Betrayed by the Peoplemover-Aug 21 TR *updated 11/5*

[rdkeim]

What a great first day! Your boys seem so happy to be there even though it wasn't a park day. The pizza does look like a great deal - I'll remember that. We're taking the family in March (including grandsons 3 and 5). It might be a good quick meal.

 

[ashw100]

Hi Ashley!
Happy to see another TR from you!
Hawaii sounds like a really fun trip! We actually head to Hawaii in about 20 days so that is very exciting! Did you stay at Aulani?

It looks like you encountered some interesting people on your first day! Disgruntled husband, barefoot drunk woman on skyliner! LOL Hope she didn't have to use the bathroom when on it!

Looking forward to more!

How exciting, I hope you have a great trip to Hawaii. We did a split stay 4 nights on the Big Island and 4 nights at Aulani. It was amazing!!

I did meet some strange people, lol. It keeps things interesting.

 

[ashw100]

The disgruntled husband should have had some Mickey ice-cream, then maybe he'd relax lol

Those are some great photos!

Disney brings out the best in people sometimes.

Following along. I have 3 sons also..couldn’t imagine traveling with them by myself at that age..but what wonderful memories..mine are all grown with kids of their own..so now I travel with them and the grandkids

It was very daunting at first, I didn't think I could do it, but by the end I was sad our time with just the four of us was coming to an end.

What a great first day! Your boys seem so happy to be there even though it wasn't a park day. The pizza does look like a great deal - I'll remember that. We're taking the family in March (including grandsons 3 and 5). It might be a good quick meal.

Yes, it is a great, quick, cheap way to get a meal in. I highly recommend it. One thing I have learned traveling during the last year to Disney World, is that I am happy just to be there in the magic. I used to think I needed to spend every second in the parks, but we have learned to slow down and find that we actually enjoy it.

 

[ashw100]

Squealing Like a Kid on Christmas

As is the norm on a Disney vacation, I was up before the sun. I quietly got ready (thank goodness for the door between the sink and bedroom areas) while the boys got their beauty sleep. Once they were up, we got coffee and hot chocolate and had muffins in the room. I also ate my cupcake from the day before. It’s vacation right??

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We packed up the few items that had scattered themselves across the room and said goodbye to our Pop Century room. We dropped our bags with bell services to be transferred to the Grand Floridian. A woman overheard me and “Said you’re lucky, we can’t afford to stay there”. I mean neither can I, but I am not going to a stranger that, so I just said “yeah, we’re pretty excited.”

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I had to pick up the Grogu patch for Joe in the gift shop and then we got in line for the bus to Magic Kingdom. They actually put us on a charter bus. We saw tons of charter buses that week, but this was the only time we rode on one. It was 100 times better than being squeezed on a regular bus.

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When we got to Magic Kingdom, we were sadly not going inside. Instead we got in line for the boat to Grand Floridian. We knew our room wasn’t ready since we hadn’t gotten a text, but I needed to pick up our magical extras packet for our activities for the day. The CM handed over our envelope and then told me our room was ready. We hadn’t planned on the room being ready quite that early, but we decided to go up and drop off the things we didn’t need, but didn’t want to leave in our bags like iPads and such. We were told our room was in Boca Chica which was a little disappointing, because I had requested Conch Key. We had booked a lagoon view room, and I was trying to get a room on that side, but Boca Chica was on the other side and the farthest building from the main one. Thankfully, we were right off the elevator, so a little less walking. We got to the room and I did my requisite picture taking.

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I hadn’t been paying attention, just taking my pictures before the boys destroyed the room and then I step to the balcony and start squealing like a kid on Christmas. Our “lagoon” view was THIS!!

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Y’all when I tell you I broke down in tears. I immediately facetimed my mom to show her the view and thank her profusely once again. Talk about a room upgrade! Back in 2016 we had done a very similar quick trip to do Mickey’s Not So Scary and at that time my mom had booked the Polynesian theme park view. It was my absolute dream room, but we decided that since we had already had that experience we would book a lagoon view, since the Grand was special enough. I can’t even begin to tell you how lucky I felt to be able to have this experience.

Unfortunately, I didn’t have too much time to bask in this glorious room, because we had things to do. We put our valuables in the safe and headed out. This time we took the monorail back to Magic Kingdom and we had the whole car to ourselves!

