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Thread: Meisha B - Trip w/ Mom and Mack to WDW and DCL on The Magic - April 21 - May 2, 2009

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    Meisha B - Trip w/ Mom and Mack to WDW and DCL on The Magic - April 21 - May 2, 2009

    First, let me start off by saying that I know that this report will take a few installments to write as I did not take as many notes during the trip as I should have and I did not have a computer with me. Also, it was a pretty long trip so I have quite a bit to write about.

    Travel Dates: April 21-25 at WDW and April 21-May 2 on DCL Magic Eastern Caribbean (Tortola, St. Thomas, and Castaway Cay)
    Resort: ASMu from April 21-24 and AKL from April 24-25 (I'll give DCL details later)
    Cast of Characters: Me (26), Mom (57), and Mack (my 6 y/o DD)
    Disney Experience:
    Me - 2 trips as a child and 1 last year for Mack's 1st WDW trip.
    Mom - trips when she was younger and with me as a child, hadn't been in 16 years and was pretty clueless.
    Mack - 1st trip was last May for a week, so this is her 2nd trip to the World.
    Travel Method: Flying Southwest from ORF to MCO, rental car, DCL, Disney Bus, and Southwest from MCO to ORF.

    Planning: Well, my DH, DD, and I went to WDW for a week last year. After that week, I became like the rest of you and was ready to start planning my next WDW vacation and wanted it to be sooner than later. So, I decided that Mack and I would take a "small trip" with just us this year, maybe to Disney, maybe a cruise, or maybe something else. Well, as time went on all I could think about was Disney. We either NEEDED to take a short trip back or a short cruise. So, I started pricing my options. Well, a cruise included everything so it became the better option money wise. I was initially planning on doing a 3 or 4 night, but then when I compared prices for a 7 night, I felt like it was a better value. Do you see how my "small trip" is almready not so small? Plus, I figured if I had to fly to Florida I may as well make it worth it and go for the 7 days. I considered Land & Sea. I was worried we wouldn't like cruising. I also thought I couldn't go all that way and not go to WDW. But, I didn't like the price. So, I settled on a 7 Night Easter Caribbean Cruise from April 25-May 2. Well, a little bit of time passed and I still hadn't booked and a great deal came out. I found out about the free ticket for military and retired and the $99 companion tickets, so I asked my Mom if she wanted to go to WDW with us for a few days. Then, I figured I may as well tac it on to this trip rather than pay for airfare to FL twice. Definitely not a "small trip" anymore. My Mom and I went ahead and booked our airfare, mine and Mack's was $340 RT for both of us, cheaper than last year. Then before I booked our hotel I was talking to a friend of mine and found out they were also offering 40% off hotel rooms at Disney for military and retired. I went to book and they didn't have 4 nights in a row at any of the values or moderates, so we had to go with 3 nights at a value and 1 at a deluxe. The total for 4 nights was $400.00...perfect! We weren't going to stay on site, but this discount made it affordable. I still hadn't booked my cruise yet. Already had the plane tickets so I needed to book because if not, I would be spending a LOT of time in FL. By the time I went to book, the cruise had gone from about $1800 to $2600, oh well, shouldn't have waited til the last minute. But, then guess what??? I was able to get a govenrment rate because I work for the government, so I only had to pay $1630...phew. So, that in a nutshell is how this trip came to be, so much for a "small trip" for me and Mack. Turned into a BIG vacation and my Mom joining us for part of it.

    Day 1 - April 21st - Arrive at MCO at 8:55 AM, Reservations at BBB at DtD at 11:45 and ADRs at 1900 Park Fare at 6:40 PM

    Well, my parents were coming to get Me and Mack at 5:00 AM to head to the airport. I overslept because I stayed up late packing so I didn't wake up until after 4:00 AM. I showered and finished last minute packing and woke Mack up. Got her ready and we were on our way around 5:30 AM. Had an uneventful trip to the airport and an uneventful flight. Arrived at MCO right on time. After we got off the plane, I stopped for Starbucks and my Mom and Mack stopped for some cereal and drinks. After those stops I sent them to The Disney Store to get Mack an autograph book because I couldn't find hers at 4:30 AM. I headed off to the baggage claim to get our stuff. I pulled the first bag off the carousel and it was wet. Hmmm... It smelled like FISH! HMMMM.... Next bag, same thing. I'm getting pissed. I'm looking around to see if anyone else from my flight is having this same look on their face. I notice the Southwest baggage office is right behind me, I guess that will be my next stop. Next bag, same thing. Last bag I pull off is ok. I pull my Mom's off and hers is fine. My Mom and Mack still haven't showed up and I keep calling my Mom's cell. I'm getting more and more upset and everything stinks and I stink now from handling the bags and I don't have enough hands. I think Florida doesn't like me.

    I start lugging bags one by one towards the Southwest office. I finally see my Mom and Mack cheerily walking towards me in the distance. I instantly start flipping out and being hysterical about the bags. I'm yelling and cursing. That's what happens, I usually try not to be that way on vacation, but this was a HORRIBLE start. So, I make it into the office in lunatic mode and start telling them about my bags. There is one other passenger in the office with the same problem. So, out of the whole plane only one other guy has one damaged bag and 3 out of my 4 are damaged. How does this happen? Turns out sometimes they transport fish, ya think? It was so awful and so smelly and so was I. Well, Mack's brand new luggage that she hadn't ever used was RUINED! She was crying and so was I at this point. They offered to give us new suitcases, but if we took theirs we had to keep them. I overheard the other passenger and turns out that if you want the same thing as what you came in with, they will order it and ship it to your house. So, my large Samsonite would be replaced. Mack's was specialty luggage that they could not order, it was one of those cute polka dot sets, so they gave me cash for them. Then they would also pay the laundry bill ot have the contents of the suitcases cleaned. We walked out with 4 huge Southwest duffel bags, my Mom's suitcase, and my one suitcase that wasn't damaged. I felt so disgusting and was so upset and discouraged. I didn't want to let this ruin my vacation, but it was. By the time we walk out of there it is already 11:00. I'm worried we won't be to BBB in time, we still have to get the rental car.

    We head over to catch the shuttle to Thrifty, Mack and I sit outside with our new luggage while my Mom goes in to pick up the car. The weather is beautiful! Maybe things will be ok. Or NOT! Here comes the next minor snag...my Mom comes out and says Space 41 with certainty, Yay we are on our way. I point her towards 41 so she can pull the car up to us. She can't get the car started. I head over there and it turns out that you have to put the lock/unlock remote in the ignition to start the car. Hmmm...nice. So, I get the seat adjusted, drive over to my Mom and Mack and pack up the car. It was a Chrysler 300, very nice and plenty of room for our luggage. Finally on our was at about 12:00. We get to the gate and guess what? We took the wrong car. My Mom was supposed to get the car from space 42. The lady said to park the car where we got it and take the other one. I thought since the keys worked it was the right car, turns out my Mom got the keys out of the car. Head back to space 41 and someone else is parking a car in it. I let them know I need to park my car there and he says to go inside. So, I said "Screw it, we are taking this car!" My mom says we can't. I have NO patience left. We take the car to drop off and I go get the right car, a Chrysler Sebring. We switch luggage, which doesn't fit as well as it did in the 300. Finally we are out of there and headed straight to DtD with hopes of being able to still get Mack into BBB.

    We arrive at DtD and of course I park on the opposite end, I mean, come on why would anything be simple or how could I do anything right at this point? I saw the new helium balloon, it was closed due to weather. That seemed odd it was sunny and not very windy.

    We made it to BBB about an hour late. They still took her right away. She decided to be Tinkerbell, which was the perfect choice, she looked amazing. And, she had an AMAZING Fairy Godmother in Training who took so much time with her. It was Glenda from PR. Her other FGiT, was Laura from NY. She was going on the Magic as we were getting off.

    After we left there we were all hungry, but it was already 2:00 so I didn't want a full meal because we'd be having dinner in 4 1/2 hours. My Mom and I had a small debate about where to go and she started to aggravate me. I thought she knew I was in charge here....hello. We went to McDonalds, where my Mom said she wouldn't eat anything. I had a chicken sandwich, no meal. Mack had a cheeseburger, no meal. We then went for her pics that came with her BBB package.

    Mack and my Mom were starting to grate on my nerves a little and I was already on edge from the events of the day. I hate the way this vacation has started and I can't snap myself out of it.

    We hang out around DtD until it was time to pick up pics! I LOVED them and the Photopass guy who took them. He ended up being the person to help us when we went to pick them out. He was GREAT! After this it is about 4:00 so we head to the hotel to check in.

