Trip Report Hurricanes, Foot Pains and “What The Crocs Just Happened?” Anniversary Tale – A Sept/Irma 2017 TR (COMPLETED)

So here we are again… Another amazing trip is over.

My original title for the is report was:

The Best-Laid Plans Of The Mouse & Men… because so many of our carefully thought out schedules & plans were completely turned upside down by Irma and other “forces” along the way.

However, Ross and Julia who do not share my love for Robert Burns or John Steinbeck vetoed that and came up with their own title.

Before I begin our tale, I want to express and offer our thoughts and prayers to all who suffered in Hurricane Irma as well as Harvey & Maria. There are times when I joke about the fact that we were in Florida during the hurricane, but in no way do I not realize the devastation that was caused to so many.

That being said... Let the Trip Report begin! Who’s in?

 

[Figaro Family]

But unfortunately she got kicked off the slides! Yup – a lifeguard came over and asked how tall she was. I said she was 49 inches and he said you had to be under 48 inches to do the slides.

She was having such a good time it broke my heart to tell her she was too big to play there – but I didn’t have a choice. I could see she was disappointed. I was hoping that she wouldn’t meltdown, but she didn’t even have a chance because Julia walked over to her and said she should go down the big slide in the big pool. I was shocked when Hope agreed and off we went.

Oh Man! That splash area looks so fun, it had to have been hard for Hope to leave it. I'm so happy for her and you that she handled it so well! It's really hard when ASD kids get "too big" for things size wise but those things are still their age emotionally. It's so hard to explain why they aren't allowed to do something anymore. Julia is an awesome big sister for turning Hope's attention to the big slide!

 

[RememberWhen]

I'm late, but following along. I love reading about your sweet family and your Disney trips. Can't wait to hear all about this adventure!

 

[Gurt]

Go Julia quick thinking to cheer Hope up and well done Hope for trying the big slide I am glad she enjoyed it.

 

[Figment Forever]

I'm also late, but I'm here!!

Oh that Royal Room is amazing!! I know Harper would lose her mind if she ever got to stay there! Seeing how happy Hope is made me smile! I can't wait to read more!

Thanks for following! Yes - I can definitely see Harper taking flight on her own Magic Carpet! I don't know if I could ever justify spending the money to spend a week in one, but the one day was a really awesome treat.

 

[Figment Forever]

I'm late, but following along. I love reading about your sweet family and your Disney trips. Can't wait to hear all about this adventure!

Thanks so much for following along!

 

[Figment Forever]

Oh Man! That splash area looks so fun, it had to have been hard for Hope to leave it. I'm so happy for her and you that she handled it so well! It's really hard when ASD kids get "too big" for things size wise but those things are still their age emotionally. It's so hard to explain why they aren't allowed to do something anymore. Julia is an awesome big sister for turning Hope's attention to the big slide!

I was glad there was no huge issue. Hope is such a peanut, I think this is the first time she was actually too big for something! lol Julia is an awesome big sister - Hope is blessed to have her.

 

[Figment Forever]

Go Julia quick thinking to cheer Hope up and well done Hope for trying the big slide I am glad she enjoyed it.

It was a great diversion and we all had a great time. Thanks for reading along!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 1 Continued...

As we entered our room, I was surprised and a little annoyed to see our ME luggage wasn’t there yet! I called Bell Services that told me it was on a cart waiting to be delivered and they didn’t know how long it would be because they were shorthanded.

We were hungry and I really didn’t want to wait forever so we got back into our same stinky clothes from earlier today and made our way to the bus. I’m not sure why I didn’t opt for the boat… but either way, we were soon at DS.

We were all hungry but I knew Hope wanted to check out a few stores so we walked over to Once Upon A Toy – that’s her favorite. As soon as we walked in I stunned, more than half the store is missing. I guess they are renovating it but seriously, with the amount of store still open, they should have just closed it all down. It’s not like you cant buy the items in World of Disney – well most of them. Hope set straight for the Tsum Tsums. You could say she has a Tsum Tsum addiction. She quickly started using her “Disney Dollars” and added 4 new ones to her collection. Knowing that we would probably be stuck in our rooms for quite some time, I figured the kids should pick up some things to pass the time. I’m glad my folks gave them some extra $. Julia saw a Monopoly set so that’s what she decided on.

