Trip Report There's Something About Mary...and it's called DRAMA!

I think it's time to get this thing started...hoping it will help my mood and sanity levels. For those that missed the PTR (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/lawdy-lawdy-look-whos-turning-40-ptr.867181/) - the early pages should help you catch up on the bulk of the big details, and for those that missed our problems from day 1 of our trip (http://forums.wdwmagic.com/threads/how-not-to-start-your-wdw-vacay.873853/ )...well, it kind of speaks for itself. I am going to try and keep this as upbeat as possible, but we have a very long road ahead to fix things...so, please bear with me as I vent in between some of the magic.

September 18th

I left work early on the 18th so I could pick up the girls at school and have them with us when we took our dog to get boarded. This is our Daisy Doggy...

What's really funny, the pic above was taken with Sammie's Fisher Price plastic kiddie camera!

After getting the dog situated at boarding, we went home, had some dinner, and the heavy duty packing started. I'd actually started packing my things on the 17th, but now it was time to really focus on the girls. I let them sleep in the guest bedroom that night so I could pack all of their stuff without keeping them up...i.e. so I could pack all of the surprise outfits without spoiling anything. It was A TON of packing, but I finished up around 1am. I had thought about setting up the outfits and bags in the guest room for the reveal, but Sammie got up to use the bathroom right around that time- soooooo, I decided to wait until just before the big reveal.

September 19

I guess I got close to 4.5 hours of sleep (good for the night before a travel day)...and at 6am, it was finally time to set up and reveal the big secret. I got everything set up and then DH came in to help me. The video I took is pretty awful and sleepy girls don't make for really good surprises, but this is the vid I took and I swear...they were REALLY happy.



You can all now probably appreciate what it's like getting these two up for school each morning.

Actually, the girls were super quick to get dressed once it really sunk in what was going on. They were even good with posing for pictures before hitting the road...

We loaded up my SUV and hit the road...sadly, we wouldn't get far. The accident took place about 2.5 miles from our house. I really don't want to rehash all of the scary details, but when we realized we'd all be able to walk away from this horror - we had to decide if we'd continue with this WDW trip. While the girls' initial screams and cries were from the accident itself, they morphed into cries that they wouldn't get to see their grandma and grandpa. We usually try and visit every 3 months, but we pushed it a bit longer b/c of this trip. It was for this reason DH and I decided to push forward with the trip even if the odds weren't in our favor. I guess I just figured getting everyone to "the most magical place on earth" could be therapeutic. Don't get me wrong...I love that the EMTs and lead sheriff on the scene were super lovey with the girls - they really needed something super positive...so, Disney it was!

So, after I took care of the most important initial phone calls, I got Southwest on the line (at the scene of the wreck) and started working with them to rebook the outbound flight. We were yelling over ambulance sirens and traffic, but after about 20 min, we were rebooked from our 9:15am departure to a 3:55pm departure. They also said DH could ask for a blue card for pre-board (we were now in group C after paying to be in group A on the original flight)...while it's gotten better, he had some leg pain that day and was limping from the aches. The timing also worked well since it gave me time to go to the collision center, talk to the various insurance companies, etc. My wonderful MIL was also kind enough to pick up DH and the girls from the scene. This enabled him to get his car and she was able to love on the girls for a while until we were ready to regroup and get travel plans rolling again.

While our flight out of Houston was delayed close to 3 hours due to weather and mechanical issues (not helping Kendall, who was now terrified that the plane would crash), but we got off the ground a little after 6pm and we were on our way...

Sammie sat with DH on the way to FL-- with Pooh, of course...

I had Kendall...

...and we spent the entire flight doing this big word search on her tablet.

We flew into terminal A and DME is in terminal B. It was after the girls' bed time, so we opted to just get our baggage. Soooooo, we went down to terminal A baggage and then lugged it over to DME in terminal B. Thankfully, Kendall has overcome her fear of escalators, so minus losing her shoe for a while on one of them we were in good shape.

I think the CMs manning the DME entrance could read all of the stress and worry on my face, because they promised me pixie dust and magic from that point on. We had our Magic Bands on at this point, but I had my vouchers out so in the interest of time and sanity, they just used those. They directed us to the line for AKL and while we were let on the bus right away...we were so late that the bus was accommodating a number of resorts from various lines. Still...Kendall and I wound up with this prime spot!

I swear, I got choked up when I looked up and saw the screen...like that "we're really on our way" moment.

