We got food, yes we do, we got food, how 'bout you? - PICTRUES! UPDATED 11-25-08

[tyandskyesmom]

Ok, so here we go. We’re home…six days now. And a busy six days it has been too! We had a great trip. And no, thirteen days is not long enough to do everything you want to.

Let me re-iterate a bit on the details…

Cast of Characters:

Me…mommy, 37
Tyler …son, brother, just turned 9 three days before the trip
Skyler…daughter, sister, 3 ¾

We stayed at All-Star Movies, preferred room with a ten day hopper with the water parks and more option and the deluxe dining plan for 12 nights.Here we go…

So we were up and at Midway Airport at 4am. We had our A34, 35, 36 boarding passes already but Lou had to help us in with the luggage. Not knowing what to expect made us carry an extra bag or so. We did end up using most of it as we had various weather throughout out trip. The kids were not hungry for their usual McDonalds so e just grabbed a couple of flavored waters for the trip and waited for our plane to load. The whole procedure was nice, not having to line up as soon as you get there in order to get on. Our flight loaded on time and we left a few minutes after our scheduled time of 6:35am due to having to de-ice. Here's Ty and Skye on the plane...

We arrived a little late at Orlando International Airport at 10:29am. We were off and on our way to a nearly empty Magical Express counter in no time. We walked right up to check in and right into a line for our bus. Within minutes, we were on a bus

and off

for the All-Star Resorts (we stopped at Sports then Music before getting to Movies)….problem was so was everyone else! We arrived there at 11:20and the line to check in was crazy!

We waited

, and waited

, and waited

in that line for at over 30 minutes before getting to the counter at 12:05pm.

The good news was that our room was ready. We were in Toy Story behind Buzz room #727. This all sounded good verbally but while it was near the main building it was around the back on the outside…which was pretty much exactly what I did not want for a mom and two young children coming and going at all hours of the day alone. That’s my Disney luck for you though! So anyway…there was a towel wreath

in the window and a Mickey head

on the bed as we entered. It was clean and the kids looked around like they had never been in a Disney hotel before. //

We re-arranged a bit and moved the bed to the wall and the other one right next to it. This would prove to be a mouse keeping error but we liked it better this way. We dropped off our things and the stroller and left to grab a bus for our first dining extravaganza…

(I know I have a pic of the wreath and the room but I have to get to them...i'll edit when I do!)

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I'm feeling really lonley here...is anyone reading?

 

[cinderella73]

Hi, I am enjoying your trip report! I started one myself a few months ago and didnt think anyone was reading so I dropped it early on. I think that people just really are more lurkers than reply-ers . But dont stop posting. My daughter and I love reading trip reports. And yours is off to a great start.

 

[klj27]

I am still here! Can't wait to read the rest.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So we need to head out pretty quickly for our first of many lunch ADRs. We took some pictures in “Andy’s room”

and caught a bus to MGM at about 12:20pm. As we pulled up, a boat pulled away. We had never walked to the Boardwalk before but I have heard tell of it so I suggested that. Now, I am not a lover of exercise and I was not dressed to even pretend I was but we hiked pretty quickly on over to the Yacht Club. We were about five minutes late for our 1:30pm ADR at the newly re-named Captains Grille. I was surprised to see there was next to no one there! We walk in an it is a pretty average restaurant as far as décor goes but the service and food was wonderful! Tyler walked around taking pictures, yes it was that empty! The kids ordered Pirates Punch with a light up Tinkerbell

and Captain Hook

on them. We ended up only being charged for one. They were not on the DDDP. I asked if we could get bottled water to take with us as thier drinks included on the DDDP and was shocked to be handed two 500mL glass bottles of Evian to go! Ty had the kid’s pizza/fries

and the marshmallow, fruit, brownie kabobs.

