Trip Report It's a trap! (LIVE-ish) ***COMPLETED***

I wish I had seen this sooner

Part 1: In-laws are better than outlaws, right?

• 3 Nights at Cabana Bay
• 2 full park days at Universal and maybe partials on the either end.
• The Cast:
  • MIL
  • SIL
  • and I (BES)

Part 2: Has anyone in this family ever even seen a chicken?

• 1 night at AKL in a 1 bedroom villa.
• 6 nights at POP in 2 rooms.
• 7 days of park hopping
• The Cast:
  • my parents
  • my younger brother
  • my nephew (who will be 8)
  • and myself

 

[NessNewt]

I love your and your SIL's plan! Smart.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 2:

Back at the resort SIL took a nap. Went with MIL to check out the lazy river.

Bought some tubes and did a couple of lazy river laps. MIL loved it.

Spent some time hot tub. MIL wanted some sweet tea from the pool bar and wanted to buy me a drink drink. I politely declined. Not a big fan of coconut or rum drinks but after more insisting I got a mocktail- All that Razz.

We chatted for a while. Back to the room. SIL was up. Washed up and headed out to City Walk for dinner

Cowfish time!

Super good. Day 2 and I already failed a trip goal. That tiny hamburger was worth it. Got some sort of gin based drink.

Back to USF after dinner.

MIL and I did the Horror Makeup Show.

SIL rode Simpson’s ride and Despicable Me.

Caught the Hogwarts Express and went back to Hogsmeade just in time for the castle light show.

Took the walking path back to the hotel. It took us 30 min with stops. I figure a brisk walker could do it in 15min.

MIL was tired but stayed that she had a wonderful day.

Mission accomplished.

 

[Nunu]

Oh truth. I have left out all of the millennial shaming and everything was better in the past talk. She is quite the old soul.

Oh my goodness! I can relate to this part!
I made a Father/daughter trip about 2 months ago, and Dad goes: "remind me to take my meds every morning, ok?" (He is hypertense)
Then when I did, he got mad about it, every single day!
"Patience", that was the name of that trip!
Hang in there!

 

[Darstarr]

Hi BES! I am here. Expect rain tomorrow. Just saying. ️️️

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 2 Wrap Up

Although I broke a trip goal already I also accomplished one.

An outfit. Not pieces of clothes random from a bag. Bonus point- my shoes were magenta too but that was unplanned.

I wore my hair down until pool time too. A million thanks to @MegRuss626 Big Sexy Hair Weatherproof spray is amazing.

These are non-frizzed curls right before pool time:

So that was about after ~6 hours outside. (!!)

Final day 2 shout out to Seabands.

In the morning I found an unopened box of Seabands in my toiletries bag. Got them for solo trip to possibly use for FoP but didn’t.

Offered them to MIL. She wore them all morning and didn’t get sick. I think they helped to ease some morning anxiety than anything else. Oh the power of suggestion. What a sneaky BES.

Hamburgers: 1! (I feel like it should only count as 0.25 or 0.5)
Drinks: 1
Steps: 23,918

Perhaps donuts and Seabands have a
similar source of magic.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Oh my goodness! I can relate to this part!
I made a Father/daughter trip about 2 months ago, and Dad goes: "remind me to take my meds every morning, ok?" (He is hypertense)
Then when I did, he got mad about it, every single day!
"Patience", that was the name of that trip!
Hang in there!

Ugh. It’s really hard to parent parents sometimes. And thanks for the support.

Hi BES! I am here. Expect rain tomorrow. Just saying.

Welcome!

I brought so many ponchos. And then MIL forced me to take all of the ponchos she brought. Let me know if you need one

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 3 morning:

SIL had finally managed to get a hold of the multiple touring plans and made a checklist of everything we ()had left to do.

Started in IoA. Maybe like 2nd or 3rd in line at opening.

