Trip Report *COMPLETED (1+ yr later)* Trouble with the curve (a long overdue November 2017 report)

Now that I'm well past the 6-month mark for having returned home, it's time I start this TR or I never will. I only have a few quick minutes right now (before my husband and son start wondering why I have not started dinner yet!), but I wanted to get this post on the books thinking (or wishing!) that it will force me to continue.

Please bear with me...this is my first TR and it will not even come close to the TRs I've enjoyed so far (thank you, @Tuvalu, @Doc Disney, @amjt660, @sheriffwoody, @blgauger for multiple trips to envy!), but I hope you will enjoy our experience.

Next post: Intros, details

 

[amjt660]

Now that I'm well past the 6-month mark for having returned home, it's time I start this TR or I never will. I only have a few quick minutes right now (before my husband and son start wondering why I have not started dinner yet!), but I wanted to get this post on the books thinking (or wishing!) that it will force me to continue.

Please bear with me...this is my first TR and it will not even come close to the TRs I've enjoyed so far (thank you, @Tuvalu, @Doc Disney, @amjt660, @sheriffwoody, @blgauger for multiple trips to envy!), but I hope you will enjoy our experience.

Next post: Intros, details

Wow - I am so flattered to be included with such amazing company
Whatever I did to merit it you are very welcome
Looking forward to your report

Max

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

Following along! Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

 

[winstongator]

As a baseball fan, I'm wondering about the title.

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Wow - I am so flattered to be included with such amazing company
Whatever I did to merit it you are very welcome
Looking forward to your report

Max

Thanks, Max! I hope you enjoy it!

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Following along! Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Thanks! Glad to have you here!

 

[wdwfamilynh]

As a baseball fan, I'm wondering about the title.

Glad to see the title caught your attention! Stay tuned...you'll see why in a bit.

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Enough delay here! Let's get to the details...

WHO: Me, my husband (B), my son (G) (collectively, "Us3"), my in-laws (Oma & Opa) and my parents (Gram & Peep)

WHAT: G's 2nd WDW Trip

WHERE: Us3 at Saratoga Springs (2-bedroom villa) with Oma & Opa (the DVC members)
Gram & Peep at Port Orleans Riverside (standard room, I think)

WHEN:
Friday, November 10, 2017, to Friday, November 17, 2017, for Us3 and Oma & Opa
Saturday, November 11, 2017, to Saturday, November 18, 2017, for Gram & Peep

WHY: It's Disney, of course! And it's been 2 years since G's 1st WDW trip. And Oma & Opa had DVC points they needed to use.

THE PLAN:
Friday, November 10th = early flight from CT to FL for Us3 and Oma & Opa, then Epcot for F&W with dinner ADR at Via Napoli
Saturday, November 11th = Animal Kingdom, Gram & Peep arriving late afternoon, with me cooking dinner in room for Us3 and dinner ADR at Tutto Italia for Oma & Opa
Sunday, November 12th = Magic Kingdom with dinner ADR at The Wave
Monday, November 13th = Epcot with dinner ADRs (separate times) for Us3, Oma and Opa at Coral Reef and for Gram & Peep at Flying Fish Cafe
Tuesday, November 14th = No park plans with dinner ADRs at Artist Point for B & me and The Grand Floridian Cafe for G, Oma, Opa, Gram and Peep
Wednesday, November 15th = Magic Kingdom with dinner ADR at Tony's Town Square
Thursday, November 16th = Animal Kingdom with with me cooking dinner in room for Us3, Oma and Opa and dinner ADR at Sanaa for Gram & Peep
Friday, November 17th = Magic Kingdom with lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for Us3, Oma and Opa (followed by a late afternoon Tragical Express pickup, a late flight to CT and an even later drive to NH) and dinner ADR at Biergarten for Gram & Peep
Saturday, November 18th = late morning flight for Gram & Peep

Sorry for being so text-heavy, but I'll warn you...most posts will be with few (if any pictures). Up next...Day 1.

 

[winstongator]

Enough delay here! Let's get to the details...

