Trip Report A Not So Splashy, Very Dashy, Somewhat Sleepy and A Little Frisky, Uplyfting Sept 2018 TR (Completed!)

Figment Forever · Nov 17, 2018

Now our original plan was to head to BB as soon as we left FW. But I realized we had forgotten stuff that we needed, so we had no choice but to go back to POP.

We returned to our room, got our stuff and then began to walk back to the busses. It was running late. At this point, I figured we wouldn’t have too much time at BB especially since the girls wanted to play golf first. I knew we had to take a bus to AK and then transfer to BB. Of course, Hope also knew what the transportation system looked like and she offered her advice, “Take a Lyft!”

This time, I agreed with her. I pulled out my phone and in a few minutes we were on our way.

All the drivers we got were very friendly and interesting. I guess I was always nervous that it would be an awkward conversation – but it always worked out fine. However, this one would prove a little challenging. This driver was a woman who was as sweet as could be, but she spoke no English. I could tell she was a little confused that we wanted to go to Winter Summerland instead of BB. She started speaking to me in Spanish and of course, having taking Latin in my high school years, I was completely lost. Unless my non-English speaking Lyft driver is an ancient Roman, I am out of luck. I looked at Julia who was just as clueless as I was because she is studying Japanese and Hope, who probably does understand several other languages, would be of no help either. So I mustered up the best “Dora The Explorer” Spanish I could and said, “No habla espanol.” And I hoped that I said, “I do not speak Spanish.” I must have gotten it somewhat right, because the driver nodded and seemed a little disappointed and continued to drive. As we got closer, I could tell she was going to pass the golf course and continue on to BB. So I offered, “Here! Aqui!” She pulled over and dropped us off.

We decided to play the summer course and enjoyed it much more than the Fairways course.

Figment Forever · Nov 17, 2018

After our game, we walked over to BB.

It was just about 3:00PM so I knew we only had a couple of hours. It was a blazing HOT day and the water felt great! Julia went her own way for a bit, while Hope and I enjoyed the lazy river and the wave pool.

We met up for a quick snack before heading back into the wave pool one more time.

I don’t think we did any raft rides. We stayed in the water until they announced closing and then we got changed and headed out.

As we were leaving BB, I realized I had a text from Ross…

WHAT?!?! I got panicked and texted him back and told him to call me. Turns out, he was having problems with his truck. Luckily, he seemed to have everything under control and was finishing up his day. He also told me that his ride to the airport got the days mixed up and was outside our house at 4:00AM this morning instead of the following morning. So he was nervous that he may not show up in the morning. I could only imagine what drama the following day would bring.

Figment Forever · Nov 17, 2018

We left BB and walked over to the bus.

This time we were fine with taking the bus because it was going where we were having dinner. Animal Kingdom – well close enough. We were having dinner at Sanaa. So when we reached AK, we swapped busses to AKL.

This would be the first time we visited AKL and we were very excited. We had to ask which stop was for Sanaa. When we got there, we walked around and explored.

It was 6:00PM and our ADR wasn’t until 7:00PM, but we were tired and hungry and Hope was being a grumpy girl again. So I took a chance and asked if they could seat us earlier. The girls at the stand were very sweet and said they were not sure, but would try. She took my phone number to text when it was ready. I thanked her and turned around to sit down when I got the text! I asked her if it was a mistake, but no it wasn’t – off we went to a table. But not just any table – we were right next to a window where all the animals were roaming about. It was awesome!

Figment Forever · Nov 17, 2018

We ordered as soon as we sat down, but we noticed the service was really slow. It was almost an hour before our bread was brought out. Actually, we didn’t mind at all. The animals were keeping us entertained. At one point, they all just ran together in the same direction and we were wondering if it was a feeding time. I wish I could have gotten it on video.

The waitress felt bad we were waiting so long for food so she brought over a bowl of soup for us to share. I thanked her and although it was not necessary, the soup was amazing! Julia and Hope did not care for it, so I got to eat the entire bowl. Yum!

The bread service was….okay. I think we overhyped ourselves for it. But it was good and we decided we would get it again if we returned on a future trip. Julia did not like any of the spicy dips. Her favorite was a BBQ flavored one. My favorites were a pesto one, a pineapple chutney and a white ranch type one. Julia really loved the butter chicken, but neither one of us liked the side we picked to go with it. I don’t even remember which one we had.

For dessert, we got the chocolate mousse cake it was yummy. Hope did not want dessert, so I told her she could get ice cream later on that night.

By 8:30PM we headed back to the resort.