SIL and I rode Hulk and Spider-Man with zero wait. I think that was my first ride of Spidey. Very fun. Well the parts I saw. Closed my eyes for the floating/swinging/falling stuff.

Today MIL pre-declared that she *may* ride things.

Next we all did Cat in the Hat and the High in the Sky Seuss Trolley Train.

Pretty garbage cans. I love the detail in the entry land. Would have loved to explore it more.

Then we all rode Kong. I had pre-warned MIL about the potential eye closing with the screens but assured her the physical motion of the Jeep didn’t involve spinning.

She liked it!

Back to Hogsmeade. (One of these days I want to enjoy the Jurassic Park area but not today...)

(work on the new ride)

Back on the train. This was our first time in the opposite direction. Back to Diagon Alley!

 

[MegRuss626]

I wore my hair down until pool time too. A million thanks to @MegRuss626 Big Sexy Hair Weatherproof spray is amazing.

Yayyy!! I’m so glad it helped! Those of us with humidity challenged hair have to stick together!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 3 Midday:

MIL grabbed a bench by the stage. Celestina Warbeck and the Banshees were about to perform. SIL and I grabbed drinks.

I got the Wizard’s Brew. SIL got the Fishy Green Ale. Heading back to the bench we heard no singing.

Per MIL the show started and Celestina’s mic cut out after 1 song and they stopped the show.

No worries. The Tales of Beedle the Bard started soon. We people watched and drank and then enjoyed the show.

Next we did E. T. It may have been our 2nd longest wait of this part of the trip.

Time to head towards the exit. As we walked we talked about our lunch options. We realized we could get to Toothsome’s without having to go all the way around City Walk.

A Toothsome shake was my only trip request. Lunch was a pleasant bonus.

Seated immediately upstairs. Loved the decor.

I had a chicken salad (to make more shake room). Can’t remember what the others had but we all liked it.

Doctor Professor Penelope Toothsome and her android friend Jacques went table to table and interacted. They were a delight.

And then finally. The moment I had been waiting for- dessert.

I had the Cookie Jar shake but with coffee ice cream instead of vanilla. MIL and SIL split a very rich and delicious chocolate mousse.

I have read that these should be shared. Any shake can be a personal sized one if you try hard enough.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 3 afternoon/evening:

SIL and I hung out in the lazy river while MIL chatted with FIL in the room

We freshened up and went back to the parks for the last time. Due to our heavy lunch we planned for a light dinner.

SIL wanted to try the taco ‘truck’ in Simpsons area. Closed.

We all ended up chatting with our respective spouses for a bit while we figured out a plan B.

Ended up going to Mel’s Drive In. SIL got chili cheese fries. I got an Impossible Burger. MIL got apple pie.

Not a glamorous shot. It tasted slightly better than it looked. Didn’t taste like a real burger exactly but closer than most veggie burgers.

SIL and I rode The Mummy. Still my favorite ride at Universal.

Then we all did the Jimmy Fallon ride. (With much eye closing from MIL and I)

We considered lining up for the light show but instead went on a hunt for souvenirs for my nieces. (MIL was very concerned all day that she wouldn’t be able to find anything. For kids. In a theme park. ) MIL finally found things for the girls.

I settled on a Minions craft thing for my older niece and some Minions play figurines for the younger one.

MIL wanted to know what I was getting my nephew. Nothing from here. With 7 days in Disney with Aunt BES I assured her he would be getting more than enough.

MIL was also concerned that I didn’t plan to buy DH anything. After much concern-mentioning I sent him a pic of a shirt that I thought he might wear.

Yes. He would wear it. Some of his T-shirts are getting pretty wore so this worked to add something new to the rotation and quiet MIL.

(Thought about getting one for my nephew. It didn’t think it would survive the journey to the airport and then to AKL)

Back to the room for our final night. It was the only super crammed bus ride we had at Universal. Chatted with a nice family. The dad gave us the adult scoop on the Pteranodon Flyers. Kind of glad to hear it’s not as cool as it looks since I’ve always wanted to ride it but never could.

