Wait - how many snacks do we have left??? Eating our way through Disney...

[dormouse72]

I can't believe it's actually OVER!!! But it was WONDERFUL and absolutely worth it...

DAY 1 (Saturday)

Weather: Sunny and hot

Drove up to Disney from Miami, having flown in the day before and spent our arrival day with my BFF Tracie and her hubby Rob, who were coming with us on our trip. LOTS of cops all over the Florida Turnpike. We made pretty good time - left at about 8 AM and arrived in Orlando at 12:30 ish, including two "pit stops" and breakfast at Cracker Barrel. We arrived at Port Orleans Riverside fully charged.

Check-in was a breeze thanks to having done on-line check-in. Had our packet waiting for us...we got building 15 in the Alligator Bayou section. Two rooms right next to each other but not connecting. No problems upgrading our package one-day, one-park tickets to 6 day park hopppers but Tracie (as a Florida Resident) had to wait to do hers at a park since any exchanges or refunds they did in the hotel would be connected to the reservation and potentially mess up the dining credits.

Me, my BF Ed, and DD #3 in one room (waiting for Ed's BFF David to fly in later that day); Tracie, Rob and my two older DD's in the second room. The trundle bed in Alligator Bayou was perfect for my little one. My older two could fit on it as well (they are 5'2" and 5'1" respectively) but found it merely adequate. I picked a random number and DD #2 guessed it first, so she had the big bed alone the first night and DD #1 got the trundle. Otherwise the room is spacious and we had enough room to put all our stuff away. Full disclosure - I'm not a heavy packer; each of us had one rolling carry-on and one backpack for a week's worth of clothes (shorts and shirt for each day, couple of extra shirts, undergarments, two pairs of long pants, two long sleeved shirts, two sets pj's, two bathing suits, loads of flip-flops, one pair of sneakers, and our halloween costumes).

We had plenty of towels so we all changed and headed off to Old Man Island and the main pool. The pool is large and nicely themed, the water slide short and better for little ones (DD #3 LOVED it; it's the first water slide she really "conquered" so she was on it all afternoon), but still fun for adults (we all took at least one ride on it). The hot tub is just that - hot. Kept a lot of the kids out as they dipped in one toe and said "Too hot for me!" My older two sat in it with us for a little bit but eventually headed back to the main pool. One word of caution - the pool deck is very slippery. I had on your average flip-flops and felt like I was going to wipe out a couple of times. I guess someone did because the pool closed for a bit due to someone getting hurt and bleeding in it; everything was cleaned up and the water re-tested and the pool was soon up and running again.

Back to the room to shower and clean up, then Tracie and I drove off to the local Winn Dixie to get some supplies. Cereal, bowls, spoons, napkins, 3 cases of water, small bags of chips, crackers and dip for the rooms, extra coffee and sugar, milk, OJ. Just things to have "just in case". We were on the meal plan and decided to use our only "unclaimed" night of dining credits to eat in Boatwright's in the hotel. David got to the resort at 6 PM - it took almost 2 hours from when the flight landed to when he got to the hotel. This was his first flight since 1978 so he was excited (and exhausted) just from that.

Tracie called over and was able to get a table for 8 at 8 PM so we meandered over and spent some time in the gift shop. It's large and the merchandise is varied - mostly what you'll find in the parks including houswares, pins/lanyards, shirts, bags (including some we saw later in the week at Trend-D), toys, travellers needs, etc. There is also an "Under $10" bin. We got some of our pin trading needs taken care of (mystery packs, fastpass holders - the best $$$ I spent on the trip, etc.). Ed and my girls hit the arcade; it's VERY big but seemed to have a pretty good selection of stuff. Ed said the voucher for 30 min which came with our room was worth it; he got 30 minutes of free play and was happy.

Boatwright's was a good meal. At 8 PM we went to the desk but were handed a buzzer and told it would be a 15 minute wait. So we went to the bar, had a drink, and opened our pins. The food at Boatwright's was quite good - not the best meal we had all week but certainly a nice way to start. David is diabetic and Tracie is lactose intolerant but we had indicated "allergies" on our reservations so the chef came out and spoke with us; some substitutions were made and everyone enjoyed their meal. The prime rib was quite good. My two big kids ate off the adults menu easily - they are not the most adventurous of eaters but have a fairly decent range of foods they like. My eldest got the pork chops which came with cheesy grits (she is not a fan but gave them another good try...which they again failed). DD #2 got the prime rib and loved it.

After dinner (we got the deserts packed up to go), we found that Tracie had a problem with her dining credits for her room - the restaurants system showed she didn't have any, although we had just checked in that day. A quick trip to the front desk showed she had all her credits and the charge to her credit card was cleared.

We finally made it back to our rooms at about 10 PM. Off to bed to get ready for our first full day of Disney fun. But the resort itself provides a pretty full day for anyone looking to take some time to enjoy it.

Day 2 coming up...

 

[dormouse72]

One thing I forgot to mention WE GOT A BOUNCE BACK OFFER!!! I was honestly so excited I couldn't believe it. Either $79 per night per person with free dining at a moderate or $96 per night per person with free dining at a deluxe...Tracie and I decided to think it out over the week.

DAY 2 (Sunday)

Weather: Sunny and HOT

So of course, we do Animal Kingdom on a brutal 90+ degree day...

We had put our water bottles purchased from Winn-Dixie in the mini-fridge the night before and they were cool (not cold). If you have a back-pack type diaper bag, this works really well as a type of portable cooler. The bottles we put in my bag stayed way cooler than the ones my friend put in her conventional back-pack.

