Trip Report Lessons in Geography

We've been back for about a month now, and I got my pictures all sorted, and I don't have daily rehearsals or performances now, so I guess this is the time to start my trip report.
I never finished the one from 2016, but I took notes this time, which should make it a bit easier, but it's still a 3 and a half week trip, so there's a LOT to cover.

The basic details:
July 20th-August 3rd at Disney with my four: Myself, my husband M, my Daughter E (13) and my son A (11)
My brother's family joined us for the first week: My brother J, his husband also J, and their daughter N (6).
My cousins met up with us the first day, and we all had dinner together....I believe there were 20 of us in total.
August 4th-6th was just whatever we wanted to do.
August 7th-11th at Universal Orlando
August 12th- Flying home

We stayed at Caribbean Beach resort for the Disney portion of the trip, and at Royal Pacific (Universal's version of the Poly) for the Universal part. In between we were at the Doubletree at Seaworld, and for the last night before we flew out, we were at Allure resort.

Here's my 4, my brother's 3, and 3 of the cousins' group.
Adults left to right:
My brother-in-law J,my brother J, me, my cousin's boyfriend K, my cousin C, my husband M.
Kids:
My niece N (6), My cousin's daughter L (8...yes, she's tiny), my son A (11) and my daughter E (13)

Got all that? Good! Let's go!

 

[riverside]

I was packing my bag for the day. A hates sunscreen. He doesn't like the feel or the smell, but he refuses to use the spray.

I LOVE the smell of sunscreen(strange I know). But I never use it(shame on me). When we're at a park & someone is spraying it I'm breathing in as much as possible to take in the smell!!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

I LOVE the smell of sunscreen(strange I know). But I never use it(shame on me). When we're at a park & someone is spraying it I'm breathing in as much as possible to take in the smell!!

I love the smell of sunscreen too, especially Coppertone.

 

[Tuvalu]

I went to the restroom there, but they were FILTHY...unflushed toilets, toilet paper on the floor...bad enough that I decided it could wait.

Never EVER use those Tomorrowland restrooms. They are the worst maintained in the park....in any of the parks!

 

[riverside]

Never EVER use those Tomorrowland restrooms. They are the worst maintained in the park....in any of the parks!

And I thought that honor belonged to the restrooms next to City Hall......

 

[Songbird76]

Never EVER use those Tomorrowland restrooms. They are the worst maintained in the park....in any of the parks!

The ones by the purple wall were fine, but the ones by Merchant of Venus were AWFUL. I get nightmares when I am sleeping and I have to pee...I dream that I can't find a clean toilet, or a working one, and that bathroom was like every nightmare I've ever had about that. I could not bring myself to actually use one of them, so we had to walk to the Purple Wall ones.

 

[Songbird76]

I LOVE the smell of sunscreen(strange I know). But I never use it(shame on me). When we're at a park & someone is spraying it I'm breathing in as much as possible to take in the smell!!

I HAVE to use it because I have really sensitive skin and I can burn in minutes, even through sunscreen. So I have to use it, and A is really fair-skinned, too, so I make him use it, but it's like battling a toddler sometimes. He tenses up and squints and makes it REALLY hard. And that's with the one he doesn't mind as much. But I don't like the smell either. A lot of it smells like coconut, which I don't like, so that's probably why.

 

[Tuvalu]

And I thought that honor belonged to the restrooms next to City Hall......

Those are pristine compared to the ones by Merchant of Venus, as @Songbird76 experienced.

 

[Songbird76]

Those are pristine compared to the ones by Merchant of Venus, as @Songbird76 experienced.

^^^This...she's not kidding. We used the ones by City Hall the first MK day, but I could not use the ones at MoV.

 

[Songbird76]

Monday, July 29th, continued...

We finished breakfast and M headed off to play Ingress. I had no idea where he was planning to go, but A really wanted to do TT. (Surprise, surprise!) I took the kids there to get a return time, but it was down, so we went to Imagination instead. The kids played in the fountain area for a bit.

