Disnymom, Disnydad and Disnydaughter September 2014 Trip!

Day 2:

At 7:51am my phone rang, it was the delivery guy for my scooter rental. I had a request for it to arrive by 8am and he pulled into Pop at 8:03. After getting the scooter back up to the room I went back to sleep for a while.

We slept in a bit this morning. We dragged ourselves out of bed about 11am. We grabbed a quick breakfast from our stash of food we brought to WDW with us. Afterwards we went down to the buses and trudged over to Typhoon Lagoon. We have never done the water parks here before so today was a first. My daughter was looking forward to the scuba diving but alas they only do that Memorial Day to Labor Day. Wish we would have seen something about that before we went.

Disnydad and Disnydaughter did the snorkling and by the time they were done black clouds were rolling in so we just decided to leave the water park and head back to the resort.

After we got back to the resort we went swimming for a little while since the sky was dark but no thunder was happening. We got rained on in the pool but of course we didn't care.

We then decided to go over to DTD. We walked around for a little while and got hungry so we went into Portobello Country Italian Trattoria. Disnydad had beer, I had a wine flight (yum!) and Disnydaughter had tea to drink. We decided to split a few appetizers. Disnydaughter had the soup of the day. It was a garbanzo bean with mushroom in a hearty vegetable broth, delicious. I ordered the beet and gorgonzola salad, we all loved it. The hit of the meal was the antipasta that Disnydad ordered. So delicious and filling. We were all full after sharing those plates.

After dinner we went back over to Disney Quest. We came back to the resort at about 11pm and stopped by the food court for a cookie and brownie before heading up to our room.

All in all another wonderful day at Disney!

Tomorrow is breakfast at 1900 then Magic Kingdom for our first park day of this trip.

I know I have not added any pics yet, I will start taking some and adding them to the daily reports.

Sorry for the delay!

First of all, thank you all for your comments. CndSquirrel, the construction in DTD didn't really inconvenience us, we also generally do not do rope drop, Disnydad and Disnydaughter like to sleep in.

On to day three!

We began the day with getting over to the Grand Floridian for breakfast at 1900. We met Pooh, Tigger, Mad Hatter (he was hilarious!), Alice (Disnydaughters favorite character), and Mary Poppins (my favorite). The food was good, loved the strawberry soup and cheese blintzes.

We popped over to MK and walked onto all the rides (did not try for the mine train so don't know what the wait was). Space mountain and Splash Mountain both were less than a 20 minute wait. We left just before the 3pm parade and hopped to Epcot. It began to rain just as we arrived, but it was barely spitting. We went to Spaceship Earth first thing (always our first ride at Epcot) the standby was 10 minutes.

Just a quick side note. For the past 15 years, every time I have gone to WDW I have been with my daughter who is severely disabled, so have had her in a wheelchair. We have a LOT of experience with the former disabled pass. She is not with us on this trip. This trip, however, is the first trip that i have been where I am the one who has physical disabilities. I was in a car wreck and have crushed hip, shoulder, hand and back injuries. I also sustained a mild TBI. That being said, this is the first trip since they have the new disabled persons system. I did NOT try to get the pass because, well, it is not needed for me. I am on a scooter simply because I do not want Disnydad pushing me in a wheelchair. I have found that at each ride I have not had any issues, on Space Mountain the CM gave me a card to come back (so I could use the FP line). The line was a 20 minute standby and they had me come back in 10 minutes. I know that others have different issues but i found for me personally I was not treated any differently than in the past with a child who has SEVERE physical and mental impairments.

OK, back to our Epcot adventure. After Spaceship Earth we began to head to Test Track. As we were about to get to the entrance it began to rain in earnest, closing Test Track. Not ones to let rain ruin our day we went over to the Land and was on Soarin' in less than 15 minute wait. Then went on the Living with the Land ride (love that one). By the time we were finished with those it was once again just sprinkling so we went to World Showcase. Went the full circle slowly taking our time. Stopped in for a light dinner in Marrakesh, we split two appetizers. After we continued around the showcase, took a ride on Maelstrom. We tried to get some schoolbread but they had just sold out for the night .

