What Happens at the Beach Club... Travels with Teens, Take Two, (PTR) 4/6 p. 29

[natebenma]

A VERY MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY FRIENDS AND YOUR FAMILIES!!!





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[natebenma]

I will check with you before my 7 month mark (which will be March 18).

It's a plan!

Your pictures of the slide views are gorgeous. A little bit of heaven!

Thanks! I think I actually enjoy seeing the sights from the stairs and platform of the slide as much as I like using the slide.

I have even gone up at night to watch the Illuminations fireworks from that vantage point.

As you slooooowly wrap up your two day stay I just want to say thanks for taking us along and for all the time you spent taking the pictures so we can experience the trip vicariously through your lense. It's been a real pleasure.

Katesdad

I appreciate you joining in the journey.

I am lucky that I was able to get together with so many wonderful friends on this trip, but there are so many more people (like yourself) who I hope to cross paths with on future trips.

Got behind this week!

Love all the pictures you took from the Blue Line! What a gorgeous day!

Boo for waiting 35 minutes for a bus! That's a drag. Good thing someone with good bus karma came along!

Love all the pictures from SAB! I love that you took pictures from the slide. I am definitely not brave enough to ride the slide or take pictures from up there. What a great perspective.

So glad you got some swimming in before having to head home. And boo for heading home, but yay for seeing your family again!

Funny reading your comment about the gorgeous day. I posted some pictures of the solo trip on FB yesterday, and Mark saw them for the first time. I didn't want to rub his nose in it. He commented "Oh, yeah, you went on a solo trip this year. Weather looks like it was great!" And it was. The only rain I saw was on the Magical Express on the way to the Beach Club. Blue skies the rest of the time, but it was Hot! Hot! Hot!

I was regretting my choice to take the bus instead of the monorail at that point. Good thing Janet came along with her good bus karma because otherwise I might still be there!

The views on the way up to the slide are really gorgeous.

The swim was really nice. I really needed to do something to cool off before tackling my trip home.

You took some very nice pictures of the kiddie pool area at the slide entrance. It is a really nice little pool and slide for families with young kids. I bet that a lot of people don't even know that it is there.

Thanks! You are absolutely correct about that kiddie area. I didn't know about that until after my second trip to the Beach Club, which was when I started managing the FAQ thread. I had to rely on others to provide pictures because even though I had been on the big slide, I never noticed that whole pool area on the other side!

 

[natebenma]

Alas- the end of my trip was here.

I changed into dry clothes using the bathroom in the BC/YC passageway. I took a couple of pictures as I made my way to the Marketplace to take care of an oversight. In my very brief stay, I had not yet had a Mickey bar!







I purchased some salt water taffy as a gift for my family and a Mickey Bar to hopefully cheer me up as I waited for the Cruelest Ride of All. I went out to the waiting area, retrieved my carryon from the valet, and unwrapped my bar.

Which was already starting to melt all over my hand as I was trying to pack away the taffy I purchased into the carryon.

I managed to finish up the bar. My hands were a bit sticky, but I was able to run into the lobby, get a cup of water and wet a napkin to wash my hands.

The bus arrived and I settled in, but I had a problem. My phone was very low on charge, and I needed it for a couple of important reasons. My husband had checked me in for my Southwest flight the night before, and I had a pretty good boarding number B3. My boarding pass was stored on my phone, but I was afraid that by the time I needed to show it, I wouldn’t be able to turn on my phone.



I also had plans to meet someone when I arrived at MCO so I wanted to let her know I was on my way.

Fortunately, it wasn’t too bad when I got to the airport and I made it through security without any issue.

In fact, according to my texts, I was on the Tragical Depress at 3:30, in the security line at 4:28 and on the tram to the gate area at 4:36.

When I arrived at the Southwest gate area, I saw my friend. When I changed my flight on my departure day from morning to evening, I realized that Teena and I would be at the airport at the same time. She was flying out to Vegas to help her daughter set up her classroom at school.



She was scheduled to board at 5:30 and I was scheduled to board at 6:30, but both of our flights ended up getting delayed a little bit. Teena and I had a fantastic time chatting and we even had a visit from my roomie Rebecca before she and her mom were boarding their flight home.

