Trip Report THE ONE WITH THE FRIENDS IN FEBRUARY; Feb 16-23, 2019 *COMPLETE*

Hi all. Just returned from our February break trip and I can’t wait to share it with you!
First things first.....

THE WHO:
We have some friends we go away with every other February break.
In 2017 we did a Royal Caribbean cruise:
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In 2015 we stayed in a grand villa at AKL:
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And in 2013 we did the Disney Dream:
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Sorry, no matching shirts. We were still feeling each other out😎

So who do we have?
( @Rista1313 pay attention!)

Me
Husband-Ant
Son-AJ, 15
Son-Dre, 13
We have another son, X, who was at school and did not come with us but makes a guest appearance, or two❤️

Our friends
J tall bald and male
L short blond and fun
3 out of their 4 kids
Son-T, 17
Son-R, 13
Daughter-H, 12
Their oldest is away at college.

THE WHERE
We stayed in the Saratoga Springs Treehouse villas. Love them!!! More later!

I think that is all you need to know for now.

2019!
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Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day one/ Feb 16 cont

We got off the ME at Saratoga Springs and checked in. You know the part where they ask if you are celebrating anything? I was just about to say “no” and L says, “J’s retirement”.
What?!? We had gotten together a few weeks prior to the trip to discuss last minute details and J said he was “thinking about retiring”. Thinking was over! L said he had two more days after we returned. (He had his final walkout yesterday as a matter of fact.)

We had to get J a pin. But would he wear it? He puts up a fuss over matching shirts. Not this year though, I made the shirts in his honor. (He loved them!)

The room was not ready, it was only 10:30! We walked down to the boat and made our way to Disney Springs.
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AJ (right) was happy because he had T (left) to hang with.

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@amjt660 is this a proper photo bomb?
Dre (right) and R (left) are the same age but one year apart in school. They get along really well. I had both my boys paired off-this felt like a vacation already!!! Now, where is my drinking buddy??

Nope not him

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Or her
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J is my drinking buddy.

From Disney Springs we boarded a bus bound for the Contemporary.

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I took this picture of Mickey for two reasons. One, it’s freakin Mickey Mouse! Two, look at all that dust on his tail.
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day one/Feb 16 cont

Chef Mickeys!!!
Yay! I had never eaten here.
We were all so starving. We had been up since 3:30 and it was now closing in on 12:30. Ant had brought bagels for us to eat on the plane but that felt like yesterday. Where was the airplane lady with the igloo cooler?

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My kids were never into the characters. I have very few pictures of them with characters. Today would change all that! “Eat what you want but be ready to pose when a character comes around!”

First course:
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Do Mickey Waffles think of me when I am not around?

Darstarr loves cinnamon rolls
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But not this one. This was hard and flaky. I like them light and fluffy.

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This was not my plate. I am not sure whose it was. But, the mac n cheese was the unanimous loser of the day. The winner? Besides the waffles...
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These were cheesy hashbrowns and I wish I had a big ugly yellow bowl of them right now!!!

The desserts, for me were just ok. But they look awesome!
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Loved this picture. Mickey and Merica!
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Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Swissmiss said:
I had a good laugh as you were describing AJ at the airport ... because it almost could have been my 13 year old daughter ... but she’s never whipped out deodorant on in public even though it would be an olfactory improvement 😂
Click to expand...
So it’s not just boys then. Hmmmm
Swissmiss said:
How sad - there is no longer a Chef Mickey statue at Chef Mickey’s? We’ve gone every two years since my DD was 3 and a half and have always taken a photo of her there. ☹
Click to expand...
Hold the phone! Statue? Where is there a statue? There very well could have been a statue but we were so hungry we didnt even notice. As 13 YO R said, “my stomach is eating itself.”
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day one/Feb 16 cont

“Oh Ant, you're such a character!”
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This was an unauthorized photo. We hadn't even sat down yet. But look how happy Mickey is!!!
Wait until he sees how many of his faces we eat! (17YO T ate 5 before the rest of us sat down)

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I have read that you are not suppose to touch their heads but Pluto INSISTED I scratch his nose. I asked him “whose a good boy?” I didnt get the leg jerk though.

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There was a somewhat long wait between the first four and the Mick. I am not sure if this is by design or if he was soooo popular he was running behind. If you have never eaten at Chef Mickeys before, the best I can tell, and please feel free to add or correct me, there are sections that are all seated at the same time. In our section, which was physically separated with walls both high and low, there were about 15 tables. The characters all came one after another. Then we all got our checks and left. Wash, rinse, repeat. But Mickey was MIA. I told AJ he could go to the restroom to “make some room”. Of course that is when Mickey came. I politely asked his handler if they could skip us and come back because my son was in the men’s room. (I did not tell him my son is 15 and could give a rat’s a$$ about Mickey). I wanted the group shot. I don't ask for much...

