What exactly DID you do at Disney? May 2011 TR (TR link pg 44)

[pinkxray]

Arrival at VWL
After our lunch we were ready to finally make our way to Disney. I was a bit bummed that we since we took the road that leads past DTD we missed the Disney arch.

DH had no idea where we were staying and was very confused why I kept telling him to head for Magic Kingdom. He thought I was trying to trick him into heading right to a park as soon as we arrived.

MK is one of my favorite places and it is so cool to have to pass through the MK entrance to get to your resort.

We arrived around 1:45 and went to check in. Our room was ready so we headed right over to check it out.
First thing DH always has to do on vacation-

What is the first thing you are going to do at Disney? Lay down- at least he didn’t go to sleep.

We needed to leave by at least 4:45 to get to Sci-fi but DH didn’t really want to do anything. He just wanted to relax. Luckily for him it soon started to pour outside. Caitlin and DH watched a bit of TV while I headed to RF to get our refillable mugs. By the time I got back Caitlin was miserable. “This is so boring!”

I felt bad for her b/c who wants to spend your first few hours in the room but there was no point heading out when it was raining so hard.

She decided she was going to wash the dishes b/c there was nothing else to do. That’s right. You are in Disneyworld, at the Wilderness Lodge and there is nothing to do but wash the dishes.

I offered to take her to expore the hotel but she didn’t want to go. She kept whining and back talking which landed her in time out. I have a lovely picture of her in her time out corner, but I would be such a mean mother to post that. It only took her about 3 hours after we arrived to get sent to time out. Must be a record.


Up next: Will the rain ever stop? Do we ever leave the room?

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the Wilderness Lodge! It is our favourite resort (that we have stayed at). Bummer about the rain ruining your plans/first few hours.

 

[amandaw]

I caught up on your trip report while at work last night. I couldn't post since I don't like being logged in at work but I am loving your trip report!

I can't believe you DH doesn't even want to try AKL. I am going to have a hard time getting DH and DD to ever stay anywhere else.

Awww, thanks for hopping on over & checking out my trip report! I'm really glad you're enjoying it!

Yeah, I don't know what the hang up is with my DH & AKL. But it's ok, I just say "Ok" (for now) when he tells me no. I know one day we'll stay there. It may be much later down the road, but I'll stay there at least once. All I have to do is talk about it enough &, eventually, he will say "yes" to staying there...just to shut me up!

Another great update tonight! What is it with guys that they have to lay down in the bed as soon as we get in the hotel room? My DH has to lay down & put the tv on ESPN right away.

 

[Queila]

That rain on Saturday afternoon just did not want to let up, did it? We were trying to meet some special characters at world showcase at that time but it was just not happening.

That is too bed Caitlyn was not in a good mood. I understand hoe frustrating it can be to try to keep everybody happy.

Cannot wait to find out what you did the rest of the day.

Q

 

[ksl5f123]

Oh my! Washing dishes for entertainment. That is sort of and sort of .

I loved your resort review thread. It was REALLY informative. We stayed at AKL back in 2006 and I loved it.

I am really glad you didn't have any trouble with your rented points. We will probably be doing that some time in the future.

The theming in the VWL rooms isn't very impressive. They could have done so much more with that space.

 

[Nermel9]

I didn't even know there was a way you could enter Disney World and not go under the arch!

The room at VWL looks pretty nice, I never thought they were from the pictures I've looked at, but it's cute!

 

[bouncycat]

I wanna stay at WL one day!!! Been working on our photopass, just gotta get started on our TR. We popped over yesterday to DHS to get Amanda's R2D2 bucket, now I got a box FULL of stuff that was forgotten to mail to her!! That always happens, so not a big deal.

 

[pinkxray]

Oh my! Washing dishes for entertainment. That is sort of and sort of .

I loved your resort review thread. It was REALLY informative. We stayed at AKL back in 2006 and I loved it.

I am really glad you didn't have any trouble with your rented points. We will probably be doing that some time in the future.

The theming in the VWL rooms isn't very impressive. They could have done so much more with that space.

I was kind of surprised that she wanted to do the dishes. She has never offered to do them at home.

I was happy renting points worked out. It will be hard to book through Disney again unless they have some good deals.

I thought the VWL looked much cuter in person, along with BCV studios. I thought the BCV looked so ugly in the pictures but it was kind of cute once we got there. I still like the regular rooms better though.

That rain on Saturday afternoon just did not want to let up, did it? We were trying to meet some special characters at world showcase at that time but it was just not happening.

