Our road trip, resort hopping, HOT, HOT, HOT trip report: August 9-21, 2010

I just got back a few days ago, and while laundry waits for me, I was excited to get started on this.

We are a family of six. There is me, Jenn, my hubby, Sam, 15 year old daughter, drama queen, Lexy (or as she has taken to calling herself by her middle name this trip Ariana :lol, 9 year old daughter and mini drama queen, Lainey, 8 year old son, Roderick, and finally 6 year old daughter, Bella.

This was our first trip ever driving. My parents drove down when I was a kid, but we have never driven as adults. I was super excited for this new adventure. Sam was really not excited at all! He kept checking every day for flight prices to see if they had dropped.

I think because of this new experience there was more drama and crankiness before the trip. Sam and I were at each other a bit. Maybe that had something to do with the fact that I had this horrible mosquito bite. I had been itching it for days and on Saturday, the day we planned on leaving, it was very red and puffy looking. Really half of the back of my calf was involved. I asked Sam if he had ever seen a bug bite look like that and he said no. So we headed to the urgent care because I was worried that if it was getting infected that it would only get worse during our trip. So we spent two hours sitting around in a tiny boxlike room waiting to see a doctor for a prescription. It was crazy and not like we didn't have a million things to do. So we were snapping at each other a little, and I think at this point I didn't even want to go on the trip any more. I was ready to just scrap it. But we went home and starting throwing stuff in suitcases. Sam would have loved to been packed already but since I'm the procrastinator it wasn't done. Needless to say we were running late from our self-imposed leave time. Sam said if we were flying we would have missed the plane.

But at 10:30 at night we were finally ready to go. Here is the three little ones excited to get started. Lexy was cranky and too cool for this picture.

I have a picture of Sam before we left, but he insisted on loading the garage with the door closed so not everyone would know we were leaving on vacation so he was hot and sweaty. :lol:

We have a 26 hour drive ahead of us without stops, be we left Saturday night because at this point we don't know if we'll want to stop and rest somewhere. We are due in on Monday the 9th and I wanted to be there right away in the morning. So here we go!

 

[mouselvrmom]

We waited for the monorail to take us back.

The kids talked us into buying puffles at Mousegears. They were a little excited about them.

Ahh, our room looked so good!

The kids were tired, so they just got into bed. Sam and I were the only ones that wanted to go up to the observation deck and see the last of Summer Nightastic.

I didn't bring a tripod or anything, so I couldn't take nice pictures, but Sam wanted to preserve the moment anyway. So here are some bad pictures of us when we were watching the fireworks.

It was pretty full during the fireworks. We were off to the side a bit because we didn't get there early. That was fine for us. It really cleared out after they were over, though. We wandered around and checked out the view.

We went inside for a drink. I had seen pictures, but it was still different than I expected. It's a nice perk.

We watched some of the water parade and then left. We had to get up and get packed up in the morning to head over to Saratoga.

 

[Southern_Tink]

I am still reading and have enjoyed your TR from the very beginning! Your family looks fun and you can just tell your trip was full of excitement! Please keep the pictures and the TR coming! Can't wait to read more!

 

[HollyBelle]

Yay... you're back!! I'm totally still reading, too! Love Lainey's kimono purchase.

So, in the picture of you up on the observation deck, it looks like there is a tall concrete wall a good distance away from the railing you were standing at... did it obstruct the view as much as it appears to?

 

[mommamouse411]

great trip report...love the wayyour camera takes pictures..one of these days I will upgrade my camera.

and I love the kimono...i think i want one...

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i'm still reading too! and i am still enjoying reading! isn't teppan edo great?! i love that place! i'm kind of bummed that i'm not going there for my december trip but i think i will have to put it back on the list for the next trip. its so good that you had an entertaining chef! it really makes the dinner that much better.

 

[Raven66]

So glad you are back with more pics and trip report.

We went to Teppan Edo on our trip in 2008. We had the best time. The lady handing out the chopsticks offered to rubber band the kids' (mine and the other ones at the table) to make it easier for them. So I handed mine to her and asked her to do mine that way too. Every one laughed but it worked and I could finally eat with chopsticks!! I also got a piece of cake for my birthday and I thought it was good.:slurp: If I had read that the desserts weren't that good there I probably never would have eaten it. Glad I hadn't heard that.

