Who Invited My Mother In Law? A Moderately Deluxe TR All New X 3 & PTR Link 2/3 !!

[shan23877]

I just love your trip report and not just because my name is Shannon too! Maddie is awesome for riding ToT. My Tink has ridden ToT every trip because she forgets about the drop and I always "forget" to remind her about it!

Welcome Shannon!! Thank you so much!

I would 'foget' too. I wish Maddie would forget a few things that she didn't love.

I hope you are feeling better.

I loved the ToT story. So wonderful that Maddie was brave enough to try again and even better that she enjoyed it!!!!

One question, however: how in the world did you manage to end it there? I would have been forced to ride at least 10 times in a row if there had been no wait.

Thanks Roni!

I was so glad that she enjoyed it. That's a ride Bryan and I both really enjoy, so it's nice that we get to ride it now!

I'm not sure! I know that Miss Willow would have been taking advantage of ToT having no wait!

How brave going on TOT - you would not get me on it!!

Lol! We love it, so I was hoping that she would.

Hey, I found your first TR awhile ago, and I am proud to say I am finally caught up! I can't wait for the next update.

Thank you so much for joining in! Don't be a stranger!

Hello my friend! I am finally getting caught up on all my threads! I never in a million years thought I would be so busy getting Shanleigh ready to start University I am confident I will be able to keep up now!

I loved the story of Maddie on ToT....so happy you took her back to the CM's at the entrance!!!

Hi Queen (forgive me-I don't want to butcher the spelling of your name)! So glad to see you back on the Dis! Don't you worry about staying current here, I don't move that fast!

Thanks! She was so excited to have some cool girls to share her triumph with.

How are you and Shanleigh adjusting to university?

I'm finally caught up Shannon!

That is awesome that you got to ride TSMM 3x's!

We have never seen VoTLM. We will have to try next time.

I love those photopass pics of Maddie in front of B&tB. So adorable!

50s looks good! I love that kind of food but Chad does not. And I know he would not like the antics & I'm not sure I would either. Maybe when the kids are older or if my parents ever went with us. I think they would like it.

Wow I am so impressed tht Maddie rode TOT! She is so brave! I'm glad the CMs were excited for her that's too cute.

Sounds like a busy day! Unwinding at the pool is always a good idea.

How's it going Megan? Are you guys getting into a groove?

We had a fun morning! TSMM was a great way to start.

I'd never seen PP there before, but we got some really cute pics.

We're comfort food people, so it was perfect for us. I hope you get to try it some day!

She was so proud of herself!

Catching up!

Kadence loves the Great Movie ride! It's one of the only dark rides she'll do. All because the Wizard of Oz. Loves the movie and anything to do it. It's good for a rest, and that what we use it for!

TOT! I just showed this to Kadence and she is very impressed with Maddie right now! That Maddie is 5 is even more awesome to my soon to be 9, scaredy cat.

I think swimming would have been my choice, until I saw the cheerleaders!

Whats for Dinner?! I'm hungry!

Hi Carey! GMR is a nice break, and shorter than ISAW, so I'll take it.

I hope Kadence tries it some day! I love that ride!

Oh the cheerleaders.

Yay! You guys got Maddie on ToT, and it was successful! That's an awesome day! Ugh, those cheerleaders were the woooorst, nearing the end of our trip I noticed more and more and more groups, cheer, band, grad trips, etc, everything!!!

P.s. Is Ariel Maddie's favorite princess?

She loved it! I was so happy for her.

Yeah, toward the end of the trip there were groups everywhere. The choir and band groups seemed wayyyy better behaved than the cheerleaders. They weren't too bad, but it would have been nice to continue to enjoy our nice quiet corner of CBR.

She loves Ariel, but refuses to commit to a favorite. If anyone asks who her fave is she says "all of them".

Maddie liked Tower of Terror!!! That's my favorite!!

Cheerleaders...ugh!! The "first" year we went it was just me Chris and Madison and we stayed at AS Sports and it was over run with cheerleaders with little to no clothing. The pool was always overrun so I feel the pain. I find it hilarious that a dad had set up his own bar!!

I was so proud of her!

