Trip Report A trip of Firsts

mdubm · Jun 12, 2017

So along with glasses of wine, DH brought back some desserts from club lounge, which were amazing! From left: oreo cheesecake, smores cupcake, turtle rice krispie treat. My favorites were the first two.

Sunset from balcony

And finally (a horrible picture that does no justice)... HEA from the balcony

Then, lots of rest for Day 4 because it was off to...

This was our first time experiencing the new security procedures and an open Main Street. Maybe it was just me, but this seemed even more congested than usual. Since we had FPs for most of the big rides we wanted, we let DD dictate where we went first. Her absolute favorite ride in all of WDW is the Barnstormer, so off we went, once the opening show was over. Side note, she actually really liked the show, and since we only saw part of it, she kept asking the rest of the week if we could make it to the show. We never made it back to catch the full show sadly, but it was nice to know she liked it. She didn't have the best view, as you can see.
While DD went on Barnstormer with DH, I took DS for a ride on Dumbo, which he really loved. He giggled the whole time and I showed him how to move Dumbo up and down. We even brought Dumbo into the park for the ride

After Dumbo, we ran into Alice, whom we've never met, so we waited in a short line for her, then hopped in another short line for the tea cups. Those make me feel so sick! I had to look down the entire time, but everyone else enjoyed it, so I'm glad I sucked it up.
Right after Tea Cups, it was time for our FP for Peter Pan. Peter Pan is one of my favorite rides ever! I hate that it has such huge waits all the time. As a little one, I made my mom ride it back to back to back to back to back because in those days, there was no wait. Now, we FP it or try to hit at it rope drop. I love being able to share that memory with my littles.

mdubm · Jun 12, 2017

On this day, I had done a great job of staggering our FPs so that DH had some, while I had some with DD. The plan was for DH to rider swap the bigger ones so I could enjoy them with DD. Our next FP was for Winnie the Pooh, probably my DD's next favorite. She's always asking to go on it because on the last trip, when ran into other family friends (small world, remember?), that was the one ride we rode with her friend. She hates not going through the queue and playing the games- especially the honey game. This is probably one of the better queues IMO, but we never get to actually do it. Our whole family did Winnie, and it was DH's and DS's first time on it.

Up next was 7DMT. This is another favorite of DD and DH. I made DH rider swap it for me. Last trip, I was pregnant, so I wasn't able to enjoy it and I was really looking forward to going on it this trip. DD and I hopped right back on when they finished.

I'm so bad at on-ride pictures.
I had made DH a FP for BTMRR, another one of my absolute favorites! He was going to ride alone and let me rider swap. We walked all the way to Frontierland just to learn it was temporarily down. It wasn't raining, so not sure the malfunction, but this was disheartening.
We decided to head to Friar's Nook for lunch. It's DH's favorite QS in MK because he loves the BBQ mac n cheese. We were hoping that maybe BTMRR would become open again while we ate, but no such luck.
While close to Adventureland, I decided to grab a Dole Whip. DD spotted Magic Carpets, which she'd never ridden, but she loves Aladdin, so she wanted to ride. We waited in line until almost the front when she insisted she was too tired and wanted to go back. I had also noticed the Camel sprays water and she hates being squirted with water, so I obliged and we ducked out of line (much to the delight of those behind us, I'm sure

) and we headed for the front of the park to load the bus back to YC. We had accomplished most of what we wanted to this day, so I was pleased. I think everyone else was as well.
DD wasn't lying about being tired. She passed out on Dumbo on the bus ride.

mdubm · Jun 13, 2017

Our timing couldn't have been more perfect when we left. Not only did DD pass out, but the rain started the moment the bus pulled away from the curb. This afternoon was our most calm, as we just hung out in our room waiting out the rain, which didn't end till much later. We ended up having to drive to our dinner reservations at Trattoria al Forno across the BoardWalk.

We liked Trattoria al Forno. We love Italian food, so that DH's one request on the food. He wanted to eat Italian on this trip. Of course, he ended up only ordering a Margherita pizza, but he liked it, so I guess that's all that mattered. I had the chicken carbonara, which was really good. I finished off my meal with the tiramisu, which was also just as good.

