No, we're going to Monkey Joe's...a June 2021 TR (UPDATE 7-28)

[kclark9830]

Welcome!!!


Hi everyone! Welcome to my trip report. We had a magical adventure which started June 3rd and went through June 12th. My little family heartily agrees it was the best Disney trip we’ve had yet, despite a few bouts of bad'ish luck throughout the trip (don’t worry, I’m sure you’ll hear all about those! LOL)

First I’ll introduce you to the family.



I am Katie, the mom and trip planner of our trips. I am a teacher and a writer. I have a lifelong love of Disney, though I didn’t go to WDW until I was an adult. This was our 5th visit (for myself, Micheal, and Ashlyn…it was Miles’s 2nd visit).

My husband is Micheal, and we’ve been married 18 years. He is a property coordinator for a large pest control company in the southeast, and he travels often for work (which comes into play for this trip). Micheal has never had much of a love for Disney, though he’s put up with our trips over the years. It has definitely grown on him, though, and this trip was HIS idea. He has also already planned out our next trip, ha! I will make a follower out of him yet!

And the two cute kiddos in the picture are Ashlyn who is 11 and Miles who is 4. Ashlyn is my trip planning buddy. She loves it as much as I do, and we keep talking about doing a mother/daughter trip someday.

As far as Miles is concerned, I have a feeling he’s going to follow a little more in Micheal’s footsteps as far as his level of like for WDW, but for now he’s pretty happy wherever he goes.



Also along for the trip were my parents and my sister, niece, and nephew. They traveled separately from us and stayed at different locations, but we met up for pictures and rides every now and again. My family and my sister’s have made several of our Disney trips together, though my sister and her family have a few trips on us!

This trip came about when our Alaskan cruise was a no-go due to you-know-what (for what it’s worth, I plan to mention you-know-what, and any of the protocols surrounding it, as little as possible in this TR; I just don’t want to think about it, ok? Ok.)




We do have a new Alaskan cruise booked for next summer, which I am so excited for, but back to Disney!

Our original trip was booked for June 7th-12th, but we ended up adding a day at the front end. Then, one week before our trip, hubby’s job ended up assigning him to inspect one of their offices at the GA/FL line. He was able to arrange it for us to add that into our trip, putting our final trip dates as June 3rd-12th. We split our hotel time between the Dolphin (part of Disney’s Swan and Dolphin Resort) and All Star Movies, which really ended up working perfectly for us. I’ve got lots of pictures and experiences to share, and I can hardly wait.

Is this too much talking? Probably, so I’ll stop now, but I’ll be back soon to tell you all about our wonderful Disney vacation!

 

[CruellaNY]

Hey what do you know, I'm first! Really looking forward to hearing all about it!!!

 

[cajunfan]

I can't wait to read more!

 

[Piglet843]

Following!!

 

[SEAGULL59]

I’m in!

 

[kclark9830]

Hey what do you know, I'm first! Really looking forward to hearing all about it!!!

Hooray! Welcome!

I can't wait to read more!

Glad to have you here!!!

Following!!

Welcome!

I’m in!

Happy to have you!!!

 

[kclark9830]

What day is it? It’s travel day!

Our morning starts off boring enough, with a 5-hour drive from N AL to middle GA. Micheal had to stop at an office there for an inspection for work. We left around 6:30AM. It was an easy enough drive, though going through Atlanta is always a pain.

Micheal had done some homework to figure out what the kids and I could do while he worked for a couple hours, because we wouldn’t have a hotel room in this town. He’d found a bouncy house play place called Monkey Joe’s, and that was our plan.

There is a Six Flags along the interstate as you near Atlanta, and the roller coasters are right at the highway. It really is a pretty neat sight.

Miles got really excited and said, “Are we going there?!”

Ashlyn answered him, deadpan, “No, we’re going to Monkey Joe’s.”

I don’t think she meant to sound so disappointed, but it really came out perfectly. Micheal and I couldn’t help laughing out loud, and soon we were all laughing. Obviously, this is where we got our TR title. It became an instant joke throughout the rest of the week, and we have kept saying it since!

We did eventually make it to Monkey Joe’s and the kids had a BLAST, so there were no complaints about bypassing Six Flags.






Micheal’s inspection took a few hours, and around 5PM we drove another 2 hours down the road to the next city where Micheal would do another office inspection in the morning. We stayed at a Hampton Inn in Valdosta, GA, which is very near the FL line.

This was where our bad luck started. Miles woke up in the night burning with fever. The pit in my stomach was deep. I didn’t know what on earth we should do. Turn around and go home? Our rooms at the Dolphin were nonrefundable. And we’d come all this way.

