Trip Report Pop & Hop, Snack & Shop, Graduation Celebration - Sept 2016

We arrived home late last night and as usual, we are all in Disney depression mode. Seriously, the return to reality is so hard!

It was an AWESOME trip. However not without a few hiccups. Let’s just say that the name of my Trip Report could easily have been, “I Almost Killed My Husband In The Happiest Place On Earth” or… “”Did The Ride Just Stop?” or… “Bathrooms Around The World”

Needless to say that Disney Magic outshines small issues – even my husband’s behavior that almost landed him in Cinderella’s moat more than once.

Warning: I have some commitments over the next few weeks, so I’m not sure how much updating I will be able to do. But I wanted to start writing before my memory and notes start to fade away. Besides, I’m so sad – it helps to re-live it! Lol

For those of you who don’t know us – our cast of characters:


Me – Mary

Ross – My hubby who drove me INSANE throughout our trip.

Julia (14)

Hope (7 with Autism & Sensory issues)

What I didn’t mention in my Pre-Trip Report is that we were celebrating the fact that Julia is starting 9th grade this year. As homeschoolers, we have never acknowledged graduations or moving up ceremonies. So since my sweet girl is starting high school, I figured she deserved a Disney Celebration, so I had that put on our reservation.

Since Ross agreed to family shirts, I had my friend make them for us. Julia was surprised and really happy!

So if you are ready to join in the fun & craziness… welcome aboard!!

 

[Figment Forever]

Ouch! Julia's knee sure looks like it hurt. I'm glad it wasn't more serious!

LOl at Hope already requesting to stay at AOA. How can you say no to that? lol

I felt so bad for her - but I was so glad she didn't pop it out. That would NOT have been fun! And yes - Hope is working hard at her request! We'll see what happens...

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2 – September 13th

I woke up around 6AM and hit the ground running. Julia & Hope woke up soon after and we all began getting ready for our “hop” to Riverside. I packed up all of our stuff except the stroller and the few things we needed for the day. I had heard that our luggage may not get to Riverside until late in the day so I made sure that we wore our swimsuits under our clothing in case we wanted to swim before our stuff arrived. I called Bell Services and they came quickly and collected our things. We walked around the hotel and said our good-byes to POP.

Then we walked over to the lobby so I could physically check out of POP. I also made sure our dining plan was activated – and it was.

Hope was a little antsy so I let her stay with Julia in the little game section with the TV. She was content watching some cartoons while Julia played some Donkey Kong.

I LOVED Donkey Kong as a kid. I stunk at it – but hey – I still loved it. I thought it was so cool that you could play the games for free! Yes, I did play one game – and yes, I still stink at the game! lol

Within a few minutes of checking out, I received a text that said our room at Riverside was not ready yet – no big deal - so we began our day.

 

[Figment Forever]

We boarded a bus to MK and then a monorail to Poly.

No – it wasn’t a Dole Whip we wanted this time… it was Tonga Toast!! I had originally made a ADR for Kona Café. I really didn’t want an ADR for this morning but Julia wanted to try the Tonga Toast so badly. Then someone on this board mentioned you could get the same Tonga Toast – minus the strawberry sauce at Captain Cooks – so I was sold! I canceled the ADR and here we were. ( @Stophie this was probably when you saw us.)

I picked up our mugs while we were there – yep, no handle. I actually like them better! I ordered a Tonga Toast for Julia and a Bounty Platter for Hope and I to share. It was odd how they give you a number and tell you to sit. I was not use to that! The moment arrived. They placed our breakfast in front of us and Julia saw this…

They apparently got her order wrong! No Tonga Toast! But no worries, they put in a Tonga Toast Recovery! Lol

and in a few more minutes, she was happily munching on her breakfast.

They were really sweet and let us keep the Mickey Waffles which made Hope happy! Julia LOVED the Tonga Toast - I think it has seriously become a "must-do" for us!

After our breakfast, we got the monorail and went back to MK and found the boat to Fort Wilderness. Julia was so excited! Last year, our time at Fort Wilderness was a complete rain out! Even though it was cloudy today, I didn’t think our morning would have a rain delay.

We were on our way to look at Julia’s dearly departed River Country.

 

[Ayden]

Great to see you all so happy! It's a great pleasure to read your trips and lovely to see your girls growing up! I hope Julia wasn't in too much pain, hurting her knee like that! Looking forward to the rest of your report

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2 Continued...

The skipper on the boat was really nice and told Julia, which side to sit on to get a good view for pictures.

We arrived at Fort Wilderness and headed over to where River Country was.