Skye had mac ‘n cheese/fries

and the same dessert. I had my first of many crab cakes

,

Lobster roll sandwich with orzo salad,

chocolate mousse cake

(which the kids ended up snagging) and a diet coke. We all agreed this was a great start to our eating odyssey. The kids’ dessert had a brownie, a rice krispy square, a strawberry, and a marshmallow on a Mickey straw with a cup of chocolate for dipping. The brownie and rice krispy square were a bit odd but they were good so the kids and I switched desserts and everyone was happy. The chocolate mousse cake was really, really good! And oh my god…the Lobster sandwich…what can I say…butter roll, lobster salad, lettuce…it was awesome! The crab cakes were great too…but it was difficult to say which was my favorite of the stay…they were all good and quite different. So in the end we spent $57.46 on lunch = 3 DDDP meal credits. I do not like how the meal has to be on one receipt and the tip on the other nor that at most places the receipt you get does not have the actual cost of the meal. I did like that the receipt did show the tip amount for an 18% tip and an 20% tip so it make it easier to figure out what I was leaving. We were there for about 1 ½ hours.

We looked around the Yacht Club a little and took some pictures

before heading out for a bus to Downtown Disney. We stopped at Basin (the kids love the bombs!) and Goofy’s Candy Company. We got three pretzel make your own, and each of the kids got a four marshmallow make your own. I asked if it was covered on the DDDP and the cast member said as of today, sometimes. She said she had had some people come in and they could not get them as snacks and others could. We could. It was 3 snack credits.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

I am still here! Can't wait to read the rest.

Hi, I am enjoying your trip report! I started one myself a few months ago and didnt think anyone was reading so I dropped it early on. I think that people just really are more lurkers than reply-ers . But dont stop posting. My daughter and I love reading trip reports. And yours is off to a great start.

Thanx guys...I really enjoy reminiscing this way but it does make it more fun when you know someone is listening!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

We took a bus back to All-Star Movies and changed. We also got Ty his birthday button. All of our luggage had arrived. After we were dressed for dinner we hopped a bus to Epcot and rode the monorail to the Grand Floridian. The kids and two other kids a little older than Tyler rode in the front and got licenses when they got out. We arrived about ten minutes early for our 7:35pm ADR at Citricos. We were seated pretty quickly. We got a great table

by the balcony overlooking a pool with a great view of the whole restaurant. The bread was warnm and good.

Tyler

and Skyler

each ordered mozzarella sticks

Mickey pasta with the sauce and cheese on the side

,

a make your own sundae and a coke. Skye actually ordered a chocolate milk but got a coke…she was ok with it when she saw how it came out!

I had the Gateau of Crab

beef tenderloin (which somehow we don't have a picture of???), lemon cheese cake

and a diet coke. It was all wonderful! I think the dessert may have been one of my favorites of the whole trip! Tyler’s dessert came out with a chocolate birthday

wish written on the plate. One negative was that Tyler’s appetizer was removed from the table without asking…he wanted to take the rest home. We really liked our dinner here and I had started out a little worried because there is not much info about Citricos out there and the few reports I have seen have not been very favorable….we loved it! Plus, it only took 3 DDDP meal credits where it was supposed to be 6…bonus! The total for the three of us here was $95.59. The meal was approximately 1 1/2 hours long.

We strolled around the lobby for a while afterwards and had Photopass Pictures taken with the tree and checked out the Gingerbread house…boy did it look bad! There were shingles missing and everything. It needed to come down!

We took the monorail to the Magic Kingdom and it was horrendously crowded! We walked to the bus stop and did manage to get on a bus just as we arrived but it was standing room only…this is where I vowed not to stand on a bus again! The driver almost hit a deer. Now I know it is not her fault but, I don’t need to be standing in a situation like that…nor do my children.

When we got back tot the room we unpacked and jumped into bed.

We were exhausted!

 

[Liz]

I'm here too! Your kids are so cute! Keep 'em coming!