    We get lost trying to find ASMu...of course. I used a tour book I had in the car to figure out how to get there, I'm so brilliant! We pull up, Tinkerbell is fast asleep in the back. We give the bell man our luggage and he says he will meet us at the room. At check in my Mom requested a room close to parking. We look at the map and head towards building 5, Country Fair. Wellll, we end up in building 5 at ASMo...geez, how do we get out of here and get where we need to be? We finally find it and it is probably the farthest possible room from parking...THANKS!!! Our bell man is waiting and has probably been waiting for 30 minutes while we were lost AGAIN. We had decided to hang in the hotel until dinner. Well, by the time we found it there wasn't much time. I changed shirts, washed my face, put on some fresh makeup and headed out for dinner.

    I decided that we would park at MK and take the tram to GF for dinner at 1900 Park Fare. Then we could take the monorail back and see Spectromagic and Wishes. We are the only people waiting for the monorail at MK. The monorail pulls up and 3 people get out of the front seat with the pilot and I looked at my Mom and said, "Wow, I never knew you could sit up there, that's pretty neat"...here comes the Disney Magic...we got to sit up there!!! FINALLY, Magic!!! The trip is starting, maybe all the bumps in the road are behind us...maybe. The ride was wonderful. I was so happy to be sitting in the very front, it was pretty neat. When we reached GF, Mack was able to sit in the pilot's seat and take a picture with the pilot and we were all given co-pilot cards. We walk off happy campers and feel very special.

    We head into the GF, which was beautiful. I wish we had time to go out to the beach and take pics, but oh well at least we are finally on schedule and are on time for our ADR. We go check in and are told it could be 15-20 minutes. Our pager goes off right away! Yay! We had a good table, the restaurant was wonderful and the buffet was GREAT! So much to choose from. Lady Tremaine, Anastasia and Drusilla come over right away back to back, they were great! They played their parts so well. 1900 Park Fare won me over very quickly. THe food was plentiful and delicious. My favorites were the bread and the desserts. The desserts were so cute and so yummy. It took FOREVER for Prince Charming and Cinderella to make it over, we waited for them. It seemed like they kept doing one section over and over. Plus, there were a lot of kids and adults, who instrad of waiting at their table like you are supposed to, run up to see them and hold them up. I think the characters need some handlers to stop people from doing that. Our table and the table next to us had finished eating and still had to wait about 20 minutes for Cinderella and rince Charming. Overall it was a great meal and a great time, very entertaining. As we left, it was packed there were so many people waiting. I think 6:40 was the perfect ADR time as far as wait and crowd.

    We headed over to MK by monorail and rode in the back like normal people this time. Walked up to MK...it felt wonderful. It was definitely a "We're FINALLY here!!" moment. My Mom didn't seem as excited as I expected and that disappointed me a little and I thought well, she just doesn't understand, she's not like me...haha. We registered our special tickets and headed through the turnstiles and parked ourselves across from the RR station on Main St for Spectromagic. My Mom and Mack went to get fudge. I was worried they wouldn't get back in time and wouldn't make it back to me, but they did. Then I heard someone else's conversation that made me chcukle because it made me think of a post I had read on MP. I guess this child didn't want to stay for the parade and the parent said, "Did you ride in the car 24 hours to NOT see the parade because I didn't drive 24 hours to NOT see a parade." We watch the parade with a great view and enjoyed it! My Mom said, "they look like people"...oh geez...I said, "they are people". She didn't believe me, she thought the people in the parade were robots...come on...why me? Maybe a "small trip" with Mack would have been a good idea. We leave after Spectromagic...no Wishes, so Tinkerbell. I'm not that surprised. I never get to stay for fireworks, I always see them as I'm leaving the park. We head back to the hotel and make it there around 10:30. I am beyond impressed that we all lasted this long after starting our day so early and having those bumps in the road.

    Soooo, here is my summary od Day 1...the day started off pretty bumpy, but ended GREAT! I would definitely recommend 1900 Park Fare. Even though so much was ruined on our flight I couldn't have asked for anymore than what Southwest did to fix it. Mack loves being dressed as a princess and getting all of that attention, but she says it's lot of work. Dressing as Tinkerbell came with a lot of, "You better hurry up and get to the castle for fireworks" comments. Being with my Mom and Mack feels like being with 2 kids. It's going to be a lot of work, I can already tell.

    Thanks for taking the time to read what I've written so farTo be continued.....

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

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    Meisha,
    I am so sorry that your trip did not start out very "magical."
    I hope the rest of your trip lived up to your expectations.

    I grinned when I read about the exchange between you and your mom at Spectromagic...(her not listening to you saying that the people were real)...it reminded me so much of conversations with my mom...

    When we stayed at ASMu, they put us in Bldg #5 to start with...it is such a hike to get anywhere! I think that building has to be the most remote location on site! We were staying for 8 days there, so by the second day I went to the front desk desperate to move closer to the front. We scored an upgrade to a family suite in Bldg #10 so much better...

    Can't wait to hear about the rest of your trip...especially the cruise part...I think we might try that next time we schedule a WDW trip...


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    oh Meisha, what an awful way to start the trip!

    I can't wait to read the rest of the report and how there were no more bumps in the magic!


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    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Mickeymom5 -

    I forgot to mention we were at the last room on the second floor, which made it the absolute farthest. We thought about asking to switch, but since we were switching on Friday to AKL we didn't want to spend all of our time switching rooms or hauling luggage. We finally got used to it and figured out the most direct route to our room...lol.

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

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    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Jillybeaner21 -

    We had a few more bumps in the road, but overall still a great vacation...stay tuned...lol.

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

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    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Sorry for all of the typos in the first part of my post.

    Also, the dates of my trip should be April 21-May 2. I don't know how to fix the title.

    Day 2 - April 22nd - MK

    After our first VERY LONG day we decided that we would just wake up whenever we woke up. So much for seeing my first rope drop. We all started waking up around 8:30 or so and got ready to head to MK.By the time we got moving and headed out the door it was probably around 10:30-11:00, so we skipped breakfast and decided we'd have lunch at a CS in MK.

    We take the ferry over to MK and I am so excited to see the ferry in the distance. My Mom still doesn't seem as excited as I think she should be. We walked in and stopped for a few Photopass pictures. I asked Mack if she wanted to go to Adventureland or Tomorrowland, Adventureland won. We headed in and I sent my Mom and Mack off to The Swiss Family Treehouse and I went to get FP for POTC or Jungle Cruise. POTC standby was only 10 minutes so I got FP for Jungle Cruise because standby was 40 minutes. When they walked out of the Treehouse my Mom said she didn't remember there being so many steps. When they came out of the treehouse Mack started talking about doing BTMRR and I was thrilled because she was so scared last year that she got kicked off. My Mom started saying that I shouldn't force her to ride anything, which I wasn't. I wanted my Mom to back off and not pass her fears on to Mack. We headed straight over to POTC and I was going to ride alone then Mack decided that she would go...I was in shock!!! They sent us to the right as we walked in and we walked right on the ride, there was a longer line on the left. The ride queue seemed to go on forever though. We got on and the ride started and Mack seemed a little scared, I kept telling her I was proud of her and that it was just a boat ride like It's a Small World. I reassured her that all of the people inside were fake. I was amazed at the face in what looked like a waterfall, I've never been on POTC either. Mack was terrified the whole time and had her face burried in my armpit. While we were riding I didn't pay much attention to the ride between trying to console Mack and taking pictures. I heard someone say, here comes the drop and I'm thinking OH NO. But, it wasn't too bad. The ride finished, Mack was ok, just a little shaken. I told her how proud I was of her for being brave and going on the ride. I thought she deserved a pin for that being her first time on POTC. In the store outside my Mom offered to buy Mack's pin and something for me to wear to the Pirates IN The Caribbean party on the cruise. I got a striped tank top with a skull and crossbones in rhinestones. I LOVE my shirt, but would never have spent the money on myself, so thanks to Mom. POTC was the first ride of the day that was new to all of us and one Mack wouldn't go on the year before. This vacation is looking up.

    Next we headed over to The Jungle Cruise to use our FP. It was a good ride, not much to say about it. It was closed last year when we came so it was another new one and another first for Mack. Wow, we are really making progress.

    After the Jungle Cruise we head on over to Aladdin's Flying Carpets. My Mom decides she will sit this one out. Then after watching the ride she decided to join us and ask me about a million questions about the ride. We get on and my Mom and Mack ride in the front, I sit in back. But, of course there was a whole big debate on who should sit where. My Mom felt bad sitting with Mack if I wanted to sit there, blah blah blah...well, I don't care where I sit, so just get in and sit down. Well, as soon as we went up into the air I could hear my Mom freaking out and telling
    Mack she has to close her eyes, she is afraid, don't move it up and down, etc. Geez, maybe she should have stayed on the ground. But, how could she be freaking out so much? Do you know how many rides we watched while waiting in line? She saw exactly what the ride was going to do. I didn't say anything about it to her as we got off the ride.