The cheerleaders weren't as bad as they could have been I guess, but I did notice that they seemed to be less chaperoned than any other groups. They were all 'club teams' rather than school teams, and Bryan commented more than once that he would not let his daughter out of the house wearing the outfits that they had on.

I honestly don't blame the dad...

This was one of our favorite meals of our trip.

Tusker House is great isn't it?!

Hey Shannon, we are almost ready to go home, just one more day and I have to say thanks again for all of your help. TH was amazing, can't believe I was going to cancel H&V, literally one of the best M&G we've had. So far our little dare devil's fav rides are Pirates of the Caribbean, Haunted Mansion and TOT. You just never know!!! We are off to the Princess dinner now. (Getting SO princessed out!) Will definately write a TR and let you know the details. Thanks again. Your TR and advice have been most helpful.

Tracy

Tracy that makes me so happy!!! I am so glad that you're enjoying the meals, and that H&V was a success! I cannot wait to read the TR and find out how everything went.

I am so glad to have had the chance to help.

I agree. You'd think by now, that Disney could make better animatronics. I like the montage too. I keep saying "seen it... seen it... oh that was good... seen it... seen it... nope, not that one... seen it, etc..."

Yeah, they're pretty bad. It wasn't until Laura pointed it out that I noticed how bad the women are too. Oh well, it was a nice break.

You softy, you!

Shhhhh!! Don't tell everyone!!


Well that makes sense... you are in DHS after all...

Then again, maybe they need to get this person doing Muppet Movie intros instead.

That would be a great job for her.



I wonder if the Alien bit is only scary if you've seen the movie. My DDs weren't bothered by it either. They were more like, "What's that Daddy?"

It must be-Maddie hardly noticed it at all! I think it's kind of creepy though.


That's a bright kid you got there. My youngest DD couldn't wait to ride it. Wasn't scared a bit.

She rode it.


Once.


she was so excited to ride last trip, and promptly vowed to never ride again.


WHAT?!?!?!!!!



Oh.

Had me worried there for a bit.

You must have missed the update where I said that Maddie insisted that I sleep with her guys while her dad was living 100 miles from us. I assume that would have raised your eyebrows as well.

Gotta love Disney CMs!

They so rarely disappoint.

That's rather unusual, isn't it?

I would think so, but maybe not at this time of year? We really didn't find any of the rides to have much of a wait. The character lines were a different story.



What a great idea! I never would've thought of that. Mom of the year. Here's your sticker.

Thanks Ponz! I'll wear the sticker right under the one that says "I bribe my kid to get on rides"

Skip

RNRC



Not sure why. I wouldn't have wanted to!

I read that and thought, "Oh, too bad. Pool closed."



Sounds like a bad rash...


...only worse.

"Honey... Bad news. I just came back from the doctor."
"Oh no! It's not... it isn't... "
"Yes. Yes, I'm afraid so. I have cheerleaders."
"Oh, no. I'm so sorry."



Did you saunter over and ask for a Manhattan? I know someone who would.

LOL. I'll bet he would have. I wonder if they had fuzzy cups for take-away purposes?

hmmmm..... Le Cellier?



Waiting with anticipation. Thanks for the update Shanamatazz! Sorry for the delay in responding... Almost all caught up so hopefully I won't fall so far behind again.

Not nearly that high-brow.

No worries Ponz! And I just posted another one, so you're behind again anyway.

Thanks Ponzman!

 

[cmstpierre]

Just finished reading your last trip review and am all caught up on this one. Really really really enjoying your stories! My daughter is 4 and a princess fanatic like your DD is. Only difference is we will be traveling with a 2 year old as well!! Not sure how he will play into the mix, but reading about your DD gives me a good idea of what to expect from mine when we go in a few weeks. Thanks!

 

[Dreamsdocometrue9112]

I just Cape May!! I personally think it's seriously underestimated

It's so funny I read your update this morning. My Facebook status last night was literally revolved around craving oreo bon-bons the entire night last night. I heard awful news about Cape May no longer making them Why would they ever do that?!

If it's true, I sure hope they bring them back!!