Luckily, Micheal talked me off the ledge. I had brought a small pharmacy with us, out of years of experience of traveling with small kids. I gave him some children’s Motrin and that morning Micheal went into work.

We stayed in the room until check out, and that’s right when Micheal arrived back from working. We passed that time painting our nails and watching Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+.






We had also brought along lots of disinfectant, and we made sure to leave the room at least as sanitized as we could.

Then we hopped into his truck and were off to Orlando. We made the decision that if Miles still had a fever in the morning (which would be Saturday) we would take him to a walk in clinic. NOT how we wanted this to go, but we didn’t have any park reservations until Monday, so while I was anxious and pretty upset, I still had hope things could turn around.

Around 3PM we saw these wonderful sights.





Next Post...

 

[kclark9830]

Continued from last post...

We arrived at the Dolphin, checked in without incident, and were up to our room.



I will tell you now, we absolutely LOVED the Dolphin. Micheal has declared that we will stay here for every trip from henceforth and forever! I think it is perfect for us because he gets to leave the Disney bubble without actually leaving the Disney bubble…and I get to stay inside the Disney bubble. Does that make any sense at all? LOL

If you haven’t ever looked into the Swan & Dolphin, they are Marriott hotels and they have zero Disney theming. However, they are adjacent to the Boardwalk area outside Epcot so you’re still in the middle of the magic.

Because of Miles’s fever and stuffy nose, we stayed in the room for the entire evening Friday night. It was spacious and very nice, and even though we’d booked a no view room we ended up with a great view of Magic Kingdom in the distance!



We ordered food to-go from The Fountain, one of the Dolphin's qs restaurants. The food was decent qs food. Certainly nothing to write home about, but not bad at all. Ashlyn got a milkshake and it was really yummy.

Saturday morning Miles still had a fever so we packed him up and headed to a walk in clinic immediately off WDW property, which had hundreds of 5-star reviews online.

We were seen immediately, and they did tests for all the things. Everything came back negative, thank goodness!

If you read my PTR, you may remember I mentioned Miles had to see ENT the day before we left home. He has to have his tonsils removed because he has excessive sinus and throat infections. Poor kid has been tested for you-know-what, strep, and the flu more times than I want to count. We explained this to the doctor at the clinic, and she agreed this was just another run of the mill childhood virus. She did give us an antibiotic because he is VERY PRONE to sinus infections.

With this information, we headed back to the Dolphin. We did keep Miles in the room, but we felt safe enough to let Ashlyn have some fun so she and I went exploring and down to the pool.



When you exit the back of the Dolphin hotel, you come out to a large walkway that takes you toward boat transportation to Epcot and HS, as well as a walkway to the Swan and on to Disney’s Boardwalk. You can see Spaceship Earth in the distance, which made me feel super happy (Epcot is my #1).



From there we followed the path to the right. There’s a beach area where Ashlyn built a small sand castle, then finally on to the pool.






The pool complex here was beautiful! There’s a waterside and several waterfalls. You can also rent pool floats, but we didn’t do that. Ashlyn mainly wanted to slide.

For supper, we did a to-go order from the poolside bar/restaurant. I would say the food here was better than the food from The Fountain the night before.

I forgot to mention we also did a pizza for lunch, from Picabu (another of the Dolphin’s qs locations). It was decent, again nothing outstanding, but good enough. Micheal and the kids aren’t adventurous eaters, and though I’m saying these places were “fine" I really don’t mean that in any negative way. For our family, with young kids, they really were sufficient.

One thing I liked about the S&D is that they have their own app, so you can use it to look up all kinds of info each day. That was very convenient. It always had all the hours for the restaurants and activities, etc.

Sunday morning Miles woke up with no fever!!! I was so relieved. We had actually planned to head to a local church but we didn’t want to take Miles anywhere where he’d be in close contact with anyone for another day still, just to be safe. So we spent the morning outside, doing the Swan paddleboats at the resort, and taking a walk around the Boardwalk. It was so nice, but also really HOT, lol.



Y'all, I have no idea how to fix these pictures. Sorry!




We stopped in at the Boardwalk Ice Cream Parlor, where we saw this.



For what it’ worth, the ice cream was good, but our kids literally took a couple bites and threw away the rest. Kids.

We had received our room ready text for All Star Movies, so after again sanitizing our room as best we could, we headed to the parking lot to make our way over to Movies. It was only just before noon, so I was pretty excited to already have our room assignment.

I will leave you here for now, but I want to say this was a very nice way to spend our first couple days of vacation. I really wish Miles wouldn’t have picked up a virus (maybe from Monkey Joe’s???), but it allowed Micheal to have time to go from work mode to vacation mode. And again, we absolutely loved the Swan & Dolphin!

