Yeah and it Smells Like Hotdogs...A January 2017 TR *Completed 10/27*

[amberdc1987]

Your boys are precious. I'm sorry the surprise didn't go as planned. We surprise our girls in just under 2 weeks and I'm terrified it's not going to go as I think it's going to go . Oh well, we shall see.

I'm glad yalls flight was uneventful. That's scary about the crazy stabber person though. I would have been terrified for my hubby. I'm glad they got him. We just had a murdered here that killed 4 women and was on the run for days. We were all on high alert because of him.

Your room at AKL is great. It's so pretty. I bet the boys loved it. I can't wait to read more.

 

[cindianne320]

Following along! I had to laugh at your kiddos wanting to go to Chuck E Cheese vs. WDW. This is totally something my kids would do!

I'm glad this trip seems to have went smoother than your last one. Looking forward to tips for a 2 year old, and to hear about all your adventures!

That room view was amazing!

 

[missangelalexis]

That is pretty funny that DS6 would have rather gone to Chuck E Cheese!

How frustrating to leave the stroller behind. Glad it was a painless flight.

Your room looks beautiful!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

What a great way to start out the vacation. First to get a text that the room is ready before you arrive and to go out on the balcony and see the giraffe.

 

[a*lil*bit*goofy]

Joining in! Can't wait to get caught up!!!

 

[buteraa]

Following! Love your report so far!

 

[amazingact21]

Unfortunately, DS6 still had his heart set on going to Chuck E Cheese and was quite upset. So much for trying to surprise them

That's a typical kid, for you. Never fails we, as parents, try to do something awesome and surprise them and then they usually have a mediocre reaction.

Sorry to hear about the stroller loss! That's a bummer, and two years is a tough age when traveling. They just want to goooo.

Wow, your baggage had to have been treated pretty crummy to get that kind of dent in it.

AKL is the best. I bet your boys were so excited when that giraffe walked by. Even though the announcement wasn't received like you thought it would, it sounds like your mom and the resort were a big hit.

 

[tinkerbell1991]

Following along x

 

[ashw100]

Your boys are precious. I'm sorry the surprise didn't go as planned. We surprise our girls in just under 2 weeks and I'm terrified it's not going to go as I think it's going to go . Oh well, we shall see.

Good luck, I hope it goes well for you.

I'm glad yalls flight was uneventful. That's scary about the crazy stabber person though. I would have been terrified for my hubby. I'm glad they got him. We just had a murdered here that killed 4 women and was on the run for days. We were all on high alert because of him.

Wow that's scary. I was worried about him, thank God I didn't know until after the fact that he had actually came in the store.

Your room at AKL is great. It's so pretty. I bet the boys loved it. I can't wait to read more.

They did, it was probably their favorite resort.

Following along! I had to laugh at your kiddos wanting to go to Chuck E Cheese vs. WDW. This is totally something my kids would do!

To be fair, they had been to WDW more recently than Chuck E Cheese, but only because I don't like it there.

I'm glad this trip seems to have went smoother than your last one. Looking forward to tips for a 2 year old, and to hear about all your adventures!

I don't have many tips, 2 year olds are hard as you will see in this TR, just be prepared and you'll be fine.

That room view was amazing!

I know, I miss it

That is pretty funny that DS6 would have rather gone to Chuck E Cheese!

He's weird

How frustrating to leave the stroller behind. Glad it was a painless flight.

I know, we forget stuff a lot

Your room looks beautiful!

It was I loved that room so much.

What a great way to start out the vacation. First to get a text that the room is ready before you arrive and to go out on the balcony and see the giraffe.

Yeah it was so great. I was happy we got to see something so quick.

 

[ashw100]

Joining in! Can't wait to get caught up!!!

thanks for following along

Following! Love your report so far!

Glad to have you.

That's a typical kid, for you. Never fails we, as parents, try to do something awesome and surprise them and then they usually have a mediocre reaction.

That is so true, oh well.

Sorry to hear about the stroller loss! That's a bummer, and two years is a tough age when traveling. They just want to goooo.

I know, he was definitely trying to assert his independence this trip and was not happy when we wouldn't comply.

Wow, your baggage had to have been treated pretty crummy to get that kind of dent in it.

Yeah, thankfully nothing was damaged and the case popped back out so no harm done I guess.

AKL is the best. I bet your boys were so excited when that giraffe walked by. Even though the announcement wasn't received like you thought it would, it sounds like your mom and the resort were a big hit.

Yes, it was definitely all worth it in the end. Their reaction to the giraffe was priceless.

Following along x

 

[ashw100]

Day 1: Part 2
Best Frozen sing-a-long ever

Soon after my mom and dad arrived we wasted no time in heading out for first park of the trip. As we left our room we saw some CMs drumming down in the lobby.