 

[amandaw]

I wish Ed liked seafood more - I would really like to try Cape May. It sounds delicious! And Maddie looks so precious in her Jasmine outfit!

I don't think I'd like being looked at by people either - especially when eating things like crab legs. Glad y'all didn't let it affect the meal!

 

[nebo]

Shan, your family liked Cape May a lot more than we did, but admittedly, we aren't sea food lovers, I pretty much stop loving with the typical friday night beer battered cod fish fry. Lately my buffet of choice is Trail's End, if you can get the waitresses from stealing away your plate every time you're not looking. And are those snow crab legs there? I always end up getting so frustrated trying to get the meat out of them that i end up just beating them on the edge of the table until they come and take away my plate.
Oh, and for the record, they did NOT have fuzzy cups to go.
I asked.
Thanks for another great chapter and all the food pictures.

When you get a chance, I'd love to hear a synopsis of your opinions on staying at CBR, we'll be going back there next trip and I always like the hear what others think, especially when I'm getting to know the "others" more.

 

[pkondz]

Maddie decided that she needed to wear her Jasmine outfit and have princess hair, so Mommy took care of that while Bryan watched some TV.

See, right there is why it's great to be a dad. We know nothing about 'doing hair'... So we get to relax and watch TV while you toil away with straight irons, curling irons, flat irons, 9 irons and putters.

Uh... I may have mixed those up. But you get my point.

Since I hadn’t gotten to wear my vaguely tropical dress to the Luau, I decided to wear it that night since we were dining some where vaguely tropical.

That's okay. It was only vaguely a luau.

Every garden edge is a balance beam

I remember that! Now my DDs don't do it... but I remember when!

Bryan’s favorite dinner on property (well, it was before we started eating dinner at 2 credit joints)—Cape May Café.

I doubt very much if I'll ever try it. DW is allergic to sea food so we normally don't go anywhere like that.

I on the other hand, love seafood.

Cape May Café is appropriately beach themed. There are very cool glass encased sand castles separating the booths from the buffet,

That's cool. I presume the sand castles are Disney castles?

Maddie ate her weight in crab legs, mac and cheese, pizza, and garlic buttered dinner rolls and declared the meal a success.

I should hope so!

Bry made sure to do his duty to you all and sample the kids’ pizza in addition to much of the adult portion of the buffet.

Atta boy Bry, taking one for the sake of the TR. What a sacrifice!

I chose not to photograph the vast quantity of crab legs that we put away. I mean really, who wants to share those?

Me! I wanna see just how much damage to the buffet you did.

We were there for the Oreo Bon-Bons. Between the two of us we left the buffet a dozen bon-bons lighter. The Oreo Bon-Bons form Cape May are my favorite dessert in the whole world. I could eat them every day. Try them, you’ll thank me.

Well, now you've given me a good reason to ditch DW for a meal! I'm sure she won't mind... :

There's the tart!

I read that, then I read this:

You must have missed the update where I said that Maddie insisted that I sleep with her guys while her dad was living 100 miles from us. I assume that would have raised your eyebrows as well.

Need I elaborate? Hmmm???? :

I very quickly realized that the restaurant backs up to an internal hallway that leads to Stormalong Bay. Being stared at by pool goers wasn’t exactly what we had in mind for ambiance, but we didn’t let it stop us from having a great meal.

It goes with the beach decor...

No worries Ponz! And I just posted another one, so you're behind again anyway.

Thanks Ponzman!

Ha! Joke's on you! I'm not behind! Thanks for the update Shanarama!

 

[BeckyEsq]

I am really enjoying your trip report! Your pictures are beautiful and I really enjoy seeing the variety of characters.

 

[RGirl]

Cape May sounds great! Maybe we should consider it. I don't usually book buffets except character meals and Boma (which I think we will skip on the next trip). But I LOVE seafood. Hmm, with the cruise though, we will be eating a LOT so maybe I should just skip all buffets.

Still love that Jasmine costume. So cute! And how cool that Maddie loves crab legs - Willow is not a picky kid, but I'm not sure whether she would try those.

 

[Caretames1]

I'm so glad you had this update! I have a adr for Cape May and I haven't found much more than menu info until now!