 

[footballmouse]

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

I am here!!!!

Miles got really excited and said, “Are we going there?!”

Ashlyn answered him, deadpan, “No, we’re going to Monkey Joe’s.”

Ha! Got to love kids..

This was where our bad luck started. Miles woke up in the night burning with fever. The pit in my stomach was deep. I didn’t know what on earth we should do. Turn around and go home?

Oh No!!! That is the worst!!!

We stayed in the room until check out, and that’s right when Micheal arrived back from working. We passed that time painting our nails and watching Raya and the Last Dragon on Disney+.

Well, at least you didn't feel like you guys were missing out on too much

I will tell you now, we absolutely LOVED the Dolphin. Micheal has declared that we will stay here for every trip from henceforth and forever!

That is the problem with that whole location.. It is great!

and I get to stay inside the Disney bubble. Does that make any sense at all? LOL

Totally makes sense. You get the best of both worlds.

I will leave you here for now, but I want to say this was a very nice way to spend our first couple days of vacation. I really wish Miles wouldn’t have picked up a virus (maybe from Monkey Joe’s???),

At least you were missing out of park days. It could have been better but it def could have been worse.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

 

[cajunfan]

So N. AL? You ever visit the Disney Store Outlet in Opry Mills in Nashville? I used to work there until last February (when my knees said no way finally)...and hope to go back to work there once this recent knee replacement heals fully!

We usually stop right past Valdosta in Lake City (I think...or Lake Park) right at the FL/GA line.

Good information about the Swan/Dolphin...have never stayed there or any Epcot area hotel.

I would have totally panicked too about fever in a young one! I'm glad your husband talked you off the ledge and eventually everything worked out for you all! And thank you for being so responsible on keeping him segregated until you found out and sanitizing your room! I wish all travelers were like that!

Lynn

 

[CruellaNY]

Ugh I didn't know about Miles having a fever! So relieved it was short lived and nothing serious.

We did eventually make it to Monkey Joe’s and the kids had a BLAST, so there were no complaints about bypassing Six Flags.

It looks like fun!

I will tell you now, we absolutely LOVED the Dolphin. Micheal has declared that we will stay here for every trip from henceforth and forever! I think it is perfect for us because he gets to leave the Disney bubble without actually leaving the Disney bubble…and I get to stay inside the Disney bubble. Does that make any sense at all? LOL

Well that's good for you guys lol. Honestly I get why Micheal liked it there and I know lots of people who do. Location is great and I've seen the pool area which also looks great! Other than that I've only gone to the S&D to see the Xmas decorations and eat although we've considered trying out the Dolphin before but have just never done it.

 

[kclark9830]

Ugh I didn't know about Miles having a fever! So relieved it was short lived and nothing serious.


It looks like fun!

Well that's good for you guys lol. Honestly I get why Micheal liked it there and I know lots of people who do. Location is great and I've seen the pool area which also looks great! Other than that I've only gone to the S&D to see the Xmas decorations and eat although we've considered trying out the Dolphin before but have just never done it.

I am hoping our next trip will be at Christmas time...just not this Christmas, unfortunately, lol!

 

[kclark9830]

I am here!!!!


Ha! Got to love kids..


Oh No!!! That is the worst!!!


Well, at least you didn't feel like you guys were missing out on too much


That is the problem with that whole location.. It is great!


Totally makes sense. You get the best of both worlds.


At least you were missing out of park days. It could have been better but it def could have been worse.

Can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip.

Yes! We didn't miss out on any park days, so it was definitely better than it could have been. I'm very happy it worked out so well (considering the circumstances!)

So N. AL? You ever visit the Disney Store Outlet in Opry Mills in Nashville? I used to work there until last February (when my knees said no way finally)...and hope to go back to work there once this recent knee replacement heals fully!

We usually stop right past Valdosta in Lake City (I think...or Lake Park) right at the FL/GA line.

Good information about the Swan/Dolphin...have never stayed there or any Epcot area hotel.

I would have totally panicked too about fever in a young one! I'm glad your husband talked you off the ledge and eventually everything worked out for you all! And thank you for being so responsible on keeping him segregated until you found out and sanitizing your room! I wish all travelers were like that!

Lynn

Yes, we've been to that Disney store!

And we try to be very aware of not spreading our germs to others. We know what it's like to have an immuno-compromised person in our household, and we really do try to be considerate of others in this area.

 

[Hubie]

We're here!

 

[rdkeim]

Following!

 

[Isabelle12345]

Following!

 

[cajunfan]

Yes, we've been to that Disney store!

