My trip report....The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

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Kris1971's picture
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My trip report....The Good, The Bad & The Ugly

Hey guys/gals! Sorry I'm so late in getting this report up. Also, I apologize for the lack of pictures. I forgot to pack my camera and I'm still waiting for my brother to lend me his sims card from his. Here we go:

Day 1 - up at dark o'clock to head to the airport. The good...smooth ride down...the bad...they got the plane fully loaded (it was a sold out flight) and then proceeded to tell us that they couldn't take off because the plane couldn't figure out where it was. There was some problem with its GPS system and it would be over an hour before it was fixed and we could get on our way. So there we sat on a plane FULL of kids just waiting. We got cleared for take off about 65 minutes later, and we were finally off. No problems in the air. We arrived about a 1/2 hour late. We used the Magical Express so we didn't need to worry about our bags, we just headed for the bus. Just as we got in line the bus to POFQ pulled up and we hopped right on. We had a wonderful bus driver who made us laugh all the way to WDW. When we crossed under the sign, he made everybody yell and scream with excitement. Funny thing is, I was already screaming inside my own head, so it was nice to let it out. We stopped at Saratoga Springs first and then onto POFQ. When we got off the bus and headed to the check in counter (no wait), the kids were swept away over to a table where a cast member had a coloring station set up. So my mom, my brother, and I started the check in process and were told that all 3 of our rooms were ready and were right next to each other as requested. We got building 3 on the third floor. Nice short walk to the food court and lobby, and even better, we could see the Illuminations fireworks from the balcony outside of our room. Very cool. We put our stuff down and immediately headed to the MK. We waited about 15 minutes for the bus to come, and we were officially on our way. We arrived at the MK and my heart just started racing. I was so excited to be back. The entrance lines were low (it was around noon so we missed the morning backup) and we headed into the park. First stop...lunch. We were all starving. A few of us opted for Casey's while the others headed towards Peco Bills for burgers. Yum! After that, we headed over to the jungle cruise and then to Pirates. My nephew who is 5 did fine on the jungle cruise but got a little freaked out in Pirates. It was the drop in the dark that pushed him over the edge. He was in the row behind me and I kept hearing him say, "I want to get off, mommy". I felt so bad for him. After Pirates, we headed to Frontier Land to hit up BTMRR and Splash Mountain. So much fun!!! My niece went on everything and was having a blast! My nephew, still freaked out from Pirates sat those two rides out. Feeling bad for him, I decided maybe it was time to hit Storybook Circus in Fantasy Land to find some rides more his speed. It worked. He loved Goofy's barnstormer coaster, Dumbo, the tea cups and the Tomorrowland Speedway. From there we ventured over to hit Peter Pan and Its a Small World (which were also good for the 5 year old). We were so fortunate that day....the longest wait we had was 25 minutes (for Peter Pan of course).

By this point, exhaustion was setting in from the early morning flight, and we decided to hit a few more rides (Space Mountain included) and then head to our dinner reservation at the Kona Cafe over at the Poly. Dinner was delicious as usual, but I totally forgot to take pictures. In fact, I don't think I have one food picture from the entire trip. Sorry folks. I was a slacker on that front. We started with some sushi, and mom and my sister in-law went with the Lapu-Lapu's. I went with the Kona Longboard Lager. My dad and I had the tuna, my brother had the lamb, my mom had the noodles, and my sister in-law went with the famous teriyaki steak. All were delicious! I have never had a bad meal at the Kona Cafe. One thing I will put under the "bad" category was the service. It was very slow! I haven't experienced that before, but this was my first time traveling with a large party (7 to be exact) and Disney automatically adds and 18% gratuity to the bill for parties of 6 or more, so I have a feeling that a guaranteed tip may have had an impact on the service we received.

After dinner we headed back to POFQ to call it a night. It was just after 9:00 PM when we got to our rooms. Not bad considering we were up at 3:30 AM.

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nikkirugby13's picture
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Sounds like a fun filled Day One! Can't wait to hear more!

And now I wished I would have booked Kona! laugh

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Kris1971 wrote:
When we crossed under the sign, he made everybody yell and scream with excitement. Funny thing is, I was already screaming inside my own head, so it was nice to let it out.quote]

laugh This made me laugh out loud. How many times have all of us wanted to do this? Smile

Magic Mirror's picture
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Yeah! yay Kris is posting her trip report!