A LOVES those fountains and likes to try to "catch" the water as it jumps over the walkway. After we played for a bit, I dragged the kids to the World Showcase. I hadn't really gotten to see much of it yet this trip, and one of the things I REALLY wanted to do was to watch the films in Canada and France. I had seen China last time.

To my surprise, A actually loved the film...he thought it was funny. But he didn't like standing for it, and I have to agree with him there. You're on your feet enough without standing through movies, too, however short they are.

We went to the UK pavilion and got Rowntrees. I asked the person in the shop which kind was best because my friend in the UK wasn't responding to my messages. How dare she have a life that doesn't revolve around my querries about English candy! E loved them! I thought they were ok, and so did A, but not something I would seek out because I was craving them. We stopped at the quick service window to ask if @susan lees ' son was working, but he was not at the moment. They said he'd be there in about an hour. So we moved on to France to watch the movie there.

I was happy to sit for this one. And it was so dead! Hardly anyone was there....kind of sad, really. I wonder how much that will change with the addition of the Beauty and the Beast sing along, and the added attraction of the Ratatouille ride. I guess time will tell. I liked the movie though. While we were there, we missed our Soarin' fastpass, but I was just quick enough to change it to after dinner. Whew!

We went back toward the UK. Lookwho we found!

Poor Jack might have been a bit creeped out, but he was a good sport and took a selfie with us.

We headed to our FP for SSE, but even the FP line was YUGE. We changed that one to before dinner. I know...it's not efficient, running back and forth, but I had zero desire to stand in that heat for however long it took to get through the line. It's in full sun and I did not want a repeat of our first AK day, wasting hours trying to cool down after getting heat exhaustion. So we went back to the American pavilion for Voices of Liberty and American Adventure, since it had been cut short last time.

There was a band called Starlord playing in the outdoor theater there, and A was loving it, and we wanted a drink anyway, which we couldn't bring into the American Pavilion. So we decided to get some rootbeer from the stand outside and watch Starlord while we drank. I think E actually got a rootbeer float...maybe they called it Grootbeer? I know there was some play on words. E was happy because Starlord did a Queen song. (she's a Queen fan)

We watched 2 VOL sets and got some signatures. A didn't care about signatures, so it was just E. M joined us for American Adventure, and it turns out he had kind of been in the same places as we were the whole day anyway. He had gone and watched Impressions de Frans and gone to the UK pavilion, too, and he had been back behind Imagination. M thought the American Adventure attraction was absolutely cheesy. He finds the American...patriotism? kind of over the top and a bit creepy. We got married just a couple of weeks after September 11th, and while we were on our honeymoon, we ate at Hard Rock Cafe at Universal, and on the radio there was I'm Proud to be an American, and of course people stopped what they were doing and sang along, etc...he was creeped out by that because you would never see that kind of display in the Netherlands. He finds the history aspect of American Adventure interesting, but the "We're so great, and our country is better than other countries!" is disturbing to him, like we're being brainwashed to worship our government like a diety. He wasn't too disappointed when it was over. I think it's a one and done for him.
I love the flags in the stairway! So cool to see all the different versions. I wish I had had time to just peruse them!

When we got done, it was time for our SSE fastpass, but we really didn't feel like walking back and forth, so we decided to look through the art gallery in the Japan pavilion instead. The Japanese CMs LOVED E's ears. She designed them herself and made the tsum tsums from socks, and she painted wood grains in the bow...they are very detailed and very much in that Japanese Kawaii style, so pretty much every CM we came across was very excited about her ears. She also made a pair of Lady and the Tramp ones in the same style, but never got the chance to wear them in the Japan pavilion. We also watched the Japanese drummers for a while.

Anyone know if that divide in the toes of the shoes has a purpose? I've never seen shoes like that and it doesn't seem like it would be particularly comfortable, so I wondered if there was a reason for it.

 

[susan lees]

Monday, July 29th, continued...

We finished breakfast and M headed off to play Ingress. I had no idea where he was planning to go, but A really wanted to do TT. (Surprise, surprise!) I took the kids there to get a return time, but it was down, so we went to Imagination instead. The kids played in the fountain area for a bit.

