We carry moist towelettes. A *Mostly* Germ-Free TR ........

[scottny]

another one on here who does cliffhangers. Great lead up to the departure. looking forward to more.

 

[dismom9761]

AAGGHHH! Great update but....can't wait to see how he reacts!

Have you said your dates?I think we were there at the same time.

 

[cmp1111]

Nice picture!

Good for you for keeping the secret! Can't wait to hear more...

 

[Muffinygood]

Now I have guilt that I left you guys all hanging!

The very short night’s sleep that I got did not really rejuvenate me. I woke up with a start. What time is it? My husband kicked me in the shin (nicely...) and said, “It’s time for Mickey!” I think I actually groaned. Why on earth, can someone tell me, do we plan these early morning flights? I have a theory that when you are planning it and it’s months away you are SURE you will SPRING outta bed ready to go to Disney! But, every time I do this I think, “Why WHY Why did I do this???” So, a fast shower and then last minute packing and then waking up the house. N says, “I don’t care. I’ll get my present on Tuesday.” No! You! Won’t!

SO, bleary eyed and slightly nauseous (this is important, though I seem to always get butterflies before a trip) we get into the mini-van and drive to the airport 25 minutes away. Barely anyone speaks which is a relief because I can’t keep a secret on 4 hours sleep. It’s not light out yet. I think it’s about 5:15 am. Ugh. We roll up to the front of the terminal and park. DH gets out and says, “Everyone stay in the car, except Mom.” I get out and he says, “Get the camera ready.” Good thing he’s with it. I prepare and he then gives the signal for everyone to empty out onto the sidewalk. He opens the trunk and then turns to N who is looking weird. DH says to N, “N, when we said we had to come to the airport to PICK UP your present we sort of lied. We aren’t here to PICK up something. We are here to send something AWAY. You.” N looks stricken. Then DH hands him a suitcase from the trunk and says (while showing him the tag for Magical Express) “You and Mom are going to Disney World.” N was stunned!!! Then he said, “Really???? Is this a trick???"

Picture doesn’t do it justice. He was blown away!!!

Once we gave everyone hugs and kisses and said goodbye we rolled our bags off to security and got to the gate for our trip. N was so quiet the whole time. I finally asked him once we got through the security snafu if he was happy! He said, yes just tired and shocked!

The plane boarded without incident and took off about 10 minutes late. Not too bad. I slept a bit on the way down. I snapped this one just after they announced that we were ready to take off.

I was going to try to get to the first day but I have a teenager to deliver to a friends and N is home sick with tummy flu so....the next update will have to wait till morning I’m afraid! But, I felt guilty leaving you hanging so I gave the reveal! Tune in next time!!!

 

[scottny]

That was great. He looked very shocked in the pic.

 

[cmp1111]

Boy, you're easy to guilt!

Thanks for the reveal, hope N feels better soon!

 

[jcc0621]

<ust be the italian half of me, easy to make people feel guilty
So glad N was surprised. That picture is proceless Can't wait for more.

 

[Muffinygood]

Great start!! I love reading "surprise" trips!

Me too! Did you know that they have a whole thread devoted to this on the Dis? I found out just before we left. They are called KOTS-Keepers of the Secret!

I'm IN! Can't wait to see how he reacts!!

Thanks for coming on by! Hope you enjoy the read!

AAGGHHH! Great update but....can't wait to see how he reacts!

Have you said your dates?I think we were there at the same time.

I just subbed to yours! I'm up to page 7 so far. Great pics! We were there from Sept. 1-4th. I think we were there at the same time, but we had only two park days since it was such a fast trip. Keep reading!

That was great. He looked very shocked in the pic.

Thanks! You'd think a kid that just got a trip to WDW would look happier! But he looks like we just told him the moon REALLY is cheese. Ha! Keep reading! Thanks for being here.

Boy, you're easy to guilt!

Thanks for the reveal, hope N feels better soon!

Don't tell my mom! She's been trying for years! And thank you from N. He's feeling pretty blue right now.