 

[KnK]

Yay... you're back!! I'm totally still reading, too! Love Lainey's kimono purchase.

So, in the picture of you up on the observation deck, it looks like there is a tall concrete wall a good distance away from the railing you were standing at... did it obstruct the view as much as it appears to?

You're back Holly.....

 

[mouselvrmom]

I am still reading and have enjoyed your TR from the very beginning! Your family looks fun and you can just tell your trip was full of excitement! Please keep the pictures and the TR coming! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks! I'll try to get more up now!

Yay... you're back!! I'm totally still reading, too! Love Lainey's kimono purchase.

So, in the picture of you up on the observation deck, it looks like there is a tall concrete wall a good distance away from the railing you were standing at... did it obstruct the view as much as it appears to?

Lainey loves her kimono too!

No the wall doesn't really obstruct the view. See we were standing kind of to the right of it when watching the fireworks, but then Sam wanted to take a picture, and rather than take a flash right by the people watching, we just moved over to the right and took it. So it isn't that high everywhere really, or else it didn't seem to be. We had gotten there late, so we didn't have a prime spot, we were off to the side a bit.

great trip report...love the wayyour camera takes pictures..one of these days I will upgrade my camera.

and I love the kimono...i think i want one...

Thank you! I actually want to upgrade more, because I'm limited, but I appreciate the compliment!

You could have that kimono for only $50. :lol:

i'm still reading too! and i am still enjoying reading! isn't teppan edo great?! i love that place! i'm kind of bummed that i'm not going there for my december trip but i think i will have to put it back on the list for the next trip. its so good that you had an entertaining chef! it really makes the dinner that much better.

I so loved Teppan Edo. I want it on the list for next time definitely!

So glad you are back with more pics and trip report.

We went to Teppan Edo on our trip in 2008. We had the best time. The lady handing out the chopsticks offered to rubber band the kids' (mine and the other ones at the table) to make it easier for them. So I handed mine to her and asked her to do mine that way too. Every one laughed but it worked and I could finally eat with chopsticks!! I also got a piece of cake for my birthday and I thought it was good.:slurp: If I had read that the desserts weren't that good there I probably never would have eaten it. Glad I hadn't heard that.

I'm glad that I decided to try the cake too! I guess everyone has different tastes.

 

[mouselvrmom]

August 15, 2010

We slept in a little today knowing that we were going to go check in at Saratoga. Sam and I tried to get everything together, but I have to give the kids credit. They had their room all packed up by the time I went into it. I guess all with all this moving they really had it down.

I wanted to take one last picture of someone sitting at that cute booth before we left.

I was foiled again by that dratted Florida humidity! I wanted to take ths super cute pictures of everyone in their baggage train out to the car, but it fogged up on me! I got one and that was it. I still took them, but you really have to squint to see anyone!

Whew, it passed. Loading up!

Goodbye Bay Lake Towers! Sam may not miss you (he hated that the bathrooms didn't lock and he could see me through the door!), but I will.

In no time at all we were at Saratoga. I got in line to check in.

And miracle of miracles, our room was actually ready! I couldn't believe it! It was only about 10:00. Yay!!! It wasn't quite in the requested section, but we were in the Paddocks right across from Congress Park so it was convenient for DTD, so I kept my mouth shut and just took it.

We hurried over to drop off our luggage before heading out for the day. You know the drill. I made everyone wait outside so I could take pictures, but they didn't listen so well. I guess they lost their patience.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Here are some of the about 100 pictures that I took of our room. I think once everyone came in, I forgot what shots I had already took and just kept snapping.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Sick of Saratoga room pictures, yet? Here's the last of them.

Here's a view of the air balloon going off at DTD.

This was our view from our balcony.

 

[mouselvrmom]

I promise no more room pictures, just one more of the outside of our building.

We were trying to hurry it up, becuase I wanted to go to DTD to get lunch at Earl of Sandwich. And I wanted to try to avoid the rush and actually get a table. Well, that didn't work too well. By the time we parked and walked there, it was full up. It was a crazy place! I guess the word has gotten out that these sandwiched are GOOD! So we had to eat outside in the heat, but it wasn't too bad.

He's saying, yes, I'm not happy that we have to sit outside.

I had the Full Montagu, or something like that. It was good!

Yes, my chocolate pudding was melting fast. That just meant that I had to eat it quicker.

