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

 

[joshsprincess921]

That's the only food pics I took, but we all loved the food! The mimosas were good as well.

First up was the main man! Cam so excited while Daddy trying to put his ears back on!

The Chipmunks and CM's loved their shirts!

We didn't have a very good background for pictures.

Soon, Cam was finally going to meet his favorite!!! He brought his hat with him so he could make a hat change for Pluto.

Pluto loved it!

Pluto then asked Cam if he wanted him to sign his hat and got a marker from the CM.

Super sweet!

 

[Swissmiss]

I love that Pluto signed the hat! What a great souvenir.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Pluto came back over and that made Cam happy!

Great character interaction and great food! I will say that the "spinning" did kind of get to me and Josh a little. We both had to sit down for a bit after leaving. It may have been the location we were sitting where it felt noticeable even though it was really slow. I tried not to think about it and that helped. I think it affected Josh more because he said the food and characters were great but he doesn't want to go back because of the movement.

We made our way out and stopped in Club Cool. It seriously smelled of dirty diaper in there!
We all tasted some samples and Josh got my dad good with Beverly.

After some taste test fun, it was time for our FP on Spaceship Earth. Cam couldn't wait. This would be his 3rd time riding. It's a good thing we had FP, although even the FP line was CRAZY!! After being in line a few minutes Cam tells me he needs to go use the restroom, so him and I left the line. When we got back, the rest of the family had still not gotten to the place where you scan your band. Finally we had made it.

Was a nice ride with my boy. He was quoting lines from the ride as we went along! And he still talks about the Phoenicians.
Met up with the rest of the crew at the end.

 

[joshsprincess921]

I love that Pluto signed the hat! What a great souvenir.

Yes, I thought it was so sweet! I didn't do the autograph book thing, but this was special.

 

[aliceismad]

Does your kiddo have ridiculously long eyelashes or does he just photograph wonderfully? He's so cute!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Does your kiddo have ridiculously long eyelashes or does he just photograph wonderfully? He's so cute!

They are ridiculously long and black and I'm jealous! People comment about his eyes/lashes all the time. He gets tired of hearing it. LOL!

 

[LeighM]

They are ridiculously long and black and I'm jealous! People comment about his eyes/lashes all the time. He gets tired of hearing it. LOL!

I couldn't help but laugh at this. I went from elementary through high school with a boy that had the same ridiculously long, black eyelashes and he had brightest emerald green eyes I've ever seen - he still does and I'm still jealous all these years later! It would embarrass him in elementary, annoy him in middle school, but once he turned about 14 things changed LOL. He started using it to his advantage when the girls would comment on them

 

[ELeigh]

Double Trouble!

I loveeee these shirts!

 

[joshsprincess921]

I couldn't help but laugh at this. I went from elementary through high school with a boy that had the same ridiculously long, black eyelashes and he had brightest emerald green eyes I've ever seen - he still does and I'm still jealous all these years later! It would embarrass him in elementary, annoy him in middle school, but once he turned about 14 things changed LOL. He started using it to his advantage when the girls would comment on them

That's hilarious! Thanks for letting me know what I have to look forward too!

 

[joshsprincess921]

We stopped for some snacks. I wanted to get a Starbucks but the line was ridiculous!! Like literally insane! So I went with a diet coke instead and an ice cream sandwich. Josh got his Mickey bar (he loves them and he's excited they are going to be in grocery stores soon). Cam wanted popcorn.

Maci got the popcorn bucket! He's sooo cute!

We had some time left before our final FP and Cam wanted to see his ole pal Figment again, so we headed in that direction. On the way there, I got a message saying that our FP for Frozen was changed to anytime because the ride was down! I specifically chose it on this day for Maci. Grrrr! I didn't give up hope and thought maybe after we were done with Figment it would be back up. On our walk over to the ride, we walk past a family that were all wearing black shirt that said, "Help, I'm on a family vacation!". My husband exclaimed, "OMG, I LOVE YOUR SHIRTS!!!" Then we saw another group of the family and he told them the same thing. Now my hubby is not into my shirt making, but he was like now that's one shirt you can make me and I'd gladly wear!!

Didn't wait long for Figgy...

This ride is growing on us.

I checked the app again and Frozen was still down. The kids played in play area again and I kept checking. Finally it was back up! Yay!! So off we went!

We all had a great ride and of course, kids loved it.

About this time, my head started pounding. It had gotten warm so I was thinking maybe I didn't have enough water. I took some meds and downed some water, but it just kept getting worse. We decided we should go back to the resort and rest. My mom wanted to stop and pick up some last minute souvenirs, so we stopped at Mousegears and let her go in while we waited outside. My head just kept getting worse. By the time we made it to the bus stop it was a full fledged migraine. Thankfully the bus was empty b/c I had to lay down the whole ride home. I put a cold rag on my head and neck once we got to our room and didn't move until I finally fell asleep and when I woke it was much better.