View attachment 416425

A LOVES those fountains and likes to try to "catch" the water as it jumps over the walkway. After we played for a bit, I dragged the kids to the World Showcase. I hadn't really gotten to see much of it yet this trip, and one of the things I REALLY wanted to do was to watch the films in Canada and France. I had seen China last time.

View attachment 416426

To my surprise, A actually loved the film...he thought it was funny. But he didn't like standing for it, and I have to agree with him there. You're on your feet enough without standing through movies, too, however short they are.

We went to the UK pavilion and got Rowntrees. I asked the person in the shop which kind was best because my friend in the UK wasn't responding to my messages. How dare she have a life that doesn't revolve around my querries about English candy! E loved them! I thought they were ok, and so did A, but not something I would seek out because I was craving them. We stopped at the quick service window to ask if @susan lees ' son was working, but he was not at the moment. They said he'd be there in about an hour. So we moved on to France to watch the movie there.

View attachment 416427

I was happy to sit for this one. And it was so dead! Hardly anyone was there....kind of sad, really. I wonder how much that will change with the addition of the Beauty and the Beast sing along, and the added attraction of the Ratatouille ride. I guess time will tell. I liked the movie though. While we were there, we missed our Soarin' fastpass, but I was just quick enough to change it to after dinner. Whew!

We went back toward the UK. Lookwho we found!
View attachment 416429

Poor Jack might have been a bit creeped out, but he was a good sport and took a selfie with us.

We headed to our FP for SSE, but even the FP line was YUGE. We changed that one to before dinner. I know...it's not efficient, running back and forth, but I had zero desire to stand in that heat for however long it took to get through the line. It's in full sun and I did not want a repeat of our first AK day, wasting hours trying to cool down after getting heat exhaustion. So we went back to the American pavilion for Voices of Liberty and American Adventure, since it had been cut short last time.

There was a band called Starlord playing in the outdoor theater there, and A was loving it, and we wanted a drink anyway, which we couldn't bring into the American Pavilion. So we decided to get some rootbeer from the stand outside and watch Starlord while we drank. I think E actually got a rootbeer float...maybe they called it Grootbeer? I know there was some play on words. E was happy because Starlord did a Queen song. (she's a Queen fan)

We watched 2 VOL sets and got some signatures. A didn't care about signatures, so it was just E. M joined us for American Adventure, and it turns out he had kind of been in the same places as we were the whole day anyway. He had gone and watched Impressions de Frans and gone to the UK pavilion, too, and he had been back behind Imagination. M thought the American Adventure attraction was absolutely cheesy. He finds the American...patriotism? kind of over the top and a bit creepy. We got married just a couple of weeks after September 11th, and while we were on our honeymoon, we ate at Hard Rock Cafe at Universal, and on the radio there was I'm Proud to be an American, and of course people stopped what they were doing and sang along, etc...he was creeped out by that because you would never see that kind of display in the Netherlands. He finds the history aspect of American Adventure interesting, but the "We're so great, and our country is better than other countries!" is disturbing to him, like we're being brainwashed to worship our government like a diety. He wasn't too disappointed when it was over. I think it's a one and done for him.
I love the flags in the stairway! So cool to see all the different versions. I wish I had had time to just peruse them!
View attachment 416430View attachment 416431

When we got done, it was time for our SSE fastpass, but we really didn't feel like walking back and forth, so we decided to look through the art gallery in the Japan pavilion instead. The Japanese CMs LOVED E's ears. She designed them herself and made the tsum tsums from socks, and she painted wood grains in the bow...they are very detailed and very much in that Japanese Kawaii style, so pretty much every CM we came across was very excited about her ears. She also made a pair of Lady and the Tramp ones in the same style, but never got the chance to wear them in the Japan pavilion. We also watched the Japanese drummers for a while.

View attachment 416432View attachment 416433


Anyone know if that divide in the toes of the shoes has a purpose? I've never seen shoes like that and it doesn't seem like it would be particularly comfortable, so I wondered if there was a reason for it.

