NewfieFan's Amazing August Trip!

NewfieFan's Amazing August Trip! (Better late than never!)

Yes, this TR is just a few months late! But I've moved twice in the last four months... give me a break!

The players;
Me (aka NewfieFan)
Hubby
Son (6)
Daughter (3)
Best friend - Natasha (first timer)
Brother (aka Uncle Matt) - he was coming from the other side of the country (Alberta to be precise).

Thought you'd all love to hear about my adventures...

We were suppose to fly out of St. John's Newfoundland on Monday Aug. 24th but Hurricane Bill had a surprise for us! We had left our hometown on Thursday 20th b/c we wanted to spend some time in the city before we flew out. I was pretty much packed for the most part... had a few last minute things I was going to pack and/or buy while in St. John's.
Hurricane Bill was headed straight for NL and was suppose to hit Monday morning (exactly the same time as our flight would be taking off). Thursday evening... Bill was still on course, Friday... Bill was still on course! At this point I was freaking out! Then they put out a travel advisory and we called Westjet to see what was going on! They were flying people out early (at no extra cost) if the flight or seats were available. I told them my situation and they had 1 flight Saturday morning with 5 seats left (the exact # of seats I needed). I took it!!!

So let's just set the scene here for a minute. It is now 10:30pm Friday night and I just found out I'm leaving for the airport at 4am Saturday morning! If my math is correct that is 5 1/2 hours away! Let's just say I didn't sleep. I threw the kids in the bed and started in packing! It was crazy!!! I also called Disney to see if they had somewhere to put 5 of us for two nights and if we could change our DME. They had a room at the YC available... and we said, "What the heck, you only live once!"

And this is where our adventure begins. The flight was perfect (although my husband said I was drooling in my sleep on the plane), everybody was in good spirits (despite the lack of sleep), and we arrived in Orlando safe and sound. Take that Hurricane Bill!!!

We boarded DME and we were off to the YC!

Here is my son pointing everything out to the first timer (the kids call her Tashie), he didn't want her to miss anything along the way.

Is there any sweeter sight in the world...?

And the YC... one word, "Wow!" Our room was just lovely and Natasha thanked us for bringing her to WDW (she was quite excited to have arrived)!

We checked out our surroundings and decided to get something to eat - we were starving (I don't think I had eaten since Friday evening)!

Who doesn't love their food in a bucket!?!

We decided to head over to Beaches & Cream (b/c we had heard so much about it) and get some dessert. Hubby got a shake and the kids just had some plain ice cream... but I was too stressed out from the night before to eat (I get like that)!

"I finished all my ice cream!"

And now it was time to check out the awesomeness otherwise known as Stormalong Bay!

My husband fell asleep while we were changing, so it was just me, the kids, and Tashie going for a swim tonight!

Swimming in the night time is such a treat for us. You can't do that around these parts (brrrrrrr)! Here is the kids and Tashie enjoying some night time pool!

We left the pool and walked down to the bridge to see if we could catch a glimpse of ROE. It was so exciting to be so close to Epcot! But we would have to wait until Monday before we could see a park!

Tashie was still "rearing to go" so after our swim and fireworks we decided to go for a little walk. We had to go back to the room to change again and now we lost male #2. My son curled up next to daddy and went sound asleep. But the girls were still "on the go" - who needs sleep when you're at Disney!?!

So the females headed out to the...

This whole resort area is just beautiful. I feel in love with it. Walking the Boardwalk was just so peaceful. And Natasha actually screamed when she saw the tops of SSE! I think it sunk in that she was actually at WDW. We walked the whole length of the BW and came around the other side of the BC. We stopped to relax on the beach swings... I don't think either of us wanted this night to end!

But we had to call it a night! It was quite late and at this point I had been up for over 38hrs!

 

[NewfieFan]

Loving the trip report, kids are super cute and you guys looked like you had an excellent time!!!!!

Thank you! Slowly but surely I will finish this TR!

Your bro popping out of that slide is hilarious. I'm loving this.