That is too bed Caitlyn was not in a good mood. I understand hoe frustrating it can be to try to keep everybody happy.

Cannot wait to find out what you did the rest of the day.


Q

I was happy we got the rain out of the way. The next few days ended up being perfect and then towards the weekend it got way too hot.

I felt bad for Caitlin. I would have just taken her to the parks myself but I had to wait for DH to go for the first time. I'll get to the reason in my next update.

I didn't even know there was a way you could enter Disney World and not go under the arch!

The room at VWL looks pretty nice, I never thought they were from the pictures I've looked at, but it's cute!

There is probably only on way to miss the arch and we found it. Steak and Shake is right up the street from where all the restaurants are in the crossroads section so we took that entrance. I was sad I couldn't get the picture of the arch on the first day. Next trip we are going straight to the hotel instead of making John's stupid lunch breaks at Sonics or Steak and Shake.

I thought the room at VWL was cute. I just always felt like I should look out the window and see snow.

I wanna stay at WL one day!!! Been working on our photopass, just gotta get started on our TR. We popped over yesterday to DHS to get Amanda's R2D2 bucket, now I got a box FULL of stuff that was forgotten to mail to her!! That always happens, so not a big deal.

I just ordered my photopass CD. Didn't take long since we kept forgetting about it and barely got any pictures.

Looking back I wish I got the R2D2 bucket but I always buy the souvenir buckets and never have a place for them. I did get the Darth Vader cupcake though.

 

[AKL LOVER]

So excited that another person has joined the 'I LOVE AKL' fan club!! Isn't it the best? Glad that you guys loved it so much! The smell of the lobby as you walk in is one of my favorite smells. EVER.

*sigh*

seeing your pictures and posting about it makes me wish I was back there. And here I thought that I was ready to move on and stay at a different resort next trip...

 

[pinkxray]

The afternoon passed very, very slowly while waiting for the time we could first head to a park. I wanted to take Caitlin to MK while DH relaxed but unfortunately I needed him there for our first visit to the parks. We had to get our tickets and I wasn’t sure if he need to physically be there or not.

I ordered our tickets in advance through Undercover Tourists. They arrived quickly and for a few days they sat on the table by the front door where we put our mail. After a few days I decided I should put them in a safe place. I could swear I put them in a safe place but a week later when I went to look for them I couldn’t find them. Either they are now in a very, very safe hiding spot or they got mixed in with some junk mail and thrown away. I panicked a bit and worried I would have to replace the tickets for another $800 or whatever the cost was. Then, I came on the boards and found out that the tickets could be replaced if you had a picture of the back. Luckily undercover tourist takes a photocopy of the back of the tickets before they mail them to you. I e-mailed them and they quickly sent me a copy of the tickets. So if you ever get tickets separate from your room key take a picture of the back, even if you do it with your cell phone (that is what the lady who gave us our new tickets said to do)

Around 4:00 we headed to DHS. The rain had stopped and we made it to DHS quickly. We headed right for guest relations and DH was quick to tell the lady that I had lost our tickets making it very clear that I was the one who lost them, not him. I gave her the copy of the tickets from UT and she handed us our new tickets. She also gave us 3 fast passes that could be used at TOT or the roller coaster which was very nice of her.

We had some time to kill before our adr at Sci-fi. DHS was pretty dead since the rain had cleared everyone out. We hardly saw anyone in the park but there was still a long wait for Star Tours and TSM. I guess everyone in the park was on one of those rides.

I had heard there could be some rare characters at the Animation building on non Fantasmic days so we headed over there.

They had the regular Sorcerer Mickey and the Incredibles along with a few other s scattered around. Leo and Annie from the Little Einsteins, Genie, Winnie the Pooh, and Mary Poppins with her Penguins.

No one wanted to wait to see Genie so I snapped his picture while waiting for Mary, since I have never seen him out before.

We found out which character we are most like.

Caitlin got Nala which she was happy with at first.

Of course she exclaimed “No Fair!” when I got Belle.

DH got Aladdin.

I really wanted to do the Animation class which was starting soon but it was voted on. Can you guess how that turned out? I was of course outvoted and we moved on.

Caitlin and DH checked out some Pirates of the Caribbean toys that Caitlin ended up buying a few days later.

We strolled up the empty Streets of America.