While at dinner at TaF, we discovered that we had no more dining credits for DD. This was confusing considering we had eaten all of our meals together. I made a quick call over to our concierge at YC who determined that San Angel Inn (another strike against them) had mistakenly charged us two children's credits at our dinner there. Before dinner was finished, our server re-scanned our MagicBand and the issue had been resolved. More props to the concierge service on club level. They went above and beyond for us this entire trip. MDE was only showing reservation times for TaF after 7. We really needed to eat before then because of our young kids. I had called concierge about reservations and they found us a 5:45. On the last day, they were able to change our Be Our Guest reservation time too, which is basically unheard of, especially one or two days out!
My memory is foggy and I didn't note it, but I think we may have gone back to the pool this evening for a little bit, or we went during a break in the afternoon. We went everyday, so it must have happened at some point, just not sure the timing.

sheriffwoody · Jun 13, 2017

Loving your report! Yacht Club is so great, and sounds like club level was awesome! Also so glad they added a market, they needed something like that.

gdisneyfans · Jun 13, 2017

mdubm said:
I quickly learned the DD would much rather hang out at Stormalong Bay than any of the parks. Everyday we'd ride rides, but she'd ask to come back to the pool. And we did. You cannot beat this pool!

My daughter is the same way! We stayed at the Beach Club last trip and one morning we were at the Magic Kingdom and at like 11:00 am she was asking when we were heading back to the hotel to go swimming even though we had just gotten there :joyfull:

Really enjoying your report so far!

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

Sorry for the delay!
Day 5
Went back to Magic Kingdom. Spoiler alert: we went there for our last day as well. My kids are too young to appreciate Pandora, so we skipped AK this trip. Magic Kingdom is one of my favorite parks, though this trip, I really liked our Epcot and Hollywood days better. Those days just felt more relaxing. The parks weren't as crazy. But, I feel like I never fully get everything accomplished in MK, so I had scheduled for three days there so we didn't drive ourselves crazy. Even after three days, I still don't feel like we got it all done, but there's always next time, right?
We started our morning with breakfast at Chef Mickey's.

It always cracks me up watching Pluto try to sign autograph books

I took only DS to breakfast this morning. My daughter does NOT like Mickey and friends. She is a strictly princess girl, so rather than spend money and time with all of us there, just DS and I went. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. I figured out he doesn't LOVE the character interaction either, so we may have to skip Chef Mickey's the next time around too. Maybe when they get a little older.

We also had another issue with being charged too much here. DS is 1 and ate off my plate, yet I was charged with a child's buffet. We also ended up being charged twice after the original was "corrected", but concierge helped take care of that for us as well. I can't say enough about them!
After breakfast, DS and I took the short walk over to MK to meet DH and DD who had caught the bus over. I waited on them for maybe 10 minutes, so the timing was perfect. Since we hadn't met Tink yet and she's one of DD's (and mine, too) favorites, I figured we'd just hop in line while at Town Square anyway. We were the 4th to meet her on this day. She is always the most fun!
After Tink, we were off to it's a small world. We hadn't rode this yet, and it was so cute because we had met up with my mom (who doesn't do big rides) and it's one of her favorites. There's a lot of nostalgia for her with this ride, and DS was completely mesmerized by all of the little people and colors and singing. DD loved it as well. In fact, I caught her trying to sing the song the other night in the bathtub.
After it's a small world, just DS and I headed to Haunted Mansion. I haven't gotten to do this ride on my last couple of trips to the World. I knew DS wouldn't know what was going on and it'd be a nice break for him to ride in the dark, so I FPed it for just me and took him along. We had a small malfunction and got stuck in the spot with all the eyes for about 5 minutes, but he did totally fine! I had forgotten how "scary" that ride could be for younger kids and I am so glad I didn't take DD.

bee · Jun 15, 2017

mdubm said:
It always cracks me up watching Pluto try to sign autograph books I took only DS to breakfast this morning. My daughter does NOT like Mickey and friends. She is a strictly princess girl, so rather than spend money and time with all of us there, just DS and I went. Overall, it wasn't a bad experience. I figured out he doesn't LOVE the character interaction either, so we may have to skip Chef Mickey's the next time around too. Maybe when they get a little older.