After Once Upon A Toy, we went to World Of Disney and Lego. Then we needed to eat. Hope wasn’t done looking around and wanted to go back to World Of Disney but I said, “First dinner, then back to World Of Disney.” She was not happy with my decision but we continued on. Julia and I had to looking forward to eating somewhere new… Blaze Pizza!

I ordered 2 pies – 1 regular and 1 GF half pepperoni and a drink to share and it came to under $20 which I thought was great because breakfast was a whopping $30!

I put Julia on finding us a spot to sit while I finished the order. It reminds me of Chipolte – the way you travel with your pizza down the line. The place was busy! I didn’t like the long tables – I thought that was a little awkward to sit that way, but all the booths were taken.

Hope was kicking off and still fussing about not going to World Of Disney. She was insisting that she wasn’t going to eat and I told her she didn’t have to but Julia and I were going to. When they completed my order, they gave me a light up pager so I asked her to hold it and tell me when it flashed. Well, that pager must have had some pixie dust in it because all of a sudden, she was thrilled to be waiting for it to flash! Lol When it went off, she laughed and handed it to me. I retrieved our pies and we all ate. The 3 of us polished off both pizzas!

I really like the beverage assortment too. The lemonades and fruit infused waters are really good.

Funny, as we sat eating, I really thought I would hear a lot of people talking about Irma and what was going to happening. But no. The talk around me was all typical Disney talk – you would never know that the worst hurricane in recorded history was about 48 hours away from us.

I had been keeping up with info on the app and Online and the talk was that the parks would be closing for at least a day if not 2 and that guests would be on curfew in their rooms.

I called my folks again and calmed their nerves. I told them that there were a lot of people coming to Disney from further south – so we were in a good place.

 

[Figment Forever]

After dinner, we headed back out to World Of Disney and then again to Once Upon a Toy & then Lego. My princess is also an avid Ninjago and Batman fan. Lol She chose a few Lego sets to keep busy during the storm.

After our purchases, we talked about what we would do next. We could go back to the room and get settled in, hang around DS for a while and walk down to the West Side or we could hop a bus to the Poly and get a Dole Whip and watch HEA.

The Dole Whip wins every time! Off we went to the Poly. I stood in line for the ice cream while Julia and Hope got settled near the pool fence to watch. It was starting as I was on line so I knew we wouldn’t have time to reach the beach area. There was a small crowd that gathered around to watch.

This was our first time watching HEA. Julia and I were both very sad to see Wishes go, as so many others, and we weren’t sure if we would be so fond of the replacement. Well, I have to say, we both LOVED it. I teared up at the end just as I did with Wishes.

When we finished our treats, we headed back to the monorail so we could get the POR bus from MK.

This would be our first time through the new security stop before getting on the monorail. It was quick and painless, but it felt odd – like it’s out of place being there. We hopped right on to a waiting monorail and this is when Hope decided she no longer liked the monorail. She had had a problem with it a couple of years back, but I don’t remember any issues last year. I guess I should go back and re-read my TR! Lol

She did okay – but she covered her ears which meant she was dealing with something. I would realized the next time we rode it that it is probably the “whoshing” air blowing sound that it makes. It is similar to the airplane, and it also reminded me of the sound of fast running water – like water filling up a bathtub, which she also has a problem with.

I assured her she would be okay and off we went. I suggested staying on an extra loop because I figured the MK would be empting out and the busses would be insane. Of course Hope did not want to stay on, but she would buy us some extra time by announcing she needed the bathroom, so we got off at the Contemporary to use the restrooms.

Then we had to go through security again – but again quick and painless. By the time we hit the MK the lines were not too crazy and we exited and got our bus to POR.

 

[Figment Forever]

On the bus, Julia and I were joking about our ME luggage. When we switched our dates, they had me change our tags because they wouldn’t be able to get us new ones in time. Julia said, “Can you imagine if they lost our luggage?” I told her don’t even joke about it.

Yet, as we opened our Royal door and entered our palace, there was NO luggage to be found!

I called Bell Services to figure our what was going on. They had me on hold and then said, yes – our luggage was there but they didn’t know what was going on because of the date change. They said they would send it right up and indeed they did.

I got out the few things we would need since we would be changing rooms in the morning. The girls settled into bed, with Hope watching “her” fireworks and soon fell asleep.

