The good the bad and the unmagical

[memakwed]

I've never posted a trip report before and hope I do this right! I'd love to share my experience with others and hopefully help them along the way. Our travels included the following characters: Grand -my mom (63), Grand-dad- my dad(65), my husband (41), son 9 almost 10 and myself(38). I LOVE DISNEY! I'm the planner, organizer and leader. While every now and again I will get an answer to a question I ask, for the most part it is all up to me. Do you know what type of pressure that is ? The pressure of giving everyone their ideal vacation, to make everyone happy and no one unhappy? Why do I do it ? Because I love them and I love Disney. It's my happy place. Grand and Grand Dad started my love of Disney back in 1988 when I was going into 7th grade. Then I didn't return until my honeymoon in 1998 with a husband that really wanted to go. Then in 2003 we went for our anniversary and unknowingly was expecting our first child. We then went in 2009 for our sons 5th bday and we've been going every 2 or 3 years since. So my love for Disney really is based on the fact that we have special family moments there.

This trip right form the beginning had issues. Originally we were to go for late Jan into Feb for my son's 10th bday and his god fathers 50th. Instead the god parent's opted not to go and then it happened..... a free dining pin for Dec.. My son had always asked to see Disney at the holidays. Would he understand that this is his Christmas and Bday present or would it be a let down when those days arrived? You'll see. We tried to get Dec1-12. Our travel agent was slow and even though on the Disney site I was able to get a room I waited for her and missed out. Finally after many a tries we were able to get royal guests rooms with a pool view at POR for Dec.4-14. So basically what was the sense in free dining I was paying top dollar for the room. Went with it though since we got it. How will we get there? We opted to drive this trip from upstate NY to FLA. We wanted to be there on the 3rd to get the most out of the 4th so we thought to get a room around DTD to save money but be close. We made ADR's for T-REX on 12/3 at 930. So we had lots of time to arrive on the 3rd since we were all free from Thanksgiving on.

We were excited about the idea of POR. My parent's are creatures of habit and enjoy this resort a lot. This was our 3rd time staying here. I kept the fact that we had royal guests rooms to myself which turned into a great surprise for my son and mom when we opened the room doors. However that was 12/4 and we we arriving 12/3 so where should we stay. I appealed to the masses on the disboard and while I intended on finding the perfect DTD hotel for our needs people kept saying we should just stay in a value the first night. I thought about it, hum, it would be nice to mark another resort off our list and the cost didn't seem to be too much higher and we could use transportation to come and go that night so my husband would have to drive and more after a long day. So I did it a value resort we would try. I took my time. I read reviews. I didn't even ask my family I just thought I will do it and surprise them. Finally a few weeks before I had our travel agent book all star movies but they only had preferred no standard available. We needed a handicap room and that's what part of the issue was. So second choice was POP. Yes, they had standard handicap available. Great a little more than I wanted but less than preferred at All Star Movies so I went with it. I went home happy to be trying something new.

Thanksgiving came and went and the bags were packed. We left on Monday Dec.2nd. @5am. After picking my parent's up and going back because my husband forgot pants- yes he forgot to pack pants we finally were on the road. We made it to Rocky Mount NC about 5pm just as the sun was setting. We stayed at a country inn and suites off the highway. It was clean, had a pool and a hot tub. We went to Red lobster that was close by about 5 minutes away. While my mom had an issue with her fridge and her insulin overall it wasn't bad and we would try again with a working fridge.

Next morning we were out the door by 7 and made our way to Disney. The drive got us into Orlando and I-4 at Rush hour. This was very stop and go and I hope someone else will learn from our mistake and make sure to avoid rush hour. We made it to POP just about 7pm. Yes we had made it. I got out of the car and took the smells of Disney in. Yes for me there is a smell, something I want to breather in and exhale and relax knowing I've arrived and my happy place is before me. I grabbed all our our bands and headed to checkin. We walked in and saw the tree all decorated and I could hear the Christmas music in the background calling me in. My mom and I went to get in line to check in while my dad husband and son went to look around and take pictures. Great plan. There was no line and we were at the counter in no time. .......and then time stopped, well no that's not true, time didn't stop it kept ticking away, vacation stopped, the magic stopped, the happy place feeling stopped, but the 2 screaming children not supervised by their parents didn't stop for 45 minutes while she stood on hold with mousekeeping to see if our room was ready. We had VIP cleaning for a health issue and checkin is 3pm on so why at 7pm do they not know if our room is ready. We know rooms are assigned 2 to 3 days ahead so what was the problem. Well the problem was this they didn't have an appropriate handicap room for our party. While you put in requests for rooms that is all they are and we accept this however, health issues are more than a room request. You can't stick a party of three in a room with an occupancy of 2. We were given our rooms and off we went not knowing what I would find. I got to our room and then realized that there were two doors with the same room number. Crazy right? makes you take a double look right? Well I didn't want to barge into someone's room so we went down the hall to where my parent's were and called the front desk and asked what door should we use? They informed me that both were ours. So we wound up with a king handicap room and a standard double. It would have been great space wise if our child would sleep in a room by himself but that's not the case. Option 1 all three in a king or option 2 use the double beds. We did the double beds. A waste of space and we couldn't get calls in the double room only the king side so I couldn't even get a wake up call unless I walked into the king room to pick up the phone. Really then why 2 phones? Enough was enough I just wanted dinner.

