My husband is finally getting some time off!! So we’ve decided to try to use up some of our Water Parks and More credits on our tickets and visit exclusively Typhoon Lagoon and Blizzard Beach for the long upcoming weekend! I am even more excited because I just purchased a waterproof camera case so I can take my camera to more places in the water parks. Soooo, here’s hoping I get lots and lots of fun pictures! Keep in mind that we will also be visiting many resorts, Boardwalk, Downtown Disney and trying a bunch of new places we’ve never eaten at. We’re excited for new adventures outside the 4 main Disney parks! See you next week for the continuation of the report!:wave:
-
Welcome to the WDWMAGIC.COM Forums!
Please take a look around, and feel free to sign up and join the community.
Our Wonderful Wacky Waterparks Weekend!
- Thread starter TakeMeThere81
- Start date
Day 3: Ohana's and Blizzard Beach
So we woke up on Monday morning a bit tired but honestly I was glad to pack up and get out of the Seralago. I'm soooo over cheap hotels!! So we packed up and headed over the Polynesian. I'd managed to get a reservation at Ohana's a few days before we left! More Disney magic!
We love meanering around the Poly, it's such a neat resort. I really love ALL of the Disney resorts. I think it is part of what makes the Disney experience. You could stay at a different resort every vacation and it would completely change the way you experienced your vacation!
Ohana sign.
So anyway, we got checked in and got our picture taken(which we declined this time-they are so spendy! We purchased the one at Hoop Dee Doo back in May tho) We had a nice comfy table and they immediately brought out the breads and coffee. The food wasn't too far behind either.
(There was also a fruit plate)
The characters were so fun!! The kids could barely focus on breakfast because they were watching the characters. We felt so spoiled to get to see Mickey and Pluto twice in one weekend.
Next came Lilo and Stitch. I expected Stitch to be all crazy in character but he was relatively mellow. He did do a fun "Stitch is the man" type of picture with the boys. Cute!
Stitch also covered Caleb's eyes, just being a stinker
Sweet Lilo
So we woke up on Monday morning a bit tired but honestly I was glad to pack up and get out of the Seralago. I'm soooo over cheap hotels!! So we packed up and headed over the Polynesian. I'd managed to get a reservation at Ohana's a few days before we left! More Disney magic!
We love meanering around the Poly, it's such a neat resort. I really love ALL of the Disney resorts. I think it is part of what makes the Disney experience. You could stay at a different resort every vacation and it would completely change the way you experienced your vacation!
Ohana sign.
So anyway, we got checked in and got our picture taken(which we declined this time-they are so spendy! We purchased the one at Hoop Dee Doo back in May tho) We had a nice comfy table and they immediately brought out the breads and coffee. The food wasn't too far behind either.
(There was also a fruit plate)
The characters were so fun!! The kids could barely focus on breakfast because they were watching the characters. We felt so spoiled to get to see Mickey and Pluto twice in one weekend.
Next came Lilo and Stitch. I expected Stitch to be all crazy in character but he was relatively mellow. He did do a fun "Stitch is the man" type of picture with the boys. Cute!
Stitch also covered Caleb's eyes, just being a stinker
Sweet Lilo
The kids had a lot of fun in the parade too.
They also brought us a celebrate card and cupcakes with umbrellas in them.
After stuffing ourselves with the wonderful food and AWESOME pinapple, orange, guava juice, we went down to head out.
A few hidden Mickey's in this art piece
There's lot of hidden Mickey's in the carpets at the Poly
We strolled around the pool area for a bit
However, DH and I just weren't ready to leave yet! After some discussion, we decided to head to Blizzard Beach for a few hours. This was the 'surprise' I mentioned at the end of day 2.
They also brought us a celebrate card and cupcakes with umbrellas in them.
After stuffing ourselves with the wonderful food and AWESOME pinapple, orange, guava juice, we went down to head out.
A few hidden Mickey's in this art piece
There's lot of hidden Mickey's in the carpets at the Poly
We strolled around the pool area for a bit
However, DH and I just weren't ready to leave yet! After some discussion, we decided to head to Blizzard Beach for a few hours. This was the 'surprise' I mentioned at the end of day 2.