I once again found a window seat and was joined by some members of an extended family who took up a couple of rows next to me and behind me.

I was exhausted! I had 4 hours of sleep Sunday night and a whopping 5 hours on Monday. I do not usually have any luck sleeping on planes, although I was somewhat optimistic since I was so tired and because for the first time ever I was able to sleep on a redeye on our way home from Hawaii.

But it was not to be. There was a crying baby a couple rows back. Since the baby was part of the family that was surrounding me, at one point the girl sitting directly behind me, who was about 10 or 11, ended up holding the baby. The baby was fine for a little while, then started fussing, so the baby was given back to her mom (a couple rows back) and then she was quiet. But the girl who had been holding the baby started whining for the next 10 minutes or so

“Mooooooommmmm! I want Liiiiiillllly!!!! Give Lily baaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaack! Mooooooommmm!!!!”

She kept repeating this for the next 10 minutes. Right.Behind.Me.

I wanted to turn around and tell her “You are a little too old to be whining like that. Lily is finally quiet. Can you try it?”

But I didn’t.

At least there was a pretty sunset I could watch as I was flying home:








I had not eaten since lunch at Be Our Guest and the Mickey Bar around 3 pm. By the time we landed around 9:30, I was hungry and had a pounding headache.




The rest of my return home went reasonably well. Got on the parking shuttle that took me to my car, drove home in about 45 minutes. Mark had work the next day, so he was already in bed and Nate was up in his room. Ben was “asleep” on the couch.

At the beginning of my trip, when I was at the airport on my way to Florida, Mark texted me this taunting photo:





Since I was going to be gone for a couple of days and couldn't do anything about it, they stocked up on candy from Sam’s Club.


I returned home to this on the kitchen table (2 days later):





And then I heard a giggle. Ben was awake and heard me come in. He had hidden a lot of the candy to trick me.

Home Sweet Home!




*****************************************************************************


to everyone who followed along on this trip with me. I truly wish all our friends could have been with us, but I know many of you were there in spirit.

I still have lots more to write about my Disneyland/Hawaii trip over on the DL subforum, and I will use the space here to talk about my upcoming trip plans in 2015.


First up is a trip to the Dark Side in about a month and a half. I'll be writing a trip report when we return from there.




In June, I will be accompanying Ben and his friends on their 8th grade class trip to Disney. You will DEFINITELY be hearing about that!




And in August, we will be taking a family trip to a place we have never been before. Be sure to pack your pic-i-nic baskets for that adventure.

 

[HockeyMomR]

Dee - I am playing Dis catch up today. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Awww - Welcome home. Tragical Depress is truly the cruelest ride of all. On the up side was nice you had a visit with Teena at the the airport. Sorry to hear your flight was not peaceful.

You really did pack a lot into those few days. Thank you for bringing us along (some of us literally ). Good memories for years to come.

Rebecca

 

[Wood Nymph]

It was really nice to have that extra time with Teena and Rebecca and her mom while waiting for your flight home. Thanks for posting about your Dismeet and vacation. It was nice to follow along.

 

[eandesmom]

LOVE the slide pictures and if you have to leave, one last slide and a Mickey bar are a darn good note to end on.

As is having extra time with Teena!

UGH on Lily, and her sister but I am totally cracking up at the candy prank!

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Aw Dee thanks for taking us on your wonderful trip. Cant believe you almost didn't get a Mickey Bar thank goodness you had time (just about) to rectify that huge misdemeanour
Cant believe you got a whiney 10YR OLD-behind you on the plane but I love the pictures and I'm glad you manages one last chat with Teena and Rebecca. At least that eased the pain and you had hopes of candy at home Well done Ben on the prank-love his sense of humour
Really looking forward to all your upcoming trips.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you, and everyone else, health, happiness and prosperity for 2015 xx

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Ooooh I never even thought about a dead phone when showing a boarding pass. In this day of over-technology, I still prefer paper, lol. (And yes, that also refers to FP).

Oh wow, how nice that you got to meet up with Teena at the airport. Another great benefit to a later flight.

Oh dear, nothing like a 10 year old being noisier than the baby.

I'm still so amazed at how much you did in such a short amount of time. You definitely made the most of it. Thank you for sharing this most unique trip report Dee!!!

 

[natebenma]

Dee - I am playing Dis catch up today. Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!!!

