The “Was It Puke In the Parking Lot Good?” TR: A Trip of Excess-Sept. 29-October 7

This is my first ever TR and our third trip to WDW since 2007. If you want some background info on me and my family, I direct you to my Pre-TR at

This trip was kinda funky....just different than our other trips. @ShookieJones discussed this is his TR also...something was off...we still had fun, but things were weird and our schedule was off the whole trip.

The title for this TR "A Trip of Excess" comes from too much rain, too much food, and too hot. The "puke in the parking lot good"...well, you're just gonna have to read on to find out where that came from!

Now, without further ado....onto the TR!!

Day One- September 29:

We made our reservations for this trip in November of 2011, so our trip countdown began in the mid-300 days. I rented DVC points from David's DVC Rentals (shameless promotion) and in order to get the resort we wanted (Boardwalk Villas) we HAD to book as far out as possible. Food & Wine Festival began the weekend we arrived, so the EPCOT resort hotels were in hot demand.

Regardless of the near 344 days I had to get ready for our trip, I still didn't pack until two days before we left! I know, I know...this site is full of obsessive planners and people who pack nearly a month before they leave...I am a slacker and a first class procrastinator, what can I say?? In my defense, I did have a WDW box in my closet in which I had been depositing the WDW specific items that we were taking (ponchos, cross-body bag, stickers, travel size stuff).

Anyhoo, I began packing on Wednesday night...we were leaving Friday at 5:00, so yes, it was last minute.

We had been saving our change since last November when we planned the trip. We keep our change in Simply Orange bottles that we "Disneyfy". We managed to fill three jars and when we took them to the bank Thursday, we had $505.00!! SCORE! We always have a contest too, in which we guess how much money is in the jars and the winner this year got to do whatever he/she wanted for three hours during the trip. I guessed $510.00 and I WON!! Since I planned the trip and we were doing what I wanted most of the time anyway...I deferred my prize!

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The boys had school on Friday, Ryan had to work until 5:00 and I had family court in the morning, but was leaving work at 3:00 to pick up the boys and head home to finish packing. I finally made it out of family court (but not until after sitting through a meeting with a mother and father who were cursing each other out in front of their children...nice...I was SO ready for my happy place!) around 11:30 and decided to go to lunch with a friend...bonus, her in-laws joined us and they insisted on paying for my meal! Yay, more dollars for Disney! I headed home to change out of my “courting” clothes and take our dog to the kennel.

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I went back in to work after leaving Slinky happy and contented at the kennel. I actually cleared my desk and returned ALL the calls that I needed to make...I was kinda freaked because I have never been able to get everything done that I needed to before vacation...hopefully a foreshadowing of how smooth our trip would be!

Here is my desk, all clean and tidy...or as clean and tidy as it has ever been.

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Picked up the boys at school...they were SUPER excited that we were leaving in just 2 hours!! You may recall from my PTR that when we scheduled our trip we did not yet have the school calendar for this year. After we booked our (nonrefundable, nontransferable room) the school calendar came out and Fall Break had been pushed back a week...like the week AFTER we were going to WDW. I decided the boys were just going to miss a week of school. I prepared a lengthy "Educational Enhancement Opportunity" application so the boys' absences would not be unexcused and they would be able to make up their work.

At home we finished packing all bags and had them next to the door awaiting Ryan's arrival home.

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Ryan got home around 5:20 and we were on the road at 6:00....a little off schedule, but I was trying to relax...we had nowhere we had to be until tomorrow! Well...I say I was trying to relax, but I nearly choked him when he sauntered in the door at 5:20 after we had been anxiously watching the driveway since 4:50! Then, he had the gall to go in the garage, get out some tools and announce that he needed to do some work in the car. WTH!!! Turns out he was wiring some sort of contraption that let both boys have I-pod chargers in the backseat. Didn't take long, but you know how it is when you're ready to go and your spouse is diddling around (that's a Southern expression for "not doing much of anything"0.

Anyhoo....I was TRYING to be patient and not stress out.....

The boys were absolutely perfect in the car....no fighting, no griping. This is NOT usual! They both fell asleep fairly quickly. That's my "baby" Will!

