We're touring Disney like a 3 year old (2TRs in 1!)- UPDATE 5/18 pg. 46

[LilAnn]

Once we had finished posing with various furry friends and gotten our fill of breakfast goodies, we headed over to Typhoon Lagoon. We had invested in the Water Parks & More option with our park hoppers so we figured it would be a great way to continue to enjoy Disney without actually visiting a traditional park. We also had a nice dinner planned to end our trip, so we wanted to just relax during the day.

There aren’t any characters out and about at TL, but never fear, our little girl still managed to find something to go up to and hug.

The water buoy. She was a little sad to part with it.

Do you like the warning about the strong waves? Make sure you take small children by the hand, it says. What about adults? I am pretty sure there have been many times that I have been knocked down by those waves. And I have seen my fair share of adults flipping head over heels in the water (not to mention more that I care to see of some people with some wardrobe malfunctions).

We decided to hang out by the shallow end of the wave pool while daddy went to check out some of the water slides and rides. He loves Crush n’ Gusher.

My little girl thought that if she just put her arms out and pushed, she could stop the waves from coming.

See that face? The pose? I told you, she’s full of them. She would always get into position early on – running to a really shallow section and then getting into her squat.

We tried showing her some of the kiddie areas and slides, but she was not interested. She was all about the wave pool.

She also loved wearing her life jacket, which was good for us. It was a perfect way for us to enjoy our last day on vacation. I think our little girl was enjoying herself, you think?

Our day ended when the clouds rolled in for the daily thunderstorm. We figured it would be a perfect time to head back to the hotel to get cleaned up and ready for the evening. Of course I had to stop off and grab some mini donut holes. Sooooooo good.

The fun thing with staying off site was getting to drive under this fun arch all the time.

Our destination was in this general area…..

How pretty is the Boardwalk hotel? I love it, and not just because I am an east coast gal.

So we parked the car and headed over to check out the Boardwalk area before dinner. We came across this fun little show.

He had a little help from the audience and it was actually pretty fun to watch. The kids watching would yell out the number of the plates that were getting wobbly to help him out and towards the end, he was running all over the place.

Do you have an idea of where we were headed for dinner? It was a fave of ours from the February trip so we had to go back. Flying Fish!

See? Even my little girl approves of the choice.

Apparently I didn’t take any food pics (sorry) so I can’t even remember what I had to eat. I just remember that I had one of their specials that day and my husband ordered the Potato-wrapped red snapper. We had to order the special kids dessert for our little girl again and the waitress was so good to her that night. She totally loved our princess and brought over a little Chinese takeout box container full of Swedish fish and stickers for our girl. It was really sweet of her and she had even asked me off to the side if it was okay for her to get her something sweet (bonus points there!). For my dessert, I am pretty sure I had the crème brulee and my husband had the caramelized banana napolean.

So once again, Flying Fish gets 2 thumbs up from us.

Just how much did we like it? We were debating going there again with our family this next trip. That’s how much we like it. We haven’t tried many of the signature restaurants but we enjoy Flying Fish and think if you are paying out of pocket, it’s not too unreasonable. Anyways, back to the night. We came across another boardwalk act.

Maybe I should have put out a disclaimer “do not try this at home.” So we stayed to watch that show before heading “home” for the night. All in all, not a bad last day of vacation when you aren’t going to a park.

Monday morning we woke up with no major plans except to go for one last dip in the pool before packing up and heading to the airport. Yup, it was the dreaded departure day….or was it? We’ll get to that soon enough.

Someone was ready to go swimming! (please excuse the mess in the hotel room)

I don’t blame her for being excited, here are some pics of the main pool at the hotel.

Sigh, palm trees just make me so happy! They just signify vacation to me.

Someone didn’t want to wait for the adults….with her swim vest on, she felt pretty confident. Look at her go!

When she got tired, she’d just hitch a ride on her daddy.

They were going to play some water basketball.

I don’t want to go home!