I took Hope to the bowling pin pool while Julia got ready for her class the next morning. It was a little chilly that night, so we didn’t stay in for too long. We got changed and then we all went to the food court for ice-cream. Julia was on a milkshake kick and was upset that Pop’s milkshake machine was broken for our entire stay. Then we settled in for an early Disney bedtime. I was hoping Ross would not have anymore drama and get there safely. I hadn’t heard from him since this afternoon and I didn’t want to wake him if he was asleep so I left it alone and prayed for the best. I would find out in a few hours.

Up Next: Do the Crocs Make It To Florida?

slipperalwaysfits · Nov 17, 2018

Blizzard Beach sounds fun! Glad your driver figured out where to drop you off! WE LOVE Winter Summerland's course! Lucky you for a table by the window with the animals at Sanaa! So sorry the service was so slow but at least the soup was yummy!

MegRuss626 · Nov 17, 2018

Figment Forever said:
Up Next: Do the Crocs Make It To Florida?

I had told my husband about the crocs when I was reading your pre-trip report and the other day while I was on the forums, he looked at me and said “did you ever find out if that guy was able to return his crocs??”

Ayden · Nov 18, 2018

Figment Forever said:
After our game, we walked over to BB.

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It was just about 3:00PM so I knew we only had a couple of hours. It was a blazing HOT day and the water felt great! Julia went her own way for a bit, while Hope and I enjoyed the lazy river and the wave pool.

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We met up for a quick snack before heading back into the wave pool one more time.

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I don’t think we did any raft rides. We stayed in the water until they announced closing and then we got changed and headed out.

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As we were leaving BB, I realized I had a text from Ross…

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WHAT?!?! I got panicked and texted him back and told him to call me. Turns out, he was having problems with his truck. Luckily, he seemed to have everything under control and was finishing up his day. He also told me that his ride to the airport got the days mixed up and was outside our house at 4:00AM this morning instead of the following morning. So he was nervous that he may not show up in the morning. I could only imagine what drama the following day would bring.

Poor Ross! I would be stressing out as well. I hope everything will go smooth for him from this point on.

susan lees · Nov 18, 2018

Figment Forever said:
Once we got to Fort Wilderness, we disembarked and headed over to where the Mickey’s Backyard BBQ was.

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Unfortunately, they had ropes up and a no trespassing sign, so we were not able to get to the area we were last time we visited. Needless to say, Julia was very unhappy. But she made due with our location and made peace with the fact she may not see the ruins again.

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You can see a bit of the abandoned park from the boat. When we were going to FW for the HDDR the CM on the boat pointed it out for us. We also asked about the changes being made and he also told us he could not comment

fractal · Nov 18, 2018

Figment Forever said:
Day 6 Tuesday September 11,2018

This morning started off with a trip to the laundry.

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I threw all our clothes into two washers and then headed back to the room. On my way back, I found a mousekeeper and ask to raid her cart for room supplies. We had declined the room service for our stay in exchange for a gift card. She was very sweet and stocked us up well.

When I entered the room Julia was up and heading into the shower. I was getting some things in order when Hope woke up with a huge commotion. As soon as her eyes opened, she jumped out of bed, ran to the door, unlocked it and proceeded to open the door and began to walk out! All the time screaming “Got to say goodnight! Got to say goodnight!”

I was stunned and had no idea what was going on. I slammed my body against the door and stopped her. She was completely flipping out – only wanting to leave the room! I kept telling her she can’t leave the room by herself – it’s dangerous. But I wasn’t getting anywhere; she was not calming down. Finally I switched gears and asked her where she wanted to go. She stopped and said very clearly, “I have to say goodnight. I have to get ice-cream.” Now it took me a bit to put it together, but basically I think in her Autistic mind, her night did not finish. I had told her when we got back to POP she could get ice-cream there. But since she fell asleep on the bus, I didn’t wake her up. So not only did she not get ice cream, but, in her mind, she never got back to POP. I can’t imagine being trapped in a world that does not allow you to do things out of order, but that is Hope’s world (for now at least). But it must be so disorientating and painful for her. I looked at her and said, “Do you want to say goodnight to the bus and get ice cream?” She responded, “Yes.” With that she calmed down. I left Julia to get ready while Hope and I headed to the lobby.

On the way, I stopped to change the laundry from washer to dryer and realized that one of the washers never filled with water. I had to changed washers and try to figure out how to get a refund from the machine.

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Once that was taken care of, we walked over to the bus area and then to the food court.

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And yes, I did let Hope get ice-cream for breakfast. At first, I wasn’t sure if ice-cream was available at this time, so I asked a CM who was standing in the center of the food court. She was very sweet. I didn’t go into the whole story, but I gave her the idea that it was important. She told me to wait there and sure enough, she returned in a few minutes with a cup of vanilla ice-cream! I thanked her profusely and then we went about ordering the rest of our breakfast.