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We stopped at our favorite Pilot station just before getting on I-75 in Tennessee for “road snacks”. My husband is addicted to “road snacks” and has to have a stash of junk food that one acquires at a gas station and several Monster Energy drinks in order to make the drive.

Tucker at the Pilot station....the thumbs up became his “signature” photo pose throughout the trip.

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Dinner was Zaxby's (we are addicted to Zaxby's...to be fair, they do warn you that it is addicting in their advertising) We drove six hours to Macon, GA where we had reservations at a Hampton Inn. We arrived around 11:56 ( to be precise!) and headed straight to bed.

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minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh yeah! You're writing it! I'm soooo in! ((Know I owe ya a message/email...been at my folks house for over a week now...should be back home next week. ;) ))

Kelly! Welcome to my TR! I am thrilled that you are reading along! This is SO much harder than it looks...well, you know how hard it is!

I am typing the text in Word and pasting it on here. I had Day 2 ready to go and my computer kicked me off the Internet! Ugh! Guess I'll be re-copying and pasting tomorrow.

Yes, you owe me an email, not that I am waiting or anything....cough, cough....

:) I am totally kidding but can't wait to hear from you!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Kelly! Welcome to my TR! I am thrilled that you are reading along! This is SO much harder than it looks...well, you know how hard it is!

I am typing the text in Word and pasting it on here. I had Day 2 ready to go and my computer kicked me off the Internet! Ugh! Guess I'll be re-copying and pasting tomorrow.

Yes, you owe me an email, not that I am waiting or anything....cough, cough....

:) I am totally kidding but can't wait to hear from you!

Well, we should be home sometime late Sunday so I'll see what I can do soon thereafter. So much going on, as usual.

Yes, I definitely know how time consuming writing a TR is. That's why ever time we're about to leave on another adventure I tell myself, "This time I'm not doing it. I'm not taking notes. I'm not taking pictures. I'm going to just enjoy the trip." But then I'm always afraid I'll get home, want to write a report, and be mad for not just doing the notes & pictures in case. So I end up taking notes & pictures. Then I get home and will get asked by various people where the report is. My brother will call me daily asking me about it. So then I end up throwing myself into another one. LOL!

Definitely got to get caught up. You can eagerly await my email while I eagerly await the next installment here. LOL!
 

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day Two-September 30: IN WHICH WE ARRIVE AT WDW!!

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I awoke around 7:00 after an exceptional night's rest. Ryan did not sleep so well and he was a little groggy. We headed down to the FREE breakfast buffet around 8:30 and filled up on omelets, biscuits, oatmeal, hard boiled eggs, breakfast potatoes and cereal.

We filled up the car and were on the road by 9:00...on schedule!!

Once in south Georgia we began seeing the ubiquitous billboards....advertising “Strippers-Need We Say More”, Spas and barbeque joints. I tried to take pictures, but my camera was still in teeny tiny mode and you can't see the billboards.

The night before I had released that I had forgotten my toothbrush, so we stopped at a Target and bought a toothbrush, more “road snacks” and a case of bottled water for our room. We also goofed around with Angry Birds hats!

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He's really not strangling Will....it just looks that way! ;)

I wanted to stop at the Florida welcome center, but the Target stop had been only about 30 minutes prior so Ryan drove straight on past. Bummer....I wanted free orange juice and a photo opp. My notes say we made it into Florida at 11:56 a.m.

Since we had dinner reservations at Cape May Cafe at 5:30, we decided that lunch would be just a burger at McDonald's. My boys are notorious for eating snacks right before we go to dinner, not eating at dinner and then wanting to eat again an hour later. Not gonna happen at WDW!

We made it onto WDW property at exactly 3:00 p.m. Below is the obligatory shot of the WDW arch. Again, pardon the photography. This was with my iphone and trying to get the photo under the dark tint strip on my husband's windshield. Not that it matters...you have all seen it before!

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I got a little misty-eyed when we passed the arch and we were all really excited at this point! We followed the signs to the Epcot Resorts..which is a little confusing because there are no specific Boardwalk signs. Ryan had programmed the Beach Club in his GPS so we nearly made a wrong turn, but we made it!

