day or waiting for the bus to your favorite park? But you are going back!!! And a few days!!!
It is amazing how fast your kids grow... seems like I was just helping our ds walk and now he is 12 yrs old, 5'8" and wearing a size 12 shoe! It's all good!
Hey, did you know that you did send a dusting of snow our way yesterday? Our kids were so excited to see a bit of white on the ground when they got up! We were at 8 degrees this morning but warming up to 21 I think. I can't believe you had snow and ice IN your house!!! Here's hoping for 80's in Florida for you guys!

It is the saddest thing to be walking around on your last day - but it usually is the conclusion of many, many fantastic memories. And for us DISers, it means the trip report is about to begin!

Today was my last day of work. Just the weekend and then MLK day, which we will spend packing and finishing all those last minute errands. Our trip is RIGHT AROUND THE CORNER!!

It is amazing how quickly kids grown. I cannot fathom Henry being 2 let alone 12...but I'm sure it will be here before I know it. He has even changed so much between our November trip and now...it's amazing.

Today I finally saw it above 0. It was like a heat wave around here! I'm so glad to hear you guys got snow, I threw a snowball in your direction - it made it all the way! Hopefully that warm balmy weather you are having didn't melt it all!

I'm glad someone else around here can appreciate our pain in Iowa. They were listing on the news this morning the cities that in the last 36 hours have set a record for ALL-TIME low temp, yikes!!

SIGH Wilderness Lodge is SO beautiful!! I dream of staying there someday!

Sorry to see your trip come to an end but only 4 more days till your next trip

This weather has been unreal!! I couldn't believe the -29 when I saw it, and kids have had school cancelled the past few days just because of how cold it is. Thankfully, its coming to an end.

The WL truly is a beautiful resort - stunning. I want to stay at the Villas sometime just to experience the warmth of it all again.

Oh my gosh - I love, love, love the pictures of Henry smiling ear to ear while you explored the WL! And the ones of you helping him walk across the bridge - just precious! Two big thumbs up to Joe for capturing that moment on film

I'm sorry your trip home started out badly, and it sounds like it's going to get worse

Thank you! I had just asked Joe to grab a few pictures of Henry's reaction to the fountain and he went all out! He has a great knack for capturing the moment.

The flight home was awful....more on that very soon!

Hey Brook - A friend just sent me this poem. I thought you'd appreciate it!

It's winter in Minnesota
And the gentle breezes blow
Seventy miles an hour
At thirty-five below.

Oh, how I love Minnesota
When the snow's up to your butt
You take a breath of winter
And your nose gets frozen shut.

Yes, the weather here is wonderful
So I guess I'll hang around
I could never leave Minnesota

I'm frozen to the ground!

I LOVE IT! And how true is that this year?!?!

Hi Brook,
Can't believe your TR is over!! I hope you're doing another for your trip back 'home' in just a few days now?!! The pics of Henry holding your hand over the little bridge are just priceless and so are those moments, thanks for sharing with us!!You must be SO excited to get out of that cold weather to someplace a bit warmer about now!! It's been a long Winter here in MA, I can only imagine where you're at!! The boys need to get out and run sooo badly, Spring can't come soon enough!!

Safe travels in a few days! And looking forward to hearing all about it...hint, hint!!


PS- is it me or did all the "smilies" change today? I have new ones I've never knew I had before..lol!!

Yep, in just FOUR days! And that's counting today, so according to my Fuzzy Disney Math Calculator, it's really only 3 days.

I am VERY excited to get out of this weather. It's supposed to be in the 60s this coming week down in Lake Buena Vista, but slowly get warmer into the next week. I am hoping they change it a bit to be in the 70s the entire time, or the 80s....but I might be dreamin'. Anything will be warmer though!

Hint noted. And yep! There will be a TR!

The smilies DID change! The DIS seems to do that every once in a while - not sure why, but it's kinda fun!

I hope everything else works out getting home!

I love all the pictures of WL and Henry walking on the bridge!! they growup way too fast!!! He's just too cute!!

Thanks!

Getting home was an adventure - that's all I say so far....

I just finished reading your TR! Henry is too cute! I cant wait to hear about the ending of your trip with the change in flights. Also, how exciting that you are about to leave again!
I look forward to reading more! You are def helping my Friday @ work along.

Hello and welcome!! I am glad I could help your day go a bit quicker! And glad to hear you have enjoyed the report.

I'm so excited to be leaving again! When I think about it I get all giddy!

I'm new to this thread and I really enjoyed reading your review and watching pics. Looking forward for more reviews.

