Trip Report *COMPLETED* The "What are we waiting on?, Never again!, Help, I'm on a family vacation!" Trip Report

Howdy folks!!

We just got back home yesterday afternoon from a great week in Disney! I'm still trying to get my pictures in order, but I figured I could get the intro started! There were some definite ups and downs (tears were shed for both) on this trip which you will hear about further on, but overall it was a magical trip and we had a great time! So if you care to join me, hop on in as I detail the trip in this report!

Dates: November 24th-December 2nd

Where: Disney's Pop Century Resort

Cast: Josh (DH), Cam (DS) and Heather (Me!)
Also joining us will be my Parents and my niece, Maci

 

[joshsprincess921]

I wonder if it's the same safari driver we once got stuck with. As soon as we would see an animal, the driver would speed off. The male lion was active, the driver pointed him out and was like "okay lets go!" just as everyone was trying to take a picture. Very frustrating!

VERY frustrating!!! He was a male driver, but I don't remember his name or anything.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Met back up with my crew and they fill me in that they had lost Cam for a few minutes Apparently he was playing on the drums and wondered to another location and they didn't see him.

All together now and had a few minutes until our fastpass. It was getting warm out and everyone was starting to drag, so we decided we'd head out afterwards!

Navi River Journey was nice and well done. My husband is a huge Avatar movie fan so he was really into it. So much so that we named our first born after James Cameron, except we went with Cameron James. Totally kidding, it's completely coincidental, but we've been asked that question several times! I thought the ride was nice, but wouldn't wait in line for it.

Stopped for photopass on the way out, with the sun beaming in our eyes! This was the only one that turned out halfway decent.

Interesting day at Disney's Animal Kingdom! But it was time for relaxing!
Private bus ride back to Pop!

I really wanted to take a nap, but the kids wanted to swim and I needed to wash some clothes (b/c of Cam's accident the previous night). I went ahead and got that going then let the kids have some fun. They started out in the little splash area, then transferred to the big pool. My dad eventually came down and swam with them.

While they were swimming, I decided to jump online and look for scooter rentals. I know my dad wouldn't do it on his own, but I just couldn't see him trying to get around in the condition that he was in. I wanted him to enjoy this trip with his grandbabies!! I was able to find a good reputable company that would have it delivered to the resort within a couple hours! Perfect! I decided not to tell him about it until it was delivered because I didn't want him to argue with me over it!

 

[DisneyGigi]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy Tusker House, we always have such a great experience there. Poor Cam getting sick, waking up like that. Stuff happens though and so nice the lady had the burp cloth to give you.

 

[joshsprincess921]

So sorry to hear you did not enjoy Tusker House, we always have such a great experience there. Poor Cam getting sick, waking up like that. Stuff happens though and so nice the lady had the burp cloth to give you.

Honestly, it was probably just me! Everyone else enjoyed it!
Yes, if there is one thing I've learned in the last 5 years is that stuff most definitely happens that you just can't prepare for!
I was so thankful for that sweet lady!

 

[joshsprincess921]

We decided we were going to go check out Toy Story Land at Hollywood Studios and catch some of the Christmas festivities this evening! We went and picked up the scooter and Josh drove it up to give to my dad. My dad was not happy! He was grateful, but didn't want us spending the money on it. I just told him to just accept it and lets go have fun! I also decided that I didn't want to bring a bag tonight. I threw a change of clothes for Cam in the stroller and off we went!

BIG MISTAKE!!! As we are walking the longest walk ever from the bus stop to the HS entrance, the bottom fell out. My bag that I left behind also had our ponchos in it!! WHY!!???!!!!?? My parents had some little cheapo ponchos and wanted to buy some from the park, so we took the cheap ones and they bought those. The stroller rental had the rain cover, so Cam was all cozy! We made our way back and seemed everyone else was leaving! This could be a good thing!

The wait for Alien Swirling Saucers was 20 minutes so we hit that ride first!

(Dad on his new ride!)