It took a while for them to load up the bus since they were waiting on people to come in from all of these late or delayed flights, but it wasn't long before we were off.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Sorry to tune in just as you're feeling sad describing your last day of vacation, but:

I always thought that was Big Ben, too.

And, my trip last month was the first time I didn't see my favorite fireworks show, Illuminations. So we have those two things in common. (miss the old waving smiley)

It'll be Monday morning too soon!

Ultimately, the base structure looks more like Big Ben and with those sections now back to back...well, I think a lot of people make that association.

It just feels so odd to go to WDW and miss out on a fave...regardless of what that fave might be. Oh well- hopefully next time.

Yeah- there are several of the old smileys that I miss.

At least it's almost Tuesday!

Curious what bothered her about the Mexico ride?

I can't remember what her husband is, but I believe she's of Mexican heritage. She felt like it was making a mockery of her culture and failed to recognize historical and societal strong points. I showed her the previous version of the ride in Mexico and she felt that while it still was lacking, it was far less embarrassing and inflammatory. I know it bothered her enough to write a complaint.

Tell me about it!

I couldn't help but laugh at your comment. Just let it go...

Love, love, love Tiki Room! Thanks for bringing us along!

I guess at least there was no hangover...and thankfully the dog doesn't bother asking to go out until the adults are up and out of bed.

I know...I have to get over Wishes. I should have expected this. Last year they all got cranky when I wanted to watch Wishes from the BOG bridge.

Funny- it wasn't in my head last night when I was typing, but tonight...all I can hear is Tiki Room music

Just discovered my husband and I in the background of one of your AK photos! Too funny!

Nice! I guess that's one of the things with me taking a ton of pics...the odds of me getting other forum members in my pics are pretty high.

That would have been awesome if you would have caught the end of Wishes right before the drop!

I'm sure your friend is a nice person, but she need to chill out regarding PotC. Pirates are not politically correct.

It would have been so perfect had it worked out that way. I did my best to not curse on Splash as we heard those last few fireworks shells go off.

I know...they're pirates! Who the heck expects a pirate to have impeccable manners and be respectful/chivalrous with women? That's part of what makes PotC so fun. Oh well...part of me pities people like this. i.e. spends more time being bothered than enjoying their vacation. I mean, I have my whiner moments, but I still enjoy myself. Oh well.

 

[jw24]

Caught up with everything. Must have been quite a long day but hey, ending the night with a Dole Whip isn't too bad. It's actually quite nice. It's probably not the same as ending a long day with Wishes but you can't go wrong with Dole Whips. They make everything better.

 

[epcotisbest]

Whiner moments... I sure have my share of those.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I have no drama for you tonight. I'm still waiting on $, so no new vehicle yet, but it's still nice to have a drama free day.
Here we go...September 23rd...our last day...

Our flight wasn't scheduled to take off until a little after 7pm, so we had a decent chunk of day at Disney. At one point, I'd thought about buying park tickets, but DH just wanted to relax. I'd also thought about heading over for the MK Welcome Show and then breakfast at Kona or GFC, but everyone else rejected that idea before we ever even knew if we'd be too tired to go through with it. In the end, it was probably for the best that we planned on a relaxing last day. Kendall had a rough night with nightmares...so a little extra sleep and relaxation was nice. Ultimately, I wasn't sleeping well, so having no real commitments was best for me too.

I woke up before everyone else, so I decided to head out to our balcony to check out the morning view. My lens kept fogging up because it was so humid out and so chilly in our room...but it's really no different than life at home. Well, except that we rarely have wildlife in our backyard worth photographing (minus that one morning a hawk tried to dive bomb my neighbor's botanical garden). So, here's some of what I took during my 30-45 minutes of early morning peace...along with the occasional lens fogging...

I'm sure someone has a great tip for lens fogging issues, but I had nothing at this point and I was getting annoyed. I popped back into the room for a little while and it seemed everyone was starting to wake up. DH had suggested I head down to the lobby and request a late check out, and while I agreed...I didn't feel like leaving the room just yet. Sooooooo, I told everyone they could go back to bed a little bit longer while I headed out to take a few more pics. I don't know if there is a name for procrastination by photographing animals off of your balcony...but that's just what I was doing...

They were all getting pretty restless at this point- yeah, nobody was going back to bed...so, I got myself semi-presentable and went down to the lobby to request a late check out. As expected, the best they could do was bump us back to noon. Oh well, that would buy us a little extra time with the room.

I also got a call from my parents about them coming by for a visit. I had promised the girls swim time and I wanted to do that before we had to be out of the room...so we opted to meet up with the rest of the family at the pool. Oh darn...I can't do that packing I should be doing.