We are huge seafood lovers here too, and I can't wait for crab legs. Mmmmmm

Love the Jasmine costume on Maddie! Careful about those balance beam attempts! Kadence fell in a flower bed recently, that had just been watered. Oh, and good thing the ant hill she disturbed wasn't biting ants. She had a few........ a LOT of ants crawling on her.

Scarred for life may be an appropriate term to use.

If you haven't already, go check out my PTR, I updated and I have a picture of Kadence"s new Belle dress. Whatda Think?

 

[CandleontheWater]

I'm glad to hear you guys enjoyed Cape May! I've liked it in the past, and good to hear that it is still top notch. I'm a big fan of the crab legs too, and those oreo bonbons are delish! (although I did hear the sad news that they are gone, boo!).

Maddie looks cute as always in her Jasmine costume, and great idea picking up FPs before dinner, you guys were on the ball!

 

[IheartDDuck]

My favorite part of GMR is the movie montage too, because really, who doesn't love a montage? The rest....definitely needs updating....but I guess it has it's purpose.

Wow, a GMR operator that sounds like Kermit? That would be interesting. I would have asked her to sing Rainbow Connection and see if she got the joke.

Bribery. It works every time to get kids on rides. Except with my niece. Nothing works on her.

Gah cheerleaders. Having never been a cheerleader myself, I am predisposed to not liking them.

A vaguely tropical dress for a vaguely tropical dinner? Works for me.

Maddie's "don't take a picture of me stank face" resembles mine....

It has been years since I've had an oreo bon bon. Too long my friend, too long.

 

[FaithTrustPixieDust5]

I have a confession to make...
I'm a lurker! I know, its shameful!
But, I've been reading your TR for some time now, and it's awesome. You're a great storyteller, and Maddie is adorable. Can't wait to hear more about you're adventure!

 

[KatMark]

Great update; I'm glad you guys enjoyed Cape May. We had great company at ours, but the food not so much.

Love that Maddie wanted to dress as Jasmine; does't every child use those ledges as a balance beam?

 

[marDgreen88]

Ahh, the Epcot resort area. So beautiful.

Glad you enjoyed your dinner! I admit, I'm not a seafood person, but those rolls look fantastic! And the Oreo bon bons... oh yum. I can just tell they're divine.

 

[afwdwfan]

Cape May looks great. Another place that I've never been, but need to try.

I don't think Bryan should feel too guilty about having pictures of his plates on here. It is a buffet. It is pretty much a law that you have to at least try to eat more than your money's worth. If he's like me though, there's no way you'd get a picture of anything more than a plate with half the food already gone.

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I made the mistake of reading this last chapter at lunchtime, and now my ham sandwich seems strangely inadequate.

Cape May looks great--and I don't even like seafood! That's probably why we never tried it. Maybe I need to re-think that...

And tell hubby there's no judgment on quantity of food eaten. We all know that calories don't count on vacation.

 

[katt789]

Haha! There are so many small kids that I see going on ToT, there was a mother last week who was all "she handled Soarin fine, she'll be fine on this" uhm....not really the same ride lady... I was surprised with the amount of kids that love ToT haha, I would be terrified at that age!

Ugh, when I have little princesses, I'll be the one telling them to wear the princess dresses every day, all day, heck, there'll be so many disney costumes, they'll have like, 5 a day, Imma spend all my money on Etsy for them! HA!

Cape May looks great! I'm not a huge seafood fanatic, but I could definitely try it out one of these days!!

 

[megan511]

I love those Oreo Bon Bons but I also read they are GONE!

Your review makes me want to go back to Cape May. I'm glad you all enjoyed your meal.

Maddie looks adorable as Jasmine. I hope she is enjoying kindergarten! We are in a routine finally.

 

[shan23877]

Just finished reading your last trip review and am all caught up on this one. Really really really enjoying your stories! My daughter is 4 and a princess fanatic like your DD is. Only difference is we will be traveling with a 2 year old as well!! Not sure how he will play into the mix, but reading about your DD gives me a good idea of what to expect from mine when we go in a few weeks. Thanks!

Thanks for joining in! I'm so glad that you're finding the TRs helpful! Isn't having a little princess fun?