This is such a fun little ride!!! We were feeling hungry at this point, so we decided to hit up Woody's Lunch Box! The rain had let up at this point, however, the temps were dropping fast!

I love the popcorn garland! So adorable!
By the time we found a table, it started to rain again. Also, the only table that was available had a fan blowing directly where we sat. Rain, cold, and fan! It was starting to feel miserable. I didn't even snap a picture of our food, but Josh and I split the Totchos and the Brisket Sandwich. It was really good!! We enjoyed it a lot! Josh despises sour cream, but for some reason he was raving about how good it was on the Totchos, hah! He said it tasted different, in a good way. Cam got the grilled cheese and loved it as well. Most DEF would be back here. Just wish they had more seating, but that's been said many times!

We had planned on doing standby for Slinky Dog, but it was raining harder now and we were already cold and damp, so we just decided to call it a night and try again another time in the week. We made the hike to the bus stop which was PACKED!!! People were saying they've been waiting an hour for a bus! No one wanted to let my dad through on his scooter, so I had to loudly excuse us through the crowds and assure them we were NOT trying to cut the line. Everyone was quite angry! We ended up waiting another 30 minutes until a bus came and everyone started cheering. I felt soooo guilty at this point when my dad was loaded first then we were able to get on when all of those people had been waiting for so long.

Apparently there was some issue with a new bus dispatcher and all the buses were lined up as far as the eye could see waiting on the go ahead. Couldn't have been a worse night for this to happen with the rain and cold!

Next: Cold day at Magic Kingdom

 

[fractal]

Catching up. I now want a "Shark Bait" tshirt.

 

[Swissmiss]

I’m glad you got a scooter so your dad could enjoy the trip too!

 

[joshsprincess921]

This day was probably my favorite day of the whole trip! MAGIC KINGDOM DAY! However, it wasn't short of any family vacation drama!
It was pretty chilly when we woke up! Shorts and pool the day before and now pants and jackets! My husband, however, didn't feel the need to wear or bring a jacket. We once again told my parents a time to meet us at the lobby and they texted us to tell us they were there about 30 minutes before that time. I figured they would grab whatever snack they wanted for breakfast, use the restroom and be ready when we got there, but I was wrong on all accounts! Josh asked, "What are we waiting on?" Yeah, they were still wondering around the food court trying to decide what to get. Then had to sit and eat. Thoughts of bus and bag check lines running though my mind.....
This was followed by "What have they been doing the last 30 minutes?" Everyone of course had to use the restroom after they ate while Josh sat in the lobby pouting about still waiting. THEN everyone had to bundle back up....still pouting! Once we got to the bus stop there were already 2 scooters loading the bus so we had to wait for the next one. "Never again!" Yeah, I was beginning to see that vacationing with the in-laws was starting to get to Josh!

FINALLY we were on our way! Today was a Christmas party day so MK would close to regular park guests at 6pm. Our plan was to stay the whole time and then make our way over to our dinner reservation.

Nothing was bothering these two!

On our walk in, I ran into my 3 coworkers who were there together. I know they were here the same week, but in all of WDW, I didn't think I'd literally run into them! They are annual pass holders and their significant others do not like to come, so they come together.

Once we got to the entrance there was a sea of people. My mom and I waited in bag check and it took forever! Once we got through, we started walking in and I realized my parents weren't with us. I looked back and they haven't even budged. No idea what they were doing, but once again we were waiting. I won't go into every incident of this but just know this happened so often. We were always waiting. Now don't get me wrong, I know my parents are getting slower as they get older and I fully planned on going at a slower pace. That wasn't the part that was irritating. It was when they had ample time to get things together and ready to go, but they'd wait until it was time to start moving to get stuff together or whatever it was they needed to do. Then my dad would stress so much if we walked 5 feet from him. But anyway, lets get on with our day! Shall we?

I couldn't get a 7DMT fastpass for today so our game plan was to rope drop it. We made our way to the castle and gathered with the rest of the herd going that way.