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It was pretty dirty, thank goodness they’re refurbing them.

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We hopped right on the boat to Fort Wilderness, another vehicle to ourselves.

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I have never taken the boat to FW, so it was cool to see WDW from this perspective.

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[suse66]

Love your trip so far and how much fun you are having with your three boys! I am a three boy mama too although all three are away at university this year. Enjoy every moment as it goes by so fast!

That is the most spectacular view at the GF! I would have cried happy tears too seeing that.

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

Once they were up, we got coffee and hot chocolate and had muffins in the room. I also ate my cupcake from the day before. It’s vacation right??

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Always!!!

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Y’all when I tell you I broke down in tears. I immediately facetimed my mom to show her the view and thank her profusely once again. Talk about a room upgrade! Back in 2016 we had done a very similar quick trip to do Mickey’s Not So Scary and at that time my mom had booked the Polynesian theme park view. It was my absolute dream room, but we decided that since we had already had that experience we would book a lagoon view, since the Grand was special enough. I can’t even begin to tell you how lucky I felt to be able to have this experience.

Amazing!!!

 

[ashw100]

Love your trip so far and how much fun you are having with your three boys! I am a three boy mama too although all three are away at university this year. Enjoy every moment as it goes by so fast!

That is the most spectacular view at the GF! I would have cried happy tears too seeing that.

I am so glad we decided to come in early. Even though I am with them all day everyday right now, we needed this time to just have fun together.

Always!!!


Amazing!!!

I still cannot get over this view.

 

[ashw100]

Santa on Vacation

Since, we had a whole day to fill outside of the parks, we decided to make the trip over to FW so we could visit Tri-Circle-D Ranch.

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Now, N is a total “Texan”, despite not being born in Texas. He loves cowboys, boots, Stetson hats, and horses. He is desperately awaiting until he is old enough to ride a real horse, but for his birthday we took him to the Fort Worth Stockyards so he could ride a pony. So I thought he would just love getting to ride a pony at Disney World. His dreams were almost dashed, when we were told he had to be under 48 inches. He is almost exactly 48 inches with shoes on, but thankfully the CM said he could ride as long as he rode the big pony.

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I thought the CM would lead them around the course, but I had to do it.

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It was actually a fun experience and so affordable. It was $8 for once around the track and $12 for twice. We did it twice and it made my wanna be cowboy so happy. The CM was really awesome and talked with us afterwards about the horses there on the ranch. She told us that our pony would one day become one of the horses that pulled Cinderella’s carriage for weddings, which is so cool. I think it would be really cool to go back in a few years to check up on him.
After the pony ride, we walked around to say hi to the other Disney horses.

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It was really cool to check out this area, and I would highly recommend if you have the time and enjoy horses as well. Afterward, we were quite hungry and ready for lunch. The plan had been to go over to Wilderness Lodge, but I wasn’t sure how to get there without having to go all the way back to Magic Kingdom, so we just took the boat back to MK so we could go back to GF.

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We got on the newly redone red monorail.

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We got our lunch at Gasparilla Island Grill. The boys got various versions of kids meals and I went with the ham sandwich.

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N case you were ever curious what the inside of the coke freestyle machines look like. The boys and I found it interesting

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After our yummy lunch, we got on the bus over to Animal Kingdom.

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Animal Kingdom was just a stop over point, we had to board another bus to head to Blizzard Beach. We were headed there, but to play some mini golf.

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There was no wait and the boys picked the summer course.

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It was a little hard to keep everyone together, N kept trying to go on ahead. And it was so hot. We had brought water and by the 5th hole it was all gone. We tried to by more at the vending machine, but it wasn’t working. Thankfully, we filled our bottles up at the water fountain, but we just weren’t prepared for the heat. It had been very overcast since we landed and that had let the heat at bay, but we were toasted by the time we were done with the course.

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Overall, we had a really good time. I think this picture shows just how hot it was though. Look at their little red faces.

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[BroadwayHermione5]

Let’s Take Pictures with the Stairs

Once we were changed, we headed back out. We decided to explore a bit before hitting our next destination.

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When we walked past the Hippy Dippy Pool it was cleared out. I don’t know why since the Bowling Pool still had swimmers, so it couldn’t have been from weather. But it looks like we got out at the right time. We were headed to the Skyliner. We had to stop and take a picture at the fun fact year for my mom.

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Skyliner time!

