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!

 

[eagles]

great pics again jenn. but i think you look adorable not rediculous!

i also have been known to throw temper tantrums, and i am an older person! :ROFLOL:

 

[scottybx]

Hi,
New to the boards and love reading tr's and came upon yours and am really enjoying it.

The pics are great.

I stayed at OKW in 2000 and it was a nice resort.

Looking forward to reading more.

 

[mouselvrmom]

Great pictures again, Jenn! I love swimming pictures. How fun that you met your friends!

Thanks, Tammy.

Love all the fun pool pictures, Jenn! More and more I've come to the conclusion that pool time is a must, especially for those mid-summer trips. That slide at OKW is a good one... I can never manage to stay above water either when I go down them.

Oh yes, and the picture of the kids in front of Casey's is a riot!

Pool time was definitely a necessity. We spent more time at the pool than we ever did. In fact, we never saw a parade or fireworks besides summer nightastic because the kids always voted to go back for a swim. We really had a great time by the pool, so I guess you just have to go with the flow a bit.

great pics again jenn. but i think you look adorable not rediculous!

i also have been known to throw temper tantrums, and i am an older person! :ROFLOL:

:lol: Thanks, Louella!

Hi,
New to the boards and love reading tr's and came upon yours and am really enjoying it.

The pics are great.

I stayed at OKW in 2000 and it was a nice resort.

Looking forward to reading more.

Thanks so much!

 

[mouselvrmom]

We got back to our room and hung out on the balcony just enjoying the moment.

The kids- Roddy especially- love to check out the wildlife.

We were sitting out there and it just started POURING. We were so glad that we weren't in a park right now! We decided to wait it out and hopefully it would stop before we had to leave for our Ohanas reservation.

 

[mouselvrmom]

It cleared up in time for us to get to the MK, board the monorail and head over to the Polynesian.

Everyone was looking forward to this, except for maybe Bella who looks like she's going to fall over she's so tired.

Lexy wanted this picture of herself because she's always loved dolphins and Bella just jumped in.

The kids really love the Polynesian. It's too bad that they don't have rooms that we could fit in.

We had fun looking around.

Since it seemed really busy and we still have awhile until our reservation time, we decided to walk around outside.

Have I mentioned how much I really love the feel of this resort?

 

[mouselvrmom]

We were excited to moving on to try this place out in another night.

Sam and the littles went to try out this hammock. Lexy and I were too lazy.

We decided that it was time to go in and check in.

It was still busy, but Sam and I went to get a drink while we waited. You know how that drives them crazy.

Sam and his pina colada.

I had to try the Lapu Lapu.

Now I have to say that my drink was not as delicious as I was led to believe. It was ok, but it was a little sour. I actually preferred Sam's pina colada as everyone else did as well. I don't really condone my 15 year old drinking, but she will get a taste of what we have. Well, her taste of Sam's pina colada involved gulping down most of what was left. I hate to admit it, but she was extremely pleasant at dinner. We haven't taken to plying her with alcohol, but she must take after her mom who is always a bit looser and happier with a few in her. :lookaroun:lol:

 

[mouselvrmom]

We got called pretty soon after getting our drinks and we were ready for the experience.

Lexy really loved the bread. Actually she loved just about everything. She will say that this was her favorite meal of the trip.

We were sitting right by the window. Here's our view.

What do I have to smile?

world's tiniest umbrella

It may not be that tasty, but SOMEONE's got to drink it.

I think Lexy was laughing at Bella which Bella absolutely hates.

 

[mouselvrmom]

As you can probably tell, we had a lot of fun with our cousins at Ohanas.

This picture is blurry, but it is so funny. I decided that I don't like peel and eat shrimp. Your hands get messy, it's just too much work. But Roddy loves them as long as someone will peel for him. Sam hates even the smell of seafood, but he was peeling them for his boy. Check out his face while doing it though.

Lexy is so strange. She has this fascination with smashing food up. Whenever she was done with anything, she would always mash it up with a horrible look on her face. I explained to her that someone may have wanted to eat that. It may be time to call someone.

After dinner, we decided to hit up MK for a little while. We rode space of course. Then, it was on to Buzz.