    After the ride we really needed to settle for lunch so we headed to Pecos Bill Cafe for lunch and to see what that was all about. It was nice and big and cool inside. I never would have expected it to be so big. I ordered a taco salad and a cheeseburger for Mack. Mom had a veggie burger and we all headed over to the fixins bar. We were going to try for a table outside for the parade, but I didn't see any good ones, so we settled on a table by the door. And, as luck would have it the Move It, Shake It, Celebrate It parade was starting as we finished eating so we all went outside to watch and let me tell you we had a pretty good view. I would definitely recommend timing lunch so that you can sit outside for the parade. Yes, you have to watch it through the fence posts, but you have a good view and are not in with a crowd of people.

    (At some point before this I went and got FP for BTMRR, I don't remember when)After lunch we headed over to use our FP for BTMRR. Mom would wait outside. As scared as Mack was last year, she showed no hesitation. She got right on the ride as excited as she could be. We were in our seats and I had my arm around her since the lap bar only went down as far as my lap and nowhere near hers. The ride took off and I could tell she loved it! She was laughing and screaming the whole way. Without even thinking about it or knowing people do it, she threw her arms up in the air. It was such a truly happy moment for me. I was so happy to be on BTMRR and to see her loving every minute of it. As soon as we got off she wanted to go again, but the line was long and we had so much more to do. I told her how proud I was of her and that I knew she would love it. She said she couldn't believe she made such a big deal out of it last year. I took a picture of her outside giving me the thumbs up. I wish that ride took a picture because I surely would have bought that one. We went out to find my Mom and Mack ran over to tell her that she loved it. We stopped for a minute so that she could call her Dad to tell him that she did BTMRR and loved it. After Mack was done with the phone call she went for one last splash in front of Splash Mountain, then we jumped on the train towards Mickey's Toon Town Fair.

    We arrived at Mickey's Toon Town Fair. I let Mack play on Donald's Boat for a little while, which I thought was quite boring. After I got her out of there, we headed for the Barnstormer, which she was afraid to do last year. She rode it, enjoyed it, but thought it was a little boring and short compared to BTMRR. We are making such good time....6 attractions down and 4 new ones that Mack wouldn't do last year! Wooohooo!!!

    After our short flight on the Barnstormer we headed over to Fantasyland!!! My Mom and Mack went straight for the Carousel and Tea Cups while I grabbed FPs for Winnie The Pooh. I convinced Mack to skip Dumbo since she rode it last year and we still had so much left to do. We headed towards It's A Small World, my Mom's one must do. We walked right on and Mom loved every minute of it. After It's a A Small World I convinced Mack to do Peter Pan. Let me tell you, Peter Pan was the longest wait we had ALL day. And, sadly I didn't think as much of the ride as I had heard about it and Mack definitely did not think it was worth the wait. It was definitely something that now that I have ridden it once, I will not be doing again.

    After Peter Pan we headed back to Winnie The Pooh. I'm not a big Pooh fan, but think this is a great ride. We walked up and my Mom and Mack commented on how wonderful they thought the FP system was. However, my Mom didn't understand why we only needed a "ticket" for some rides. And, she had a thousand questions about what this ride does. I don't have much patience for explaining things that I know she isn't going to understand or giving every detail of a ride. (On a side note: She asked what every ride did and what was in each land before we went to it. Just follow me and find out for yourself, I'm not going to trick you into going on a rollercoaster.) So, we get in our spaces to get into our Hunny Pots and my Mom and Mack will be in front and I will be in the back. I asked the CM if there was enough room for us to all be in one row. She said there was, but that we could have the whole car so that we didn't have to squeeze. Awww, how nice.....until the two random adults behind me didn't get the memo and squeezed in with ME! My Mom is looking back confused and wondering why they are in the car. I'm wondering the same thing, but we are rolling now, and at this point my Mom says do you want to get up here with us? Well, the car is moving so that's definitely not possible. So, I tried to enjoy Winnie The Pooh squeezed by two strangers.

    After Winnie, it was off to Philharmagic (YAY!)! We walked in, got our glasses, and took a few goofy pictures. We went in and took our seat and the show started, I LOVE Philharmagic!!! I don't know if my Mom has ever seen 3-D before, but she was pretty funny to watch. When the part with Aladdin and the magic carpet came, she said, "I've always wanted to ride on a magic carpet" and I HAD to say, "well you did today and you FREAKED out the whole time!" We both laughed about it.

    After Philharmagic it was getting dark, but we pressed on to Tomorrowland. At this point I am so impressed with our stamina and how much we have gotten done. We stopped for another carousel ride on the way, boy those horses are high, I could barely get myself up there. After the carousel we made our way to the Speedway. I told Mack she could drive with my Mom and I drove in my own car. They set it up so we could race each other, but something was holding up my side and they were off and long gone before I ever got in my car. Mack had fun driving again. I had knee surgery last October and the car was so low, I had a hard time getting out plus my knee was getting pretty tired from the day's events.

    We missed CoP in favor of doing Buzz Lightyear, it was about 8:45 and we were running out of time. We walked right on and had fun. Mack was spinning the car a little too much for my taste, I wanted to see how well I could do.

    After Buzz we did Monsters Inc, which I LOOOVE!!! But, I do think the wait time in the queue and the preshow area is entirely too long. The two times we have done it there hasn't been a line in front of us, but the waiting is too much. If I hadn't done the show before and knew it was worth it, I wouldn't want to wait that long. But, the show was great...if it wasn't for the long wait I would have gone again. We proabably could have just stayed in since it wasn't going to be full, but we didn't.

    Mack and I hurried back to Buzz Lightyear, I beat my previous score!!! Mack didn't do as well this year as last because she was more into steering than shooting...oh well, as long as she thinks it's fun.

    We have about 15 min, no time for CoP, it's time to hurry out of the park, which means missing Wishes AGAIN!!! We go over the bridge from Tomorrowland to the Hub and there are plenty of places to sit and I ask if Mack is sure she wants to leave. We can get a good seat, there is where Tinkerbell will be, are you sure?? She is sure that she is NOT interested in fireworks....darn....I guess I'll never see them unless I go solo. So, for probably the 4th or 5th time in two years I see Wishes from the tram and the parking lot. It looks good from here so I can only imagine what they look like near the castle.

    Overall, I think it was a GREAT, productive Magic Kingdom day! I can't believe how much we did!

    Now, it's 10:00 PM and we are hungry so we decide to head for McDonald's, which says "OPEN during renovation"...guess what? It's NOT OPEN. Mack has fallen asleep by this point, but my Mom says I should still get her something because she will want it when she wakes up to go to the room. So, I search and search and search for the CS at ASMu. I finally find it, it is packed with cheerleaders. I remembered reading about the cheerleaders on MP, but didn't pay much attention. It probably took me about 30 minutes to get a cheeseburger for Mack and a chili cheese dog for myself. Mack and Mom were in the car and Mom said she didn't want anything. I spent $22.00.. I finally get back to the car and my Mom said she was worried and getting ready to come looking for me. Uuuuugggggghhhhhh....I'm an ADULT and I don't even remember the last time I've traveled with my Mom, but does she realize how many places I travel that are worse than Disney World and that I don't usually have someone waiting for me and worrying about me every second of the day? I realize that yes, things can happen, but I don't live my life freaking out all of the time and would appreciate it if she didn't freak out about an ADULT walking into the lobby of a hotel to get food. THEN, she asked if I'd go back and get her something. I'm mean, I said no. After it took me 30 minutes to get this, and you didn't want anything, and I'm EXHAUSTED, and you were ready to send out a search party? Nope.

    We get back to the room and Mack is hungry, but too tired to eat. My Mom babies her, which aggravates me some more. We go back and forth, she is hungry, she is tired, she is hungry, she is tired. I finally give in and put the food on the nightstand, Mack falls asleep without ever touching her food. I take one bit of my messy chili cheese dog and I don't like it and my fries are cold, $22.00 down the drain. My Mom picks at the food that neither of us want to eat.

    We all hit the sack because we have an early breakfast at AK tomorrow.

    Soooooo, here is my summary of Day 2...overall, I'd say it was a good day. We got a lot done. I'm glad my Mom came with us, I think it's good for her, but it has kept me on edge and I don't know if it was so good for me and Mackenzie. The purpose of the trip was to have quality time with Mack and so far I'm not feeling that. Maybe my Mom and Mack are having a good time despite me being on edge and not as carefree and happy as I'd like to be at Disney. We DO have good moments, I just don't remember all of the details because I didn't take enough notes.

