Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
The trip and DAY 1:(May 4-6)
We left NY at 7:30pm Monday May 4th for our road trip to Florida! Drove most of the night and through Tuesday. Got to eat lunch at our favorite place, Sonic! Stopped for the night on Tues. in Georgia, exit 3. Had a great hotel for the night($39) and ate at Applebee’s for dinner(kids ate free on Tues.-great deal). Left on Wed. morning at 7:40am from Georgia and arrived in Disney at 11am. We were so excited to arrive at the Caribbean Beach resort. It was our first time staying there. We went to check in and they gave us N. Trinidad, we had requested section 26 in Martinique. I know that it’s only a request, but we asked and they moved us to Martinique #24. It was a first floor room near the parking lot(which we love) and near the bus stop and quiet pool. It was the perfect spot.
We went to Old Port Royale for lunch and only used 2 QS credits from, our dining plan for my DH and my lunches. We got the steak sandwiches, which are still good. I got a Strawberry banana smoothie(no root beer there)which was good. We used our Disney Visa rewards card to pay for the kids Chicken nugget buckets(around $9) that they insisted on getting for the beach later. Walked around to see the new pool which was really cool.
We got in the car and drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge(our room wasn’t ready yet) to look for a letter box and check out the resort. The AKL was so beautiful, the giraffes and gizelles were right outside the windows of the rooms. Wish we could stay there. Took lots of pictures and yes we did find the letterbox, it was an easy one.
Then we got back in the car and drove to Downtown Disney. Walked around DTD for a while. Went to check out T-Rex, which was cool. Went in Wolrd of Disney and then walked over to West side & Pleasure Island which we have never done the last 2 years. Saw the giant balloon which we saw in the air on the drive in. Went to get pics at Harley store and went into Virgin mega store and bought Bolt & Hotel for Dogs with our rewards card too! I was excited to buy a non Disney movie w/ my card. Also got a Newsboys CD I had wanted. Found out later that the store was closing during our trip. We went to Lego store, Son bought tons of Legos, he saved all year for them. Called around 1pm and our room was ready, so we headed back to the CBR. Brought in luggage and changed into shorts.
Headed to All Star Sports to see if they had a shirt I had wanted form last year, they didn’t. Went to Coronado Springs to the Pepper Market for dinner. Ordered 3 steaks with mashed pot. and fries(instead of peppers for 2). We shared w/ Halle and there was plenty for all 4 of us. It was a great meal and great use of 3 QS credits! It would have been $110. Got giant cookies(as big as Halle’s head) and apple pie. We walked around and took pics of resort and Halle with a topiary of the 3 Caballaros(her favorite). Walked over to the pool area and left for our resort.
We walked to the beach and watched the fireworks from Illuminations at Epcot at 9pm. It was great that we could see them from there, it was cool. The kids played on the playground for a while and met some friends. Went to bed around 10pm, early day at MK tomorrow.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 2-Magic Kingdom(May 7):
Got up at 6:30 and didn’t get to bus stop til 7:30. Halle ran into her friend, Caroline, that she met the night before on the playground. They got on the bus and sat together. It took over a half hour to get to MK, missed 8am opening(EMH). Halle & Caroline didn’t want to part, they held hands the whole way into MK, her parents were so nice too. They hugged and waved goodbye. Halle kept thinking we were going to see her again. Once we were in we headed straight to Fantasyland. Rode Cinderella’s carousel(never done before), then got FP for Peter Pan, and headed into Small World, it was walk on too. Walked over to Toontown and stopped at the Tea cups, which was walk on. Jeff went on with Darrien & Halle. This was Halle’s favorite ride(besides Small World) and Darrien’s 1st time ever. Got to ToonTown at 9:15 for the 9:45 opening and ended up being the 1st people in line to see Tink and the Fairies! We saw Iridessa, Tink, & Rosetta. It was defiantly worth the wait! Then walked through Minnie & Mickey’s house, tried to get Halle on Barnstormer, but no go. On the way to Peter Pan, the kids wanted pics at Pooh’s playful spot and to find hidden Mickey’s. Used FP on Peter Pan’s flight, didn’t like it, at least we did it though. Saw Frontierland Donald & Goofy on the way to get FP for Splash Mountain.