So I'm going to pause there and will return with TRex info and the check out issues we then had at POR.
I hope you find what I have written interesting and helpful so far.

 

[Tiggeye]

Want to hear what happened at POR!

 

[memakwed]

Here we go enough about getting into the room. The room was well standard just like an picture you've ever seen. Nothing special or noticeable that makes me want to say you have to see this! So onto dinner but before we go I took a quick shower that had great pressure. So there you go I'm not totally disappointed and jaded about POP. We head to the only bus stop which was a walk from the 1950's buildings but hey you know you're going to walk at Disney. The line for the bus was past the queue and a few other buses came and went before the DTD bus came. We were dropped off at the marketplace and we made our way through to T-Rex. I swear this trip is not all complaints as I am not a complainer in life but there are times this trip that drove me nuts since I've never experienced such a bleh experience at Disney. We made it to T-Rex by 9pm. I felt we were too early but after the drive I said what the heck let's see if we can check in and guess what we did. Even though it was a half hour and there were crazy amounts of people we were able to check in and were seated within 12-15 minutes and given a round booth when my mom asked as they were cleaning it. Maybe we are going to start our trip on a high note but again they aren't Disney. We are seated and I let them no I have a landry card. A landry card that we never use because we don't even have a landry's restaurant in NY state. Each year on your bday you get a $25 credit on your card but it expires at the end of your bday month. Well low and behold the manager comes off and says she will take the $25 off our bill for my bday. What how could this be? I can't believe ah could this be the moment I start to relax and be in the moment. I will say it's once of the better moments of my trip. We ordered 2 salads and a children shrimp so that really took a chunk of the bill. my parent's got salads too. We know it's loud and it's ok. I feel like my first check of the trip can be marked. Husband eats at favorite restaurant and we save money ....check, check. We even got the extinction for dessert. This trip is for my son early bday about 7 weeks out and it is noted but no happy birthday like other tables and that's fine. I'm sure we'll have a week of happy birthdays as is the past right? Wrong, but that for another time. We had a great time at dinner and took the bus back to the resort and went to bed. Early to rise as we want to check out and check in to POR. Did I mention when we spent so much time checking in the woman said it would be best for us to come back to the front desk to check out so it is easier to check in at POR. Good information right? Absolutely and that's exactly what we did in the morning. We got up early no thanks to the wake up call that could only go into the other room. We packed up and drove over to check out. Walked over to the line and there was a girl with an I pad type of machine that said she could check us out. Great could it be we will have a good experience at the front desk? NO, no we didn't but we wouldn't know until we got in the car and made it to POR. We gave the info the woman asked for including our names and any and all other info she asked. Wow easy a lot better than last night we say to one another. We even take a picture by the tree. the vacation club CM asks if we would like him to take it so we're all in the picture. Yes, final a super person and experience that is a little magical. A great guy to be so nice, although can you blame him for wanting to interact with people, how many families staying at a value are going to actually get a vacation club? I'm sure his day is more pictures than purchases. I greatly appreciate his friendliness and the picture. So let's leave the resort and head to POR saying POP was not our favorite but it was clean. We haven't refused to ever go back again, at least yet.