So, we headed down to the pool and my parents watched while we swam. My brother and SIL had too much packing to do for Jake, so they never met up with us. In fact, we didn't get to see them again this trip We didn't really have too much excitement at the pool unless you want to count some of the frogs the kids were trying save and my 3 trips down the slide. Yes...I rode the slide. We were trying everything we could to convince Kendall to slide, but she chickened out each time. It's a pretty mild slide, but it was just too much for her. Sammie on the other hand thought it was a riot that I was sliding.

Sadly, we had to end our pool time so we could pack up, get to lunch, and my parents could hit the road. Yeah- Kendall wanted no part of leaving the pool. We had to trap her...

So, we headed back to the room...cleaned up and packed up. And like usual, my mom gave us a ton of stuff to bring home (like clothes and other trinkets for the girls). They also brought us the cake, but I was in no mood for cake and was still angry enough about it that I didn't want to open the box. So, it wound up going in the room trash.

We said good-bye to my parents, finished our packing, and it was time for us to start making our way to the lobby...

It was a little after 11 when I got to the front desk to check out. The girl was kind of shocked...seeing as how I had requested a late checkout, but we had a lunch booked at Sanaa for 11:30 am ... and with my parents on the road... it made sense for us to go to lunch.

We did also get our luggage checked in for the airline at this point and left our bigger carry ons with bell services.

Then it was out the front door to head over to Kidani...

 

[fractal]

Nice to see Kendall was smiling at the pool after a tough night.

To get rid of lens fogging from an air conditioned room - you can use a hair dryer to wArm it up before you head out.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It was starting to hit me that we'd just checked out of our room and were truly on the last leg of this trip. So, I guess I decided to make the most of it...as I took pics the entire way over to Kidani. We were also walking at a pretty fast pace as we were running a tad behind to make our ADR.

a

Yup- I really meant it...pics all the way from Jambo to Kidani.

We also saw this bus pull up as we got to the Kidani bus area. It's hard not to get sad when you see a bus headed to MK on your last day with no planned park time...

This bus, on the other hand, got me thinking...

My parents had such a good time and are such cruise fans that they're now pushing really hard for us all to do a land/sea trip. We shall see.

Finally making our way up to the front of Kidani...

I also got oddly jealous at this point. Yes, some of it was seeing people checking in and right at the start of their vacations, but some was seeing people with their own vehicles. We had driven to Disney for our 2012 trip...in the vehicle that had been in the accident. In fact, that vehicle was purchased partly to keep us from having to rent a larger vehicle for said trip. So, for whatever reason- seeing people showing up at a WDW resort in their own vehicles was making me kind of sad.

I tried to push the sadness aside and reminded myself that we were headed into Kidani for what was likely to be another wonderful Sanaa meal.

Heading down...

We were a bit late and missed the drum show. We also requested another window seat...so, we had a little bit of a wait. So, you know what I do while I'm waiting...

And our little friend was out...

And no shocker here, but the girls wanted to visit their favorite bathroom again before we were called in to lunch...

We're still waiting to get called into lunch...but our tortoise friend now has some yummy good stuff (well, for him)...

 

[HouCuseChickie]

It's so odd...in pictures, the wait seems like it was long. I still have a handful more from the wait...

The reality, it was only about 5 minutes (if that) before we were seated.

I don't know what it is with those chairs...but both girls wanted them. DH and I were content with regular seats, but the girls felt these round tops made them special seats. Sammie even ducked down so I could take a pic of hers on my phone and text it to a friend. The pic is dark, but said friend also had the same issue with her girls at Sanaa...they wanted the special chairs....

I was happy to just take pics of my surroundings.

Awful pic of it, but the girls wanted me to take a pic of the paper straws...they hate them, but they understand the need.

The girls also got pretty goofy before the food came out...

Coming up...food at Sanaa, what to do the rest of the day, and saying good bye.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Caught up with everything. Must have been quite a long day but hey, ending the night with a Dole Whip isn't too bad. It's actually quite nice. It's probably not the same as ending a long day with Wishes but you can't go wrong with Dole Whips. They make everything better.

It was a long day, but I'm happy to see the girls getting to the point where they can handle it. The Dole Whip definitely was a nice ending

Whiner moments... I sure have my share of those.

Now, if you have some good cheese to go with that wine...it would be PERFECT Seriously though, sometimes whining is necessary.

Nice to see Kendall was smiling at the pool after a tough night.

To get rid of lens fogging from an air conditioned room - you can use a hair dryer to wArm it up before you head out.

