Trip Report *COMPLETED* The "What are we waiting on?, Never again!, Help, I'm on a family vacation!" Trip Report

Howdy folks!!

We just got back home yesterday afternoon from a great week in Disney! I'm still trying to get my pictures in order, but I figured I could get the intro started! There were some definite ups and downs (tears were shed for both) on this trip which you will hear about further on, but overall it was a magical trip and we had a great time! So if you care to join me, hop on in as I detail the trip in this report!

Dates: November 24th-December 2nd

Where: Disney's Pop Century Resort

Cast: Josh (DH), Cam (DS) and Heather (Me!)
Also joining us will be my Parents and my niece, Maci
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joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My son has had bad acid reflux since birth as well. It’s gotten much better and he no longer requires medications. But, we still have “accidents “ sometimes and have slunk out of many a restaurant with our heads down. So, I completely understand your situation. Poor Cam and you!!

It's good to know I'm not alone. No matter how many times it's happened, I still feel so embarrassed, but also so bad for him.
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I think it happens to everyone at some point. When we went, I was the planner, and I had planned rest time for every afternoon so we could go back around dinner feeling refreshed. But my husband threw the plan out the window and we never got back to rest, and by the end of the day, everyone was tired, hot, and cranky and DH would just announce we were all going back to the resort because he was tired of everyone being cranky. After several days of it, I insisted we go back and rest as I had planned, and it did us so much good. But those first few days were so disappointing. We never got to do a lot of the things I had planned in the evenings. I hope you got to go back and see some of the things you were looking forward to! But I'm sure there will be other trips when the kids are older and you can do more then.

Yes, I just had to keep telling myself that I would be back again one day. You just look forward to so many things leading up to your trip and it's upsetting when you get a wrench thrown in most of your plans.

I totally understand the disappointment and the tears. I was also the planner for the most recent trip with my husband, his brother, and his wife. I love the parks at night and had all these plans to rest in the middle of the day so we could go and stay out late, especially at MK and AK. None of that happened. We got to Epcot around 7 on the night they had EMH at 9-11 so I was happy. Until it turned 9:15 and everyone was ready to leave. And I'm like but the EMH are just starting!!!! I did have enough my BIL/SIL's last night there though. My husband had started to get sick which threw a wrench in all of my remaining plans when it was just the 2 of us. But they wanted to leave MK before the fireworks started and I really wanted to see the new castle show and fireworks. So I said screw it - I might not have gotten my preferred viewing area because of the time everyone got hungry but I'm going to watch the show right here at the train station. I told them they could leave if they wanted to but I was going to stay right there and watch the show LOL. It turned out to be the perfect ending for the BIL/SIL and even my husband enjoyed it. And yes I did cry over all the many disappointments too :joyfull: My mistake in trying to make the trip so perfect for everyone else that I completely forgot about myself.

I know exactly how you feel. I feel like I did spend my whole trip catering to everyone else's wants or needs. I won't make that mistake again. Traveling with family, while has it's good moments, is for sure different and hard.
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It felt so nice to sleep in and take our time this morning. We went down to the food court and used up some snack credits for breakfast.
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Had some snapchat fun... Cam was trying to look like Pluto :joyfull:

After taking our time and visiting with each other, we headed to catch the bus to Disney Springs. It was so nice without the herd of people that were there our first night. Everyone seemed to be in good moods as we strolled around. Our first stop was Uniqlo. Cam has outgrown his coat from last year and has been needing a new one for school. They had some cute ones in this store that we liked and ended up buying him one to match his school uniform! He put it on right away since it was still cold.

I was excited to check out World of Disney. I didn't get many photos, but it looks so nice!!
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I was expecting Cam to want a bunch of things, but we had to talk him into getting a t-shirt! The only thing he really wanted was a $6 slap bracelet! A lady in line told us we should consider ourselves lucky because her daughter that wasn't on the trip with her and sent her a wish list of things she wanted her to bring back home. :hilarious: This was pretty much consistent the entire trip and it was definitely nice not having to tell him no all the time because he never asked for anything! My niece on the other hand was the complete opposite. LOL! My parents were in there awhile with her so we decided to head over to the Lego store without them.

We could actually walk around in there today! Cam actually ran into another little boy from his school. Small world, indeed!
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Happy boy! (This is the coat we bought him from Uniqlo)

The met up with us soon after.
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Daddy taking care of purchases. :happy: They both ended up filling up one of those little buckets. As far as Disney goes, that's a pretty good bargain! Legos are not cheap.
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Soon, it was time for lunch! Now I made this reservation solely based on Cam's love for dinosaurs and all he kept talking about was going to eat at Chicken Guy! We watch Tim Tracker on youtube and they did a review where they tasted all the sauces and Cam has watched that one video over and over again. We had told him next time we came back to DS we'd get him Chicken Guy and he did not let us forget it! So he decided to skip eating at T-Rex and he'd get his lunch later.
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This was my 2nd time here. It really is a cool atmosphere.
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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My Daddy and I :inlove:
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The kids did not like the meteor shower that takes place every so often.