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Originally, we wanted to have Tonga Toast at the Poly, but since we had a little bit of a late start and the Hope fiasco, I figured we may as well relax at the resort and eat in our room. So Hope and I gathered all of our food and headed back to the room.

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As the girls ate breakfast, I collected our finished laundry. While I was there, my mom called. Like I mentioned, my mom and I speak almost everyday at 9:00AM. As I was chatting, I noticed a CM who was cleaning the laundry room starring over at me. When I was done, she asked if I was speaking to my mother. I told her yes and that we speak everyday at around 9:00AM. I could see she had a few tears in her eyes. She said her mom lived in Puerto Rico but she would always speak with her everyday on the phone until she passed away. We had a nice chat and she reminded me to keep those conversations going.

You're a great Mom!

LMSB · Nov 21, 2018

Figment Forever said:
On the boat trip over, she asked the CM if he knew any information that he could share about the project. He said he knew a lot, but nothing he could share. She tried to pry a few secrets from him, but if he did indeed know anything, he wasn’t letting the cat out of the bag. All he kept saying was, “No comment.”

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I can totally appreciate Julia's love for River Country. My parents brought us there in the 90's, 95-96 I want to say? and we had the BEST TIME!! I have photos somewhere -- I'll have to try & find them and post them. I would love to be able to explore the grounds now without the fear of being banned from Disney for life

blreinsel · Nov 21, 2018

Oh I am on the edge of my seat! Ross vs. the Crocs, part 2

ThemedScream · Nov 22, 2018

I'm enjoying the report. I am really looking forward to Homecomin' on my upcoming trip. Looks yummy!

Gurt · Nov 23, 2018

All caught up, what a bag the brisket woman was, glad her son called her out! I am lucky with my poncho, it usually goes like... hotel room, Mum: Steph do you want your poncho, Me: Nah I will be fine.... hours later in the park it starts to rain Mum: Do you want your poncho now Me: Yes please mum...... and she pulls it out from the bag, in my thirties and she still has to look after me

I hope Ross didn't have any transport issues and finally made it, with his Crocs

PrincessJasmyn · Nov 26, 2018

Cant wait to read the rest of your report!!

Figment Forever · Nov 26, 2018

slipperalwaysfits said:
Blizzard Beach sounds fun! Glad your driver figured out where to drop you off! WE LOVE Winter Summerland's course! Lucky you for a table by the window with the animals at Sanaa! So sorry the service was so slow but at least the soup was yummy!

I love the golf, but I do wish you could play after 4PM with the Park Hopper Plus Pass. I didn't mind the slow service at all. I think it was nice for us to relax for a while. But that soup was yummy!

MegRuss626 said:
I had told my husband about the crocs when I was reading your pre-trip report and the other day while I was on the forums, he looked at me and said “did you ever find out if that guy was able to return his crocs??”

This made Ross so happy. He says he feels important that he is a part of someone's dinner conversation! lol

Vivian_apfm said:
Poor Ross! I would be stressing out as well. I hope everything will go smooth for him from this point on.

I would like to say everything was smooth sailing after this, but instead I will just say, stay tuned!

susan lees said:
You can see a bit of the abandoned park from the boat. When we were going to FW for the HDDR the CM on the boat pointed it out for us. We also asked about the changes being made and he also told us he could not comment

She got a lot of nice pictures from the boat. I wonder if you had the same CM? Mr. No Comment! lol

fractal said:
You're a great Mom!

Hmmmm... Well maybe you better wait and read day 7 before you make that comment.

LMSB said:
I can totally appreciate Julia's love for River Country. My parents brought us there in the 90's, 95-96 I want to say? and we had the BEST TIME!! I have photos somewhere -- I'll have to try & find them and post them. I would love to be able to explore the grounds now without the fear of being banned from Disney for life

I know. She watches this show called Abandoned and it did a nice job of memorializing the park. I'm pretty sure Ross and I went there on our honeymoon in 92. I wish I had a souvenir from it.

blgauger said:
Oh I am on the edge of my seat! Ross vs. the Crocs, part 2

Ah yes, we are getting close!

captnblue said:
I'm enjoying the report. I am really looking forward to Homecomin' on my upcoming trip. Looks yummy!

It was soooooo good! I hope you enjoy it!! Have a great trip!

Gurt said:
All caught up, what a bag the brisket woman was, glad her son called her out! I am lucky with my poncho, it usually goes like... hotel room, Mum: Steph do you want your poncho, Me: Nah I will be fine.... hours later in the park it starts to rain Mum: Do you want your poncho now Me: Yes please mum...... and she pulls it out from the bag, in my thirties and she still has to look after me

I hope Ross didn't have any transport issues and finally made it, with his Crocs

Thanks for reading along. As far as Ross and transport issues... stay tuned!

Jasmyn said:
Cant wait to read the rest of your report!!