Day 3: Blizzard Beach
It was nice and warm today and I was so excited to extend our trip for a few hours. It is just so funny how my husband was totally onboard. He wasn't ready to leave Disney either!
We started our tour of Blizzard Beach on Country Creek
After a lap, we got off and went over to Teamboat Springs to ride as a family. I snapped a few pictures on the way up
It was nice and warm today and I was so excited to extend our trip for a few hours. It is just so funny how my husband was totally onboard. He wasn't ready to leave Disney either!
We started our tour of Blizzard Beach on Country Creek
After a lap, we got off and went over to Teamboat Springs to ride as a family. I snapped a few pictures on the way up
Great views: with none other than the never-finished backside of Everest!
Looking towards EPCOT
Next we went back to Ski Patrol Training Camp to let the kids get in some fun. There's lots of great activities here for them
Samuel struggling a little, but trying his hardest
He made it!
Aaron and Samuel both enjoyed these smaller slides.
Then it was back to the lazy river. My camera did fog up a bit in the camera case
We all got off at Red Slope to do some Runoff Rapids slides
You have to climb a lot of stairs to get to this one.
We went down those slides twice, then walked over to bob around in the wave pool
Then Caleb and I went up to do Downhill Double Dipper while Ben took the younger boys over to Tike's Peak. Caleb and I waited 30 minutes in the line for DHDD which I don't recommend. It is a super fun slide but it lasts between 5-6 seconds depending on how fast you go.
Aaron and Samuel both enjoyed these smaller slides.
Then it was back to the lazy river. My camera did fog up a bit in the camera case
We all got off at Red Slope to do some Runoff Rapids slides
You have to climb a lot of stairs to get to this one.
We went down those slides twice, then walked over to bob around in the wave pool
Then Caleb and I went up to do Downhill Double Dipper while Ben took the younger boys over to Tike's Peak. Caleb and I waited 30 minutes in the line for DHDD which I don't recommend. It is a super fun slide but it lasts between 5-6 seconds depending on how fast you go.
Aaron at Tike's Peak
Next we decided to hop onto the Chairlift so we could go on Teamboat Springs again. The Chairlift itself is pretty fun
Slush Gusher and Summit Plummet
When we got to Teamboat Springs, there wasn't anyone in line so they weren't running rafts down the slide. We thought maybe they were closed, but they weren't. It just wasn't busy. So we did this one twice in a row with no wait.
After this we proceeded to head out of the park not wanting to totally exhaust ourselves since we had a substantial drive(6 hours) to complete before the day's end.
I sure wish they had some sort of unique character greeting in the water parks. Its not like it is any more hot there than in any other park. They could have Ice Gator and some other "snowy" characters at Blizzard Beach.
Next we decided to hop onto the Chairlift so we could go on Teamboat Springs again. The Chairlift itself is pretty fun
Slush Gusher and Summit Plummet
When we got to Teamboat Springs, there wasn't anyone in line so they weren't running rafts down the slide. We thought maybe they were closed, but they weren't. It just wasn't busy. So we did this one twice in a row with no wait.
After this we proceeded to head out of the park not wanting to totally exhaust ourselves since we had a substantial drive(6 hours) to complete before the day's end.
I sure wish they had some sort of unique character greeting in the water parks. Its not like it is any more hot there than in any other park. They could have Ice Gator and some other "snowy" characters at Blizzard Beach.
Day 3: Downtown Disney
So once we were dried off from Blizzard Beach we were all starving. We decided we should check out Downtown Disney for a while before we left. I made a quick change in the car and the kids put on dry shirts. Their shorts had almost completely dried already.
We were able to easily walk-in to T-Rex at about 3pm in the afternoon. We were seated right away. And this was on Columbus Day.
The kids got mac n cheese, pizzas and popcorn shrimp meals. They came with healthy side options too like carrots or a banana. We got them cool cups for their drinks that blinked red lights along the bottom. They are still having fun with them now that we are home.