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We were jumping out of skin and ready to see the resort! We have only stayed at PORS prior to this trip and we were so pumped about being at a Deluxe! The guardshack guy welcomed us “home” and we drove to the portico to check-in.

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Now, you may have noticed from our pictures that we were driving a pick-up truck.....yes, we're from KY....just call us Rednecks! Since our last trip I had traded my Honda Pilot (excellent travel vehicle) for a Honda Accord (much better gas mileage, but NOT a travel vehicle for 4 people!) So, we drove my husband's truck, which was very comfy...it's a four door. My point with this ramble is....when we drove up to the portico, I expected that we would get out, check-in and come back out to unload our bags. Not so much....we pulled up and the porters immediately descended upon our truck and began unloading our stuff. Great! Except....we had been driving for 12 hours and the car (truck!) was kinda nasty....McDonald's bags, shoes off, socks lost...so we really DID look like a bunch of country bumpkins pulling up to the Boardwalk!

I am NOT complaining! The porters were great and didn't bat at an eye at all our junk. Our first trip to PORS our room was so far from where we parked (and no porters) that it took us nearly TWO HOURS to make all the trips to unload!! No schlepping bags at a DELUXE, thank you very much!

I had done online check-in and there was no one even in line at that desk...score! Check-in was super easy and fast. My father and step-mother were checking in the next day and they gave me Connie's Happy Birthday button (which I promptly put in my purse and forgot about for the entire week. Oops!) I went to the Concierge desk to have our park tickets and meal plan put on our KTTW cards.

I had purchased our 8 day Park Hoppers from Undercover Tourist and it was easy peasy putting them on the KTTW cards. Yay!! I must admit I was a little nervous since we had purchased the tickets from a third party and had rented DVC points. Our prior trips were packages bought straight from Disney. However, everything went perfectly smoothly and we were treated no differently then when I had booked directly through Disney.

Ryan had gone to park the car in “self-park” and he had to walk a LONG way back to the resort! The boys and I went out on to the patio off the lobby and were in awe at the view!

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I must admit that I was more than a little worried about Boardwalk. It is one of those resorts that seems to be overlooked and I just couldn't find a lot of information about it. People were divided on their opinions of the resort and the photos I found of the Villa rooms made me more nervous. The rooms looked a little worn and I was not crazy about the décor. However, Epcot is our favorite resort and the fact that we could WALK there sealed the deal!

Well, I worried in vain....the resort was GORGEOUS! The landscaping was wonderful, lots of potted plants and gardens. The pool was great and the creepy clown was not so creepy in real life. The location was unbeatable....not only could we walk to Epcot, but we could also walk to DHS!

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The back porch off the lobby area

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We were in room 1123 which was a first floor, corner room....score!! Since it was a corner room, we had extra space and a daybed. Will claimed the daybed as his and slept there every night. I had heard complaints about the long hallways at BWV and that if you were not close to the elevator that you may have a LONG walk to get outside. Since we were on the first floor, we could walk straight outside through one of the MANY ground floor exits....score again!! We could actually walk out the door RIGHT NEXT TO OUR ROOM and be at front drive in 30 seconds. Convenient since we drive to the parks...well, only MK and AK on this trip!

Here are some teeny tiny room photos from my stupid camera that was taking teeny tiny pictures....

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The entryway area with mirror and shelf. This area was so large that we put our suitcases here after we unpacked. Kind of a waste of space, but would be great if you had strollers.

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The kitchenette. I must admit that we didn't use the microwave or the toaster. I didn't really want to cook on vacation.....and for the record, microwaving IS cooking in my book!

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The bed looking back toward the door.

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The couch that made a bed. Tucker slept here and apparently it was comfortable enough for a teenager.

There was also a daybed/bench, a dresser with flat screen tv and a round table with two chairs. We had french doors that opened onto a patio with a view of the front grounds and a pond. I would definitely request a first floor room again! The location was great and we were VERY close to DHS.

We unpacked and I changed for dinner. We had a 5:35 ADR at Cape May Cafe so we had time to stroll around the Boardwalk and explore. We decided to go counterclockwise and start at the Swan and Dolphin area which was practically right outside our door.