We also had another issue with being charged too much here. DS is 1 and ate off my plate, yet I was charged with a child's buffet. We also ended up being charged twice after the original was "corrected", but concierge helped take care of that for us as well. I can't say enough about them!
After breakfast, DS and I took the short walk over to MK to meet DH and DD who had caught the bus over. I waited on them for maybe 10 minutes, so the timing was perfect. Since we hadn't met Tink yet and she's one of DD's (and mine, too) favorites, I figured we'd just hop in line while at Town Square anyway. We were the 4th to meet her on this day. She is always the most fun!
After Tink, we were off to it's a small world. We hadn't rode this yet, and it was so cute because we had met up with my mom (who doesn't do big rides) and it's one of her favorites. There's a lot of nostalgia for her with this ride, and DS was completely mesmerized by all of the little people and colors and singing. DD loved it as well. In fact, I caught her trying to sing the song the other night in the bathtub.
After it's a small world, just DS and I headed to Haunted Mansion. I haven't gotten to do this ride on my last couple of trips to the World. I knew DS wouldn't know what was going on and it'd be a nice break for him to ride in the dark, so I FPed it for just me and took him along. We had a small malfunction and got stuck in the spot with all the eyes for about 5 minutes, but he did totally fine! I had forgotten how "scary" that ride could be for younger kids and I am so glad I didn't take DD.

So your kid was okay with Haunted Mansion but reacted like THAT to Donald and Pluto?? :hilarious:

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

bee said:
So your kid was okay with Haunted Mansion but reacted like THAT to Donald and Pluto??

He reacted like that to ALL of them. My kids are crazy. Scared of the characters but will ride some of the craziest rides with no fear.

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

Day 5 continued
After Haunted, we headed to the Little Mermaid ride as we had a paper FP for it and it looked as if it may rain. While on Haunted, I had told DH that I found him a FP for Big Thunder for 10:15 (did this while stuck at the same spot), so when we hopped off Ariel, he rushed over to Big Thunder, where the CM said, "you're about 12 hours to early". *Face Palm* I had made his FP for 10:15 PM. He was slightly annoyed at me after that. I had gotten his hopes up

and I was excited to rider swap it.
We were close to Pecos Bills and the raindrops started falling, so we ducked under the covered patio area and began putting on our ponchos and the rain cover on the stroller. At this point, DD was asking to go back to the hotel and DS looked like he as falling asleep, so DH and I decided the pouring rain (at this point) wasn't worth battling. We ran back to the front of the park and hopped the resort monorail back to the Contemporary where I had parked for breakfast and I drove back to YC.
We finally ate lunch at the new Market in YC, which I posted pictures of a few posts back. We didn't feel like trekking out to Hurricane Hannah's in the rain. I had a heated pesto chicken panini which was really good. DH had a turkey and swiss out of the refrigerated case and his was just okay. Both of our meals only came with a drink. DD had the goldfish ham sandwich, which came with two sides (carrots and applesauce) and a drink. It's a much better deal for the kids meals. She wasn't a huge fan of the sandwich, but she can be finicky.
After lunch, we waited for the storm to clear and then headed for the pool for about an hour. Oddly enough, it was so cold, DS was shivering, so I had to take him out and head upstairs. DH let DS swim a little longer, then they met us back upstairs.
We were out of TS credits, and almost out of QS credits, so we ate dinner in the club lounge on this night. They had chicken nuggets and a mushroom fillo cup appetizer. They had other offerings, but I can't remember them right now. It was all substantial enough to hold us for dinner.

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

Day 5 Night time
I didn't get to go back into the parks at night time on our last trip at all, and we hadn't been back on this trip either. DS really needs to be in bed by 7:30, so it makes it tough. On this night, my siblings and parents had decided to head back to the parks to get the most out of their only MK day, so DD and I decided to join them. I was really excited to experience the park at night AND to watch HEA with her.
The night began with a little disappointment. We headed straight for our FP at Barnstormer (DD's FAVORITE ride) only to discover that it was having technical difficulties. We were sent away, but given a "universal" FP that could be used on anything except 7DMT and PP. I quickly checked wait times and realized Enchanted Tales with Belle wasn't too long and we hadn't seen it yet, so we ran off to catch it. At that point, our parties separated while they went and caught other FPs they had booked. DD got a minor role (a dish) in the story and got to meet and take a picture with Belle, so the Barnstormer mishap was slightly out of mind.
We then headed for Tomorrowland and hopped on the People Mover, something DD has never been on. I was hoping we'd be on it for the start of HEA, but we hopped off at 8:50. So the race was on to find a good spot to watch, which of course, at that point was non-existent. ALMOST. I had read Storybook Circus was a good spot to watch, so we headed back there and it was actually relatively empty. This was our view and DD was really excited and liked the projections and light show UNTIL the fireworks.