For dinner, Josh and I were going on a date night and my parents were taking the kids. After I woke and got Cam and I ready, we decided walk around the resort a little bit. He wanted to go to the playground, but when we got there, he decided he didn't want to play. So we walked around just looking at all the big icons.

I knew my parents would be anxious taking the various Disney transportation to get to their dining reservation. So I decided I would call them a Minnie Van. The kids had been seeing them all week and would get excited when they'd see one and that would allow them to leave later. I texted my parents and told them to meet me at the luggage area so that we could turn the scooter in and I called them a van. My dad gave me a huge hug and thanked me for getting the scooter for him. Even though he had made a fuss about it, he really did appreciate it and that made me happy. With that, we got them loaded in their ride for the evening. I also wrote on paper word for word, how to get back to Pop after! LOL!

I confirmed with the driver where they needed to go and off they went!

I liked how I was able to watch on my phone and see when they had arrived. Not long after, my mom texted me this picture to let me know they had made it.

 

[joshsprincess921]

I booked 1900 Park Fare with this little princess in mind.

I didn't know if Cam would eat anything but a bread roll, but my mom sent me a pic of his plate...apparently he had some mandarin oranges on there too.

But they told the waiter about his allergies and they made him his own pizza without the sauce, so he was a happy camper!

Mom's plate...

Mom said they really enjoyed the food here! She said it was delicious!! Just the few pictures she sent me and others I've seen in trip reports definitely has me wanting to try it out one day.

They loved the character interactions as well, especially the step sisters.

My Dad even got in on the action!

 

[joshsprincess921]

Mom sent me this one and said she found my shoe.

Then they took some photopass pics! Obviously, my son was being silly.

I was glad they really enjoyed their evening and they made it to MK and then to Pop just fine!!

 

[joshsprincess921]

While they were enjoying themselves at 1900 Park Fare, Josh and I were on our date.

Josh really wanted to go up in the hot air balloon so that was our first stop once arriving at Disney Springs. However, the wind was blowing ever so slightly so it was grounded when we got there. He was disappointed, but I said lets just find somewhere to go have pre-dinner drinks! We landed at Wine Bar George!! We went upstairs and sat at the bar. They have the big open air windows up there and the band was playing below, so it was a really nice setting.

I got a Sangria and Josh got some scotch. This Sangria was AMAZING!! The only negative was that I ate the grape that was in it at the end and I think it was a muscadine grape. It was sooooo gross. Regardless, eating it alone was not my favorite, however, that didn't take away from the deliciousness of the Sangria!

I snapped some pictures of the menu..

So much to choose from! Since we were hungry, we decided to split a small plate. We ended up getting the Crispy Mac and Cheese Bites.
Y'ALL....this was sooooo GOOD!!! Wow!

You could easily split a few small plates, have some drinks/wine and make a night out of it. I really want to return and do just that. We both absolutely loved it!! But we still had a reservation to make, so we settled the bill and went on our way. On our way out someone stopped Josh and shook his hand asking him how everything was. I was behind him so I stepped up next to him and realized that it was George Miliotes, the Master Sommelier. It was very cool to meet him even if it was for a brief moment. He was walking around all the tables and talking to guests.

Ever since our honeymoon, Josh had been saying that he wanted to eat at Morimoto Asia. We are always watching the food channels and we are fans of the show Iron Chef. Josh's favorite is chef to watch is Bobby Flay, however his favorite cuisine is Asian food. We were really looking forward to it and hoped it lived up to our expectations.

First of all, the restaurant is spectacular. I mean, it's just so beautiful. You notice the second you walk in. We checked in a bit early but almost immediately were being escorted to our seat. The hostess, walked us upstairs. The sushi bar is upstairs and we walked by that and all the way around to the opposite side. I didn't know where she was taking us because it was a long walk, but we settled in at the perfect table!! The upstairs portion of the restaurant is opened up (almost like a loft or balcony setting) so you are looking down at the gorgeous chandeliers and the guest tables below on the first floor. We were at a table for 2 right along the glass edge.

This was my view. Very good people watching from this view point. LOL!

My groom

and me..
.

 

[joshsprincess921]

We started with a spicy tuna roll and the chicken wings.

The sushi was very fresh and the wings were delicious!!

I had no idea what I wanted to order for my entree. The menu is a bit overwhelming. So I asked the waitress what her favorites were and I settle on:

Seafood Crispy Shanghai Noodles
jumbo shrimp, scallop, calamari, seasonal greens, garlic, shio dare sauce

The noodles were crispy but once they mixed into the broth they softened up. This had a really light flavor and was full of seafood. If you love seafood, I would certainly recommend it. I enjoyed it very much.