Ben and I got the nachos appetizer and shared it. There were so many yummy options on the menu I was having a hard time deciding. The pico de gallo on the nachos was really YUM!!
All of the kids literally cleaned their plates, a first time for the whole trip. We decided to let Caleb decide what to order for dessert and of course he chose the Chocolate Extinction which was to-die-for!!
After a really great lunch(and we'll go back, it was great fun atmosphere too!!), we went to browse the Lego Store. The kids had a lot of fun building cars and racing them outside in the play area. We just marveled at the lego towns, the huge Millenium Falcon, sculptures, etc.
Then we went to Once Upon a Toy and let each child pick one thing. Caleb had accumulated "good behavior points" and he chose a double sided lightsaber which he had fun building. Samuel chose a Mickey Mouse plush and Aaron chose a Mack (Cars) truck. I bought them the Goofy complilation cartoon dvd and I can't think of anything else. I figured they could use a new movie for the ride home. After that, we headed out! It was nearing 5pm and we knew we had to get going, no matter how much we didn't want to. We had milked our trip all we could, and I guess I've milked my trip report for all I can now too. :lol:
So once we were dried off from Blizzard Beach we were all starving. We decided we should check out Downtown Disney for a while before we left. I made a quick change in the car and the kids put on dry shirts. Their shorts had almost completely dried already.
We were able to easily walk-in to T-Rex at about 3pm in the afternoon. We were seated right away. And this was on Columbus Day.
The kids got mac n cheese, pizzas and popcorn shrimp meals. They came with healthy side options too like carrots or a banana. We got them cool cups for their drinks that blinked red lights along the bottom. They are still having fun with them now that we are home.
Ben and I got the nachos appetizer and shared it. There were so many yummy options on the menu I was having a hard time deciding. The pico de gallo on the nachos was really YUM!!
All of the kids literally cleaned their plates, a first time for the whole trip. We decided to let Caleb decide what to order for dessert and of course he chose the Chocolate Extinction which was to-die-for!!
After a really great lunch(and we'll go back, it was great fun atmosphere too!!), we went to browse the Lego Store. The kids had a lot of fun building cars and racing them outside in the play area. We just marveled at the lego towns, the huge Millenium Falcon, sculptures, etc.
Then we went to Once Upon a Toy and let each child pick one thing. Caleb had accumulated "good behavior points" and he chose a double sided lightsaber which he had fun building. Samuel chose a Mickey Mouse plush and Aaron chose a Mack (Cars) truck. I bought them the Goofy complilation cartoon dvd and I can't think of anything else. I figured they could use a new movie for the ride home. After that, we headed out! It was nearing 5pm and we knew we had to get going, no matter how much we didn't want to. We had milked our trip all we could, and I guess I've milked my trip report for all I can now too. :lol:
Columbus Day Weekend Trip Wrapup
So we had a great weekend!! It was so awesome to escape down to our favorite place in the world! We did lots of new things, despite this being our 5th trip to the world. Crowds were minimal, even though the day we went to EPCOT was the Race for the Taste run. Weather was unseasonably hot but it didn't bother us much because 2/3 of the weekend was spent in the water.
Here's the new stuff:
~Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast *thumbsdown*
~Typhoon Lagoon-big time fun!! We loved it, especially the surf pool
~Exploring the Yacht and Beach Club resorts, they are so awesome, especially since they are connected to EPCOT via the international gateway.
~ESPN club, my first experience: very lively and a nice way to spend the evening with my husband in his element
~The Contemporary Resort, we've never been there before. It's really neat, but probably not my favorite, it is just a particular feel
~ Chef Mickey's: very fun! Enjoyed it and loved the food too
~ Riding the EPCOT Monorail: Everyone should do this, you get such great internal views of EPCOT
~Club Cool at EPCOT: such great fun, we laughed so much!
~Innoventions: although I didn't spend a lot of time there, I'd like to spend more time there next trip.
~San Angel Inn lunch: *thumbs down*
~Food and Wine Festival: awesome, so great to sample the food and drink! Really great experience, I wish we'd had one more day to do what we missed
~Ohana Character Breakfast: awesome!! Really great food, plenty of it, and very fun character interaction!