I am working on it now, hoping to get day 7 up tonight or tomorrow.

Figment Forever · Nov 28, 2018

Day 7 Wednesday September 12, 2018

I woke up at 6:00 hoping to have a text from Ross, but no. So I just prayed that he was on the plane or getting ready to board. Julia logged onto her class at 7:00 while Hope and I finished getting ready. We left the room a few minutes before 8:00 and walked to get a bus to MK. The lines were once again crazy, but I have to say they really send a lot of busses to pick up.

Once we got to MK, the lines for bag check were just as crazy.

As we were waiting, a guy just completely cut in front of us. I thought maybe he was with the people in front of us, but no – he seemed to be all by himself. Now if Ross was with us, something would have been said, but I am not a confrontational person, so I just let it be. However, the girls behind us on line were NOT happy. One of them started to say something and become loud about it. The friend was more like me and told her friend to let it go. She remained not happy and I was relieved when we finally got through the line.

Figment Forever · Nov 28, 2018

As soon as we were inside, we went right to breakfast at BOG. Sure enough, as we were checking in, the girls behind us at bag check got on the line behind me. I turned around and joked with them and said to make sure no one cuts us again.

I was so glad that we pre-ordered because the line to order was insane! We found a table and settled down to have a lovely breakfast!

(I think there's a beast inside!)

Figment Forever · Nov 28, 2018

With our bellies full, we left and headed to Philharmagic, but it was closed. So we walked across and rode Small World and then PP.

As we were riding Small World, Hope announced that several of the dolls were missing. She actually mentioned this during the Halloween Party, but I didn’t understand what she meant. Now, I understood what she was saying. Honestly, I couldn’t tell. They all looked in place, but I wonder if she was right and certain dolls were not in their usually place?

I still hadn’t heard a peep from Ross. I should explain one thing. Ross’ phone was really old and only held a charge for about 15 minutes. It would also just shut off if it was too hot or too cold. So I kept telling myself that his phone was probably not working and he was fine and on his way to us. I was staying calm until my mom called and said they were worried about Ross. Turns out, I forgot to tell them he wasn’t sleeping over their house. Usually he does and catches a ride with my sister, but this time he had a friend who owed him a favor, so he got a ride to the airport from our house. I told my mom not to worry that I was sure he was in the air. Of course, the truth was I had no idea if he was in the air. The plan was he would meet us at 12:00 at the exit for Monsters Inc. so, until that time, I just continued to hope for the best!

We visited Cinderella & Elaina.

Figment Forever · Nov 28, 2018

We walked through a gift shop and I saw a shirt for me….

And look, they made one for Ross… lol

Julia saw a shirt she wanted – It said something like. “Lands that I Love…. Fantasyland, Frontier Land, Tommorowland…” but I talked her into waiting, just to make sure it was the one she liked the best. Not a good plan on my part. It sold out by the time we decided to purchase it. And of course, I haven’t been able to find it anywhere online so I can get it for her for Christmas.

Julia wanted another PP Float, so we stopped to pick her up one before heading to Monsters to wait for Ross. She ended up getting the cone instead.

Hope had some Vanilla ice cream. We headed back to the Monsters exit where we had planned to meet and waited. As soon as 12:00 hit and there was no Ross I started to worry. I actually called Jet Blue to see if he had checked in for his flight. As I was waiting for them to answer, he walked over. I was so relieved to see he made it ok. (And yes - his Crocs came along.)

I asked him how his flight was and he told me he had an issue getting on the plane. Apparently, when he walked through the scanner, something went off. They put him in the super scanner, but again, they said his body was showing a “residue”(??) and they had to do a more thorough search. He said they asked if he wanted to go into a private area, but he said no. At this point, he had been awake for almost 30 hours and he just wanted to be on his way. He confirmed it was quite a detailed search. But thankfully, TSA allowed him on the plane.

After telling me his tale of being frisked, he looked sad and started to apologize to me and saying we should have paid to upgrade to POR. I asked him why – because I really loved the POP room. He said he had no idea that the room only had one bed. Julia and I looked at each other and then back to him. I asked if he was kidding, but he wasn’t. He asked what we have been doing and if we had a plan for how the four of us would sleep. Julia and I just started to chuckle at the point. I told him there was a Murphy Bed in the room. Even at that, he seemed skeptical. I told him that he didn’t do a good job of watching the room walk through video I showed him a couple of months back!

riverside · Nov 28, 2018

Figment Forever said:
We walked through a gift shop and I saw a shirt for me….

You & me both!! Even when I try to be on time for something my plans always get fouled up!!

Trip Report A Not So Splashy, Very Dashy, Somewhat Sleepy and A Little Frisky, Uplyfting Sept 2018 TR (Completed!)

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