Josh got one of the most popular dishes. This is a dish that Chef Morimoto actually created on Iron Chef and this dish beat out Bobby Flay so he was excited to try this one.

Morimoto "Buri-Bop"
korean-style yellowtail rice bowl served in a hot clay pot, finished with egg yolk, prepared tableside

The clay pot is super hot and they place the yellowtail along the edge and sear it right at your table and did some mixing of some sort. It was neat. He loved it. The rice had so much flavor. When watching the food shows you often hear people saying that you can taste the different layer of flavors and when I took a bite of this I finally understood exactly what they mean by this because you can truly taste different things in one bite.

After our yummy meal, we had NO room for dessert! We thought about stopping somewhere as we were walking out, but neither of us could fit it so we decided to head back. When we got to the bus stop there was this family waiting first in line and they had 2 small kids and a small infant. They also had a huge double stroller as well as this infant stroller that was basically like you place a car seat into a stroller frame. Not exactly the easiest thing to fold up. Looked something like this:

The two younger kids were fighting with each other and the dad as fussing with them while the mom calmly rocked the screaming baby. You could see that the dad had just had enough. I really felt bad for him. Then the bus came and poor guy, his family boarded leaving him with both the double stroller and the other contraption to get on his own. He folded up the double and put it on the bus then came out to do the other one and he was having trouble. He gets it on and then it pops back open right in the aisle as everyone was trying to get on. He finally gets it and sits down and looks completely defeated. Another dad walks by with a couple older kids and says, "Dude, I promise, it does get better." We couldn't help but giggle at that.

We also saw this before boarding the bus....

Oh well...there's always next time! We had a wonderful date night!

Next: Our last full day...just the 3 of us!

 

[sheriffwoody]

infant stroller that was basically like you place a car seat into a stroller frame.

That's the kind of thing we have My friend who just went with her infant assured me it wasn't that big of a headache on the busses, but I just can't imagine how annoying! Thankfully the model we have reclines all the way back, so it's suitable for an infant and we're planning to just use it without the carseat part if we go in April. We'll see!

You've got me wanting to go back to Morimoto now! We got the ramen when we went, and it was tasty.

 

[joshsprincess921]

That's the kind of thing we have My friend who just went with her infant assured me it wasn't that big of a headache on the busses, but I just can't imagine how annoying! Thankfully the model we have reclines all the way back, so it's suitable for an infant and we're planning to just use it without the carseat part if we go in April. We'll see!

You've got me wanting to go back to Morimoto now! We got the ramen when we went, and it was tasty.

I'm sure it will be fine. This one in particular, he had to take out the car seat and then fold up the base separately so it was two different things to worry about carrying. While holding the car seat part, the base popped open. He likely was just flustered because he was trying to get the double on and then get this one on all while hurrying because everyone was loading.

Oh it was so good! I love Asian cuisine! These pictures have me hungry. We ordered Chinese take out from a new place last night and it was so disappointing. So looking at these pictures have me wanting a redo.

 

[sheriffwoody]

I'm sure it will be fine. This one in particular, he had to take out the car seat and then fold up the base separately so it was two different things to worry about carrying. While holding the car seat part, the base popped open. He likely was just flustered because he was trying to get the double on and then get this one on all while hurrying because everyone was loading.

Yeah that's how ours is. You can just pop the car seat onto the stroller and go without having to take them in and out. Which is great for back home, but seems impractical for Disney busses. Luckily ours is one that the stroller can be used solo as well. I'm hoping we can manage...we are so used to going with nothing but a backpack (if that). But yeah I bet handling a travel system PLUS a double stroller would cause some major frustration. Poor guy!

 

[MeeskaMooska0714]

Loving your report so far! We stayed at Pop last year and had the same bus issues and waits, so I feel your pain.

 

[joshsprincess921]

Today was our last full day in Disney and we didn't have to WAIT on anyone! We were up bright and early and on our way to Magic Kingdom!! We were there really early, so security was a breeze and the walk in was so nice! As you can see, it was kind of cloudy out, but it wasn't freezing, so I was fine with it.

We stopped for some pictures.

 

[joshsprincess921]

It was so nice just taking our time and starting our morning at just an easy pace. Josh and I both said that this is how we wanted to do the whole day. Just nice and chill! Since the Starbucks line was actually non-existent, we went in for a treat! I never get frappacinos, but while in Disney....this was a seasonal flavor and it was amazing! Toasted White Chocolate Mocha. Josh got one too, but a chocolate chip flavor that he loved.

To go along with our slow paced day, we decided we'd get a spot for the Welcome Show. We went with front and center.

Soon as we got settled, Cam had to use the restroom. We left Josh and took a little stroll.

An empty MK is so much fun!