WDW - Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. – My August 2011 Trip Report

WDW - Rumors of my demise have been greatly exaggerated. – An August 2011 Trip Report

Welcome to my trip report! First, about the title. Reading the WDW boards lately one would think that Disney World was coming apart at the seams; Overrun by vicious gangs of Brazilian tour groups, Pop Warner boys and cheerleaders. Filled with broken down, outdated rides run by snarly cast members. The resorts infested by bedbugs, nasty housekeepers, and moldy shower curtains. The Restaurants serving up Dogfood burgers and steaks served with the leather hides still attached. The fireworks shows reduced to open fire pits and a few boxes of sparklers.

To be totally honest and sarcasm aside (kinda), I was really getting concerned about this trip. I had gone to great lengths and compromise ( see my Pre-trip report) to make this trip a reality. Now I was worried that once my family would see first hand the crumbling vestige that was once our favorite place on earth; this would seal this trip’s fate as our last one to the World. Well, I’m happy to say, with photos as proof – the rumors of Walt Disney World’s demise have been greatly exaggerated.

First Day and intro to our family;

Our countdown was over. The paper chain in Toni’s room that started at day 178 was now down to day zero. It was 4 in the morning on August 6th and I woke up Toni and we tore up that last chain and started to get ready for our trip. By 4:30, Toni and her brother Sterg, were ready and waiting.

I have a good friend that happens to own a limo business, so we hired him to drive us to Philadelphia International. The limo came at 5:00am. This is my wife Val and my oldest child, Alexandra, getting spoiled in the limo.

Sterg and I on the other seat…

While Toni caught a few z’s.

Everything was going fine. We were making great time on the Turnpike until we were detoured off of it an exit too soon. Unfortunately, this was only the first of our several delays that morning.

 

[fractal]

Thank you for taking us along on your trip... The pictures were fantastic..I am going in May for our 40 th anniversary with my 3 kids and 4 grandchildren...Your report got me all pumped up.......

I enjoyed putting this TR together. Thanks for following along - we had a great time. Have fun in May - great place to spend an anniversary!

Thank you for your very entertaining trip report! I always looked forward to your next installment and now it's over.

Your bus driver has the touch if he can make going to the airport after a Disney vacation a magical experience. He sounds like a bus driver we had on our first bus trip to Magic Kingdom. Boy did he get us in the mood! Do you think he moonlights as an auctioneer?

Thanks for reading along! I wish I had more memories to share. I will someday. Bus driver was great! He did make the trip to the airport about as enjoyable as it could be. He would be a great auctioneer or a monster truck announcer.

Top 5 Trip reports of all time, I must say....Felt like I was hanging out with your fam!!

Great Stuff!!

Thanks! I really appreciated that. Putting together this TR was fun and thanks for reading along!

I'm sad too!! I loved reading it all!! Your family interactions (and your ability to recall them) just made the report.

I love it, and I hope you convince Val to go on another trip soon!!

All good things must come to an end. Thanks for reading along and all your comments. I carried a little notebook with me and jotted down notes during the day and at night. That and the pictures helped me reconstruct many of our experiences - but I'm sure I missed a few.

Already working on Val!

 

[HouCuseChickie]

I'm so sad it's over. I really did enjoy reading it all (must find new reading material :lookaroun DH would probably tell me to pick up a book :lol... and like I said before, you totally swayed me on BC if we don't go for an MK area resort. So pretty! Hopefully you can convince Val so we all get another fabulous TR! Thanks for posting everything!!! :wave:

 

[sweetpee_1993]

I'll second what Tammy had to say. Your TR was awesome and your pics great but the best part was the littlest details about the family interactions. It's nice to read how other families with teens get thru WDW...otherwise I might think my 2 were seriously rotten. I can totally feel where you are with Sterg...or maybe as much as a mom can...it seems both our boys around 13 yrs went thru phases of almost yearning to connect in very specific ways with their dad and to define themselves within the family dynamic. Unfortunately, some days I thought I needed to recheck and make sure they weren't girls. Such brattiness sometimes. LOL! You've got a beautiful family there, Big Pops. Many kudos and congrats to you and Val on such a wonderful accomplishment. That's the bestest part of sharing the journey with other families thru these TRs, it's the chance to 'get to know' another family and have fun on their adventures with them!