Thankfully, K had very little memory of her issues during the night...although, a little pool time can't hurt add a positive spin.

Great tip!!! -and it's one I could use much of the year here since Houston is quite "swamp-ish" throughout the year. Thanks!

 

[FlaggNL]

[quote="Thank you! Yeah- lots of drama, but still so thankful we're OK. As for WDW- having family in FL makes it easier to justify more frequent visits. Still, DLP sounds like a pretty nice option as far as alternatives go. I recall really liking the video I saw of one of their evening projection/fireworks shows.[/quote]

Thanks Yeah in one of my posts you can see some videos of the Disney Dreams show in DLP. On the 22nd of November we will be back in DLP and there will be a special Christmas version of Disney Dreams with Toy Story, Bambi and Frozen in it. We absolutely will take a video and post a trip report!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

[quote="Thank you! Yeah- lots of drama, but still so thankful we're OK. As for WDW- having family in FL makes it easier to justify more frequent visits. Still, DLP sounds like a pretty nice option as far as alternatives go. I recall really liking the video I saw of one of their evening projection/fireworks shows.

Thanks Yeah in one of my posts you can see some videos of the Disney Dreams show in DLP. On the 22nd of November we will be back in DLP and there will be a special Christmas version of Disney Dreams with Toy Story, Bambi and Frozen in it. We absolutely will take a video and post a trip report![/quote]

Awesome!!! I love seeing what they do in the other parks. Looking forward to seeing the Christmas show from DLP. You also reminded me...I have to figure out when to take the kids to see Frozen. I say it's for them, but secretly- it's for me too I know it comes out around US Thanksgiving, but I'm really hoping it's still around closer to New Year's so we can see it on one of their holiday break days.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Aww, it's your last day already Boo sad.

I know...it makes me sad too, but I'll try and drag it out as much as possible

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I was going to post tonight, but I was trying to catch up in the land of cakes...soooooo, I promise there will be more tomorrow.

 

[ginadee]

http://farm4.staticflickr.com/3722/10282074983_9410cd4728_z.jpg

I was enjoying your trip report, and noticed that you had taken a picture of my whole gang (minus my husband, he had to use the restroom) while we waited for him in front of the Pooh ride I could hardly believe it. We were so excited to be back at Disney, it was the first trip for my sister and her family. Hope you and your family are recovering from your accident. Thanks for sharing your pictures.

Are you kidding me? How funny.

 

[ginadee]

Just discovered my husband and I in the background of one of your AK photos! Too funny!

Whaaaat...im amazed at this.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Are you kidding me? How funny.

Whaaaat...im amazed at this.

Kind of wild with forum members showing up in my pics. It kind of makes me wonder how many people have us in their pics.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I don't have the mental energy for full scale drama, but we're pretty much just in a holding pattern. I've done everything I can possibly do for the auto at this stage, but there are some things that need to happen with the finance co before this gets finalized. The adjustor made it sound like it shouldn't take long, but now I'm getting worried. I have to call tomorrow morning to get an update (since these little things don't appear on their website), but I'm still hopeful I can get a payout either tomorrow or Friday. I just want to go vehicle shopping so badly! I at least got my check for my deductible from the at fault driver's insurance co today...so that's something. On a positive medical note...my chiro treatments went down to twice a week this week. Progress!

OK- back to Sept 23rd...


I was a picture taking fiend on our first trip to Sanaa, but not so much on trip 2. That doesn’t mean it wasn’t great though. Kendall had the kiddie shrimp dish. She loves shrimp so much that I think she could have eaten two of these.

Sammie got the chicken…she looks a bit unsure of her food, but she also ended up devouring hers.

She is the more picky eater of the two, but we really work hard on making sure they try all kinds of new things. In fact, that’s why you often see such an assortment on my buffet plates. I pick things I know I will like, but might not always be perceived as kid friendly. Ex. Kendall and Sammie both stole a lot of my first round of sushi back from our 1900 PF dinner. OK, back to Sanaa…

I had the lamb kefta sliders. It’s an appetizer, but I wasn’t overly hungry…combo of nerves as well as heavy eating from the day before.

I thought they were pretty tasty. The lamb burgers actually tasted a lot like the meatloaf the girls had on the previous Sanaa visit…although not as sweet. Still, just more proof that I’m becoming a lamb fan if it’s seasoned well.
DH got the bison burger. I love how it’s kind of deconstructed and served with one of their traditional breads vs. a bun.