POR we found it easy enough and parked and went in to check in. We waited in line briefly and had a great CM check us in. Well first she had to check us out but then she checked us in. After following POP's directions to check out in the AM at the front desk to make check in easier it turns out the woman didn't actually check us out. Our POR CM said if we didn't check out at POP that we would have to wait until the system checks us out before we could check in at POR. You have got to be kidding? I followed the directions for no reason . that's it never again will we go to POP. Done over can't pay me to do it. Am I saying no to all value resorts of course not but to POP absolutely. MY time is precious as well as anyone else paying for Disney and wasting my time will cost Disney in the ends. Our POR CM was awesome and I was very pleasant it's not her fault for the in ability of others. She actually did something in the computer system and was able to check us out and then and even though about 9 am our room was ready! at least ours was. My parent's was not because she tried to make it closer to ours and it would need the VIP clean as well. I said what a difference between the resorts and she concurred. I told of our previous evenings issue checking in and she said what I already knew they assign rooms 2-3 days ahead and the room being a VIP clean would have been ready at checkin because they know it needed to be done. I questioned if we would have the same type of room with 2 rooms and she said no that they had the correct occupancy room for us which was great! We were in Oak manor facing the quiet pool on the first floor. We couldn't have asked for a better location this trip. With the "heat wave" and time frame of meds in the mornings for other family we used the pool every morning from 7am-9am. We even mostly ate breakfast there. We drove to the parking lot and walked to our room. Remember no one knew we got the royal guests rooms so here we go standing at the door. Will it be beautiful, too girly, a let down...... My son placed his MB to the door and he opened it. Everyone went ohhhhh! Since staying before they expected what they knew and this was so much more. We looked at all the details. The curtains, how the A/c is contained the magic carpet inlay on the rug in front of the dressers. Our room was handicapped so the bathroom was separate with a pocket door. It had blue counter tops, 1 sink, the safe in there too but the faucet was the genies lamp and the shower curtain had starfish and dinglehoppers(forks) to represent the little mermaid. Sillohoutes of princes on the wall pictures in frames of the princesses and the headboards. Without the fireworks everyone was in awe and then I pushed the button. It was the magical moment. I did it.... Making everyone happy with where they are staying check.......What a difference from the night before. It is very true you never get a second chance to make a first impression. Sorry POP you did not impress. POR thanks for welcoming us home.

Next up tomorrow I will talk about the first day at MK. What we did, when I cried, where we ate. So I guess it will be the good bad and the ugly. Stay tuned.
thanks Tiggeye for reading hope you enjoy and feel free to ask any questions you may have. I'm an open book.

 

[Tinkl0ver66]

Reading along

 

[memakwed]

Before I get into what we did how it was at MK I'll answer the question what do I think of POR. We've stayed 3 times so I think it's comfortable. My parent's are creatures of habit when it comes to hotels and since they had a good experience here they prefer to stay here. They have nothing to compare it to while we've done CBR and Wilderness Lodge also....and of course now POP but lets forget that ever happened!

