There's A Human in the Human Tank: A November 2011 Trip Report

So here we are, it’s June, and I’m just now getting around to posting our Thanksgiving trip report. Sigh.

I was MIA on the boards for the first few months of the year mostly due to chaos and craziness at work. Don’t those people know that’s when I get most of my trip reporting done?! While work has slowed down quite a bit since the first of April, we have remained crazy busy at home. We bought and moved into our house in mid-December so quite a bit of time has went into all that that entails, from painting, to making curtains, decorating, purchasing new furniture, etc. But that’s not the only thing that’s kept us busy…

Because, you see, there’s a human in the human tank!


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And well, we’ve been doing our best to prepare for the little one over the course of the last few months. So, please forgive me, my time has been spent nesting, buying every adorable baby item I see, and designing/pinning the cutest nursery on the planet.

The details...
- The little monkey is a boy, and we’re keeping his name a secret for now. But rest assured, he does have one!
- I’m at the end of my 37th week… ACK! That means, full-term. So really, he’ll be here any day now.
- He’s due to arrive on July 2nd and he’ll likely be introduced to the world via Instagram! Brett’s account, or mine, you never know.

We’re already planning his first Disney trip. You know, because that’s the first thing you do when you find out you’re having a baby! Granted, after doing the math, it became apparent that he actually came home with us at the conclusion of our Food & Wine Festival trip last fall. And he’s returned twice since, which leads us to this particular trip report – so let’s get to it.

This time around it’s not just Mr. and Mrs. Hollybelle, but Mama and Papa Hollybelle, as well! Also known as Kim and Rick! Here we all are, on one of our previous vacations, at the famed Maho Beach in St. Maarten:

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We planned this trip around Thanksgiving because it gave us some vacation days to work with. With Brett’s current job, he gets next to no time off, so we’ve begun to find ourselves at the mercy of ridiculous holiday pricing when it comes to booking vacations. Initially, we had made our reservations for Port Orleans French Quarter, but without an AP rate, the price was a little tough to swallow. So when my mom came across a rock bottom deal for the Dolphin, we jumped on it and switched resorts.

As has been the case with a few of my last reports, this one is going to be heavy on the photos and light on text. Heck, I’m doing good to remember which parks we went to on which days.

So, as the anticipation over upcoming summer vacays mounts, is everyone ready for a healthy dose of holiday spirit and Christmas decoration?! :cool:
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Day 1 – Wednesday, November 23: Travel/Check-in/DHS

Being that it was going to be the craziest travel day of the entire year, we decided to leave at 4am to make the seven hour trek to WDW. We thought it may be helpful to be off the interstate before noon, figuring a lot of Thanksgiving travelers would be taking half a day at work and hitting the road around lunchtime that day. Considering how bad traffic could’ve been, we were pleasantly surprised to arrive at the Dolphin by 12pm.

Upon checking in, Brett and I received a random upgrade to a room with a side balcony. Score! My parents however, were given a room on the first floor, which actually turned out to feel a little more like a basement. I tried to get them to switch with us, but they wouldn’t hear of it. Luckily both of our rooms were ready so we were able to ditch our bags and get situated before meeting back in the lobby to formulate a plan of attack.

Our room really was gorgeous…

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We met back up with my parents in the lobby and then took off to find sustenance. Where to? Where to? We decided to grab a quick bite at The Fountain (across from Bluezoo on the lower level of the Dolphin) before heading off to a park.

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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
My dad and Brett each had burgers of some sort and my mom and I split a chicken Caesar salad. And let me tell you… the Caesar salad was quite tasty and more than enough food for two.

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My half of the Chicken Caesar:

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Despite the fact that the food was pretty good, my review of The Fountain is kind of subpar. The food was all fine and well, but it’s hard to take the place seriously as a “soda shop” when Beaches & Cream is right around the corner doing it so well. Beaches & Cream is the kind of Disney restaurant that exudes character and ambiance… The Fountain? Not so much. I know, I know, what did I expect from a restaurant that isn’t really a Disney restaurant?! I think I had higher hopes for it because Brett’s parents had eaten there a couple times during their previous trip and they raved about it.

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After lunch, I ran in the gift shop while mom was preoccupied taking pictures, and picked up a couple vinylmation’s for us to trade. I was tempted to keep the White Rabbit, but decided against it. He’s awesome, but not end game material.

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Now, I’m sure you all know my stance on Disney resorts and how, due to ambiance and Disney magic, they will always reign supreme in my book, but I must say… for the price, you really cannot beat the Swan and Dolphin. The convenience of being right in the middle of the Crescent Lake area is phenomenal. And not that this is a big draw for us, but considering their guests get the perks of both Disney transportation and extra magic hours, it makes it increasingly more difficult to argue the merits of paying so much more “for ambiance” at the deluxe resorts right next door.

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The day was a bit overcast and dreary, as you can tell from the pictures, but it wasn’t too bad. Luckily, the rain held off for us as we hopped on a boat and headed over to the Studios.
 

rani8600

Active Member
Congratulations to you both!!

Looking forward to hearing about staying at the Dolphin, i have been in the lobby but never eaten or stayed there.
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Oh hey, check it out… it’s the first of all those Christmas pictures I’m going to flood you with in this mid-summer report!