Once the girls were sleeping, I walked down to the lobby area. I wanted to confirm about checking out and checking in again – and the luggage transfer. I was shocked that the line was still all the way to the back of the lobby! I was shocked to see that some people had their pets with them! That’s when I realized Disney suspended their pet rule and allowed guests to have their pets in the room as long as they were in a carrier or cage. Again, it made me feel a little better seeing all the people who were evacuating to Disney.

I stood in the line and got a really sweet CM who was earning his ears. He answered all my questions. My biggest concern was that our luggage would transfer to the new room without any complications since we seemed to have issues today with it. They were very reassuring and told me what I needed to do. At first, they said they were trying not to move guests, but as soon as they saw we were in the Royal Room, they confirmed that yes – we would be moving. Lol I was hoping they would leave us – I really wanted Ross to be able to experience it. But oh well…

One thing is for sure, if any of the CM’s were scared, they didn’t show it. They were their usual polite, courteous selves and reassuring guests that all will be okay.

I got some coffee (in last year’s mug since we wouldn’t get our new ones until tomorrow.) and then headed back to my room. It was a beautiful night. It was hard to believe that such a monstrous storm was on its way.

By now, even though I hadn’t posted a word on FB, my friends were all texting me to see if we had canceled our trip or were there. The ones that weren’t calling me crazy were scared for us. I tried to calm them down and assured them we would be fine. My good friend lives in Tampa and was in a voluntary evacuation area -but decided to stay. She was among the “You are crazy” people. We were messaging back and forth with each other as well. Ross texted or called me hourly to check in with us and give us the latest weather update. I got back to the room and settled in for the night. It was a long day and tomorrow was sure to be adventurous. I fell asleep listening to the weather updates.

Up next: The Day before Irma

 

[djpoore94]

I ordered 2 pies – 1 regular and 1 GF half pepperoni and a drink to share and it came to under $20 which I thought was great because breakfast was a whopping $30!

How was the GF pizza? We have a Blaze near us and just found out that they offer it

 

[Figment Forever]

How was the GF pizza? We have a Blaze near us and just found out that they offer it

I thought it was excellent. A lot of GF pizzas I have had tend to break apart, like a cracker, but this one did not. It tasted just like a thin crust pizza. I am hoping a location opens near us.

 

[Figment Forever]

How was the GF pizza? We have a Blaze near us and just found out that they offer it

I forgot to mention.... the GF pizzas are made in the back area. They have a separate dedicated pizza oven for them. They also ask you if you want the employee who prepares it to use a new pair of gloves before they add your ingredients.

 

[Matt and Kelly]

Good to know about the gluten free options as we are currently waiting for Ella to have a biopsy to see if she is celiac. Fingers crossed, diabetes is enough to deal with.

 

[Figment Forever]

Good to know about the gluten free options as we are currently waiting for Ella to have a biopsy to see if she is celiac. Fingers crossed, diabetes is enough to deal with.

WDW seems to be really good with GF dining. They are very accommodating and their selection seems to get more variety every year. I do not have Celiac, I just try my best to follow a GF diet because I was having a lot of issues and going GF made me feel much better. We will keep Ella in our prayers. Hopefully she does not have Celiac.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2: Saturday, September 9th

I opened my eyes at around 7:00AM and realized I was not dreaming. I was in WDW, the worst hurricane in recorded history was heading our way, and yes, I had flown my girls in a day early to greet the infamous Irma.

I forgot to mention, the day before, mousekeeping entered our room and left a message saying that all hurricane communications will be through resort TV channel 3. They also left a flashlight. In addition, we also received phone messages on a daily basis. They really had everything covered.

Rumors were speculating the Parks were going to close Sunday & Monday but we got nothing official from WDW. It was definitely going to be a strange day.

Hope and Julia took one more ride on the magic carpet.

Hope examined her new Tsum Tsum additions.

I loved Tiana's letter, but I thought it would be a "real" letter - not something painted on the table. lol

 

[Figment Forever]

Part of me wanted to stay in our Royal Room until we had to check out, but we had lots on our to do list, so as soon as the girls were ready, I walked over to the lobby to check out/check in and hopefully get our new room.

