Who knew waiting would take up so much time and effort!
So the last few days I've read everything there is to read about breast cancer
it's treatment, and all the many points in between. Which leaves me exactly where I started. Seems pretty silly.
Instead I'd rather think about the trip just passed and the one coming up.
So we left off with a second day at AK. Ahh that really was wonderful. The day ended swimming. Oh and I totally forgot! We met a lovely family the first night who was at POR and it was a first trip! We ran into them a couple more times around the resort during the course of our stay. It really makes Disney, Walt Disney World to be precise, seem like one big family.
We stopped and asked how their trip was going, and shared our stories. It was so great to hear about all the magic someone else was able to experience during a first trip - and learn that they planned to come back!
After getting back to POR after our jaunt, we got the kiddos all into bed, and I packed everything up so we could switch resorts! I was so excited to get back to AK. Our previous trip, we were amazingly pixie dusted with savannah view, which was Ah-ma-zing! This trip we had savannah view 1 bdrm booked and I could hardly wait!
The next morning we woke up bright and early, grabbed breakfast and attempted to drop our bags off with bell services. Trickier than you'd think. The one window directed us to luggage services, but there was no one there, so we came back to the first window and explained the situation, it seemed the person who was supposed to be there disappeared for a while - this seemed to be a common theme amongst the bell services CMs. The lady at the window asked someone else to help us - direct refusal, it took her a minute (of increasing anger) to find someone to help us. I really wish there was something we could have done to help, but all we could do was assure her it was okay, and try desperately not to glance at the busses.
Luckily we didn't really wait very long and in no time at all we were on our way to HS. We didn't quite make RD, but pretty close.
First stop, TSMM!! We were so excited! My touring plan was perfect and would allow us to ride it 3 times that day (yay for EMH and FP+). The problem with my plan soon became apparent. I didn't take into account that the ride would be closed for EMH (and the 1st hour+ of park open).
Ella almost burst ingot tears immediately. We tried to distract her, "look it's Buzz and Woody!" She was having nothing to do with it, and was obviously upset, the CM at the door to the M&G seemed to notice, so I just said, "She's really upset b/c she wanted to ride the ride."
Oh BOY was that the wrong thing to say
the CM gave me a lecture about waiting our turn, and then said if it was really important, we should wait int he ride line anyhow.
: Seriously does she have no experience with kids? If my kid couldn't handle a slight detour did she really think waiting in line for who knows how long would be a good idea?
We went to meet Buzz & Woody anyhow.
"The Claw"
(I was trying to be silly and help everyone feel better - it didn't work)
Ella was so grumpy throughout the whole line, refused to meet them and was so ridiculously cranky that she kept pushing her siblings and me, and I had just about enough, by the time we get to Buzz & woody, I'm on the verge of snapping. So could barely force a smile, let alone interact with the characters. I was upset.
We left the M&G area and tried to figure out what to do. Ella continued to grump, getting more and more upset about everything. And I snapped. Pretty much saying let's go back to the resort (but we don't check in for another 6 hours). I was ridiculously grumpy, Ella was grumpy, and poor Ryan was trying so hard to be peacemaker (highly unusual - normally it's him butting heads with the kiddos, but **, I am HORRIBLE when I'ma grump)!!
At this pint there was debating about what to do and where to go, but Ella agreed that going to Wandering Oaken's would have her feeling better. And that was what I really wanted to do to - though at the time I said it was the last thing on Earth I wanted to do...
Yeah...
So we go into Wandering Oaken's, almost no line at all! But Cordelia had to go to the bathroom - so Ryan ran to take her just before it was our turn to go in. He had our camera.
The photo pass photographer was grumpy. Snapping at us. We were "standing in the wrong spot, and she only had one magic shot per family, there were people waiting, hurry up" (there was no one else around - did not improve my mood).
Then the girls wanted to go play in the snow. So I went to get in line. A VERYYYYYYYY Loooooonnnnngggg line. It went all the way back to the end of the snow enclosure, and wrapped around, and wound back on itself. But we got in line. And waited. Finally Ryan and Cordelia arrived. I asked Ella and Agatha to wait in line while I ran to get Ryan. When I returned to our spot, the person a few people back assumed I was cutting and went off on me (seriously almost cried) then the person behind us stepped in and assured her I was with the children who were in line already. There was a lot of apologizing and she told a tale or two about line cutting. (I totally get it! But that exact moment was a bit much for me).
So I took Brom and the camera and let Ryan and the girls stay in line, I wanted pictures. But pictures were not in the cards. I had to take Brom to freshen up - I did leave Ryan the camera, but there were no pictures.
After taking Brom I went to the gift shop to wait for everyone else to join me. When they arrived the girls picked out some dresses, and a doll each, and we grabbed a stuffed Sven for Brom, then we were ready to head to star tours, except Ryan grabbed the wrong item for Ella - so we had to wait in line to go back in to exchange it. Then something else was wrong, back in line again. This is the moment TSMM began operating - over 2 hours since we arrived! We contemplated running into the line, but Ella still needed help, and then it was Agatha's turn to need the bathroom at the exact moment. So we decided we'd just wait for our FP+ time.
By the time we were done it was time to head to early lunch. Yes we really had spent almost the entire morning doing not much of anything.
In case you can't tell, my opinion on "Frozen Summer Fun" thus far was not very good.
However, it was time for the processional. But given the time, we ended up basically right beside the stage, and the speakers were only in front of the stage, so we couldn't hear anything, and there as no view of the stage. But I did get a great shot of Kristoff!
My day was much better for that right there! Lunch was at H&V. The girls love the Disney Jr characters so this is a must do for us! As always lunch was actually pretty good for a buffet. There's always a ton of selection at H&V that's safe for us. And the Chef was happy to make us a GF caesar salad
We ate more than enough to improve everyone's moods!