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Tucker and Will walking through the lobby and next to the Disney Cruise Line model ship!! This is next on our bucket list...never cruised before and wouldn't do anything BUT Disney. @SweetPea....you need to find me a roommate for the WDW Girl's Cruise. :D

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Ahhhh,the view from the Boardwalk...never gets old.

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Ryan, Tucker and Will

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Love the Swan and Dolphin! My dad and I came to WDW in the mid-80's and stayed at what was then the Buena Vista Palace in the DTD area (of course there was no DTD then) and we could see the newly built Swan and Dolphin from our hotel room.

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minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Ok, holy cow...I just typed the entire Day Two and tried to post it. An error box popped up and informed that I could not post a reply with more than 20 images...AAACKKKK! Thank goodness that I could cut and paste...whew.

Back to the riveting story of my vacation....
We arrived at Beach Club a little early, so we explored the store and Market. Of course this means trying on silly hats! Does everyone else do this???

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We then decided to enjoy the rockers on the back patio area. Ahhh....so relaxing....we are really here! Let it soak in!

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The cast of Jersey Shore then strolled by....not really, but these guys looked JUST like them...manscaped and waxed to the 9's!! Look for them...they're in the background!

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I decided to go ahead and check-in around 5:15 since it was getting really crowded and was told that it would probably be until 5:35 (our reservation time) before we were seated. No problem, I said! The beepers don't work outside the lobby area, so we couldn't go back to our rockers. We sat down in the comfy lobby chairs and did some people watching...one of our favorite pastimes!

Living in a small town in KY, we are somewhat isolated and we LOVE to people watch on vacation! Heck, in reality you don't get much better people watching then at our county fair.....but WDW certainly has a better variety with guests from all over the world.

We waited 20-25 minutes and then were seated by a very nice hostess. I asked her if the rumor was true that the Oreo Bon Bons were gone and she said yes. Her explanation was that over so many million Oreo Bon Bons had been eaten at Cape May and they wanted to share them with everyone so now you could buy them at the Beach Club Marketplace. HUH?? Why when so many people love them, would you take them off the buffet???

Anyhoo, on to the food pics! Well, the one picture of my plate that I remembered to take...

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Those are crab legs....betcha didn't guess that one...fried clams (cold and tough) and seafood paella with scallops, shrimp and mahi mahi (not very good either). I must admit to being disappointed in the food here. We had eaten here on our last trip and other than the desserts, was not impressed. When we were making our ADR choices for this trip, we told the boys they could each choose a restaurant....they both picked Cape May. They could not really articulate why, they just wanted to eat here. My dad is not a buffet person, so we decided to make it our first night dinner before he arrived.

The desserts were still exceptional and I ate an entire plateful to make up for the lackluster main course! That is Tucker's plate and he had cheesecake, flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and a mini Boston Creme pie.

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On my plate below is the strawberry shortcake, Mickey sprinkle sugar cookie, caramel flan, Boston crème pie, flourless chocolate cake with raspberry sauce and a mini cupcake on my plate.
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Our waitress was great if a little unfriendly and was a little short with us when it came time to settle the bill. We were on the DDP so I gave her our card with the check...she proceeded to give the check back to me and said “What about the tip?” I kept trying to give it back to her and she just kept saying “What about the tip?”. I finally told her that we were paying the tip in cash and she huffed off.

One of my friends had just returned from WDW and warned me to use exact change for the tip as the servers will not bring back change. We decided that from then on we would just put the tip on our KTTW card and pay it at the end of the trip. That way we didn't have to make sure to have exact change on hand for every meal. We did that for the rest of the trip and it worked out much better!

Suitably stuffed, we headed out to Epcot...just a short walk away! Our plan was to walk through WS to Future World. Food & Wine Festival had just started the evening before and WS was PACKED to the gills!

My youngest, Will, is a soccer NUT and so we had to stop in the United Kingdom shop to check out the soccer gear....and try on MORE silly hats!!
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I really should have gotten one or two of these hats...I mean how cool would we look sitting in our camp chairs cheering Will on with these COOL hats on! HUH??