What an awesome bus driver on the ME ... I wish we had one that did that ..ours never said a word!

Can't wait to hear more>>>>

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Sounds like a great trip so far, minus the delay in it getting started! I would have been so anxious sitting there waiting to leave! What day was your first day again? Maybe we were at Kona at the same time!

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Allie wrote:
Sounds like a great trip so far, minus the delay in it getting started! I would have been so anxious sitting there waiting to leave! What day was your first day again? Maybe we were at Kona at the same time!

We had a 6:45 PM at Kona on Tuesday. biggrin

More trip report to come. Probably tomorrow. Swamped with work. Sorry!

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YAY KRIS!!!! WE WAT MORE!!!!

BOO WORK! It always gets in the way of eh good stuffs.

laugh laugh

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Kris, I was so excited to come back, because I was pretty sure I'd get to hear all about your recent trip! I can't wait to hear more! I feel ya about your nephew on Pirates. My daughter was totally the same way.

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clapping trip reports!!!!

looking forward to reading more

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Woo Hoo!!!

That's me yelling for the Disney sign!!

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Yay! Sounds like you guys had a great start once you got there Smile

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Kris.... I echo your point on the 6 to more gratuity. I swear when you get a group like that and that tip is automatically there... most of the servers we have had will give you 50%-75% of there effort. There was only a couple occasions I can think of when it was different. Teppan, Whispering Canyon, and Ohana come to mind.

Love the trip report though. Feel ya on the late start of the plane. We had that happen last year, and we drugged our daughter to sleep. By the time we were ready... she was up... lol

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- 2013 Trip Report!
- My Int3ractiv3 Trip R3port '12 - CLICK HERE!
[url='http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/pick-mases-dinner-disney']- My Interactive Trip Report '11[/url]

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Hey guys/gals...sorry for the delay in posting the rest of my trip report. We've been quite busy preparing for Hurricane Sandy. Apparently, PA is in line for a direct hit with up to 10 inches of rain and high winds. Fingers crossed its not as bad as they think it will be. I'll get back to the trip report as soon as the storm blows over, and hopefully by then, I'll have the pictures from my brother's camera! To those in the path of the storm....stay safe and try to stay dry!

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Stay safe Kris!

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- 2013 Trip Report!
- My Int3ractiv3 Trip R3port '12 - CLICK HERE!
[url='http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/pick-mases-dinner-disney']- My Interactive Trip Report '11[/url]

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Great trip report Kris...I understand how you feel about the preparations for Hurricane Sandy...we're hunkered down in Jersey already...stay safe.

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Hoping all of you in the path of bad weather stay safe and snug! sad

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We went to Kona on the 21st and it was amazing. My husband has gluten, dairy, egg and soy sensitivities. The chef came out and talked to him and asked what he wanted. It was an awesome meal!!!One of many on our trip. A little tip though the chef at Kona told us that not all restaurants on disney property are run by disney and don't have the same policy when it comes to food allergies. Disney takes allergies extremely seriously while others not so much. We discovered that at one particular restaurant at epcot. Can't say enough great things about Kona though. That kona coffee rubbed pork chop mmmmmmmmmmm!

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We noticed the care Disney restaurants give to food issues. At every table-service we visited, we were asked if we had any allergies or other food issues. Sometimes twice, once when we checked in at the desk and again by our server. I can't think of any other restaurants anywhere that do that.

Looking forward to the rest of your report!

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Sorry for the delay...back to my trip report.

So I forgot to mention during the Day 1 update that my niece decided she was going to stay in my room for the entire trip rather than with her mom, dad and brother. So we named our room "The Room of No Rules". One of my favorite memories of the trip was when my niece was jumping on her bed and I said, "Alaina, what are you doing?" She froze and I said, "you don't do it like that, you do it like this", and then I proceed to jump from one bed and belly flopped on the other. She laughed so hard and we spent the next 10 minutes jumping from bed to bed with each other. (don't worry no damage was done to the beds).

