Trip Report "And The Award For The Most Dramatic Goes To....."

Hi Friends!! Here I go again....with the sincere intent of not taking anywhere near as long as I did with the last one. To help with that I was going through my pics & seeing what I could eliminate & what really wouldn't be important to this. The sad thing is I took really good notes for this trip but in the interest of this TR not taking me 6 months to finish I may cut back a little on photos or commentary. Alright, enough said. Let me get moving with this!!

WHO:
Yes, it's going to be one of my more confusing TR's b/c there were 9 of us!! Sorry, I know I did that to you a few years back too!! The good news is you have met all of us except 1 before so hopefully it will be a bit easier this time around!!

There's my sister C & her husband, D. Their daughters are A(birthday button) & E(to my left). I assume you all remember R? And of course, you know E & J!! One of our nephews, JC(in the red) wanted to join us on the trip. We had the room so his mom(my sister) told him she would buy his airfare for his birthday but he was on his own for park tickets and spending money. He agreed & was added on to the trip!!

Here's a more typical family picture that you're used to seeing from us

WHERE:
Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villa

WHEN:
Tuesday, July 13th-Tuesday, July 20th for E, J, R, JC & myself
D, C, E, & A got there a week before us & stayed off property at their timeshare. They met us on the 13th & returned home on the 20th with us.

REASON FOR THE TITLE:
You'll see......

I dropped everyone off & parked the car. We met up at Penn Brewery for lunch.

R had gone to Hudson News for something & was irritated that they had to give him his change back in all nickels. They blamed it on the coin shortage.

I got grilled cheese with sauerkraut as my side. JC got grilled cheese but he added bacon to it. He said it was excellent!!

J got pretzel sticks & E got a salad. Not sure what R got & I didn't take a picture.

We all(the adults, that is) had some beers!!

JC(since his flight was booked later than ours) was on his own reservation. He lucked out by getting an A boarding group!!

R went with E & J for family boarding.

While I had to wait for B42.

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

This was the morning that R & JC were playing golf. So they left about 6:15 for their 6:45 tee time. R sent me a few pictures.

In the meantime we headed to MK & they planned to meet us there later. While walking through the treehouse section out of nowhere I got the sharpest pain in my right foot. It felt like someone just took a needle right through it. The pain was so intense that I immediately fell to the ground & took my shoe off. Only to find absolutely nothing there!! It was totally bizarre!! Once everyone knew that I was fine(still don't know what that was all about) my BIL D said that I was just trying to outdo someone else in the family in the dramatic department!!

Wait times were a bit much when we got there.

So the Tiki Room it was!!

After that luck was on our side!!

Pirates had dropped to 20 minutes!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

Lunch was at Casey's!! R really likes the food there.

I like the corn dog nuggets.

We always try to sit on the opposite side in front of The Plaza. We seem to have better luck finding tables over there.

J & A split a kid's meal.

A cavalcade came through while we were eating.

As did the Main Street Philharmonic!!

The JC was next but I think R & JC had just got there so they were eating lunch then.

And I just realized that this pic is from the safari from the day before!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

We went into Memento Mori where the CM was playing a game with the kids.

And he gave out stickers!!

BTMRR's wait had gone down quite a bit so we went there next. It was at this point that we met up with R & JC. JC told me that R doesn't know his way around the park!!

The wildest ride in the wilderness!!

We went to Haunted Mansion next.

Where we got stopped multiple times during our tour.

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

Again, we were stopped multiple times for extended periods of time.

We decided to watch Philharmagic before we left.

So easy walking when you're right behind a float. No one else is in your way!!

We decided to take a boat to our destination.

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

We stopped for a drink & some food at the Tambu Lounge!!

We took up 2 tables!!

I couldn't take the itching anymore so I bought this Benadryl stick. Unfortunately, I don't think it helped much.

Yay!! Potstickers!!

@TheMouseFan & I had been texting back & forth over the last few days trying to meet up. As we were leaving they were getting there for their 'Ohana reservation. She noticed us walking down the steps from a distance & texted me. I turned around & headed right back up once I saw it. It was so nice to finally meet!! I felt bad b/c they were already seated for their dinner & I didn't want to take up too much of Amy's time!! Hopefully we can meet again & talk a little longer!!

I had asked E & J to come up with me so they all could meet. A was very curious about what was going on so she wanted to tagalong!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

We walked over to The Grand Floridian next.

Our destination was the Enchanted Rose--the scene of the crime where A broke her glasses the week before!!

Again, we needed 2 tables.

R got some kind of drink with bourbon in it that he absolutely did not like.

I had a martini. They make very good martinis there!!

I think we pretty much got one of everything on their menu!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

More food pics.....

I had ordered a second drink & it sat on that stand forever. It took all it had in me to not go over & get it myself!!

We took the monorail back to MK.

Notice we all have our masks on? Back in July the only time you had to wear them was when you were on Disney transportation. That changed by August for our next trip.

We're back--but we didn't go in!

While waiting for the bus we were teasing A & asking her if she could get her knee stuck a second time!!

Back to the treehouse!!

 

[riverside]

SUNDAY, JULY 18TH

The kids watched tv for a bit after they got ready for bed.

A few of us sat outside again. What's a few more bug bites? The damage had already been done!!

Our ride pics from that day. I don't see A in either picture.

And can't understand why D is in a boat by himself?

As you can tell, none of us knew where the camera was!!

 

[riverside]

MONDAY, JULY 19TH

There's something from the past!!

Yay!! C was able to get a boarding group.

The night before these had been delivered to the room. They were for A's birthday!! C ordered them from someone who is a displaced CM. They were so cute!!

Happy 10th Birthday A!!