We relaxed and just soaked up a few hours at the pool and then made our way back up to the hotel room. We got all cleaned up and packed up everything in the room. As everyone knows, that’s always the worst part of the vacation for us – the going home part. We kept making jokes while we were packing, like “what if our flight was cancelled and we got to stay longer? What if they call and ask us to give up our seats?” If you’ll recall, my SIL and BIL and their family had all sorts of issues with their flight and caught an early one out a few days earlier. Hurricane Irene was already making her way up the east coast. We were almost all done with packing up the room when my husband’s cell phone rang……..
​

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

NO YOU CAN'T STOP THERE!!!

Okay. Fine. That was a good cliffhanger. I need to know what happened next!!

I love wandering around the Boardwalk (maybe it is an East Coast thing?? ), but we've never eaten at Flying Fish! It always appears on our standby/backup ADR list! (It's never made it to the final cut mainly because I don't really eat seafood. I'm a pain. I know.)

 

[LilAnn]

NO YOU CAN'T STOP THERE!!!

Okay. Fine. That was a good cliffhanger. I need to know what happened next!!

I love wandering around the Boardwalk (maybe it is an East Coast thing?? ), but we've never eaten at Flying Fish! It always appears on our standby/backup ADR list! (It's never made it to the final cut mainly because I don't really eat seafood. I'm a pain. I know.)

I never have any cliffhanger moments, so I was excited when this opportunity presented itself. I was also reaching the photo limit for one post, so it was perfect!

I know, we have many restaurants on our constant standby list. Sometimes you just have to fit in your favorites you know? I do hear that they have some of the best steak on WDW property, though. I don't eat beef, so i wouldnt know.

 

[marDgreen88]

Aww, she looks like she was having a blast! I'm not gonna lie, I've heard some scary things about that wave pool. It sounds too violent!

I agree, the Boardwalk is gorgeous. It's such an awesome concept for a hotel. Glad yall had such a nice dinner! Was it kinda sad being so close to Epcot and not being able to go in?

I'm kinda shocked at how empty the pool looks! It's a hot summer day, where is everyone??

HMMMM I WONDER what kind of call that was...

 

[MEK]

I never have any cliffhanger moments, so I was excited when this opportunity presented itself. I was also reaching the photo limit for one post, so it was perfect!

Oh Brother. I think I know where this may be going. What day was it - Saturday? Sunday? Doesn't matter because it was horrible up north on both of days. Major hysteria. No water on the shelves and lots of wind and rain.

yum - flying fish - thinking about that as an ADR for October.
Wow - she is a little tuff one, isn't she?

 

[shan23877]

What a nice day at the water park! I'm glad to see that your DD enjoyed it, I've been worried that Maddie was too young. We'll have to do one next trip!

I adore the boardwalk, and I'm from the Midwest We stayed there on our honeymoon and loved everything about it.

OOOOHHHHH excellent cliffhanger! I'm really impatient though. What happened??

 

[dawnbu40]

I the pics of the Boardwalk! I can't wait to stay there again in Sept!


The waterparks are the perfect way to beat that August heat and humidity!

Your hotel pool looks so nice and how cool that you had it to yourselves

 

[petals]

ooooh why did his phone ring? more more more...

Also boo to last day. I don't like last days it means saying goodbye to Mickey's House

 

[LilAnn]

Aww, she looks like she was having a blast! I'm not gonna lie, I've heard some scary things about that wave pool. It sounds too violent!

I agree, the Boardwalk is gorgeous. It's such an awesome concept for a hotel. Glad yall had such a nice dinner! Was it kinda sad being so close to Epcot and not being able to go in?

I'm kinda shocked at how empty the pool looks! It's a hot summer day, where is everyone??

HMMMM I WONDER what kind of call that was...

She definitely was having fun at the wave pool (as long as she remained in the shallow end). That's pretty much the only area she played in though. I'm not gonna lie either, I saw quite a few bathing suit/wardrobe malfunctions. Oh, and the bottom of the wave pool is pretty rough - not super smooth.

It is such a pretty hotel, isn't it? so nice! It wasn't too bad being that close to Epcot. Now if we hadn't just gone to disney in February, that may have been a different story, but we were still pretty happy just to be on Disney property.

