Island Hopping: A Highly Inappropriate TR. (Boom.)-- Link to NEW TR! 10/8

[Fantasyland Mom]

yes, same Dani, and I was bummed I never saw them. Next time I will venture out and plan an official dismeet with my favorite TR authors! I just haven't done this before and didn't want to bug you guys. I always feel guilty reading TR's because I don't do them myself since I scrapbook when I have spare time. Looking forward to the next one and all the great pictures!

Thanks Jenn!
Erin

I read tons of TRs, but I rarely comment. I have recognized plenty of people and not said a word! I'm glad you came up to me! And official dismeet would be great.

I think BTMRR feels faster now too! We rode it and all thought it was "much more thrilling" than in the past. We also rode it once in the pouring rain and that was really crazy!

We had a really great CaDCT parade experience this year - it had started to sprinkle, and people were pouring out of the park. We were trying to head to the fire station to meet Mike (I think he had gone to the bathroom or something), and just as we were about to cross the street, they roped us in stuck on the sidewalk. We were about 3 families in and right at the rope, tons of room to move around and dance to the parade music and got lots of high 5's from the characters. It was truly magical.

Okay, so I'm not crazy! It really was faster, I swear. I would have remembered this speed! And Julia had ridden it previously and been fine, but she was like, "No, never again, too fast," after this ride.
Parades are great, but parades where you don't have to touch any other sweaty bodies? Priceless.

Looks like our trips will overlap by a day or two! Right now our dates are September 19-27!

Well, YAY!

You were recognized more than once on your latest trip! I just didn't know what to say other than "hi!" And of course was dealing with my own toddler situations but it was funny to see you guys in a large spot such as Epcot!

So glad about Brandon's new job and the possibilities of another trip! We're working on one ourselves but have some potential job changes and or relocations coming up ourselves so nothing set in stone! Ours would be September 15-20. We love deluxe and we loved club level, so avoiding those weekend nights (or more nights in general) is crucial!

I LOVE the planning part. It's wierd when you hit that wall where there's nothing else to do!

You're right, I was! And I had some people tell me after the fact that they saw me but didn't even say "hi!" But seriously, toddler situations...I GET THOSE! Trust me.
We would love deluxe, as well, but as usual, we'll most likely not end up there . I'm not even getting my hopes up this time! I just don't know if I can do another value again, even though my kids are begging for a family suite at ASMusic or AoA. I just...I just can't. My top choices for next year are GF and Beach Club, and if we have to stay moderate, I could be okay with POR. And, hey, maybe we can actually meet up with each other with no toddler situations! (I won't hold my breath on that part, but meeting up for an entire conversation would be nice, lol!)

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

It was the final morning, the day we were leaving WDW. We woke up from our dreams in our comfy beds at the Poly, and...wait, WHAT TIME WAS IT!?!?!

We apparently slept a little too well. It's those beds, I swear.

As I said earlier, I had done some packing, but had a long way to go. This is when I resort to my old trusty packing method, which pretty much consists of taking everything in the room and dumping it into a large container. Loose shampoo and souvenir Mickey Head bar soap and random flip flops and tea sets, all jumbled together in a Rubbermaid bin and shoved into the trunk of the van. Hey, it works. After I packed up the rest of our things, I dressed myself and threw the kids' clothes on the bed. Brandon would be in charge of dressing them and getting himself ready, and I would run down to Captain Cook's and get us something that no respecting Poly guest would leave without--Tonga Toast!

It seemed like a good plan. I had twenty minutes to grab it before we were supposed leave. And when I arrived, the lines were HUGE. Yikes. I bit the bullet, typed my order on a screen, and hopped in a line, and I waited there FOREVER. Let me just say that the setup of this place isn't very clear. There are a couple of cashiers with lines on both sides of their booths, but no clear way of showing which way the lines should go. When I got near the front to pay, a person walked up out of the blue and right up to the cashier and began paying. The couple of people still in front of me put up a fight, and then the cashier quietly said, "Well, he was technically where the line was supposed to be." Except she had taken all her customers from the line we were in, never once directing us to move the line. So then out of nowhere a ton of people flooded the "correct" line, and I knew I'd never make check-out at this rate. I handed my receipt to the cast member, told her to forget the order, and went to fill my mugs one last time before stomping out. I was NOT a happy camper. This, combined with the less-than-stellar dinner I got in the rain a couple of days prior, really soured me on Poly Quick Service. It's the one mark against the Poly that I can give.

Nobody in my family was very happy with the situation, but we promised the kids some food pretty quickly once we got to our next destination.

We literally ran to the van, as Brandon had to drop me at the front desk since I never got an email or note about the additional charges to my room, and I wanted to make sure to show up there before official check-out time. We just made it! On the way in, I had gotten one final lei and Brynn decided I needed to sport that thing, itchy as it was, for as long as possible.
After a few minutes of driving and a lot of minutes trying to find a parking space, we made it to Downtown Disney, FINALLY! If you recall, we tried to come here earlier in the trip to no avail, and we decided we just had to find a way to fit it in before heading home.

