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

[ashw100]

Awesome! Nice to get a bonus character meet, and it makes the wait feel a little shorter.

It definitely helped make the wait more bearable.

Well, you do realize these aren't Disney CMs, they're First Order CMs. They have to be a-holes.

I guess when you put it that way.

Ok, I'd have been too busy laughing at your DS having a good time with Kylo Renn to pay attention to random CM guy. Somebody needs to lighten up a little bit.

He was taking his role very seriously

I've still not tried Zebra Domes, but I often wonder if I'd even like them. It seems like when I try a lot of these things that are raved about on the boards that I usually just kind of think they're meh...

Kind of reminded me of gelatinous baileys

Can't take the ferry. Monorail is having it's usual issues. Awesome.

Can't win, unless you take the amazingly efficient buses, oh wait

That's actually pretty good! But I guess if you're going to be doing work on the first thing that people see when coming into your park... you'd probably better do something to make it look good!

Yeah, I though it was pretty good.

That's a great family picture!

thanks

Probably the right call. That stinks that the characters didn't all come around in a more timely manner, but it isn't worth throwing off your plans and missing out on those most valuable 20 minutes of park time for a couple of characters.

It's the second time we've had that happen there for breakfast, probably won't go back for breakfast again.

What cute pictures! That's too bad about Eeyore and Pooh though.

Thanks, I tried to meet them later in the trip but it never worked out.

I understand why Disney changed the opening procedure for the MK, but it does still stink that PPO breakfasts are kind of obsolete now. I know a lot of fans really loved capturing Main St. when it was empty.

I don't blame you for skipping those last few meets. That first hour of a park day is so important! You can get most of the stuff you want done if luck's on your side.

It's so important to us, that's why it was worth it to skip it.

 

[ashw100]

Day 2: Part 2
Morning Full of Rides

Our first ride of the day was on my favorite MK coaster, Big Thunder.

​

I was disappointed to miss it in September and even more so to find out that the refurb didn’t include the cool effects that Disneyland’s has, but still a good ride.


Next we went over to Splash, while my mom took the two little ones over to the play area there.

​

I guess DS4 saw a baby there and told her mom how cute she was. Then he says to the mom she’s so cute I’ll call her Saint James (his name is James).


Meanwhile the rest of us were on Splash. It was a walk on and DS6 was starting to get really nervous as we walked through the queue. We all assured him that he would be fine. So we get in the log and he is totally freaking out, of course the log starts moving before I realize that he has totally lost it and is begging us to get him off the ride. It was a flashback to September when he pulled this on me in the stretching room. It seems to me that the more he does a ride, the more terrified of it he gets. So we moving along and he is screaming that he wants to exit the ride. My dad who was sitting next to him was trying to calm him and it worked for a little bit.

​

Each little drop we would say, looks it’s fine and that seemed to be okay, but of course as we go up the final lift, he is screaming again to exit. Not to be mean, because I did feel bad about scaring him, but it was a teensy bit funny too.

​

In the end he did survive the big drop, but he was so mad and Joe and I for awhile after that. We met back up with my mom, who informed us that DS2 had a stinky diaper, but when I went into the backpack our little bag that had the diaper and wipes wasn’t in there. After we got back from DHS the night before, we didn’t touch the backpack so I assumed that diaper pack was still in there. Apparently my mom had taken it out because she couldn’t find the diapers wipes that were in the room and forgot to put it back.


Because it was my birthday, and my husband is awesome, we took DS2 over to the baby care center to buy diapers and wipes. The rest of us made our way back to Adventureland to ride Pirates.

​

I have never waited for this ride as I always seem to get a FP for it or it’s a walk on, but the wait was only about 10 minutes at that point in the day.

​

This ride had really scared DS4 in September, but he seemed to do okay this time.

​

Joe had gone over to Jungle Cruise since that is where we planned to meet up and DS2 got a smashed penny.

​

Then we all met up and used our first FP of the day. That is also when I remembered that I was supposed to try and fix the ticket/FP issue for my dad and forgot due to all our fun the night before. Of course his band turned blue, but since the rest of us were green the CM let us all in.

​

I don’t remember why DS2 was upset, but you know he’s 2. Other than that we had a good cruise with a great skipper, and the other two boys enjoyed themselves.

​

After JC, DS4 and I had FPs for SDMT, but he didn’t want to go on it so we gave his band to my mom so she could ride with me. My dad took DS6 on the tea cups and Joe hung out with the two boys because he hates the tea cups.

​

After our respective rides, we made our way back to the hub for some of the entertainment.

Next Post​

 

[afwdwfan]

Each little drop we would say, looks it’s fine and that seemed to be okay, but of course as we go up the final lift, he is screaming again to exit. Not to be mean, because I did feel bad about scaring him, but it was a teensy bit funny too.

Brutal. Sorry he decided to flip out on you, but I totally understand finding a little bit of humor in it.

This ride had really scared DS4 in September, but he seemed to do okay this time.

I'm glad to see everybody looks happy and is avoiding a meltdown.

I don’t remember why DS2 was upset, but you know he’s 2.