He gave me a little taste (and it was GREAT), but he didn’t really want to share. I guess I can't really blame him.


We had a different server this time, but she was also very efficient and pleasant. I think we had a different chef this meal too, but just as mindful of K’s allergies. All in all, Sanaa was a big hit on both of our visits. AKL isn’t exactly the most convenient spot if you’re not staying there, but I see us going out of our way to eat there next time. Maybe we’ll also try dinner on our next visit.
We stopped by the window to take a few more pics before heading upstairs…

It was looking pretty gloomy out there and it was starting to drizzle. It wouldn’t hit me until later, but I’d already packed up our ponchos in our checked bags…brilliant.

We had the option of walking back to Jambo and finally getting a chance to take in all of the fun things going on in the lobby. That had been my original plan for the day, but I was feeling so down that I went for an unexpected plan B… I decided we should go say good-bye to all of the parks. It hit me that the bus would pass both Animal Kingdom and Hollywood Studios…so we decided we’d hop on either the first Epcot or Magic Kingdom bus we saw and begin our good-bye tour. And the first bus…

…so, we hopped right on.

A side note here…something that kind of bugged me about the location of AKL…you pass just inside the main gate fairly regularly…i.e. you can see the back side of the main gate when you drive by from AKL to any number of points inside the bubble. A big part of why we stay onsite is to be in that magic bubble…so to speak. I didn’t like hopping on the bus and passing by a point that we all pretty much associate as the line between the magic and the outside world. It really stood out to me on this particular day…we’re on our farewell tour - I'm already sad - and there’s the back of the main gate… practically taunting us.
So, we passed by DAK…I pointed it out to the kids and we said bye. A little while after, we passed by DHS…and again- we said our farewells. I guess it was kind of fitting…we were going in order of our favorites and would be getting out for our top 2 parks even if we wouldn't be going in. It was pretty obvious we were approaching Epcot when we saw the monorail beams.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We also had a great bus driver for this trip. It was just us and she was chatty. She suggested we head over to the GF before leaving so the girls could ask the band leader to play their favorite songs. I guess this is something she does with her granddaughter when she comes up to visit. We thanked her for the tip, but it was time to get off the bus. It was officially time to say good bye to our third park.

The rain was coming down a bit harder now. I’m not sure what we were thinking, but we’d totally forgotten than we’d have to at least get through bag check to get up to the monorail…so we went through all of that before heading up.

Farewell Epcot...until next time.

At least being on the monorail is still such a huge hit for the girls, but I did start to get choked up as we passed the MK gate…

We really weren’t sure what we wanted to do, but it was looking pretty ugly out - so hopping on the resort loop seemed like the best plan.

Just about ready to set off on the loop...

As we arrived at the Poly, I couldn't help but think how we were just there for dinner the night before. I knew it was a short trip, but the fun of the previous night's meal just seemed like it happened ages ago.

We thought about getting out, but decided to keep going. Next stop...the GF...

As much as our meal at the Poly felt like it had happened ages ago...our 1900 PF dinner from day 2 felt like it was even further in the past. I thought about going in and making some requests for the band...

...but we decided to keep moving.

I guess maybe I just really needed to say goodbye to MK.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

We pulled up to MK and were faced with the decision...do we get off here?

It's not exactly easy to tell from this picture, but it was pretty ugly out there...

We saw no point in getting soaked, but we did get a nice little treat as we waited...the train. No...we couldn't go into MK, but the sounds of the train just made it feel like such a fitting goodbye.

Call me crazy, but some of the sadness went away at this point...like I was getting some sort of closure.

Funny how just the previous morning, we were headed in for breakfast...a beautiful rainbow overhead...and a full day in front of us.

There was also a bit of a mass exodus going on at MK because of the rain. I couldn't help but think to myself that it would have been the perfect time to be in the park...no waits!

As some of you may know, the Contemporary is my favorite resort. While I was happy to get a chance to try AKL this trip, I also would have been very happy to stick with my original plans of staying at the CR. So, I only thought it fitting that we take the monorail to the Contemporary and spend some time in there...

I feel bad for this guy in my shots, but it really does show the pouring rain pretty well.

Really blurry out the BLT side...

Time to exit...

I know it all feels kind of sad...but I was actually pretty good at this point. I was heading into my favorite resort and was about to get some quality time just relaxing in there and taking in Mary Blair's work...plus a few other good things.

Coming up...rnr at the CR, out in the rain, and back to AKL.

 

[epcotisbest]

Love the new avatar.

 

[HouCuseChickie]

Love the new avatar.

Thank you!!!