Trip Report The good, the bad, and the down right ugly.

This is my first attempt at a trip report, so please, bear with me. I tried adding photos, but no luck. Perhaps later.

The crew:
Sam, aka "Papaw"-trip #3-
Brenda, me, aka "Meemaw"-trip #3
Jenn-27, our oldest daughter-trip #4
Britt-24, our middle daughter-trip #4
Cody-22, our only son-trip #3
Rylan-4, Britts daughter-First trip
Aiyanna-2.5-Britts daughter-First trip
Jessica-23-Cody's girlfriend-First trip

Yep, lots of people to try to plan to coordinate with.

Our trip started out early on 12/12/14. Jenn had to work from 6pm on the 11th to 6am on the 12th (she works at the jail), so she met us, along with everyone else, here at our house. Jenn's boyfriend, who also worked all night, had kindly offered to drive the second vehicle that was needed to the airport and to return on the 19th to pick us up. This saved us having to park and pay for two vehicles for a week.

Because everyone was on time, which is very rare with our family, we got started on the hour drive to the Indy airport. Since everyone was on time, we were able to stop for breakfast at IHOP. We had a great time with our waitress. She was awesome. My son downed two glasses of lemonade in no time, so she proceeds to bring him a whole carafe of the stuff. He downed it too. I think his bladder came to regret this later!

On to the airport. Jenn, Cody and Jessica were riding with Todd, who dropped them at the curb and headed back home. Sam, Brittany, the two little ones and I proceeded to the Indianapolis FastPark and Relax. Let me just say this, if you are parking in Indianapolis, this place is great. I don't think it took over 10 to 12 minutes to park, they loaded our luggage, drove us to the airport and we were in the door. Excellent, friendly service.

Here is where things got a little frantic. Picture 3 adults, 2 children, 5 pieces of luggage and 2 carry on bags trying to negotiate the escalator. Rylan fell, and thank God she didn't get her fingers caught. We made it to the top where Uncle Cody met us and helped out. Glad I discovered the elevators on the return trip.

We got everyone checked in, made it through security in short order, had a short wait at the gate along with another family from our hometown. I think Cody was glad for this wait. Remember the lemonade? Yeah, he got pretty familiar with the men's room. Plus he was a little nervous about an event I will describe later.

The flight was uneventful. I was worried since it was the little ones first air trip, but they were great. No melt downs, just a complaint of ear pressure.

We arrived in Orlando right on time. Negotiated our way to Magic Express with just a tiny bit of difficulty (I didn't read correctly). Short wait then on the bus headed for AoA. So far so good!

 

[LisaBelle]

Great start. Hope you are able to add the pictures later!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Welcome aboard Mamahaz !!

Looking forward to the rest of the trip

 

[Mamahaz]

Day 1 Continued

I had done online check in before we left, so it was just a matter of a few minutes at the front desk to receive our room assignments. We had two suites. One in the Cars section and a second in the Lion King section. Sam and I had Brittany and both grand daughters in the Cars room with us. Everyone else was in the Lion King suite. Our reasoning was we needed 2 suites anyway, why not be able to enjoy two sections. Plus, if Rylan decided she wanted to "spend the night" with Aunt Jenn, Aunt Jess and Uncle Cody, she could. She loved the Cars theme (her favorite Disney Movie) and stayed all nights with us. We absolutely loved this resort. And the white Christmas tree in the lobby was beautiful.

We took our carry on things to our respective rooms with plans to meet up at 5:30pm to catch a bus to EPCOT. After oohing and aahing over our suite, we walked over to check out the other suite. The décor was a little busy for me, but still cute. It was now time to leave for EPCOT and I realized the double stroller we had preordered from Kingdom Strollers wasn't in our room. No problem....a quick stop at the front desk, then luggage services and we had it and were on our way to the bus stop.