~T-Rex restaurant: it seems to get mixed views on the board, but IMO it is a huge winner!! (but I don't think I'd like sitting in the ice room)
I think that is it! We're reserved for our next full trip in December (it will probably be our last trip for a while since we are moving back to the west coast right after our trip) We'll be celebrating Christmas and my husband's graduation from flight school. 41 days!!:sohappy:
So we had a great weekend!! It was so awesome to escape down to our favorite place in the world! We did lots of new things, despite this being our 5th trip to the world. Crowds were minimal, even though the day we went to EPCOT was the Race for the Taste run. Weather was unseasonably hot but it didn't bother us much because 2/3 of the weekend was spent in the water.
Here's the new stuff:
~Grand Floridian Cafe breakfast *thumbsdown*
~Typhoon Lagoon-big time fun!! We loved it, especially the surf pool
~Exploring the Yacht and Beach Club resorts, they are so awesome, especially since they are connected to EPCOT via the international gateway.
~ESPN club, my first experience: very lively and a nice way to spend the evening with my husband in his element
~The Contemporary Resort, we've never been there before. It's really neat, but probably not my favorite, it is just a particular feel
~ Chef Mickey's: very fun! Enjoyed it and loved the food too
~ Riding the EPCOT Monorail: Everyone should do this, you get such great internal views of EPCOT
~Club Cool at EPCOT: such great fun, we laughed so much!
~Innoventions: although I didn't spend a lot of time there, I'd like to spend more time there next trip.
~San Angel Inn lunch: *thumbs down*
~Food and Wine Festival: awesome, so great to sample the food and drink! Really great experience, I wish we'd had one more day to do what we missed
~Ohana Character Breakfast: awesome!! Really great food, plenty of it, and very fun character interaction!
~T-Rex restaurant: it seems to get mixed views on the board, but IMO it is a huge winner!! (but I don't think I'd like sitting in the ice room)
I think that is it! We're reserved for our next full trip in December (it will probably be our last trip for a while since we are moving back to the west coast right after our trip) We'll be celebrating Christmas and my husband's graduation from flight school. 41 days!!:sohappy:
monkeysammich
Active Member
What a great report... sounds like you had a blast!
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Okay. That totally rocked. Just when I think we've covered a lot at WDW I realize we've barely scratched the surface. Sounds like y'all had a ton of fun all packed into a short trip. That's awesome times 10!
Aaron's Atari shirt is killer! I must find one! Nobody did Summit Plummit? ((picturing Stacy doing the arm thing with the goofy voice)) In all our travels we've not done any waterparks and we totally should. I've even taken a quick gander on ebay recently for some of the short wetsuits to ensure weather doesn't shoot us down. T-Rex is sooo yummy! I've been twice and both times been impressed. :slurp: So when you're gone to the west coast will you become a Disneyland nut, too? Never been there but hope to (no matter how many people tell me I'll be disappointed) in the not-so-distant future. Many congrats to Ben on his impending graduation from flight school. And my hat is off to all of you, not just Ben, for what you do for our nation. :king:
Aaron's Atari shirt is killer! I must find one! Nobody did Summit Plummit? ((picturing Stacy doing the arm thing with the goofy voice)) In all our travels we've not done any waterparks and we totally should. I've even taken a quick gander on ebay recently for some of the short wetsuits to ensure weather doesn't shoot us down. T-Rex is sooo yummy! I've been twice and both times been impressed. :slurp: So when you're gone to the west coast will you become a Disneyland nut, too? Never been there but hope to (no matter how many people tell me I'll be disappointed) in the not-so-distant future. Many congrats to Ben on his impending graduation from flight school. And my hat is off to all of you, not just Ben, for what you do for our nation. :king:
Thanks! Thanks for sticking with me til the end!