Cam wasn't eating, but we got him the little souvenir cup. Little Miss got one too.
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Well remember that t-shirt that we had to talk Cam into getting? It came in handy after he got this red frozen drink all over the front of his clothes! :p

Josh and I got drinks as well. They were pretty good. Some kind of Margarita and a Lava Flow.
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And since I did not get food photos, I do not remember what everyone got. I know I got the Bronto Burger and it was really good! Everyone really enjoyed their meals here. For dessert, we of course got the Chocolate Extinction! Soooo good!
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After an enjoyable lunch, we took the kids to the Build-A-Dino store located in the restaurant and Maci picked out a....

BEAR!
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She named her Snowflake.
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Cam's turn was next. It's really cute how they do the process.
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Everyone meet the newest member of our family...Billy!
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Not sure why it looks like he's about to punt Billy across the room! But he loves this guy! He carries him all over and sleeps with him. We had some friends over for New Years Eve and he asked if he could keep Billy safe in our room so that no one messed with him. :joyfull:

Finally, the time had come for Cam to get his Chicken Guy. I went in and got it while they waited outside.
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I believe I got the Donkey Sauce and the Ranch.

What's up, Guy?
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So what did he think??
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Thoroughly enjoyed it! Josh tried it and said it was good. So with everyone full and happy, we made our way out of DS!
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Snapped a few pics at home of the ornaments I picked up at the Christmas store while at Disney Springs. Let me just say, the cashier should have been at home in bed. She was sooo sick and couldn't stop coughing. She looked pale and weak and I thought she was going to pass out. I felt really bad for her. I don't know if it was a case of she had no choice but to be at work or she just chose not to take a sick day, or whatever, but she definitely shouldn't have been working. She took forever packing up my ornaments and the entire time she was hacking all over them as she did so! Sanitizer came in handy after that store.

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Next: Evening at Animal Kingdom
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Enjoying your report so far! It definitely makes me apprehensive about taking parents :hilarious: I think my mom and my husband's mom and step dad want to go with us someday though, so I guess I better prepare myself. haha

Think long and hard! :joyfull:
I feel like I'm complaining a lot, but I definitely don't regret going with my parents. It's just something you REALLY need to prepare yourself for since you are so used to vacationing the way that you do. I think if you go in with an open mind it will be good. Plus you'll have extra hands with a little one in tow! It's just very different. Of course, vacationing with a kiddo is very different too. LOL!
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After dropping off our purchases, we headed to Animal Kingdom for the evening! I made everyone stop for pictures in front of the tree.
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Also here:
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And also here:
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They were over all of picture stops at this point, but they humored me.:geek:

We made our way to our first FP which was Dinosaur. Wasn't sure if the kids would be scared or not considering they were both scared in T-Rex for lunch, but they both wanted to ride.
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We even got to ride with some fellow Saints fans! The kids laughed the whole ride and both said they loved it!
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We wondered around Dinoland for a little bit. Didn't do too much but they were playing music and the kids were dancing. Out of no where, the Chipmunks walked up and started dancing with them. I didn't think to take any pictures until the handler got annoyed and pulled them away. She made some snarky comment about they'd be out later and we could see them then. HELLO, we weren't trying to see them. They were just out there dancing and they joined in on their own so get snarky with Chip and Dale, not us. :cautious:
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Cam didn't care, he kept on dancing! I wish I had it on video when they came up and danced with him though. Was so cute!

They played briefly in the Boneyard before we hiked over to Pandora!
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They loved these drums!

They hung out here with my Mom while Josh, my Dad and I were FINALLY going to get to ride FoP! Josh and I were so excited! It was for sure our most anticipated ride of the trip and we hoped it would live up to the expectations.
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Intro...way too long! Ride...AMAZING!!!! Wow! It was so immersive. I only felt a little motion sickness right before we stopped in the cave part so I was able to collect myself. That little break came at the right time! I really wished we could have ridden it again.

When we came out they were about to start the Drum show, so we gave the kids the option to staying and seeing it or going to catch the last showing of The Lion King. The chose Lion King, but after we got in and seated I started to wish we had just stayed.
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It was HOT! Like miserably, heat blasting, feeling clammy HOT! I get that it's cold chilly outside, but my goodness! About 10 minutes into the show, Cam was laying on me, his face so red and I seriously considered telling the CM we needed to leave. We stuck it out, but it felt like the longest showing in history, LOL!