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The kids.

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Plus the kids with credit cards!

And T grabbed one more waffle for the road.
 
Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day one/ Feb 16 cont

The plan was pretty simple. Ant and I called alamo for a lift to the car care center. We were renting a 12 passenger van for our field trip the next day. The other 7 were heading back to SSR. We got our room ready text just as T was cramming the last Mickey waffle in his mouth.
I told my boys L was in charge. I told L she was in charge of room assignments. We had talked about it briefly before hand but I had never stayed there so did not know what to expect 100%. Here is the thing: I completely trust L and J. They are Disney people. And beyond that, they are smart and use to thinking on their feet. I told them how relaxed I felt because I knew they were completely capable of handling things (and it was true!).
I also told L she needed to send me pictures before the kids messed up the treehouse. So @PacNWTigger, yes, I have pictures, but no, I did not take them.

The space is a hexagon? I think it had six sides. This is from the front door when you walk in.
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The couch pulled out to a bed. So did the chair. The master BR is just past the chair.
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Master BR with only a queen bed.
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Master bath. The tub was inside the shower stall. Kind of cool.
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Kitchen smack dab in the middle of the place.
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See the TV on the left in the island?
Also, J, top right is looking in the bunk bed room.
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Past that is another BR with a queen bed.
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And another bathroom
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There was also a washer and dryer right outside this bathroom in a closet.

Outside we had an awesome view. River and the golf course.
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And a nice big deck with a table and chairs. Which, apparently, I do not have a picture of. This is the walkway from the nice big deck to the door
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Darstarr

Darstarr

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
In the Parks
No
Day one/Feb 16 cont

Ant and I waited for the alamo shuttle outside the Contemporary.
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It was a little cloudy.
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We picked up the van then headed to the grocery store while L and J dealt with room assignments and luggage. I think J napped to be honest and L did it all by herself! She said she didnt have any change to tip the guy who brought our bags, 15 of them, which he had to lug up the stairs.
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L said she looked out the window as he was leaving and saw him look at the $9 she gave him and just shake his head.

Meanwhile we got drinks, snacks and breakfast. We had also planned on picking up dinner. We got two rotisserie chickens and a couple ceasar salad kits. We also got cup o noodles as all our kids are obsessed with them. We are on vacay so sodium it up!!!

We also got this for J to celebrate his retirement:
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We returned and shocker! No one was hungry. The kids went to the pool, there was a small pool very close to us. The men went fishing. Dont ask! Ant loves fishing! He had a fold up rod he packs and brings everywhere! They got kicked out of wherever they were fishing so I sent them down to PORS to the fishin hole. They went but did not like it. “Too much boat traffic” they said.

L and I went in search if the guy who delivered our luggage to give him more money. I wont keep you in suspense, L didnt remember what he looked like so no tip for you!
We went to the SSR gift shop which is so tiny and bad. I know Disney Springs is across the pond but it is still underwhelming!

L looks awesome in these.
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These looked awesome!
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We did make it to the pool bar just as it was closing. The boys met up with us.
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We also figured out the bus system. There is a bus inside the treehouses that bring you out to the springs bus stop. We figured out the short cuts and what worked best for us due to our location.
A word on our location. I did not request because I didn't know what would be desire-able. I explained this to L:
“I could have requested to be near the pool,”
L: “that would make the kids happy.”
Me: “Or near the bus.”
L: “That would make Ant happy.”(Ant had torn tendons in his ankle)
Me: “Or a nice river view.”
L: “That would make me happy.”
Me: “Or the middle of nowhere.”
L: “That would make J happy. He doesn't like people.”

We got the perfect treehouse. Almost. We all agreed there was one treehouse two over which is the best in all the land!
The bus stop was directly in front if us. Not noisy! And one of us could keep lookout for the bus then we could all make a run down the steps for it. The trash cans were there too. (dvc takes out their own trash). The path to SSR proper was along the side of our treehouse with another path that went along the river was on the other side of us. The pool was 4 treehouses down. We had a view of the river and the golf course. Someone really hooked us up!

This was scary
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It is hard to see but there is stagnant water everywhere! But it did not smell and I only saw one mosquito the entire time. “Kids! Don't touch the water!”
 

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