I hate Buzz. It's so much harder than Toy Story Mania. Maybe I just dislike it because I am so bad at it. But I was sitting with Roddy for this ride and he apparantly is a bit better than me.

Sam always asks everyone what they got after. He was like, "Roddy got how many?" He couldn't believe it. :lol:

Alright, we managed to make it through day three! Woohoo! Up next Thursday August 12, 2010. Our Studios day and dinner at Sci Fi.

 

[maggiegrace1]

Great report..beautiful family!..

You must have had someone add to much sour to your Lapu Lapu..I LOVE THEM..mine is always nice and sweet..and YUMMY!

 

[HollyBelle]

Loving the update, Jenn. I'm obsessed with Ohana (have been since our very first visit) so I'm glad to see that the fam enjoyed it. As popular as they are, I'm not a fan of the Lapu Lapu either, but I'd say it was worth the price for all the fun pictures you got out of it. :lol:

I don't like to peel shrimp either, but over time I've learned the art of quickly "de-shelling" my shrimp with a knife and fork. Much more pleasant! And I put it to use at Ohana during this trip... too bad we didn't end up there on the same night!

Look at that, Roddy is a Galactic Hero!!! Woohoooo!

 

[mouselvrmom]

Great report..beautiful family!..

You must have had someone add to much sour to your Lapu Lapu..I LOVE THEM..mine is always nice and sweet..and YUMMY!

I know! I was totally going off your word about how yummy they were, but mine was so sour. I must have had someone who was new making mine. :lol:

Loving the update, Jenn. I'm obsessed with Ohana (have been since our very first visit) so I'm glad to see that the fam enjoyed it. As popular as they are, I'm not a fan of the Lapu Lapu either, but I'd say it was worth the price for all the fun pictures you got out of it. :lol:

I don't like to peel shrimp either, but over time I've learned the art of quickly "de-shelling" my shrimp with a knife and fork. Much more pleasant! And I put it to use at Ohana during this trip... too bad we didn't end up there on the same night!

Look at that, Roddy is a Galactic Hero!!! Woohoooo!

Well, duh, that probably would have been much easier! Next time I'll have to try that! I guess we're just cavemen at our house. :lookaroun:lol:

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

i agree that buzz is way harder than toy story mania! i can never see where the little red laser is pointing and it takes me forever to figure out which one is mine. i don't think i have ever gotten a score as high as roddy and i've even been on the ride when it stopped for a good five minutes. :lol: can't wait to hear how you liked sci fi for dinner! i'm going there for the first time for dinner and i didn't think the menu looked as good as the lunch menu. but i just love the atmosphere that i thought it would still be a good choice.

 

[mouselvrmom]

i agree that buzz is way harder than toy story mania! i can never see where the little red laser is pointing and it takes me forever to figure out which one is mine. i don't think i have ever gotten a score as high as roddy and i've even been on the ride when it stopped for a good five minutes. :lol: can't wait to hear how you liked sci fi for dinner! i'm going there for the first time for dinner and i didn't think the menu looked as good as the lunch menu. but i just love the atmosphere that i thought it would still be a good choice.

:lol: Yes! Sam thinks I'm blind for not being able to figure out where my laser beam is going. The only points that I get are strictly gotten by luck! :lookaroun:lol:

This was our second time at Sci Fi for dinner. And while I loved our server, and my dish was pretty good. Sam didn't care for it. He thought the food wasn't that good. It is really just a place to go to for atmosphere. I had the shrimp pasta which was good. And the dessert- apple crumble was really good. Roddy was mesmerized by the clips. So it was definitely fun!

 

[blackthidot]

2 things really stick out to me about this report.

1. I cant believe you guys drove there!!! I could never do it!

2. Your oldest daughter seems very happy to be there. She also seems that age that hanging with the family ANYWHERE is a social disgrace. So its pretty cool she looks like she is enjoying time with her family. I wish when I was 14 and went I did not look at it as being lame cause I was with my parents. So I guess you're pretty lucky!

 

[mouselvrmom]

2 things really stick out to me about this report.

1. I cant believe you guys drove there!!! I could never do it!

2. Your oldest daughter seems very happy to be there. She also seems that age that hanging with the family ANYWHERE is a social disgrace. So its pretty cool she looks like she is enjoying time with her family. I wish when I was 14 and went I did not look at it as being lame cause I was with my parents. So I guess you're pretty lucky!