Being both a mom and a teacher, I know to "monitor and adjust". I had also noticed that Barnstormer was back up and running, so as she covered her ears, we made a run for the 15 minute line, which turned out to be more like 5 minutes. By the time we were heading up on the Barnstormer, she had forgotten her fear of the fireworks and was actually enjoying watching them from the ride. We had found a great compromise and I snapped these shots from the ride. The line remained so short that we were able to ride it three times in a row, until HEA was over.

Since Barnstormer was such a short ride, we had one more FP. I knew DD needed to head back soon but I wanted to be able to use that one last FP, so we ran (well, I ran) to the other side of the park to hop on Big Thunder Mountain (FINALLY). DD was too short to ride last time, so this would be her first ever ride on it. I was also pregnant, so no ride for me either. She absolutely loved it and thought it was so fast and exciting! It was a great way to end our night in MK.
At this point, we were both exhausted heading for the front of the park. I did the unthinkable and texted DH to tell him to cancel our Be Our Guest reservation for the next morning. I still have yet to go to Be Our Guest because both times I've had reservations, I've canceled them. I was so tired, so was DD, and we had done a split stay and were moving to the Contemporary the next morning, so I knew we'd need some time to pack in the morning and head to Contemporary. Our first FP was for 10:15, so we made the executive decision to just try and make it in MK by then.

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

Day 6 (our final day in the park)
It was actually really sad to pack up and leave YC the next morning. It had felt so much like our home and we had been treated so well that we were actually dreading going to the Contemporary. DH kept giving me a hard time about changing our reservation. I actually didn't really change it. We had decided to add an extra day and at that point, YC and BC was totally booked. In fact, I had checked the day before checking out to see if they had an availability come open at either YC or BC, but both were totally booked, so off to the Contemporary we went. I know, there are worse places than the Contemporary, and we had never stayed there, but we had fallen in love with YC.

We made our way quickly and easily over to the Contemporary. The CMs were all friendly, and before we knew it, we were walking over to MK for our last day. The security line for MK from the Contemporary was much less daunting than the ones we had dealt with the previous days.

We again let our DD dictate what she wanted to do on her last day and she chose the Carousel. Not my first pick, but off we went. We hadn't gotten to meet Rapunzel or Tiana yet (two who are high on her list), so when I saw they were a 20 minute wait, we rushed off to meet them immediately after. The wait was more like 30ish minutes, but we were patient. Imagine DD's surprise when we finally got into the room and it was Rapunzel and Ariel because Tiana had to "swim off". I'm still not sure when she went, but DD was okay with it. She was disappointed not to see Tiana, but Ariel was very friendly and danced around with DD, so I think she quickly forgot.
Next, DD and DH were off to ride 7DMT and DH grabbed me a rider swap pass. I was ready to hop back on the ride with DD, but for whatever reason, she really did not want to go back on, so I just held off for the time being, hoping to make it back on later.
We had a FP for Buzz Lightyear, so we headed over there and hopped on. The skies were looking really ominous at this point, so we prepared the stroller when we headed in. I didn't get to ride this on our last trip either due to pregnancy, so it was fun to team up against each other this time. Everyone liked this ride, but the Toy Story ride in Hollywood wins.
To my surprise, as we were hopping off the ride, I realized I had a text saying our room was ready! It was only 11:45!