Thanks for all your hard work with the TR! Awesome stuff! :sohappy:

 

[DisneyFan1003]

Awesome report - thanks for sharing! Loved all of your commentary and the antics of your kids. Hope you can get back to the World soon!

 

[Goofy316]

Wow, thanks for sharing your vacation with us. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I got sad when you hit the last day because of all the fun you were having, I felt like I was right there with you.
You have a beautiful family. Hope you guys get to go back soon and make new memories together. I remember you saying your wife wasnt really thrilled about heading to Disney. Did she end up having a good time anyways?

 

[fractal]

I'm so sad it's over. I really did enjoy reading it all (must find new reading material :lookaroun DH would probably tell me to pick up a book :lol... and like I said before, you totally swayed me on BC if we don't go for an MK area resort. So pretty! Hopefully you can convince Val so we all get another fabulous TR! Thanks for posting everything!!! :wave:

I hope you enjoyed reading my TR as much as I enjoyed reading yours. I think you would love BC and your daughters would enjoy Storm-along-bay.

I'm already working on Val. Thanks for reading along and all your comments!

I'll second what Tammy had to say. Your TR was awesome and your pics great but the best part was the littlest details about the family interactions. It's nice to read how other families with teens get thru WDW...otherwise I might think my 2 were seriously rotten. I can totally feel where you are with Sterg...or maybe as much as a mom can...it seems both our boys around 13 yrs went thru phases of almost yearning to connect in very specific ways with their dad and to define themselves within the family dynamic. Unfortunately, some days I thought I needed to recheck and make sure they weren't girls. Such brattiness sometimes. LOL!

Thanks sweetpea! I really appreciate that. I don't think people fully appreciate how emotional teenage boys can get. A lot of "hormone stuff" going on there. Sterg's latest thing is he wants to wrestle me all the time. He's like a young buck testing out his antlers. Nice to know others can relate.

You've got a beautiful family there, Big Pops. Many kudos and congrats to you and Val on such a wonderful accomplishment. That's the bestest part of sharing the journey with other families thru these TRs, it's the chance to 'get to know' another family and have fun on their adventures with them!

Thanks for all your hard work with the TR! Awesome stuff! :sohappy:

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've certainly enjoyed your TRs and look forward to your next one.

 

[fractal]

Awesome report - thanks for sharing! Loved all of your commentary and the antics of your kids. Hope you can get back to the World soon!

I'm already working on getting back there! Thanks for following along and your comments!

Wow, thanks for sharing your vacation with us. Sounds like you guys had a lot of fun. I got sad when you hit the last day because of all the fun you were having, I felt like I was right there with you.
You have a beautiful family. Hope you guys get to go back soon and make new memories together. I remember you saying your wife wasnt really thrilled about heading to Disney. Did she end up having a good time anyways?

Your welcome. I had a fun time putting it all together. We had a great trip!

Thanks for your kind words. Val had a good time. More than she lets on. She did admit that this was her best WDW trip so next time we'll have to top it.

 

[sweetpee_1993]

Thanks sweetpea! I really appreciate that. I don't think people fully appreciate how emotional teenage boys can get. A lot of "hormone stuff" going on there. Sterg's latest thing is he wants to wrestle me all the time. He's like a young buck testing out his antlers. Nice to know others can relate.

Thank you. I'm glad you enjoyed it! I've certainly enjoyed your TRs and look forward to your next one.

