Our Wonderful Wacky Waterparks Weekend!

that is such a good idea! i have a bunch of days on the water parks and more that i never used and i just feel like it was such a waste! props to you for being smart and planning a trip to use those tickets. that should be fun too because you will have more time to check out the resorts and just relax. have a great time! cant wait to see all those pictures!

Can't wait for the report! Sounds like a blast! Have fun!

:wave:

30 Hours to go!!

I had to repost because I can hardly contain my excitement! I've been busy packing and cleaning and every bit is fun because I know I'm so close to being there!! :sohappy: Why don't I go ahead and write any and all that I can pre-trip:

Here's our Disney Family:

Myself: Melanee-28, picture-taker, adventurous mom!
DH: Ben-32, a new Disney lover, soon-to-be Coast Guard helicopter pilot!
DS: Caleb-9
DS: Samuel-6
DS: Aaron-4

Quick mention: This trip is right after our 9 year anniversary and since this year is special in that we are renewing or vows later this month, we decided to “celebrate” that!! :kiss:

Here’s my last trip report from back in May:
http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=438633


So a week or two ago my hubby informs me that he’s nearing the end of an intense training block and that he thinks he may finally get a little time off, just in time for a 3-day weekend. We got the Military tickets back in May and our tickets still had plenty of days left, mostly water parks. So we decided to go for it and do a Water Parks Weekend! We’ve still never been to Typhoon Lagoon and it will be under refurb when we come for our full trip in December.

So I got on the phone and did what any smart Disney-fan does and immediately started trying to make ADRs with very little luck. No character breakfasts, no Boma, not much at all!! So I just kept calling back. I have got to tell you, keep calling back, it pays off! I ended up with ressy’s for Ohana’s character breakfast and a dinner at Boma amongst all other new places we’ve never been. I am so excited! :sohappy:

Hurray!!! Today's the day, the sun is shining, the tank is clean...wait! That's not right...

Good mornin', good mornin', it's great to stay up late, good mornin' good mornin' to you! Wait...hmmm...

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah, zip-a-dee-day! My oh my what a wonderful day!! Ok, that will work!

Today is the day, we depart for our favorite place on earth! Not many moments are quite as joyful as that dawn as the sun rises and we know where we are headed...:sohappy:

11 hours until we see the lit-up sign and know we are home!

The best part, our kids have NO idea!

Ok, everyone, See ya real soon!

Yay!!!! I can feel the excitement. :sohappy: Have fun this weekend... I can't wait to read about it.

LOL, it was like you were trying to tune your mind to a Disney radio station. well sounds like you found it. Have a great time!

Can't wait for the report!

Woo Hoo!!! How very exciting!!! Waiting patiently for the TR!!! Oh, and happy anniversary!!!

Who knew you could pack so much into one weekend?

Our Wonderful Wacky Water Parks Weekend!!

Hi, Howdy Hey!!! We’ve just returned from making a splash at the WDW resort!! We also ended up going to the EPCOT Food and Wine Festival, a last minute spontaneous decision. So let's get down to it!

Friday, October 09, 2009: Departure

Drive down to Orlando, blah blah blah. One thing I have to mention is how much I love how the Apalachicola forest area smells. It is my favorite part of our drive.

So great thing; we didn't have to buy tickets. We're still using our military tickets. After a few hours of driving, I realized that I didn’t take into account the time difference when I made our reservation at Boma L So I had to call and cancel. It was just as well because I always forget how tiring 7-8 hours driving with kids is. All I wanted to do was rest. The kids were so surprised. Before we even went to our hotel, we drove onto property to drive under the sign. Ahhhhh, I’m home J

So we stayed at Seralago again. I am soooo done staying here. We’ve had to stay here the last 3 trips because we never have any notice, we just up and take off down to the world. No matter how many times I call Disney, no matter how hard I try, I can never get on property for less than a thousand bucks(for the weekend!!). So we made due with Seralago. We got a kids’ “suite” that had a king sized bed and a fort with bunk beds and an additional twin bed. The kids thought it was the coolest thing in the world. I’ll write a bit of a more detailed description of the pros and cons of Seralago in the off-property hotels section. Overall my opinion is that the place is ‘just ok’.

Saturday, October 10th, 2009: Typhoon Lagoon




We got up around 7 and got ourselves ready for our ADR at Grand Floridian Café for breakfast. It is amazing how fast I can get ready when all I am getting ready to do is get wet all day long! We took a wrong street and ended up going all the way around the Magic Kingdom loop.







I saw this in the parking lot-cute right?


Grand Floridian Monorail Station




Grand Floridian Café is a nice little place.


DH had the Smoked Salmon with various cream cheeses and toppings


I had the vegetable frittata with mushrooms, asparagus, green onion, egg whites, tomatoes, etc. It was very bland.

Grand Floridian Cafe continued...

Our boys had pancakes or waffles, Mickey-shaped of course. However I was shocked at the small portions for them, at least for the price. What you see is what you get. One pancake or two tiny waffles.




Although I'm glad we tried the GFC, especially because it was something new and since it was at the Grand Floridian, I didn’t think the food lived up to the price. The kids portions were very small, and my frittata was good, but not something I would order again, it wasn't that good. And it took quite a while (30+ mins) from the time we ordered to receive our food. It was nice, once.
　
After breakfast, we walked around the GF a bit and took pictures, admiring the resort.