I just Cape May!! I personally think it's seriously underestimated

It's so funny I read your update this morning. My Facebook status last night was literally revolved around craving oreo bon-bons the entire night last night. I heard awful news about Cape May no longer making them Why would they ever do that?!

If it's true, I sure hope they bring them back!!

We love Cape May! It seems to get pretty mixed reviews on the DIS, but we've always enjoyed it.

I've heard the terrible news as well. It's a travesty. Oreo Bon Bons are one of the best things about Cape May!

I wish Ed liked seafood more - I would really like to try Cape May. It sounds delicious! And Maddie looks so precious in her Jasmine outfit!

I don't think I'd like being looked at by people either - especially when eating things like crab legs. Glad y'all didn't let it affect the meal!

Thanks!

We love Cape May, I'm so glad that Bryan and Maddie both love seafood too.

It was pretty weird, and you're right-crab legs aren't the most dainty things to eat.

Shan, your family liked Cape May a lot more than we did, but admittedly, we aren't sea food lovers, I pretty much stop loving with the typical friday night beer battered cod fish fry. Lately my buffet of choice is Trail's End, if you can get the waitresses from stealing away your plate every time you're not looking. And are those snow crab legs there? I always end up getting so frustrated trying to get the meat out of them that i end up just beating them on the edge of the table until they come and take away my plate.
Oh, and for the record, they did NOT have fuzzy cups to go.
I asked.
Thanks for another great chapter and all the food pictures.

When you get a chance, I'd love to hear a synopsis of your opinions on staying at CBR, we'll be going back there next trip and I always like the hear what others think, especially when I'm getting to know the "others" more.

We love crab legs, but Bryan always says that he gets tired from cracking them before he gets full.

No fuzzy cups? Then they don't really know how to stock a pool bar do they?

I'd love to share our thoughts on CBR.

I LOVED it. I loved the beachy laid back vibe and the pretty colors of the buildings. I liked Old Port Royal a lot both as a food court and as a gift shop/mini mart. I really appreciate that the check in area is in a different building so you arent running into people trying to wheel their suitcases around every time you need to run to the main building. The pools were nice, and I love being able to dip my toes in the sand at the beaches. The landscaping was so pretty, and I really loved the walk from our building.

We stayed in Aruba 51 (not preferred location) and it couldn't have been better. We were a 2 minute walk from OPR and the main pool, one minute from the Aruba pool, and 2 minutes from the Jamaica pool. The bus stop was pretty far away, but we used the OPR stop (filling mugs anyway) and I've heard that others staying in that same building used the Jamaica stop because it was closer.

Having said all that, Bryan preferred French Quarter. He liked both resorts, we found the rooms to be very simillar (CBR still had the double beds instead of the queen though). He really liked the small compact feel of FQ. To him it felt more like a deluxe-compact, isolated (in a good way), and we both loved that there's only on bus stop. The trip around CBR seemed to take longer than the one to Epcot!

Honestly, we'd stay at either.

 

[shan23877]

See, right there is why it's great to be a dad. We know nothing about 'doing hair'... So we get to relax and watch TV while you toil away with straight irons, curling irons, flat irons, 9 irons and putters.

Uh... I may have mixed those up. But you get my point.


Yeah, the dad's really have it easy on that one. I can't tell you how many times Bryan's been sitting on the couch watching golf while I wrestle Maddie's hair into submission.



That's okay. It was only vaguely a luau.

LOL! I love that!

I remember that! Now my DDs don't do it... but I remember when!

It's constant. Every single thing is a balance beam. I suppose that I should enjoy it while it lasts.

I doubt very much if I'll ever try it. DW is allergic to sea food so we normally don't go anywhere like that.

I on the other hand, love seafood.

That's too bad! Anywhere she'd dying to eat? You could have separate 'date nights' with the DDs!

That's cool. I presume the sand castles are Disney castles?

That would make sense, but nope. Still really cool though.


Atta boy Bry, taking one for the sake of the TR. What a sacrifice!

He's so selfless isn't he?

Me! I wanna see just how much damage to the buffet you did.

We ate embarrassing amounts of food!