 

[hobbester]

I just found your tr. I leave in 13 days and I will be going to some of the same restaurants that you are scheduled to eat at. Sounds like you had a good first day, can't wait to hear more.

 

[tyandskyesmom]

...but life happens. And computes crash...and overtime occurs...etc! I am working on a new installment though so more soon to come!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Ok...so I have been MIA and eft you guys at day #1...I am so sorry but I have been extremely busy. But now I am back to jonesin for Disney World so I am hoping to be able to get this trip report done...or at least moving would be nice! So on with the show...

We woke at 6am and we all showered and took baths. By 8:15am we were having breakfast in the food court.

Skye had the kid’s Mickey Waffles with bacon and a small water (to take with us). Ty had a cinnamon roll and strawberry milk. I had a bowl of oatmeal and Skye’s bacon. We also got our refillable mugs. All of this was 1 meal credit and three snack credits. I don’t have the totals on it because they are all zeroed out but I believe the cost would have been about $13.00 out of pocket. The cast members were very confused about the new dining plan and how to ring it out. I ended up with three separate receipts for this one meal and it took about ten minutes. We sat in the back so the kids could see the TV. There was a lady from Virgin taking up a lot of tables back there and not letting people sit there. She was doing business and there were a lot of people taking up most of the tables in there. She was telling people that they could not sit there. I did not really understand this???

So anyway…we hopped on a bus to Animal Kingdom.

Oh, did I mention...IT WAS COLD!!!! Before we could even get in, we got stopped by Flik (who the kids have been dying to see)

, Kenai

, Timon

, and Rafiki

outside the gates.

And far be it from my kids to not stop! Flik kissed Skye so she was in heaven! Bugs Life is one of her favorites! Once we got inside

we found that the Nemo show did not begin this early so we decided to head for the safari for a fast pass. When we got there it said it was a 30 minute stand-by line but we got our fast passes and decided to wait. It was really only about 10 minutes. We had a really good safari.

Ok, so I find it really difficult to read reports with giant pictures that cause me to have to go back and forth and now I have written one...can anyone help?!?!?!?!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

So as we headed into the park

we ran into Terk around the Tree of Life. She made a big fuss over Tyler and his birthday pin.

Then it was nearing time for our lunch ADR at Tusker House

at 11:30am. We were a little early but not that much. We ended up watching a troop of acrobats in front of the restaurant for a while

and then another act came on shortly after that. We waited quite a while after our ADR time.

We found out that was because we had to wait for the breakfast crowd to clear out since it was a character meal and lunch is not. We really liked the look of the place and the set up at the buffet. Our waitress was a bit slow and forgetful but it was a buffet so that did not really matter to us. They now have straws in the Animal Kingdom. They are made out of paper so they are not harmful to the animals. We all filed up our plates and sat down to eat. It was really good. I guess I would say a mini Boma, but not exactly. The kids found enough to eat and I thought there was a ton of good choices. The waitress brought Tyler a birthday cup cake and had us sing Happy Birthday to him too. All in all we really liked it. It cost 3 meal credits and would have been about $65.00 out of pocket. It was well worth it though and I would go here without the dining plan. We were there until just after 1pm! Unfortunately, a lot of that was waiting to get in!

After lunch we headed back

to use our fast passes for the safari

and had another great time. We love the safari.

This is Tyler's favorite...

These guys are my favorite...

We all have our favorites!

Then we headed to Flights of Wonder and walked in just as it was starting. Skye has never been awake for this show so this was a first for her. She took some pictures but not many of actual birds in the show! After the show, she immediately passed out! Ty and I decided that we would see about getting into the Nemo show instead of the Jingle Jungle Parade (and believe me that was a rough decision!) so we headed that way.