The line was not as long as yesterday, but there were still about a dozen people in front of me. When it was my turn I tried one last time to see if they would leave us – but no, we would have to go to peasant’s quarters. Lol

I was thrilled to hear our new room was ready! So I walked back to the room where I had left Julia and Hope to wait and we said our goodbyes to our Royal Room.

Nope... a genie didn't appear for us.

I called Bell Services and someone came to haul all our stuff to our new room. As soon as all our luggage was on his cart, we walked over and found the room and dropped off the few things I didn’t have Bell Services take. We didn’t have too far to go. Our Royal Room was in Oak Manor and our new room was in Magnolia Tettace.

Since I knew our luggage was in transit, so to speak, we left for the day figuring I would get us unpacked and settled in later tonight.

On our way to the bus, we saw a lot of workers coming in to prepare for the hurricane.

 

[Figment Forever]

It was a beautiful day - which made the reality of what was heading our way even more surreal.

Off we went to catch a bus to Magic Kingdom – but no, we weren’t going into the park today. Instead we got the monorail and headed for the Poly. Tonga Toast was calling. In our original plans, I had booked Kona Café for Sunday morning, so figuring that wasn’t going to happen, we decided to go to Captain Cooks.

 

[Figment Forever]

Julia ordered the TT, Hope got a bounty platter because they didn’t have pancakes and I got GF waffles. I also picked up 2 of our mugs.

For some reason, Hope was fussy again saying she wasn’t going to eat. I think she was just excited to get the day going. Once again, I told her she didn’t have to eat, but Julia and I were going to and she would sit and wait with us. Then came another pager and another happy Hope.

Julia LOVED her TT and Hope gobbled up her breakfast too.

I started to eat my waffles and realized they weren’t cooked well and really gooey in the middle. Yuck! I brought them back to the counter and a CM apologized and said they would cook more. I thanked her and sat back down to wait. In a few minutes, I had more waffles – and these were cooked – at least a little more! Lol

I will say, I think they changed their batter for GF waffles. Last year, they were much more lighter and crispy on the outside. Whereas, this year, they were very dense and “chewy”. However, they were still Mickey waffles and you can’t go wrong there!

 

[Figment Forever]

We talked about what we wanted to do. Julia was hoping to go visit her beloved River Country, but it was already announced that Fort Wilderness was closed. She also wanted to go to AoA to do the drawing class, which used to be at the Studios. All of us wanted to play golf. I knew we needed to choose and that we probably wouldn’t have enough time to do both, so we decided on playing golf.

We decided we would go to Fantasia Gardens since we had never been there. We made our way out of the Poly and to where the transportation was.

One other thing on our list of things to do was take a Minnie Van. Well, this was on Hope’s wish list and it was something that needed to be checked off BEFORE Ross arrived. The thought of paying for transportation when the FREE Disney busses would get you to the same place would never compute in my husband’s brain, so this was better for him to find out when reading my TR.

We walked outside and I asked a CM what we needed to do to have one pick us up. She looked confused and gave me a phone number. I called it and the CM who answered asked me if a had a code or ID number. Hmmmm…. No – I just want a Minnie Van please. She then asked me what resort we were staying at. I told her POR and that’s when she relayed to me that the Minnie Van service was in a pilot program and was only available to certain resorts. POR was not one of them! My poor Hope. I had to tell her that we couldn’t ride the Minnie Van this year. This is of course as she was singing at the top of her lungs, “You're driving in the Minnie Van… to Fantasia Gardens…” I broke the news to her and Julia – funny I think we were all disappointed! I said we had to head over to the bus station. Hope was still singing her tune… so I chimed in with a new chorus, “No… we’re taking the bus to Fantasia Gardens… because Minnie won’t pick us up until next year…”

When we got to the bus stop, we sat and waited. Hope, who stopped singing, looked at me and said “You’re gonna take the Minnie Van to Fantasia Gardens.” I told her no… we would have to put it on our list for next year because it was only being tested by a few resorts – and POR was not one of them. I admitted to her that I was sad too.

Soon a bus for HS arrived and we hopped on.

Sad face for no Minnie van...

When we arrived at HS, we headed over to the Friendship Boat – but before we boarded out boat, I got to do something else we had never done because Ross never had the patience to wait for…

Then it was off to our first ride on the Friendship Boat.

We got off at the Swan/ Dolphin and asked directions from there. It was an easy walk over and soon we made it!