WHO: Me, my husband (B), my son (G) (collectively, "Us3"), my in-laws (Oma & Opa) and my parents (Gram & Peep)

WHAT: G's 2nd WDW Trip

WHERE: Us3 at Saratoga Springs (2-bedroom villa) with Oma & Opa (the DVC members)
Gram & Peep at Port Orleans Riverside (standard room, I think)

WHEN:
Friday, November 10, 2017, to Friday, November 17, 2017, for Us3 and Oma & Opa
Saturday, November 11, 2017, to Saturday, November 18, 2017, for Gram & Peep

WHY: It's Disney, of course! And it's been 2 years since G's 1st WDW trip. And Oma & Opa had DVC points they needed to use.

THE PLAN:
Friday, November 10th = early flight from CT to FL for Us3 and Oma & Opa, then Epcot for F&W with dinner ADR at Via Napoli
Saturday, November 11th = Animal Kingdom, Gram & Peep arriving late afternoon, with me cooking dinner in room for Us3 and dinner ADR at Tutto Italia for Oma & Opa
Sunday, November 12th = Magic Kingdom with dinner ADR at The Wave
Monday, November 13th = Epcot with dinner ADRs (separate times) for Us3, Oma and Opa at Coral Reef and for Gram & Peep at Flying Fish Cafe
Tuesday, November 14th = No park plans with dinner ADRs at Artist Point for B & me and The Grand Floridian Cafe for G, Oma, Opa, Gram and Peep
Wednesday, November 15th = Magic Kingdom with dinner ADR at Tony's Town Square
Thursday, November 16th = Animal Kingdom with with me cooking dinner in room for Us3, Oma and Opa and dinner ADR at Sanaa for Gram & Peep
Friday, November 17th = Magic Kingdom with lunch ADR at Liberty Tree Tavern for Us3, Oma and Opa (followed by a late afternoon Tragical Express pickup, a late flight to CT and an even later drive to NH) and dinner ADR at Biergarten for Gram & Peep
Saturday, November 18th = late morning flight for Gram & Peep

Sorry for being so text-heavy, but I'll warn you...most posts will be with few (if any pictures). Up next...Day 1.

I like the text. Did you make all the plans? How often do your parents & in-laws get to wdw ?

 

[slipperalwaysfits]

I'm text heavy, too! How old is G?

 

[wdwfamilynh]

I like the text. Did you make all the plans? How often do your parents & in-laws get to wdw ?

Thanks! Yes, I made all the plans (very stressful trying to keep everyone happy!). Until G's 1st trip in 2015, my parents had not been to WDW since 1997. My in-laws have been going every year or so based on DVC points availability.

I'm text heavy, too! How old is G?

Glad to hear I'm not the oddball! G will be 5 in September.

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Sorry for the long hiatus…summer plans took over and here we are sliding into the end of September. Oops!



I know I said Day 1 was up next, but I wanted to recap how we got to Day 1 first.

The only way I can get ready for a big trip (i.e., anything longer than an extended weekend) is to take the day before off from work. B goes to work, G goes to daycare/school and I pack…and clean…and (despite all of my lists) stress that I’ve forgotten something. So, Thursday was no different.

I was up before B left for work at 5:15 and started my “flight of the bumble bee,” took a break to get G to daycare (Thursday was not a preschool day and his daycare was more than willing to have him visit) and went right back at it until I picked G up at 1. When Oma & Opa arrived with their luggage, G went berserk and I was still trying to cram everything into our luggage and carry-ons, so I started to stress. B came home around 2:30 and I wasn’t 100% ready, so…more stress.

I think we finally hit the road to Hartford around 3:30 or 4 (I need to take better notes next trip) and stopped in Mass for dinner at a great German restaurant. A good glass of wine helped me relax, but not nearly enough. After dinner, a short trip down the interstate got us to our hotel in Hartford and we tried to settle in for an early night. G was too excited about Disney and would not go to sleep (B, on the other hand, was out as soon as he stopped moving). It was 11 before I felt like I could get out of G’s bed without him waking up and the alarm at 3 came really fast.