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We picked up our double stroller from Kingdom Strollers and then piled in the car to drive over to…

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We have never actually been through this entrance before, so I made sure to get a picture. First thing we had to do was convert the boys tickets over to park hoppers. When I bought the ticket originally we were not going to be park hopping. Literally within days of buying them and the day before I had to make FP reservations Disney announced the Festival of the Arts. Knowing that we would want to do that and the only way to do it would be to get park hoppers, we had to upgrade in the parks. It is a fairly painless process though. DS2 saw me scan my band and realized his band was missing. Of course he doesn’t need a band, but this sent him into a complete meltdown. He was tired and it had been a long day, and the last thing we wanted was to have him cranky the rest of the night. So my parents did what any spoiling grandparents do and they bought him a new one in the first gift shop we saw.


The five of us were pretty hungry, since besides a few snacks we hadn’t eaten since breakfast and it was now 4:00. Our first FP wasn’t until 4:30, so we went to Backlot Express since this counter service location offers an AP discount. Joe got the Royal Guard burger, 1/3 lb Chargrilled Angus Beef Burger, topped with Barbecued Brisket, Pepper Jack Cheese on a Dark Bun served with French Fries. I got the plain burger and I got two orders of the dark side chicken and waffles for the boys. No pictures of the food, but I did get this.

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The food was nothing to write home about, but we were starving so it did exactly what we needed it to. Even the boys, who don’t each much finished their food. After we ate, we had FPs for Star Tours.

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Joe was going to stay off with DS2. When we scanned our bands the light turned blue for me, DS4, and my dad, and mom, but green for DS6. The CM said that our FP was for TSMM and I was so confused, but thankfully he let us all go. I immediately jumped on MDE and the app said that only DS6 and my dad had FPs. I am not really sure what had happened to our FPs, but the rest of the night looked fine. I think maybe when I was rearranging FP once my parents joined, I might have messed something up. It was weird that even though my dad had a valid FP, his light still turned blue.

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DS4 is scared of rides, and knew before we went that he didn’t want to go any of the height requirements rides. I knew he would like Star Tours though, so we decided to just not tell him what we were doing and see how he did. I just made it sound really fun and told him it was a big boy ride. He was nervous though, he asked to hold my hand.

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DS4 thoughts on the ride? He loved it!


After ST, I realized that I may have made a mistake linking the tickets to my MDE account and that’s why my dad’s FPs weren’t working. He had somehow gotten listed twice in my MDE account, so when I made FPs I had it under one name and then when I linked the tickets it was to the other name. So essentially he had tickets with no FPs and then FPs with no ticket. I told him to keep an eye out for a FP kiosk, that way we could scan his ticket media and confirm my theory. A girl and her mom were walking behind me and stopped to tell me all about MDE and the app, thanks. Joe also took the opportunity to take our first FP of the trip.

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Since we were right there, we decided to see the Frozen sing-a-long. We hadn’t done this since May 15, and my mom has never seen it, and my mom loves Frozen. My dad on the other hand was not thrilled. I thought he would be able to appreciate the royal historians, but neglected to tell him about them. Instead I guilted him into seeing it and not missing out on a chance to spend time with his grandsons. He jumped out of line real quick to grab a beer first. He also grabbed a frozen lemonade for the boys to split, which was nice, but you know…they fought over it.

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After about 15 minutes we were let into the theater.

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Once the show started, I knew everyone would be able to enjoy this performance, because we got the best royal historians ever. The guy especially was amazing. They even made a Mariah Carey on New Year’s Eve joke .

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The best part was at the end though. When Elsa comes out of the smoke she almost fell flat on her face coming off the platform. And the guy historian, just about lost it. I mean he was hilarious the entire show and must have been super over the top because the other people in the show started to laugh at him and break character the entire time. But now, it took everyone’s utter strength to not break down completely in laughter. The guy though, couldn’t control it anymore and basically did this for much of the end of the show.

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He turned his back to us and just laughed, the rest of the cast tried to hold it together.

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Of course the entire audience was laughing through the entire ending section as well.

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The boys loved the snow though.

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Overall, probably the best performance we will get of the show, even my dad was able to enjoy himself. After the show everyone except Joe had FPs for TSMM, while he had one for RnR.

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Meanwhile, I was kicking butt over on TSMM, even got best in car, take that dad.

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Once we got off, I realized I had made a mistake in my planning. Since we had our dinner much earlier than planned rather than while waiting for Fantasmic and pushed everything else back, we had pretty much missed our chance to see F! again. My mom, dad, and I have all seen this show when we went in 2001, but no one else has. Despite having the dining package twice, we still haven’t seen it. I think the main reason is that you have to get there so early to get a seat. There is pretty much nothing I am willing to wait an hour to see/do and for that reason we haven’t made a huge push to see this show and this night wouldn’t be the night either. By the time we got off TSMM we only had 20 minutes to get over to the theater and hope to get a spot, no thanks. Maybe, one year when the park is open later and there is a second show we will be able to make the time to see this.

