Trip Report *COMPLETED* Allll the fun...and other musings - an August trip report

Some preamble
Hello everyone, and welcome to the Burnett Family Trip Report – Summer Edition. Before you commit to reading this, be warned that it may take a bit of time to complete this as I have 10 days to cover with something like 900 pictures to pick from and a busy next few weeks.

Some trip info
I could direct you to our epic pre-trip report found here: http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/...the-fun-august-20-29-ptr.915198/#post-7298480
but I’ll save you the trouble and recap the important stuff here.

Who's travelling

From left to right there is my wife Tammy, Myself (Graham), our daughter Steph (Stephanie) and our son Liam.

When
August 20th – August 29th

Where
Animal Kingdom Lodge – Kidani Village in a studio

Anything else
The only other kind of interesting/problematic thing is that Steph has been having some foot problems for the past few months. She’s been off karate and has been going to physio, acupuncture and chiro, but at the end of two months her foot is still sore. This may come into play during our trip…

So……Let’s get started

August 18th-19th – some pre-trip stuff

We had some pre-trip stuff to take care of before we could get our vacation started.

Step 1: Take the feline members of our family to my Mom and Dad’s. We have two cats that we rescued from the SPCA when they were kittens.

We have Zoey who is 7

and we have Pyper (the torty) who is 5. They typically like being at my parents place as it is quiet and they don’t have to worry about….

Step 2: So it is early July and we’re out driving on a Saturday. “Let’s go to the SPCA just for fun” Tammy says…. Long story short “Let’s go to the SPCA just for fun” became this:

This is Cooper. He’s about 6 months old. We really don’t know what he is (We think a Daschund/Lab mix. Don’t aske me how that happens). The cats aren’t overly thrilled with him yet (Pyper hides. Zoey is the boss and smacks Cooper around when he gets out of line).

We found a great place for Cooper to stay while we were away which we were happy about. The place came and picked Cooper up on Friday morning (the 19th) and with that we were almost ready.
I went to work on the 19th, but had booked a ½ day off to do some last minute running around/packing. Tammy runs an in-home daycare, so she was working the whole day. Around 5 the final kid was picked up, and we were ready to go.

We jumped in the car and took off across the border to the Sleep Inn in Buffalo, where we’d be staying for the night, before our flight the next morning. We made a quick stop at Sam’s Club to pick up some breakfast items, and then called it a night. We were in bed by 10, and ready to get this trip officially started.

More to come

 

[gwhb75]

Many people can't pronounce my name Leigh. I understand it's not as common and the "gh" will throw people off. It's pronounced like Lee but I've been called Leah, leaf, leg, liege, and something like lee-agg. My favorite was when I corrected someone who called me Leah. I told her it was pronounced like Lee and she tried to tell me I was wrong. And someone who told me at work I was pronouncing my last name incorrectly LOL. Like I don't know how to say my own name

I just find it kind of funny that they don't seem to hear the name properly. Maybe Liam isn't a popular name in Florida.

 

[Ciara]

Enjoying your report, really loves the pictures of disney springs. It does look nice!

 

[kimberlymautz]

Loving your report so far and it's making me really excited for my trip this month!

 

[gwhb75]

Enjoying your report, really loves the pictures of disney springs. It does look nice!

There are more Springs pictures coming. It is such a great looking place now.

Glad you're enjoying the report

 

[gwhb75]

Loving your report so far and it's making me really excited for my trip this month!

Glad you're enjoying it. When are you going?

 

[kimberlymautz]

Glad you're enjoying it. When are you going?

21 days and we'll be on our way!

 

[LeighM]

Going to the SPCA to "just look" is always dangerous.

A while ago, Mom and I went to the local SPCA to just take a look several months after our dog died. I bonded immediately with a white German Shepherd named Kane. We left but all weekend I thought about that dog. When I went that weekend to go back to campus, I asked Mom to go back and see if he was still available because that was my dog. Well she went back but told me the dog had been adopted. I never found out whether he really was but the next time I went home, I found a beagle/corgi/??? mix there waiting for me LOL. She didn't like me much but she worshiped my boyfriend

 

[gwhb75]

A while ago, Mom and I went to the local SPCA to just take a look several months after our dog died. I bonded immediately with a white German Shepherd named Kane. We left but all weekend I thought about that dog. When I went that weekend to go back to campus, I asked Mom to go back and see if he was still available because that was my dog. Well she went back but told me the dog had been adopted. I never found out whether he really was but the next time I went home, I found a beagle/corgi/??? mix there waiting for me LOL. She didn't like me much but she worshiped my boyfriend

We bonded with Cooper almost right away and knew if we didn't adopt him before we left that he would be gone (there were other people waiting to see him while we were with him). We really love having him. Unfortunately, he's at the animal hospital right now. He swallowed the head of a silicone bbq brush (just swallowed it whole, no chewing needed). The vet just called a few minutes ago to say they were able to get it out using a scope instead of having to cut him open, so that was some good news.