Back at the room we started to pack up and went to bed.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 3 Wrap Up:

Hamburgers: 0? (Technically)
Drinks : 1 Wizard’s Brew
Steps: 23,095

The packing up process involved MIL trying to get me to take a bunch of the stuff that she brought. Even though she was driving.

What I ended up agreeing to take:

• Water
• Propel
• An entire bag of apples
• An entire bag of cuties
• Chips
• A brand new pair of sandals
• Only 1 of the 5 lanyards offered

Just think of what I declined.

SIL salvaged the almost brand new roll of paper towel that I declined and MIL stated that she was just going to have to throw out then.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part One Day 4 morning:

Nothing too exciting. Up fairly early. More packing. Breakfast in the room again. Mostly to eat up more of the food that I couldn’t/wouldn’t take.

Helped MIL and SIL take stuff to their car. We said our goodbyes. MIL again stated that she had a great trip.

Then they were off. And I had about 2 hours before my shuttle back to MCO.

I showered and packed up and relaxed in the room. My shuttle picked up right on time and I was off to start Part Two.

Part One- Completed! I survived. Day one was rough. Glad it got better.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 1: and so it begins

I’ll back up a bit time-wise. And reset my day numbering. Let’s go back to the final morning of part one but just focused on my family.

Got a text from mom that they were thru airport security at 5:15am. Their first flight was on schedule.

Their first flight was going to land in ATL at a different terminal than the second flight was going to depart from.

I sent from text instructions on what to do to my mom and brother. I fell back to sleep for a bit but soon it was time to get up and complete trip part one.

Just after MIL and SIL departed I got updates from my family.

They made it to the new terminal. My instructions were helpful. My dad did try go in the wrong direction a time or two.

They had to move a gate over and wait for a new plane due to a plane-bird encounter.

(Cabana Bay from my shuttle)

This delay gave me about 45 min to relax in the airport after my shuttle arrived.

Saw this on my way to get coffee:

Neat idea. Sat with my coffee and tried to prepare mentally for family time.

Greeted them just after the fonorail. They were glad to see me but everyone was a little tense/tired.

They decided to do lunch in the airport. (Good call hangry family) Some tense decision making about lunch choices- suprise they all wanted different things.

Eventually we made it to the Magic Express area.

There was brief moment when my dad said he put all their magic bands in their checked luggage. Luckily mom had taken them out and had them in her purse.

Off to AKL!

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 1: Midday

Our first night was at AKL-Jambo in a 1 bedroom villa savanna-view.

This is likely a once-in-a-lifetime thing for my family so the plan was to spend all day at the resort.

(For those of you who missed the pre-TR we couldn’t book POP for our entire stay. I decided that I would pay for the initial night at AKL instead.)

Family wandered the lobby while I checked in. Our room wasn’t yet. Nephew swam and we relaxed by the pool.

Never got a room ready text. Eventually got an email about 3:55.

We were in the Uzima savanna!

We had planned to do the free culinary tour at 4:15 so we had just enough time to put some stuff in the room and head to Jiko.

(They all did a quick wow moment with the room and saw some friends from the balcony first.)

The culinary was neat. We started at Jiko. Our tour guide there told us all about the restaurant and the inspirations for the food and decor. There we sampled some bread with four different types of dip. All delicious.

Switched guides at Boma. Our guide there told us a lot about Boma and also about his home country of Zimbabwe. Here we tried the butternut squash soup. And also got a zebra dome! Nephew loved the zebra dome and I was impressed he at least tried the soup.

Back to the room. Now they could fully take it all in. Many wows.

It was declared to be the nicest hotel they had ever been to. I even got some thank yous for the room.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 1 Evening:

Eventually we went to the Mara for dinner. I got the falafel. Very good.