There was a lady standing on the corner and she asked DH to take her picture where Cailtin and I just were. He said sure. She asked him to try to get the all the buildings in the picture. And then, right when he was ready she knelt down. How are you supposed to get the tops of the buildings with you kneeling down, lady? Then, she wanted one standing and in this pose- no wait this pose.

After DH shot her photo shoot we checked in at Sci-fi. They asked us if we wanted one row and two and I thought one could work since I was pretty lonely last year in a row all by myself. We ended up being in the last row of a car that had a the other 5 rows around us occupied by a large party. It didn’t bother me but DH said next time we’re getting the 2 rows.

We enjoyed our dinner even if our server was a bit strange. He did take some pictures for us and would tell us when to have our cameras ready to catch something on the screen which was nice.

There were lots of empty cars which is another reason it was strange to be sat with the large party. I assumed when they asked it was busy, but the place was half empty. I am guessing a lot of people left the park b/c of the rain and cancelled.

After dinner we headed back to our room and watched a little TV before going to bed. We had to be well rested for our first full day at Disney.

 

[crostorfer]

[QUOTE I was happy we got the rain out of the way. The next few days ended up being perfect and then towards the weekend it got way too hot.[/QUOTE]

We were delayed an hour and a half trying to leave Atlanta because of the storms that rolled through the area, we were an hour late boarding, then sat on the tarmak for another 30 minutes, THEN, we had to divert around the storm clouds so the flight took another half hour longer than it should have. Didn't make for a magical start for us either.

I totally agree, the weather at the beginning of the week was perfect, it was almost too cool in the evenings. I wish I would have packed jeans and sweatshirts, we ended up buying hoodies just to survive on Sunday and Monday night in particular. We went to Blizzard Beach on Monday and it was almost too chilly to be there when the sun was under a cloud. But by the end of the week, I was ready to come home. Thursday was bad, Friday was worse. I was miserable by lunch time and ready to come back to 60 degree weather here.

 

[KatMark]

Glad to see you've arrived at WL; too funny that Caitlin was bored and decided to do the dishes. Does she do this at home when it rains too?

Great pictures at DHS by the streets and in Sci Fi.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Nice mix of characters in the animation building.

How odd that they seated you with that large party when there were so many empty tables.

 

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Doing a little trip report pimping. I just started my new report and thought I would let you know.

Feeling Hot Hot Hot! The Rain Curse is Broken! Two Weeks of Fun in the Sun!

 

[All7OfUs]

Yippee, caught up !!! Boo for all that rain that reduced you to doing dishes. I can certainly understand a bit of whining for that!

I've never seen the penguins out with Mary! How cool! And what a treat to get a set of FiPs too. gotta love that!

 

[amandaw]

I'm so glad the rain finally stopped so y'all could get out! I love going to the Animation building to try & catch lots of characters. I was sorry we didn't get to go there on our last trip.

 

[Disneyfreak616]

I'm in! It's funny because I have the shirt and the ears that Caitlin has in your intro pic...and I'm 16.

Great job so far!

 

[bouncycat]

Loved the Sci-Fi update!! I don't like not facing people there with the eating!! That's my issue. So what's this about a Darth Vader cupcake?? What is it and where can I find it? We're going back this saturday for the passholder lanyard, and maybe can try to find it LOL I did get the passholder shirt, and I LOVE it, I got one and the pin for our Niece, she was grateful!! She also got a cd of the disney music they played at DTD cause she loved it so much!!!

 

[Queila]

There was nobody at DHS that day because everybody was at Epcot!! That place was a zoo!

Loving that smooching picture.
Q

 

[pinkxray]

So excited that another person has joined the 'I LOVE AKL' fan club!! Isn't it the best? Glad that you guys loved it so much! The smell of the lobby as you walk in is one of my favorite smells. EVER.

*sigh*

seeing your pictures and posting about it makes me wish I was back there. And here I thought that I was ready to move on and stay at a different resort next trip...

I wish I was back there right now. I'm starting to settle back into reality and already I am ready for a vacation. Everything around the house is breaking this week and then my car decided to die the other day. I am hoping I just need a new battery b/c I am not looking forward to any large car repair bills right now.

AKL is awesome. I can see why you like it so much. Kidani is a new resort to you isn't it?

There are still a few resorts I would like to try but I might save those for times when DH doesn't come with us or since Sat. night costs so much more just do a one night stay in a value or moderate before moving to AKL.

The only think I didn't love was those people in the lobby with the red shirts in the early evening. The lobby was always packed with them. Are those DVC reps or something?