Awww - Welcome home. Tragical Depress is truly the cruelest ride of all. On the up side was nice you had a visit with Teena at the the airport. Sorry to hear your flight was not peaceful.

You really did pack a lot into those few days. Thank you for bringing us along (some of us literally ). Good memories for years to come.

Rebecca

Same to you and your family!

It was nice knowing at least there would be a friendly face when I arrived at the airport. I'm glad you came over for a bit as well before you left.

I had a great trip and it wasn't until I look back at what I have written that I realized how much I got out of this short trip.

Once again, I owe you sincere thanks for helping to make this a possibility for me. I had a blast staying with you and your mom!

It was really nice to have that extra time with Teena and Rebecca and her mom while waiting for your flight home. Thanks for posting about your Dismeet and vacation. It was nice to follow along.

Having friends around certainly made the time waiting at the airport more pleasant.

I really appreciate you following along and commenting on the report.

LOVE the slide pictures and if you have to leave, one last slide and a Mickey bar are a darn good note to end on.

As is having extra time with Teena!

UGH on Lily, and her sister but I am totally cracking up at the candy prank!

I pretty much squeezed about everything I could out of that trip. I think I actually spent more time at Stormalong Bay during my two day trip than I have on longer trips with my family.

The visit with Teena was wonderful. We really have only been together face-to-face a few times. In the Beach Club Lobby. At dinner with my family. At the meet events. But this was the first time we spent one on one time, just the two of us.

I still smile when I see the pictures of the full and empty candy bowl. Well played, Ben.

Aw Dee thanks for taking us on your wonderful trip. Cant believe you almost didn't get a Mickey Bar thank goodness you had time (just about) to rectify that huge misdemeanour
Cant believe you got a whiney 10YR OLD-behind you on the plane but I love the pictures and I'm glad you manages one last chat with Teena and Rebecca. At least that eased the pain and you had hopes of candy at home Well done Ben on the prank-love his sense of humour
Really looking forward to all your upcoming trips.
Hope you had a wonderful Christmas and wishing you, and everyone else, health, happiness and prosperity for 2015 xx

I know! Mickey Bars are soooooo good. When I was on the class trip with Nate and we had dinner at the All Star Movies food court, I always chose a Mickey Bar for dessert even though there were a lot of other choices.

It was like a continuation of our meet right there at MCO! So fun.

The kid behind me was way too old to be whining the way she was and I could not believe how long it went on. Or that her mother didn't tell her to knock it off!

Thank you for the goodwill for Christmas and the new year. I send the same wishes right back to your family!

Ooooh I never even thought about a dead phone when showing a boarding pass. In this day of over-technology, I still prefer paper, lol. (And yes, that also refers to FP).

Oh wow, how nice that you got to meet up with Teena at the airport. Another great benefit to a later flight.

Oh dear, nothing like a 10 year old being noisier than the baby.

I'm still so amazed at how much you did in such a short amount of time. You definitely made the most of it. Thank you for sharing this most unique trip report Dee!!!

Oh, the scenarios that were going through my head! Am I going to have to step aside to plug in my phone to charge it before I could get through security. I really wanted to get to the gate quickly because I knew my time visiting with Teena would be limited.

Fortunately, there was enough charge and as soon as I got to the gate area, I plugged in my phone in one of the outlets.

It was nice killing some time with Teena. It worked out so great that I was able to change my flight from the morning to evening- I probably still would have had time for breakfast with my original plans, but the visit to MK, lunch at Be Our Guest and my afternoon swim wouldn't have happened otherwise.

I can forgive the baby for making noise but the girl really should have known better. Or the parents could have intervened.

Thank you so much for coming along on my "solo" trip.

 

[KatMark]

It truly is the cruelest ride ever. But so glad you got to spend more time with Teena; I'm guessing that made up for it a bit.

I don't know if I could have held my tongue with the 10/11 year old. But thankfully the baby settled down.

Great sunset pictures.

I am over the hidden candy.

I loved following along with you, Dee, and can't wait for the next adventure (after you finish the Hawaii adventure of course).

 

[mickeystoontown]

Deeeeeeeee, I don't wannnnnnnt your report to ennnnnnnd! (said with the same tone of voice as the ten year old behind you on the plane) It's nice that you were able to spend some time with Teena at the airport and even say goodbye to Rebecca and her mom again.