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We took the Skyliner over to Epcot, but sadly it would still be a couple of days before we were hitting the parks. We could see signs for the 50th.

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I walked over to the Beach Club until we were close enough to see if we could get on the waitlist for Beaches and Cream. Sadly, they were at capacity, so we turned around and walked toward the Boardwalk.

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We still had ice cream on the mind, so we walked to Boardwalk Ice Cream.

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There was literally no one in there. All the boys went with the Mickey Ice Creams and I got some peanut butter concoction. It wasn’t the No Way Jose, but still good.

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We ate our ice creams outside and people watched. A woman complimented my bag, it was a Haunted Mansion Loungfly I had gotten at the Disney Store in Target back in 2019. We chatted for a bit but her husband got annoyed and stormed off, so we wrapped it up. It is always fun to meet other Disney lovers. Ice cream consumed, we cleaned up and began our trek back.

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We entered the queue area for the Skyliner and got behind a woman who reeked of alcohol. Poor thing was going barefoot, could barely walk, and still had a wine glass in the hand. We took the Skyliner over to the Riviera. I hadn’t been here yet, but I just wanted to see the cool murals.

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N had been getting so many compliments on his Duffy, but the CMs working the Skyliner station at Riviera loved it, so N had to stop at chat all about it. We took the Skyliner back to our hotel, but took a right and went over to Art of Animation. I had the best cupcake there back in February, and I wanted to pick one up.

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Once my cupcake was acquired, we decided to check out the rest of Pop Century. The boys really wanted pictures from inside the huge stairwells.

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80’s baby here

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We stopped to play some Twister

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Ready for soccer season

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Had to get a picture with my birth year sign

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It was about this part of our resort tour that we started get hangry. So I mobile ordered the family pizza meal to pick up at Everything Pop.

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We were ready to relax and hang out in our room so we took it back instead of eating in the dining area.

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This is probably the best value I have found at Walt Disney World. For 29.99 we got 8 slices of pizza, 8 breadsticks, and a Caesar salad. It was so much food, we didn’t even finish it. I wouldn’t say it was out of this world, but it will fill you up in a pinch. We enjoyed the evening watching cartoons and freaking out over the new Spiderman trailer.

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Overall, it was a really great travel day. I was worried about traversing the World with just the three boys, but it was great. I really gained a lot of confidence and independence which would really help out when I was on my own with them in the parks.

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I also had that peanut butter sundae at the boardwalk! Loved it, don’t think I ate all of it because I was so full!

 

[Woth2982]

Following along! Looks like such a fun couple days and you have not even hit a park yet! Mini golf is always on my Disney bucket list, but we NEVER get to it! One of these days! What a magical room view you had! I hope you were able to see fireworks from your view! I would have cried as well! How sweet of your mom to bring you all on a trip to Disney! I cannot imagine the homeschooling situation. I am so glad my daughter is only 14 months old! Hopefully things will be normal again by the time she gets to kindergarten!

 

[snikki]

What a great first two days. I also love reading travel/arrival days. Next trip we aren’t hitting a park on arrival day. I see so many people just travel and take in the day. We’re going to try that next trip. I love that you guys are having so much fun without hitting the parks.

 

[cajunfan]

So enjoying your report!

I can't get over how bug the boys are getting. And I realize just how old I am...you are only a few years older than my son!

Looks like you folks are having a great time!

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

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It was actually a fun experience and so affordable. It was $8 for once around the track and $12 for twice. We did it twice and it made my wanna be cowboy so happy.

I found out about this after my girls were too tall. But it's a great thing to expierence.

N case you were ever curious what the inside of the coke freestyle machines look like. The boys and I found it interesting

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I am obsessed with the freestyle machines. And that is intresting!

 

[footballmouse]

I saw your pictures of mini-golf and had to look over at mine on my desk at work. So much fun!

 

[JAMIESMITH]

Following along! I'm enjoying seeing all the fun things you found to do outside the parks.

 

[ashw100]

I saw your pictures of mini-golf and had to look over at mine on my desk at work. So much fun!

It was a really fun distraction outside of the parks.

Following along! I'm enjoying seeing all the fun things you found to do outside the parks.

Welcome! I am glad we took the time to explore outside the parks.

 

[ashw100]

Hugs from Grandma

We took the bus back to Animal Kingdom and then back to Grand Floridian.