The pool was pretty empty, haha. It was nice though. I heard from someone who works there that they had gotten a ton of cancellations due to Hurricane Irene that week and there were a lot of people that left early too.

Oh Brother. I think I know where this may be going. What day was it - Saturday? Sunday? Doesn't matter because it was horrible up north on both of days. Major hysteria. No water on the shelves and lots of wind and rain.

yum - flying fish - thinking about that as an ADR for October.
Wow - she is a little tuff one, isn't she?

Haha, you defintely know what kind of trouble Irene was wreaking on the East coast! We are now on Monday..... I can only imagine the hysteia, especially in the Mid-Atlantic states. That does not surprise me that all the bottled water sold out.

Flying Fish was pretty good. And we thoroughly enjoy our fine dining. She can be tough at times....she sure is stubborn!

What a nice day at the water park! I'm glad to see that your DD enjoyed it, I've been worried that Maddie was too young. We'll have to do one next trip!

I adore the boardwalk, and I'm from the Midwest We stayed there on our honeymoon and loved everything about it.

OOOOHHHHH excellent cliffhanger! I'm really impatient though. What happened??

Our little girl has always loved the pool, so we thought we would try out the slides at the water parks. She is not an adventerous one, though, so i think Maddie would do pretty well there.

I love the whole Epcot resort area. It's so pretty and I love that you can walk to all those places.

Right? I was so proud of my cliffhanger, even though I may have hinted at it in the last few updates....

I the pics of the Boardwalk! I can't wait to stay there again in Sept!


The waterparks are the perfect way to beat that August heat and humidity!

Your hotel pool looks so nice and how cool that you had it to yourselves

I know, you had such awesome pics of the Boardwalk from your last stay. September will be such a nice time to visit!

Yes, waterparks are the perfect way to stay cool. We were excited it wasn't too packed.

Yes, I can thank Hurricane Irene for the empty pool. Apparently the hotel was at 30% occupancy because of it. There was a conference there that week, but a ton of people ended up leaving early due to the storm. So we lucked out there!

ooooh why did his phone ring? more more more...

Also boo to last day. I don't like last days it means saying goodbye to Mickey's House

Hmmm, I wonder..

Yes, saying goodbye to Mickey and his friends is never fun.

 

[LilAnn]

I apologize in advance that this post is mostly just words and explanation, very minimal pictures - one to be exact. I promise to be back to updates with photos of my diva in training little girl soon. In the meantime, I'll just have to make do with smileys.​

When I last left you, we were packing up our hotel room when my husband’s cell phone rang. He didn’t recognize the number and we both just looked at each other…..and said, “Jet Blue.” Yup ….looks like we needed a new flight plan. I’ll spare you some of the minute details of that morning, but basically flights were still in massive disarray thanks to Irene and there was a huge backlog from all the cancelled flights. Irene had come and gone, but she left a mess of travel plans for people on the East Coast. This was Monday morning, but they couldn’t get us on a flight back to New England until SATURDAY. Um, what?! So we asked about flights to DC since we do the drive to see my parents all the time. They were able to get us on a flight back to DC on Thursday. Um, okay, still a ways away, but better. So new game plan: find new hotel to stay at for the next few nights, putz around Florida (not too bad of a place to be stuck, right?), fly back on Thursday to DC, spend the rest of the week with my family since we had plans to go to a Maryland beach with them over Labor day weekend, and rent a car to drive back home. That was the new plan at least – easier said then done.

First things first – calling work. Irene had left behind quite a mess up north. While she had been downgraded quite a bit, she was still capable of knocking out power for most of the region. The first day of school for our niece and nephew….actually cancelled and pushed back a week. Oh the irony. They were definitely bummed to be sitting at home in the dark for a few days without any of their modern electronic toys while we were stuck in Florida. Lucky for us, we were able to straighten everything out at work. I think that was the most stressful part for me.