Back to the room to change. We had a slight problem first. Well- my family had a slight problem. Their checked luggage arrived. For reasons none of us can ever know my dad locked their luggage fully knowing he didn’t know the combination lock.

We tried every 3 digit code with significance. We tried googling how to pick them. Dad was about to try to break the lock. (Despite being given several other options) Eventually bro figured them out. Both suitcases had different codes. Both were random numbers.

Bro and I agreed to swim with nephew if we went to Kidani Village. It was a pleasant walk. I think a cooler pool. Nice night swimming.

Nephew was too tired to try the night savanna viewing by our room. They all were since they got up early.

Relaxing in the room and then bedtime for all.

Part Two Day 1 Wrap Up:

Hamburgers: 0
Drinks: 0
Steps: 13,474

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 2 morning:

Up early for breakfast at Boma. A family favorite. Family was interested in trying more of the African food based on yesterday’s tour.

Then more hotel exploration.

(Nephew declared this looked like mustaches from far away)

While in the room to pack up nephew asked a great rhetorical question that I’m glad only I heard. “Why is it Aunt BES that you’re the only person who doesn’t annoy me?”

Nephew wanted know what we were doing when we left a tip with a note for Mousekeeping. Without prompting he added a little something.

Some final hotel exploration. Got to chat with a very enthusiast CM about international migratory bird day.

Family really enjoyed AKL and were sad to leave. Nephew declared that we should stay a whole month next time.

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 2 Midday:

Off to Animal Kingdom!

Our first FP was for KS. Our guide Lauren was amazing. She had a very eventful tour but handled it so well.

• Very vocal young Wilderness Explorer onboard that was constantly trying to talk over her with other animal facts.
• One of the rhinos was umm... in the mood for love. She made a quick comment of “I think you can see why we’re going to keep going..” so she didn’t have to explain the five-legged rhino to any youngsters.
• Just as she talked about the first hippo we saw it very visibly soiled its pool. “Wow folks. Nature sure is beautiful in all of its forms! Let’s just look at the hippos on the left now who are not doing that.”

Despite it being around noon we saw a ton of animals. I think that was my favorite KS trip ever.

We had lunch at Satu’li Canteen. A first for all of us. I had a chicken/salad bowl. At least one other person had the cheeseburger pods and liked them.

Off to Everest for FP #2.

Then bro and I took one (or two rather) for the team and rode the Primeval Whirl twice. It was nephew’s favorite ride last trip. It’s worth it to hear his squeals.

Final FP of the day at FoP. Everyone rode it. Everyone was impressed. (Mom and I did a lot of eye closing though. We’ll probably sit out ride number 2 later in the week)

Everyone was super hot at this point. Time to head back to POP.

On the way out of Pandora we tried the Pongu Lumpia. Very good. Eaten too quickly for a picture. Not too pineapple-y or cream cheesy.

 

[Swissmiss]

Your nephew sounds like a really sweet kid

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Part Two Day 2 evening:

Checked in to POP. Declined mousekeeping. Had dinner in the POP food court. I had the kid’s pot roast.

This was my family’s first POP visit since the renovation. They were impressed. We had two connecting rooms in the eighties.

Nephew swam. I chatted with DH. He sounded terrible. He definitely caught a cold and was feeling pretty bad.

On the brightside he remarked that at least it was good I wasn’t there so he didn’t have to worry about getting me sick.

Had a pretty low key evening just relaxing in the room.

Part Two Day 2 Wrap Up:

Hamburgers: 0
Drinks: 0
Steps: 18,766

 

[Back!Elbow!Shoulders!]

Your nephew sounds like a really sweet kid

He is for the most part. He is also really really stubborn. On this side of his family he has grown accustomed to never being told no, so that’s hard at times.

I’m in a weird position where it looks like I could be his mom but really I have no authority over him and my parents choose not to.

Bro and I do what we can without upsetting anyone too much.