Well thank you so much for saying so! I know I'll be glad to have this season over with. Yes, we're big Disneyland fans, I grew up on the west coast so I'd been to Disneyland a few times before we went to WDW. I like WDW better because there are so many wonderful resorts, water parks, boardwalk, etc. But Disneyland has the nostalgic factor for me, I went there as a kid. We're actually planning on hitting up Disneyland on our way up the west coast in December! :sohappy:
Oh, and look closely, Aaron's shirt is actually Star Wars, but the background is very Atari-ish. I love that shirt, it's getting tight on him and I hate that! I want him to wear it to DHS when we go in December. I'm hoping to get us all some retro-Star Wars t-shirts for that day. We're a big Star Wars family!
Oh, and you HAVE to do the water parks soon!! When you add them on to your tickets, it gives you equal admissions into water parks as your regular park admission number. So when we bought our 5-day tix back in May, we added on the water parks which added 5 water park admissions (total=10 park days). I didn't get it until we tried to do it, its a great deal. Plus since Pleasure Island is closed now, you can use the WP&M to golf, miniature golf and of course DisneyQuest. If only they'd let us use an admission for La Nouba!
sweetpee_1993
Well-Known Member
Everyone says "YOu'll be so disappointed with Disneyland...it doesn't compare." Well Duh! I know that. I don't want to compare. I want the historic nostalgic factor. Will y'all be far from there? My cousin (USMC & member here - Kerby626) and a friend (her hubby is USAF) both live within an hour from DL. The reasons for going are soooo stacking up. I actually tried to convince the hubby to go in December but he wants to hold out to do the Adventures by Disney tour out there in a couple years.
Aaron's shirt is just too cool. I wanted to get my youngest a shirt in Tattoine Traders last year, the one that is the back profile of Yoda holding the Mickey's Premium with the caption "Judge me by my size do you?" That shirt would rock on Aaron! It's even better on the youngest of a group of sibs. LOL!
I'm sure a lot of folks have wondered about this because my location says Texas. Yes, we're in Texas. My hubby works contract/project work so we go where the work is. Our permanent residence is in Pensacola, Florida. That's home. We have Florida Resident Seasonal passes. I think there's a FL resident discount for the water parks. I should go check that out. I know the kids would totally die to go there. Every January when the buses go thru the water park parking lot we see a handful of people if any at all. When we see people some wisenheimer amongst us will inevitably say something like, "Hey! There's the Canadians!" We could probably walk onto every slide & relax in 1/2 a day. Could you imagine being there with nobody else around??? LOL!
That reminds me! Every year we tell the boys "This year we are going to play mini-golf!" Then we never do. I think we should make that the very first thing we do & take a ton of pictures. It's become this ongoing family joke. "Yeah...and thiiiis year we will go play mini-golf...riiiiiight..." LOL!
sleepybear
New Member
Awesome report and pics! (Love the pics of your son drinking the Beverly. And you're right: the shot of him looking into the cup after drinking it is priceless.) I have never been to the water parks and am dying to go one of these days.
jmcdougall
Member
I totally agree "what you do for our nation" Thank you to you and your husband and all of our troops and their families. Enjoyed your trip report.
Looking forward to your next one. Janine
popsicletrees
Well-Known Member
I really enjoyed your TR! The pictures at the Poly made me so excited to be there in 71 long days! Also, I loved all the F&W sign pictures. That is one of my favorite events at WDW, but I haven't been able to go for the past two years.
I know, we do the same thing with the minigolf...next trip we will go play for sure!! (Hmmm, we'll see-lol)
Also, I'd love to read an Adventures by Disney trip report. I've been really interested in those. I love WDW and Disneyland but after going so many times we'd love to branch out. We're not really interested in the cruises yet but I'd be really interested in an Adveture by Disney.
Thanks!! It is kind of mean, but it was sooooooo funny!
Thank you very much. My next report should include WDW and DLR so that will be cool! Look for it sometime in late December
Yay! The Poly is awesome!! It is one of our favorite places. I really meant to find a hammock and watch Wishes but oh well, maybe next time. I think by staying there, you get to savor the little treats of the resort that you would miss otherwise. Have a wonderful time!
(and definitely check out F&W, it was a blast!)