I don't really have any complaints about POR. It is on the bigger side but I feel more manageable than say CBR. I like staying in building 90 or 95 so we can take the bridge and can either walk right to the bus in a somewhat direct route. This area offers a quiet pool by the rooms, and laundry poolside. We like the quiet pool. I find the temp can vary in the pool while it shouldn't. The quiet pools are quiet but never really crowded and not crazy. No one jumping over your head ect. The main pool is by the food court and checkin and this is louder, absolutely. We didn't think the waterslide was anything to write home about...apparently it was only to write here about.... it was a waterslide at a pool. If your child likes those things it will do. The magnolia bend area is well manicured lawns, clear sidewalks. My mom's only complaint would be that the sidewalk that connected from our rooms to the main side walk had a smoking area so to take a direct route to our room we had to walk through this area. I don't play politics don't care if you smoke or not but if I'm not a smoker I'd like to stay smoke free but at the same time I understand they don't want to have to hover in the back corner of the parking lot by a dumpster either. Better placement for all would be best but overall not a problem you will encounter unless you happen to be using the connecting side walk. We have never had this issue before. So the grounds are big but nice, quiet, and clean. The rooms have detail and the royal room was great. standard rooms in the past have been fine. I'd be a little leary of water view. This means the river but can be a very small wedge of a few from around a bush in some locals( this happened last time to us but we were upgraded without asking so why would be complain). this trip we had pool view royal room. Our room was behind the stairwell so there really was no view so if you want to look at the check your view out right away. We've never faced the parking lot in a standard only grass so I wouldn't be super concerned about facing the parking. In 3 trips it's never happened to us. The parking lots are a good size going around so don't worry about parking if you drive. You won't have to park far from where you are. Food court gets busy and loud about 8am-9am. We opted to run over fill cups and use snack credits for Danish and eat at the pool quietly. My mom felt it was a walk with the food trays if you are by yourself and I agree but again that would be in you're in building 90 or 95. the food is decent. Good sized portions. Fair prices. Works well on the DP. Used the food court for more meals than ever before and we had variety and everyone was happy. Other than using a snack credit for breakfast we found it could be used for soup and they were yummy. We tried tomato bisque and clam chowder. The sandwiches were ample as well as the make your own pasta. The kids pizza was tiny but the adult size was about regular personal pizza size. The sitdown restaurant we have ate at in the past but it is not something we would do. There are better choices for dinner out there. The lounge has a great piano player and gets the crowd going. The gift shop has a good variety of products and carries milk to buy if you have cereal in your room from home. Check in has been remodeled and although there are less windows to help guests it was not noticeable at all. Everyone was friendly and efficient. The buses are consistent and we used the south depot the most by the food court. The other ones go around the perimeter of the parking lots. At the south depot there is a TV telling you the arrival times of the next buses. They were spot on with times. The depots did get crowded and I find there was more standing this trip than last. there is a horse drawn carriage at POR for the evenings which is nice to see as you walk around. It's about $45 for 25 minutes. there is also cane pool fishing for $6 a half hour during the earlier part of the day. there are also boats to rent and surrey bikes. Lots to do at the resort if you're having a down day. A boat takes you to DTD which is a great plus. You are guaranteed a seat because you can't stand on the boat. It runs about every 20 minutes and drops you at the marketplace by rainforest café. It also stops at POFQ to pick up and drop off guests. For your money I thing you get a lot of bang for your buck without jumping to a deluxe resort. We've always been happy and I'm sure will return again although I really want to try AKL. My son loves it and is so familiar with it he always wants to stay just as my parent's do. Definitely quieter than a value or even CBR. I find all aspects except the food court as quiet as wilderness lodge. Any other questions about POR?

 

[wiigirl]

Following along...

 

[memakwed]

After checking in at POR we took the bus to MK. We started with tomorrowland. We had FP+ and missed our first one at the barnstormer but that's ok. We couldn't change it because my husband has a windows based phone not android so we couldn't get the my experience app. I chose space mt and buzz light year as out other FP+ but before that time we were able to get in to laugh floor, stitch, carousel of progress, the people mover. We felt very accomplished with tomorrowland and although we hadn't planned to go on POTC ds9 wanted to so we walked over. There was a 25 minutes wait which by our standards was long! It was the end of our afternoon and shortly we would be going to dinner at 1900 parkfare. This is where the good went bad and then unmagical!
I have MS and an auditory issue due to where the lessions on my brain are and how I react to repetitive noises. just out luck POTC has chains lining the queue and the child ahead of us kept clanging the chain for the 25 minutes or so. I couldn't process the noise I became agitated and angry. Most people would say that's annoying but manage, I can't. Prior to going I was on the disboard and asked questions about the new DAS cards. Basically the boards gave me negative feedback and made me think I wouldn't be eligible for one. While it's nice to read about things on here, take it with a grain of salt and get the answer from Disney. Well after getting off the ride I was in tears! I couldn't get out of there quick enough and I headed to guest services. I had yelled at my child because I couldn't cope and griped at my mom because I couldn't cope. I couldn't imagine every day feeling like this. I stood in line at guest relations and the wonderful CM named Xavier called me over. he was so nice. I basically burst out in tears in front of a stranger. I explained I needed info about the DAS and what my health issue was and how the auditory situation was effecting me. he was wonderful he took care of me saw I was a real person with a real issue. he got me tissues and told me I was only allowed to have happy tears in the MK. my family didn't know what I was doing and waited outside on a bench and used rest rooms. I came out and they all saw I had been crying and I went to the bathroom. Later when my mom heard I had been crying she came in and got cold compresses for my face because no one wants to see the results of me crying and I had to leave the bathroom to get to dinner. I told her I would explain to everyone at dinner.
We left MK and took the boat to the Grand Floridian. We went to 1900 parkfare for dinner. I think I'll stop here. but the moral of this story is that with planning the good can go bad and then unmagical but in the MK someone will be able to help get the magic back if you ask.

I will also say most queues have rope or wood not metal chain so I didn't experience this issue on other rides. We planned our days well with FR+ and wait times were lower so overall more manageable days ahead.