Ate lunch at 11am at Cosmic Ray’s. Ordered 3 Rib & Chicken combos w/ mashed pot. And fries instead of green beans for all 3. This is always great food, a must for us. Would have been $62. Made sure to ask for large drinks, they are included in the DDP.
Headed down Main Street for the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it parade. It was so much fun and had great characters. It stops in the circle in front of castle and the characters get off the floats and dance with us. We did the conga with Goofy & Donald and had a blast!
Headed to Carousel of Progress, which my kids had been singing the song for months, loved it still. Then got snacks because we were so hot. It was around 93 and sunny. I got a frozen banana, Halle got an itsakadoozie, and Darrien got a shake. Used 3 snack credits and well worth it.
Headed over to Country Bears, haven’t seen it in 20 years, Jeff and kids never. They all liked it. Then it was time to head to Splash Mountain. Halle had been talking about going on since last year, but we didn’t think she would. They got on and she actually went down the drops and didn’t scream. They were wet and Halle said it was ok, but didn’t want to go back on. Got to see the new 3pm parade, pretty good.
Next we walked to Exposition Hall for the Storytelling Experience from AAA. The kids were upset because the storyteller was Fairy Godmother, just like last year. After that we caught the monorail to Polynesian for dinner.
Ate dinner at Kona Café, which was an excellent meal. I have food allergies and the chef was wonderful. He even watched over the dessert maker to make sure she changed her gloves before making my dessert. 3 of us got the Prime rib w/ mashed pot. and brocollini and Halle got the Mickey Raviolis(which she loved), chicken noodle soup, a strawberry smoothie, & ice cream sundae. For dessert we got 2 Kona Cones(really cool ice cream cone with cotton candy) and I got the Kilahuea Torte which was a choc. Lava cake and was sooo good! 4 TS credits, would have been $110. Walked around Poly. and took pictures, it was beautiful. Saw Captain Cook’s where I wanted to get Tonga Toast for breakfast one day and never had time.
Took monorail back to MK and walked around a bit. Was going to stay for Spectromagic, which we have always missed, but too tired. Took bus back to CBR around 9pm and was in bed by 10pm.
Epcot tomorrow!
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 3 Epcot(May 8):
Got up around 7:30am and took another long bus ride to MK, was there by 9pm and decided to take the train ride around the MK, which we’ve never gone the whole way before. Took pics and then headed to the monorail, we got to sit up front, but it was only for one stop, were going to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey’s. We had a 10:45 breakfast ADR, got in right away. Had an awesome breakfast buffet w/ Mickey waffles and everything. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, & Donald came to us for pics! It was much better for breakfast than it was for dinner. Used 4 TS credits, would have been $88. Took monorail to Epcot around noon.
First thing we saw was the beautiful princess topiaries, but didn’t linger, headed right to Innoventions to get Kim Possible FP. We played some virtual games where they put us in the game, it was neat. Then Jeff got to ride on a Segway, which he’s always wanted to do. Got in line for the Disney Visa Character picture. Goofy & Minnie were in there. Got a free picture. Went to Club Cool, where Halle loves trying the different Coke’s from arounfd the world(Yuck). Walked by the Yard Crashers garden that we watched them make on DIY last week and played on playground for a bit.
Next headed all the way over to Italy, it was a long walk. We had to check in there to get our Kimmunicator for our missions. We started in Japan. The missions are fun, but you have to keep walking back and forth throughout the country. They were very tiring. While in the store, Halle tried on a Kimono, she looked so cute, Jeff bought her one. On our way to the second mission in France, we stopped at the Fife and Drum in America for a waffle cone, great snack credit and it was so hot, we needed it. Did mission in France, then went to UK to find another letterbox. Over to Mexico for another KP mission, which was fun.