Will found a new Chelsea jersey that he wanted to buy, but we told him we would be returning the next night and he could get it then....famous last words! Would Will ever get the soccer jersey....da da da dah...stay tuned to find out!!

We made it through the crowds and started with SSE...one of my favorites! The ride stopped right before the burning of the libraries in Alexandria and we sat for about 5 minutes. No biggie. The burning smell was on in Alexandria. All the “effects” seemed to be working to me.
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Ok, one more pic of SSE with the full moon next to it....I must admit that I am a total sucker for SSE and love me some geodesic dome!
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We then headed to Living With the Land. Soarin was a 65 minute wait at that point and although I had made a pledge to ride Soarin everyday...I just could not do a 65 minute wait. We decided to do The Seas With Nemo and Friends simply because it had no line. The CM's were a little punch drunk and they were screaming and putting stickers on everyone. We screamed right along with them and I gave some stickers to a CM. WOO HOO!

Everything was closing in FW so we crossed the bridge back to WS and went to Mexico. The obligatory sombrero picture...don't they look happy folks??
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We rode the Three Cabreros...doesn't Ryan look like he's having a great time??
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Ryan picked up a strawberry-lime margarita (delicious!!) and a smoothie for Will. I went into the crystal store and picked out a tiara for me...unfortunately the price tag said $69.00 so I said "not so much".
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We left Mexico and walked smack dab into the start of the fireworks. This would become a recurring theme all week! We joked later that we felt like royalty every time we entered a park because inevitably a parade was getting ready to start and we got to walk down the middle of the street while everyone else was watching us from the sidewalks!
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Tucker bought a fiber optic mohawk headband thingie and you can see it glowing blue in the pic above.
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And one more fireworks picture...cause really, don't you just love looking at other people's crappy fireworks pictures taken with their Iphone??
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Ryan and Tucker rode Maelstrom and Will and I watched the rest of the fireworks. We walked back to the room and on the way, Ryan and Will decided to stop at the ESPN Club to try to catch a soccer match. Tucker and I stopped at the Boardwalk Bakery to pick up our resort refillable mugs.

Ok, small gripe here about using the refillable mugs at Boardwalk resort. Since Boardwalk has no food court or QS location, you refill your mugs at Boardwalk Bakery, the coffee place and Boardwalk Sweets. However, they do NOT fill your mug. You show them your mug and they give you a cup with your drink of choice. Now, I do not know if you could leave your mug in your room and simply show them your KTTW card, but I brought the mugs with me. My dad and step-mom simply dumped their drinks into the refillable mugs and threw away the paper cups.

For us, the mugs just don't make sense since we had to take them back to the room after breakfast instead of just heading straight for the park. Having four of them in the backpack was a little bulky.

Anyway, I digress..which I am prone to do and I apologize ahead of time if that drives you crazy.

I went to bed and Tucker went to explore on the Boardwalk. Ryan and Will came back fairly soon because despite the number of TV's in ESPN, they had no soccer on.

Ok, WOW this really takes a lot longer to prepare a TR then I ever thought!
 

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In for your TR! :)
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Wow, I am SO EXCITED that people are actually reading my TR!! :D Thank you and I promise to post more quickly now...computer problems the last few days.

I'm in! :) Can't wait to hear where the title comes from.

Thank you for reading! Unfortunately the title is not revealed until near the end, but that will keep you reading, huh. ;)

Count me in. Im curious?!

So flattered that you've joined my trip! Keep reading and it all will be revealed.

Well, we should be home sometime late Sunday so I'll see what I can do soon thereafter. So much going on, as usual.

Yes, I definitely know how time consuming writing a TR is. That's why ever time we're about to leave on another adventure I tell myself, "This time I'm not doing it. I'm not taking notes. I'm not taking pictures. I'm going to just enjoy the trip." But then I'm always afraid I'll get home, want to write a report, and be mad for not just doing the notes & pictures in case. So I end up taking notes & pictures. Then I get home and will get asked by various people where the report is. My brother will call me daily asking me about it. So then I end up throwing myself into another one. LOL!