Just before Iluminations began we decided to head back to the resort because we were exhausted.

Coming up next: Hollywood Studios and more rain!

Oh yeah, forgot my camera cord at home so no pics until we get home to Kennesaw.

Day four.

We looked at the weather report this morning, they said chance to thunderstorms in the afternoon. We used to live in Florida so we know to expect the rain.

We planned to go to Hollywood Studios and planned to to see Fantasmic. Upon arrival at HS there was a 2 minute sprinkle. Disnydaughter wanted Rockin' Rollercoaster first so we headed to the back. Standby time 20 minutes! Was sitting in the limo in less than 8 minutes. By the time we walked out the skies opened up and dropped a quick hard shower. So we went through the line again. Two times we rode in less than 20 minutes. I love this time of year in the World.

We were going to go on ToT, but the thunder was booming and Disnydaughter said it was a bad omen (LOL). We headed over to try Toy Story Mania. By then the skies were REALLY dark so changed our plans and went to see if we could get into the Sci-Fy Drive in Theatre. We waited about 15 minutes before we were given a car table. Disnydad had the reuben (yum), Disnydaughter had the Salmon BLT and I ordered the smoked turkey sandwich. I had to send it back to be remade because when I asked for no tomato (allergic to them) there was apparently a comunication issue between either me and the server or the server and the kitchen. When I got the second sandwich it was correct and delicious. I also ordered the Orbiting Oreos shake, Disnydaughter liked the glowing cube, I liked the addition of the alcohol.

After lunch it was still raining pretty hard so we ducked into Star Tours. Once again 10 minute standby, we were on the ride in less than 5 minutes. After the ride it was still raining pretty hard so we made the decision to go back to the resort for a while and dry off and get warm.

The hard rain continued throughout the night so instead of heading back to a park, I looked for a dinner reservation. We got a ressie for Sanaa with no issues.

We had not been to Sanaa before. We split the Indian bread service which was outstanding. I ordered the salad sampler, Disnydaughter got the soup of the day (a creamed corn soup) and Disnydad got the Tandoori Chicken. Everything was really good. For desert we split the ginger cake.

After dinner we went back to resort to settle in for the night.

Coming up, day 5 (no set plans yet).

Day five:

Once again we slept in til about 11am. After a little back and forth we decided to go to Animal Kingdom. After the torrential rains yesterday we were hoping for fair skies. As is usual for early September in Florida the day was on the warm side.

We arrived at AK and headed back for Kilimanjaro Safaris. We stopped in almost every shop along the way because I needed a new hat. My poor straw hat did not hold up to the rains and the brim flopped down where I was not able to see. We finally found one I liked and it came with pins.

We also stopped for a couple drinks, Disnydad got a beer and I went to Tamu Tamu for an adult Dole Whip.

Onto the safari. We walked on within about 8 minutes. Our guide Katie was awesome as most of the guides are. We saw tons of animals including one curious giraffe who came within about 4 feet of the truck. The lions were in hiding so we did see them.

After the safari we went to Kali River Rapids. One the way once again Disnydad stopped for a drink and got one of the BEST mojitos I have EVER had. The standby time was 20 minutes, we were on the raft in about 12-14. I was the "lucky" on who ended up being turned backwards on the drop so I was completely soaked. Was nice though, it cooled me off, so there was an upside.

We then went over to Expedition Everest. Standby time was 15 minutes, once again we walked on. Twice. In 12 minutes. Disnydaughter wanted to go again but we decided to move on since we would be back at AK later in the week.

We went back to the resort for a clothing change because my clothes were still soaked and was I getting uncomfortable, as was daughter.

After wardrobe change we went to Epcot. Since the skies were getting dark we grabbed the umbrellas and determined rain would not stop us today. As we arrived the skies were really angry looking. We ran over to Test Track to try to make a ride before the rain hit. Nope, we didn't make it. They closed the ride when we were getting in line.

We headed for the World Showcase in search of lunch/dinner. We were able to get into the Rose and Crown within about 8 minutes. Disnydad had the corned beef and cabbage, I has bangers and mash and Disnydaughter has the smoked salmon. All was very good.