The hidden candy joke was too funny! Sounds like something that our family would do.

 

[hill6]

Happy New Year Dee.

The ride back to the airport is always the worst.

So glad though you got to see Teena at the airport.

Can't wait to find out where the August trip is to.

 

[JanetMom]

So sad to have your trip report end. Only you could make such a small trip such a big trip, with a big trip report at the end.

Loved following along with your trip, via your report and in person at points!

Looking forward to your next trip report which will no doubt feature more amusement from Ben.

 

[MickeyT]

Thanks Dee. I know I didnt post but followed along for the whole ride (real time and TR).

 

[natebenma]

It truly is the cruelest ride ever. But so glad you got to spend more time with Teena; I'm guessing that made up for it a bit.

I don't know if I could have held my tongue with the 10/11 year old. But thankfully the baby settled down.

Great sunset pictures.

I am over the hidden candy.

I loved following along with you, Dee, and can't wait for the next adventure (after you finish the Hawaii adventure of course).

Probably the first time I ever looked forward to the Tragical Depress ride. Loved having extra Teena-time.

I am usually pretty tolerant, and I certainly don't blame the baby for being uncomfortable and making noise, but the girl was just unbearable!

The candy prank was pretty funny.

Thank you so much for following along on this report.

Deeeeeeeee, I don't wannnnnnnt your report to ennnnnnnd! (said with the same tone of voice as the ten year old behind you on the plane)

That cracked me up Lisa! Thanks for the smile.

It's nice that you were able to spend some time with Teena at the airport and even say goodbye to Rebecca and her mom again.

I really enjoyed being at the airport with my friends.

The hidden candy joke was too funny! Sounds like something that our family would do.

You're right. I can totally see your family trying something like that.



Thank you so much for joining me on my "solo" trip.

Happy New Year Dee.

The ride back to the airport is always the worst.

So glad though you got to see Teena at the airport.

Can't wait to find out where the August trip is to.

Happy New Year to you, too!

There was an upside, a light at the end of the tunnel of this ME ride.

I'll post another hint to my August trip in the next post after this response.



Thanks so much for reading!

So sad to have your trip report end. Only you could make such a small trip such a big trip, with a big trip report at the end.

Loved following along with your trip, via your report and in person at points!

Looking forward to your next trip report which will no doubt feature more amusement from Ben.

What a nice way to say "Boy, she sure goes on and on..."

Loved having you along on this report, but loved meeting you in person even more!

I am really looking forward to the Disney trip with Ben. And his friends. I think!

Thanks Dee. I know I didnt post but followed along for the whole ride (real time and TR).

Thank you, Mike! You were truly missed. I appreciate you reading along.

 

[natebenma]

August Trip


Hint Number 1: Pack your pic-i-nic basket.

Hint Number 2: What will I say when I bid farewell to Nate as he heads off to college?


.

 

[Wood Nymph]

And in August, we will be taking a family trip to a place we have never been before. Be sure to pack your pic-i-nic baskets for that adventure.

For #1-
Yellowstone National Park

I'm smarter than the av - er - age bear.

 

[natebenma]

For #1-
Yellowstone National Park

I'm smarter than the av - er - age bear.

Ding! Ding! Ding!

You got it, Sue!




Clue #2- What will I say when I bid farewell to Nate as he heads off to college?

"Bye, Son!"

 

[tarak]

Ooh, Yellowstone! I really want to visit there one of these days. It will have to wait until my youngest is a good bit older. Vacations with a toddler are a bit more bearable in the Disney bubble.

Ugh at the kid behind you. I swear, when deciding to have kids, one priority was to make sure I didn't allow them I act like complete jack wagons. Lessons like don't kick the seat in front of you, don't bang your flatware on the table, try to behave like you're ten and not two - these are important.

 

[luvpoohandcompany]

Ding! Ding! Ding!

You got it, Sue!




Clue #2- What will I say when I bid farewell to Nate as he heads off to college?

"Bye, Son!"

What age will Nate be when he goes to college? Connor is 17 and has this year and next year left of school so will be almost 19 but he is the older end of his year (sept birthday-June birthdays are the youngest).