We breakfasted in the room - Cheerios and orange juice. David is a newly diagnosed diabetic and figured out the hard way this morning that he can't eat both grains and fruit in the same meal. But he was a trooper and insisted he was good to go for the day.

We followed our plan of sending runners over to Expedition Everest to get FastPasses while the rest of the group headed over to Kilimanjaro Safari. David is a BIG guy and had not really understood us when we had told him for months to try to get in shape for the trip. Midway through the day, we ended up getting a disability pass for him. He was really struggling - the walking was actually good for him (he needs to increase his exercise as part of his blood sugar management) but the long waits on line were not. After he actually had to get off a line because he couldn't stand any longer and had a drop in his sugar level, we figured it was safest.

Kilimanjaro in the morning was great once we got on. It was still cool enough that the animals were more active and we saw TONS of stuff. DD # 3 started show a less than adventurous spirit (which continued throughout the trip on anything more exciting that "Small World") but we started to figure out ways to handle it. She came off the ride saying she liked most of it except the rickety bridge part - still, she understood that some rides were important to everyone and she had to trust that I wouldn't take her on anything she really couldn't handle.

Next, David took DD's #2 and #3 over to Rafiki's Planet Watch while the rest of us headed back to Expedition Everest. DD #2 is a confirmed wimp for some rides so there were no complaints from her about it! All I can say about Expedition Everest is THAT IS THE COOLEST RIDE EVER! We absolutely loved it.

We back-tracked over to Planet Watch to meet up with David and the kids - stopping off to grab some fast passes for Kali. They were inside in the air conditioning (which David was grateful for) and we got autographs from Pocahontas, Meeko the Racoon, and Jiminy Cricket. DD #2 was excited that she had gotten to see them doing a full veterinary proceedure on a sheep (a biopsy of some sort). She has also taken medical school off the list of future plans.

After coming back on the train, we headed over to Flame Tree BBQ for lunch. For people travelling with food/dietary concerns, Disney really can't be better. David was a little embarassed when the manager came out to discuss his choices/substitutions with him (we refused to let him not mention his condition surrounding meal choices after what happened at breakfast) but found that the sugar-free subsitutions (in this case ice cream for the pie and cake we could get on the food plan) were REALLY GOOD. No chicken nuggets and pizza at this meal - it was BBQ chicken and pulled pork sandwiches. Even #3 ordering off the kids meal plan got grapes and carrots instead of fries (and no - I didn't make that selection; it was part of the meal).

After lunch we went over to Dinoland USA. David again took DD #2 and DD #3 to Chester and Hester's while we went on Dinosaur! 20 minute stand-by, not too bad on a holiday weekend, but I don't think it's a ride that as many people gravitate to because it's not on the main path like Kali, Kilimanjaro and Everest are. Afterwards, we all wanted to go on Primordial Whirl (even David). DD #3 took one look at it and said "No way", so we did a form of child swap.

Let me say that we found child swap was not as easy as we thought it would be. It was hard to get the cast members to understand what we wanted to do - basically four people went on the ride right away while the other three stayed with DD #3; then we switched when the first group got off the ride. This way no one had to ride the ride alone. We finally got through to them what we wanted to do. It was the most intense ride David went on - he liked it but decided that he was very happy NOT going on things that moved like that.

By this point it was HOT and we had fast passes for Kali, so we walked back. David was dragging and saying he wanted to miss our dinner at Crystal Palace that evening but we convinced him to rest with DD #3. So he managed to find a bench in the shade and they sat watching the monkeys while we went on the ride. DD #2 joined us for this one (one of her favorites) and she wanted to get soaked! Of course, I'm the one who ended up getting drenched but overall, it was a good day for it!

After Kali we went over to the exit to start making our way over to MK. We had 4:45 PM reservations at Crystal Palace. It was PACKED at MK; the line at Crystal Palace was outrageous. Even with reservations it was a 25 minute wait, and most of the people around us had ADR's! For anyone thinking to go without one, I'd seriously reconsider.

Crystal Palace was OK - never my favorite but it was a nice character meal for DD #3 and David (who had never been to one before). Lots of variety in the food, which was pretty good quality but not stellar (some of our meals later on were MUCH better). The service was very slow for things like drinks and the bill but again - have to love the dining plan. Our meal for 8 was over $300 and it was very nice to only have to put down $25 as our part of the tip for 5 of us. David decided to head back to the hotel after dinner because he was really drained.

MK gradually started to thin out as the evening went on. We went on Pirates (always a favorite), Haunted Mansion (DD #1 sat out with #3 this time because she does NOT like Haunted Mansion), and then ran in to Country Bears - yes it's hokey but it's cute. Coming out of Country Bears we hit the end of Spectromagic. I'm not a huge parade person - I'd rather use the time to go on rides - but DD # 3 liked the portion she saw, so maybe we need to work a parade in. We stopped off at the shooting arcade in Frontierland and Ed and DD #2 took a try. DD #2's comment was "That was the most exciting dollar I've ever spent!" so it was a HUGE success.

We made our way back to the entrance during the fireworks. It was very crowded but Tracie managed to hook onto an employee who offered to help us make it through. We watched the end of the fireworks from next to the entrance and then slipped out. Back to the hotel after a VERY full but fun day...

Best part - David's final blood sugar reading was 119. His target is supposed to no higher than 100 but considering the amount of food we had eaten, it was truly remarkable.