    I really wish I could remember more details, more things I observed, and more magical moments.
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

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    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Day 3 - AK - 8:35 AM ADR at Tusker House

    I knew waking up this morning would be very hard after how tired we all were last night. I went ahead and got up around 6:30 and got ready, then I tried to wake up Mack. She was back and forth about whether or not she cared enough to get up for breakfast. I planned this breakfast for two reasons: (1) So that we would get to AK early and have the whole day there to see everything and (2) Last year we saw Donald Duck 1,000 times but never stopped for pictures or autographs and this way we'd definitely see him. I finally got Mack up and started getting her ready. My Mom asked her famous questions "What is there to do at AK?", I can sense that she doesn't want to go. I tell her about AK and give her The Birnbaum's guide to look through. She asks if I mind if she stays behind and I do not mind at all, I think she needs the rest and I would love some Mack and me time. Wouldn't you know it, by the time I finish getting Mack dressed my Mom has decided she would join us. I was positive that our ADR was for 8:00 and by now it is probably close to 8:00 so here we go again with being late. I call to see if I can push the ADR back and I can't. I keep the one I have. We head out for AK around 8:30. We get to the park entrance right at 9:00. I'm impressed we actually made it to a park when it opened.

    I make a bee line straight for Tusker House and get their to give them our name and guess what? My ADR was for 8:35 so we aren't a whole hour late, only 25 minutes. Once we give our name we have to wait about 15 minutes. We get called in and are seated in a room to the left when you walk in. As we walk in they are waking up the sun, it's a cute little dancing party and a great way to liven up our morning. We sit down and the waitress pours us all some jungle juice, which I'm glad I tried, but it's not for me. I ordered coffee and a coke instead. We then head to the buffett, which was your typical breakfast buffett, it was pretty good. I was happy with the selection. The character interaction was pretty good, some of them even came up and "talked" to me. For some reason we were sat in a room that was clearing out so we had the room to ourselves for a little while and were in the room alone for the next waking up of the sun. Since it was just us, my Mom and I joined Mack in dancing with Goofy and some of the servers to wake up the sun. It was fun and something my Mom and I wouldn't have done if there were other people in the room. As people started to fill up the room again, the characters came around for a second time. I don't know if they realized they had already been with us, but they just stopped by, which was enough. It was nice not to be ignored, but short enough that we didn't have to act like we hadn't already met them. Overall, breakfast was a good way to start the day.

    Our waitress mentioned that they fixed the bridge in Kilimanjaro Safaris so Mack agreed she would go on it...I didn't know the bridge bothered her last year. So, after breakfast I grabbed FP for Kilimanjaro and then we headed over to Rafiki's Planet Watch to pet some goats, I even got a kiss from one then we went inside to listen to the Sound of the Rainforest. We walked up just as they were finishing vet exams, they only do those from 9:00-11:00, I should have looked at the times. We listened to the vet tell us some things about caring for the animals, I enjoyed it and I think Mack did too. Afterwards, we had a conversation and asked/answered questions with the CM outside of the vet window. From there we went over to an exhibit behind glass with baby American Alligators and there was a family using the intercom to ask questions, when they were done Mack and I had some questions. I lifted her up to the intercom to start asking. The person working with the reptiles was great, he told Mack she was asking very good questions and explained everything she asked about. It was very nice. After that we headed outside to look for Mom, she was sitting out on all of the up close and personal stuff, she is not an animal person. We bought a few things in the gift shop. Mack always wants those bags of rocks, magnets, gemstones, etc. This time she got two large egg shaped rocks, they are pretty, but what is she going to do with them? Nothing, that's what. I bought a reusable Mickey Mouse bag, it is very cute and pretty large. I also bought Mack a book about rainforests. We then put all of our purchases in my reusable bag and headed back towards the train and to Kilimanjaro Safaris.

    We walk up to Kilimanjaro and use FP, again my Mom and Mack talk about how wonderful FP is. Mack tries to ask the CMs along the way if the bridge really is fixed. One CM didn't understand what she was asking and another one just didn't really pay any attention. We get on the ride and immediately have great luck spotting animals. We go over what I think is the bridge and thought it must have been fixed. Ummm, not so...we come to the bridge later and Mack gets really upset when it is NOT fixed. She recovers and enjoys seeing the rest of the animals. I'd like to ride that all day long to see what we can see. I think it is such a great ride and so educational too.

    After the ride we separate from my Mom, but I can't remember why...ooohh, Mack and I stopped to look at pins outside of Tusker House and since my Mom is such a slow poke she said she'd head towards The Festival of The Lion King...GREAT! So, Mack and I buy a few pins and get up to Pizzafari, my Mom calls and she is in the restroom at Pizzafari, perfect we caught up. I tell her where we are so that she can find us when she is done. Well, turns out she went out a different door and never walked past us, she walked to the right of us and I was looking for her to the left. So, she continued on to Camp Minnie Mickey. I kept calling and she didn't answer. She finally called me back and asked where I was. I said I was on a bench outside waiting for her, she said she didn't see us so she kept going. Oh NO....going where? To Camp Minnie Mickey...ok. I'm wondering how she got there without ever passing up and she said she went over a bridge, so I'm thinking she headed back towards Africa, but she assured me she was in Camp Minnie Mickey, I started walking and crossed the bridge and was glad to find her on the other side.

    By this time, I must have looked at the time wrong or the times guide wrong because I thought there wasn't another Lion King Show for an hour. Since there is nothing else to do where we are I ask if they want to wait an hour for the show or leave AK. For some reason AK does seem hotter even though there is so much shade and it is very tiring, I think because things are more spread out. Everyone is ok with leaving AK. So, we got there early and still did the same two things as we did last year and no shows. Well, before we leave I ask Mack if she wants some ice cream and she does. As we are getting up, I see someone with FUNNEL CAKE!!!! I ask where he got it, and it's not far so I drag Mack to get funnel cake before her ice cream. We are now right outside of The Lion King show and guess what? One just started, I guess I did have a reason for getting there when I did, but now we have missed it and would still have to wait an hour. Maybe I should have gotten the hint when there were groups of people running past us...they were running to catch the show. That really kind of made me sick that we missed it. Back to the ice cream...I took Mack to get it with my funnel cake in my hand, ice cream is not working, she settles on a bag of Doritos. We join my Mom on the bench. She wants a piece of my funnel cake because she said she has never had one, which I find hard to believe. She has a few pieces and I enjoy the rest....Mmmmmmmmmm....I was wearing a black dress, it was polka dotted by white by the time I was done.

    After we finish up we head out. We decide we will just go back to the hotel and let my Mom rest and me and Mack will go to the pool. Mack and I go to the pool for a few hours. She finds some kids to play with and has a good time. I wrote some trip report notes, but not nearly enough. Someone from Southwest called to let me know my suitcase will be shipped the next day...good news. I get Mack out of the pool around 4:30-5:00. I still need to get my laundry from the ruined luggage sent off...bet it smells great now.

    I get my laundry together, which really does smell fantastic...NOT. My Mom and Mack go with me to drop it off because afterwards we are going to eat at ASMu CS and go to the big pool. While they are waiting for me a CM gives my Mom a red rose and Mack a balloon...it was a nice touch that they both enjoyed. We head to the ASMu CS area and grab some food and sit outside to eat it. Mack must think she turned into a teenager overnight because as we sit down to eat she says, "I'll eat later, I'm going to go get in the pool", I can't even see the actual pool, just the area from where we are sitting. Obviously I had to bring her back to her 6 year old self and tell her she was going to eat and then had to wait until I was done eating to go to the pool. Mack and I finish eating and my Mom says to go without her and she will find us. Mack and I go towards the other end of the pool near the baby pool. I tell her what boundaries she has inside the pool and grab a seat. She plays there until almost 9:00 when I tell her it's getting dark and cold and we should get ready for bed.

    We head back to the room and I have some laundry that I need to do myself so I head out to do my laundry. Boy oh boy did those cheerleaders take over at night time. I put my laundry in and then sat out for a while and made some phone calls and smoked a few cigarettes. After I was out for a while I figured I should call my Mom so she isn't worried. She was. She wanted to know how far the laundry was. I was like come on, the place is filled with cheerleaders, what are they going to do? Cheer me to death? So, I sat out and had some me time while I did the laundry and watched cheerleaders cheer in the pool, on the grass, in the parking lot, yell, scream, chase each other and so on. I probably looked like the creepy person wondering around ASMu...I was the oddball out, I was smoking and I was not a cheerleader or a cheerleader chaperone!

    After I had a sufficient break and my laundry was done, I headed back to the room and my Mom and Mack fell asleep as soon as I walked in so I had the tv to myself for the night until I passed out soon after.

    Soooooo, here is my summary of day 3.....we were kind of lazy, but we all needed it and it was a good day. I was able to relax and enjoy everyone a little more. I think my Mom and Mack enjoyed the day, too.
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  9. #8

    Nice report!

    Meisha B, I'm really enjoying your report! I'm kicking myself because I kept forgetting to respond to your last message about our overlapping trips. My wife and I took an "us only" trip Apr 18-24 and were sitting on a hammock at the Polynesian watching the sunset over the GF while you guys were at 1900 Park Faire! Then we, too, went to MK after that. We walked around, enjoying the night, and rode Astro Orbiters right as the fireworks started. Man, we would have enjoyed meeting you (my wife read your responses to my last TR and your first TR).

