Trip Report You've Got a Friend in Me

Hello friends!! Welcome & I'm happy to have you here for another TR!! This trip was filled with so much fun & friendship in so many different ways that when I think back on it I can't help but smile!! So many happy times & I look forward to sharing them with you all, my friends!!

WHEN: Tuesday, October 27th - Tuesday, November 3rd

WHO: Myself-Patti, JSR, E & J

In case you forgot what we look like here's one minus masks!!

WHERE: Saratoga Springs Treehouse Villa

So, I had made mention in my last TR that we were booked to stay at The Polynesian this trip. About a month or so before the trip we got the email that the regular rooms(which we were booked in) were not going to be open then. They offered to move us to The Grand Floridian. None of us were really feeling it so we explored our options. E & I really enjoyed our stay at Saratoga Springs in August(I think a lot has to do with it having that Riverside "feel" to it) so we decided to go with a treehouse villa. A big plus ended up being that it cost us all waaaay less than what the Poly/GF was going to. I was disappointed but felt better after some friends, @Darstarr & @Tuvalu, told me I was probably better off waiting to experience the resort until the remodel was done anyways!!

I drove to their house & got there at 9:15. My sister wanted to leave for the airport no later than 9:30. Notice that there are 3 suitcases but 4 people?? Someone wasn't done packing & E was not happy!! The stroller went with us but it went unused most of the time so E decided that this was going to be the last trip for it.

The reason for the packing delay? J snuck outside & excitedly told me a secret. His dad was packing our friend, PCB!!

Notice the scab on his face--the poor kid took a fall at school a few days before.

Remember E sending me this after our last trip? Well, we didn't have to get it!!

We got to the airport & unloaded the luggage. E went to park the car & we went to wait for her inside. It was then that J realized his mask was with his mom. I told him I had a bunch in my bag & for him to temporarily use one of them. It was a little big on him....

We checked in quickly & headed to the main terminal. J was happy to have his shark mask back!! One of our other sisters made that for him & he really likes it!!

The airport was a ghost town as it was in August.

J's favorite store was still closed

 

[KellBelle]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

I woke up in the middle of the night & flipped around until I found my friend on the tv. That was the last time. She wasn't there last month.
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We headed to the bus stop around 9:15.
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Iron Man must have taken the day off b/c he was nowhere to be found!!
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Disney had their air filtration system working at its best!!
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We had an extremely empty bus ride with only a few other people on it. J was excited b/c we were assigned to the back!!
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And at 9:45 we had arrived!!
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AK didn't seem to have too many people flocking to it that day.
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We had J pop in here to get a maskless pic.
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Then we carried on into the park.
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I get an error message when trying to click your pic links.

 

[riverside]

I get an error message when trying to click your pic links.

I just fixed it. I'm getting aggravated. This has happened to me quite a few times now in the last few weeks. Once I post it you can't see the pics then I have to go in & edit it. Let me know if it you still can't see them!!

 

[riverside]

I just fixed it. I'm getting aggravated. This has happened to me quite a few times now in the last few weeks. Once I post it you can't see the pics then I have to go in & edit it. Let me know if it you still can't see them!!

Also, what's up with the big gaps in posts?? I've been noticing that off & on for awhile the last few months. That's driving me nuts also!!

See the above one?

 

[KellBelle]

I just fixed it. I'm getting aggravated. This has happened to me quite a few times now in the last few weeks. Once I post it you can't see the pics then I have to go in & edit it. Let me know if it you still can't see them!!

I see them now.. yay! I don't think I have ever made a post that was not a reply.. lol I should try that sometime

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

Oh yeah, how could I forget that we had stopped to get these awesome pics taken??
Maybe Callan transferred parks for the day??

Moving on.....

Notice we are minus the stroller which means we were also minus PCB. We knew we wouldn't be at AK all that long so E decided to leave the stroller behind. While walking through AK she made the comment that this would be the last trip for the stroller. Which also means the last for PCB also

Kilimanjaro was first on our list but we didn't have to worry about parking the car today!!

It had a 25 minute wait posted but we literally waited as long as it took us to walk through!!

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

And here are some of the safari pictures that I always promise myself that I won't take!!