Then it was time to get down to business. You don’t realize it at the time, but you definitely take a lot of things for granted when planning a trip in advance….like internet access. There is only so much you can do comfortably on a mobile phone. But our first order of business – we needed to return our rental car. So we headed to the airport, as originally planned.

Hi Mickey! Don’t worry, we aren’t saying good-bye just yet. I hung around this area with the little one while my husband ran over to the chaotic Jet Blue counter to make sure things were all squared away with our flights. I wanted printed confirmation that we had seats on a flight, just in case.

Once we had details on our return flight, got a new (cheaper and smaller) rental car, we headed back out of the airport. I have to say that as much as we always joked about extending our vacations, it was quite a different feeling having it come true. All of the realities associated with it take some of the excitement out of the extension. Our big concern was how we were going to be able to afford an extra week on vacation.

We knew we still had lot’s of days left on our park tickets since we had bought the no expiration option to use for future trips. What we still needed to figure out was where we were going to sleep. As our little one napped in the car, we decided to head to the Pop and see if they had any vacancies, just in case. They did! That was one option on the table. We decided to grab lunch in the food court while we did some more research. Since there was no free wi-fi at the Pop (at that point in time) we managed to set up camp with our laptop and phones. We went back and forth between the pros/cons of staying at the Pop versus trying to Priceline or Hotwire something for cheaper. Ultimately, we decided to try to see if we could get something nicer for less money on Hotwire since my husband is not a fan of the beds at the Pop. I didn’t care. I love the Pop and so does my little one.

Sooooooo after much debate, we ended up at the Rosen Centre Hotel. That was what our mystery hotel ended up being. A supposed 4 star hotel. So we packed back into the car and headed over to check in. It didn’t look too bad, and when we got inside, you could tell it was more of a conference style hotel instead of a family hotel. However, I am not sure I would have considered it a 4 star. Sigh the risks you run when trying to Priceline a hotel.

We had some difficulty checking in as they had a little difficulty finding our name (I guess that was common with Priceline bids there) but we only had to wait a few minutes. No worries, I sat around the lobby looking at all the people walking around in Best Buy shirts.

Yes, I said Best Buy. No, there wasn’t a store near us. Apparently there was a Best Buy convention there that week. I thought it was interesting that they had to wear Best Buy shirts the whole time they were there. Wonder why they couldn’t just wear business casual attire with name tags?

Anyways, because we had to endure a 5 minute wait (gasp, the horror) we were given complimentary parking for the length of our stay (a savings of $10 a day). Not bad for the start of our stay, at least we were saving a bit more money.

Then we headed up to our room……we got off the elevator and started waling down the hallway. The dimly lit hallway. The dimly lit hallway with ceiling tiles missing. The dimly lit hallway with ceiling tiles missing and exposed wiring hanging down. The dimly lit hallway with ceiling tiles missing and exposed wiring and multiple rooms with the doors left ajar. ……um, what is going on? So we hesitantly opened the door to our room and did the obligatory bed bug check. The room looked okay, but we were a bit unnerved by the state of the hallway. The room was clean and in okay order. One perk? We had Stacy tv!!

We stood around for five minutes debating what to do when our room phone rang. It was the lobby explaining that we mistakenly placed and wanted to see if we could change rooms. Apparently they were doing some work on the floor (you think?) and they would also be shutting the water off to the floor later in the day. They would be sending a bellboy over to help us with the move and our new room keys.

So, we trekked over to the new room with an intact hallway and got settled in. Phew, a little better. And for our troubles, we were rewarded with a voucher for a free meal in one of their eateries. That was a bonus since we hadn’t even complained (publicly at least) and considered the new room and floor an upgrade.

Anyways, there is the tale of our supposed departure day in a nutshell. Things had certainly changed! I think we ran to Walmart to grab some water, breakfast and snack supplies for the next few days. And I honestly can’t even remember where we ate for dinner. I have a feeling we probably visited one of the Disney resorts because I love my Disney and we were anxious to get out of the hotel. We were still a little creeped out by the first room but trying to make the best of it. Again, it wasn’t an awful hotel, it’s just that when you are going into it expecting a 4 star, that’s not exactly what you expect. Anyways, I promise the next post will have plenty of photos again.
​

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

My first reaction when you were talking about your flights was "Saturday?!? They couldn't get you home until Saturday??". Until I remembered the absolute mess that Irene had made....and then it makes much more sense. That's great that you were able to get to DC for Thursday, a bit less worrying about being stuck in Florida!