It was SUPER BRIGHT this day!



We were distracted from the food issue by the Lego statues. Legos. You get us every time.





We visited with our favorite family.







And then we had to touch the princesses outside World of Disney like every other kid in the World. The statues are practically celebrities.





And Sawyer sat around looking cute. If you you look in the waaaaay back of this picture, you can see the girls greeting Statue Cinderella.



We must have forgotten that we still hadn't had breakfast, because we decided to let the kids build some Lego things while I ran and shopped at World of Disney.











At some point, Julia decided she wanted to join me at WoD, most likely because she wanted as many souvenirs as she could possibly get. I know we left with an Epcot playset for their monorail set, three stuffed animals, magnets, key chains, and more...oh, and a very large receipt!

When we found the little kids (and Brandon) right where we'd left them, Sawyer was pitching a fit about getting some french fries. AGAIN. It was like a horrible repeat of the Casey's Corner incident. People had to think that all I ever feed this kid is fries! In fact, I think it's quite the opposite. At home, he doesn't get enough (in his mind), so he milks as many fries out of WDW as he possibly can.

We were headed to a spot that I knew had great fries. I didn't know, however, that they were the best fries ever!

Our first Wolfgang Puck Express was definitely a hit.

Sawyer got his fries.



We also got some pizzas (I think they were Margherita and Buffalo Chicken?) and some of their very fancy macaroni and cheese...no boxed stuff for this place!





We enjoyed every bit of our meal over at a nice corner table and vowed to come back again the next time we were at WDW. We packed up our leftovers and headed for our "dessert" at Goofy's Candy Company.

This was our first trip here, and the options were overwhelming!





Believe it or not, it wasn't the candy that got the most attention here. It was the "magic mirrors." We played with these so much that we were starting to draw a crowd of people watching us and laughing with (at?) us. Who needs a theme park!?! Just bring the kids here and they'll entertain themselves for hours!













That's a fraction of the pictures we have of this chunk of time. We were there forever, I'm tellin' ya!

**CONTINUED BELOW...KEEP READING!***

 

[Fantasyland Mom]

After some free samples were handed out, Brynn decided she had to have one of Goofy's Glaciers. Who doesn't love a good cup of sugar and food coloring?!



And we finally settled on some road trip sweets.



I love the nod to Mary Poppins on the first candy box! They have several of these with cute sayings. Those were gummies, I think. I hate all things gummy. Those were for Brandon.

Our last stop before leaving (well, if you don't count the restrooms) was Once Upon a Toy, where we spent some quality time building Mr. Potato Heads...and by that, I mean that the kids built them while I ran through there like a mad woman making sure I didn't need anything else.

Heh. "Need."

I do know we left with three more stuffed animals the kids just HAD to have.







Notice our stroller full of shopping bags in the top right corner. "Need."





Always look up!



Julia was quite proud of this. And so was I. Just throw all kids of bad guys in there together, sweety. It's all good.



Yeah, I'm giving you more Potato Head pictures! What of it!?! I'm making this last update last as long as possible!







The only way we could pry them away from the table was to promise a ride (or two) on the tiny carousel nearby. We paid, got our coins, and I tried not to get sick as we spun around and around...and as they spun around and around as we spun around and around.







We pottied, forced more things in our already cramped trunk, and loaded up in the van for the long ride back to North Georgia.

The trip was uneventful. As you can see in our trip video, all three kids fell asleep right about the time we hit Atlanta, meaning we got a whole 30 minutes of peace. We arrived back home a little after midnight, and the next morning Julia went back to school and Brandon went back to work.

And that, my friends, is the end of a very lengthy trip report.

Thank you for sticking around for an entire year as I recounted all our experiences.

I will post a link to my new TR once I start it, which I guess I can do very soon since I've officially finished this one! Please make sure to be on the look out for that.

Again, thank you, and have a magical day!

 

[rachel09985]

Great ending! I will be on the lookout for your new TR!

 

[Queenofallthings]

The only time I'm ok with a TR ending is when there's another one about to begin!! Have to keep seeing those little faces You know I'll be there girl

 

[hlrababy]

Awww, love it!!! You know I am looking forward to your new TR!!!

Those mirrors are cool in Goofy's! I couldn't get the girls away from them!

 

[Suelala]

Another fantastic trip report! Now, cant wait for the next one! I am WDWless this year, so have to live vicariously thru others. So, thanks! Next year, I WILL go, even if I go solo. Going to Hawaii in October, but maybe to WDW the same month! And guess which I am more excited about... Well, Disney of course!