You're so right! I think the kicker is that people expect teenage girls to be big balls of flaming emotional hormones but not so much with boys. I know I didn't. As a girl I always thought the teen boys were just smut-minded animals. Of course this didn't apply to my own little angels when they hit their teens.:lol: I never knew they had all these sensitivities and feelings and needs. :lol: It's been a real learning experience for me, that's for sure.

I'm starting to line things up for my TR. My goal is to have it all typed out with image tags already inserted so when I go to post it the entire thing will literally be a cut/paste job. Knowing all the work it took for my previous reports and knowing this report is about 4 days longer than the usual 10-day adventure...well...I have my work cut out for me.

 

[Southern_Tink]

Awwwww! I am SO SAD your TR is over! This was by far one of the best TRs I have read! I hope you can talk your wife into going on another trip in the near future!

 

[fractal]

You're so right! I think the kicker is that people expect teenage girls to be big balls of flaming emotional hormones but not so much with boys. I know I didn't. As a girl I always thought the teen boys were just smut-minded animals. Of course this didn't apply to my own little angels when they hit their teens.:lol: I never knew they had all these sensitivities and feelings and needs. :lol: It's been a real learning experience for me, that's for sure.

I'm starting to line things up for my TR. My goal is to have it all typed out with image tags already inserted so when I go to post it the entire thing will literally be a cut/paste job. Knowing all the work it took for my previous reports and knowing this report is about 4 days longer than the usual 10-day adventure...well...I have my work cut out for me.

Yes-teenagers certainly turn up the "drama" dial. Looking forward to your report. I definitely know how much work is involved.

Awwwww! I am SO SAD your TR is over! This was by far one of the best TRs I have read! I hope you can talk your wife into going on another trip in the near future!

Thanks for that compliment and thanks for following along and commenting!
I may have to take Val to an island first but I think another trip ( or more ) are in our future. The kids want to see the new FLE and now Avatar. So that should keep up busy for the next 5 years or so.

 

[PartOfYourWorld]

Sad to see your trip report is over! And sad to see my trip is over I was still in vacation mode this morning big time because I realized I forgot I had to go to work....ahhh vacation mode ended very quickly after that unfortunately :/

Anyways I must say that the Backlot Tour did have audience members be a part of the opening Pearl Harbor sequence during my stay because I volunteered to be one!!!! And it was so much fun! It is a lot harder than it looks, trust me. I was the Captain of the ship. Of course I will talk more about it in my trip report which I will hopefully start soon. First I must edit and go through all of the 850 pictures I have

I really enjoyed your report and I hope you guys get back to the World soon!!!!! (You must convince your wife!) I loved all of your pictures and was so glad you got to spend time separately with your kids. I know I treasure the moments I have with my mom in Disney, it's some of the best times of my life and one of the things me and her share together, I can't imagine going without her.

Enough of my blabbing, sorry about that. Thanks so much again for taking us all on the trip of a lifetime!!!! :wave:

 

[fractal]

Sad to see your trip report is over! And sad to see my trip is over I was still in vacation mode this morning big time because I realized I forgot I had to go to work....ahhh vacation mode ended very quickly after that unfortunately :/

Anyways I must say that the Backlot Tour did have audience members be a part of the opening Pearl Harbor sequence during my stay because I volunteered to be one!!!! And it was so much fun! It is a lot harder than it looks, trust me. I was the Captain of the ship. Of course I will talk more about it in my trip report which I will hopefully start soon. First I must edit and go through all of the 850 pictures I have

I really enjoyed your report and I hope you guys get back to the World soon!!!!! (You must convince your wife!) I loved all of your pictures and was so glad you got to spend time separately with your kids. I know I treasure the moments I have with my mom in Disney, it's some of the best times of my life and one of the things me and her share together, I can't imagine going without her.

Enough of my blabbing, sorry about that. Thanks so much again for taking us all on the trip of a lifetime!!!! :wave:

Yeah, I wish I had more to report.