Hopefully after you got a bit more settled, you were able to enjoy the extended vacation!!

 

[LilAnn]

My first reaction when you were talking about your flights was "Saturday?!? They couldn't get you home until Saturday??". Until I remembered the absolute mess that Irene had made....and then it makes much more sense. That's great that you were able to get to DC for Thursday, a bit less worrying about being stuck in Florida!

Hopefully after you got a bit more settled, you were able to enjoy the extended vacation!!

Yeah, I was like....what? Saturday? I had been thinking we would just be pushed back one day. I was wrong there.

I have to say....two trips this year and both of them had major travelling issues! First the blizzard, then a hurricane. Both times....rerouting through DC.

I'm sure we will be able to enjoy a few more days in Orlando.....

 

[shan23877]

That hotel room would have creeped me out too! I'm glad that they switched your room, and gave you some freebies to make it up to you.

Looking forward to more, but I have to admit that just thinking about you guys having to extend the vacation with no planning makes me nervous. I couldn't have handled it!

 

[MEK]

Wow - I totally did not expect that much of a delay. Crazy. On Monday we were heading down to our condo in Williamsburg, once we were assured they had electricity. But a lot of merchants did not have electricity until Tuesday.

I know what you mean about being able to extend your vacation - you always SAY you want to, but do you REALLY? I think mentally I prepare for the exact length of my vacation so if it runs over it just feels wrong.

Good for you for doing the priceline thing. I might have done the exact same thing for the cost savings.

I'm curious to see what you do for the next couple days. I hope it was fun!

 

[petals]

I don't know how calm I could have been if all that happened to me. It must have been hard to try figure out what you were going to do though and figuring if you could afford it. Alot of people go on holiady only budgeting for the week or two weeks they are there. What were you supposed to do if you had no money left with you and the airline couldn't fly you home for a few more days like

 

[marDgreen88]

Wow, that sounds like it was a stressful day! Irene was no fun.

Um, your hallway story has me totally creeped out. How did they mistakenly place you in a hallway they know is being renovated? Awkward. I hope it ended up being a nice place to stay!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Wow, what a day that you had! A lot of things to figure out. You're so right, you take things for granted when you have internet access immediately on hand. At least you got it all figured out. Except I would have gone with POP. But that's because I just love Disney. I would feel like I was cheating if I stayed off property.

 

[LilAnn]

That hotel room would have creeped me out too! I'm glad that they switched your room, and gave you some freebies to make it up to you.

Looking forward to more, but I have to admit that just thinking about you guys having to extend the vacation with no planning makes me nervous. I couldn't have handled it!

Yes, the creepy hallway definitely tainted the first room!. We've stayed at much worse places (prior to having the little princess) but this was just a let down since we wre expecting something much nicer. We've gotten spoiled with our previous priceline wins. It was really nice that they gave us so many little freebies even though we didn't ask for it. Helped with the extended vacay.

Yes, that was a stressful day - just trying to figure out all the logistics of actually staying longer. And how to get home from DC....that wasn't as simple as we thought either.

Wow - I totally did not expect that much of a delay. Crazy. On Monday we were heading down to our condo in Williamsburg, once we were assured they had electricity. But a lot of merchants did not have electricity until Tuesday.

I know what you mean about being able to extend your vacation - you always SAY you want to, but do you REALLY? I think mentally I prepare for the exact length of my vacation so if it runs over it just feels wrong.

Good for you for doing the priceline thing. I might have done the exact same thing for the cost savings.

I'm curious to see what you do for the next couple days. I hope it was fun!

