Way Out Here, Eh? - A June 2019 TR *PTR Link Posted

I'm glad Alex and the kids had a fun day and you were able to venture out for dinner with everyone!

It was funny to travel off property for an evening. I had been at Disney almost a week, and it was like, "Oh yeah, there's a real world out here!" :rotfl2:



Oh no! I am so sorry you got sick. The last time I had the stomach flu was at Disney in March 2016...
We also have a Sea Life Aquarium at MoA!
Last summer at this time was much more fun- planning trips to see you and @Dugette and then planning our own trip to London and DLP. :( Hopefully this thing lessens up sooner rather than later. So depressing. (But I'm not at all ready for things to open up with our numbers still rising...)

Wow, I hadn't thought about it being almost a year since our dinner and all the summer trips. That's nuts! I'm so bummed travel and vacations have been postponed, but I am grateful we can continue to stay safe. I try to remind myself that I'm accumulating quite a list of awesome adventures I'll take when I'm able to again.



Smart move sitting the kids next to their Aunt & Uncle. This reminds me of a time when Michelle was little. We went to eat at a Chinese Buffet with family. Michelle insisted on sitting at the other end of the table next to her Aunt. Aunt M helped her get her food and set her up. Towards the end of the meal I looked down the table and Michelle had lots of shrimp on her plate but she looked a little off. I asked her who was peeling her shrimp? Yikes! no one. She was eating them peelings and all. I don't think we have ever let Aunt M live that down.

Oh my gosh! Hahaha. :rotfl:Poor Aunt M will never forget she has to peel the shrimp in addition to putting them on a kid's plate!!! How funny.
 
Hiya!! New to your report....If you ever find yourself at Caribou again, one little trick I have learned that is if you request an extra espresso shot, it cuts down on the sweetness 😁☕

Oooh, thanks for the tip! Any excuse for extra caffeine, and I'll take it. :rotfl:



Hope you're hanging in there!!
Landon's had a rough time this week, and I think he's just checked out. He's done with this virtual schooling method, and I don't blame him. It's a crummy situation for all.



Sorry you didn’t feel well! I’m glad it worked out for you to have a rest day to yourself.
It looks like the kids had a fun day exploring the aquarium!

The kids love aquariums and fish! I really need to get them to SeaWorld in the future; they'd love it.




Ugh so sorry to hear you had such a rough day. Sounds like any one of those things could have done it to you, let alone the combination. But if it was going to happen a non-park day is certainly the day for it occur. Glad you rallied though for some dinner with the family.

It was probably good for Alex to have some solo parenting duty, too. He needed to feel the torture as Evie took ten years to climb into her carseat and watch as Landon refused to look up from a map and ran into a pole. More than once. :rotfl2:
 
First, I'm so sorry that you missed out on your wonderful vacation with your parents in Scotland (and likely additional trips throughout the year). I don't see us traveling (and especially flying) for quite some time. Cancelling trips stinks, especially if you were really looking forward to them.

It's hard to think about how many missed vacations are happening right now, but hopefully one day we'll get back to them. And when we do, imagine how sweet they will be? Everyone is going to have a new appreciation for trips and social interactions. At least that's what I tell myself...



Your day at MK sounded wonderful! Crystal Palace PPO breakfast is one of my FAVORITE Disney meals - I'm thrilled to hear you love it, too! Your kids must have been over the moon excited to be at MK with both of their grandmothers.

Crystal Palace is such a classic Magic Kingdom park morning. I love it.

And I think the kids really had a unique experience having both grandmothers with them for a day at Disney. I have no doubt they'll look back and appreciate that special time.



That's a terrible feeling especially because you're thinking all I had to do was drink more water to fix this but now it's too late. Glad you were able to recover a little to make it to dinner!

I don't think I'll ever slack off on water again while at Disney. And I'll definitely not overdue it at a character buffet! Know your limits, Alicia :rotfl:!
 
June 12, 2019 Part 1:

With the previous day spent so subdued and laid back, you would think my family jumped out of bed ready to hit rope drop and attack the parks commando touring style.

Well, we most certainly did not.
:rotfl2:


In fact, Alex and I slept in late and grabbed breakfast from the café at Shades. In case anyone was curious was the resort’s quick options were, I kept the menu Alex sent me:

496015

We both ordered variations of the egg sandwiches (the kids had cereal from our own supplies) and neither were worth writing home about. I love Shades of Green. It’s the resort I have stayed at the most, and I know the grounds like the back of my hand.