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We were ready to cool off in the pool. I didn’t take any pictures there but we had a great afternoon. How many times had I ridden in the monorail riding past Grand Floridian, looking at the amazing pool, and wishing I could stay there? Now I was one of the lucky people in the pool, watching the monorail go by. The boys had a total blast going down the slide the whole time. After a few hours we were ready to head out in search of food.

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Seeing as we were just a short walk to one of my favorite quick service restaurants, we decided to go for a stroll. We passed the wedding pavilion while a wedding was going on.

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My cousin is getting married at Disney in May, so took some pictures to send her. Also pretty cool to see what our pony would one day get to do. Our destination for dinner was the Polynesian. I really like the new look of the buildings, I think it is much more authentic than the original version.

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Our dinner that night was at Capt. Cooks. The pulled pork nachos are to die for.

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While we were eating my mom called to say she had landed. She landed super early, but there was a storm rolling in and they couldn’t let anyone on the jetway. They eventually let them off and just in time too because shortly after she deplaned they announced that no baggage would be coming off. Thankfully, she hadn’t checked a bag so she was able to get right on the Magical Express. However, since the planes had once again stopped deplaning and the guests who did deplane didn’t have their luggage she had to wait. I think she waited about 20 minutes and then the bus finally departed with just one other couple on board.

Since we had some time, we got some Dole Whips for dessert. I wanted to ride the monorail back to GF instead of walking. At the time the monorail station was still under construction. I was under the impression the TTC wasn’t too far away, so we walked there. Y’all don’t do this! It is not close and we would have been much better off just walking back to the GF. Either way, we got to see some of the construction taking place.

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How cute is little construction Maui?

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We made it!

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After our trek back to GF, my mom was getting close so we just hung out in the lobby to wait.

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She texted us that she had entered the Magic Kingdom area, so we went outside, ready to get some hugs from grandma.

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Yay grandma is here!!

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We hadn’t yet experienced the storm that MCO was having, but it was headed our way. We went to the QS so my mom could get some dinner. She picked up a refillable mug and got the Star Wars one just so I could give it to Joe at the end of the trip.

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In case anyone is keeping count, my DH, who wasn’t even on the trip, had two souvenirs already. Just as we were heading back to the room the rain started coming down. We had hoped to watch the fireworks from the balcony, but they didn’t go off that night. We just had a nice relaxing evening in the room, ready to hit our first park in the morning.

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[ashw100]

I also had that peanut butter sundae at the boardwalk! Loved it, don’t think I ate all of it because I was so full!

I asked for a smaller portion, knowing I couldn't finish it. It was soo good though.

Following along! Looks like such a fun couple days and you have not even hit a park yet! Mini golf is always on my Disney bucket list, but we NEVER get to it! One of these days! What a magical room view you had! I hope you were able to see fireworks from your view! I would have cried as well! How sweet of your mom to bring you all on a trip to Disney! I cannot imagine the homeschooling situation. I am so glad my daughter is only 14 months old! Hopefully things will be normal again by the time she gets to kindergarten!

Thanks for following along. You should definitely try the mini golf, especially if you book a package and get it for free. Well worth the trek over.

What a great first two days. I also love reading travel/arrival days. Next trip we aren’t hitting a park on arrival day. I see so many people just travel and take in the day. We’re going to try that next trip. I love that you guys are having so much fun without hitting the parks.

We used to go right to the parks on travel day and on departure day. We love our park time, but these past few trips, we've slowed down and I really enjoy it.

 

[ashw100]

So enjoying your report!

I can't get over how bug the boys are getting. And I realize just how old I am...you are only a few years older than my son!

Looks like you folks are having a great time!

Lol, I had 'em young, so there's that. They are so big now. My first TR, I was still pregnant with my youngest and now he's 7

I found out about this after my girls were too tall. But it's a great thing to expierence.


I am obsessed with the freestyle machines. And that is intresting!

I am so glad we made it just in time, before he was too big. I think you have to be 10 for the big horses, so he's got a gap before he can do it again.

 

[snikki]

We used to go right to the parks on travel day and on departure day. We love our park time, but these past few trips, we've slowed down and I really enjoy it.

We always hit a park on departure day too but next trip we've decided to hit up Disney Springs. We haven't been since 2008 or so. DD16 wants to go and look around. I think it'll be a nice change of pace and more relaxing.