 

[memakwed]

Ok, so where are we..... I've cried, my family is confused but follows me like a tour guide with a flag at Disney and we head on the boat to 1900 parkfare. We've ate here once before and enjoyed it. My mom loves the marsala and I enjoy the salmon and my son the strawberry soup so that was enough to go back this trip. Upon arriving we walked to the restaurant. It was a bit of a walk from the ferry. If walking is an issue maybe the monorail would be your best bet. You'll be dropped off closer to the restaurant. For us the boat was a quicker option for us. It takes about 10 minutes by ferry and 25 on the monorail system. upon arrival we checked in and were given a ticket then put in line for the picture. It's not a picture with a character only a mural and you have to pay for it , so compound that with a tear stained puffy red face, what do you think..... did I get the picture.....? Ok so we are now seated in the main room against the wall so the table is half booth half chairs. The characters last trip were very engaging and enjoyable. this time not so much and not because I was in a mood I found this at every character meal. By the way our waiter was wonderful. Kept drinks filled, plates picked up and gave us a time table roughly of when to expect the character and how long they will be at each table. Again the food was good. This time they had pot stickers and sushi offering which ds9 loved along with mac and cheese. Everyone had roast and salmon and chicken marsala salad pizza. Everyone seemed pleased with their dinner. The step mother was probably the most interactive calling my sons large pen a magic wand. Cinderella was the least social but as I know everyone can have an off day. I would recommend this meal. the food is good the characters are fun and it's cheaper than the castle. You get Cinderella prince charming which is nice to see a boy character and the evil step sisters and step mother. I would love to try it for breakfast and the different characters.
My son used his band to pay for dinner for everyone every night. the waiter let him scan his band put in the pin and sign the bill. All except one restaurant allowed this.
After dinner we made our way to the lobby and checked out the tree and the gingerbread house and the pianist playing Christmas carols. did you know steam comes out of the gingerbread chimney. Kind of sad they sell gingerbread out of the house. Made me feel like it wasn't about the holiday and beauty of it but more about making a buck and how they can do it so a little unmagical. We took lots of pictures and took our time. We were in no rush. A nice stroll back to the ferry and then to the bus.

We made it back to the hotel. We had our mugs in our bag so we got refills and my parent's and husband and son went swimming until about 10pm while I went and rested. I came out once but I was still having noise issues and the pool for me was a little loud but for anyone else it would be totally acceptable.

On channel 17 they showed classic Disney cartoons of mickey and before bed we watched that. It started at 10pm between 6-10 they told the duffy story every fifteen minutes as a bedtime story. It was great all trip that was the only channel we watched. It really made it feel different and that we never got sucked into tv when in the room. It was all Disney all the time and that was good!

My recommendation is to do this buffet and if you're crying and your face gets as puffy as Drizella's pass on the picture!

 

[memakwed]

There seems to be the question to park hop or not? Is it worth the added money? Will you use it?

Yes, I say Yes! We use it on AK days and at the end of trip when we do two days of best ofs and spend a half a day any where you want to be.

With our 2nd full day on the horizon with renewed hope and clear eyes and face my son and I got up at 7am. Yes we are the early riser people. If we were home he'd be up at that time to go to school so it's in our blood we don't have a choice ours eyes magically open at 7. My husband on the other hand sleeps until he has to get up. Grand and Grand dad are up too but it takes them a while to get ready and take meds ect so it's off to the pool for us. We have never used the pool so much and I truly believe it was because we were so close to the pool and the weather was exceptionally warm. If you have someone that swims everyday having it right outside really does make it convenient. From 7-8am it is our time. Our memory no one else will have this trip. Sometimes I got in and sometimes I sat on the side. We played a little ball and we had fun. At 8am my parent's would come out with their mugs and my son would tell my husband to get up for breakfast. We were that close to the room I felt confident letting him walk by himself and I could see. I am a super careful mom and this was ok. I would walk with one of my parent's to refill mugs and get cheese Danish and sometimes milk if needed. Sometimes my parent's got breakfast and sometimes just Danish. We would make it back sit eat my husband would get ready then my son and we were walking to the depot always by 9am. There was a clock by the pool so that helped to keep us on track and it was so peaceful to eat verses eating in something that was as loud as a school cafeteria in the morning.

Today we headed to Animal Kingdom. I feel this park is so overlooked. It's all about the rides and not so much the animals for many and they call it a one day park or half day park. We actually schedule two days and have a good time. So Today I had FP+ again but they were later in the morning so all was good. We did the Safari first. The FP return line was actually pretty long because it seemed that the FP+ machine where you scan your bracelet was giving some people a hard time. we however didn't ever have that problem anywhere and always quickly moved through. The Safari we all agreed is so much better now that they changed it up a bit and got rid of the "red" story line. We did it twice once each time in the park but the 2nd driver gave so much more educational information about the animals. The first guide just pointed animals out. Either way both were a nice change from the old.

