Trip Report THE ONE FOR THE SALTY 16 (and Thanksgiving🍕)*COMPLETE*

Hello again.
It’s me, Darstarr
This latest episode stars the family!
My husband-Ant
Oldest son-X
Middle son and bday boy-AJ
And the youngest son-Dre

November 26-December 1
At.....wait for it...
All Star Sports!

Collective gasp
“But Darstarr, you’re DVC.”
Yes I am DVC and we (I) have made good use out of it this year. However, when I went to book this trip there was nothing available. Nothing!!! OK, nothing in my point range. My boys are big and they hate sharing beds and someone always ends up on the floor. One time my youngest slept on the dining table banquet rather than share the pullout with his brother. It’s vacation, no one should have to sleep on the floor. We didn’t have enough points left for a two bedroom so I began looking around for a room. I found a room at Riverside that slept 5 for about $250/night. We have done the 5 in a room thing there when the kids were smaller and it was cramped. I was not looking forward to that. Then passholder discounts came out and I got two rooms (TWO) at the original A.S.S. for less than the one room at Riverside. 4 beds and 2 bathrooms!!! SOLD!!!


Lets get to it!

Day one- November 26th
The day started like every other school day except it was AJ’s 16th birthday so he opened presents before leaving for school.

“Mom will you pack my new shirt?”

I was suppose to work this day but I had worked the previous Friday, which is usually my day off, so my boss told me to take the day off. Yay! More time to clean the house.

The five of us were flying down on jet blue from JFK. Four of us were returning to ISP on Southwest. Ant took the dog to his father’s then took his car to ISP so it would be there when we landed on the 2nd. (we have a free resident parking sticker).

We debated taking the train to JFK but it was way cheaper to hire a car. The kids got gome from school about 2:15, “the car is here!”
What???
The car wasn't suppose to come until 3:00. Ant was like “lets go”. I was like “dont rush me because if you rush me and I forget something you will be sorry besides he is 45 minutes early so he can wait”. And yes, I said it just like that, as one long run on sentence.
We left at 2:30. I didnt forget a thing.

 

[Darstarr]

Sorry, late! (you know why! )

But, I'm here too, my friend.

You are not late.
And we all know why. It sounds kike you are having a wonderful trip!
Welcome, my friend.

 

[Darstarr]

NOT TOP 10 BUT HERE ANYWAY

So glad you are here! And your gif is cracking me up!

 

[Darstarr]

Looking forward to another report!! Thanks for writing.

I hope there will be CHEESE, right @bee ?!

Let’s see, cheese...cheese.
Yes! I do recall my boys cutting a lot of cheese this trip. Is that what you were hoping for?

 

[Darstarr]

View attachment 432074

I’m here!!!! Fashionably late as usual

I'm here and almost on time!

Not late! I have barely begun. Welcome welcome!!!

 

[Darstarr]

And here I thought we were making some progress with our friendship.

Only true friends can be salty with each other.

 

[PacNWTigger]

I'm late, but...

I wouldn't want to miss out on anything!!

 

[dizfan917]

Let’s see, cheese...cheese.
Yes! I do recall my boys cutting a lot of cheese this trip. Is that what you were hoping for?

ummm... ew. no, not THAT kind of cheese.

in fact, ANY OTHER KIND of cheese than that. good luck with them boys...

 

[Darstarr]

I'm late, but...

I wouldn't want to miss out on anything!!

Happy to have you here. Nothing missed. Yet!

 

[Darstarr]

ummm... ew. no, not THAT kind of cheese.

in fact, ANY OTHER KIND of cheese than that. good luck with them boys...

Well, there’s...fumunda...

 

[donaldtoo]

Ohhh. Shiny! They are both great options and thank you for posting the pix. It saved me some work

 

[Darstarr]

View attachment 432142

You nailed it!

 

[Darstarr]

Tuesday November 26 cont

We loaded in the car and had to take the driving to the airport selfies. I think that is a rule around here.

(@Zipitidoda AJ is smiling again!)

As we arrived guess what song was on the radio.

Ha ha

We ate some horrible food in the JFK Jet Blue terminal then boarded. On airplane selfies as mandated in the Magicians handbook.

Landed in MCO to these guys

And this. Yay!

Is this new? Does it look like SSE? Is it suppose to?

They were installing these droids. There was this one guy working and three suits supervising. I asked one of the suits if the droids were going to be interactive. She said they will make sounds and move but not be interactive.
“Will you be back soon?” she asked me. “Ummmm, to Florida?”
“No to the airport. When are you leaving?”
“Ohhhh. We are leaving from West Palm. Next time.”