He's just a big kid! Thanks!

 

[Mikester71]

GREAT trip report and love the pics!!! Looks like you guys had a blast! :sohappy:

 

[NewfieFan]

Day 7

I honestly don't remember what I did this morning. The only way I remember what happened is by looking at my pictures... and for some reason I have no pictures of this morning!?! I do know we slept in!!!

We headed out to DHS today. This was going to be our only day at DHS and we had an ADR at Hollywood & Vine for lunch.

The first thing we did on our way in was more PhotoPass pics.

This one makes me laugh! (Do you think my kids should be actors?)

The sad thing is we lost a bunch of PhotoPass pics from DHS. We realized during the trip and they even tried to track them down... but they found nothing! Oh well!

My brother and I took off to try and get FPs for TSMM but of course the FPs were for too late in the day (we had to be at Epcot in the evening). So, then we headed to TOT and we got FPs for that. I was excited b/c I've never been on TOT before.

Then we met back up with rest of the gang. While we were off hunting for FPs they got to meet these characters...

I think my daughter looks a little nervous!

It was time to go to our lunch now. I really like this buffet and the characters have always been fun here. While my kids are young I'll still do it for them... before long they'll be grown out of Playhouse Disney!

They have the same hairstyle! Ha!

My daughter loves June!

After we stuffed ourselves once again, my brother wanted to see LMA so we headed straight over there b/c a show was about to start. My son was excited b/c he wanted to see this show too.

It was here that things got bad! My daughter who had been fine all morning and at the character meal... starting acting really sick. She was complaining, trying to lie down, falling all over me, it wasn't her normal! Then I thought she might throw up and that stressed me out b/c we were in a crowd of people and that would not be pretty! I looked at my husband and I told him "That's it, I've got to get out of here!" Just as I was about to sneak out of the show with her, the show ends and the mob starts leaving the stadium. Now I was trapped in a moving crowd of people. My husband tells me to sit down and wait until the crowd thins and we'll be the last ones out. My husband takes her in his arms and then she passes out! It was so stressful. A CM came over to see what the problem was and he allowed my brother to run and get the stroller so we could rush her over to first aid. (FYI, my husband's a doctor so I wasn't totally freakin' out b/c I knew he had it under control!) We left Natasha and Uncle Matt and ran...

My husband finally got her to come to life inside first aid. We got some medication in her to bring her temp down. She basically started running a fever and with the heat outside it was too much for her to take... and she passed out. We stayed in first aid for over an hour and both kids were quite good. I was surprised my son was ok to be missing all the stuff he wanted to do!

Anyways, we decided that we should probably leave and take her back to the resort. But just as we left first aid we got trapped by crowds of people waiting to see BPB. I put my daughter in the shade and let my son watch it seeing as how we were kind of stuck there. It was awesome! BPB is very high energy and my son loved it!

Hi Flik!

Here's my son dancing with a "ladybug" girl...

Then Natasha called and was wondering how my daughter was doing. She was still in DHS and wanted to meet up with us. So we told her we would meet her b/c my son kind of wanted to follow the parade up the "street". After we met up with Tashie... my daughter perks right up and says, "What about the Playhouse Disney show?" So we did what any good parents would do and we took our daughter to the show instead of back to the resort.

She was great... you would never know she had been so sick a couple of hours before.

Clapping along to the music like nothing in the world is wrong!

I didn't mind taking her to see Playhouse Disney b/c it was inside and air conditioned.

Then my son reminds us that we promised him he could see the characters from Up! So again, instead of leaving we headed into the Animation building. We got to see...

and...

Day 7 continued in next post...

 

[NewfieFan]

GREAT trip report and love the pics!!! Looks like you guys had a blast! :sohappy:

Thank you... yes it was a great trip!

 

[Monty]

**Patiently waiting for the "good part"**

:lookaroun

Great TR so far!

 

[Spinky]

Aww it looks liek you guys had such a good time

 

[maggiegrace1]

Glad your daughter was okay..That sounds so scary!..I would have probably been a mess!