We then did the pagnini walk. DS likes to get the bird sheet and try to find all of the birds. He's done it since he was in a stroller. It's a good way to stop and be in the moment and get out of the where do we have to be mind set which I am guilty of. We saw gorillas, and naked mole rats. This is the educational side of Disney if you take the time to stop and read and talk to the cast members on the trail. In our case our son is bright but missed 2 weeks of school for this trip so I asked that he learn something new everyday. It wasn't what I wanted him to learn but what he thought was interesting and learned.

After we had FP+ for Festival of the Lion King. We've seen it lots but my mom and dad (Grand and Grand dad ) enjoy the shows. Was FP+ needed. For us yes because it reduces wait time for someone that has endurance issues and fatigue. For healthy people that can stand without an adverse affect standby is fine. They let us in at the same time as the stand by but had us sit in a different section and then filled in with standby.

Next we had lunch at Flame tree. We've always liked it but the kids meals aren't to my son's liking so this trip I promised we would only have one lunch there and try some place new. Lets see we had a salad, 2 ribs, chicken and the kids hotdog and then got an order of onion rings for our son since he was hungry and the onion rings looked good. We were on the plan and just paid for the onion rings I think 4.25. It was good but it's getting to be the same old same old.

After lunch we did it's tough to be a bug and then headed out to the back of the park to find a spot for the parade. They changed where the parade starts. It is now before the bridge to Africa so we had to adjust where to see the parade. We stood on the side and then once the parade started they blocked off the walk way so everyone could stand there as well. Our plan was strategic. Right after the parade we were park hopping to EPCot for dinner. Once the parade went by we walked right behind it, kind of felt like part of it all the way to where it turns and we stayed straight to leave.

We took a direct bus from Animal kingdom to EPCOT. Before this trip I didn't realize you could because we hadn't. It's a great idea because AK closes early.

We made it to Epcot and went on Space ship earth. We then walked over to Japan because the ferry wouldn't have got us there in time. We had dinner at Tepan Edo. This was new to us. It was ok. Not the best Hibachi ever and there was an issue getting to our table but a fun night still. It's Disney how are you not going to have fun. There are 4 tables in a room. We were at the back left one, however you can only walk along the wall to get to your seat because the grills are hot and there could be chefs out although at this time there weren't. The front left table had larger people seated that even when they scooted in there wasn't so much room for the adults to make it through. My son could get through. My dad finally gave up and went the other way and it was frowned upon. Oh well make more room around the tables not everyone is the size of a child and that goes for us as well as those sitting. Every single person at all tables if they had to get up for any reason had a time because people generally don't pin themselves up against the table. We all had chopsticks but were given the opportunity for a fork. The girl seemed impressed when my son said no thank you I'll use chopsticks. She then made him "cheater chopsticks" as she called them for him. He politely accepted them and they turned into a cute souveneir to remember his dinner but he didn't need them, she just presumed since he was a child. We had the swordfish, steak and shrimp and my son the shrimp. The meat/fish was great. The noodles good and the rice dry. The green tea cheese cake was creamy but small and the ginger chocolate cake was totally the opposite in size. We used the DP for this meal. We headed out and decided to take the ferry back over so it was about715ish. It was the last of the night. My husband had to move his seat because the boat was dripping on him. We did space ship earth again and headed for the hotel. I hate getting a bus at EPCOT it is the only place I dread. It seems the walk is so long and then the line is so long and the wait is so long and the you stand and that's even before illuminations.
I don't like epcot transportation at night.

Tomororow we will have another Epcot day and Candle light processional

 

[memakwed]

I must say this was something new we did that day at Animal Kingdom! I've always looked at it as a minor attraction and it has either not been running when we've been or we just didn't have the interest. We opted to see this before the parade.

It was great! I will definitely make sure we do it in the future. I liked the message of protecting endangered animals and showing them in natural circumstances and not making them do silly tricks but showing commands.

We actually liked the show so much we went twice once on each day. It seemed to just fall into our schedule as we would walk by. The first time my son was picked to participate and got to through a grape into the air for a bird to catch. That was definitely some Disney magic for him.