And now begins the ugly. I think the bus schedules need to be reworked somewhat. I know they say buses run every 15-20 minutes, but they were pretty close to 25-30 minutes or more, and when you see 3 MK busses come and go and your que is completely full, I think things are a bit off. This seemed to be our luck every time we left for a park. Unfortunately, my husband is not a patient man when it comes to this kind of thing. I think the whole week of this put him off of any return Disney trips any time soon.

Fortunately our first bus driver really made up for the wait. He noticed Rylan's "I'm celebrating my birthday" button (she would turn 5 on 12/16) and made an announcement, flashed all the bus lights and had everyone on the bus yell "Happy Birthday Rylan". It was very sweet.

We arrived at EPCOT and had a quick meal at the Electric Umbrella. The vegetarian flatbread was SO GOOD. I'm a meat eater but just wasn't in the mood. I think this was one of my favorite things the whole trip. I recently lost 30 pounds (with 50 to go), so I gave the cupcake to the grandkids. Thought I would pretend I was going to stick to my diet for the first meal at least.

The older kids went to do test track and a couple other rides and Papaw and I took the little ones to meet Aiyannas favorite, Minnie Mouse, and to ride in the "giant ball".

Then came the Illuminations Desert Party. Oh no. I forgot my ID. I figured they could take one look at me and see I am way over 21, but I didn't even try to get the alcohol. My daughter decided she would drink enough sparkling wine to "get our money's worth". Plus she and her brother "stole" one of the light up cubes from the table. They said they saw the workers throwing them in the trash, so I saved my "you should be ashamed" speech. The deserts were just ok, it was very crowded, and it would be nicer if there were places to sit. Plus our view was blocked by some boat dock thing. Jessica and Aiyanna were enthralled by their first Illuminations, Rylan was terrified of the fireworks.

Everyone was getting super tired and grumpy, especially Jenn who had been up 24+hours. We decided to skip EM hours and head back to the hotel. Our groceries and the gift basket with balloons and stuffed animals I had ordered from Disney Floral were waiting when we returned. We made plans to meet early next morning and went to bed tired and pretty happy.

Look....I finally got a picture of our crew to upload.

 

[Mamahaz]

Day #2 Hollywood Studios and the big MK suprise

We got up early and had breakfast in our room. My picky little eaters had their chocolate milk and Belvita breakfast cookies and off we went to a full bus stop.

When we arrived we decided to split up so the older kids could go do RnRC and ToT. We took the little ones to the Frozen sing along. Rylan had been looking forward to this for a long time and practicing her singing at the top of her voice range so I should have known something was up when she acted like she wasn't too interested in what was going on. She did sing along a couple of times but not like I thought she would. Aiyanna (aka Anna) seemed to like it and they both perked up when it "snowed".

Let me stop here and say the double stroller from Kingdom Strollers was so great. It was easy to fold and unfold and I was so glad to have it.

Papaw and I met up with the others and we used our FP for Toy Story Mania. I had Aiyanna in my car. Have you ever tried to explain and demonstrate how to shoot to a 2.5 year old? To my surprise she did end up scoring 1600 points. Both she and Rylan enjoyed this ride. Next up.....lunch at Hollywood and Vine. Rylan was a litte hesitant about the characters at first but not Anna! By the time Doc McStuffins came by they were both having fun.

After lunch we stopped so the girls could get their faces painted. Then it was off for ToT fastpasses. The big kids rode first (their second time), then Sam and I were up. At this time, Papaw decides Rylan should ride. I remind him that just because she is tall enough doesn't mean she should ride it. I remind him about how he terrified Cody at age 4 by having him ride it the first day. "Oh, she will like it " he says. Poor kid.

attachFull77924
Does that poor little face on the top right of picture look like she is having fun?

After the ride we bought her a t-shirt for being so brave. We went back to AoA to rest, then back to HS for supper at Mama Melroses and to see the Osborne Lights. It was so crowded we just got a small glimpse of the lights. It did "snow" but Rylan yells "That's not snow, that's soap". Disney can't pull one over on her!