<ust be the italian half of me, easy to make people feel guilty
So glad N was surprised. That picture is proceless Can't wait for more.

Yes, the Italians almost have the guilt market cornered! But, my mother is French, Dutch and German and she's no slouch either! Thanks for coming by. Hope you keep reading!

 

[Trentmom]

Hey there.

Just caught myself up. SO, glad my directions for photobucket did not confuse you

Love that you left us with a cliffhanger...must have learned that from Goofy and meeska report

I love it.....I don't care, I will get it Tuesday....

Doing great job, keep up the good work

 

[Muffinygood]

[/SIZE] Yay! Another update! Well, when I left you last we were safely on the plane heading for sunny Florida! The flight was uneventful, just the way I like it. We ordered our ginger ale with NO ice ( I read once that the ice on airplanes is SERIOUSLY dirty) and shared our biscotti cookies. I had packed some Quaker Oatmeal to Go’s in my carryon bag too. We ate those also.

Luckily, the airplane had XM radio so I listened to the news most of the time. N listened to some sort of Spanish Techno-Dance music. It was hilarious! We landed in Orlando at around 9:30 am. That is a good and bad thing. We arrived really early so we got to enjoy most of the day there, but you know trying to check in that early is impossible!

We found our way across the airport to the Magical Express Counter to get the bus to our resort, The Wilderness Lodge. Let me just add that these people are SUPER organized! I was SO impressed by how many folks they had at the airport directing things. It all went as smooth as glass! At no time was I worried we were heading the wrong way or getting on the wrong bus. Our driver was friendly. He greeted us and told us to get comfy for the ride. It seemed to fly by even though we stopped at Grand Floridian and the Polynesian.

Arriving at the WORLD! Thru the Magical Express windshield...

Then it was our turn! Yay! My first reaction to seeing the lobby at the WL was, “Oh Wow!!” N echoed my opinion. Before we had even checked in he was saying, “I think this is my favorite hotel at Disney.”

N made a break for the cartoon/tv nook and watched some funny Mickey Mouse cartoons while I got to do the hard work. Check in was efficient, though they “upgraded” us to a courtyard view room (I had requested a North Side, Monorail facing room) because my request was not available. That’s ok, we’re here to have fun, not sleep! He assured me that we were welcome to use anything we’d like including the restrooms, pool, restaurants, and shops until our room was ready. When would that be? Well, here’s a little card with a number on it and you can call later and see if things are ready. OK!

I planned ahead and packed our swimsuits, sunglasses, a rubber band for my hair and brush etc. in a separate bag so we checked our big bags with the bell desk, grabbed the little one with the beach stuff and my purse and headed in to the General Store to pick up a VERY expensive bottle of sunblock. Though I never regretted the purchase!!!

N with the totem pole outside the General Store! Rubbing the nose for luck!

We then changed in the restrooms and headed out to the pool around 11 am. I have to say that I was VERY impressed with the cleanliness of the pool and bathrooms. We swam and had a good time in the pool until we decided we were starving!

N zooming down the slide! He loved this slide!

So, wet and soggy we slogged in to the Roaring Forks where we got a ham sandwich, refillable mug with hot tea in it, pasta salad and a chicken salad to eat. Oh, and a sugar cookie to share. This was to be the last “real meal” I ate till Tuesday...I know that sounds unbelievable but it’s true. The salad was delicious and N loved his sandwich. He ate like a lumberjack. For those of you considering or already booked at the WL, I wish I could tell you more about the other restaurants in the hotel but things were about to go pretty screwy! I’m sure that they are all wonderful but we never got to them. But every experience we had with Roaring Forks was great.

We called after lunch to see if the room was ready (it was 2 pm) and sadly, no. So, I suggested that we go for a ride on the boat from WL to MK to FWCampground and back again. It’s a good way to sight-see and we can kill some time. We changed clothes and N refilled his mug (now it’s only cost me 10$...ha!) We walked over to the boat launch and passed the geyser on the way.