Since Mickey’s Bayard BBQ was not going on we were able to go right over to the area and check things out. They must anticipate that people are coming to look around because there are parts of the fence that have openings big enough to look through.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2 Continued…

More pictures of River Country

We were not the only ones paying our respects, there was another guy there who apparently keeps very up to date about they RC updates.

He said the week before he noticed they had started to fill in the pool area where the Slippery Slide Falls was. Indeed Julia conformed that the whole area was filled in.

We obviously took a lot of pictures. She wanted to make sure she had enough just in case they decided to demo the area before we returned.

Hope wasn’t that enthused – but she was a good sport.

 

[Trisha Lynn]

That picture of Hope is the cutest! I hope she's okay with you posting it here.

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2 Continued...

Yes - still more pics of River Country.

Then. finally we said our good-byes and headed out. We stopped at the gift shop to cool off for a little bit and then got the boat back to MK.

 

[Figment Forever]

Great to see you all so happy! It's a great pleasure to read your trips and lovely to see your girls growing up! I hope Julia wasn't in too much pain, hurting her knee like that! Looking forward to the rest of your report

Thanks so much! It hurt - but she was good with it. Just glad it wasn't something worse! Thanks so much for reading!

 

[Figment Forever]

That picture of Hope is the cutest! I hope she's okay with you posting it here.

She loves seeing pictures of herself - so nope - she doesn't mind! Thanks for following along!

 

[Tuvalu]

The pool area looks so much better filled in! It was pretty gross and creepy after years of neglect. Although those slides were fun back in the day!

 

[Figment Forever]

The pool area looks so much better filled in! It was pretty gross and creepy after years of neglect. Although those slides were fun back in the day!

It does give off a creepy feeling! I actually think Ross & I went to River Country on our honeymoon - but I can't remember 100%. Those were they days when I didn't take any pictures!

 

[Figment Forever]

Day 2 Continued...

After a quick stop in the gift shop, we headed back to the boat to MK. It was HOT – actually, I have never experienced a September trip as hot as it was this year. On quite a few days, a CM would mention it was over 100 with the heat index!

Anyway… away we sail to MK…

Then on a monorail to the Contemporary.

The Contemporary is Julia’s dream resort. She would love to stay here one day. We went to the food court to get some cold drinks. Hope really wasn’t interested, but I forced everyone to drink so we stayed hydrated. I had to take a picture of the fixins bar for Ross he loves tomatoes & pickles. He could live off the fixing bar and a pack of salad dressing!

We looked around the shops.

Hope found something she really wanted. A princess Magic Band. She was so funny – she just found it, took it off the rack and gave it to the cashier and said, “Buy this please!”

How could I said no?

 

[Figment Forever]

At some point, the skies had opened up and it was pouring outside! We walked over to where the Bay Lake Tower walkway was and paused for a few minutes.

Julia didn't want Bell Services to lose Pikachu so he came along for the day.

I checked to see if Riverside had sent me any message about our room – but no, not yet.

After our Contemporary visit, we once again boarded the monorail and stopped at The Grand Floridian. Although the rain had stopped for the moment, I knew it was only a matter of time before it began again. We walked around the shops and then walked outside to the beautiful grounds. While Julia dreams of the Contemporary, I would love to stay here.

 

[Figment Forever]

We checked out the shops. Julia and I have found a love for soaps. lol We went into Basin and said we would return to purchase some, but alas, we did not.

 

[Figment Forever]

Back to the monorail again – we were going to head over to Riverside to see about our room and get a quick swim in, but something was calling our names…

Yep – a Dole whip float. To the Poly!

They were handing out cookies in the lobby as we walked through.

Then Julia actually decided on a cinnamon bun and pineapple juice while I had the float and Hope had some vanilla ice cream.

We walked around and enjoyed the beauty of it all for a few minutes.

@Tuvalu – are you here?

 

[MinnieM123]

I was intrigued by your photos of River Country. I've heard so much about that place (never actually went there in the past), and I'm wondering what the "plans" are for that area. So they're filling in areas--other previous photos I've seen elsewhere showed it looking very swampy, and overgrown with brush, etc.

Love the fancy "ears" on both of your daughters! So cute!

 

[Tuvalu]

View attachment 167948

@Tuvalu – are you here?

Oh, I wish!!!!!!

 

[MinnieM123]

Oh, I wish!!!!!!

You must be Jonesing out -- it's been a few days since you were there! Quick woman--get a flight now and return!!

 

[Tuvalu]

You must be Jonesing out -- it's been a few days since you were there! Quick woman--get a flight now and return!!

Oh I wish!!!! (Again, )