Yeah, that's about all the explanation you need.

 

[CDolacki2003]

Great trip report. Makes me wish December would get here quick, LOL

 

[Disneyhayes]

It's hard when the kids freak out on ride. You wanna laugh, get mad and embarrassed all at the same time. I remember when I was little we went to the local amusement park for their Halloween nights. We were going into a haunted house and in the holding room at the beginning. The only thing in there was a cage and I started freaking out. I was screaming and crying and carrying on about how I had to go potty. My dad was so beyond annoyed and took me out. Then when I was a bit older we were at WDW and went on Alien Encounter which is now Stitch. I did the same thing but of course couldn't exit the ride. I still can't live it down with my family.

 

[ashw100]

Brutal. Sorry he decided to flip out on you, but I totally understand finding a little bit of humor in it.

I'm glad to see everybody looks happy and is avoiding a meltdown.

Yeah, that's about all the explanation you need.

There were many of these unexplained tantrums over the course of the week.

Great trip report. Makes me wish December would get here quick, LOL

I understand, I love passing the time reading others trip reports

It's hard when the kids freak out on ride. You wanna laugh, get mad and embarrassed all at the same time. I remember when I was little we went to the local amusement park for their Halloween nights. We were going into a haunted house and in the holding room at the beginning. The only thing in there was a cage and I started freaking out. I was screaming and crying and carrying on about how I had to go potty. My dad was so beyond annoyed and took me out. Then when I was a bit older we were at WDW and went on Alien Encounter which is now Stitch. I did the same thing but of course couldn't exit the ride. I still can't live it down with my family.

You're exactly right all those emotions at once. Thankfully we were on the log alone, and I'm hoping this is something he grows out of because he used to love thrill rides.

 

[missangelalexis]

Sounds like a fun time at MK thus far, except for DS freaking out on Splash (but at least you could find some humor in that ).

 

[amazingact21]

Aw, poor DS. I guess the silver lining in that situation is that you guys had a log to yourselves so nobody else was overhearing his panic. I'm sure that made it a little easier to see the humor in the moment.

 

[ashw100]

Sounds like a fun time at MK thus far, except for DS freaking out on Splash (but at least you could find some humor in that ).

As a parent it essential to survival to find humor in the horrifying

Aw, poor DS. I guess the silver lining in that situation is that you guys had a log to yourselves so nobody else was overhearing his panic. I'm sure that made it a little easier to see the humor in the moment.

Definitely, I would have felt bad to ruin someone else's ride.

 

[ashw100]

Day 2: Part 3
Dancing in the Street

After our respective rides, we made our way back to the hub for some of the entertainment. The castle show was just ending when we got there.

​

Then we just hung out until Move it, Shake it.

​

We only had to wait about 15 minutes, but the heat and humidity was making some people cranky. DS2 and 4 had fun though.

​

We didn’t stay for the whole thing, because the kids were getting tired and we had another FP to use.

​

Everyone but me and DS4 had FPs for Space, but only my mom and Joe ended up going.

​

My dad and I were going to take the boys on the Peoplemover but they were clearing the queue when we walked over. It had broken down and the people were stuck on there the entire time we waited for the other two to ride Space. They eventually ended up being evacuated off the ride. The boys were disappointed in not getting to ride, so we offered them Mickey bars instead.

​

DS4 and 6 enjoyed them very much. Unfortunately I had made the mistake of telling DS2 it was ice cream and when I handed him the Mickey bar, that is not what he was expecting and he had a HUGE meltdown. He literally threw himself on the ground and screamed the entire time we waited.


It wasn’t even 12, but I had a feeling the boys needed a break, butwe just had a few more things to do.

​

Then Starbucks was pretty empty, so I got myself a birthday coffee.

​

We also has one last FP to use.

​

Joe was very happy to get a red card.

​

As usual, this meet was great.

​

Mickey wanted to do a train around the room, but my boys didn’t really get the idea.

​

After our meet, it was time to head out for a break. My dad had gotten turned around and lost and winded up parking at the Contemporary, so they needed to move their car. We were going to leave the van, so we would have a quick exit that night so Joe, DSs 4 and 2, and I took the bus back to AKL, while my mom, dad, and Connor drove their car over to AKL.

​

DS2 fell asleep on the walk over to the bus stop, so my goal was to try and keep him asleep as long as possible.

​

When we got back to the room I laid down with DS2, while everyone else left to get some lunch. They brought me back another tomato flatbread though.

​

After lunch I needed to boys to stay out of the room to let DS2 sleep so my dad and Joe took them to the pool. I enjoyed some quiet time on the balcony, catching up on my trip report notes.

Next Post​

 

[missangelalexis]

Cute pictures with Mickey!!

 

[Disneyhayes]

That nap looks good right about now lol.

 

[ashw100]

Cute pictures with Mickey!!

That nap looks good right about now lol.

I know right

 

[cindianne320]

Man- that view from your balcony is to die for! Someday!

 

[ashw100]

Man- that view from your balcony is to die for! Someday!