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Brett will often carry my photo gear when we're in the parks, but for this particular trip, he kept it almost the whole time for me. So he was constantly having to go through bag check. It became a theme of the trip for Dad and to I cruise right through to the turnstiles while waving to these two as they stood in line. So, this is just the first of many in what I will deem my “bag check” series from this trip:

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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Once in the park, it was around 2:30pm and there were long waits for most everything. So we decided to hit up the Great Movie Ride first to kill some time, and then make our way to the last viewing of Lights! Motors! Action! for the day. I was fairly certain my dad would enjoy this show, and for those of you who may not know, this was only his second trip to the World. The first was for the wedding and we only spent about a day and a half in the parks on that trip, so I was treating this trip as his first and I wanted to ensure he went away excited about a potential return trip.

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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
It seems like there are often threads popping up on the boards, asking for advice on how to indoctrinate a first timer and get them to fall in love with Disney World. And I know I’m preaching to the choir when I say Disney has something for everyone. But it is so true, and if you want to be successful in introducing WDW to someone else, you have to know your audience. What I’ve quickly learned is that the key to getting someone “new” to fall for Disney is to approach the parks, rides, and attractions in a manner that speaks to the individual. My dad is practical and pragmatic. Therefore, I knew a park like the Magic Kingdom wasn’t the way to draw him in. He’s an engineer, the type that enjoys figuring out how things work, and if he’s picking out this weekend’s movie it’ll likely be something akin to the Bourne series. Therefore, shows like LMA and Indy, are going to be right up his ally and a great jumping off point. As will a lot of the stuff at Epcot. All of this to say, when taking a newbie… do your best to make it about them and their interests and I promise you’ll find more success in getting them to “buy in.”

On to the show… it’d actually been a couple of years since Brett and I experienced LMA, so it was a lot of fun for us, too! The inclusion of McQueen and Mater was way too drawn out. I don’t so much have a problem with them using Cars characters as opposed to Herbie, it just seemed that this scene lasted way too long – I felt like it hindered the momentum of the show in a way that Herbie never did. Granted it got more oohs and ahhs from the kiddies than the whole rest of the show, so what do I know?!

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clee687

Member
Congratulations!!! So glad to see a new report from you and CAN'T WAIT to see your report on your son's first visit too! We are planning a trip for this December and your Christmas decor pics are making me more excited! The last time we got to see them for ourselves was in 2007...that's FOREVER ago!!!
 

fractal

Well-Known Member
Holly,

Before I even delve into what will undoubtable be another great TR from you, I have to offer my congratulations and best wishes!

Parenthood is the most awesome pain in the as* thing you will ever experience. I mean that in a very good way!
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We dropped by the Writer’s Stop to pick up a snack before making our way to the Hollywood Hills Ampitheatre for the first showing of Fantasmic. Brett is an industrial engineer, so he’s always picking up on things like crowd control, logistics and flow, queue management and other such things. So as we were approaching the area where the walkway opens up to the theatre, I heard him say, “hey it looks like they’ve got some students doing time studies over there.” I was half paying attention to him, but turned to look in the direction he pointed and saw one of my co-op students! It was the same young lady I had visited with in April 2011 (the reason for that trip). I knew she was on her second rotation, but it still completely shocked me to see her. I mean, what are the odds?! So we chatted for a while, and I joked that I would now be able to turn my “travel” in for a reimbursement upon returning to work. Hah! I mean, I did visit with one of my students after all! It was a bit odd… rolling up to talk to her wearing “park going” clothes while she was all professionally dressed. This turned out to be the first of two chance meetings of the night.

I think we were close to an hour early for the show… and it was filling up fast:

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TakeMeThere81

Well-Known Member
Woohoo!! A new Hollybelle addition! I had noticed that you had been MIA, but I have too somewhat so..I just kept wondering. I'm so glad for you two! So this is trip one of two where you were pregnant at The World?
 

HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
After the show we made our way back out to Sunset, where we stopped in the Scary Apothecary to trade vinylmations. I ended up with the screaming baby… Brett thought I should keep it. Now, I’m kinda wishing I had.

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After that we made our way to the Streets of America… this was probably the #1 Holiday “attraction” I couldn’t wait for my mom to experience. I don’t know why, but something about the Osborne Lights has always made me think of my childhood, which inevitably makes me think of my parents and all those Christmases growing up. There’s a nostalgia I associate with the lights that I can’t quite explain. Needless to say, when we rounded the corner, my mom audibly caught her breath as she started to take it all in. I was so happy!

And now… a little holiday overload for your summer vacation senses…

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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
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Favorite detail...

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So as I’m shooting away, I feel my mom tap me on my shoulder, and I kinda shoo her away. Then I hear her say, “That’s not me, Holly.” And I turned to find MillerPoppins!

KAREN!!!

I saw her thread around here recently, so of course by now you all know she is a local! She and Tim (he’ll always be Tim to me :D) and one of their friends were off to catch the next showing of Fantasmic so we had to say goodbye. But hooray for running into each other. Boo for foolishly forgetting to change my settings before handing my camera off...


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HollyBelle

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We were all getting a bit hungry so we started making our way out of the parks and back to the Boardwalk resort area.

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When we got there, we hit up the pizza window outside Kouzzina. It was just right for a late snack and I didn’t think the price was too bad… $20 for a pie that ended up feeding all four of us!

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It was actually a bit cool at this point, but we still enjoyed sitting out on the Boardwalk while we ate. On the way back to the Dolphin we stopped in to see some of the holiday decorations at the Boardwalk.

STITCH!

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We made it back to the Dolphin and headed our separate ways around 10pm.

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Next up… we give THANKS!
 

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