We stopped in the bathroom in Asia near the Yak & Yeti and looked around and took pictures. When we got near the Nemo show they were letting people in…however, about half way through the line they has a stop point where they were not letting anyone else go…they would have to wait for the next show. Well, guess whet we did??? We found seats for the parade! We found a seat in the sun across from It’s Tough To Be A Bug. Ty and I played “War” while Skye slept. I tried to wake her up when it started but she was having no part of it…even when the people who came up next to us and stood in the walkway and pulled the rope to close it off themselves. They then proceeded to allow/encourage their daughter (who had to be about twelve) to sit on the side of Skye’s stroller. I had to ask her to move a few times. Then she would sit or stand next to the stroller and lean on it pushing it into me. Now we were inside the ropes that were placed there by cast members and we were there before anyone else sat there. This is the second time I have had rude people come up right before the parade starts and assume they were entitled to be right there…like we did not even exist. The last time it was on a different trip and we were at Magic Kingdom and these people allowed this little boy (maybe three) to come up and he actually tried to stand on my legs in front of my kids…who had been there waiting for over 30 minutes! Rude people! Anyay, it was a great parade as usual. Some of the floats were a little different we thought. We could not talk Tyler into going to It’s Tough To Be A Bug even though we were right across the way and there was not line…he is such a chicken!

I have more pictures to add to this post but I have to load them into Photobucket so maybe I will add a post for only the pictures with brief discriptions when i get them ready...

More to come....

 

[tyandskyesmom]

OK...I got the pictures up from the last psot...

Here are pictures from Tuskerhouse for lunch...

And here it Tyler's Birthday cupcake...

Here's a picture of The Tree of Life on the way to Flights of Wonder.

I was surprised at how much detail showed up in the picture!

Skye insitsted on getting her picture taken with the host and Guano Joe...

Near Yak & Yeti were these performers...

This mural is between the bathrooms behind Yak & Yeti...

Walking through Asia...

I was able to get a picture of the ride going up but I could not time it right coming down...and that would be as close as any of us would get....

Ty is a chicken and Skye is too small but would love to go!

Lookinf from Asia towards the Tree of Life...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

WOW - I really need to practice posting pictures...I hope you did not have to strain your neck too much!

Anyway....Here's Tyler playing "War" while waiting for the parade to begin...

Bits and pieces of the parade...

Ok...I think I am caught up...

 

[tyandskyesmom]

After the parade it was time to head out. We grabbed a bus for the Grand Floridian. We changed in the bathroom. I have issues with the bathrooms in the most expensive, flagship Disney resort. They are gross, crowded, smelly, and dirty. Every time we have been there (and there were quite a bit of trips there this last vacation) they have just been gross.

We took some pictures in the lobby with the tree.

We checked out the Gingerbread house too…boy was it ready to come down! It had pieces missing and things falling off of it. The kids didn’t seem to notice but since we have seen it in it’s glory, I knew what we were missing. But we did not expect it to still be up at all so I guess it was a bonus.

It was really cold out and we had to walk outside to dinner.

Luckily it was not too far. The grounds keepers were all busy covering up all of the plants because there was a frost advisory for that night. It truly was an odd site. On the way we passed the pool and there was a momma and a bunch of baby ducks sitting on the inside ledge of the pool…

they were very cute but it was so cold we did not even want to think about it…at least they had the pool to themselves.

We arrived at Narcoossee’s

at about 5:10pm for our 5:0 ADRs and they had not yet started seating.

As soon as they were prepared we were seated along the window but a bit to the loft of center. One side of our table had a great view of the castle but the other side had our backs to it all. We could see the castle with the new icicle lights on

and the boats and monorail approaching,

at least until it got dark. We were too early for Wishes but it was still a really neat thing! We had a great waiter and he did not seem to treat us differently because we were on the dining plan or because two thirds of us were children.

Both the kids had fruit cups for appetizers.

It was either really good or Skye was starving because she practically licked the bowl! They also both has pasta with marinara sauce and cheese on the side.

Tyler left his that way but Skye loved creating her own food. Tyler had a brownie sundae

and Skye had the make your own smores.