Oh, we did not expect that kind of a delay either. It was definitely a shock. I was just thinking a day, maybe two, but a week?! we had plans to go to Ocean City, MD with my family over Labor Day so we had to call them to see if they had electricity or were badly affected.

Yes, you said it perfectly. You always talk about extending the vacation, but the logistics of it all are just stressful. It's different if we had extended the stay in the planning stages as opposed to this impromptu surprise. This was the very reason I have always been hesitant to travel during hurricane season.

Yes, we ultimately decided on Hotwire/Priceline because we still wanted to stay at a nice place that would make us feel like we were still on vacation while not having to pay an arm and a leg for it. It's just hard because you are stuck with what you get when doing things last minute. I would have been happier at the Pop. But hard to argue with a cheaper hotel that supposed to be nicer.

I don't know how calm I could have been if all that happened to me. It must have been hard to try figure out what you were going to do though and figuring if you could afford it. Alot of people go on holiady only budgeting for the week or two weeks they are there. What were you supposed to do if you had no money left with you and the airline couldn't fly you home for a few more days like

Yes, we were lucky that we had a bit of a contingency fund but it's not like we really had a choice there. We had to make it work and I was not about to drive from Florida all the way home. It would have taken us just as long! Honestly the hotel was the most expensive part of it. We were able to get a good deal for a rental car in Florida from the internet and when you eat outside the parks, food can be a lot cheaper. Now if my family didn't live in DC, I don't know what we would have done.

Wow, that sounds like it was a stressful day! Irene was no fun.

Um, your hallway story has me totally creeped out. How did they mistakenly place you in a hallway they know is being renovated? Awkward. I hope it ended up being a nice place to stay!

Right? I can only imagine the trouble Irene would have caused if she had stayed as strong as she was in the beginning.

Again, right? How did they place us on a floor that was being worked on? Creepy.

Oh - and are you still watching Once? Because I am loving the latest episodes, Red's back story and the Mad Hatter? Genius.

Wow, what a day that you had! A lot of things to figure out. You're so right, you take things for granted when you have internet access immediately on hand. At least you got it all figured out. Except I would have gone with POP. But that's because I just love Disney. I would feel like I was cheating if I stayed off property.

Yeah, I was voting for the Pop too. I didn't mind the beds and it's always fun there. But hard to argue with the hubby when he said we could get a 4 star hotel for less than the Pop. It's okay though, we still had Stacy tv at this hotel!

 

[marDgreen88]

Oh - and are you still watching Once? Because I am loving the latest episodes, Red's back story and the Mad Hatter? Genius.

Of course! I totally agree, it's getting so interesting! It's funny, I guess more of the residents of Storybrook know who they really are than we thought! Red's story was intense! I never expected that, I thought it was a really cool twist. I felt so sorry for her poor boyfriend though. He was hot. Also, I had never even thought to think about the Mad Hatter's backstory, so I like how they explained it! You have to feel bad for the guy, even with the crazy.

I also love how Emma is starting to really put it together and realize that it actually might be true. Ah it's so good. SO GOOD.

 

[LilAnn]

Of course! I totally agree, it's getting so interesting! It's funny, I guess more of the residents of Storybrook know who they really are than we thought! Red's story was intense! I never expected that, I thought it was a really cool twist. I felt so sorry for her poor boyfriend though. He was hot. Also, I had never even thought to think about the Mad Hatter's backstory, so I like how they explained it! You have to feel bad for the guy, even with the crazy.

I also love how Emma is starting to really put it together and realize that it actually might be true. Ah it's so good. SO GOOD.

Right? LOVED Red's story, And I loved that they continued it into the next episode when she was with Charming and she was like - GO! Run, get a head start!

And I loved the Hatter's back story. But I also happen to like Sebastian Stan so I still found him hot ....in the real world scenario, not with his crazy fairytale world hairdo. Although ....seriously Emma? Have you never heard of stranger danger? sure, come into my car. Sure! Let me check out the inside of your house. Sure, I'd love a drink that is being offered from a strange man that I found wandering around in the creepy forest at night.

Can't wait for next week and the reveal of why the queen hates Snow!