 

[NewfieFan]

**Patiently waiting for the "good part"**

:lookaroun

Great TR so far!

You don't have to wait much longer... :animwink: :lol:

Aww it looks liek you guys had such a good time

It was a wonderful trip with wonderful memories!

Glad your daughter was okay..That sounds so scary!..I would have probably been a mess!

Oh trust me, I freak out now when I think about it. The only reason I was calm was b/c I had to be calm... the situation would have been ten times worse if I gave into my feelings!!!

 

[NewfieFan]

Day 7 continued...

Anna was a little nervous around Mr. Incredible but he bent down and held out his hand and waited for her to come over. I thought it was very sweet!

My daughter was still doing quite well, she wasn't acting sick nor was she running a temp. We had an ADR that evening at the Rose & Crown and I had plans to meet up with another member here on WDWMagic. So, we said, "Let's try it!" If she became unwell again we would immediately go back to the resort. We took the boat from DHS to Epcot which as I mentioned earlier I love taking water transportation at Disney.

At Epcot I went straight to the "meeting" place but I lost my husband and son along way b/c they wanted to do more shopping in Japan (they're such nerds). This was my first time meeting a WDWMagic member and a pretty popular one at that too.

For those of you who don't know that would be the famous MontyMon and his son. It was really great to meet them! We talked Disney (of course, what else is there to talk about!?!) for a while and then we parted ways.

I met back up with my husband and son and we headed over to the UK pavillion. We got to listen to the band for awhile and then my brother showed up again to have supper with us. My kids still love playing with the Thomas train set.

I was trying to get some pictures in the UK without any people in them...

but some dude walks in my shot just as I press the button! Oh well, what do you expect at Disney!?!

We got in the R&C right on time and got seated inside. I was really hoping to be outside but we took the first table available. It was freezing! Now if a thick blooded Newfoundlander is saying it was cold... it was cold! I've never minded the air conditioning at Disney - the colder the better IMO! We find it so hot in WDW anyway and especially in August. But this air conditioning must have been set to "Artic"! It was so bad I couldn't enjoy my food. We didn't say anything, though, we ate our meal and then we went out to the viewing area for Illuminations (which was great). When we came back in for our dessert we just couldn't take it anymore... so we told them we were suffering from frost bite. They gladly moved us outside and we had the whole place to ourselves. We enjoyed drinks and desserts by the lagoon and it was beautiful!

We slowly walked out of Epcot and called it a night! It turned out to be a lovely day despite having a very sick little girl for a part of it. And I never did get to ride TOT - I guess I'm just not meant to go on that ride!?!

The next day was supposed to be my daughter's BBB appointment. I had full intentions of calling and canceling due to the recent illness but my husband convinced me to keep the appointment. I said, "I would see how it goes, if she wakes and is in a good mood... maybe we'll try it!?!"


Day 8

Everybody was up bright and early (go figure)! Her appointment was at 9:15 so we had to get on the move pretty early. I asked my daughter if she wanted to go to her princess appointment. With that she ran in the bathroom and said, "Mommy I need to ______ on the potty b/c princesses always use a potty!"

And off we all trotted to the MK! My daughter was sooooo looking forward to this... it was all she talked about leading up to the trip. She wanted to "go in the castle and get some makeups on and be Sleeping Beauty"! I was really glad she was feeling better and that she was finally going to be a "princess"!

I set the boys off to do their thing in FantasyLand and we checked in at the podium. Well, what can I say about the BBB... it was everything I thought it would be and more. What a magical experience for her (& me)! First off, I didn't know how she was going to handle being picked over b/c she wasn't feeling well. I even warned the Fairy Godmother in training that she wasn't herself and to take it a little easy when they did her hair (I didn't even care if it fell out later). She was only getting the basic package b/c she doesn't even like to get her hair combed at home. Would you believe she sat there good as gold, she acted like a... well, like a princess! Not a sound out of her the whole time. I had tears in my eyes by the end of it - not b/c they were turning her into a princess but b/c I think I realized at that moment that my baby girl wasn't such a baby anymore!