    I'm terribly sorry you had such a poor experience with your luggage. Do they really transport FISH? That's kinda weird. What a horrible way to start a vacation.

    It's good to hear that Mack is branching out. For my money, I can ride a ride at any amusement park (we live 15 minutes from Kings Island in Cincinnati and go fairly often)(it's no Disney, but you get the point) but the real enjoyment is doing so with your kids, especially the first time they take the plunge, so I can only imagine how much you enjoyed it with her and how proud you must have been.

    I think the Peter Pan line is chronic; it's the stupid CMs not using FPs right. I like PP but won't wait that long again (besides, DL's is better). I think the line situation is easily fixable but it takes a managers push. I once had a manager whose motto was "change the people around you or CHANGE THE PEOPLE AROUND YOU". I wonder if that would work?

    I'm sorry you missed Wishes again. I would have made an executive decision to stay; it's that good! Hopefully, as you continue to write your report, I'll read that you finally caught it. If not, I hope you do soon.

    We stayed at Coronado Springs so we didn't have to deal much with Cheerleaders after hours, but we did at the parks! It's good to see that you got some alone time; I try to do that in the mornings or late at night. Sometimes, even on vacation, we just need a few minutes of quiet (or, at least, time with no interaction) to unwind and soak in the atmosphere. I find that if I don't do that I'm more exhausted. Just give me an hour or two for the week and I'll come away much more refreshed. I hope you felt the same.

    Your writing style is much different, more narrative, than your last one (which I enjoyed as well). It's a good combination of reflection and this-is-what-I'm-thinking-now that easily captures, and holds, the reader's interest. I can't wait for upcoming installments, especially from the cruise!

    I'm soon to start writing my trip report from the same time; it'll be fun to compare where who was and when!


  10. #9
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Marc -

    Thanks for the comments. I forgot you guys were going to be there, too. MP should have a board to post who is going to be at WDW when like they do for the cruise so that people can meet.

    Yes, I guess they do really transport fish! They said it has happened before, too. Nobody can believe it when I tell them.

    Getting ready to try and do Day 4 then onto the start of our cruise, which I think will be the hard part. I'll have to go back and look at The Personal Navigators to see what we did what days.

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  11. #10
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Day 4 - Checking out of ASMu and into AKL - Epcot - 6:15 ADR at Rainforest Cafe at DtD - Epcot for EMH

    We got up Friday morning and packed our stuff up and called for them to pick up our luggage. After waiting a few minutes past check out time I called to see when they were picking up our luggage and they said we could check out and they would still come get it. So, we headed to check out and then on to AKL. (I forgot to say on Day 1 that our room at ASMu was VERY clean and they had just shampooed the carpet before we checked in, it was still wet. And, Mousekeeping was GREAT!)

    We arrived at the entrance to AKL around 11:30; it was very nice and very exciting to pull up to. Mom went in to check in and I didn't bother asking for something close to parking because I was hoping wherever they put us we would have a good view. She checked in and I went to park the car. We walked in and I was IN LOVE!!! We went straight for the gift shop because Mack had broken out in hives and I needed to get some Benadryl and Hydrocortisone Cream. They had some really neat stuff in there; I ended up spending about $70.00 on medicine, a sunscreen stick, a coffee cup for myself, a coffee cup and coffee for my Step-father, a cup for Mack, a cup for Bill, and some rice crispy treats and candy. The people in the gift shop were AWESOME!!! I had asked where the medicine was and the lady showed me, then she told me if there was anything I needed that they didn't have there was a pharmacy that would deliver to the hotel. Knowing that took a small weight off my shoulders and made me feel taken care of. She gave me the name and number of the pharmacy AND the name and number of a medical center that will pick you up, take you to their office, and bring you back and they do NOT charge for the transportation. I loved knowing that was available if needed. There was one CM in the gift shop that wasn't as great as the lady who helped me. My Mom saw some neat walking sticks that I thought would be a good gift for her to get my Step-father, he doesn't use one, but I think he would like it propped against a wall in the house. My Mom wasn't sure about getting it home. So, I told her to ask the CM, she should know if you can take it on the plane. She didn't. Every other CM when I bought something that would be "questionable" to take on the plane would tell me if I could take the item or if it needed checked without me asking. She said, well I guess some people do. Well, that's no help. How much is shipping? Oh, I don't really know... Well, then forget you and the walking stick. Before I forget, I was in the gift shop another day and saw her helping someone else and she sucked that day, too. She didn't seem all there or something. I know who I would NOT ask for help.

    After the gift shop, we took our map and headed to our room. It looked close, but it wasn't. Again we were ALL the way at the end of the building with the last room. It seemed like it took forever to get there because we kept stopping to look at animals and say how wonderful the hotel was. Before we even get to the room I have already decided that I do not know if I can ever stay anywhere else. I definitely don't feel like I can go back to a value (gasp)! We get to the room, which is also beautiful, put our stuff down and all head for the balcony. It was WONDERFUL!! There were several giraffes out there, we all loved it. We loved having a balcony period, then add on the animals and WOW!!! We sat for a little bit and tried to figure out a game plan...eat at the hotel, head to Epcot, hmmm so many choices. My Mom wanted to go back to MK to look in the shops...I was in SHOCK that she was willing to go alone. I kept the rental car and sent her on a bus. We WERE going to meet at Epcot, but before she left we decided that she would go to MK and Mack and I would have lunch and tour the hotel and pick her up at MK at 4:00. We decided we'd try Epcot after dinner because not only did Mack have hives, her eyes were REALLY swollen. So, I thought some down time touring the hotel would be good for her and some lunch, she was getting pretty lethargic. We parted ways around 1:00. Mack mentioned wanting to go to the pool, BUT our bathing suits were at ASMu with our luggage...oh well...like I said I think she needs downtime. So, Mack and I headed out of the room at the same time as my Mom with her animal spotting sheet in hand and looked around and checked off as many animals as we could. It was pretty neat; it was like being on an indoor safari without leaving the comforts of the US or a luxury hotel...haha. We made our way back to the lobby and tried to decide where to eat. Well, the only place open was the CS place so we headed there. Just like I had read on MP the choices were much more limited there than at ASMu, they had maybe 1/4 or 1/5 of what ASMu had. But, on a good note, it wasn't crowded. I opted for some coffee, a soda, and a flatbread pizza. Mack was glued to my side and wanted nothing. She was really starting to concern me. We paid and found a seat. I asked if she wanted to try my pizza and she said she did. Well, guess what? She LOVED it and ate more than half and perked right up, thankfully. Before they left they had started face painting in there, I can't remember if she didn't want it or if I was worried she'd have some sort of reaction to it, so we skipped it and opted for more touring. We walked around until we found an arcade, Mack loves arcades. Once inside I found out you get a free 30 minutes of play card, but we didn't have one. But, an older couple gave us theirs because they were done playing and it didn't work. Then a grandmother came in with her grandson and they were trying to use theirs and asked for my help, it appeared to be empty. I don't know what the story is on those. I bought Mack a $10.00 card and let her do what she wanted. While watching her with her 6 year old independence picking games and swiping her cards I had one of those moments where I realized how much she is growing up and is not so much my baby anymore. In those moments it is kind of like time stops and I love her even more and she looks even more beautiful to me. It's sad that she is growing up sometimes, but at the same time great to see what she likes to do and how she does things. On a side note, she pretty much always orders her food and drink herself and if she has a question about something, she will ask the CM herself. She is still cautious though; if an adult tries to talk to her sometimes she turns around and tells me what they said. I reassure her that it is ok to answer them since I am standing right there.

    After the arcade we were going to walk around some more and we see them setting up a "Decorate your own duck" table. They were having a rubber ducky race at 4:00 and now were the time to decorate for the race. We can't go to the race, but Mack and I both decorate ducks. We can always race them in the bathtub at home, right? Right. I made my duck to look like me with my same color curly hair and red glasses. Mack's school mascot is a Tiger, so I made my duck a tiger print shirt and wrote on the back Tabb Tiger Mom! I LOVE my duck!!! Mack loves my duck, too!