This is from the geyser walkway facing the hotel. It was not erupting at that moment. Can you see the humidity?? It was SOOOO humid and hot that day. It felt like being in a sauna.

Our boat ride was uneventful, the sky looked sort of threatening at this point but it held off until we stepped foot into the hotel again...literally. At that exact moment we had a thunderstorm unlike any I’ve witnessed! I would swear to you that I saw lightening hit the lake! The lifeguard was roping off the pool and nearly jumped straight outta his shorts! We hid out in the hotel and went to the shops. Not too much shopping here. We also found our room (5064) and the arcade. By this point it was around 4 pm. I know they usually say all rooms ready by 3 pm. Well, let me tell you we called and called and they finally said, “Well, Lodgekeeping does not go home until 4:30pm so they technically have until then.” Great. I am sweaty, sunblocky, chloriney, and hot! I need a shower! And we have lots left to do! I wanted to make it to the Polynesian for the Tiki Torch lighting ceremony. They do it every night outside the lobby (in back) at 6 pm. This is going to be cutting it close if we don’t get to shower till 5 pm! Well, we go back out to the pool and swim again and that takes about an hour. Now we both really really need a shower! Finally, the room is ready! Yay! We run up to our room and shower. The view is GREAT! N snaps this photo from our balcony as the geyser erupts at 5 pm.

Come back later and find out if those Tiki Torches get lit and where we encounter flaming children.......

 

[jcc0621]

Great update I love WL, never stayed there, but I always love going there when we do our "resort" day. (It also helps that my mom is a CM at Artist Point )

 

[scottny]

Great update. never been to WL but I will be there for Whispering Canyon next year so I can look around.

 

[Trentmom]

Another great update!!

That pools looks amazing and I love the Wilderness Lodge. I have eaten there and toured it, but never stayed there..someday.

So, now you got me curious....You said Roaring Foarks was your last real meal until Tuesday???

Then, you said something about things were about to go screwy...

What went wrong??

 

[cmp1111]

I wish I could tell you more about the other restaurants in the hotel but things were about to go pretty screwy!

Well, THAT is ominous!
Oh, wait, the flaming CHILDREN comment is a little more so!

 

[Trentmom]

Great update I love WL, never stayed there, but I always love going there when we do our "resort" day. (It also helps that my mom is a CM at Artist Point )

I just saw my name in your siggie..You are quite welcome and thank you for putting me there.

You are the 2nd Diser who has me in their siggie for that Boo Pumpkin...very cool

 

[dismom9761]

I love the two updates! Your pictures are fabulous.

Way to leave us hangin...again.Screwy?

 

[Muffinygood]

Welcome back folks! I have glaucoma and am having trouble with the little print...is this too big?

When we last left you we were showered and dressed and ready to go grab a boat to the Poly for the Tiki Torch lighting. Well, this might be old knowledge to you folks, but I was shocked at the amount of time it took for boats to transport us anywhere! It’s an enjoyable way to see things but I swear every, single boat we got on was going to the OPPOSITE thing we wanted to get to. For example, we needed to be at the PR by 6 pm (NO LATER!!) to see the torches. First, we get stuck waiting in the “canal” between the CR and WL because another boat was coming. (by the way we got on the boat at 5:20 pm.) It was only going to the CR and MK. So, where do we go first? CR of course! argh! . We got to the monorail and made it FINALLY to the PR at............................6:20pm! OMG! Ok, I will NOT freak out. Just because this one thing we had planned did not pan out. We’re ok. No problem. Just look around and take some pics....

After seeing this pool, N has decided that although the WL is his “new fave” we will stay here next time just to use that slide!

It’s a bit blurry but those are the torches that we missed......

You’ll notice this cup in most of our pictures I think! It never left his side!