The big reveal was really funny! They turned her around to see herself in the mirror... she looked in the mirror and then she looked at the ceiling! She didn't even recognize herself at all and when she did it was the proudest smile I've ever seen on her face. Again, I had tears in my eyes. It truly was a magical moment!

I have about million pictures of this whole thing but I'll try to contain myself and just post a couple. (A lot of these are PhotoPass pics.)

A very excited little girl...

Add some make up and gel...

Keep your eyes closed...

And voila!

Admiring herself in the mirror!

Then I surprised her with a Sleeping Beauty dress and princess wand!

Daddy and her brother thought she was beautiful when they first caught site of her. And now that she was a princess she wanted to meet the princesses and Tinker Bell!

We headed straight for ToonTown b/c it was almost 10am and I knew that the Fairies had long waits. I thought if we got there as soon as TT opened it wouldn't be so bad. But when we got there TT was already open (I thought TT opened an hour after park opening?) and the wait was already over an hour for Tinker Bell! So, we hopped in the Princess queue which was only 15 mins (and I don't even think we waited that).

Day 8 continued in next post...

 

[NewfieFan]

Wow, you can't say p e e? Didn't know that was a bad word!?! :ROFLOL:

 

[erstwo]

Love it! Your DD looks so happy!

Was it worth every penny? How old is your DD? Mine is 3 1/2 and we are thinking about BBB next winter when she will be 4 1/2. Do you think mine would sit still? Or would she still be too young?

 

[NewfieFan]

Love it! Your DD looks so happy!

Was it worth every penny? How old is your DD? Mine is 3 1/2 and we are thinking about BBB next winter when she will be 4 1/2. Do you think mine would sit still? Or would she still be too young?

My daughter wasn't even 3 1/2 at the time! She does not like getting her hair combed or done at home. I was a little nervous leading up to the appointment b/c I wondered how she was going to handle it (especially with her not feeling well too)! She really was perfect for the whole thing... not a sound out of her. She didn't move unless they told her to move! They had to keep reminding her though, to keep her head up when they were doing the bun b/c she kept looking around. There is a lot of activity inside to distract a toddler/preschooler! I did tell them to not do the bun too tight (I heard that they can pull the hair pretty tight). But even so it stayed in for two days... which my daughter really enjoyed! And it wasn't as hard to wash out as I thought it was going to be! They put in a lot of goop!!!

It really was a sweet experience and worth every dollar for me!

 

[tiaragirl]

So adorable!
Do you guys have snow yet? I'm in NB and all we're getting is this mild rain.. I want my winter I only got snowmobiling once last year and I do not want a repeat!

 

[NewfieFan]

So adorable!
Do you guys have snow yet? I'm in NB and all we're getting is this mild rain.. I want my winter I only got snowmobiling once last year and I do not want a repeat!

No snow on the ground... in fact today is quite mild. Outside without any jackets while putting up the Christmas lights. :xmas: We did have snow in October, though (which is crazy)! October was horrible weather, cold, windy, snow, etc. But November has turned out to be better than October... oddly enough!?!

Even though we're Newfoundlanders we not big on the snow! We don't have snowmobiles... the only thing we do with the snow is shovel it! But there's lots of people here who love it and can't wait for it to fall! I use to cross country ski but since having two small kids I haven't even been able to find the time to get out on my skis. Maybe when they get a little older I'll get out on my skis again!

 

[tiaragirl]

My father is a big winter fan (though as he gets older, he gets 'colder' towards it). He didn't have any sons, so my sister and I got the full fledged boy treatment when it comes to winter.. which means I'm big on motors between my skis, not so much the type where you do the work yourself. Snowmobiling by age 5 :lol: I love it though. Dad always wanted to hit up NFLD one winter, but we never got around to it.