I miss my store so much! I hope to go back once this recent knee replacement fully heals. I used to always be at box office ... normally on the end (short fat lady with glasses and short brown hair ) I have not worked there since late 2019 due to my knees though...again, miss it soooo much!!)

 

[kclark9830]

We're here!

Following!

Following!

to you all!!!

 

[kclark9830]

All Star Movies Arrival…or the Comedy of Errors​

I want to start off by asking if anyone else has terrible trouble posting on the Dis boards. I have tried multiple browsers and it’s always the same…glitchy. Is it just me? Am I doing something wrong???

Ok, back to WDW. I left off with us driving from the Dolphin over to All Star Movies. It was a quick and easy drive. We stopped at the check in desk even though we already had our room assignment. We technically had 2 reservations throughout the week and I wanted to see if we would be able to stay in the same room the entire stay.

The lobby CM was super friendly and checked on it then assured me we were “blocked" in the same room for the whole week. I met Micheal back in the parking lot and we headed to the Toy Story parking lots.
We were excited about this because Miles loves Toy Story. We were all in great spirits and excited to get to our room




…however, our excitement was soon to fade.

Dun, dun, dun!!!!

We dragged our luggage up to our second floor room. Miles excitedly used his magic band for the first time. We opened to the door to a dirty room.

Yuck.

No big deal, right? So we backed out, and I called the front desk from my cell phone. The CM apologized profusely and said she didn’t understand why we got a room ready text when she could clearly see on her end the room was still marked as dirty. She asked if she could call me back in a few minutes, so I agreed.

We stood in the blazing heat for between 10-15 minutes as we waited for her to call us back. I had to wonder why the CM in the lobby hadn’t noticed the room was still dirty when I told her we’d gotten our room ready text, but maybe she wasn’t privy to that info???

When the phone CM called back, she had assigned us a room around the corner, and that was that. I asked if we were going to be able to stay in this room for the whole week and she said she couldn’t promise us that. This made me kind of upset (but it DID end up working out, and we did get to stay there all week).

Ok, so we moved around the corner and got into our new room easily. At this point, we had all become pretty grumpy. We got our luggage situated, and Micheal actually went back to the truck to get the last bit of it. We were hoping that was the end of our frustration.

But wait! There’s more!!!

We needed to eat lunch at this point so we mobile ordered at the food court. Unfortunately, things did not get better just yet.

When we got our “food is ready" notification, we headed into the food court. We went to the table number our notification had indicated (you pick up your fully prepared order from numbered stations at tables). Our order was clearly sitting there, but the CM insisted it wasn’t ours. I showed her the order number on my phone, but she would not be swayed. I have no idea what was going on, but after a couple minutes, she pulled another CM over who easily confirmed it WAS our order.

We were pretty unhappy at this point, and when I went to get a straw for Miles’s drink I found out I had to ask for a straw from the cashier. Well, guess who had a line of 4 customers deep who were all placing orders? That’s right, the CM running the lone register.
I waited for another 5-10 minutes just to get a straw so my 4 year old wouldn’t spill his Sprite all over himself.

At this point, Micheal was saying we would NEVER stay at this hotel again.

Ok, so let me explain my reason for sharing all this. It is NOT to gripe or complain. As I said in my first post, this ended up being the best trip we have ever taken. I want to show that things don’t have to be perfect to be perfect. Things will go wrong, and that’s OK!!! It can all work out, and it did.

After we had eaten, we went back to our room to relax for a couple hours. The kids watched TV, Micheal messed around on his phone, and I obsessively unpacked and put things away because I’m obsessive that way.

The new rooms at Movies are small…but the storage space provided is amazing! It allows you to put everything out of sight. This gives you plenty of room despite the small space. We did end up enjoying our week at ASM.








Miles absolutely loved the Toy Story section, and each time we went in and out of “Andy’s Room" he had to comment that we were leaving or going into Andy’s Room again. It’s the small things that make you smile, and we loved hearing his pleasure in this little area all week.






When everyone had chilled out for a while, we headed to the swimming pool. It was crowded but there was still plenty of space. We all enjoyed the pool throughout the week!
I also had done an Instacart order for drinks and cold items, and it was delivered that afternoon. We ordered the family pizza meal for supper, from the food court, and this time I made sure to order Miles a juice box so I wouldn’t have to wait in line for a straw again.









We ended up finishing the evening by going to bed early because the next day would be our first PARK DAY!!!

It was a bit of a rough check in, but it really did all work out OK in the end. I have since thought that maybe many of these CM’S were new because Disney has been hiring so many people or moving around the CM's they had retained. It doesn’t negate the frustrations but it does at least explain them a bit. I do wish Disney would put out the darn straws though, LOL.