As we lined up, my mom says she needs to use the restroom. Ok, this wasn't happening. I decided to point her in the right direction and told her where to meet us. My dad wasn't happy with this plan and was a complete ball of nerves.
We get all the way there and then we hear the dreaded announcement that the ride is down and not sure when it would be back up!
Grrrr...we decided to wait it out, at least until my mom arrived. Finally, she did and my dad breathed a sigh of relief. Then Cam decided he need to go use the restroom, so Josh took him while we continued to wait until they got back. Wait it out or move on? I made the decision to move on and glad I did because it was down for about an hour. We never got to ride it this day, but I had a fastpass for later in the week. I was sad Maci wouldn't get a chance to ride it though.

We took a ride on a clam shell and then waited to meet Ariel, live and in person!

They loved posing for pics on Paw Paw's scooter!

Maci was so excited because Ariel is her favorite (mine too)!!
Cam says he doesn't like princesses but he was going along with it. haha!

 

[joshsprincess921]

I've never ridden Dumbo! Not sure why I never did as a child, but then as an adult I said I would ride it for the first time when I had my own child. So I was so excited!!

I had Josh ride in front of us, so he could capture the moment!

My little man and I had a great time! I'm so glad I waited to ride and was able to have this special memory with him.

The kids wanted to ride Barnstormer next.

Even though it was chilly, it was such a pretty day!

The wait was nothing. Crowd levels ended up being low the entire day. Fun, little, quick ride! Cam got a little scared on it. Still traumatized from riding Everest! But he said it was fun.

Maci wanted to ride the teacups. I do not care for the spinning teacups, so while the rest of us decided to sit it out, my mom said she'd ride with her. Josh was getting hungry. I told him to go to get us a cattail snack from the cafe next door. He came back with a chicken nugget meal from Cosmic Rays! We had lunch in about an hour, but Cam and I ate on it too so ended up being a good treat! We ate while we watched them spin!

Mom got her a coffee afterwards and we just enjoyed a nice little stroll, contemplating what we'd do next. We decided to go on It's a Small World, but when we got there the wait was too long for our taste. Since we were close, we decided to make a pit stop!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Decided to get off our feet for a little bit.

I always love this show. The kids really got a kick out of it.

Maci was begging to ride the carousal. We were coming up on our fastpass time, but didn't think it would take long so my mom took her on. It ended up being one of the longest waits of the day! Crazy!!

Soon enough, it was time for another experience that would be new for all of us! Enchanted Tales with Belle.
I checked out all the details in this room. Some really cool stuff in there. I loved the little music box that was playing on the shelf.

I felt like we were in this room forever before we were able to walk through the portal.

The kids auditioned for their roles.

And Cam was picked to play the BEAST!!

Maci was picked to play Maurice!

 

[aliceismad]

Loving the kiddos' starstruck pics.

 

[Swissmiss]

The pictures of your niece with Ariel are very cute.

 

[joshsprincess921]

About to overload you all with pics from the skit! It was sooo cute and gave me all the momma feels! The dance with Belle literally had me tearing up. Was the most precious, magical moment!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Here's a video I took of the dance:

 

[joshsprincess921]

From there, we hopped next door for our lunch reservation at Be Our Guest. I made a rookie mistake and COMPLETELY forgot to preorder! BUT luckily, it really wasn't that bad! It didn't take as long as I expected, plus the kids got a kick out of the snoring guards.

We didn't get to order on the touch screens since Cam has a nut allergy, so we were led to a CM who took our order. I ordered the Croque Monsieur. Tried to get the Sangria but she asked for my ID and I forgot it in my room. Brought my ID every other day and of course, never got carded, LOL! I love this sandwich. So good! Josh got the French Dip which he really enjoyed. Cam got the grilled cheese which came with chicken noodle soup. The noodles must be processed with nuts b/c all he got was a bowl of broth with no noodles. My parent's and Maci ordered the exact same things as us.