We decided to head on over to the MK since they were open late. Almost time for the big surprise that everyone but Jessica and the little ones were in on! First up was Tomorrow Land Speedway. At some point fireworks started going off and Rylan was scared so Papaw and Brittany sat this ride out with the little ones. Next up was the Teacups which everyone except Sam rode. Spinning rides make him turn green. While this might have been good revenge for making Rylan ride ToT we gave him a break. Both little ones LOVED the Teacups. We had been training for them in every spinning chair in the office where I work. We then went to ride the carousel, which became Rylans favorite thing. Next up: Big Surprise.

While Jenn and Britt distracted Jessica, Cody and I went to find a CM for help. We found a super nice young man, told him that we were trying to find the wishing well and he quickly picked up on the reason why. He went ahead of us and cleared the area around the wishing well. When we arrived he asked the crowd if anyone had a coin, that this young lady needed to make a wish. Someone produced a coin and Jessica, still not having a clue, closed her eyes, made a wish, and opened her eyes to this:

Sorry it's dark. We didn't have time to find a photo Pass photographer. Anyway, she said "YES"! Everyone cheered and our nice young CM took them to get their Just Engaged Buttons. Then he took us to the front of the 7DMT ride. I thanked him many times, but wish I had gotten his name so I could let Disney know of his kindness.

 

[LisaBelle]

Great looking crew! Enjoying your report so far!

 

[LisaBelle]

Love the big surprise! Congratulations to the happy couple!

 

[CAPTAIN HOOK]

Enjoying your report.

When I saw its title I was a little worried - I'm glad that "the ugly" bit just refers to the bus timings.

What a nice surprise, and what a pity about the quality of the photograph

 

[BigRedDad]

Glad the trip was great. I too have issues with Disney buses and laugh at how a simple concept is so easily escaped by them. What drives me made is watching 10 buses for one resort show up with no one in line and a resort with 200 guests watch them pull up constantly, wait, then leave nearly empty. A much simpler solution is to place a kiosk at the bus entrance. Flash your Magic Band, touch your resort, and the system loads up the queue on where to send buses. It tracks the number of people waiting, the wait time, and where logistics need to send buses.

 

[Mamahaz]

Glad the trip was great. I too have issues with Disney buses and laugh at how a simple concept is so easily escaped by them. What drives me made is watching 10 buses for one resort show up with no one in line and a resort with 200 guests watch them pull up constantly, wait, then leave nearly empty. A much simpler solution is to place a kiosk at the bus entrance. Flash your Magic Band, touch your resort, and the system loads up the queue on where to send buses. It tracks the number of people waiting, the wait time, and where logistics need to send buses.

That is a great idea! I know our previous two trips were over 12 years ago, but we never had to wait very long at any park or DTD. It seems the resort capacity has grown without the bus services being expanded to fit the crowds.

 

[Mamahaz]

Enjoying your report.

When I saw its title I was a little worried - I'm glad that "the ugly" bit just refers to the bus timings.

What a nice surprise, and what a pity about the quality of the photograph

Stay tuned, there is a bit more ugly to come! Britt found a very pretty picture of the wishing well somewhere on the internet and she is going to have it made into a picture for them. We will have good memories of the well and I'm getting a wonderful new daughter.

 

[Mamahaz]

Love the big surprise! Congratulations to the happy couple!

Thank you. I will give them your well wishes. I'm glad he did it pretty early in the trip. I was as nervous as he was guarding that ring. Plus I'm not good at keeping secrets. He got the ring 2 months before the trip, so that was a long time for me to keep my big mouth shut!