 

[riverside]

MONDAY, JULY 19TH

The birthday girl wanted to go to HS on her birthday!!

Our boarding group was called when we got there so we headed there first.

Yes, I know I'm wearing my Baseline shirt again but remember, there is a washer & dryer in the treehouses!!

A had wanted to go to Oga's for her birthday!!

We had 2 reservations and there was a party standing in between us. Once they realized that we were all together they moved for us!! Very kind!!

 

[riverside]

MONDAY, JULY 19TH

My drink was The Outer Rim.

This was one of the kids.

And another one...

@Darstarr had wisely advised me that the Gold Squadron Lager was very good so I ordered that for my next drink.

The appetizers here are amazing!! I have never had such good green onions before!! They had some kind of sea salt on them & they were out of this world!!

The beer was excellent also!!

From Batuu to Baseline!!

And we got our favorite table!!

 

[riverside]

MONDAY, JULY 19TH

After Baseline we took a spin with Slinky.

Not sure where R's pic is.....

It was getting to be time for dinner which was perfect b/c it looked like it was going to storm any minute. Which it did--all through dinner!!

R was excited b/c he really likes this restaurant.

I had the burger & fries. Not sure what anyone else had but let's face it, you can barely see food pics from there anyways!!

Out of order but this was from Oga's earlier!!

 

[TheMouseFan]

After seeing your pictures and wait times, I really wish we had reversed our park days on Thursday and Friday! Hindsight is always 20/20, but I'm really kicking myself for not switching them as soon as I found out when Food and Wine Festival was! I really wish we could have talked longer! Hopefully there will be a next time!! It's fun seeing what you guys did and comparing it to where we were in the parks ar the same time!

 

[riverside]

MONDAY, JULY 19TH

We hit TSM after dinner. J & I had our traditional crayon battle!!

Think R has enough glasses??

We went to see Frozen next. I had to take this pic b/c the kid absolutely grossed me out. All he did was pick his nose before the show started

J said he wasn't feeling well & wanted to leave. At that point we were all tired & left then also.

There was a mix up in A's birthday treat order & this was supposed to be part of it. They delivered them while we were at HS.

Our time at Saratoga was coming to the end, unfortunately.

A bit later everyone was getting hungry but no one wanted to walk anywhere to get anything. I would guess that most people that stay in the treehouses probably drive & have a car with them b/c I didn't see that many people walking around. It really is quite the distance to walk to the main building or DS when you're staying back there.
We decided to get Earl of Sandwich via Uber Eats!!

 

[riverside]

TUESDAY, JULY 20TH
I was up early & went for a run. Little did I know it wouldn't be my last one of the day!! We were heading to Olivia's for breakfast. R decided that he didn't want to go b/c he's not a big breakfast fan so he stayed back. As we were about 2/3 of the way out of Saratoga A announces that she has to go to the bathroom--& bad. She asked me if I would run with her so she could get to a bathroom. So, run we did. She cried off & on as we ran and kept asking me how much further. Then every so often I would get, "We need to run faster".
Keep in mind I was the one who know where we were going b/c I had walked it the other day. I would try to signal to the group which way we were going but finally I gave up b/c we were too far ahead. That's what cell phones are for, right?

Anyway, we made it to the bathroom without any accidents. Whew!! I was beat by that point!! After A got done she did thank me for running with her.

We went back outside to wait for everyone else.

We were seated a few minutes before our meal. It was nice to sit down after my unexpected run!!

I had been texting with another magician who happened to be staying at OKW so she came to the main building to meet!! I had the pleasure of meeting @slipperalwaysfits!! We talked for a bit outside then we went inside so she could meet the rest of the group.

So, after we parted ways A, very seriously, asked me if I was famous!! I laughed, told her no & asked what would make her say that? She said she assumed that I was b/c I was meeting all these people!! We tried explaining the whole forum thing to her but I'm not sure that she totally got it!!

I had the banana bread french toast. Delicious!!!

We all enjoyed our breakfasts!!

Olivia's is such a great restaurant!! We had dinner there back in April & now breakfast this time. We were going back the next month & our first reservation was for dinner there!!

Our waitress gave A a birthday cupcake!!

 

[riverside]

TUESDAY, JULY 20TH

We looked around the gift shop & I liked this shirt so I bought it. I bought a medium which should fit but, it was too tight. At least I was coming back in less than a month & I could exchange it then!!

As we walked back A started crying b/c she said her toe hurt.

Heading out of OKW.

Back at Saratoga.

Bell services brought us & our luggage up front.

In no time at all this now blast from the past showed up for us!!

Going through security E's brace set off the metal detector.

After going through security we got some drinks & appetizers at Cask & Larder.

Not Baseline but it will do!!

So, that brings this TR to the end!! Again, I hate that it took me forever to finish this. I was off from work today & I told myself I was not doing anything until I got this done!! You can see in my signature that I have been there 7 times in the last 6 months. Spending a lot of my off days traveling etc. didn't leave me a lot of free time to get this one done. I will explain in more detail in the next one!!

Thank you all for reading & following along!!

 

[Swissmiss]

Thanks for always sharing your trips. I don’t mind waiting for installments (though I can understand that maybe you dont like the feeling of it hanging over you) and it has been really fun over the years to see changes in J from trip to trip.

 

[Tuvalu]

Thanks for following through to the very end! I so enjoyed reading as always. While I look forward to your next one, don’t feel obligated to “catch up” with the other trips you’ve taken (unless you want to, of course!)

 

[MinnieM123]

As usual, what a fun TR! Thank you for sharing all your photos and happy adventures with your family. P.S.: J's antics still make me laugh -- that kid is a riot!

 

[erstwo]

Thank you for sharing! I loved following along!