Have a nice day.

Welcome!! So glad you have enjoyed it!!

I just found your TR today and read it while at "work" I'm originally from MN too, am curious what your small town is? As well, I LOVE CARIBOU COFFEE and am spoiled that the company I work for has one right in it - dang!

Welcome!! We live in Hutchinson, it's west of Minneapolis. I used to live in St Cloud, that's a bit more well known than Hutch. I am SO JEALOUS that you have a Caribou in your building! Oooooh my gosh, that would be so very dangerous. I would really have to have a Caribou budget.

The pictures of you and Henry on the bridge are precious and I'm wiping a few tears away myself (as I listen to my two "babies" arguing about who's going to play Star Wars Battlefront on the Playstation next). The time goes by SO fast! So sorry you had problems on the flight home - ugh -that's gotta be the worst.

I know it just flys by...before I know it Henry will be going to school! I'm trying to make it go slow and enjoy the moments, even the hard ones, and never ever rush him to grow up!

The flight home was an ordeal!

Enjoying the TR!

Thank you!

Great pictures of Wilderness Lodge! Henry is so cute as he walks (sort of) over the bridge.

We've not gotten over to the Villas yet. Maybe on the March trip. If not, then this summer for sure.

That's one short countdown you've got going there! I guess that makes it easier to handle all that snow and ice, knowing you're soon leaving it behind for palm trees and sunshine!

I like the idea of Disney having their own airline, CP!

Thanks! The Villas are really pretty - all cozy and warm inside, much like the regular lobby area, but smaller and a bit less ornate.

I love my countdown! I will like it even better when it's saying 1 day.

When I read the words "palm trees" from your post, it got me all excited again! There really is something awesome about palm trees, isn't there?

Oh Brook - I'm feeling your pain of departure day. Lauren and I did the same thing - hung out in the WL lobby and took lots of pix. And also sat there and secretly hated every new family that was checking in!

And I can't believe you got around to making a new countdown calendar! My trip is still a month away and I haven't even thought about it!

BTW - if you're running low on the MickeyHeads and need some for your Dec.trip, just let me know. I'll get you some more. (what are the dates for your Dec. trip? I'm booked for 12/5-13th)

Departure days are no fun! This coming trip we don't leave until early evening, so we will get to enjoy the day a bit more-maybe even get some park time in! We shall see....

The countodwn calendar-it's pretty pathetic! My lame attempt! Just 9 days total on it, hanging off the back of a legal pad. Not nearly the project I did last time. I figure for December I'll do something fun again.

Our December dates are December 8-15, so our paths will cross again! Where are you planning on staying? BCV again? We are booked for AKV, but might switch to somewhere else at 7 months - not sure yet.

Thanks for the offer on the Mickey heads - I might have to take you up on it again!

Just found your awesome TR - the kids are going to bed late tonight as I couldn't stop reading it!

Our first family trip to WDW we stayed at WL lodge too. Reading your TR brought back many happy memories - thanks!

Henry is adorable! I wish I had taken pics of DD as she tottered across the bridge.

Hello and welcome! Glad you have been enjoying the report!

Glad to bring back the memories from your first trip. We really loved the WL, it was such a special time!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Just found your TR today and read it all. Loved it!

Welcome! Thank you, glad you have enjoyed it.

 

[brookelizabeth]

Okay, hate is a strong word.

Strongly dislike.

Strongly.



We left off flying through the air - a nice smooth flight, Henry got a bit antsy, but it was expected. He eventually fell asleep for a short afternoon nap.

Then we landed, if I recall correctly, it was in Houston. We filed off the plane and found an attendant at the gate directing the passengers to their connections.

We gave her our destination.

She looked at us like we were crazy.

Uh-oh.

Then suddenly

She was informed about US. The ones who had to switch airlines to get back to Minneapolis. So she directed us on where to go. It went something like this.

"Continue down this hallway and keep following the signs for B (or some other letter). When you get to the end, keep going, then go some more, and when you think your feet might fall off because you walked halfway to China, you'll see a weird little room off to the left with an elevator. Take that down to a bus waiting for you. There might be a woman wearing no shoes on a golf cart waiting there too. Oh, and you will be the only actual passengers, everyone else will be an airline employee, but don't let that confuse you-it's your bus."

Ya, or not. She just told us to go to B (Or whatever letter). We had to figure the rest out.

It was an ordeal let me tell you! All with a baby and an absurd amount of carry on luggage. Trekking 28.259 miles.

So, we make it to the strange little room and the elevator that only went down one floor to the golf cart with the woman sitting on it wearing no shoes. We found she was our bus driver. She was waiting for us.