View attachment 416434

Brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the time to seek him out. Not long now until we get over to visit with him

 

[Songbird76]

Monday, July 29th, continued...

Our ADR for tonight was Teppan Edo. I was a bit apprehensive about this one. I thought my husband would love it because they have Sushi there, of which he's a huge fan, but I had had only one experience with a hibachi grill and it was....interesting? After my dad's funeral, we had had to clean out his house. My dad was a cattle rancher who had lived alone for 35 years and was pretty misogynistic in regards to housekeeping. He was also a hoarder. So it was quite a job wading through stacks of mail and catalogs and trying not to step on kitchen knives and guns under the debris. (And that is not an exageration....more than once, I put my foot down and felt something under the junk and when I cleared the papers away, found a pistol or a knife. We filled 7 large moving boxes with knives alone, still in the packaging and never opened. Henckels and AG Russell, and Cutco, etc.) His kitchen was unuseable....he didn't cook at all and and his fridge was disgusting, so we had to drive 40 miles to town for dinner. We went to a hibachi grill, which admittedly, in a small town in Wyoming is probably a bit worrisome anyway, but we went. And in the course of our meal, our chef managed to send an onion skidding across the hotplate, which promptly hit my soup bowl, dumping hot soup into my lap, lost control of an egg, which cracked open and sent egg yoke flying across my plate and into my rootbeer glass....fortunately the server was cleaning up the soup at the time, so she was right there to clean up the egg and I had a fresh glass of rootbeer in only a minute, and he beaned me between the eyes with a chunk of zucchini. I was hoping our dinner at Teppan Edo would be....let's say less eventful.

We were seated with a family from Canada who mostly spoke French. E had just finished her first year of high school, in which she had French. The father asked her a few basic questions and seemed fairly impressed with what she knew after only 1 year. We chatted about the differences in school systems, etc.

M ordered Sushi to begin with. He hadn't realized they would bring him so much!! None of us eat sushi, so he tried to share with our dinner mates, but none of them ate sushi, either. He had already eaten some by this point.

A wouldn't eat anything on the menu, but you have to pay anyway, so we decided to use his credit for something on the menu because we couldn't decide between 2 things. M got the Salmon, E and I the Filet Mignon, and A got the steak, which we would all share.

The food was good, but I found the chef a bit boring. We could hear the one next to us telling jokes and really getting everyone at the table involved. But I can't complain, because at least I walked away clean, unharmed, and having eaten delicious food. I'll take it!

For dessert, there weren't many options, but I think we all tried the ginger cake, except A, who was waiting to eat fries when we were done.

E wasn't a fan and decided she'd rather have a funnel cake from the American pavilion stand. So we headed back there to get a cookies and cream funnel cake. A wanted real food, so M took him back to the resort and said I could "reciprocate in kind at another time." Um....hello....didn't I just have him the whole day you went off and did your own thing, and now you think I owe you for taking him to get fries?? He's your kid, you are not doing me a huge favor by spending time with your child. It's not a chore like doing the dishes where you trade off and tonight is your night. We had had a really nice day, the 3 of us, and A hadn't complained ONCE about going to the different countries with us, and not getting to do TT, etc...I was really super proud of him for his behavior and M was acting like it was a HUGE sacrifice on his part to take him to get something to eat while I took E to get dessert. And yeah, if you insist on taking him to the resort for fries instead of to Electric Umbrella or something, then yes, you do have to miss the Soarin' Fastpass that was coming up, but no one said you had to do that.

We got our funnel cake to share and had to defend it from ducks as we sat down at the fountain to eat it.

After we finished our treat, E and I went to our Soarin' fastpass, then walked on at SSE....it was now dead, so it was fine that we skipped the huge line earlier. And this part cracked us up!!!
You know it takes a picture and inserts your "faces" into your future at the end. Well, here are our pictures:

Where is E's face? And what IS that? That, my friends is the lace pattern on my pale pink shirt, which I guess does sort of resemble the color of flesh. It's my bewb, people. The camera thought my bewb was E's face.