OK, on to Day 2:

We got up around 7:30, got ready and headed down to the food court at the hotel for breakfast. The kids got their first Mickey waffles. Yum. Then we headed to the bus stop where we watched multiple buses for other parks come and go but no bus for Hollywood Studios. Thirty minutes later our bus finally showed up. It was 9:45 by the time we got to the park and I left the family near the entrance and ran to TSM to get fast passes. The fast pass time was already 3:00 PM. WOW! I headed back to the front of the park and we got the day started. We headed over to Streets of America to find Mater and Lighting McQueen. My nephew is a huge Cars fan, and for months he's been waiting to have his picture taken with them. On the way there, we ran into Phineus & Ferb and got pictures and autographs and then we turned the corner and there they were...Mater & McQueen just waiting for us. My newphew was so excited. It made my day!

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After the photos we walked around a bit until it was time for our 12:00 lunch ADR at Mom's Primetime 50's Cafe. Can I just say the food was REALLY good! I had the fried chicken with mashed potatoes and collard greens, oh and a milkshake! Scrumptious! Dad got the same thing as me. Mom went for the pot roast. Mike went for the sample platter with meatloaf, pot roast and fried chicken, and my sister in law went with the chicken pot pie. Everyone enjoyed their meal. The milkshake was the biggest I've ever seen. So big I almost didn't have room for dessert. Almost! After lunch we headed over to see the Lights Motor Action stunt show. That was the first time I saw it, and I loved it. My nephew, of course, loved the special appearance by Lightening McQueen. After the show, the kids got their faces painted and we walked through Walt Disney: One Man's Dream while we waited for our fast pass time for TSM.

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Great trip report, keep it coming! I love the Cars photo - reminds me I need to check our on Photopass.

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Its still weird for me to see Phineas and Ferb in 3D? Human form? Well... not 2D cartoon... lol

Love the trip report of course Kris and take your time. Well be here... lol

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- 2013 Trip Report!
- My Int3ractiv3 Trip R3port '12 - CLICK HERE!
[url='http://www.wdwforgrownups.com/forum/pick-mases-dinner-disney']- My Interactive Trip Report '11[/url]

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When we finally got on the ride, my nephew who was a little ride shy (leftover from the pirates experience)absolutely loved it. I rode alone so everyone else could have a partner (since I've been on it before), and when I got off, my nephew came running over to tell me he beat his mommy. He loved it! We all did! After TSM, we headed over to the Tower of Terror. My 8 year old niece had been bugging all day to ride it. There was only a 10 minute wait so we got right on. Once we were strapped into the elevator, she started to get a little worried and when the ride dropped for the first time, the look on her face was pure "terror". I looked at her and said, "just scream" and boy did she let loose with a scream that didn't stop until the ride did. She had survived the Tower of Terror, but she said flat out she wasn't going to ride it again. Too funny! Mom & Dad went on as well. Mom screamed the whole time, while Dad ended up having to catch the bag that Mom had just set on the floor of the ride. When we dropped the bag flew up and fortunately Dad caught it before it flew out. After ToT, my bro, sister in-law and I hit the Rockin Rollercoaster. Alaina was a little too short yet. We headed out without getting me the cappuchino cupcake I so desperately wanted. I was just too full from lunch. sad Here's a picture of the whole family on our way out.

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It was about 4:30 by the time we left, and we headed over to EPCOT to hit the F&W festival and eat (and drink) our way around the World Showcase. First stop....Mexico for the Shrimp Taco and a Margarita....next stop the Margarita/tequilla booth for two shots of Patrone (one for me and one for Dad). Its a good thing he didn't see the price before he did the shot...$13 each is a bit steep even for the F&W Fest. From there we stopped at South Korea for the lettuce wrap and then on to Poland for the kielbasa and pierogie (Yum). Then it was on to America for the famous lobster roll and a Sam Adams Octoberfest. By now, I was starting to get a little full, so I figured I'd save the other booths for our full day at EPCOT on Friday. Of course there's always room for a Grey Goose Slushy so that was my next stop. By this time, it was getting close to 8:00 and the kids were getting tired and a little bored, so we headed back to the hotel to settle in for the night. Shortly after we got back, we started hearing loud popping sounds coming from outside. We went out to investigate and low and behold, we could see the Illuminations fireworks from your balcony. Very cool.

