Our last minute first ever trip without the kids: August 2009

Well, we did it. We actually took a trip to the world without our four kids. I really felt kind of bad about taking a trip without them, but after our fiascos on the plane I'm really glad we did it. I'm sure on our next trip our kids will be the best behaved young ones ever.

So let's back up a bit. It all started when my dh, Sam, came home from work after hearing about low airfares. He went straight to the computer and started looking at booking a quick trip for the two of us. I rolled my eyes at him and thought that he could look all he wanted, but there was no way we were taking a trip! Then, he started looking into disney...:lookaroun

I started thinking how we really deserved this trip...I had just finished school and got my license to teach, I had had eye surgery in June to correct a detached retina, Sam had been working a lot of overtime...we could use a break. Then we realized that if we used our points, we would only need to pay for air fare and food for this trip. Sold!!! :sohappy:

I booked the next day and the only thing available was Saratoga or Old Key West. We had never stayed at OKW, so we booked a studio. We waitlisted for BWV, but with only a month to be on the waitlist I figured we would never get it. We were happy to try something new anyway. We were very excited to get our vacation info in the mail!

Here we are all ready to go, when two days before we get off the waitlist it actually comes through!! Now we have to get into the mindset of staying at BWV. I think we can manage!

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Wow! Jenn I have no idea why you have a reflection there! I am dying to know though! Anyone?

We walked back from the Swan and Dolphin several times. It was much faster.

Great report so far!

 

[mouselvrmom]

Wow! Jenn I have no idea why you have a reflection there! I am dying to know though! Anyone?

We walked back from the Swan and Dolphin several times. It was much faster.

Great report so far!

I seem to get the reflection a lot. I wonder if something is wrong with either the camera or lens?

 

[Disneyfalcon]

I seem to get the reflection a lot. I wonder if something is wrong with either the camera or lens?

It seems like I've read about something happening like that, but I have no memory of the cause or fix. I'll let you know if I remember.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I'm loving your trip report! How old are your kids? I have this fantasy that one day my hubby and I will take a trip, just us!

That's so funny that in both pics with your TSMM scores, your score is higher, yet your accuracy is lower percentage! Maybe that says something about men and women...lol

You two are a lot of fun with all of your picture taking! I love the Boardwalk pics especially.

And last but not least, it cracked me up on your first day when you said it was so hot you all didn't know what to do...so you started drinking! :ROFLOL:

 

[mouselvrmom]

I'm loving your trip report! How old are your kids? I have this fantasy that one day my hubby and I will take a trip, just us!

That's so funny that in both pics with your TSMM scores, your score is higher, yet your accuracy is lower percentage! Maybe that says something about men and women...lol

You two are a lot of fun with all of your picture taking! I love the Boardwalk pics especially.

And last but not least, it cracked me up on your first day when you said it was so hot you all didn't know what to do...so you started drinking! :ROFLOL:

Thanks! We never imagined we would be taking a trip just us, but it just sort of happened!

Our kids are 14, 8, 7, and 5. They are looking forward to the next trip when we'll actually take them! :lol:

We figured we were safe drinking in the heat because we'd just sweat it all out. :lookaroun:lol:

 

[mouselvrmom]

So on another occasion I asked Sam if he wanted to take a picture with this taxi and look like it hit him. He declined. I'm not sure what happened, but maybe my riding three thrill rides in a row swayed him, but as we were walking by the taxi he says, "So you want me to pretend like it hit me?" I was like -Yes!!! He runs over and just throws himself under the car. I am having a giggle fit because he just looks so ridiculous. I can't even get the camera up because I'm laughing so hard. He claims that people on the street were stopping to stare at me because they were wondering what my problem was and not looking at him as he lay under the car. But whatever, it was funny!!! Here he is...

We wandered around a bit.

It was so hot out that I just wanted to get out of the sun, so we sat inside for Muppets. We don't necessarily do it every trip and we hadn't for awhile so it was a neat treat.

We did a lot of things that we don't normally do when we have the kids with us. We went into One Man's Dream which I really enjoyed.

We also went the back way into the animation studio so that we could see our pal Mickey.

And the characters from Up were there.

We didn't see any other characters there. I guess it wasn't there time.

We had a bit of time before our dinner, so we went to watch Lights, Motor, Action or whatever it's called. This was only our second time seeing it and it was good. It was very hot though. I felt like I needed another shower after it, but it was time for dinner at my favorite 50s Prime Time!!!

 

[mouselvrmom]

I was super psyched to be eating at the 50s again. Sam maybe less so. I think he was just hot and grumpy.

We were in the same back room as last time.

And that means more Uncle Dale!!

Sam is not happy here. Not only did he get reprimanded for having his hat on at the dinner table, but he was also chastised when he ordered his cherry 7up. Uncle Dale told the little girl next to him that this man ordered a shirley temple. And he continued to say shirley temple in a sing song voice.

Our food came out super quick! They must have really been trying to move those tables! I had the meatloaf and it was really yummy!