    While we are decorating ducks I start chatting with a few parents and we are discussing how much freedom people give their children while they are at WDW and what we tell our kids to do if they get lost. I comment on how I always seem to be the person to find lost kids and that I have thankfully never lost mine. Once we are finished decorating and chatting we head towards the car to go get my Mom from MK and head to DtD. Well, on our walk to the car Mack's duck's marker is smearing all over my hand, so we stop in the gift shop to see if we can get a small plastic bag. This is when I see the second incident of the not all the way there girl. Anyway, as I am getting my bag, I hear a child, maybe 10 years old asking the CM if she can call her room. From what I overhear she calls the room and her brother answers and she asks where her Mom is, I guess her brother doesn't know. So, the CM tells her that she cannot let her call her Mom's cell phone. So, I stop the little girl and ask if she wants to use my phone. She starts dialing and gets confused so I told her I'd dial. I told her if her Mom didn't answer and she left a message NOT to have her call my number in case I am not with her. Well in the meantime her brother that is about the same age shows up. And, she leaves her Mom a message to call her back on that number. Geez, here we go. And, PS wasn't I JUST saying how I always find lost kids?? So, I ask where the Mom is, they don't know. Where did you see her last, decorating ducks (Oh, a few feet away from where I was having the conversation about lost kids...interesting). What did she say when she left, to meet her on this floor. Ok, lets go to the lobby to look for her, if we do not find her we will call again. I pick a seat and tell them to look around the lobby and whether they find her or not, they need to come back and let me know. Thankfully, they find her and they let me know. I bet you she didn't even realize they were looking for her and I wonder if she found out before she heard the voicemail from her daughter calling from my phone. Mack always thinks it is so nice when I help lost kids. Hopefully it teaches her to not get lost and hopefully it doesn't lead her to believe that everyone would be as friendly and helpful as me.

    We head to the car and on to MK. We are there right when we said we'd be and my Mom is waiting INSIDE the park for us, so I tell her to come on out and take a tram to Donald and we will be waiting. She did, it took about 20 minutes or so though. Mack hid in the backseat so I would "trick" my Mom and tell her I left Mack at the hotel. I think she actually believed me for a second until she found Mack, who by the way, didn't want to be found...haha.

    We head to DtD. Mom is supposed to meet a friend from WV at 4:30, we are late, it has been a theme this trip. I also miss the turn, another theme this trip. Finally, we get there, thankfully we walk the way we do and find Mom's friend right away. I chat with them for a few minutes and then they head off for dinner at Fulton's. Mack and I head over to the Lego store, everytime we pass it she wants to play. Our dinner wasn't until 6:15 so she has about an hour to play if she wants to. Oh, and we stop to let Stitch spit on Mack on the way...lol. Mack plays for a while, races Lego cars, and then wants to go in to shop. I convince her to save her money; we are still going to Rainforest Cafe, Epcot, and on the cruise. She takes my advice Yay, Moms DO know best!

    We arrive at Rainforest Cafe at 6:00 for our 6:15 ADR. I go to check us in and the host asks if the whole party is here and I said, no but they will be in a few minutes (We were meeting my friend's brother, wife, and son). He said he couldn't put my name down until my entire party arrived; I asked why and said I knew that I would have to wait 15-20 minutes to be called, so why not put it down now. It's a no-go. So, we wait, they show up at 6:10. I go back to put my name and he says it will be 15-20 minutes, I HAD to say that was the reason I wanted my name down before because now it would be time to sit. I then noticed on the piece of paper it said seating time: 6:40. So, I went back up and asked if that's what time we'd be seated, and he said approximately. I can tell that I am his favorite customer of the day. So, we all hang out and wait and wait and wait and wait. Wait, I think they called me...I walk up and he says not yet, in a few minutes before I even ask. He definitely loves me. Finally, they call my name. Then we stand in the other line to be seated. Wait and wait and wait and look at the fish...Dory looks wedged between rocks...Hmmm. Finally we get seated. I pulled out my phone to make sure Mom hadnt called and guess what time it is? 6:40 on the dot. Well, at least they sat us on time to the seating time...lol. And, this was one place I was actually on time for. We all enjoyed our dinner and our conversation. They have been on DCL and are going again next month so we talked a lot about that. They are trying to sell their house and I just bought mine, so we talk about that. The kids are keeping each other company and it was a nice and relaxing dinner. We finish up and Mack decides that she would like to buy something for herself and Brendan....isn't she thoughtful? So, Mack and Brendan pick out their squishy water things and she heads up to the register to stand on her little toes and pay. She also alerts the cashier to a fish that appears to be stuck because it was still there on our way out. He asked if it was a blue fish and when we said yes, he told us he doesn't know why but that fish likes to do that and it isn't stuck. Good to know. We say our goodbyes and part ways.

    My Mom called and said she was outside; of course it takes 20 minutes to find her. By the time we say our goodbyes to my Mom's friend, who happens to be named Mickey, it is almost 9:00 and I'm not feeling much like hitting Epcot. I'm tired and I just remembered I still need to pick up my fish laundry. I convince Mack we should skip it and tell her a little lie and say it closes at 11:00 and not 12:00. I'm a little sad though because I REALLY wanted to go and do some rides we missed last year and we were both excited about Kim Possible. I told Mack we had time the day we came back from the cruise and that we could go then. On our way to ASMu I see fireworks and am guessing it was Illuminations, which I have never seen. So, it looks like I'll be ending another stay at Disney without seeing fireworks from inside the park. Maybe next time...

    We picked up my laundry at ASMu and headed back to AKL. I drop my Mom and Mack off at the door and park the car. My Mom is afraid for me to walk from the parking lot...geez...I'll be fine. Guess what? Here I am, just fine. Well, I walk up and realize I forgot my laundry...oh well, I'll throw it in my duffel bag tomorrow when we check out, there's no turning back. Mom heads to the room and Mack and I head out for night vision goggle viewing. There wasn't much to see, but I loved the goggles...I want some I had never used them before and I couldn't believe how clear and bright it was when you used them. As we are leaving there to head back to the room my Mom calls to tell me that our luggage isn't there. So, I head to the Bell Desk. They have our luggage and will bring it right away. Good deal. We head up to the room and we all get ready for bed. Thankfully, I should be tired enough from the week to pass out and not stay awake all night excited for the trip.

    Soooooo, here is my summary of Day 4.....It started off rough with the hives, but that cleared up and it turned out to be a good and pretty relaxing day. I wish we would have made it to Epcot, but I guess you have to revise plans. I think Mack really did need the downtime. I was worried if she didn't have it that the cruise would not be enjoyable. And, finally I LOVE AKL!!!! I love the people that work there, the decor, the room, the double vanity, the balcony, the animals, and the gift shop....I LOVE IT ALL!!! I didn't love the long walk to the room, but the view made it ok.


    Stay tuned...we head out for our cruise tomorrow.

    Wow! I'm pretty long winded...sorry.
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  12. #11

    Sounds like a nice trip so far. I am looking forward to reading about the cruise.


  13. #12

    Great report so far, Meisha! I can't wait to read the rest of it.

    It's great to hear that Mack rode some "big-kid" rides this time ... and liked them!

    P.S. I can't believe Southwest transports fish! How random.


  14. #13
    Self-proclaimed Diz nut TinaMouse's Avatar
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    Sounds like some ups and downs, but mostly ups. Glad to know the CMs were so good about the pharmacy/doctor (if needed). We hope to stay at AKL next August. I'm so excited to see it!

    Looking forward to the cruise!

    Working hard for that next WDW trip!

  15. #14

    I'm enjoying your trip report so far, it sounds like you had a good time in spite of some rough spots. I can't wait to hear about your cruise.

    Vicki
    CBR-May 2007, POFQ-Dec 2007, POFQ-Sept 2008, CSR & HRH-Sept 2009, AKV Kidani & RPR-May 2010
     
    "If we weren't all crazy we'd all go insane"-Jimmy Buffett

  16. #15
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Sorry for the long delay...I will pick up tonight and start writing about the cruise. I'm excited to relive it, but there is SO much to remember!!

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  17. #16
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Sorry, it took so long for me to continue...I promise not to take as much time from here on out. And, thanks for coming back.

    Day 5 - Check out of AKL - Day 1 of THE CRUISE - Eastern Caribbean - Category 11 - Stateroom 7621

    I woke up bright and early sometime before 7 AM. I'm pretty sure I was too excited to sleep. Cruise day was FINALLY here!!! I got up and went out on the balcony at AKL for a few minutes. It was wonderful. There were plenty of animals out there...lots of zebras and giraffes. I'm pretty sure giraffes have become one of my favorite animals. I love watching them walk, they are so graceful. After some me time with a great view I went in and started packing and getting ready for the trip. I went ahead and took my shower before waking Mack or my Mom up. I had a hard time getting both of them up, but I used, "IT'S CRUISE DAY!!!!!!!" to get Mack up. For my Mom it was drop us off at the cruise and go to the airport to head home day.

    Once we all got up and were dressed and packed we called Bell Services to come and get our luggage and a lovely lady came up to get them. (Everyone at AKL was GREAT, btw) We checked out and got in the car, everything went smoothly. They were out of direction print outs to get to Port Canaveral, but the directions they gave me were simple enough, so we got on the road. The drive seemed to take a while, we were coming up to a moment we had been waiting for for so long!!! Mack falls asleep in the car.