 

[Mamahaz]

Day 3-Animal Kingdom

Up early and off to another huge line for the bus to Animal Kingdom. The previous night I had allowed almost 2 hours from the resort back to HS for supper and Jenn still had to sprint through the park to ask them to hold our reservation while the rest of us were making our way through the crowd. Since we had reservations at Rainforest Café for breakfast I made everyone get up early and be at the bus 2.25 before time. Wouldn't you know it? We got there 1/2 hour before our reservation time. I told the hostess we would hang out and shop until reservation time, but they seated us right away.

Trying to be a little bit good I ordered the oatmeal. I love oatmeal and this was pretty good. The kids had the breakfast sliders and loved them along with the fried potato things.

Remember in the post about day 2 I mentioned Ry seemed a little off? Well, she ate 1/2 a piece of bacon and plops herself down on Papaws lap. She starts complaining about her throat and tummy hurting. Oh no! Here comes ugly. At least she hadn't eaten or drank very much so it was done quickly. Our waitress was so very nice about it. We cleaned up the floor quickly even before the man with the mop arrived (I work in a medical office so I'm pretty good at cleaning yuck). Our waitress whispered that she was going to bring Ry a cupcake for her birthday but wouldn't since she was sick. She just wanted us to know she saw her button and didn't ignore it. We left RFC with a couple of empty bags and since Ry seemed to be feeling a little bit better we headed on in and did the Safari. Rylan seemed to enjoy it, but she was worn out after. It was decided that Sam and Britt would take the little ones back to the hotel to rest while the rest of us stayed for a while.

We rode Dinosaur first. I keep my eyes closed the whole time on this ride. I hate that T-Rex. Next we waited in the standby line for Everest. It was so worth it. I laughed the whole time. Up next was a Bugs Life. Um, I don't remember those huge spiders dropping down from the ceiling before. I hate spiders more than T-Rex. I still love this show though. Off to Kali River Rapids for a chilly soaking then just enough time for a little bit of standing in the sun to dry off a bit before FP times for Everest again. Somewhere in all that Jenn, Jess and I stopped for Henna tattoos.

By this time I was starting to feel pretty guilty about having so much fun while everyone else was at the resort. We made it to the almost empty bus stop in time to help a grandmother trying to hold her baby while folding up a stroller. She was returning to the resort alone with the baby while everyone else stayed behind. She had her hands full and I was glad we were able to help.

Papaw had gotten some Tylenol in the gift shop for Rylan and she was resting when we arrived. The other people (I'll call them the Lion King People) went to take a nap. The rest of us went to the food court for something to eat. The caprese sandwich is so good. And look....7 layer bars just like my grandma used to make. Yum. I just gave up on the diet.

After this Rylan rested some more and we decided to get in the huge line for the MK again. Arrived in time for a Main Street parade crowd. For some reason these parades really bother my husband. He says there are too many and there needs to be a way to bypass them. There might be and I just don't know it. He kept saying "I thought you said there wouldn't be so many crowds this week". I only said they would be less than Christmas to New Years week. Papaw needs another nap. .

We rode the teacups again, then the carousel, twice. Met up with the Lion King People and back to the hotel for the night.

 

[Mamahaz]

Day #4

Monday 12/15 started very early. Rylan had decided she wanted to sleep between Meemaw and Papaw. Around 3am she became very restless and I noticed she had what had to be a very high fever. I gave her Tylenol and decided we were going to need to see a doctor in the morning. She has a history of tonsillitis and strept and this didn't seem to be just a virus. As soon as I thought any nearby Urgent Care facilities might be open I inquired at the front desk about where they were located, etc. I was given a pamphlet for CentraCare. They would come and pick us up, had medications for dispensing on location, and would return us to our resort. I called and was told to meet at the main resort entrance in 30 minutes. Our driver was there promptly and off we went. When we arrived at the clinic we were told it would be 1.5 to 2 hours wait and $325 to be seen. Well, it had to be done. The good news is we were back at our resort in 1.5 hours, the cost with medication was not much more than the quoted price, and the doctor was very good. It seems Rylan had an ear infection. At least now things could start improving. We started her antibiotic, dosed her up with Tylenol and had her rest some more.