After eating we went over to Norway for some schoolbread and grabbed a few more pastries to have later.

Backtracking we went to Test Track then Mission Space. Afterwards we decided to go back to the resort so Disnydaughter could get ready to get to sleep early and Disnydad and I went to Downtown Disney. Stopped into Goofys for some design your own pretzel sticks for Disnydaughter and a rice krispie treat for myself. We went around so Disnydad could go to the cigar shop and we turned around to come back for the night. We were able to hop on the boat and took it to the bus area.

We grabbed a pizza from the food court and some drinks for the room.

Oh and it never did rain...

Tomorrow, back to Epcot for Disnydaughters class.

Day six (the early day!)

Disnydaughter and I were up by 6am getting ready. We caught the 7:15 bus over to Epcot. Today was the day of her class. We met up with the other home school families that were in the same class and got to know a few of them prior to the class beginning. We had the "Exploring Careers in Marine Sciences" class. It began at about 8:30am and ran until 11:30. Our tour guide was Vincent and he was awesome. We went behind the scenes in The Seas and talked with several different CM's that work there in different capacities. I would absolutely recommend that class for anyone who has the opportunity to take a class through YES.

After class Disnydad met up with us and we just wandered around Epcot enjoying until our lunch reservation at the Biergarten. The ADR was scheduled at 2:15 but we checked in just after 1:30 and were seated within 5 minutes. Our server was Nicholas and he was from Breman, Germany. We had a nice long conversation with him about our exchange students and his experiences since he arrive at WDW 6 1/2 months ago.

After lunch we went back to Norway and rode Maelstrom again. We decided we wanted to catch Fantasmis at Hollywood Studios so we hopped over there. We went on Rockin Rollercoaster and The Great Movie Ride. After wandering around for a bit it was time to go get seat for the show. We were sat in the handicap section and the skies began to get darker and darker. About 30 minutes before the show the floodgates opened and they said the show would probably be cancelled. We left the theater and went back to the bus. As soon as we boarded the bus the rain stopped (of course!). We have no idea if the show ended up being cancelled or not.

We came back to our room after getting some hot chocolate and relaxed for the rest of the evening.

Coming up tomorrow a day of rest.

Day seven:

After all the running the past few days we took today to just relax, yesterday was our halfway point so it was a much needed day. We slept until noon. After getting up and around we left the room about 2pm and went to DisneyQuest. After a few hours there we walked around Downtown Disney stopping in at Ghirardelli for a couple of ice creams.

Getting back to our resort about 8pm we decided to go for a swim. While in the pool we met a wonderful couple from Ohio and their little girl who just turned four. It was their first time ever to WDW. They had not gotten their daughter a pin lanyard yet so I sent Disnydad back to the room to get my extra one and a few pins for it and gave it to her.

After our swim I thought it would be a GREAT idea to run my knee into a metal post. Now I am sporting a lump and bruise the size of my hand. Thankfully the front desk had some ice packs that they generously gave me.

We gathered some of the food we brought with us and went to the food court for dinner.

Brought hot chocolate to the room to watch tv until we fall asleep.

Since today was a relatively relaxing day and we are now past the halfway point, I have a few observations:

1. I do not like the magic bands. I had a reaction to mine and am apparently allergic to whatever they are made of (not unusual for me, I find more allergies every month it seems).

2. I do not like the current fast pass plus. We change our minds so many times as to where we want to go we have not used any of the scheduled ones.

3. The company I rented my scooter from is pretty awesome. They had the best rates and I have not had it run low on power even on our long days.

4. The mousekeeper for our room is pretty horrible.

5. Traversing WDW as an adult with a disability rather than being the responsible adult for a child with a disability has been interesting. The CM's have (almost) all been wonderful to deal with. I have not really had any issues.

6. I miss my bed.

7. I am not ready for this vacation to end!

Coming up tomorrow: Trying again to catch Fantasmic!

CdnSquirrel, we used Sun Mobility. For 11 days it came to right at $180.