    We are finally getting close and passing beaches and water on both sides, then in the distance I can see the Disney Magic...it looks AMAZING!!! I cannot wait...we are so close!!! We finally pull up in front of the ship and are directed to pull up in #3 for my Mom to drop us off. Even the porters at the ship were WONDERFUL. We said our goodbyes to my Mom, I was a little sad to see her go, even though she had been driving me nuts. Plus, I was hoping she would make it back to the airport and VA ok.

    We head off to head in to the terminal. They check our IDs...easy. We get inside and there are two lines for security, one was empty so we went that way, went through security...easy. Headed up stairs to a counter where someone checked our paperwork...easy. Went over to check in. The line was a little long, but went quick. Check in...easy. See the pattern? Things are looking up. After checking in we go get our pictures taken...easy. Then, we get ON the ship!!! No line, nothing, we walk right on. I was taking a picture of Mack walking on in front of me and I met my first CM. He took my camera for me and took a pic of both of us walking on...YAY!! We walked up and the announced me and Mack!! Yay...we are finally on! I had so much anxiety about something happening and stopping us from getting on, but here we are on and we are finally ON! It looks just like on tv.

    What should we do first? Our room should be ready around 1:30. I think it is almost 1, so we don't have long to wait. Mack and I head up to Deck 9 Aft to go to the buffet at Topsider's. We took our hand wipes and wiped our hands going in. I had heard how big they are on cleaning your hands to avoid germs. We get our food, they had a good selection of food and a separate dessert area that we never made it to. We were able to find a table outside. Mack and I sat outside and I just people watched and took it all in and chatted with Mack. I was so excited and a little nervous at the same time. I was just hoping the week wouldn't go too fast and that we would both LOVE it! We finished up our lunch and decided to take a look at Deck 9. It looks just like on tv. We saw the Mickey pool, the big slide, the Ariel screen, the Goofy pool, and some game tables. It was getting close to 1:30 so I figured we could check and see if our room was ready. We got on the Aft elevators and went down 2 decks to 7. Our room wasn't far from the elevator. I had heard 7621 was a good location, but this being my first cruise, I had no idea what made a good location. As of now, I was happy with the location and with our room. It really was a good size, plenty for me and Mack. As we walked in the tv was on and tuned to the channel that gives you information about boarding and the lifeboat drill. We listened for one go around. I was kind of nervous about the drill. When we got into the room our dining assignment and excursion tickets were on the dresser. We were supposed to have 2nd dinner, but our ticket said 1st. I had accepted having 2nd and was thinking about switching, but I figured we'd go to dinner and see what we thought of the time and our table mates before we switched. In my mind I was thinking what if we were set up to eat with awesome people at 1st dinner and switched to 2nd dinner and had horrible table mates? So after thinking about all of that and watching the instructions for the drill, we headed off check out the Oceaneer Club and get Mack registered for it. Then our next stop was back to Deck 9 to the pools.

    We made our first stop at the Mickey pool, which Mack decided was too laid back for her. Next, we were off to the Goofy pool. Mack couldn't touch and I did NOT want to get in. She convinced me to get in, I was cold. But as I got in and froze, I people watched. I did a lot of people watching this trip since it was just Mack and I and I didn't always have someone to talk to. I watched Moms and Dads singing and dancing to Hannah Montana and Camp Rock, I was more surprised with the Dads...maybe there is something magical happening. And, the kids did not seem to be the least bit of embarassed of their singinging and dancing parents. Everyone was happy and smiling. I was happy and smiling. We hung out in the pool until about 3:30 and then I started feeling like we should head back to our room so that we could be ready for the drill. I still hadn't relaxed all the way and was still nervous about things, things like not being at the drill or not being in the right place.

    We headed back and met Tabah, our stateroom host. He was very friendly. Our bags were there so he brought them in. We watched the tv and waited for instructions. I started unpacking and putting our stuff away and Mack put her life jacket on right away...haha. I put mine on a few minutes before and then it was drill time. We went, they checked everyone off and it was done. Quick, easy, and painless. And, I didn't feel stupid in my big orange vest since everyone else looked just as stupid...it was actually an entertaining sight to see.

    After the drill, we dropped off our vests and went off to the Sail Away Party. The Goofy pool had been covered. We got a good spot right in front of the stage. The party started, the crew was introduced to us by department. It was a lively party, everyone was having fun. Mack was a little reserved still, I was hoping she'd start to loosen up. Eventually, she did and we had a nice time. Then, we had to rush off to hurry and get ready for dinner. I pulled out some clothes for us and took them to the laundry room just down the hall to be ironed...another reason this is a good location. Went back to the room and showered. The bathtub was not as big as I thought it would be from everything I read, but it would definitely work. I wasn't sure if 1st dinner was going to work, we were going to be late. I'm not late often in real life, but can't seem to make it to a meal on time on vacation. We got to dinner about 30 minutes late. Our first dinner was at Lumiere's. The decor was nice inside. We were sat at Table 21 with Katie and her son Hunter(5) from Seattle and David and Ethan(5) from Florida. Our servers were Toby from Australia and Adrienn from Hungary. We all introduced ourselves and had a nice dinner. I didn't go for the full on appetizer, soup/salad, and entree. I just had an entree and dessert. We all ordered Creme Brulee for dessert, it was pretty good. I've only had Creme Brulee once before at a VERY nice restaurant. If I had nothing to compare it to, this Creme Brulee would have been GREAT, BUT I think the first Creme Brulee I ever had is going to be hard to ever live up to for any other Creme Brulee. At the end of dinner we were told where dinner would be the next night.

    After dinner Mack wanted to go to the party in the Kid's Club. First, we went to the Pin Stand in the lobby and bought some DCL pins for Mack...she is a collector. Then, I took her to the club and stayed with her until she was comfortable. Then I had FREE time. I didn't know what to do with myself. I went and unpacked some more and then headed to Deck 9 Forward to smoke a cigarette. I ordered a glass of wine and people watched. I waited about an hour or so and went to check on Mack. She was having a good time and wanted to stay...I had been ditched. So, I went back and smoked some more and ordered another glass of wine. I went back to check on Mack after that glass and she still wanted to stay. So, I headed back for another cigarette and another glass of wine. I was getting tired and maybe a little drunk. Then I was paged to come and get Mack. I couldn't tell if I was drunk or if it was the boat moving...lol. I went to get her. At first I forgot what she was wearing and couldn't find her, I walked right past her(maybe I DID have too much to drink). She had scraped her elbow a few times on the slide and then bumped her lip on her knee, these were the ONLY reasons she wanted to be picked up. After I picked her up we went to the beverage station and got some drinks to go back to the room with. On the way back to our room I got my purse stuck in the elevator doors and spilled some wine, maybe I have a buzz....lol.

    We got back to our room and the moment Mack had been waiting for was finally here, our bed was turned down and we had our first towel animal. It was a snake. We got two chocolates, I gave both to Mack. I looked over the Personal Navigator for the next day and we talked about the things we could do...I love the Personal Navigator. Then we decided we may as well enjoy some room service since it's FREE. Mack had cheese pizza and I had a sandwich and salad. The food does not compare to the restaurants, but hey it's brought to you and it's FREE. We turned the tv towards the bed and got in bed. Afterwards, I think I passed OUT before Mack. It was probably 12 or maybe a little after. The bed is very comfy!!! And, it was very nice to get into a bed that had been nicely turned down. We could feel the boat moving, but it wasn't too bad....maybe it will help us sleep.

    That's the end of Day 1 on the cruise. Mom made it back to VA ok. We have 2 sea days before our first port.

    Stay tuned...
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  18. #17
    Registered User Silvercat's Avatar
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    Cool Mothers!

    18 months ago, when I was at the tender age of 46, and on holiday from the UK with several members of my family at WDW, on one of our vacation days my mother told me I couldn't eat a packet of Cheetos as it would spoil my dinner ....... and she was serious .......

    Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em .....

    Last edited by Silvercat; 05-12-2009 at 07:29 AM.

  19. #18

    Meisha:

    I am loving your report! I can't wait to hear all about your experince with your daughter. I am considering a dlc alone with my eldest son next spring. I am thinking we would enjoy it more then a trip to the parks. I can't wait to hear more.

    I'm also thrilled to get the details from your report on the Eastern Caribbean. The Western was great. Even with our missed port of Cozumel (due to Swine Flu.)

    Great report so far. I can't wait to read more.

    Mily


  20. #19
    Quote Originally Posted by Silvercat View Post
    18 months ago, when I was at the tender age of 46, and on holiday from the UK with several members of my family at WDW, on one of our vacation days my mother told me I couldn't eat a packet of Cheetos as it would spoil my dinner ....... and she was serious .......

    Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em .....
    That's funny!!!

  21. #20
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by momof three View Post
    Meisha:

    I am loving your report! I can't wait to hear all about your experince with your daughter. I am considering a dlc alone with my eldest son next spring. I am thinking we would enjoy it more then a trip to the parks. I can't wait to hear more.