 

[LeighM]

I just find it kind of funny that they don't seem to hear the name properly. Maybe Liam isn't a popular name in Florida.

But they should be familiar with the actor Liam Neesen at least. No one calls hims Linda lol.

We bonded with Cooper almost right away and knew if we didn't adopt him before we left that he would be gone (there were other people waiting to see him while we were with him). We really love having him. Unfortunately, he's at the animal hospital right now. He swallowed the head of a silicone bbq brush (just swallowed it whole, no chewing needed). The vet just called a few minutes ago to say they were able to get it out using a scope instead of having to cut him open, so that was some good news.

When you find your dog you just know. I've always regretted not getting Kane when I had the chance. I don't click with many animals immediately but he was one that should've been mine. I'm glad you were able to get Cooper. I named the dog my mom adopted, Kali, because she wasn't responding to the one she was given. She must've loved it bc she answered to it immediately. I'm so glad they were able to remove the silicone head without surgery!! Kali had a thing for chewing scissors so I always had to hide them. She would try to eat the strangest things!! Best wishes for Cooper and may he stay out of trouble

 

[gwhb75]

August 22 – hmmmm…I feel like something big happened on this day a few years ago….

So August 22nd is here. 18 years ago today Tammy and I became husband and wife. I know it sounds cliché, but 18 years has flown by (the other thing is, we don’t feel like we’re old enough to have been married 18 years… I mean we totally are, but it’s weird how we just don’t feel that old).

The plan was to hit up what’s left of Hollywood Studios today (refer to my skeptical look from August 20th if you want to know how I felt about this day). The other thing we planned on doing was making it for rope drop this morning. That means we were up early and out the door around 8 (the park opened at 9). The bus ride was fairly fast, and we got to HS at around 8:40.

We made our way into the park and walked up to Hollywood Blvd where we joined the rest of the heard.

The kids headed into Starbucks and grabbed some drinks (Steph got a vanilla bean frappe, and Liam got a Teavana iced tea).

The funny thing is the girl who is photoboming the picture was actually trying to get out of the way and ended up being more in the picture than if she had just stood where she was.

At around 8:55 they let us go, and we headed down to Rock N Rollercoaster (along with most of the park it seemed like).

It is crazy how fast that line goes when there is no fastpass.

We walked through the doors to G-Force records, where I found out that someone in the family wasn’t telling me about her music career.

.

Steven Tyler's magic finger trick was in full effect

(don't say Disney doesn't add anything to the park - that extra finger must have cost a pretty penny).

And go.

We had a great ride.

more to come

 

[gwhb75]

August 22nd continued

After flying through Hollywood, we decided to split up. The kids wanted to go on ToT

, and I went with Tammy to Toy Story (Tammy doesn’t ride ToT or RNR). Tammy and I headed over to Pixar Place

and were surprised when we got to Toy Story and saw that the standby line was 55 minutes long. I thought with the extra track, and the early morning, that it would be significantly lower. Regardless, Tammy and I got in the standby line and waited.

I don’t think the 3rd track was operating, which would explain the longer line. Our wait ended up being closer to 40 minutes. Here’s some serious time-saving advice. When you get to the split where they ask how many are in your group, only say 1 or 2 (even if you’re group is larger). They send all the 1’s and 2’s into a much shorter line which saved us about 10 minutes at least (and since you can only sit with 1 other person, it really doesn’t matter if your whole party gets in the same car).

Tammy and I enjoyed the ride/game.

Now for a cool surprise. We get off of Toy Story and notice that our kids are there, standing across the street just in front of the building where the Buzz and Woody pictures are taken, looking kind of sneaky. Steph waves for us to come over to them so we walk across to them…and they hand us a bag. “Happy Anniversary Mom and Dad” they both said.

We were really touched and surprised. We love the mugs.

The kids grabbed a quick picture with one of the army men

And then we headed over to the FP line for Toy Story. However, the FP line was way down the street and around the corner, almost to the door to the entrance of the old Prince Caspian/Jack Sparrow thing. It turns out we were right that something was wrong with the ride when we did the standby line, and everyone with a FP at 9am had the FP cancelled and were told they could come back any time during the day (which would explain why the FP line was so long as it’s now 10:30ish so I’m guessing a bunch of people with 9am FPs are in line with us). The line moved quickly (they had stopped anyone from entering the standby line at this time too). A good time was had by all

We exited the ride and saw this

If this sky writing is correct I think Verizon may have some competition.

more to come

 

[gwhb75]

August 22 continued

After TS was our FP for ToT (except for Tammy).