Up next…Day 1 (yes, finally!)

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Day 1 – Friday, November 10th

The alarm went off at 3 a.m. and I tiptoed in to shower without waking G up. I slipped getting into the shower but avoided a fall (Oma was not so lucky – she slipped getting into her shower and still has the remains of that bruise on her leg today!). B and G were up, dressed and ready to go downstairs to grab a quick snack in the lobby and the 4:45 a.m. shuttle to the airport. Oma & Opa were late getting to the lobby (and not answering their phones), so they almost missed the shuttle.

There was nothing remarkable about the airport and the 7 a.m. flight was great. “BDL to MCO” is my favorite thing to see on JetBlue’s website and I don’t know if we will ever fly Southwest again (the “no assigned seating” thing drives B and me CRAZY ). When we landed and were exiting the plane, I pointed out the cockpit to G on the way by and the pilot asked if G wanted to come inside! Pixie dust at the airport . After that, G was all about being a pilot when he grows up (but now he’s on to a fireman, driving a big wrecker or owning his own mega dump truck…depends on the day)!



I had to explain to B what the fonorail was and he thinks I’m the biggest WDWMagic geek ever (it’s really his fault – he introduced me to the site, not the other way around!). The whole area was a zoo with all the unfinished construction. We could not believe the INSANE security line at MCO and wondered what our return trip would look like.

Our Magical Express ride was OK and we were re-routed for traffic so SSR became the first stop, not the second. G crashed and slept most of the way.

When we arrived at SSR, it was check out time so there was a really long line in the lobby. Opa took forever checking in because he was trying to get the same room we had for our 2015 trip (even though no one else really cared!). Of course, our room was not ready. While we camped out on the round seating thing in the middle of the lobby waiting for Opa (which I noticed in @ScarletBegonias' post is not there now), my new backpack had its first of many zipper issues (the bag went back to Amazon as soon as we got home) which made for fun security lines the rest of the trip.

After picked up the rented stroller for G and scooter for Opa, we grabbed a quick lunch at Artist’s Palette. B had the turkey club, I had the Greek salad with chicken and G had the kids’ mac & cheese. I immediately thought of @Tuvalu when I saw the purse grapes and carrots with G’s lunch!

B, G and I headed to Epcot after lunch and even though our room was still not ready, Oma & Opa chose to wait around the lobby. Our first FP was SSE which G rode with B and loved. Next up was G’s choice – The Land which we did as a walk-on with a moderate wait. After that, we headed to World Showcase to wander the F&W. B and I could not believe how much more crowded it was than ever before (we had done F&W four times previously and it was NEVER like this)! We made our usual stop in Germany where B had the Oktoberfest beer and I had a grapefruit beer.

After a bit more wandering, we headed to Italy for our ADR at Via Napoli (or as Oma kept referred to it, “the pizzeria” ). I loved the greeter’s accent and swooned (much to B’s amusement) over how he pronounced my name. B had the Sicilian Sunset (which he hated) and the Linguini allo Scoglio, I had a few glasses of wine and split a margherita pizza with Oma (which I really enjoyed…both, not just the wine!), G had his own margherita pizza and I think Opa just had pasta with meatballs. Not sure if we’ll go back to Via Napoli on the next trip…it was a bit too noisy for us.

After dinner, B and I had a FP for Soarin’ and we really liked the new version. G had a FP for FEA with Oma & Opa (I was NOT interested in Frozen AT ALL then…but that has since changed). We all had a FP for The Seas after that, but we were tired and decided to skip it and head back to SSR to unpack and get to bed.

Up next…Day 2!

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Day 2 – Saturday, November 11th

We had a 2BR villa in The Springs which was located near the last bus stop before departing SSR (this would become a factor very quickly). I had ordered from Garden Grocer and Amazon Prime because we planned for breakfast in our villa each day, packing lunches for G and snacks for us most days and cooking dinner two nights. And not having to go out for beer and wine is a must!