We sat front and center first time and off to the side but front the second time. I think in the future I would sit to the back more even on the riser area because the birds swoop over your head and fly the whole outdoor auditorium so sitting in the back in no way takes away from the show. Instead of turning to see what's going on behind you it will all be in front of you. Of course you won't feel the breeze as the birds pass your head but I don't think I'll mind that in the future.

This could be a great tip for someone on their next trip.

 

[memakwed]

This morning we headed over to Epcot. We took it slow. For FP+ we had Soarin' TestTrack and I think Nemo(which we didn't use). Our first FP+ was Soarin so we headed to that side. We had time before we could go so we went to the Seas with Nemo. We did that first only a 5 minute wait. We literally walked all the way through the building and hopped on a shell. We then did turtle talk with Crush because ds9 didn't remember from when he was 5. We then went upstairs to check out the fish and there was a Dolphin demonstration. We watched that in it's entirety. It was about how the dolphin was learning to see an object and then be able to identify it again in a different location. Now it was time for Soarin'. Boy what a line. FP+ was a breeze stand by was about an hour. We walked through and made it to having you stand on a number before entering. This is where it got crazy! We entered the room and it because a free for all there were people in the second row( we were standing on 2) so we tried to find a seat and the woman asked where we came from. We told her and she said you came from my line? Yes, yes we did. She then said well you can't stay in here so she put us back outside back in line two. It was odd and strange and frustrating to my mother. Did I mention this is Grands fave ride? Well what seemed like 3-4 minutes they reopened the door and told us to come in and there were out seats in row 2. Apparently someone tried to stay on the ride and then people scrambled to find seats since their seats were taken and they took ours. SO needless to say I guess they played musical chairs in there before they let us back in. We sat in our seats and put our seat belts on and we were soarin'. Not my favorite ride at all. I think it's overrated it reminds me of a ride I experienced when I was little so I don't get what's so special about it. As for Grand she gets giddy and screams ohhhh, ahhh ect during the whole thing, and I turn into that embarrassed teenage girl that can't believe this is her parent and looks away not making any eye contact trying to be cooler than the situation. Yep that's me sitting next to my mom at Soarin'! When all was said and done as we left the stand by was now 90 minutes. Insane! Next we made our way to living with the land. I love that! The green house is my favorite part. I wish I could grow vegetables like that. Anyway it was good that we went then because when we tried to go after eating at Garden grill on a different night it was closed.
We passed on Captain EO just not a thrill ever to us but of course did journey into the imagination with figment.
Pretty successful accomplishments on that side and in a timely manner to boot. We then headed to test track.
This is Grand dad's favorite although with the new computer component to make your own design it through a wrench into Grand's enjoyment. Technology is not her friend and while this is fine for most maybe not a winner with the senior set who needs to get their glasses out to read the screen and take their time when it is all accomplished in 5 minutes.
The ride itself was like always and enjoyable for all.
Now it was time to eat! We opted to try Norway for lunch since we were on that side. We went to the Kringla bakery. The line was slow and long. Which is weird because the sandwiches are premade and they don't add or take off anything you do it yourself. The sandwiches were huge! and you got either a salad or fruit salad and dessert being on the DP plus your drink. We didn't go away hungry. The line to order for sandwiches is pretty close to the door so the line is out the door and long before you know it. The seating is very small but shaded. We got the roast beef. I felt the roll was too large and the carmelized onions non existent but everyone liked their sandwiches a great deal. Our son didn't like the choice for kids meals so we paid OOP for his sandwich about $8. He had my dessert and my soda and I got a water.
After lunch we checked on the Maelstrom but the line was like 25 minutes and I new I had a FP+ for another day so we went back to mexico did the boat ride and got out pic with Donald. Then headed to China saw the end of the acrobats and watched the movie. We made our way the world showcase checking out the train in Germany ect the Christmas music in America. WE had a 5pm reservation for The chefs of France with the candle light processional at 815.

We made chefs of France for 5pm on the dot. We were quickly seated. It was one of the most memorable meals of our trip. I try to do something different each trip or something new. While we eat here every trip tonight was different. Can you say Escargot? Yes I ordered snails as my appetizer. Everyone else got something they were sure they would like but no I had a plan. I wasn't going to do this alone. they didn't realize they would have to try it too! When apps came I tried it. It wasn't bad not something I have to get over and over again but definitely worth the try. Then I gave everyone a piece to try. No one died! they all lived and now I have leverage over my child who won't eat lettuce. If you can eat a snail there's no excuse not to eat lettuce ! And that will be my reasoning until lettuce isn't an issue any longer.
We had the tenderloin, my husband the Salmon and DS a burger since he doesn't eat burgers usually it was different for him. He really was past the kids menu this trip and I should have thought about it more. Oh well next time it won't matter he'll be an adult in their eyes. Love the crème brulee for dessert and I'm picky about crème brulee.