Typhoon Lagoon

Then we were off to Typhoon Lagoon!! We’d never been there before. Funny thing is, I think starting your vacation off at a water park is perfect. In my opinion, the water parks are a much more relaxed-pace park. It is easy to see and do everything in one day, without rushing or stressing at all. And not to mention, you are in the water so it isn’t hot. Anyway, I highly recommend doing a water park on day 1 of your vacation. Try it!

Sorry this one turned out a little blurry. I had a bit of trouble with the overcast sky washing out portions of my photos too.








First thing we did was find a spot to camp it and we just took it all in. It was just great being there, and immediately I took on the theme “RELAXATION”.


(also, the life jackets are free of charge, so don't be intimidated to bring very small children to the parks. They'll have a blast, and be perfectly safe in the water)

Next we headed to Shark Reef because I’d heard from any and all guides that this attraction becomes difficult to get into once the crowds grow.


This was the first test of my new waterproof camera case.
Overall I think it went pretty well. The water was freezing! The sharks were really near the bottom and I didn’t see any stingrays(at least not until I noticed them in the picture) but it was great. I’ve never snorkeled before.





Some picture-taking fun

Typhoon Lagoon continued...

Next we went to Castaway Creek because everyone can do it and everyone enjoys it. And it kept well with our theme to relax.


I did get some water spots in some of my photos, but overall the camera case worked well


My hubby and I discussing the differences of the two lazy rivers(TL and BB)




Once we’d done a lap on CC we took the family up to Gangplank Falls where we all went on the raft ride. It was very fun and only as rowdy as Kali River Rapids.

The trail up there is pretty scenic and fun as well.




Next Ben took Caleb to the surf pool.

It looked like so much fun, we just got in and hung out too. It was so fun, every time you’d hear the big boom from the wave falling into the pool, everyone would scream.





Ms Tilly was quite active as well


Next we did decide to split up temporarily. I took the younger boys over to Ketchikiddie Creek while Ben took Caleb to some of the bigger slides.




“Who, me? No, I’m not spraying people!”








And looky here! A Hidden Mickey among the creeks and rocks

Once they’d had enough of KKK, I took them on Gangplank Falls one more time. These are from the queue area














A fun little ‘post-hurricane’ detail


Then we managed to meet at our spot right about the same time. Bummer thing about splitting up at water parks is that since we don’t carry our cell phones it is tough to plan it out. You can pick a time and consult the huge clock at the base of the wave pool, but other than that, you’re on your luck(unless you both have waterproof watches-which we didn't).

At this point, I wanted to try Crush n Gusher because its gotten a lot of hype. Caleb and I went, then he went with Ben. It really wasn’t crazy scary, just a lot of fun.



We took the Coconut Crusher slide

Great pictures for a water proof camera. Thank you, enjoyed reading your Trip Report.

After this, we went back to the wave pool, and MAN was that fun!! Ben and I took turns going out to the deep and trying our luck at body surfing and the little ones enjoyed just getting hammered with the wave with the other one of us. The boys and I would let it take us and once we were on our feet again, they’d point and laugh hysterically at what it had done to my hair.







After about an hour at the wave pool, I was starting to feel tired. It is exhausting getting swept this way and that in the water. So we went back to Castaway Creek. Oh and a wave swept away my sunglasses!





These little rascals were shooting water at us from these Used Props


Ms. Tilly again


After a loop, Caleb and I got off and did some of the Storm Slides and Humunga Kowabunga. They were fun, but HK was so fun!! I immediately wanted to do it again, it is my favorite speed body slide out of the ones at TL and BB.

I got a great view of Ms. Tilly from the top of HK




And this is blurry with my camera cord in the way but I found a Hidden Mickey in the queue


After that it was time to go. We were all shriveling up and had had enough sun and chlorine.

Boardwalk

As far as I know, it was HOT today, but we didn’t notice because we were in the water at Typhoon Lagoon the whole time. The forecast called for isolated thunderstorms, but we only saw one little moment of sprinkles. Other than that it was off and off cloudy and sunny. Crowds were extremely mild at Typhoon Lagoon. We did everything we wanted to and didn’t wait at all. We could have done much more, but, we were in relax mode…

Boardwalk/ESPN Club/etc.
After Typhoon Lagoon, my hubby was anxious to get to The EPSN Club to get in some football so I dropped he and Caleb off at The Boardwalk and went back to the hotel to rest and get a shower.

About an hour later I drove over to meet him. I tried really hard to get a pic of the ToT billboard. TRIED being the key word here. But don’t you just love this billboard?!?


We did a lot of walking around the whole property between Boardwalk/Beach and Yacht Clubs and I really enjoy those resorts.








The Boardwalk


The kids and I rode across on the boat. My middle son is so friendly and talkative to everyone that by the time we reached the other side, the WHOLE boat said, "See ya later Samuel!"





EPSN Club

More EPSN Club


The boys had hot dog meals with a cupcake


I had a delish Asian Chicken Salad


Ben had yummy boneless wings(that you can only kind of see in this weird picture)


We all enjoyed our time there. Caleb especially loves his "guy time" with Dad. I bought him a special ESPN football in the gift shop to wrap up at Christmas. Hopefully it will be a great surprise. Then we just wandered around for a while. We also picked up our Anniversary Celebration buttons.

Don't ya just love this?


We’d never really taken the whole walk around the property and I’m so glad we did this time. We really love this area of WDW

Boardwalk/Beach and Yacht Clubs





I love the International Gateway, again I’ve never been over here. You can see World Showcase from the Beach Club! You can even hear the music from France. Ahhh that is so awesome!




From the Beach Club side






“Boardwalk Colors”


Beach Club


Why have I never heard of this restaurant?