 

[RyansMommy1]

Yay for a new job !! I was going to encourage you to start looking in Philly next so I can finally meet you!! LOL

I feel like you are such a kindered (thats spelled wrong I think) spirit and you really seem like an amazing mom! You're an inspiration to me

I was thinking October 2...but maybe ill move it up a week or two

 

[RyansMommy1]

Sam and Alicia write the "YOLO" trip reports, Alicia actually is very god friends with Pocohantas and Jasmine if ya know what I mean- and her and her fiance have such a cute story

 

[MissPrice]

Hi there I love Jungle cruise at night!! It is a totally new experience. It's also pretty different when it's 30 degrees out (circa Jan 2010) Aww that's sweet you got to have some one on one time with Julia. What a fantastic TR. Very entertaining. I can't wait for the next one! -Amanda

 

[Holly324]

Love love love your TR!! I haven't commented much, but I always find the time to read your updates...it was so much fun! Can't wait for your next TR!

 

[merbobear]

Ahhh I am so sad that your TR is over, but then I am also happy that we will get to read about your more recent adventures too. Speaking of recent, having seen more recent pictures of your children, and now looking at pictures a year old, Julia has grown up so much in a year! I mean they all have, but she still had such a baby face last year!

Is Brandon making a video this year (please please please!)? I hope so, we still watch last year's video often.

Thank you for sharing your family's vacation, I have loved reading all about it! Oh, and they have a lot more potato head pieces than when we were there...more Star Wars stuff. We have done 2 full boxes of parts already and I think our next trip we will be getting a third! Looks like they have enough that we don't have to fill up a box.

 

[SoccerDogWithEars]

Awww :-( It's the end.

But a new one soon!!!! Yay!!!!!

I have to laugh about your comment on Wolfgang Puck mac and cheese. When I was young(er), I refused to eat any mac and cheese that wasn't yellow-orange and made with elbow macaroni. Rotini? Nope. White cheddar? Ain't touchin' it. I'm pretty sure I may have thrown a tantrum at, well, several Disney restaurants at age 6 over not-normal mac and cheese. And spaghetti that was too thick. It was not a happy trip.

I would like to say that at 22 I'm not like that anymore. I just won't eat the green rotini

 

[TheMaxRebo]

As, so sad to have reached the end of your TR. Really enjoyed it and getting to "meet" your so wonderful family.

Can't wait fir the next one and another amazing adventure! Hope as is well!

 

[thegib95]

Loved this TR, everything about it, your writing style is awesome!

I have decided to write a TR for our December Trip, but probably not. pre Trip report (tried one of those once and everyone had such negative things to say about everything (ADRs, Schedule, Dining plan usage, etc)

And we are going Sept 10-17 next year!

 

[epsmith921]

You're right, I was! And I had some people tell me after the fact that they saw me but didn't even say "hi!" But seriously, toddler situations...I GET THOSE! Trust me. We would love deluxe, as well, but as usual, we'll most likely not end up there . I'm not even getting my hopes up this time! I just don't know if I can do another value again, even though my kids are begging for a family suite at ASMusic or AoA. I just...I just can't. My top choices for next year are GF and Beach Club, and if we have to stay moderate, I could be okay with POR. And, hey, maybe we can actually meet up with each other with no toddler situations! (I won't hold my breath on that part, but meeting up for an entire conversation would be nice, lol!)

Our top picks so far are wilderness lodge or boardwalk. We loved the boardwalk this time and really enjoyed club level there, but most of our time was spent at magic kingdom so we're really thinking about staying in that area. I'd love to do contemporary but we had some bad experiences there on our 2012 trip so it is kind of out. We'd love grand Floridian but of course then club level starts to be out of the budget. And my husband seriously will not stay anything less than deluxe. He's of the thought that while we only have one kid, he's going to enjoy the smaller expense!

Anyway, we love the boardwalk area and have stayed at yacht club in the past and really loved it! We had a boardwalk view this last trip and it was just perfection.

Is it bad I wish I could start making dining reservations??!!

Toddler situations : screaming the entire way from England in Epcot all the way to the boardwalk! And then trying to chase tigger at crystal palace - heaven forbid he goes to visit another family!!

 

[STLMickeyMom]

Well--who needs food when you have Legos?!? Although, WP does look very good! Thank goodness you finally got poor Sawyer some fries!

Looking forward to your next TR!

 

[crepemyrtle]

Bah-rilliant trip report. Loved it! Can't wait to read the next one - and by that I mean stop whatever you're doing and start typing.

 

[leshunlenese]

Awww! Loved it. Another great TR! I will be on the lookout for the next one. My DS had to be persuaded to leave DTD with those rides too. O and that mirror at Goofy's, My son got the biggest kick out of that. He laughed his socks off. He kept saying "It tall, Im not tall" and just laughing hysterically!

 

[HappyGal]

Well done! I can't wait for the new trip report! I must tell you that I'm very concerned that Brandon's new job is going to take time away from his new video. Very concerned.