We pile onto the bus. It's cold. Very cold.

I didn't exactly plan on making a cold trek in a bus across the Houston airport tarmak. Really, we had planes driving past us. It was Weird.

We make a pitstop at one gate, where the woman told us it was not ours. Thank you kind bus driver lady. Oh, and she did put her shoes back on before we started on our adventure across the tarmak.

We get to our gate and she lowers a little ramp so we can wheel the stroller right off. We thank her and scurry to our gate. Have I mentioned we had about 25 minutes TOTAL between flights?

Ya. I was stressin' a bit. Just a bit....

But we made it! We breathlessly got onto our Northwest flight and again, got a row to ourselves with Henry. Oh yes. There was actually a woman in the seat with us, but she explained, as she found another open seat, that she once travelled from Minnesota to Argentina with her two children when they were 2 and 3 years old BY HERSELF. She gets it, and she's a saint!

The flight is pretty good, Northwest, unlike Continental does NOT serve food on their flights.

Oh wait, scratch that. They do. You can purchase a box of crappy snack food for $5. No thanks, I have a giant peanut butter cookie given to me in DISNEY WORLD for dinner!



I pull out the huge-mongus cookie and get a screech of delight from Henry and we start munching on the cookie.

So nice and healthy, huh? But, it was well past our dinner time, we were all hungry and it's all we had. That and 48 pounds of chocolate and some Cracker Jacks from Casey's at MK. We didn't eat even half the cookie when I made an executive decision that we were done with it. Henry was beside himself when I said "All done", he wasn't! But, really we had enough to tide us over. When I had the flight attendant take the cookie away Joe gasped. "But, I, uh..." Sorry honey...I just wanted it gone so Henry would stop yanking at it and causing the crumbs to gather at my feet...

It was a good cookie though.

Henry was incredibly well behaved for being exhausted, pulled around all day and hungry. He was fussy. Very fussy actually. But, I was too! I was ready to land and be done with all this traveling fiasco. I wanted real food!

(Please note, I did not say I was ready to be home. I wasn't. I wanted to be back at Disney World!)

Henry did finally sleep, much to the relief of the passengers around me, and to Joe and I. Ahhhhh...our last 20 minutes in silence...

We landed and Joe looked at me and said the most prophetic words ever:

"I bet they lost our luggage."

"No, I heard them on the walkie-talkie, they have it."

"Between Houston and here. I bet."

"No, no...I bet it's here, it's fine."

Down to the carousel we went. Down the luggage came. I sat a ways away with Henry and the carry on gear. Joe watched piece after piece slide down the little metal slide and begin it's journey 'round the carousel.

Finally a buzzer went off. That was the end of the luggage from the Northwest flight Houston to Minneapolis that night.

Joe looked at me empty handed.

I lost it.

"IT'S NOT HERE." I said a bit strongly.

"NOPE!" Joe responded just as strongly.

(a few stares from other passengers)

I started to laugh. Joe joined me. The laughing lunatics!

I sat on the floor, carry on baggage all around me, my exhausted baby in my arms, we are starving and we have no luggage. And I'm laughing.

I'm sure it was quite a scene!

We make it over to the little window where two AWESOME young men assist me. They were very nice, calmed me right down and answered all my questions. I left their little window feeling confident my luggage would show up the next day-even that night!

We venture to the location where our shuttle bus was to pick us up and bring us back to our parked car (Park n Fly) and the driver immediately notices we have no luggage, or winter coats on. As we board he cranks up the heat and makes very pleasant small talk about our lost luggage. We drive to the parking lot, to our car and he insists we stay in the bus while our car warms up, he doesn't want little Henry to be cold.

ALL STAR SERVICE!

We had zero luggage he had to deal with, but we tipped him HUGE. He refused it. We insisted. This dude rocked.

For this very reason, I plan to always park here on our trips.

Our car was warmed up soon, and we realized our winter coats were in the backseat of our car - we had forgotten we left them there. THANK YOU JESUS that they were there and not in our luggage!

We bundled up, paid for our spot and the teller asked how the service was. I raved and raved to him. A bad situation turned very nice by a warm bus and an understanding and very courteous driver. Are we back in Disney World?

(Oh how I wish!)

So, back in our car-we start the drive home, stop at Burger King for food. Henry WOLFS down his Macaroni and Cheese, and I have to say the same for the burgers and fries for Joe and I! It was practically gourmet we were so hungry.

We finally made it home, hours and hours past what we expected, and collapsed into our beds after some minor unpacking. WHAT A DAY!