My sister, M, made J his dinosaur mask & he said he wanted to wear it on our AK day for when he rode Dinosaur!

Never can remember what animals I see on the safari....

Can barely see this one!!

The new hut at the end.

It was a nice safari but nothing out of the ordinary happened. Until E & I went to use the restroom afterwards.....

I had to take this pic to remind myself of what happened so I could put it in my notes. E & I were washing our hands and there was an empty sink between us. A woman came out & started washing her hands(quite quickly I might add). While we were still washing ours she was already done(hint--she didn't wash them too well) & instead of drying them with paper towels she decided to air dry them--right on E & myself!! It felt like we were getting a shower--& not a clean one at that. Her program was more of a rinse then air dry--on us!! Not only was it gross but it was downright rude!!

Onto happier memories......

We browsed the shops & both decided that we really liked this purse. It was different, something you normally don't see. One of the beauties of AK--they have a lot of neat merchandise that you don't see elsewhere!! Since they weren't sending purchases back to your resort & we didn't feel like carrying it around for a few hours we decided to come back & purchase it on our way out.

 

[Darstarr]

Love the bag!
I need one!!!

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

It was time for a little snack so we headed to one of our favorite QS places in AK.

JSR got honey sesame chicken while the rest of us had chicken fried rice & egg rolls.

JSR wanted to ride EE so we headed that way next. Along the way we ran into some friends!!

There was a certain member of our party who had never been & refused to go on.

I'm sure it's no surprise who it was!!

I told E to go on with JSR & that I would take J to ride Triceratops Spin.
Here was our first ride.

Then our second.....almost.

The CM said that the little ones aren't allowed to ride in the back by themselves so he hopped up front with me & we rode together.

Meanwhile, E was getting nauseous on EE. She said she'll never go on it again.

 

[riverside]

Love the bag!
I need one!!!

It's not complete without the matching wallet!!

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

We met up with the rest of the crew & made our way from one dinosaur.....

.....to another.

Thank goodness for our photo b/c we never got our on ride one!!

After our blast from the past our time at AK had come to a close.
Check out where the end of the line for EE was!!

Watched these friends play around for a few minutes.

Before we left though, E & I had to make our purchases!! So excited!! I bought that Star Wars mask for R also.

@Darstarr--there's the wallet too!!

AK was pretty quiet that day. I know we skipped all of Pandora but pretty much did everything that we wanted to do in short time so we were ready to leave.

I always look back at the entrance multiple times as I am leaving. I know that the train station is my favorite sight at MK but there is something about the AK entrance that I absolutely love. I could stare at it forever!!

 

[KellBelle]

That bag and wallet is adorable!

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

We got back to SSR & got ready to go to the pool. While E & I were purchasing our Dooney's JSR bought J what we called "the band". He bought him 3 instruments from AK. E was not thrilled in the least, let me tell you.

Some evenings J would pass the instruments around so we could all play a song together. It could get a little loud.....just sayin'.

We thought about going to the pool that was at the treehouses(almost a stone's throw from our place) but J really liked the pool we had went to the last time we stayed there so we went there instead. It has the splash pad/kids area & he really wanted to go there.

It was empty for the most part & we hung around for about 1 1/2 hours before we headed back for dinner.

We got ready & had an empty bus ride to MK!!

We had some time to kill so we walked over to The Contemporary.

We browsed through the shops there. Halloween was the next day & Christmas was already in full swing!!

 

[riverside]

That bag and wallet is adorable!

Thank you!!

 

[Adventure]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

Oh yeah, how could I forget that we had stopped to get these awesome pics taken??
Maybe Callan transferred parks for the day??
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Moving on.....
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Notice we are minus the stroller which means we were also minus PCB. We knew we wouldn't be at AK all that long so E decided to leave the stroller behind. While walking through AK she made the comment that this would be the last trip for the stroller. Which also means the last for PCB also
View attachment 532417

Kilimanjaro was first on our list but we didn't have to worry about parking the car today!!
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It had a 25 minute wait posted but we literally waited as long as it took us to walk through!!
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I literally laughed out loud with the pictures of J being held up as if flying. I would have bought that one because I would always get a laugh that poor E was totally blocked!

