Trip Report Wishes Do Come True

What was planned.....

WHO:

WHEN:
Friday, April 1st - Monday, April 4th

WHERE:
SSR 1 BR Villa

Remember us wishing that our return flight was cancelled on the previous trip b/c of the snowstorm??

Thanks to the above some slight changes had to be made.....

WHEN:
Friday, April 1st - Wednesday, April 6th

WHERE:
April 1st - April 4th
SSR 1 BR Villa in Congress Park

April 4th - 5th
SSR 2 BR Villa in The Grandstand

April 5th - 6th
SSR 1 BR Villa in The Paddock

And let me start out by saying that as awesome as it was to have a few extra Disney days it definitely comes with a price!! Financially & mentally!!
There is a lot of stress involved when you first realize that you're pretty much stranded & trying to figure out what you're going to do about it!! Not to mention the switching of the rooms over & over!!

But, I don't want to get ahead of myself. All that drama will come in due time!!

Welcome everyone!! Thanks to all who will be joining in on this crazy adventure!!

 

[riverside]

You are persuading me to give SSR a chance with all your pictures Patti. There is nothing like walking down Main Street USA at the beginning of a WDW trip! Love that J enjoys SM so much now.

Definitely give it a try!! The first time or two there I was a little confused b/c it's so big but now I feel like a pro there--of course, staying in 3 different rooms in 1 trip kind of helped!!
Yes-it's a great way to start a trip!!
He really does!!

Are these expressions apprehension or did J enjoy the ride?!

That is the "J goes to school & he's learned all these faces from his friends". But, I'm sure he's taught them a few too!!
He does really enjoy the ride!!

I'm flattered to see that my TR method of taking a month or two between updates is catching on! Keep it up! Lol.

Seriously tho, enjoying your adventures and following along.

I've proud to say I've learned from the best!!
You would think with all my back issues that I would have done more during my down time but all I wanted to do was lay around when I wasn't working!!

Thank you!! Glad you're enjoying it!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Next was a ride on one of our favs!! @MickeyCB how about J's face on this one?

Since these construction photos are always in everyone's TR's I felt the need to carry on the tradition!

Maybe I should have titled this TR "The Many Faces of J".....

We mobile ordered from somewhere we don't frequent as much as others.

We had a big dinner planned so I went with a kids meal which was very filling!

We got the best seat in the house & J had a blast waving to all those taking the happiest cruise that ever sailed!!

We started getting concerned about the weather for that day. Little did we know then how much it would end up affecting our trip!!

The skies had gotten considerably darker when we got done with lunch.

 

[lindawdw]

I can't wait for all the construction at Tron to be gone so we can ride the WDW Railroad again! Clouds look ominous!

 

[riverside]

I can't wait for all the construction at Tron to be gone so we can ride the WDW Railroad again! Clouds look ominous!

Agree!! I miss the railroad!!
It was rough--the rest of the day was a washout!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

We knew we had a couple hours before the rain was due to hit. We told J to pick one last ride then we were out of dodge!! We wanted to leave sooner than later so we could get seats at the Tambu Lounge before everyone came piling in once the rain came!! Always thinking ahead!!

Sorry for the super blurry photo but I'm sure you all can figure out where we were!!

Why was I getting weather alerts about Pittsburgh when I was in Orlando??

E rode solo.

While J & I rode together.

We wandered for a few minutes but decided the time had come.

We were pretty much in & out that day. We thought that would be it for MK for that trip but......

Got to catch a little of FoF on the way out!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Almost forgot this one!! J requested a ride on the carousel also!! It had been awhile since we had been on it so it was nice to ride it again!!

Gotta share something with you, though. You know what my big fear is about this ride? I always pray that when it stops my horse is lower, not higher. It's not easy getting off them when it's up high!! I'm not the most flexible!!

I always love taking pics of the train station from the monorail!!

One day I will stay at the Poly=life goals!!

J was excited to get the Keiki Lemonade again!!

E got the PIna Colava & I'm not sure but if I had to guess I believe I had the Mai Tai.

Great to score a table before the storm!!

And look who was out weathering the storm!!

And not just him!!

J was enjoying seeing them!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Now, this seriously was a highlight of the trip. J brought his money with him in its trusty Ziploc baggie. He was bound & determined that he was going to buy something with his $12.73 that he had!! Off to the store we went!!

He naturally went right to the pins(thanks again, @MickeyCB ) but didn't understand why there weren't prices on them. I had to explain the color coding system to him.

He really liked this one.....

But it wasn't in his budget!!

This one was more in his price range...

But in the end he decided it was(& I'm quoting him) "a rip off"!! Funny how a kid gets it when they're spending their own $$!!

He decided he would be happy with this & was excited b/c he would still have money left over!!

Time to pay!!