But man their food selections need some work.

::yes::

It’s my biggest gripe about the place. And while the monorail resorts are nearby, it would be nice to have something in-house to grab when feeling particularly peckish.



It won’t stop me from staying there again, though, so I guess I need to hush up and color.

Landon and Evie were finding plenty of ways to entertain themselves in the room while the parents ate their food:

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And once finished, both begged us to take them to the pool. Alex asked them three or four times which they would rather do, go into one of the parks or swim.

Swim won every time.

Off to the splash pad we went!

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If pictures could talk, the one above would allow you fine friends to hear Alex’s grumbling in the background. This was now two mornings in a row he wasn’t strolling down Sunset Boulevard or eyeballing the yeti in his forbidden mountain.

Pools aren’t his thing. Sitting back and resting aren’t, either. But when three of your family members vote for sun and relaxation what’s a guy to do….


Me? I was all for it:

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My family stayed at the pool for over an hour, with Alex and I tag teaming lifeguard duties for the kids and reading/going down the adult slide in the main pool. Landon asked us about a million times if he could go on the big slide and thank goodness he was still too short. We had a physical sign to show him it wasn’t going to happen.


The kids would have easily stayed at the pool longer, but a lot of older kids began congregating in the area and weren’t being mindful of the smaller kids around them. One of them went down the slide after Evie and barreled her over. He apologized, and I know it was more a matter of excitement getting the best of him but regardless, that was my cue to leave. In the past, I had only ever visited the pool in the afternoon and it was never crowded. But midmorning/lunchtime in the summer, it was the hopping place to be!



The only way to mend the kids’ broken hearts over the loss of their water play was a promise of a monorail ride.

That fixes all ails, doesn’t it?


We got the kids cleaned up, and Alex insisted on Sherpaing (is that a verb? Well, I’m making it one.) the kids to the Polynesian.

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It’s my duty to say this a million times per trip report, but I just love this peaceful walk from one resort to another:

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Since we had eaten at the Polynesian a few days earlier, Alex asked if we could visit his favorite deluxe resort and grab some lunch there. It probably breaks my sweet husband’s heart that nobody else in the family loves the Contemporary like he does. It just doesn’t draw me in the way the Polynesian or Animal Kingdom Lodge do, but I have promised him I’ll get us back there. One day.

I’ve got a lot of “one days” in terms of Disney, if you haven’t figured that out yet….



When we reached the Contemporary and made our way to the Contempo Café, a cheery Cast Member walked up to us and announced they had just launched mobile order for the restaurant. She was selling the app hard, and we’re fans of the system so we agreed to use it for her.

That was a mistake.

The food took so long to be prepared. We would have gotten it and finished the meal had we gone to the ordering stand. So much time had passed that Alex went up to the window to see what the issue was. No idea what the holdup was, but we eventually got our food and we ready to chow down.

When we managed to pull the kids away from staring down the monorails as they passed through the building:

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By this point, I don’t remember what Alex ordered. After my gluttonous over-indulgious of the days before, I played it safe and got a casear salad:

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It was your generic Disney hotel salad, but it hit the spot and was the perfect serving size for me. I walked away happy.



With lunch done, Alex wanted to take the kids into his favorite store for pin shopping. That title used to belong to the shop under the Sorcerer’s Hat, then the kiosk by the Fountain of Nations…but we all know what their fates were. *cries*

For some strange reason, the Contemporary store always has pins in stock that can’t be found elsewhere on property, so Alex makes sure to visit at least once a trip.

And this time was extra special.

We were letting two certain kiddos in on the tradition.

It wasn’t until a few months before the trip that the kids finally noticed Alex and my pin collection and began showing an interest in them. We promised them the next time we went to Disney, we would buy them a starter pack and teach them how to trade.



Landon was more excited than Evie, especially when it came to opening his bag and seeing his prizes:

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Evie, on the other hand, found another souvenir worth collecting:

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I knew we would find a bigger selection of ear choices elsewhere, so I made Evie wait before buying a pair.

Which is my mom fail of the trip.

She never did get a pair of Minnie ears.

And she has yet to let me live it down….