I had the crab cakes,

surf and turf,

almond cheesecake,

(doesn't that look wonderful?!?!?!) and a diet coke. This dessert was one of our favorites! It was another with decorated sugar background. It was all really good! The potatoes that came with my entrée were my favorite. We were there until about 7:15pm. Our total was just over $100.00 but it was 6 meal credits on the plan. We all definitely want to bring Lou here!

When we got back to the lobby, we bundled up again leaving on as many layers as possible and headed to the bus stop. One thing we noticed on this trip being that we visited so many deluxe resorts for meals is that the bus service at them is really sub-par. We always seemed to wait a while. We have only ever stayed at Animal Kingdom Lodge of the deluxes and you have to take the bus everywhere from there (no boats or monorails) so I guess the bus service has to be decent. But it would really have me question staying at one of the other deluxes (that is if we could tear ourselves away from Animal Kingdom Lodge). When the bus finally came we were off to get back to Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours! I told the kids how cold it was going to be and that we would be back and hopefully it was supposed to get warmer but they insisted.

When we arrived there was almost no one around.

We have never stayed at Animal Kingdom for Extra Magic Hours so this was new.

We found Mickey and Minnie

just outside of one of the stores to the left of the Tree of Life and then headed to Festival of the Lion King.

A show was just starting. We all love this show.

And it was warm in there. We were able to pick our section…elephants, of course! Tyler did not get picked to demonstrate what an elephant says (even thought he is a pro at it and much better than anyone we have ever heard!) but he did get to go down when the kids get to participate. He has always wanted to but has never gotten to before. Skye was a bit miffed that she couldn’t go but I told her se was too little.

After the show, we looked around at the decorated trees

in Camp Minnie-Mickey and were one of the absolute last ones out of the area…it was very quiet.

I tried again to talk to kids into leaving but they were having none of it. I was freezing! So we headed to Dinoland U.S.A. We rode Triceratops Spin three times in a row…we were the only ones and then when my face was frozen I talked them into getting off and Tyler had three runs on Primevil Whirl

by himself. Skye was a bit miffed that she was still too small to ride!

Skye and I talked to my mom on the phone while waiting for Tyler. On our way out we ran across Lilo & Stitch at a store to the right of the Tree of Life...

I can honestly say, when I finally dragged them out of there we were some of the last ones. We grabbed a box of popcorn (one snack credit) from a cart on the way out. It was around 11pm…and closing…that is the only way I got them to leave!!!!

There was a bus there when we walked up and needless to say, we pretty much had the bus to ourselves. Skye fell asleep on the bus but Tyler was up. We stumbled back to our room and found all of the stuffed anilams that the kids brought with on the middle of the bed playing "Bull In The Ring: and they aparently made Baby Giraffe the bull...

we passed out almost immediately!

 

[princesslily]

I'm lovin it

 

[ILMICKEY]

How did I not know this report was here?? It's great. It's also apparent to me you LOVE crab cakes!!!

Your children are just adorable! Keep em comin'!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Thanx guys!

I never realized how much work it took to put one of these things together in the style I like to read!

Yes, I do like crab cakes and it is one of those things I do not usually get bacause normally we only order one appetizer for the kids (usually cheese stix) and one for the adults and Lou doesn't generally like things like that so I take one for the team! So since Lou was not there and the kids were getting their own...I really took advantage of it...in fact, I was going to try to title my trip report around something with Crab Cakes since I ate so many but then I figured someone would expect me to rate them and they were jst all soooooooo good!

I am working on uploading day 3's pictures now so hopefully it will not be months until the next installment!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Here's the Gingerbread House at the Grand Floridian. I don''t know if you will be able to see how bad it looked though...

Oooohhh, and I missed the all important bread at Narccoossee's. I think the kids would have been happy if everywhere we went they could just have bread this good!

Be back later!

 

[tyandskyesmom]

Oooohhh, look! Now they are little...almost too little!

Honestly, I do not know what I did differently!