Definitely got to get caught up. You can eagerly await my email while I eagerly await the next installment here. LOL!

I am most eagerly awaiting your email! I can't believe how gratifying it is that people are actually reading this and waiting for me to post more....I am so exited! Can't quite get my tone correct...too wordy?

Have a safe trip home on Sunday and I will try to post more tonight and tomorrow. Next week looks really bad for me...meeting Monday night, soccer practice and Will's birthday Tuesday night, church Wednesday night, PTA fundraising event that I am charge of Thursday night and Christmas party Friday night.


Thank you for the smiley...I assume that means you like it? More is on the way!

Can't wait to hear more! It's making me excited for my trip in 8 days!

Yay! Looking forward to the trip is one of the best parts! It is over so quickly. Where are you staying?
 

Cassie S.

Active Member
I LOL'd at your "don't you just love looking at other peoples' crappy fireworks pics taken with an iphone?" I love looking at all your pics no matter how crappy because it helps set the mood of what was going on in your trip. And yes I will stick around til the end ;)
 

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY THREE: IN WHICH OUR TRAVELING COMPANIONS ARRIVE

I was up at 7:00 and we were at Boardwalk Bakery by 8:30 for ham, egg and cheese croissants and drinks that were NOT in our mugs. The bakery was not too crowded at this time of day and we really enjoyed the peaceful breakfast overlooking the lagoon. My husband reflected after the trip that this was one of his favorite parts...breakfast on the Boardwalk.

Since I had read that the walk to DHS was a little long, we decided to take the boat. We discovered that it was much quicker to walk. The boat stopped at Yacht and Beach Club and then the Swan and Dolphin before making it to DHS. The ride was long but relaxing.
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What's in the water that is so interesting??

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Must have photo of the BAH (Big A@@ Hat)
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When we arrived, we headed straight for TSMM and FP's. It seems like our return time was 11:20.

The park was fairly empty so we did the Backlot Tour (which was much better than I remembered) and played around in the gift shop at the end. Tucker actually bought this hat...when he will EVER wear it again...crickets....NEVER if he wants to have a social life or a girlfriend.
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I REALLY wanted to buy this shirt because I have a friend who had gastric bypass and is now thin. She is constantly making rude remarks to me about my weight.........
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A rare photo of the author (MOI) and my boys...I HATE to be in pictures...yes, I know I have self-esteem issues.
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Crowds were light at this point....a completely empty street.
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Next up was Muppets 3-D. Ryan and I really love this movie...probably because we grew up with the Muppets and it reminds us of our childhood. The old men crack us both up as we are sarcastic too. Fuzzy iphone pic of the old men in the balcony.
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After this Ryan and the boys rode Star Tours. I will confess here that I am a big wuss and will not ride any roller coasters or any simulators...or log flumes. I REALLY want to, but I have terrible motion sickness. I found an empty table outside Pizza Planet and made some calls. I called my dad and he was making great time. They expected to arrive by 2:00 at the latest. My dad was driving from Isle of Palms, SC and we didn't think they would be there until 3 or 4.

After Star Tours, we decided we were hungry so we decided to do lunch before TSMM. We were debating between Pizza Planet and Starring Rolls. I wanted to do Pizza Planet today because I knew we would go to Starring Rolls with my dad, since pizza is not his thing. However, we were already in front of Starring Rolls when we decided to eat....so Starring Rolls it was!
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Look at that sammich!! I must confess that it was one of the best sandwiches I have ever had! Turkey, sundried tomatoes, fresh mozzarella, lettuce and fresh foccacia....yummiest! It was HUGE and in hindsight, I should have shared a sandwich with Will and saved a QS credit...but it's WDW...eat until you're sick!

On the DDP, you get a sandwich, chips or fruit, large drink and a dessert. And YESSSSS, the cupcakes are included as a dessert!! There was no question...I got the Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake and Tucker got the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcake.

BEHOLD their loveliness................

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Red Velvet Cheesecake Cupcake with Tiramisu in the background (my crazy husband doesn't like chocolate...can he be trusted??)

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Another view of the most awesome dessert.