The weather was getting iffy again...the sky was cloudy, and while the color wasn't that dirty yellow, it did have several "tails" as my mom called them...parts of the cloud that dip down to a kind of tail shape, that can easily start rotating. So we hotfooted it out of the park and went straight to bed when we got back to the resort. I think we were only an hour behind M and A, and they hadn't been back long because they had stopped for food.

 

[Songbird76]

Brilliant. Thank you so much for taking the time to seek him out. Not long now until we get over to visit with him

It was no trouble! We were right there anyway, and I love to meet new people. He was a bit caught of guard, but I can't blame him...strangers he's never heard of, who know him by name and where he's from. We explained that I was a member on this board, so he understood, but I wouldn't blame him for thinking we were some sort of crazy stalkers.
He was very kind to do a selfie with us, though!

 

[Songbird76]

Just a few PP pictures that I remembered from the day M went home early and JJ left, and from this Epcot day as well. I had asked if there were magic shots.

For this one, A didn't want to stand in the sun. There was a bench in the shade and he opted not to get in our picture.

The photographer told him to look at the bench he was sitting on, he had something special for a photo for him....

Not sure what was supposed to be there. I doubt he was referring to whatever is splattered at the other end there.

And then some PP pictures from our second AK day with JJ...I forgot we walked the Gorilla Falls trail or whatever it was there.

We got to see baby grace that day, too. The CM said some days mama will hold her to display her to everyone, and some days she'll hold her like "No, don't look."
We got some of both.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

Sunday, July 28th, continued...

After singing happy birthday to whomever was having a birthday, we continued on to Carrots, as I mentioned, but our picture never showed up, and Alice wasn't working, so we couldn't give her a pair of ears, which was good because the one pair broke and we needed to fix it.

Then we did our first fastpass. It was hot, and we wanted to get wet...apparently the girls in front of us did not, and they couldn't figure out the rain ponchos, so they were holding them up above their heads, blocking our view of everything for a while.
View attachment 416063View attachment 416064

I did this ride for the first time in 2016...I don't like heights, and I had always been too scared to do this ride because of the drop. Now I love it!

We got a bit wet, but not soaked by any means. And when we came off the ride, it started raining, so we were going to get more wet anyway. We had an ADR, so we started walking on the now deserted path, but I discovered it was deserted because we were going the wrong way, toward BTMR, which was temporarily closed due to weather. We switched gears and got back on track. (No, I have no sense of direction....like...practically zero, and often find myself lost and Google maps rarely helps because I can't figure out which way the little blue dot is facing and I end up pacing back and forth trying to figure out in which direction I'm moving in relation to the map. I'm like Joey. I need to be IN the map.)

Where was our lunch ADR? Here are some clues:
View attachment 416065View attachment 416066

We were announced and seated at a little corner next to a frosted window and the host told us that Jack Frost had just been by....or maybe he said Elsa. I don't remember, but he explained away the frosted glass that kept us from being able to see outside. It was a really nice spot though.

View attachment 416067

One thing I found amusing: You know how in the World Showcase in Epcot, each pavilion is staffed by cultural representatives from that country? Well, here we were in what is absolutely Americana, and our server was Khalid from Morocco.

We both ordered the Bill of Fare. I had been so looking forward to this meal...all my favorites that I can't get in the Netherlands. Stuffing, mac 'n' cheese, turkey with gravy, dinner rolls, etc...E was pretty much only there for the mac 'n' cheese. We have this inside joke in our family when something is soooooo good we wish we didn't have to share, we say "Oh no,...it's terrible. You shouldn't try it. Leave it up to me....I will make that sacrifice so you don't have to eat it."
So our food came...

First our Patriots Slushies: Blueberry, Lemonade, and Cherry flavors.....sooooooooo good
View attachment 416069

And our salad:
View attachment 416071

and the dinner rolls
View attachment 416073

And finally our main meal and sides:
View attachment 416074View attachment 416068

Oh thank you Lord for this magnificent feast...POTROAST!! I haven't had potroast for YEARS....DECADES even. Oh how I have missed it. And stuffing....I LOVE stuffing.