Sam had his meal done in about two bites. I was only a quarter of the way finished. Uncle Dale came by and told me not to feel bad that he inhaled his food and I was enjoying mine.

Sam took about 20 pictures of me with the menu. He kept saying now hold it this way,now that way. Then, I just started hitting him with it.

Mmm, smores. I'm not going to show you all the ridiculous pictures Sam took of me trying to eat them!

They were so scrumptuous!

 

[mouselvrmom]

We decided to head back after dinner. We needed to freshen up a bit before heading out again.

The walkway from the swan and dolphin to the Boardwalk again.

Here was someone's mistake. We laughed about it a bit. This was on the entrance around the back into the Boardwalk. Sam had to make sure we had the right hotel.

After we had cooled off a bit, we decided to walk over to epcot again and see Illuminations.

We watched O Canada for the first time. I really liked it!

We saw Illuminations and just wandered around WS for awhile. We went into all the shops and just hung out. I took some pictures, but most of them turned out crappy. but I do love Jiminy.

We made our way back to the Boardwalk. We bypassed the boat and just strolled.

We went into the bakery for a snack and talked with the CM about seeing the launch. They were going to go up on the roof.

We were able to see the launch from our balcony which was pretty cool. Sam was happy to have been able to seen it. Then, we went to bed so that we could get up to leave in the morning.

Up next, our last breakfast at Cape May.

 

[Disneyfalcon]

That rug is hysterical! And I cracked up thinking of you laughing and trying to take a picture!:lol:

 

[mouselvrmom]

That rug is hysterical! And I cracked up thinking of you laughing and trying to take a picture!:lol:

:lol: I aim to please!

 

[HollyBelle]

Love the update, Jenn. And I can totally see why you were laughing so hard at Sam throwing himself under the taxi that you couldn't take the picture. That area of the park is usually crawling with people... which makes it even funnier to me!

Your review and pictures of 50's Prime Time have me thinking we should check it out. Would you believe we've never eaten there?! I don't really know why that is.

Oh yeah.. and the picture with the Up characters is perfect.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Love the update, Jenn. And I can totally see why you were laughing so hard at Sam throwing himself under the taxi that you couldn't take the picture. That area of the park is usually crawling with people... which makes it even funnier to me!

Your review and pictures of 50's Prime Time have me thinking we should check it out. Would you believe we've never eaten there?! I don't really know why that is.

Oh yeah.. and the picture with the Up characters is perfect.

I can't believe you've never eaten at 50s. It is so one of my favorites! You'll definitely have to try it out. I think it would fit well with your personalities!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

That was so funny that Uncle Dan gave Sam such a hard time. The 50s Prime Time Cafe is a definite must on our next trip. We haven't ever eaten there, either Holly! We usually just eat counter service at DHS, with an exception a few trips back we ate at Mama Melrose's. We've never done Sci Fi or any of those either. :shrug:

 

[mouselvrmom]

That was so funny that Uncle Dan gave Sam such a hard time. The 50s Prime Time Cafe is a definite must on our next trip. We haven't ever eaten there, either Holly! We usually just eat counter service at DHS, with an exception a few trips back we ate at Mama Melrose's. We've never done Sci Fi or any of those either. :shrug:

Oh, you definitely have to try 50s next time! We like Sci Fi too, but 50s is so my fave! I spent most of the time giggling. :lol:

 

[mouselvrmom]

I'm sad that I've finally come to the end of my trip report. I was having such a good time reliving all the fun we had....sniff...

I wanted to hit a park, probably Epcot since it's closest. But I knew that Sam really didn't want to. So I slept in. I thought it was funny that housekeeping was trying to get into our room at 8 am. Umm, no it's not even close to 11 when we have to be out. Our fault for not putting the do not disturb sign out. I guess I figured we wouldn't need it since I had been planning on being up and at a park.

We packed up all our stuff and went down to do the airline check in. We've never been able to do it because we've never flown an airline that participates, so I thought it was pretty great.

Say goodbye to the room.

We headed out to the boardwalk one last time to wander around.

Sam suggested that we should walk to the Beach Club for something to do. This is where it happened. Sam has always proclaimed his love for the Beach Club. I had been feeling while staying at the Boardwalk that maybe I prefered the ambience there. Sam was not buying it. He was sure his precious Beach Club was superior. As I was walking through the property, peeking in the gift shop, (and later eating there) I realized that I prefered Beach Club as well. Sam was thrilled. Even though we aren't planning on staying there anytime soon, I know he can't wait to get back.

 

[mouselvrmom]

While we were at the Beach Club we decided to see if there was any walk up at the Cape May Cafe. I was super surprised that there was. We basically got in at the last minute for breakfast. It wasn't busy at all. We have good memories of breakfast here, so it was a nice treat. And another breakfast buffet for Sam.

Minnie was the first to visit us. She allowed me to take a picture with her, but then insisted that Sam take one too.

Notice how she has her hands all over him. I would have to pry her away from him later.

Our pal Goofy came.