As for the snow.. well.. it can wait until December 17th (when I get home for good). I hate trekking around campus when it's a skating rink, which is what's been happening in NB/NS for a few winters. It snow/rains, and then drops to -20 and freezes. Awful.

But I do love winter.. nothing beats looking out the window and seeing the streetlights light up the flurries.
Such a Canadian girl, haha.

 

[NewfieFan]

Sorry folks... life got a little busy there!

Day 8 continued...

So, where were we... oh yeah, meeting the princesses! It was so worth it to meet the princesses. My son loved it as well (but won't really admit to it)! I have a ton of pictures for this as well...

I think my son found true love...

My daughter likes Belle b/c she wears her favorite color.

This was the moment she had been waiting for...

Does Cinderella know about this!?!

Well, now it was time to hit up ToonTown! First we went through Mickey's house but skipped the "Big Cheese" b/c his line was a little long (and we knew we'd be seeing him at Chef Mickey's).

My son thinks Mickey shaped vegetables are funny!

And we went through Minnie's house...

We also rode Goofy's Barnstormer three times! My son was quite proud that he rode in a seat by himself... and my daughter didn't want me to hold onto her. My babies are all grown up! *sniff, sniff*

Even a princess likes to slide...

After some playtime it was cotton candy time! Isn't Walt Disney World fun!?!

Then it was time to cool down on Donald's Boat.

I love all the hidden stuff in this map...

I'm going to be sure to well document TT with my camera on my next trip. I will miss some things about TT but I'm sure what is coming is better!

We were still hot so we thought a train ride was in order! Just as we got to the station I saw all these characters come out in the tear drop (is that what it's called?). I wanted to take the kids over but my hubby thought we should just get on the train b/c it was pretty hot and we didn't want to push my daughter too much (although, you would never know she had been sick the day before).

Ain't they sweet!?!

Day 8 continued in next post...

 

[ksr99]

Awesome times

What a great trip report. I love reading yours, it seems like your family should be the poster family of how great Disney vacations can be even with some bumps in the road!! Your kids are adorable. Would u ever stay at a deluxe resort again or in ur mind was the suite a better fit?

 

[NewfieFan]

What a great trip report. I love reading yours, it seems like your family should be the poster family of how great Disney vacations can be even with some bumps in the road!! Your kids are adorable. Would u ever stay at a deluxe resort again or in ur mind was the suite a better fit?

Thanks for the compliments! You're too kind!

As for your question... yes and no!

We loved YC and I mean loved the YC! I still can't see myself spending all that money on a resort when we do spend a lot of time at the parks. We're thinking about doing again what we did on this trip. Spend a couple days at the YC (to enjoy the sights, sounds, and the awesome pool) and then hop over to another resort. I guess I'm just too cheap to spend a whole vacation at a deluxe. We are content over at the value resorts.

The suite was pretty great... and it has us a little spoiled! The fact that you have two bathrooms and a kitchenette is worth the extra money IMO. And the fact you have a seperate bedroom for the parents (or whoever) is great as well! It was so easy to have breakfast in the room in the morning. There's lots of places for people to get ready, get changed, etc. It's very convenient!!!

 

[ksr99]

Ill have to check out the suites

Thanks for the critque on the room at the all-stars; my fiance and I are getting married down there and we are just figuring out what rooms to block off for the guests. We figured we would kind of give people the option for either poly or port orleans river side, and probably the all stars depending on their budget!
I've been to the all stars before, but never tried out the suite....its a good thing I'll keep in mind for some of my guests with larger families! Im looking foward to the rest of the trip report. Have an awesome day! sean

 

[PeoplemoverTTA]

I had so much fun reading your trip report..what an adorable family you have!

Thanks! For all the single ladies out there my brother is single... and he's looking to settle down now. :animwink:

Hahaha...I must admit I couldn't help but notice your brother in your pics

My son likes this place b/c his mommy and daddy let him drink pop (yes, where we come from we call soda, "pop")!

We say "pop" here in Buffalo, NY too!