Earlier in the evening I had spoken to a CM about when they start to seat for the processional and was told 30 minutes but since we did the package not to worry we would get a seat. When going to dinner the line was up to France so when we got out and saw the line wasn't there yet we decided to check out Moracco. When done we decided tog et in line by Japan. The line quickly grew once we got in line and then they let out so it became very crowded and people were trying to break the line that had formed trying to find a quicker way. It was very frustrating. Also when we got closer the woman in front of us had to get her children out of their stroller and lost her place in line. We tried tog et her attention since we knew she was ahead of us but she didn't see us. We were seated to the fartherst left side about half way up. I think if we ever did this again I would get in line sooner just so we were more center than side. We saw Whoopi Goldberg. It was special and I think my parent's enjoyed it but didn't seem wowed. My mom was irritated by the people in front of us that couldn't sit still so we had to keep adjusting to accommodate for them and I'm sure it was a chain effect going back. The adults kept moving the kids kept moving. I even gave the benefit od the doubt they had a special needs child but the adults were more of an issue than the child. The show was pretty and the music nice. I tried to get into the Christmas spirit but no matter how many pointsettas and fake trees it just didn't fell like Christmas.
After the show instead of doing what everyone else seemed to do( go to wards France)we went towards Mexico. Everyone seemed to be in place for Fireworks. It was very close to the time but my son's foot was bothering him so even though the plan was to see fireworks we went to the buses. Which was ok. Once back at the hotel my son was really having a hard time walking so my son went and got his wheelchair from our room and brought it back to the depot. We headed to the room and off to bed and some classic mickey cartoons.
If you haven't figured it out yet we all have some health isuues and we don't dwell on it or let it stop us we just keep going until we need to make an adjustment to keep things running smoothly.

Tommorow we head to Hollywood Studios.

 

[memakwed]

Did I mention my son loves these. Everyday he was eager toleave the room so it could be made up. Once day we stayed to do laundry and boy oh boy was he worried he would not get one. My mom found our mousekeeper and she later in the day when we were gone made the room and left 3. one day she even left a birthday cake shaped one. He made a shelf with all of them. I think I liked the old kind more where you used your imagination and they didn't have sticker dots all over them to make the design they're going for. the dots don't stay if someone touches them repeatedly.

Mousekeeping was good. We had no complaints at all. she replaced towels frequently for us and the room always appeared clean. We tried to keep our mess to a small amount on the table so the rest was cleanable. The bed was always made and she would move our sons stuffed animals around to a different spot everyday.

I will say we were aware of the refrigerator issue. My parent's had to have one because of my mom's insulin but we didn't think we would get one but we were wrong. there was one but it didn't really work it froze everything! Apples Frozen chocolate Frozen and even my left over pasta I was going to eat frozen. So make sure if you have a fridge if it is working properly.
My parent's never had a problem.

Well I might as well talk about laundry while we're talking about cleaning. Once morning we decided to do some laundry during breakfast. Our son got to swim for hours at the quiet pool and the laundry is right there so we all swam too. It is $2 a load to wash and then $2 to dry. We brought our own detergent. Last trip we brought those sheets that are detergent and fabric softner in one. They worked and if you're flying it's a great option because of liquid rules on a plane. We drove so this time we just brought our detergent from home. They do sell it but we did a few loads so it was cheaper to bring from home. The dryer ran for way more than a half an hour as expected and we made sure not to put it on the hotter setting because the machines run hot.
You can use your band to get in or a card. It is not just open so one or the other has to be used. We managed to finish laundry by 10 and then headed out. At this point I needed to adjust FP+ but used our laptop since we couldn't used the app on our phone. There is another option of going to concierge and having them adjust it for you too if you do not have your laptop. Wifi was spotty. My husband had to call tech help at the hotel and it took awhile but they seemed to fix it for that time after about an hour. The rest of the time it was spotty. Oh and of course if you are in the parks and don't have the app there are locations you can go to adjust. While I felt like I had to look at the clock more this trip it was nice to be able to just head for the line when our time was ready and it was convenient to adjust.