I'm glad to see that they had volunteers for the "water battle". Looking forward to reading about it. I guess we hit it at a bad time. That and Cat Canyon are the best parts of BLT - I still think there is so much more room for improvement.

Thanks for the kind words. We had a special trip and I know I'll be back.
Until then, I'll have just read everybody else's TR!

 

[WDW_Princess24]

Boo to trips ending! Hopefully you all will be back again before you know it! I really enjoyed all the great pics and funny antics! Thanks for having me along!

 

[fractal]

Boo to trips ending! Hopefully you all will be back again before you know it! I really enjoyed all the great pics and funny antics! Thanks for having me along!

I enjoyed putting together this TR. Thanks for reading along!

Another trip I believe is in my future. Looking forward to your next report.

 

[HollyBelle]

Chris! I'd like to add my compliments to this fabulous trip report you've posted. Honestly, like many others have already said, it's the little details in your report that kept me coming back for more. I could just feel all those usual emotions that are experienced at the end of such a fabulous trip - you portrayed it all so well (beginning to end). So, thank you! You really do have such a beautiful family and I'm happy that you allowed us to come along on the adventure. :sohappy:

And speaking from experience, you are going to be so happy with yourself for including so much detail... going back and rereading your trip report is something you will likely do time and again. I've gone so far as to print mine out and fill three ring notebooks with the text and pictures. It's so much better than just looking at pictures.

 

[fractal]

Chris! I'd like to add my compliments to this fabulous trip report you've posted. Honestly, like many others have already said, it's the little details in your report that kept me coming back for more. I could just feel all those usual emotions that are experienced at the end of such a fabulous trip - you portrayed it all so well (beginning to end). So, thank you! You really do have such a beautiful family and I'm happy that you allowed us to come along on the adventure. :sohappy:

And speaking from experience, you are going to be so happy with yourself for including so much detail... going back and rereading your trip report is something you will likely do time and again. I've gone so far as to print mine out and fill three ring notebooks with the text and pictures. It's so much better than just looking at pictures.

Thanks Holly! That means a lot coming from you.

and thanks for the tip - I've already tried to think of how I can incorporate this report into a picture book.

Looking forward to your next report!

 

[disneyfan56]

What a great trip report!!

I really feel like I was there with your family. My kids mirrored the way your son and youngest daughter behaved.
Mine are much older now, but I have all those same good memories of our yearly Disney trip.

My husband, daughter and I leave in 3 weeks for yet another magical experience. I have to learn how to imbed photos here, as I have also taken photography up as a hobby.

Your photos were marvelous! Thanks so much for sharing.

 

[fractal]

What a great trip report!!

I really feel like I was there with your family. My kids mirrored the way your son and youngest daughter behaved.
Mine are much older now, but I have all those same good memories of our yearly Disney trip.

My husband, daughter and I leave in 3 weeks for yet another magical experience. I have to learn how to imbed photos here, as I have also taken photography up as a hobby.

Your photos were marvelous! Thanks so much for sharing.

Thank you! I'm glad you can relate. Despite it all, we had a great time and many good memories.

I hope you have a great trip and take many photos. I use photobucket for my photos but there are other sites. Once you get them on a photo share site you can just copy and paste the "imbed link" into your posts.

 

[PhilharMagician]

Wow, thanks for sharing your family and your vacation here. I do not ussually get to the trip report threads and you did a great job with this. Is was fantastic living your family vacation and I was sweating thinking about being there in October just reading and watching.

Next trip try the villas at AKL Jambo or Kidani. I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[fractal]

Wow, thanks for sharing your family and your vacation here. I do not ussually get to the trip report threads and you did a great job with this. Is was fantastic living your family vacation and I was sweating thinking about being there in October just reading and watching.

Next trip try the villas at AKL Jambo or Kidani. I don't think you can go wrong.

Thanks for reading! We really fell for AKL during our dinner at SANAA. Although we love Beach Club, we may be compelled to try AKL next visit. I hope you have a great upcoming trip and would love to hear about it!