And the Peanut Butter and Chocolate Cupcake...not too shabby either.
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This was the first food item that I got to check-off on my WDW Snack List....see my PTR for the entire checklist. One down....sixty something to go!

The cupcake was very good....fresh and not too sweet. But really....can anything EVER live up to your expectations when you have been looking forward to it for eleven months...

Stuffed to the gills we walked to TSMM so that we could churn all that food up in the spinning awesomeness that is TSMM!!

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Ryan next to the balsa wood airplane...another memory from our childhood.
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I confess that I REALLY LIKED this ride. Being the wuss that I am, I don't get to ride all the cool rides and TSMM was just enough for me. Plus, my competitive side loves to beat whatever poor sucker is sitting next to me. That was Will....and I beat the TAR out of him. :) He actually quit playing part of the way through the ride because I was so far ahead of him.....he recognized a superior force and gave up...as he should! I don't even play video games, but I can jerk a string with the best of 'em!

It was after 1:00 at this point, so we headed back to the resort to meet my dad. We decided to walk back and, other than the lack of shade, it was a pleasant walk back to BWV's.

But not before spying FRANKENWEENIE!! We have a miniature dachshund, Slinky, so we had to take a photo.

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Now, my TR title is “A Trip of Excess” and this refers, in part, to the extreme heat we experienced during our trip. Our prior 2 trips the temps in October had been low 90's to mid-to-high 80's. We can handle this and still traverse the parks for 8-10 hours a day. However, on this trip the temps ranged in the mid-to-high 90's and a few days the heat index was over 100! That, folks, is HOT! Add to this the humidity and the thunderstorms that we had everyday and the weather was less than perfect. We acknowledged that we had been very lucky on previous trips and that no matter the weather we were still in WDW!

Back at the resort, I met my dad and Connie (his wife) in the lobby and helped them with check-in and finding their room....right next to ours with adjoining patios!

Ryan took a nap.....I'm telling ya, the heat sucks the energy right outta ya. Tucker went out on his own to explore the Boarwalk area and Epcot. This was his absolute favorite part of the trip....we let him explore on his own. He is very responsible and checked in with us. He came back right on time with a HUGE smile on his face! He is growing up too fast and while bittersweet to see him venture off alone...I was also very proud of him and the young man he is becoming. Ok, enough schmaltz!
 

minnielaw

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
DAY TWO continued........

My dad, Connie and I sat at Boardwalk Bakery and enjoyed the view. Will got a piece of the chocolate peanut butter cake (another snack checked off!). I LOVE the combo of peanut butter and chocolate and was really looking forward to this cake...TOO SWEET! Ah well, live and learn. Sorry I forgot to take a picture. :(

We had ADR's at Tutto Italia tonight....a first for us. Last trip we had ADR's at Tutto Italia, but we missed them because I screwed up, forgot to consult my itinerary and thought we had ADR's at Boma that night. Not sure why I can plan every minute detail of our vacation for months and then when we actually arrive in WDW, I lose my brain and forget everything.

We picked Tutto tonight so that we could walk over after my dad and Connie settled in. On the way out of the resort, Tucker (my art loving son) spotted an art gallery and had to browse. They had these strange fiberglass sharks and stingrays that were painted with automobile paint.
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Once in Epcot we were behind this very strange man wearing a fishing vest and hat that were completely covered in fairy pins and buttons. Since I love to people watch and laugh at strange people (I LOVE @blackthidot trip reports...funky toenails, speedos and all) I had to take a picture. Just as I was pressing the button, he turned around and gladly posed for me!
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BEAT THAT JOHN!

We walked past Japan....
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And on to Italy...not every day you can walk to Japan and then have dinner in Italy. Yeah...that joke was lame.
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We were seated promptly and had a great waiter that was very personable, although difficult to understand. The food was just average. The acoustics in the restaurant were AWFUL and we could not talk to each other during the meal. Just too loud.

I had the salmon, which was fine, but bland.
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Connie had the Dover sole...again, fine, but bland.
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Ryan and Tucker had the steak and they pronounced theirs to be awesome. Will had spaghetti and meatballs which he said was ok. Ryan tried one of the meatballs and said it was “delicious”. I forgot to take pics of their meals.