Who doesn't have to do this picture every year?

Lainey found a friend.

We did a little shopping.

 

[mouselvrmom]

After World of Disney, we hit the Lego store. Roddy ended up buying a Star Wars set that he didn't have yet with his money.

I don't know why, but this was really a day of crankiness for me. Everything just seemed to rub me the wrong way. I certainly didn't want to be cranky at my favorite place, and I really tried to let it go, but I was just out of sorts. Maybe it was the moving and rushing around. I don't know. But there were moments today that weren't as fun.

So after our shopping, we decided to drive to Epcot.

I can't remember where Sam went when we got there. He was somewhere, I think with Lexy. They might have tried to get fastpasses for something. Can't quite think of what. But anyway, I took the littles to Club Cool. We had never been before, I didn't even know where it was before. How did I pass by so many times before? They loved it! It was their new favorite place! Free pop is really up their alley. They don't get soda that much at home. And apparantly, even bad tasting pop is better than no pop to my strange children.

What, free pop? They couldn't get to the dispensers fast enough!

Here's Bella with the Beverly.

And Lainey with the Beverly.

 

[mouselvrmom]

At least Lainey got over the Beverly quickly.

These are GOOD!

We started walking around WS after the kids filled up a water bottle with some soda.

It was so HOT that we had to hit up some stores just to cool off.

You gotta rub the belly.

Fashionista.

I think maybe the heat contributed to my crankiness. I just had to get out of it. So we went to France and watched the movie. We had never seen that before either. It was fun. Here's a very blurry picture of us lounging in the blessed air conditioning!

When we got out, we watched this guy for a little bit. Sam was amazed that he could do that. I couldn't even imagine trying to balance on one chair let alone this many. I was scared for him!

 

[mouselvrmom]

This is reallyt what I regret the most about the day and my crankiness. The kids talked us into doing a Kim Possible mission. They had been so looking forward to it and we had put it off because there just was never a good time. So we said let's do it now. But we were going to go eat soon so we didn't have a lot of time. And it was so hot that I was cranky again. So I kind of hurried them along through it instead of really enjoying it. Which I think tainted their perception of it. Of course, Lexy was cranky too, which didn't help matters. So they got to do it, but I think they could have had more fun with it if I wasn't such a pain. Oh, well, there's always next time. They did like it, they were just hurried through it and because Lexy didn't think it was cool, they probably said that it wasn't as fun as they really thought it was.

It was actually pretty cool that they got to take something from the phone booth and bring it somewhere else. Although Sam didn't let them take it at first because he thought they had to leave it there for the next person.

Lexy was not too cranky to take a picture.

This is one of my favorite spots in WS. I love the UK with it's pretty flowers. Sam and I once ate fish and chips on a bench here.

The Beast was out. I love him.

We were all hot and cranky by this time, so we decided to head and get some early dinner.

Up next, Via Napoli.

 

[DAKOTADISNEY]

Love reading your trip report. Can't wait to hear more! As for the crankiness I think all mom's are entitled to have their moments. You seem to be very organized and having 4 kids is alot to manage, I'll bet. I only have two and struggle to get everyone on the same page.

 

[WDWmazprty]

Love the TR! Mines is on here now too, should be getting the last of the pics on here by today or tomorrow. :sohappy:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Finally!!:lookaroun:lol:

Love the belly rubbing pics! I'm sorry you were so hot during Kim Possible. I think our first mission was that way too!:lol:

You'll have to tell us your favorite of the three resorts!

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'm still here, too! Busy busy (like us moms generally are) but I pop in when I can. Love all the details. I have one of those cool Contempo art pieces also. Heck, I think I have two! If I can locate them I'd be glad to send ya one. You could put it on Lexy's wall as a surprise! Lol!

Hot weather makes me oober cranky, too. I understand. Plus, I'm sure all the moving about could throw off the usual groove. Beware of the groooooooove!!! Lol!

Lexy *is* quite the little fashionista! She needs to come give me some tips so I can avoid the old-n-frumpies.

Still soaking in the fun. I'll be waiting patiently to hear all about Via Napoli!
:wave:

 

[tiaragirl]

Always have such a problem with these things.. in class on the boards, want to look SO BAD, but how creepy is it to look at someone else's pictures, in class, from Disney?


PS: Sweetpee - if I remember correctly you are definitely not old-n-frumpy