Usually my favorite part of the show....
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Tonight, this was my favorite part...THE END!
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We actually enjoyed the cold air when we got out and didn't put our jackets back on right away. Everyone was hungry so we took the walkway back to Pandora to try Satu'li Canteen. Josh went to order our food while Cam and I went to find a table. 2 of my 3 coworkers were sitting outside so I actually had some time to sit and chat with them a minute. We talked about how our trip was going and they said we could take their table b/c they were about to leave for a fastpass. We were telling them about how hot it was in the Lion King show and they told me that my other coworker that wasn't there had left because after the show she felt ill because she got so overheated. So maybe it was just us Louisianians, but I'm glad we weren't the only ones that found it abnormally stuffy!

Anyway, back to dinner! I didn't take any pictures, but by far, best QS of the trip! We all really, really loved it. I did the create your own bowl with slow roasted grilled beef, potato hash and creamy herb dressing (MMMM wish I could have this now). Josh got a chili garlic shrimp and noodle bowl (as did my Mom) and the kids both got cheese quesadillas. My Dad got the fish option with rice which are both no longer on the menu. I did snap a pic of dessert!
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I'm not a huge blueberry fan, but my boys are and they loved it. I had a couple bites and thought it was good.
I will certainly be eating here again! I highly recommend it to anymore who hasn't tried it yet.

And with that we decided to head out. We caught the projections on the tree for a few minutes which was nice. When we arrived to the bus stop the line was crazy long! That's when things took a turn! We of course entered the scooter area and there were two other scooters in front of us, so we had to wait for a 2nd bus before we were able to load. As my Dad was being loaded on the bus I could hear some guy in line making rude comments toward us but I couldn't quite make out what he was saying. I mentioned to Josh that I think he was saying something about us which set him off. The guy waited until we were boarding the bus to start YELLING out that we needed to sit in the back of the bus. Funny thing was that each time we got on the buses, Josh would sit with my Dad and the rest of us would go to the back because the kids would ask and they again asked, but because I was disgusted by how rude this guy was being and frankly thought maybe we should all sit together, I told them no and we all took our seats next to my Dad. Well he starts yelling again about how yeah that's about right, you would take the seats in the front, etc. etc. By now, my husband was fuming. This guy gets on the bus and as he's passing makes another comment about how we should be in the back of the bus. Of course, my husband couldn't keep his mouth shut and he says something about this man (my dad) can't walk and that he needed to check his attitude. (More words were said, but I can't recall word for word). At that point, I'm hitting him in the arm telling him to stop. That guy is standing in the back giving Josh the death stare which Josh didn't take lightly and they started to make comments back and forth! (OMG!!) The guy's wife was hitting him in the arm at this point too. I told Josh if he gets me banned from Disney I'll never forgive him! :mad: It was a bad situation. I mean, I get it. Josh isn't one to roll over if someone makes a comment towards him and the guy really made me mad as well, but I didn't feel like it was appropriate place especially with the kids all watching (the guy also had 2 kids with him). I was a nervous wreck the entire ride back. Thankfully, while we get to load first, we also had to sit there and wait for everyone to get off before my Dad could get OFF the bus so we didn't have to see this guy anymore! NOT COOL!!!

(sidenote: I saw the guy the next day in the park but luckily never rode the bus with him again.)

Next: Epcot (my parent's last day)
 

joshsprincess921

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Today would be my parent's and Maci's last day of vacation. We had a breakfast reservation, so I knew that I wouldn't have to worry about rounding everyone up in the food court. Instead we met at the elevators and walked down to the bus stops together. No one in line for the Epcot bus and we made it through security with ease. It was a pleasant, beautiful day out. Today was starting off swell!
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Like our previous visit to Epcot, we planned to rope drop Test Track and then hopefully squeeze in Soarin' before our reservation. Maci hadn't done Test Track yet and my parents decided they didn't want to ride. My Mom wanted to get some coffee instead, so I told them to meet up with us in the Land pavilion a little later.

Double Trouble!
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The kids passed the time waiting for the park to open with a little Head, Shoulders, Knees and Toes action.
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Soon we were off!
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When those doors open that cool air hit us hard! While it was feeling nice standing outside, it was very different while speeding around a track! You can see on our faces. It stung! :cold:
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So since we rope dropped we weren't in line very long before boarding. While we were ON the ride, I could feel my phone vibrating in my pocket. When exiting, I pulled out my phone and it was my Dad calling. I called back and he was wanting to know where we were! Seriously? I told him we were on our way over there and he informed me that my Mom was getting something to eat. Ok but we had a breakfast reservation soon. We met up with my Dad and all but my Mom went on Soarin'. We were at the very bottom. Not a very good view. We finished up right at our reservation time!

We checked in at the Garden Grill for our first visit there.
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My sweet cutie! :inlove:
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Nom, Nom, Nom!!!
 

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