After breakfast in our room, we all headed to the bus stop to make our way to AK. The wait time for the bus was so bad and B had a minor fit when we waited for more than one bus to leave without us because there was no room for Opa’s scooter.

We finally made it to AK for our first FP of the day – Kilimanjaro Safari. I love this picture B took of the flamingos!



After that, B, G and I rode the train to Conservation Station and back and then wandered our way over to Dinosaur for our next FP. Oma opted out because her leg was bothering her. We were unsure how G would react (it was his first dark, scary, jerky ride ever) but he did great! When we exited, it was raining so we sat under cover while G ate his lunch and B and I snacked. B, G and I took a ride on TriceraTop Spin and then caught up with Oma & Opa for our next FP – Na’vi River Journey – which we really liked. When it was still raining after NRJ, B, G and I headed back to SSR for snacks and a rest.

B, G and I headed back to AK later that afternoon in our swimwear so that we could ride Kali River Rapids. B and I had so much fun (and got totally soaked) in 2012 and wanted to take G with us. Being that we didn’t get too wet (G still talks about the lady who got drenched on our raft) and the wait for the Safari was not long, we did that next. I am so glad we did – evening is the best for seeing animals (we actually saw the male lion walking around) and I kept saying how I felt like Queen Elizabeth when she and Prince Philip visited Treetops on The Crown (another of my geek moments).

We stopped at Mombassa Marketplace to pick up dessert treats – B got a white chocolate chip cookie, G got a green and yellow (he’s a John Deere boy) Mickey rice crispy treat and I got some sort of cupcake – and headed back to the room to cook dinner (pan-fried chicken, tater tots and corn). Oma & Opa originally had an ADR at Tutto Italia with Gram & Peep but the time on Gram & Peep’s flight had changed before our trip and Oma & Opa decided to switch their ADR to Olivia’s at OKW. Even though the CM I spoke with that morning told me there was no cancellation charge, after we got home I had to deal with the cancellation charge that showed up on our credit card .

Up next…Day 3!

 

[LeighM]

I have to take the day before off as well so I can clean the house, kitchen, and do all of the laundry. I have to leave the house completely clean for the house sitter. If only the house sitter we had this last trip had been nice enough to at least vacuum once during the week we were gone because I came back to clumps of black cat hair all over my white carpets. I had to vacuum before I even unpacked LOL.

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Day 3 – Sunday, November 12th

After breakfast in our room, B, G and I headed out to catch a bus to MK. We were meeting up with Gram & Peep who arrived late in the day on Saturday. Their flight had been delayed and I only saw them for a few seconds when I ran down to meet them at a bus stop in SSR to give them what they had asked me to order from Garden Grocer.

An uneventful bus ride and a quick scoot through back check etc. We rode the train from Main Street to Frontierland and got ready for our first FP – BTMRR. G had a blast!

The standby wait for HM was pretty short. G was a bit scared, but he made it through and the cast member who we saw when we entered was great at reassuring G that there was nothing to be afraid of.

We made a quick pit stop at the Tangled toilets (again, B thought I was a WDWMagic geek for getting so excited about bathrooms) and headed over towards the Beast’s castle. We had some time before our next FP (when we would meet up with Oma & Opa), so B and I shared a giant cinnamon bun (something we look forward to each trip) and I picked up a Beauty & The Beast coloring book and fell in love with a Be Our Guest wine glass (Oma & Opa were so sweet to get one and surprise me for Christmas!).

We did Enchanted Tales with Belle, but will likely never do it again. It was great seeing G play the barking footstool and Oma be a knight, but Belle was awful. She did not even remotely look the part and was forcing a smile the whole time.

We all split up again until our dinner ADR. B, G and I shared a new treat – the Dole Whip pineapple upside-down cake! It was wicked good and it was not our last of the trip! We took a ride on the carousel, did B’s favorite – Mickey’s Philharmagic, rode Aladdin’s magic carpets and enjoyed the Tiki Room. The plan had been for B, G and I to head back to SSR for some relaxing before our dinner ADR, but G was still going and we thought, why stop? Well, we found out "why" later.