And our friend Donald.

Now by this time Sam had worked his way through about three plates at least. Our server was really good here by the way. He was so nice to us. He even brought our last round of sodas in a to go cup with a straw so that we could bring it with us. Anyway, Minnie's friend came up and said that Minnie wanted to give a big hug to that boy there. He was pointed at Sam. Silly me was completely confused. I was like- no she means the little boy behind us. Sam got it but I didn't. Anyway, no, Minnie meant Sam indeed. When Sam got up she almost tackled him. :lol:

Sam getting his love from Minnie.

Then, she agreed to take a picture with both of us that our server generously offerred to take. Notice how she wouldn't stand between us, but stayed over by Sam.

Sam thought it was so funny. I gave him a hard time about how worried I should be over this. I guess i shouldn't be that jealous. I mean, Goofy did propose to me so I have a back up too. :lol:

 

[mouselvrmom]

Well, all that's left to do now is walk back to the Boardwalk and get on the ME bus. I suppose that it's really time to get back home to the kids. I'm eager to see them, but wish they could have just met us down there. :lol:

I saw these baby chairs on the porch of the Boardwalk and they reminded me of the kids.

We got on the bus which was completely full after a stop at the Caribbean Beach. We had a crying child on the bus the entire trip of course. It was a dad sitting next to his 2 or 3 year old son. He just let him sit next to him screaming. I was ready to go back and pick him up or something just to get him to stop, but I restrained myself.

We got to the airport with so much time. Usually we have to wait for someone to get there to check in our luggage, but with that done we had nothing to do.

Sam quickly found a way to make me look foolish at the Disney store.

I look at this not as a good bye, but as a see ya real soon.

I almost forgot our plane fiasco on the way back. Once again I didn't have to spend the entire trip making sure my kids were not bothering anyone else. Which really doesn't happen that much anymore now that they are getting older. We were sitting next to a woman from FL that was going to MN on business. We didn't know that until later when we finally broke down and had to tallk to someone else about what was going on behind us.

Behind us there was a little girl and her mom. They were separated on the plane from their other little girl and the dad. There was a teenage boy next to them that I'm sure wanted to be swallowed up by the floor.

It started out innocently enough. The girl was strapped in a car seat and singing to herself. Sam said she was really a spitfire. She just kept going and going. I thought it was kind of cute. I looked back once and she looked to be about 2 ish. Although she spoke perfectly and iin a manner that suggested she could be almost 3. Maybe even a bit older.

Of course she got tired and started playing around. I got lots of kicks on my back. Then she started with the tray. Up and down, you know the drill. She would forcefully put it back up each time. I mean really it's not that big of a deal, I can handle it, but Sam made the mistake of looking back. He turned around very quickly. He leaned over to me and whispered in his most horrified voice, "That woman had her whole breast out and just gave it to that child. No blanket or anything." Now I know that different cultures are more open to this than others, but I'm betting that the teenage boy next to them was wishing he was somewhere else. I know Sam felt like a pervert for looking back but how could he have known that a child of that age would still be using that for a b as she called it. Since Sam looked back the woman made an effort to tell the child that she was bothering the woman in front of her, almost like it was my fault that I would be bothered. But it pretty much continued for the remainder of the flight.

It got much worse as we were going to start our descent. She started screaming that she wanted a b because her ears hurt. The woman didn't want to start that because she couldn't be on her lap. So she kept calmly telling her that she couldn't have a b until she landed and was in the airport. This made the child scream more. If I had had anymore gum on me I would have turned around and offered it to her, although i'm sure it wouldn't have been taken. The woman next to us turns to us and asks if we had any kids. Sam says, yes, four and this would never happen with them. We struck up a nice conversation with her as we tried to ignore the shrieking child behind us.

We were so happy when we landed and could get off that plane. :lol: I really try hard not to be judgemental of others and you can correct me if I'm wrong, but I just kind of feel that once my child has all her teeth and can talk clearly back to me they might be old enough to start drinking milk from a cup... :lookaroun

Welll, that's the end of my report. I had so much fun reliving it! I'm sad that it's over, but I'll be reading all of yours until our next trip! :sohappy:

 

[HopLow]

Fantastic report! That's a crummy way to end your trip though. You know what they say, if the kid's old enough to ask for it, he's probably too old to have it. lol. I would be creeped out by that whole situation as well.


And I'm totally jealous of your Mickey fit flops!:animwink:

 

[mouselvrmom]

Fantastic report! That's a crummy way to end your trip though. You know what they say, if the kid's old enough to ask for it, he's probably too old to have it. lol. I would be creeped out by that whole situation as well.


And I'm totally jealous of your Mickey fit flops!:animwink:

Thanks! I had really almost forgotten about the plane ride home, but just had to share it to see if we were the only ones who thought it odd.

I think you need a pair of mickey fit flops! :lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

great trip report! thanks for sharing! i love the funny pictures you all took, especially the one of sam under the taxi cab. i would have loved to see that in person. i would have gotten quite a kick out of it.