In hindsight, maybe we should have ordered pasta. While traveling in Italy I had eaten some very good seafood, so I chose seafood....maybe in America you should stick to pasta in an Italian restaurant. Again, it was not bad, just not memorable...and maybe at WDW, that's as good as it gets!

Dessert, however, was stellar! I had chocolate gelato and it was HEAVEN in a glass sundae dish!
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Connie had the raspberry sorbet, which was excellent too...not too tart and very refreshing.
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Ryan had the tiramisu again, because he's a communist pinko that doesn't like chocolate. :p
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After dinner we walked through WS to Mexico and by this point the sky was darkening and rain looked imminent. We headed into the Mexican pavillion to wait out the rain and beat the crowd that would soon be looking for cover. We rode the Three Cabrello's (I cannot spell this) again and then shopped in the indoor market.

I PROMISE we were not torturing him...looks like a ransom photo from a Mexican drug cartel!

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By this point is was POURING rain and the pavillion was packed with people in wet parkas....WOW, that was some serious alliteration in that sentence! The aroma of hords of hot, sweaty people in wet clothing packed together in a tight space is MIGHTY lovely. We squeezed our way over to La Cava to try the Avocado Margarita. Another item on my WDW snack list! I absolutely love avocados and I absolutely love margaritas...so what's not to love about combining them...MELON LIQUOR that's WHAT!! YUCK! WHY IS THERE MELON LIQUOR IN AN AVOCADO MARGARITA?????

The rain finally slowed to a drizzle and we escaped Mexico. We walked to SSE and got stuck for about 10 minutes on the descent. Kinda cool just leaning back in the dark with starry lights overhead....very romantic....glad Ryan was in my car with me!

We ended the night at Epcot by playing ALL the games at the end of SSE. We did the virtual doctor thing where you grab bones and put them on the skeleton. My dad is a doctor, so it was kinda funny when I beat him! The energy shuffleboard game was fun too. We stayed until closing time.

We had a leisurely stroll back to the room and I promptly crashed on the bed with a book. Ryan and Will went out exploring and ended up at the Beach Club playing foosball. Tucker walked to the Bakery alone to get a drink. Nighty night Day 2.

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UP NEXT....RAIN AND ANIMALS...hold onto your seat!
 

sweetpee_1993

Well-Known Member
Okay. First things first: so glad you liked the BWV! Isn't the location of the Epcot resorts the BEST?!

Next, have you emailed Tammy about a roomie for the girls cruise?! I'd love to see ya there!

Moving on, we're also not overly huge fans of the Cape May dinner. Of course I'm not because I'm not a seafood person. Tracey tends to critique the crab, etc. as to how horribly overcooked it is.

Gotta ask, knowing your hubby worked with boats for so long, does he get impatient with the slow-ness of the Friendship boats? Like the speed at which they pitter along really drives me insane. I want to jump overboard and swim wherever I'm going because I'm faster. I know they're supposed to be relaxing and all but, sheesh, there's better things to be doing! And, okay, I'm a little spoiled to my "boat rides" being at an average speed of about 65 mph. LOL!

Love that you put a pic of you and your boys out there! Good to see you were actually there, too!

I'm feelin' ya on the Muppets love. I'm right there with ya, girl.

Starring Rolls. Oh my. Okay. I knew the cupcakes were TDF but I had no idea about the sammiches. That sucker looked goooooood!

The sharks in the art gallery.....boat paint, perhaps, would be more applicable? Yes? Tracey's boat is painted all glittery.....one of the very few nice things I can say about the stupid boat that I've lovingly named "That Other B*tch". LOL!

Tutto. We've not eaten there. You lost me on the salmon...it's fishy which can't be a good thing. LOL! The gelato totally looks yummy. Ryan & Tracey could totally bond over their lack of love for chocolate (which I agree is NOT normal) and critique their tiramisu selections. Tracey really has discovered a love for tiramisu because it's not overly sweet. I can see that. But still, how is it possible to not love chocolate????

Oh yes! I'm enjoying it all. More more more!
 

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