Next Post​

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a nice time at DHS, though sorry you didn't get to see Fantasmic again

 

[ashw100]

Sounds like a nice time at DHS, though sorry you didn't get to see Fantasmic again

It was a bummer yo miss Fantasmic again, but we had such a good time doing all the other stuff, so it was okay.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Hello! I am following along! I am enjoying the TR so far! Your boys are very cute! And 3 boys none the less!

Thankfully the man had been caught and Joe got home only a half hour later than planned. We live in a very quiet, safe city in the middle of nowhere so this sort of thing is pretty unusual and frightening, luckily it all turned out alright.

That had to be super scary and nerve wracking. It's just scary and sad how really it can happen anywhere! Glad everyone was safe and sound.

Instead he was trying to see how much toilet paper he can stuff down the toilet. Now this is pretty typical behavior from him, as he is the most mischievous child I have ever encountered and par for the course for him.

OMG! Hilarious and NOT Hilarious all at the same time.

DS4 shouts Chuck E Cheese, while the other two say Disney, only to have the other two also switch to Chuck E Cheese.

It will be good story for them when they are older. But man, it is hard to do the surprises.

Unfortunately, DS6 still had his heart set on going to Chuck E Cheese and was quite upset. So much for trying to surprise them. It didn’t take too long for him to adjust though.

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I love the shirts!

Joe got all our bags and I was annoyed to see how damaged one of them had gotten.

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That is seriously dented! What in the world did they do?!

After Publix we were finally on our way into the Disney bubble.

That must have been the longest shopping trip!

We saw our first giraffe walk by almost immediately after arriving and the boys totally freaked out.

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Suffice it to say, I think they were very happy with our choice of hotel this trip. I unpacked a little while we waited for my mom and dad to get there

This hotel is totally on my bucket list. It just looks and sounds amazing!

So my parents did what any spoiling grandparents do and they bought him a new one in the first gift shop we saw.

That is what Grandparents do, right?

He also grabbed a frozen lemonade for the boys to split, which was nice, but you know…they fought over it.

My girls will fight over just about anything!

Overall, probably the best performance we will get of the show, even my dad was able to enjoy himself. After the show everyone except Joe had FPs for TSMM, while he had one for RnR.

I am sure that beer helped! A fantastic idea....

Can't wait to hear more of the trip!

 

[ariane37]

A girl and her mom were walking behind me and stopped to tell me all about MDE and the app, thanks

I would have had such a hard time keeping a straight face and listening!

When Elsa comes out of the smoke she almost fell flat on her face coming off the platform. And the guy historian, just about lost it.

Double I know that's probably not nice at all..........and the historians CAN be funny..........but that would certainly liven up the show for me!

There is pretty much nothing I am willing to wait an hour to see/do

I'm with you there, even though I did wait with younger DS for almost 50 in Nov. for TSMM Long story though and that never happens. However the 2 or 3 times we've watched Fantasmic we didn't have to line up that early and we've never had a FP, and we've always gotten a good seat; but never in the first few rows which we don't want anyway. Once we walked in about 30 minutes early, and waiting for a half hour was painful so the next time we waited until about 15 minutes before and it worked fine! I hope you get to see it on your next trip

 

[Tinkerbell_Girl]

Following along, I'm loving your report!

 

[mistyinca]

Following along. This has me LOL-ing:

We gave them a choice of going to Catch Air (a indoor play area), Chuck E Cheese, or drum roll...Disney World. DS4 shouts Chuck E Cheese, while the other two say Disney, only to have the other two also switch to Chuck E Cheese.

Seriously??? Well too bad we’re going to Disney anyway.

Ah kids...mine are adults now, but I can totally relate!

 

[afwdwfan]

I could barely eat, which is usually the case before any trip, it’s so stressful traveling with kids. But the boys all ate and were ready to find out what we were going to be doing that day. We sat them down on the bed and I secretly set up my phone to record. We gave them a choice of going to Catch Air (a indoor play area), Chuck E Cheese, or drum roll...Disney World. DS4 shouts Chuck E Cheese, while the other two say Disney, only to have the other two also switch to Chuck E Cheese.

I've heard of trip reveals backfiring, but this is a new one!

And yes I was jamming out to the Moana soundtrack, which I am obsessed with.

It is good. I like that Disney movies are getting back to making some memorable music like the early to mid 90's movies.