Then we went to baggage claim. I had paid for a bag and brought a big, mostly, but not really empty suitcase because I knew there would be purchases made. I usually don't buy very much because it won’t fit in my carry on. Not this time!!!
These three guys were working on the belt and then it started up. Yikes! Good thing no one lost a finger. OSHA where are you?

 

[Zipadeelady]

What the heck is going on!!!

 

[Minthorne]

This is getting my all pumped for my trip!

 

[Swissmiss]

Hmm. AJ’s smiling quite a lot for a teenage boy ... is he in love?

 

[Darstarr]

What the heck is going on!!!

I know. It was his birthday. It wont last

This is getting my all pumped for my trip!

Excellent! Best compliment!

Hmm. AJ’s smiling quite a lot for a teenage boy ... is he in love?

Ha ha! I wish! He might pay more attention to his oral hygiene if he were

 

[Swissmiss]

Ha ha! I wish! He might pay more attention to his oral hygiene if he were

Sounds like that’ll be your first clue

 

[Darstarr]

Tuesday November 26 cont

We headed to the magical express.
Social media I You....should be printed on my boy’s foreheads!

We were the first stop. Yay! Palm trees and obscure lighting.

The tree looked really cool shining through the window. But no, mom can not take a picture without it becoming a game (good thing we are at Sports!) I will say, @fractal , tell me if you disagree but, I think I nailed it! Check out that vertical!

I got in line. It was very quiet, but it was a Tuesday. My kids were off Wednesday but I am sure many districts were not. Any worry I had about staying at All Star Sports disappeared 1.5 minutes after entering the lobby. While I checked in the boys did this...

I say “boys” which includes my husband. AJ was with me. Lighten up and go have fun!

It was noted on our reservation that we were celebrating a birthday. The CM checking us in was so nice (forgot to jot down her name but she was from Moscow) she blew up some balloons for AJ and gave him a bunch of chocolate. Chocolate is not his favorite...come to mama!!!

I inquired about getting a microwave and an extra blanket. I had done some research and read about people requesting microwaves for their rooms at Sports. This is a false trail!!!
For the record, I was told there aren't any microwaves on all star resort property to lend or rent.
That was only a minor bummer as we had an instacart order that included breakfast bowls and egg sandwiches that needed to be microwaved. I also had oatmeal but assumed I could get hot water from the coffee maker. What happens when we assume???
There is no coffee maker. Again, not a big deal, there is plenty of free hot water and a microwave in the food court. We made it work.

Also, that extra blanket I requested? I told her the boys hate sharing beds so at least they can have their own blankets. She asked if I wanted a cot? ABSOLUTELY!!! Who offers cots these days? And for no additional charge??? In my big ole Minnie suitcase I had brought a twin air bed but a cot is way better. Thanks CM whose name I forgot!!!

BTW: 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, everyone in their own bed, 5 nights was just a hair more money than ONE night at the Poly.

 

[Darstarr]

Tuesday November 26 cont

We were in the hoops section. I had put in a request to be near each other. The CM on the phone said, “you want adjoining rooms?” I told her if it was available but I know there are families with little kids and Grandma who really need the adjoining rooms so I want them to get first dibs. I must have said the right thing because we got adjacent (not adjoining) rooms on the third floor closest to the steps. Corner room and the one next door. The location was perfect. I feel like the closest Surfs up location is too loud and has too much foot traffic. We were just beyond that section but the first two rooms. There was no foot traffic outside our room and no noise from down below.

The rooms are ok. A little shabby but clean.

I have to say I am a fan of these. I know I am in the vocal minority but these work for us. Look at my boys and their hair. Dre will have no problem using an entire bottle of the conditioner, leaving the rest of us with nothing. Nothing but all those empty bottles, which are never fully empty because it is impossible to get out the last of the product. These are guilt free and there is plenty to go around.

The fridge in the other room was bigger than this. It took up the entire space in the cabinet. But their cabinet did not have a top. So they (Ant and AJ) took most of the frozen breakfast items and we took the drinks which we stored on top of the cabinet.

Probably my only complaint was about these pillows. I could not find one to my liking and therefore did not sleep very well.

 

[MegRuss626]

BTW: 2 rooms, 2 bathrooms, everyone in their own bed, 5 nights was just a hair more money than ONE night at the Poly.

For our upcoming trip in April, I “for fun” priced out the difference between All Star Movies (where we’re planning on staying) and the Poly (only monorail resort I haven’t stayed at yet)........a difference of $3,000!!!!