As we made it through the gift shop, we saw it had begun to downpour! DD really wanted Slinky (the dog) and surprisingly, when we looked him up on Amazon, he was actually cheaper at Disney, so we got it for her while waiting out the storm. We debated what to do next, but the room was calling our name, and the weather showed no signs of clearing, so we trudged back to the resort monorail, sloshy shoes and all, and headed back to the Contemporary.
Our room as on the first floor of the Garden Wing. I hear mixed reviews of the garden wing, but we really liked it. We were closest to the pool with a standard view, but we got to watch the monorail going into the building which was really cool. My kids both enjoyed laying on the bed and watching it pass by. It was quiet and we didn't hear noise from above. I know the hotel was completely booked, so we did have upstairs neighbors, just didn't hear them. Our room was really big- bigger than YC. It was pretty updated. The beds were not as comfortable as YC and the pillows were kind of flat. That was disappointing, but everything else was nice.
Our luggage made it up really quickly- like 15 minutes at most. We dediced to lunch in Contempo Lounge and use our remaining 4 snack credits. DH bought cupcakes. The cookies and cream Oreo cupcake was so good. The "dirt" cupcakes not-so good. A half-eaten cookies and cream:

While at lunch, the rain had begun to lighten up, so we headed off to the pool. It was, obviously, a bit disappointing in comparison to Stormalong Bay, but it had a slide, which made DD happy, and it wasn't really crowded, so we enjoyed it. I will say I liked the kids splash area. Stormalong Bay did have the smaller kids area by the beach, but DS wanted to run/crawl around, so that area didn't help us much. It was nice to have an area at the Contemporary where he could walk around and splash around. He also slipped off to admire Mickey.

While hanging out in our room, we had discovered there was a separate parking area near the garden wing, so I went to get our car and move it back over. I snapped these pictures on the way.

It proceeded to rain off and on the rest of the day, so we really didn't feel like braving the park again. We decided we'd monorail resort hop and check out what the other resorts had to offer.

mdubm · Jun 15, 2017

Monorail hopping
I had forgotten about the security measures, so we had our bags checked to head over to the Poly. I had been really excited about trying a Lapu Lapu and the Spiky Pineapple. We also decided we were going to try the BBQ nachos at Captain Cooks which did not disappoint.

We explored the Moana Mercantile and BouTiki several times. We went back and forth. DH was looking for a shirt for his mother and she is extremely hard to purchase for. Ultimately, we didn't find her something her, but in BVG over at the Contemporary, but we searched high and low. Instead, our kids made out with more souvenirs. DS, who hadn't gotten anything yet, got a set of matchbox cars and a Mickey ball, and DD got a set of dolls that you can change their dresses.
We went through security AGAIN and decided at that point that we'd rather not go through it again at GF, so we skipped it.
MK was totally calling my name from the monorail, but DH said no

We headed back for the night, explored the gift shops at Contemporary, then headed back to the room. Our final night was rather uneventful, and I really feel like we didn't get much done on our last day in the park. But, the entire trip was great and has me so ready to go back.
Our plan for next trip is June 2019. We're going to have our in-laws tag along, but they probably won't do as much as we do. They want to stay in a deluxe on club level. What's your favorite club lounge? We really loved YC and Stormalong Bay so I'm pretty tempted to go right back there, but I'd love to hear everyone else's thoughts.
Thanks for tagging along with me. Until next time, I'll enjoy soaking up everyone else's TR's.

amjt660 · Jun 15, 2017

Thank you for sharing your trip with all of us

Never stayed at Club level so I cannot comment

Of the deluxes I have stayed at I enjoyed the YC the most - great hotel, pool and as they say in real estate (which I am not in)

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Max

gdisneyfans · Jun 16, 2017

Thanks for sharing your trip!

We have stayed Club at both The Polynesian and The Beach Club and both were very, very nice. Would highly recommend either if you're looking for a different place than Yacht.

mdubm · Jun 16, 2017

amjt660 said:
Thank you for sharing your trip with all of us

Never stayed at Club level so I cannot comment

Of the deluxes I have stayed at I enjoyed the YC the most - great hotel, pool and as they say in real estate (which I am not in)

LOCATION, LOCATION, LOCATION

Max

We loved YC. I would go back in a heartbeat.

mdubm · Jun 16, 2017

gdisneyfans said:
Thanks for sharing your trip!

We have stayed Club at both The Polynesian and The Beach Club and both were very, very nice. Would highly recommend either if you're looking for a different place than Yacht.

I'd love to try Poly. Not sure the club level price tag there will fit our budget. But, I'll keep an eye out.

BDL · Jun 24, 2017

Thanks for sharing your trip! It's never too early to start planning the next one

PineapplePrincess · Jun 25, 2017

We've stayed at Club Level at AKL and Beach Club. We definitely preferred AKL!

Trip Report A trip of Firsts

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