I think if you had to buy 6 plane tickets that you might change your mind pretty quickly! :lol: It was really so much cheaper- and not at all that bad (unless you ask Sam).

And as for Lexy, she completely doesn't understand my love for Disney and truly doesn't want to go there every year. She was asking my parents if she could stay with them while we went. But I think secretly, she has a fondness for the place. She sure scrambled to get in that picture with Ariel. And she adores AK and EE. I think it's exactly what you said about thinking your parents are lepers and not wanting to hang with them. She desperately wanted to bring a friend, but that fell through, so she was stuck with us. We had a few rough moments where she said she was never coming back to this place again. But overall, she had a great time. And better yet, we all had a great time together. I spent a lot of time hanging with her and just talking. I think she got a better understanding of where I'm coming from and why I love this place so much. I can't count the number of times that she hugged me on the trip. It was absolutely fabulous! I think it really brought us all together and it is continuing now that we are home too.

Not that she isn't a bratty teenager at times... :lookaroun but she is really trying to be patient with us people. :lol:

 

[blackthidot]

I think if you had to buy 6 plane tickets that you might change your mind pretty quickly! :lol: It was really so much cheaper- and not at all that bad (unless you ask Sam).

And as for Lexy, she completely doesn't understand my love for Disney and truly doesn't want to go there every year. She was asking my parents if she could stay with them while we went. But I think secretly, she has a fondness for the place. She sure scrambled to get in that picture with Ariel. And she adores AK and EE. I think it's exactly what you said about thinking your parents are lepers and not wanting to hang with them. She desperately wanted to bring a friend, but that fell through, so she was stuck with us. We had a few rough moments where she said she was never coming back to this place again. But overall, she had a great time. And better yet, we all had a great time together. I spent a lot of time hanging with her and just talking. I think she got a better understanding of where I'm coming from and why I love this place so much. I can't count the number of times that she hugged me on the trip. It was absolutely fabulous! I think it really brought us all together and it is continuing now that we are home too.

Not that she isn't a bratty teenager at times... :lookaroun but she is really trying to be patient with us people. :lol:

That's cool...Good for you two that you got to just talk a lot. That is awesome.

 

[eagles]

of course the two of you could talk, you were both drunk!!!!!!!!!:ROFLOL:

 

[HollyBelle]

can't wait to hear how you liked sci fi for dinner! i'm going there for the first time for dinner and i didn't think the menu looked as good as the lunch menu. but i just love the atmosphere that i thought it would still be a good choice.

Ashley, we've had dinner at Sci-Fi on more than one occasion and they have always been happy to serve us the cheeseburger from the lunch menu. I think it's quite common practice because the servers have never looked at us like we're crazy when we order and I've seen other burgers being served to folks in other cars. I'm sure they could even make you a different lunch item of your choice. Hope this helps!



Sorry to hijack, Jenn. I can't wait for more. :sohappy:

 

[mouselvrmom]

of course the two of you could talk, you were both drunk!!!!!!!!!:ROFLOL:

:lol: Hush now! That was just the one night! No, really it was just half of a little glass. I'm sure she was so nice because she really loves us! :lookaroun

 

[WishIWasAtWDW]

This was our second time at Sci Fi for dinner. And while I loved our server, and my dish was pretty good. Sam didn't care for it. He thought the food wasn't that good. It is really just a place to go to for atmosphere. I had the shrimp pasta which was good. And the dessert- apple crumble was really good. Roddy was mesmerized by the clips. So it was definitely fun!

i do love the atmosphere. good to hear that the shrimp past was good. ooo and i love their apple crumble! its sooo good! :slurp:

Ashley, we've had dinner at Sci-Fi on more than one occasion and they have always been happy to serve us the cheeseburger from the lunch menu. I think it's quite common practice because the servers have never looked at us like we're crazy when we order and I've seen other burgers being served to folks in other cars. I'm sure they could even make you a different lunch item of your choice. Hope this helps!

Sorry to hijack, Jenn. I can't wait for more. :sohappy:

thanks for the info holly! good to know that if maggie or i can't decide on anything that we could order the burger!