The first order of business the minute I step foot on a Disney property again is buy this girl some ears! Otherwise this trip will forever be the one where “mom promised me Minnie ears and never got me any” for Evie.:sad2:



Entertained with their new pins, Alex and I herded the kids back onto the monorail and then to Shades. I was afraid all that swimming had tired the youngsters out and wanted to attempt naps before doing anything else.

Did you imagine Alex rolling his eyes right there? Because that’s most certainly what he did when I said we should wait a little bit longer before heading into the park. Poor guy. I was depriving him of his Disney fix.



Up Next…She’s the Sweetest
 


so I guess I need to hush up and color
:rotfl:

The kids would have easily stayed at the pool longer, but a lot of older kids began congregating in the area and weren’t being mindful of the smaller kids around them. One of them went down the slide after Evie and barreled her over. He apologized, and I know it was more a matter of excitement getting the best of him but regardless, that was my cue to leave.
Oh man! That must be such a tough dynamic to handle. But at least they got some good pool time in before it got too busy!

It’s my duty to say this a million times per trip report, but I just love this peaceful walk from one resort to another:
Wow, that just oozes relaxation. So pretty!

The food took so long to be prepared. We would have gotten it and finished the meal had we gone to the ordering stand. So much time had passed that Alex went up to the window to see what the issue was. No idea what the holdup was, but we eventually got our food and we ready to chow down.
Bummer, what a bad experience. And I'm sure the CM felt bad about it, too!

We were letting two certain kiddos in on the tradition.
Yay! How sweet!

Landon was more excited than Evie, especially when it came to opening his bag and seeing his prizes:
So, so precious

Evie, on the other hand, found another souvenir worth collecting:
YES girl!

And she has yet to let me live it down….
Hades hath no fury like a young lady without Minnie ears....

This day looks like it was off to a much better start than the day before! Although poor Alex I can definitely understand how bad he was probably itching to get into the parks.
 
Poor Alex. I feel for him. Most kids would rather swim than go into the parks. I prefer the parks, but I do agree that the kids would need a rest after their morning in the pool.

Love the ears Evie picked out. I hope she gets some in the future.
 


With the previous day spent so subdued and laid back, you would think my family jumped out of bed ready to hit rope drop and attack the parks commando touring style.

Well, we most certainly did not.
:rotfl2:

:lmao: You almost had me there!

Swim won every time.

Off to the splash pad we went!

Love that they can have so much fun at the pools!

The only way to mend the kids’ broken hearts over the loss of their water play was a promise of a monorail ride.

That fixes all ails, doesn’t it?

Yes, it sure does!!!!

I’ve got a lot of “one days” in terms of Disney, if you haven’t figured that out yet….

I think we all do. :laughing:

For some strange reason, the Contemporary store always has pins in stock that can’t be found elsewhere on property, so Alex makes sure to visit at least once a trip.

That's super good to know. I've looked for some very specific pins at times and have struck out.

Which is my mom fail of the trip.

She never did get a pair of Minnie ears.

And she has yet to let me live it down….

It's weird, but those are the things that our little cherubs seem to remember. :rolleyes:
 
Sounds like a good time at the pool and the Contemporary! I'm with you, that resort doesn't draw me in the way others do. Not to say I wouldn't like staying there one day though!!
 
Pool time and relaxing are a must for little ones!
We never do it anymore and I miss relaxing at the pool. We always head back to the room to relax. Andi has a pool phobia and she is adamant about it. I can’t get her to a pool even at Disney anymore!
Swimming in middle school did this to her. :rotfl:
Pin trading is such a fun part of Disney trips, Andi has a wonderful pin collection.
 
A relaxing day so far - maybe it's what was needed so you could get back to 100%. The breakfast offerings sound good. Too bad they didn't measure up. I feel like I would be like your DH though itching to get to a park. Hoping you got the kids to nap and you have an awesome evening!
 