I loved it so much, definitely worthwhile to go for Savannah view.

 

[ashw100]

Day 2: Part 4
Exploring AKL

After about an hour, the boys came back saying that they had to close the pool due to high winds. They ended up going out to the balcony to avoid waking up DS2 and Joe and I headed out to explore the resort. This is something I never feel like we have the time to do, because usually if we’re at the resort we’re sleeping. But this time I was going to make the time to check it out.

Our Room


Artwork at the end of our hall


Our room was only a few doors down from the bridge


View from the bridge


The beautiful lights made of shields




The lobby


Sculpture in the lobby


Up close


Deceivingly beautiful sky


Our balcony is the on the top, left side of the long green railing.



​

Once we had done some exploring, we went back to the room for cake.

​

Joe also gave me my present which was the Tinkerbelle Alex and Ani bracelet.

​

While we were enjoying our cake, it started to rain very heavily, which was bad timing since we were about to head out. It didn’t rain for very long, more like your typical Florida afternoon shower. However, the forecast was calling for heavy storms throughout the night and possible tornadoes. I checked Twitter and the locals that I follow were FREAKING out about the storm. We discussed not going back out to the park. If we didn’t have the kids we would have gone out without a second thought, but dragging three kids around in a torrential downpour sounded horrible. In the end though, we had dining reservations that I didn’t want to be charged for and just decided that if we thought it was getting bad we would leave.


We took the bus back to MK, after a pretty lengthy wait and when we got there it was raining, but not too bad. By the time we got to Main Street the sun was coming back out.

​

Earlier, I had gotten a fourth FP+ for Buzz, so we went there first.

​

Next up, I finally got my grand circle tour of Tomorrowland.

​

While we were riding I picked up another FP+ for the speedway. We had some time before it though so we walked over to Storybook Circus to see if DS2 could ride Barnstormer. I was thinking that the height requirement so taller, plus it just seemed crazy to me that my two-year-old could ride a roller coaster. But when we got there he was well over the requirement and he was ready to ride. Of course his older brothers were terrified.

​

DS2 loved this ride so much. I literally laughed the entire time, because he just kept saying wee over and over. He wanted to ride again and I thought Joe needed to experience it with him too, so they rode again, while the rest of us went over to Dumbo.

​

It was finally time to use our FP for the speedway and DS2 was mad. He did not want to leave Barnstormer and I got stuck riding with him on the Speedway and it was not pleasant. I thought he would love driving the car, but I was wrong he screamed the whole time and every time we would hit the center rail, which was a lot by the way, he would scream louder and get mad. It was actually pretty funny not gonna lie.

​

When we got off the ride there was another mom with her two-year-old son who was throwing a tantrum about having to get off the ride. I commiserated with her, it’s always nice to know you’re not alone. The park had pretty much cleared out at this point due to the impending storms and most everything had very short waits. Next up, we went on Winnie the Pooh. This is another ride we always have a FP for, so the boys have never been in the regular queue. We let them play even though there wasn’t really a line until the honey wall.

​

After our trip through the hundred acre woods, the boys wanted to go on the carousel.

​

When we got off the sky was starting to open, which was great time because we had our dining reservation to get to and it wasn’t far away.

Next Post​

 

[Dugette]

Just read the last few updates. Poor DS freaking out on Splash! I guess that's why they put the lap bars in.

Also, gotta love DS2 losing his mind over a disappointing Mickey bar.

Lovely view from your balcony - great place to spend nap time!

Wow, you got lots of rides in before dinner/rain. Hope the dinner is good!

 

[missangelalexis]

Great AKL pictures!

Sounds like you made the right decision to continue on to the park, you got to ride a lot of rides and the rain held up!

 

[shannie102]

(im new so I don't know how to quote where you said it in your TR) But why didnt you like the zebra domes? I read a ton of reports on here that keep telling me I have to try them, just want to be prepared for our trip as my DH has "texture" issues

 

[ariane37]

This is something I never feel like we have the time to do, because usually if we’re at the resort we’re sleeping. But this time I was going to make the time to check it out.

I almost always regret not exploring our resort. On our 2 stays at WL it was just DH and I so we did walk around and check everything out, but on our (so far) one stay at AKL we didn't and I was sad I hadn't made time to do that. We'll be there again next month and I swear I won't leave until we've checked it out fully. So if I need to add days onto our stay to do that, I will

oe also gave me my present which was the Tinkerbelle Alex and Ani bracelet.

Very pretty! I wear those also and have 2 of the colored ones

It was finally time to use our FP for the speedway and DS2 was mad. He did not want to leave Barnstormer and I got stuck riding with him on the Speedway and it was not pleasant. I thought he would love driving the car, but I was wrong he screamed the whole time and every time we would hit the center rail, which was a lot by the way, he would scream louder and get mad. It was actually pretty funny not gonna lie.

Yeah, something my youngest DS would have done and that would have laughed at, too lol! Glad he enjoyed Barnstormer, I think it's great to get them started on rollercoasters when they're young. Hopefully he'll keep wanting to go on bigger ones as he gets older.