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Yay for more trip report!

Kris1971 wrote:
Sorry for the delay...back to my trip report.

So I forgot to mention during the Day 1 update that my niece decided she was going to stay in my room for the entire trip rather than with her mom, dad and brother. So we named our room "The Room of No Rules". One of my favorite memories of the trip was when my niece was jumping on her bed and I said, "Alaina, what are you doing?" She froze and I said, "you don't do it like that, you do it like this", and then I proceed to jump from one bed and belly flopped on the other. She laughed so hard and we spent the next 10 minutes jumping from bed to bed with each other. (don't worry no damage was done to the beds).

I love your "Room of No Rules"! So cute! And what an adorable family you have...can't wait to hear the rest!

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Day 3 - Otherwise known as Animal Kingdom Day

So this was the day we had an 8:00 AM breakfast reservation at the Tusker House in Animal Kingdom. It was the kids ADR choice. I had confirmed with the front desk at POFQ that the buses began running at 7:00 AM and that we needed to be out there before 7:00 because the bus would leave right at the top of the hour. So I rushed the family to get ready and we were at the bus stop by 6:45 AM. We sat there waiting and waiting and waiting. It was now 7:30 and still no sign of an Animal Kingdom bus (every other bus had come by more than once). My brother asked the MK bus driver to radio a call in to ask about the Animal Kingdom bus, and he was kind enough to do so. Apparently, the AK bus driver did not show up for work, and dispatch never considered sending a substitute bus over. The MK bus driver told dispatch that there were several families waiting that had breakfast reservations. Fortunately, they said they would send another bus right over. Well right over ended up being yet another 15 minutes. It was now 7:45 and our reservation was for 8:00, and we still had to walk through the park to get there. Needless to say, this experience falls under the "bad" category, in "The good, the bad & the ugly" trip report. We did eventually get there, but not without everyone on our bus being stressed out. Fortunately, someone had sent a message ahead letting the Tusker House know of our bus situation. We arrived a few minutes late, had our picture taken with Donald and were seated almost immediately.

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The food was suprising good for a buffet. Lots of great choices, but my favorite (as simple as it was) were the tater tots. So yummy! The kids got picked to play instruments and follow Mickey around in a conga line. Which they thoroughly enjoyed.

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And they got their pictures taken with Mickey, Goofy & Daisy. Over all, it was a very nice breakfast. A little loud, but lots of fun for the kids. After breakfast, we headed straight to the Safari ride. There was a 10 minute stand by time, so we hopped right in line. The animals were all out and about, but some were more active than others. Here are a few safari shots.....

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After the Safari, we took a walk down the Pangani Forest Trail where we encounted a few gorillas. We even got a quick glimpse of the baby, but she was too fast to get a good picture of. From there we headed over to Its a Bugs Life. BIG MISTAKE. My nephew was absolutely terrified of the loud noises and the dark, and when the giant Hopper jumped up (right near where we were sitting), I thought the little guy might pass out. He wanted out of that attraction in the worst way. So once we got out, we headed over to Dinoland so he could dig for bones and ride the TriceraTop spin (AK's version of Dumbo). Once he was all better, we headed to Expedition Everest so the adults could grab a quick ride and the kids could grab their first Mickey Ice-cream Bar. I can't believe I didn't get a picture of that. Should have take a page out of Mase & Jess' photo book! Whoops. I did however remember to get a picture of the kids in their new ears. Check out Liam's Mater ears!

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Before leaving the park, the kids got in line to have their pictures taken with Pooh and Friends. This simple photo op turned into one of Alaina's favorite moments of the trip. While she was getting her picture taken with Pooh, Eeyore came over and tried to steal her autograph book. She actually got into a tug of war with him to get it back. Too cute.

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So by mid day the kids were starting to show signs of slowing down, and so I did something I've never done on a WDW trip before, I recommended we go back to the hotel and get in some pool time. I can't believe I left a park for some pool time, but it ended up being just what the kids needed, especially since we had MNSSHP tickets for that night. So off we went back to POFQ. POFQ has a really nice pool bar, so Mom, Dad, and I grabbed a drink then headed into the food court to get us one of those AWESOME shrimp po-boy sandwiches.

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