The next afternoon I called Northwest Airlines about our bags, because unlike the very nice men had told me, they did not show up later that night, or the next morning.

I was connected to a very rude, very unhelpful woman that basically told me she had no idea where my bags were or what could have happened, or when we would be getting them and there was nothing she could do for us. When I told her that wasn't acceptable, she launched into a story about how SHE didn't loose my bags...

Really? This is when I decided I hated Northwest Airlines. Or at least strongly disliked. THEY lost our luggage (or between them and Continental anyway), and this woman was scolding me. I obviously realized SHE HERSELF didn't loose my luggage, but SHE did represent the company that did. I am in Customer Service at my job. Our product isn't always perfect, and I am just the messenger, but I strive to be a good messenger of bad news when it comes! This woman just frustrated me to no end. Argh!

After I took a deep breath and held the phone away from me for a moment, I asked about compensation. We had to go out and buy new toiletries, etc. Thankfully we did have some at home, but not everything. She finally gave up a bit of information and explained how to redeem it all.

No bags that day.
Or the next.

I called Northwest each day with a little code the nice men at the window gave me. Each day I get someone who is clueless on what I am referring to, who can't help, who has no time estimate or guess on where my luggage is. The kicker is, they can see it in their system. They can tell me what I already know-MCO to Houston. After that it's like a black hole.

Then we get a call. From Continental. A very nice lady, named Mary (I remember her name because she was so nice!), explained that our bags were in her office at the Minneapolis airport. We could come pick them up, or she could have them bussed to us.

Since we don't live real close to the airport, they had to be sent via UPS. I thanked Mary a hundred times over for calling us! She was awesome! (Moral of the story, Continental food on the flights+good customer service generally = fly Continental!)

So the next day after that, we finally get our luggage. And thankfully, it wasn't destroyed or anything terrible from traveling who knows where!

And with that comes the end of our trip.
It had it's ups (buying DVC!!!), and it's downs (Bathroom stops at AK!!). And it was certainly ALL AROUND! So many adventures, so many emotions in such a short period of time.

We had a wonderful time, despite being sick and loosing our luggage. It was a trip full of memories, one that I will never forget. My little man's first trip to the World.





And.....I have a confession....we are booked on Northwest this coming trip. It was drastically cheaper! Will it be a mistake? We'll see...... (But, I'm making a mental note to have healthy snacks both to Orlando and back, just in case of a similar no dinner situation!)

Up next: Boo-boos and souvies!

 

[Vexorg]

Welcome! Never too late - or fashionably late - whichever you prefer. Believe it or not, there are things I COMPLETELY forgot that I will correct/add in my wrap-up. It was quite a trip! This next trip (FOUR DAYS!) will be a bit more calm, so I expect a few less adventures, but more chill-time with the family, of which, I am very excited about!

The WL was awesome, very, very awesome. It's beautiful. You forget you are just across the lake from MK because it feels remote.

Thank you for the compliement on Henry!

MY sister has a son at just about that age (just hit 1 a week ago, in fact), and he's a lot of fun to be around (as long as I have the option of going back to my own place when he gets a bit cranky, that is.) She also has another one that's two now, and he's fun too, although he's starting to get into the Terrible Twos.

As for the leaving bit, I've only been once, but even I have to admit that it's not so easy. I thought I'd be fine with it until Illuminations on the last night, then the Holiday addition at the end put me over the edge (for a minute or two anyway.) Fortunately, I got a bit of unplanned overtime on the trip when I found out at 4am on depature day (20 minutes before my airport shuttle was due to pick me up) that the flight out had been delayed by five hours. I scrambled to rebook to a later flight (got the last seat on a flight which ended up with a standby list 35 people long) and reschedule the shuttle, but once that was taken care of I got a few extra hours to hang out in DTD (and, perhaps more importantly, a few hours of extra sleep, since I find it impossible to sleep on a moving vehicle smaller than a cruise ship) before the shuttle came again for the later flight. I'll have more on that little (mis)adventure in my TR once I get to it, but I've got about 3 1/2 days of Disney to get through before that so it'll probably be a while.

I think that's the first flight delay I was ever actually happy to see (although if I hadn't caught it in time and had to spend the extra time waiting at the airport I might not have cared much for it...)

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a horrific return journey!!! Your luggage being lost would have been the last straw for me -- I get very attached to my stuff and as I was reading your update all I could think was, "Oh, I hope they find their luggage! I bet all their Disney souvenirs are in them!" So, I am really glad that your luggage was found.