As soon as we were through security my mom pops up out of no where and completely stuns them. I wish I could have captured their reactions, so cute. With hugs to go all around, the seven of us made our way to baggage claim to collect our luggage. My parents got in much earlier than us and had already been to their hotel and dropped off their things. These boys are happy to see their grandparents.

That's great! I'm glad this went over better than the first surprise.

We saw our first giraffe walk by almost immediately after arriving and the boys totally freaked out.

Chuck E who???

DS4 is scared of rides, and knew before we went that he didn’t want to go any of the height requirements rides. I knew he would like Star Tours though, so we decided to just not tell him what we were doing and see how he did. I just made it sound really fun and told him it was a big boy ride. He was nervous though, he asked to hold my hand.

I'm glad that your trickery worked and he enjoyed it.

He jumped out of line real quick to grab a beer first.

I can't say that I'd blame him.

The best part was at the end though. When Elsa comes out of the smoke she almost fell flat on her face coming off the platform. And the guy historian, just about lost it. I mean he was hilarious the entire show and must have been super over the top because the other people in the show started to laugh at him and break character the entire time. But now, it took everyone’s utter strength to not break down completely in laughter. The guy though, couldn’t control it anymore and basically did this for much of the end of the show.

I love that. I mean I know a big part of being a CM is playing their role and putting on the show. And his antics might not have been appreciated by management... but that would make that show so much better, especially as an adult who has seen it multiple times.

I think the main reason is that you have to get there so early to get a seat. There is pretty much nothing I am willing to wait an hour to see/do and for that reason we haven’t made a huge push to see this show and this night wouldn’t be the night either.

I agree. While we almost always see it, we see it using the dining package, FP or walk up right before the second show. It's a good show, but it isn't hour and a half wait good.

 

[ashw100]

Hello! I am following along! I am enjoying the TR so far! Your boys are very cute! And 3 boys none the less!

Welcome and thank you, three boys can certainly be a handful.

That had to be super scary and nerve wracking. It's just scary and sad how really it can happen anywhere! Glad everyone was safe and sound.

It was, I'm glad it all ended okay though.

OMG! Hilarious and NOT Hilarious all at the same time.

That about perfectly sums it up

It will be good story for them when they are older. But man, it is hard to do the surprises.

Yeah, never seems to go as planned.

I love the shirts!

thanks

That is seriously dented! What in the world did they do?!

That must have been the longest shopping trip!

This hotel is totally on my bucket list. It just looks and sounds amazing!

We loved it so much, I kind of don't want to stay anywhere else.

That is what Grandparents do, right?

Certainly when they're these two

My girls will fight over just about anything!

My boys too

I am sure that beer helped! A fantastic idea....

It made the silliness that much better I'm sure

I would have had such a hard time keeping a straight face and listening!

I know, I just smiled and thanked her, but really I'm a Disney travel agent and annual passholder

Double I know that's probably not nice at all..........and the historians CAN be funny..........but that would certainly liven up the show for me!

I certainly did, and she was fine so we can laugh

I'm with you there, even though I did wait with younger DS for almost 50 in Nov. for TSMM Long story though and that never happens. However the 2 or 3 times we've watched Fantasmic we didn't have to line up that early and we've never had a FP, and we've always gotten a good seat; but never in the first few rows which we don't want anyway. Once we walked in about 30 minutes early, and waiting for a half hour was painful so the next time we waited until about 15 minutes before and it worked fine! I hope you get to see it on your next trip

I guess I just don't want to risk it really. To have to walk all the way there and then get crappy or even worse no seats just seems like it's not worth it. One day we will see it though.

 

[ashw100]

Following along, I'm loving your report!

Thank you and

Following along. This has me LOL-ing:



Ah kids...mine are adults now, but I can totally relate!

I've heard of trip reveals backfiring, but this is a new one!

Kids

It is good. I like that Disney movies are getting back to making some memorable music like the early to mid 90's movies.

I know, I just love it. We just watched it tonight actually.

That's great! I'm glad this went over better than the first surprise.

Chuck E who???

I'm glad that your trickery worked and he enjoyed it.

It was the only time I did it the whole trip, I wasn't going to be able to trick him on to a rollercoaster

I can't say that I'd blame him.

He did appreciate the show more I bet

I love that. I mean I know a big part of being a CM is playing their role and putting on the show. And his antics might not have been appreciated by management... but that would make that show so much better, especially as an adult who has seen it multiple times.

Yeah, I thought of that but since the adults seemed to like the show more and my kids at least didn't really affect them so it was all good I hope.

I agree. While we almost always see it, we see it using the dining package, FP or walk up right before the second show. It's a good show, but it isn't hour and a half wait good.

Yeah, it really is a testament to how much we want to see it. If we wanted to that bad we would make more of an effort.