The characters were pretty good, but the interaction this year wasn't quite the same. Probably b/c Brom only liked Sophia
everyone else got the stink eye.
After lunch we wanted to ride ST so off we went. There was no line, so we grabbed a parent swap pass and saved our FP+. And good thing too!
Ryan and the 3 girls rode, then I rode with Ella and Agatha, then Ryan did, then I did. This did wonders of the big kids outlook, but Cordelia and Brom were in total melt down from waiting so much.
We tried our best to distract them and keep them busy, but it just wasn't enough. We hoped heading to Disney Jr would help liven their spirits up.
We hop in line, and get in pretty quick, find a seat, then try to keep Brom happy until eh show started. It was better than Nemo at AK, as far as keeping his attention, but only by a slim margin.
At the end of the show we had 2 massive meltdowns when neither Agatha nor Cordelia managed to find a piece of the paper that falls during the show. (I mean seriously it's paper!!) But they had to have it, and no other would do!
I just couldn't cope anymore. We had to leave.
We all talked and agreed that our day at HS was a very bad day and we really didn't want o stick around for another hour to ride TSMM, we didn't do the sing-along, I never rode RnR, there were so many things that just were not going to work with our family.
The other parks have ways to entertain the littles while the bigs ride the big rides, but HS just doesn't have that. And the only ride Brom could ride (The Great Movie ride is just to scary for our kids) was closed in the AM, and there are only so many shows a toddler can do.
So we hopped onto a bus and went to AKL. Best. Decision. Ever!
When we arrive, our room was ready. I requested close to the elevator. I was as far from the elevator as you could get.
But that was okay. The room was gorgeous. But because of where the room was located, we had to stretch over the balcony to really see any animals. We were too close to the main branch of the building. But the balcony was huge and gorgeous.
However, the room had a problem. At the time we hoped it'd be a small problem, our room stunk! No, not of animals, of vomit
we tried opening all the windows and turning on the fans, and hoped that if we went swimming, everything would be better.
After swimming, it was starting to cloud over and it felt like a storm was coming, so I dashed back to the room to close the windows while everyone ran to get supper from Mara.
Chef Dave was great, chatting wight eh girls about hidden Mickeys, and talking to us about the food choices. HE wasn't sure about the African Stew, so we had burgers and I grabbed some baby cakes from the fridge. The food was nothing special, but it was good.
After dinner we went back to the room, but it was 10x worse than before. It was disgusting! So I had Ryan start packing up and I went down to concierge and explained the situation. Unfortunately, there was a problem. There were no more 1 bdrm suites available.
We were offered a change of resorts, but D.D. was joining us in 2 days, so we didn't want to switch resorts. We were offered to stay ing the room until the next day when we could switch rooms, but that would mean we'd have to take time out of our park day to do that - and really, there was no way we could stay in that room! We were also offered a concierge level upgraded, but it wasn't savannah view.
Honestly, we had a better view of the animals from our new room than we had from our savannah view suite!
We were on the ground floor right off the pool, so there were people between us and the animals, but we could see the animals perfectly right from the patio. And it was so convenient to pop out to swim or grab food.
And it didn't hurt to have the CL lounge access!
The CMs at the Kilimanjaro lounge were great! Ryan even had a chance to talk anime with one of them.
I meant to take pictures, the room was awesome! So much better than the suite, though I have to say, I was EXTREMELY happy I did laundry during the short time we actually were in the suite.
When you walk in the door, there's a half bath right there, around the corner is the kitchenette - fridge, microwave, and sink, also a table for 4. Then there's the living room, with the pull-out bed in the couch, TV, coffee table, desk and chair, and then a comfy chair by the couch. In the next room were two queen beds, a TV with a chest of drawers, a seat next to the patio doors, and over by the bathroom (opposite the patio) there was a vanity with a bench seat. But the bathroom was what really made the difference for our family! A separate toilet, a HUGE shower - all the kids fit at once! A separate tub, and then a large double vanity. It was really nice to have so much space for everyone.
I quickly unpacked while Ryan got everyone ready for bed, then within seconds of our heads hitting the pillows, we were asleep!
Our day didn't get off to that great of a start, but it ended on such a high note!
Giant pieces of machinery needed to head down the wrong side of the high way due to being too tall for the underpass. Which meant we were at a standstill with a screaming, crying baby for 15 minutes. Aggggh that was painful! But we finally got moving and still had close to 20 min extra time. We were doing great. 
so our bags were searched, shoes were extra carefully checked, the stink eye was given, then we were finally allowed to go through. It was totally bizarre. 
We had no other money/cards with us b/c we forgot to bring them from the room. But saints from the UK said, "Hey we check out in the AM and have tons of dining credits left, let us pay for you!" 
!!! I was so hoping you'd do a TR so I could hear about your trip, since we were down there at the same time. It'll be fun to get your POV and see how much it differs or is the same as ours 
. I did want to say something, I really did! But I kind of felt like a stalker
But Ryan's home tomorrow, so I should have time to get most of the TR done this week. Yay! PDD (Post Disney Depression) is easier when re-living the trip! 
This would have been a good idea if the day before ended earlier, but alas, we were tired. Luckily everyone had outfits picked the day before and with minimal fuss we were out the door to get a QS breakfast. 
We're walking right down the middle of main street USA 
So Ryan and Brom went to ride Pooh Bear and the three girls and I rode the Mine Train. Ella pouted the angry pout the entire time, Cordelia cried for it to stop. Agatha whooped and had a blast. 
This was thte BEST Safari ride we've ever been on! The cheetah's were up and walking around, animals were everywhere. The giraffes were walking right up to the vehicle. We could have reached out and touched them. 