I did not mention that before we left for the airport I had been able to grab 12/15 reservations for BOG dinner for 8 people. I had been checking every single day and success. I cancelled our fast pass lunch for 12/16, deciding that it would crowd the day too much since 12/16 was to be very busy. Around 5:30pm we met at the bus stop and headed out for MK. Arrived at BOG and WOW. It is beautiful. I think we all had the steak with the pomme frites (or however the fancy spelling for French Fries goes!). The steak was good, but the fries with the dipping sauce was even better. I do not normally like fries unless they are fresh out of the fryer from McDonalds. I could not believe how good these were with the sauce. By the time for dessert Rylan was getting very restless. Papaw took both girls to ride the carousel while the rest of us stayed behind to order our deserts to go. Yes, the grey stuff is delicious!

We left the older kids and headed back to the resort. Not a very exciting day, but the rest was good for us.

 

[Mamahaz]

Day #5-12/16-Rylans 5th Birthday!

We had already planned to start the day a little later since we had tickets to the MVMCP this night. We had a very light breakfast in our room and just had a leisurely start to the day. About 10am we headed out to the MK. Even with just 3 doses of antibiotic Rylan had perked up some.

First up: Lunch at Crystal Palace. I think I might love Piglet more than the little ones! I wasn't thinking about this being a buffet and having all kids of deserts and I had ordered a podium cake. It was pretty good and with 8 of us we ate most of it before we left. That was Rylan's first surprise.

Next up: Make Papaws wallet squeal for mercy at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. The older kids ventured off and Papaw, Brittany, the little ones and I made our way to the Boutique. We checked in, Rylan picked her dress, and of course since it was her birthday she got the works. We couldn't leave Aiyanna out, so even though she was too young for a boutique experience we bought her a dress, crown, and wand. After Rylan was done in the Boutique it was off for her photo shoot then Fast Passes to meet Anna and Elsa. By the time we picked up the pictures from the photo shoot, Rylan was exhausted. Back to the resort and to be continued.

 

[Mamahaz]

Day #5-continued

We all headed back to the resort together where we had a small birthday party (with yet another cake) for Rylan.

We had both girls play for a short time, then both down for naps. The other kids dispersed with plans to meet up at 7pm to go to MK. Sam and I went to the food court for a late lunch. Yes, the caprese sandwich and 7 layer bar for me again.

Just before time to meet up for the MVMCP Sam started saying he really didn't want to go fight the crowds. He had seen everyone fighting to get in on one of the previous days and he didn't want to be in the crowd. Since Rylan really wanted to stay and play with her new dolls, and Aiyanna was just as happy in the room it was decided that Papaw would stay at the resort with the girls while the rest of us went to the party. He and the girls had a pizza delivered to the room and had a little party of their own. He might look grumpy in the pictures (he hates his picture taken), but he is just a big old lovable bear and a great father and grandfather.

The other kids and I arrived at the MK around 8pm and there was almost no line at all to enter. We arrived in time to catch most of the parade and we enjoyed it very much. Just before it was over we made our way to Space Mountain. No line! This was great! We then headed to the Astro Orbiter (something I had never ridden before). As we were waiting on the platform at the top to load we had a great view of the fireworks. So beautiful. After Astro Orbiter we headed on to the Teacups again. No line! We split up, the girls in one cup and me and Cody in another to have a contest to see who could spin the most. Who knows who won? We were having so much fun we didn't care!

We rode the Little Mermaid, Haunted Mansion and Big Thunder Mt. No lines!! If there was any time Sam should have been in the MK this was it. We went on a search for Captain Jack Sparrow, but he was gone by the time we got around there. We were getting pretty tired by this time so we headed towards the exits. We watched the parade again before stopping for popcorn in the cute elf Mickey container. Got to the bus stop. No Line! The night ended on a great note and things are looking up.