Well, now you've given me a good reason to ditch DW for a meal! I'm sure she won't mind... :

I hear that the bon-bons are gone now. I can only hope that they'll pop up somewhere else because they're to die for.




Ha! Joke's on you! I'm not behind! Thanks for the update Shanarama!

Touche Ponzerino. It was I that fell a week behind!

Thanks!

I am really enjoying your trip report! Your pictures are beautiful and I really enjoy seeing the variety of characters.

Thanks so much! If it's character interaction that you're after-this is th TR for you. My DD loves them!

Cape May sounds great! Maybe we should consider it. I don't usually book buffets except character meals and Boma (which I think we will skip on the next trip). But I LOVE seafood. Hmm, with the cruise though, we will be eating a LOT so maybe I should just skip all buffets.

Still love that Jasmine costume. So cute! And how cool that Maddie loves crab legs - Willow is not a picky kid, but I'm not sure whether she would try those.

We love Cape May! In normal life, I'm not a buffet person at all, but we love this one! You should keep a buffet or two, you'll need to be 'in training' for the cruise!

Maddie was pretty unsure of crab legs until she realized that you can dip them in butter. Then she was all in.

I love that little Jasmine costume too. I'm so glad that she waited to get it at WDW. Perfect for warm weather. We're currently debating the Halloween costume. I want her to 'save' one of the ones she really wants for the next BBB trip, but of course she's five and wants them now. I know she'd never choose Snow White at BBB, so I'm pushing for that one knowing she wants to do Rapunzel or Cindy on the next vacation. What is Willow dressing as for Halloween this year?

I'm so glad you had this update! I have a adr for Cape May and I haven't found much more than menu info until now!

We are huge seafood lovers here too, and I can't wait for crab legs. Mmmmmm

Love the Jasmine costume on Maddie! Careful about those balance beam attempts! Kadence fell in a flower bed recently, that had just been watered. Oh, and good thing the ant hill she disturbed wasn't biting ants. She had a few........ a LOT of ants crawling on her.

Scarred for life may be an appropriate term to use.

If you haven't already, go check out my PTR, I updated and I have a picture of Kadence"s new Belle dress. Whatda Think?

Yay! I'm so glad that it helped you! We love Cape May for dinner. I think we may try breakfast there next trip too (if we do DVC rental at the BC). The crab legs are really, really good. I think you'll love them.

Thank you! I love the Jasmine costume too. It's so cute, and you don't really see too many of them at WDW either.

OMG! Maddie would be so freaked out if that happened to her!

I love the Belle dress!

I'm glad to hear you guys enjoyed Cape May! I've liked it in the past, and good to hear that it is still top notch. I'm a big fan of the crab legs too, and those oreo bonbons are delish! (although I did hear the sad news that they are gone, boo!).

Maddie looks cute as always in her Jasmine costume, and great idea picking up FPs before dinner, you guys were on the ball!

Yay for another Cape May fan! We've loved it there.

I've heard the horrible news about the Oreo Bonbons as well. I think I'm still in shock/mourning. How awful.

Thanks!

My favorite part of GMR is the movie montage too, because really, who doesn't love a montage? The rest....definitely needs updating....but I guess it has it's purpose.

Any montage makes me really happy. I can't help myself.

Wow, a GMR operator that sounds like Kermit? That would be interesting. I would have asked her to sing Rainbow Connection and see if she got the joke.

We seriously should have, but I didn't get the feeling that she'd get it.

Bribery. It works every time to get kids on rides. Except with my niece. Nothing works on her.

Bribery is my most powerful parenting tool. I'm not sure what I'd do if it didn't work.

Gah cheerleaders. Having never been a cheerleader myself, I am predisposed to not liking them.

As the former captain of the cheerleaders, I know too much to like them.

A vaguely tropical dress for a vaguely tropical dinner? Works for me.

Thanks for the back up

Maddie's "don't take a picture of me stank face" resembles mine....



It has been years since I've had an oreo bon bon. Too long my friend, too long.

Oh those bonbons. And apparently they're gone now. I'm seriously upset about this. May have to organize a DIS letter writing campaign to rectify the situation.