And then I taste the mac 'n' cheese. Well...they SAID it was mac 'n' cheese, but I'm not convinced it was anything more than wallpaper paste. It was NASTY. It was not smooth and creamy, but had a graininess to it, and there was no flavor to it at all....it was just like....mush. I immediately covered my mouth and told E that it was BAD and she should not eat it, and she looked at me and she asks "Are you being serious right now, or is this one of those 'It's so bad' because it's really good things." I told her I was absolutely serious. She of course wanted to know just how bad it was...so she tasted it. "OMG! That's awful!" I maybe should have complained, because wow was it inedible, but we had SO much other food that was amazing, it seemed petty to send back one dish and maybe get someone in trouble for it. And I don't like confrontation if I can help it. So we just pushed it to the side and ate everything else.
E doesn't care for stuffing, so she gave me hers. And same with the mashed potatoes. She LOVED the pork with mushroom sauce...I think she'd have licked that mushroom sauce off her plate if it was not considered rude. We ended up ordering more stuffing, mashed potatoes, and the pork in mushroom sauce. Our waiter was so great about it.

Next to us was a table with a family and the oldest girl obviously had something....maybe autism, maybe something else, but she had some sort of disorder. And it was her birthday and she was just so excited to be there on her birthday and it was so so sweet. I think she was turning 16? But of course the server sang happy birthday, and E and I both being singers ourselves, sang along, and then E told the girl "Happy birthday", but the girl didn't hear. A few minutes later, the girl came over to our table and asked E "Did you say 'Happy birthday to me?" and E said "Yes, I did." and the girl just got teary and said "That's so sweet! Thank you!!" Something so small made her feel so happy, that a stranger wished her a happy birthday. Please, if you see someone wearing a birthday button, or a honeymoon button, or whatever celebration, wish them a good one...it can mean so much to them and make their day.

And I've attatched the max number of pictures, so....on to the next post.

Glad that aside from the mac and cheese, you had a great experience at LTT.

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

So nice of that girl to wave to you at CoP. E did a wonderful little deed that day.

 

[Songbird76]

So nice of that girl to wave to you at CoP. E did a wonderful little deed that day.

She really was a sweetheart. Very polite, etc. And E is that way by nature. She always wants everyone to feel happy and involved and accepted. She's my little Hufflepuff.

 

[riverside]

It was no trouble! We were right there anyway, and I love to meet new people. He was a bit caught of guard, but I can't blame him...strangers he's never heard of, who know him by name and where he's from. We explained that I was a member on this board, so he understood, but I wouldn't blame him for thinking we were some sort of crazy stalkers.
He was very kind to do a selfie with us, though!

I’m jealous! I’m 0 for 2 in meeting him!! Hopefully 3rd times the charm next month!!

 

[susan lees]

It was no trouble! We were right there anyway, and I love to meet new people. He was a bit caught of guard, but I can't blame him...strangers he's never heard of, who know him by name and where he's from. We explained that I was a member on this board, so he understood, but I wouldn't blame him for thinking we were some sort of crazy stalkers.
He was very kind to do a selfie with us, though!

He told me someone had approached him and got a photo so he was fine. A few people I know from work etc have also been to see him. All photos are very appreciated on this side of the pond .

 

[susan lees]

I’m jealous! I’m 0 for 2 in meeting him!! Hopefully 3rd times the charm next month!!

Fingers crossed @riverside and me too

 

[MySmallWorldof4]

The ones by the purple wall were fine, but the ones by Merchant of Venus were AWFUL. I get nightmares when I am sleeping and I have to pee...I dream that I can't find a clean toilet, or a working one, and that bathroom was like every nightmare I've ever had about that. I could not bring myself to actually use one of them, so we had to walk to the Purple Wall ones.

It is really bad when you have a little one with you in a women's restroom, and you get asked, "What's that in the toilet?" Really people? You know that if it doesn't all go down, there is a small button that you can push to make sure everything goes down. Those Tomorrowland toilets are the worst in MK I have experienced. In Epcot, the Morocco ones were the worst I had seen. I feel like I can never wash my hands enough after using those bathrooms.