    I'm also thrilled to get the details from your report on the Eastern Caribbean. The Western was great. Even with our missed port of Cozumel (due to Swine Flu.)

    Great report so far. I can't wait to read more.

    Mily
    Weren't you the one going and surprising your family? How was that?
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  22. #21
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Silvercat View Post
    18 months ago, when I was at the tender age of 46, and on holiday from the UK with several members of my family at WDW, on one of our vacation days my mother told me I couldn't eat a packet of Cheetos as it would spoil my dinner ....... and she was serious .......

    Can't live with 'em, can't live without 'em .....
    My Mom said something about what I ate while we were on the trip and I told her she was acting like her Mom. She knew I was right and apologized. Now, that's what I have to look forward to doing to my own daughter.
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  23. #22

    Glad you are having a great time. I cannot wait to read more. I hope someday I can convince DW to go on a cruise. She gets severe motion sickness.


  24. #23
    Self-proclaimed Diz nut TinaMouse's Avatar
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    My Old Kentucky Home

    Lovin' it all, Meisha! It's so awesome to get a WDW/DCL combo trip report!

    Working hard for that next WDW trip!

  25. #24
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Thanks for the great comments I hope to get some work done on it this weekend, but I will also be moving this weekend. I have a lot of laundry to catch up on, maybe I can do some writing in between loads tonight.

    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

  26. #25
    Registered User Meisha B's Avatar
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    Day 6 - Cruise Day 2 - At Sea

    Mack and I wake up between 8:00 and 8:30 and head for breakfast at Topsider's. We had a good night's sleep and were looking forward to our first full day on the cruise.

    We wash our hands as we head in Topsider's, get our food and find a table. We had a nice breakfast. We were done with breakfast quickly so Mack wanted to go to make Flubber in the Kid's Club at 9:00. I dropped her off to make Flubber and told her I'd be back when she was done. Off I went to smoke on Deck 9. Afterwards, I decided to go back to the room and finished unpacking. I unpacked everything and was impressed with myself since I never unpack on vacation.

    By the time I get that done I got and pick Mack and her Flubber up. We headed down to Rockin Bar D for Bingo. The special they had was free card Bingo, so for $40.00 Mack and I get cards for all of the games and our free card. It was an activity listed under the family activities on The Personal Navigator so I figured we'd go together. Bad idea....kind of. While it gave me more chances to win with her cards in addition to mine, she couldn't keep up so it was extra work for me. Also, kids can play as long as there is someone over 18 to claim the prize. There were only 4 games played for $40.00 so it was an expensive Bingo game. They also had electronic Bingo cards and it seemed that the only people who won had the electronic cards. They were $60.00 but gave you 24 chances per game and did all of the work for you. The same man won 2 or 3 times out of 4 games. They even did raffles and I didn't win anything there. The payouts for those who won were between $230 and $450 if I remember correctly. They talked up a win a cruise Bingo session later in the day. If I knew that Bingo was going to be more expensive, I probably wouldn't have played or just went to the other session where I would have been eligible to win another cruise.

    After Bingo, it was about 12:00, so we had the option of lunch, learning how to make Origami Flowers, or a Character Dance Party. Mack and I decided to go and learn how to make Origami Flowers. The instructor was Ponz. His instructions were very clear and he repeated them often so you could remember them when you got back home. I picked it up right away; I was one of the few. Mack needed help, a LOT of help. This was the second activity of the day that I started to think that even though it said family activity, it's not really geared towards kids. Maybe they should have a suggested minimum age. If so, it should be higher than 6. Anyway, Mack and stayed behind everyone else and Ponz came over to see if we needed help. He helped Mack a little and gave her some extra flowers that he quickly turned into a bouquet. I thought his extra touch of spending extra time with us made it all worth it. After he finished the bouquet, I took a picture of him, Mack, and their bouquet He suggested we carry our flowers around with us so that more people would go to his next session. We only carried it back to the room and got plenty of comments on our flowers on the way.

    Once we made it back to the room, we decided that we would order room service for lunch. I had started to not feel well and have a sore throat so I decided that I would have the Mexican Tortilla Soup...it was GREAT!!! I was hooked on it for the rest of the week. After we finished up our lunch, we cleaned out a drink glass and used it for a vase with our Origami bouquet and kept our bouquet on Mack's nightstand the rest of the week. Our room was starting to look nicely decorated...Tabah, our stateroom host had made our bed and put our towel animal on the back of the couch. He also lined up her stuffed animals on the bed and nightstands. And, now we have added the bouquet.

    When we were done we had decided that there weren't any activities we were interested in so we would spend some time at the pools. We hadn't planned on dinner that night because it was Formal Night, so we didn't have any time constraints on us. Before we went to the pool, we decided to make a stop in Treasure Ketch so that I could get some Sucrets for my throat and some Dramamine for the sea sickness I was starting to feel. Mack found a People magazine that had Zack and Cody on it from The Suite Life. She bought that. I thought it was so cute for her to have her own magazine. I didn't come on the cruise to shop, but if I had there would have been plenty that I would have wanted to buy. I saw a watch that was made by Betsey Johnson that I LOVED for $135.00. But, I don't usually do Betsey Johnson or watches, so I passed. But, clearly I am still thinking about the watch. I just tried to find it, but it is not on the Betsey Johnson website, so I can't show you. After the store we headed up to the pools.

    Mack and I found seats near the Mickey pool and she sat down like an adult and read her magazine as I drank ginger ale and took some Dramamine. The sea sickness was really starting to get to me and I felt miserable. But, at least Mack, who gets horribly car sick, was feeling fine. We hung out there for a little while, she got in, got bored, so we headed to the Goofy Pool. The Goofy Pool was horribly wavy from the boat rocking and every second she was in it I was nervous that she would be slammed into a wall. I finally convinced her to stay out of it. We did a little bit of foosball playing instead of the pools. Then I let her play on her own because the Dramamine had kicked in and was trying to knock me out; I had to sit down for a little while. Another family with triplets about Mack's age asked her to play so she did and I had a nice little conversation with their Mom, who was also feeling sick. I felt better knowing I wasn't the only one. When they left Foosball, Mack and I headed back to the Mickey pool for a while. It started to clear out from people going to dinner so Mack and I headed over to the hot tubs at the Goofy Pool, we had been in and out of them throughout the day, but sometimes they were just packed with way too many kids. We went to get in the hot tub on the right if you are standing in between them facing the Ariel screen. Mack fell on her way to the hot tub because the deck was so slick. I went to get into the hot tub and kind of fell myself because there aren't any handrails and you can't tell where the steps are from the outside. We got in and the hot tub wasn't very hot. We had been in the other one earlier and it was scorching hot. I told Mack to go over and check that one to see if it was hotter. It was, so we headed over to that one. There was a twenty-something’s couple in the hot tub...hope we aren't imposing. Well, Mack and I joined them and we started chatting a little, it was nice. Then another family joined us with their 3 year old and their maybe 1 year old. Here's the thing....all day I couldn't believe how many little kids were in the hot tub. I feel like Mack is a little young too, but she doesn't stay in very long. Anyway, a 1 year old in there? First off, diaper aged kids aren't supposed to be in the pools/hot tubs and second, it is scorching hot! It even takes me a minute to get in. Anyway, they got in, we all chatted. I learned the Mom of the family with kids was also feeling sea sick...again, I don't feel so bad. Then the couple told me that this was their 7th cruise and they had never been on one this rough and they normally go between June and September (Hurricane Season). I was glad to hear that this was unusually rough and I'm not just a wimp. We talked for a while, Mack fell on the deck several more times and I even fell once. They need to do something about how slick that deck gets. The deck cleared out since everyone was at dinner or the show. Mack and I were going to order room service. The couple in the hot tub told us Topsider's was sit down and not buffet if Mack and I wanted to do that instead.

    Mack and I went off and showered and then headed to Topsider's, which was REALLY good, better than dinner last night. We had the Golden Mickey dessert, which was also FABULOUS!!! After dinner, I took another Dramamine and took Mack to the kid's club for a little while since I hadn't been feeling well. She didn't stay too long because I was so tired from the Dramamine and I wanted to get her so I could go to bed. I picked her up, we went to our room where we had a towel swan...I think. We were going to go to the room and get Mack's pj's on and then go watch Bedtime Stories at 10:30. But, once we got to the room and she got her pj's on, she was content to be lazy and stay in the room...YAY!! I needed to sleep after all of that Dramamine. We probably ordered room service, it became a habit. Then we went to bed.

    Soooo, cruise day 2 was good other than the sea sickness and all of the falling. I end the day hoping I feel better tomorrow and looking forward to 5 more days!
    Meisha
    WDW 1988, 1992, 2008, 2009
    DCL 2009
    No countdown right now

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