We had wanted to see the gingerbread house at GF, so B, G and I headed to the monorail and got off at Poly to walk through and check out the DVC section. We spent a little time sitting on the beach and then took the path over to GF. Unfortunately, we thought the gingerbread house was underwhelming and G was becoming difficult.



We decided it was time to head to The Contemporary for our ADR at The Wave with everyone. G had become so difficult by the time we reached The Wave that B and I dropped him in the waiting area with Oma, Opa, Gram and Peep and headed to the bar. B had two Pimms Punches and I had a glass of the Ironstone Red Zin. B had the mussels as an app and I opted for the crab cakes, and we both had the salmon special while G has the penne pasta kids’ check meal. I did not note what everyone else had, but it was thoroughly enjoyed by all…AGAIN! This was our second dinner at The Wave as a party of 7 after B and I discovered this place during a lunch in 2005 and it has become a favorite.

We rode the monorail back to MK, but I had to make a mad dash with G at GF because he decided he had to pee NOW! Everyone else went ahead and G and I caught up with B again at MK. After that it was back to SSR for the night.

Up next…Day 4!

 

[Dizdutch]

Day 2 – Saturday, November 11th

We had a 2BR villa in The Springs which was located near the last bus stop before departing SSR (this would become a factor very quickly). I had ordered from Garden Grocer and Amazon Prime because we planned for breakfast in our villa each day, packing lunches for G and snacks for us most days and cooking dinner two nights. And not having to go out for beer and wine is a must!

After breakfast in our room, we all headed to the bus stop to make our way to AK. The wait time for the bus was so bad and B had a minor fit when we waited for more than one bus to leave without us because there was no room for Opa’s scooter.

We finally made it to AK for our first FP of the day – Kilimanjaro Safari. I love this picture B took of the flamingos!

View attachment 314986

After that, B, G and I rode the train to Conservation Station and back and then wandered our way over to Dinosaur for our next FP. Oma opted out because her leg was bothering her. We were unsure how G would react (it was his first dark, scary, jerky ride ever) but he did great! When we exited, it was raining so we sat under cover while G ate his lunch and B and I snacked. B, G and I took a ride on TriceraTop Spin and then caught up with Oma & Opa for our next FP – Na’vi River Journey – which we really liked. When it was still raining after NRJ, B, G and I headed back to SSR for snacks and a rest.

B, G and I headed back to AK later that afternoon in our swimwear so that we could ride Kali River Rapids. B and I had so much fun (and got totally soaked) in 2012 and wanted to take G with us. Being that we didn’t get too wet (G still talks about the lady who got drenched on our raft) and the wait for the Safari was not long, we did that next. I am so glad we did – evening is the best for seeing animals (we actually saw the male lion walking around) and I kept saying how I felt like Queen Elizabeth when she and Prince Philip visited Treetops on The Crown (another of my geek moments).

We stopped at Mombassa Marketplace to pick up dessert treats – B got a white chocolate chip cookie, G got a green and yellow (he’s a John Deere boy) Mickey rice crispy treat and I got some sort of cupcake – and headed back to the room to cook dinner (pan-fried chicken, tater tots and corn). Oma & Opa originally had an ADR at Tutto Italia with Gram & Peep but the time on Gram & Peep’s flight had changed before our trip and Oma & Opa decided to switch their ADR to Olivia’s at OKW. Even though the CM I spoke with that morning told me there was no cancellation charge, after we got home I had to deal with the cancellation charge that showed up on our credit card .

Up next…Day 3!

Love that the two flamingos in the back formed a heart.

 

[springerfan]

I think we finally hit the road to Hartford around 3:30 or 4 (I need to take better notes next trip) and stopped in Mass for dinner at a great German restaurant.

Was it the Munch House by chance?

 

[wdwfamilynh]

Was it the Munch House by chance?

Munich Haus in Chicopee

 

[springerfan]

Munich Haus in Chicopee

10 minutes from me and a favorite!