Must have been a glitch as most of them are back :cheer2:
Finally got to see all the photos today (think it was a problem my end).
Lovely lazy relaxed start to your day (though I can feel Alex's eagerness to get to a park from here :rotfl: ). Pity the food isn't a bit better at Shades but it certainly sounds like it's a reasonable price for the room size and quality and the location is hard to beat! The pool looks fun too :thumbsup2
Landon looks very happy with his pins and Evie is just adorable in her ears. You need to get back there and purchase that girl some of her own as soon as humanly possible or you will forever feel the guilt lol:rotfl:
 
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Glad you had another relaxing day, though I'm with Alex, and know that if i could be at a park- that's where I would be!
Evie looked so cute in her ears- I can't wait to see her pic= one day! ;)
 
I love Shades of Green. It’s the resort I have stayed at the most, and I know the grounds like the back of my hand.

But man their food selections need some work.
You've got that right. When we stayed there we just ate at the place by the pool and it was not good. We stayed away from any place else the rest of the trip - except for some coffee - as they definitely need to up their food game.

The only way to mend the kids’ broken hearts over the loss of their water play was a promise of a monorail ride.

That fixes all ails, doesn’t it?
It really does. What we wouldn't give for a monorail ride now. Thought I'd never be nostalgic for its elephant house at the zoo smell but I sure am.

It probably breaks my sweet husband’s heart that nobody else in the family loves the Contemporary like he does.
Pretty sure this is nobody period. I don't think I've ever heard of the Contemporary being someones favorite hotel. It always comes with the qualifier on the location

She never did get a pair of Minnie ears.
And she has yet to let me live it down….
Speaking of elephants, those kids and never forgetting. Casey will randomly bring up something I didn't do like 2 years ago and I have no idea what she is talking about but those kiddos forget nothing
 
Oh no, being sick on vacation is the worst. At least it was already slated to be a non-park day, and it sounds like you felt better quickly.
 
I'd probably be with Alex and be itching to get into a park! I've become better at relaxing at the pool during my afternoon breaks, I still want plenty of park time!

I'm glad Alex was able to spend some time at the CR, but what a bummer about your long wait for lunch. Your salad, though simple, looks quite refreshing and tasty!

Landon looks super excited about his new venture into pin trading and Evie looks lovely in those Minnie ears. She'll be so excited to pick out a pair of ears on your next Disney trip!
 
Wow, that just oozes relaxation. So pretty!

I love the walk from Shades to the Poly; it's so quiet and peaceful! Plus, if I can't stay at the Polynesian, being within walking distance is a pretty good compromise.


I love relaxing at a Disney pool actually more than visiting a park. LOL!

Me too! I feel like sitting poolside is the epitome of relaxing on vacation.
 
Poor Alex. I feel for him. Most kids would rather swim than go into the parks. I prefer the parks, but I do agree that the kids would need a rest after their morning in the pool.

I think Alex is hoping as the kids get older, one of them will fall out of love with the pools and offer to go hit up the parks with him. I don't see that happening, but I'll let him hold onto that wish. :rotfl:



Love that they can have so much fun at the pools!

I think pools are something the kids are starting to associate with their trips back to Florida. "We go back to the states, we get Disney, beaches, and pools." :rotfl2:



Yes, it sure does!!!!

Who would have ever guessed we would reach a point where we miss smelly monorail rides?!
 
Sounds like a good time at the pool and the Contemporary! I'm with you, that resort doesn't draw me in the way others do. Not to say I wouldn't like staying there one day though!!

I think it's because the Contemporary is so loud and chaotic. When you think about hanging out at your resort, you want peace and quiet. But the minute you step out of your room you've got the monorail and the shops and restaurants all right around you. It's a lot!



We never do it anymore and I miss relaxing at the pool. We always head back to the room to relax. Andi has a pool phobia and she is adamant about it. I can’t get her to a pool even at Disney anymore!
Swimming in middle school did this to her.

Really? Oh no! I'm sorry on Andi's behalf.
Maybe one day you'll make it down to a pool for a rest while she hangs back in the room. Although, I know it's not as fun without someone else to chat with. Should we ever end up at the same resort at the same time, I'll be more than happy to be your pool buddy. ::yes::


A relaxing day so far - maybe it's what was needed so you could get back to 100%. The breakfast offerings sound good. Too bad they didn't measure up. I feel like I would be like your DH though itching to get to a park. Hoping you got the kids to nap and you have an awesome evening!

It's the age-old Disney fan disagreement on vacation. Hang back and relax or squeeze in as much park time as possible. I think once the kids are older and more independent I'll be happier to go back to commando touring, but it's just easier on my "tired mom" self to sit on a pool chair and let the kids play right now.
 

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