I wanted to sit near the tree, but there were no open tables so we ended up in the West Wing. I didn't get any more pictures or any of the pictures of our food because as we settled in at our table I got a phone call. It was the scooter company and they calling to tell me that apparently we took the wrong scooter? I was so confused! The guy told me it wasn't a big deal, that this has happened before and the people who called to report it were apparently outside of BOG waiting on us. My dad and I walked out to meet up with them. The guy got extremely rude with us demanding to know where his scooter was. We looked at the scooter parked in the exact spot my dad had parked and it had my name on it. So I asked how was it that if we took the wrong scooter was mine sitting right here. She said well you took our scooter that was sitting right here. I said again this is my scooter. So the guy said well where did you park ours then? I then gave a play by play telling them we were just at Tales with Belle. The guy then turned around storming off to go see if his scooter was parked there. I continued telling his wife that we left there and came over here and were now inside eating our lunch. She looked shocked, wait ya'll are in there right now? Yes we are in there right now. Apparently they thought were in BOG at the same time as them and had come out and took their scooter, leaving ours behind. By the time that we had it figured out that we were not in fact the culprits of the scooter theft, the guy walked back up and he was SO MAD!! Wife said it's not them!! She apologized, but her husband just threw his hands up and seeming to feel very defeated. Their daughter then started crying because she left things in the basket and now they were all gone. It was a mess. But we excused ourselves in order to return to our now cold lunch! We saw them a little later on and their mom was riding on a scooter. My dad stopped and asked where they found it. Apparently someone had called the scooter company and reported their scooter as abandoned and it got picked up. Talk about a huge misunderstanding! I'm glad they were able to find out what happened.

 

[aliceismad]

She apologized, but her husband just threw his hands up and seeming to feel very defeated. Their daughter then started crying because she left things in the basket and now they were all gone. It was a mess.

That's awful! So someone took their scooter for a joyride and swiped all the stuff? Why are people so mean?

 

[joshsprincess921]

That's awful! So someone took their scooter for a joyride and swiped all the stuff? Why are people so mean?

They claimed someone reported it as abandoned so the scooter company had it picked up. Really Strange!

 

[joshsprincess921]

After lunch, made our way over to the Haunted Mansion.

Then Big Thunder! Cam didn't want to ride so he stayed with my mom. Maci loved it!!

We debated over Splash b/c the temps were really dropping at this point. Cam again backed out even though he really wanted to ride. He was scared. Dad wanted to sit out too. So they let him play while we went on.

We made it through pretty dry!!!

Cam talked about Buzz all day and with the 6pm closing time I wanted to make sure we made it over there in time. While in line for Splash I was able to get a fastpass for it. So off we went!! He was so excited!

Great shot of him there, LOL!

 

[joshsprincess921]

My Dad and Josh were getting competitive with each other!

And wondering if my Mom and Maci saw a ghost!

While in line for Buzz, my Dad and I talked about riding Space. No one else wanted to and it was only a 20 minute wait, so He and I went while the rest of the gang rode the Peoplemover. Let me just tell you, my Dad made me laugh so hard on this ride the way. His reactions to the drops literally had tears in my eyes from laughing so hard! So much fun!

While on the Peoplemover, Josh and Cam decided they had to do the Speedway! They all hit up their last ride of the evening while my mom and I got a hot coffee!! Brrr was it getting cold, but worse WINDY!!! I also surprised Cam and Maci and bought them the bubble wands they had been wanting!

And with that, our super fun day at Magic Kingdom was complete! But not without some photopass shots on the way out!

We made our way out to the bus stop for Wilderness Lodge!! I booked this dinner solely on wanting to see the lobby at Christmas and it did not disappoint! So beautiful and cozy and smelled so wonderful!

I sat in a nice big chair and just stared at this tree!! No picture will ever do it justice (especially not my pictures )!!!

 

[Tuvalu]

Your hitchhiking thumbs picture is missing the ghost!