Aunt Patti's AP saved him a few shillings so he was excited about that. He was also awesome about counting the money out to the CM to pay for his purchase!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

I also must say that the CM was so sweet & had patience with him while he was counting out his money. She encouraged him to take his time. She was so nice!!

We made our way back to E and J was so proud & excited to tell her that he made his first purchase ever all by himself!!

The rain continued to come down.

These pictures don't do it justice but it got extremely windy & we could tell there was no end in sight.

 

[MinnieM123]

J should be very proud of himself -- he handled his finances quite well, all by himself! (P.S.: Extra points for the baggie wallet . . . )

 

[MickeyCB]

Next was a ride on one of our favs!! @MickeyCB how about J's face on this one?

He's so cute it's ridiculous!

He naturally went right to the pins(thanks again, @MickeyCB ) but didn't understand why there weren't prices on them. I had to explain the color coding system to him.

Once again I am forced to defend myself, it is Gary's fault completely!! He got him started with the pins!
And sweet Aunt Patti, you who buy him jelly beans by the bucketful, you couldn't spot my guy like 25cents for the better pin?!
You tell J Cindy will take care of him next time!

 

[riverside]

J should be very proud of himself -- he handled his finances quite well, all by himself! (P.S.: Extra points for the baggie wallet . . . )

Yes he did & he was extremely proud of himself!! He kept talking about how excited he was to do it!!
Gotta love his "wallet"!! As we were putting our suitcases in the car at E's house he was carrying it around with him & was so excited to bring it. She wanted him to leave his "wallet" at home but he was bound & determined to bring it!!

He's so cute it's ridiculous!

He's something else!!

Once again I am forced to defend myself, it is Gary's fault completely!! He got him started with the pins!
And sweet Aunt Patti, you who buy him jelly beans by the bucketful, you couldn't spot my guy like 25cents for the better pin?!
You tell J Cindy will take care of him next time!

Yes--I do have to agree with you there!!
I thought about it but I didn't want to steal his thunder/excitement of paying for something by himself!!
But, I'll let him know you're in his corner!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

While J was making his big purchase E was sitting at the Tambu Lounge & overheard someone talking about the Easter eggs at the GF. We decided to head over there & check them out.
I made sure not to take a picture of the security area so I didn't get in trouble like that one time!!

It wasn't too crowded in there which was nice!!

Forgive me, but the next few posts are not going to have much in the way of commentary. But, I hope you enjoy the eggs as much as we did!! They were so neat!!

How cool!!

I love the surfboard!!

So much detail!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Again, the detail totally blows me away!!

SSE in the shape of an egg!!

I really liked this one!!

Adorable!!

Just wow!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Just a few more....

Amazing!!

Listened to some music on the way out.

We also stopped for a few PP pics. Kind of a strange spot for them but maybe b/c of the weather?? Regardless, it was somewhere different to get our pics taken!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

We took a bus from the GF to DS for our dinner reservation.

It was really raining hard then.

For a late Saturday afternoon DS was very empty!!

Our dinner destination!!

Like I said, DS was very empty!!

We were able to get seated a little early which was a blessing!! We were happy to get out of the rain!!

We were super excited to try this restaurant as we had never been there before!!

That's quite a wine list!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

E & I split a bottle of wine.

The restaurant had a very modern vibe to it which I liked.

The rolls were SO good!!

The shrimp cocktail was excellent!!

All 3 of us ordered filets. We also got sides of brussels sprouts & the yukon gold mashed potatoes to share.

You got to choose a steak sauce. I can't remember which ones we had but they were all very good!!

We were highly impressed with this restaurant & I can't wait to go back there again!!

 

[riverside]

SATURDAY, APRIL 2ND

Our "reason" for going on this particular trip to begin with was for J's birthday. We mentioned it to our waiter & he brought out some treats for him!!

The desserts, along with everything else there was fantastic!! I can't say enough great things about this place!! Also, our waiter was awesome too!!

Snapped this one for R. He is looking forward to going back there in a few weeks!!

The boats weren't running so we had to take a bus to......

Rainy or not it's always great to be home!!

 

[Tuvalu]

PhotoPass photographers are now stationed in all resorts, which I think is kind of fun. More “bang for your buck” I suppose.

 

[meggo819]

PhotoPass photographers are now stationed in all resorts, which I think is kind of fun. More “bang for your buck” I suppose.

Just curious, do you know if they’re back at meet & greets? At the end of April, there was just an attendant when we met Minnie and Anna/Elsa at Epcot.

 

[Tuvalu]

Just curious, do you know if they’re back at meet & greets? At the end of April, there was just an attendant when we met Minnie and Anna/Elsa at Epcot.

I saw some at the outdoor meet areas in Epcot. I can’t confirm if they’re back indoors, however.