After we did our “sight-seeing” at the Poly we decided that we’d better be off to our next adventure................the marshmallow roast at Fort Wilderness Campground (FWC) with Chip and Dale. They light the fires at about 7 pm. There is a sing-a-long and then afterwards a movie outdoors. We left the Poly at about 6:45 pm. We had to then get on the monorail to travel back to the MK and then take the boat over to FWC. Easy, right? Well, not really. Holy Moly! There were about 7 bazillion people leaving the MK when we got off the monorail. It was like swimming upstream walking down the ramp to the boats and then the lines....oh the lines for the boat! argh! We waited patiently (have I mentioned that it was REALLY HOT????) and boarded by about 7:15 pm. I was getting anxious about getting to the campfire since I didn’t know if they shut them down before the movie or left them going. It was going to be our first visit to this activity. We refilled our cup at Poly (from the water fountain) and finished that off on the way. We arrived at the FWC at 7:45 pm! And then we walked from the dock, to the Pioneer Hall where we got on a bus then rode around to where the campfire was. I was complete inner turmoil at that point! All I could think was, “We missed it!!!!!!” and I walked 800 miles in deadly heat to MISS IT!!! Well, fears were unfounded as the fires blazed away merrily and the place positively TEEMED with small ones. There is a little chuck wagon next to the area that has food/drinks/popcorn and smores kits or just plain marshmallows to buy. OH, and sticks to roast your mallows on! Well, I hopped in the line and bought us a LARGE drink to share and refilled our mug again from the water fountain. Carrying our drinks, marshmallows, sticks and my backpack we moved to where the action was.

Well, this is the part where the flaming children come in. I don’t think I would be out of line or exaggerating to say that there were HUNDREDS of kids there. And about 1 tenth of them were supervised. Now, call me a crazy fun ruiner (my oldest does) but when we have marshmallow roasts in our backyard we don’t let the children (even the big ones) do it unattended. Kids are drawn to fire like, well, you know. After a few minutes it became clear that it was not only impossible to get near the fire safely without getting burnt by some errant child with flames coming from his inferno (i mean marshmallow) it was getting worse! Now we have a group of boys, about 5 years old, who have decided to stop roasting marshmallows and just leave their sticks in the fire till the catch fire (full on flames!!!) and then chase people around (a DENSELY packed area) till it goes out. Well, I leapt into outraged momma mode! WHERE IN HOLY HECK are these kid’s parents?????????????? I grabbed one little offender by the back of the shirt just before his FLAMING stick poked out a toddler’s eyeball. He looked up at me in my “mode” and quickly skulked off. By the time the music started I was DONE. N was having a blast (I never let on that I was freaking out!) and in fact later he mentioned how fun it was to roast marshmallows in Disney. Cool.

But as a footnote to this outing, I will say, BE WARNED! You cannot imagine the utter lack of parenting that is going on there! N said, can we go back to the hotel and watch cartoons and order room service? Sure thing dude! So we left Hades, I mean the campfire and went back to the bus, then the boat, the the hotel. Whew!
We were both wiped out from our very early start and long, hot day. It was fun but whew!
We arrive back to our room to find this!

Once we were in our room, cleaned up, jammied and watching Kim Possible we ordered our food (chicken tenders for both of us, fries and sprite). It arrived around 10 pm. YAY! Well, maybe yay. I don’t feel so great. Huh. Must be that I’m tired and hot and well, maybe I’m full of marshmallows. But, yucko. Not feeling great. N chows down his dinner in record time. He’s happy! Again, that’s all I care about!
I pass on the food and drink my sprite. We finally end our night around 11 pm. I am exhausted. But the bed is comfy and out I go.

What’s in store for tomorrow? It probably isn’t breakfast. ..... Tune in next time!!

 

[Trentmom]

ANother great installment.

I can't believe those kids at the marshmallow roasting...what were there parents thinking?? Apparently nothing

I am a little worried about what comes next.....

 

[scottny]

Sorry you missed the torch lighting. The campfire sounds like fun just not with unruly children. I saw that when I was there, parents letting there kids do whatever. I do not understand it.
Hope your not sick for the rest of the trip.

 

[Disneyolic]

I really liked your update. Even though you were freaking out over those kids, at least N had a good time! Those are the moments that we love. When all is said and done, if your kid remembers a good time, so will you!