It was here that the kids decided we should start dabbing in our ride photos. Here’s the inaugural one.

A fun ride

It was now close to noon and the kids were getting hungry. There aren’t a lot of great QS options at HS at the moment, but at least there is the Backlot Café, so that’s where we headed (with a quick stop at Min and Bill’s to get Steph some macaroni and cheese).

At Backlot, Tammy and I got the chicken salads (that were really good)

and Liam got chicken nuggets (and he enjoyed that too).

After lunch the kids decided they wanted to go back to the AKL to go to the community room and to swim. On the way out we saw the ending of the “A Galaxy Far Far Away” stage show.

It looked interesting. We also got some pictures taken on the way out,

and then boarded our bus and headed back.

still more to come

 

[gwhb75]

August 22 continued

At AKL the kids went to community hall (and took a whack of pictures at the photobooth),

and Tammy and I went up to our room to nap (and before you get any ideas, yes it was our anniversary, but we really did just nap). We slept for about an hour, and then went down and met the kids before going to the pool.

I had brought our refillable mugs, but what a huge mistake that was. For some reason there were a lot of bees around the pool today, and they loved our mugs. I eventually gave up and turned the cups upside down and put a towel over them and went swimming.

We ended up swimming for about an hour, and then headed back up to our room to get changed for dinner. We had a later reservation (around 8:30) so we had some time. We told the kids they could come up and rest for a while. They insisted they weren’t tired at all.

We woke them up around 6:30 and they got ready. Dinner tonight was at our favourite restaurant…’Ohana.
We took the bus to the MK and then the monorail to the Poly.

meal pictures to come

 

[gwhb75]

But they should be familiar with the actor Liam Neesen at least. No one calls hims Linda lol.


When you find your dog you just know. I've always regretted not getting Kane when I had the chance. I don't click with many animals immediately but he was one that should've been mine. I'm glad you were able to get Cooper. I named the dog my mom adopted, Kali, because she wasn't responding to the one she was given. She must've loved it bc she answered to it immediately. I'm so glad they were able to remove the silicone head without surgery!! Kali had a thing for chewing scissors so I always had to hide them. She would try to eat the strangest things!! Best wishes for Cooper and may he stay out of trouble

Thanks for your best wishes.

 

[gwhb75]

August 22 - here come the meal pictures

We checked in at around 8:20 and were seated quickly

Let's start with the bread

Our server came over quickly and took our drink orders. The kids both ordered Shirley Temples. When she got to me I asked if they have the Sprite with grenadine. It turns out, that is called a Shirley Temple. Yeah, I’m the cool guy…
Our meal was amazing. I wish the salad and starters weren’t as delicious as they are because you can really fill up on the salad, chicken wings and pot stickers.

Liam treats the hand towels that come after the wings like he's at a spa

Then the noodles and vegetables arrived, followed by the skewers of meat.

So good. Of course we had to leave room for dessert.

The bread pudding is amazing. Tammy and I also received brownie cupcakes for our anniversary.

Another great meal at ‘Ohana is in the books. This place hasn’t disappointed us yet.

After dinner we wandered down to the beach and checked out the new fences and rock work.

The circumstances around why they needed to do this is heartbreaking, but they have done a tasteful job with the work. We took the boat back to the MK and then the bus back to AKL. We really had a great day. Tomorrow is the day we don’t have anything planned, so we’ll see how what we end up doing.

That's it for the 22nd

 

[TheMouseFan]

Loving your report, as always! I hear you about the 18 year thing! We will celebrate our 18th this December, and I swear we aren't old enough to have a 13 almost 14 year old, let alone to have been married that long! Can't wait to read more!

 

[gwhb75]

Loving your report, as always! I hear you about the 18 year thing! We will celebrate our 18th this December, and I swear we aren't old enough to have a 13 almost 14 year old, let alone to have been married that long! Can't wait to read more!

Totally agree. I didn't even think about the kids in the whole age thing. Liam turned 13 in April and Steph will be 16 in December. Not sure how that happened.

Thanks for reading

 

[gwhb75]

21 days and we'll be on our way!

Awesome. Are you doing the not so scary?

 

[lostpro9het]

and Tammy and I went up to our room to nap

 

[Tuvalu]

View attachment 159111

PERFECT!!!