 

[lindawdw]

I can totally relate to how E was feeling on EE! I go on once in a while so that my DH doesn't have to ride alone but the whole time we're going backwards I scream to myself, "you're not going to throw up, you're not going to throw up"! I love that bag and wallet Patti!!! You need the perfect animal print shirt now to match it! I have to ask you if your mom made that adorable headband for you or did you buy it somewhere? I wear hairbands all the time but I don't have any Disney print ones except for a Minnie polka dot hairband. That was so sweet of JSR to buy J the musical instruments. I can't get over how empty the buses were for you on this trip again! I love shopping at the CR gift shops!

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

It was finally time for our dinner reservation!! We were all very excited for this b/c this was our first time dining here!! We have had a few reservations over the years & for one reason or another they ended up getting switched or cancelled. But today was the day we would finally try it!!

Not busy at all in there.

Halfway through our meal a mother & her 3 girls were seated in the next available table next to us. Wow, did I ever feel sorry for her. Trying to get them to sit still, decide what they wanted, eat etc. looked like absolute torture!!

The bread was excellent!!

We had crab cakes for an appetizer.

Cheers!!

I had salmon. It was one of the best pieces of salmon I have ever had!!

JSR had a filet I believe.

E had the salmon also & loved it. I didn't take a picture of J's & can't remember what he had but knowing him he probably had salmon also!!

Our meals were excellent!! It is a very nice restaurant & the food was great. I can't wait to go back there again. I'm just disappointed that it took us so long to go there.

 

[lindawdw]

The Wave is one of our all time favorites at WDW and eat there almost every trip!!! We actually ate breakfast there for the first time in October and had the unlimited champagne breakfast which was so fantastic.

 

[riverside]

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 30TH

During dinner we got some info that some friends of ours might be paying us a visit over the weekend so we stocked up on some snacks before we left The Contemporary.

We saw a full moon while on the monorail.

It took me three tries to get a somewhat decent picture.

Old habits die hard I guess.....
At least he's waiting behind the line!!

I was sure to follow the rules also!!

A Saratoga Springs bus was there in no time & we were on our way home!!

 

[Swissmiss]

I cracked for the animal print Dooney and I bought one of the smaller purses from the website

 

[riverside]

I literally laughed out loud with the pictures of J being held up as if flying. I would have bought that one because I would always get a laugh that poor E was totally blocked!

I had to look back at it b/c I never noticed that but you're so right!! Then I realized that it looks like he's trying to either rip my mask or eyes off in it also!!

I can totally relate to how E was feeling on EE! I go on once in a while so that my DH doesn't have to ride alone but the whole time we're going backwards I scream to myself, "you're not going to throw up, you're not going to throw up"! I love that bag and wallet Patti!!! You need the perfect animal print shirt now to match it! I have to ask you if your mom made that adorable headband for you or did you buy it somewhere? I wear hairbands all the time but I don't have any Disney print ones except for a Minnie polka dot hairband. That was so sweet of JSR to buy J the musical instruments. I can't get over how empty the buses were for you on this trip again! I love shopping at the CR gift shops!

I actually really enjoy that ride. I felt that I should stay off & she could go on with JSR. All along she kept telling me to go with him. I got hollered at a few times by her after b/c she felt crappy(esp. b/c we went on Dinosaur right after!!). She said, "Next time I tell you to go on just listen to me & go!!"
Thank you!! I'll be on the lookout next time I'm at AK for something!!
Yes--it is one of the ones that she made. They really do come in handy & I'm so thankful to have them!!
Funny you say that about the Minnie one. She saw one somewhere, bought it, studied it then started making them based on that one!! If only I could be that talented!!
"The Band" was a headache!! I swear JSR bought it on purpose to irritate E!!
They were very empty indeed!! On our short trip last month we didn't take that many buses but the few we did(along with the monorail & skyliner) were pretty empty also.

The Wave is one of our all time favorites at WDW and eat there almost every trip!!! We actually ate breakfast there for the first time in October and had the unlimited champagne breakfast which was so fantastic.

SIGN. ME. UP.
I will definitely keep that in mind for a future trip!!

I cracked for the animal print Dooney and I bought one of the smaller purses from the website

Great minds think alike!!
I think I like it so much b/c it's very unique!!