Then we headed over to the friendship boat for the Beach Club. We had 5:30 ADRs at Cape May for the Clam Bake. It was great, they gave us buckets for the mussels and clams(never had those before). We ate 5 buckets between all of us. The buffet was great as always. Don’t like their dessert selections very much, but never have room for it anyways, so I don’t care. Would have been $100. We walked the pathway back to Epcot and did another KP mission in the UK and had time to do one more in China. We rode the 3 Caballaros in Mexico, another of Halle’s favorite rides. Thought the park closed at 9, so we left by 8:30. Got back to the room by 9:15 and realized it was EMH til midnight. We were so mad I messed up, we missed Illuminations. Watched a little of the from the beach again. Oh well, we went to bed around 10:30. Was tired and needed sleep, feet were killing me with blisters. Pool tomorrow, so we thought.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 4 (May 9th)-
Got up early to go to the main pool and to get Halle’s hairwrap. Jeff went with the kids to Old Port Royale, while I finished getting ready. He came back to the room and told me that the slides don’t open til 10am and the hair wrapping station opened at 4pm. The bikes didn’t open til 11am either. We had to figure out what to do, so we went to Downtown Disney to shop since they opened at 9:30. We wanted to get to Port Orleans Riverside by 11am for lunch, so we stayed close. Went to Lego store again, Once Upon a Toy , and Pin Traders.
Off to the Riverside Mill at POR at 11am. Jeff and I got the make your own pasta w/ Fett. Alfredo, broccoli, and artichokes, Darrien had spaghetti with chicken. There was so much we shared with Halle as usual and still threw some out. They have the best cheesecake and apple blossom!! Used 3 QS credits, would have been $52. We walked around POR and felt homesick, this was our normal resort and love it there a lot. Went to the store and bought a shirt I liked. We drove around to alligator Bayou and found another letterbox.
After that we went back to CBR and rented a surrey bike at the marina. We went around the resort(1.2 miles) twice. It was fun but tiring. There is a hill by the bridge and we peddled so fast up the hill, my feet fell off the peddles. We laughed so hard. Then going down the hill was just as fun, just no work. We returned the bike and headed into the quiet pool since we didn’t want to spend a lot of time at.
Then we went back to Epcot and got another free Visa picture taken(we have 2 different cards)and this time it was Mickey, Minnie, & Goofy. We went to The Land and rode Living with the Land. It is so cool to see the gardens and Mickey shaped pumpkins being grown. Then we went to the Imagination Pavillion for the first time to see Figment. We went on the ride which Halle loved til the very end(I won’t give anything away). Then into Imageworks to look around.
We headed over to Coral Reef by 5:20 for 5:30 ADRs, at in the second row of booths and had a good view of the tanks. This is usually our favorite restaurant, but this time the food was just ok. No more scalloped pot. and broccolini . They said the menu was going to changed again in 2 weeks. We ordered 3 strip steaks with seasoned potatoes. Halle got the Meaty Macaroni w/ lobster soup which I had to talk her into letting me have(it’s my favorite).The kids got smoothies to drink. For dessert we got 3 chocolate waves which is our fav., this time it was just ok. The Kilahuea torte at Kona was better. Used 4 TS credits and it would have been, $145. Got out of restaurant at 7:15 and headed over to Minnie’s butterfly garden to see the chrysalis and butterflies. Then we found Tink’s garden which was so cute! They had all the Fairies in topiaries and their little homes and the things the tinkers made. Halle sat down to make a special craft that they laminated. They also gave us Fairy Dust Impatiens seeds. Went through Mouse Gears and headed to a bus, back to resort by 9pm. Early day tomorrow at HS.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 5(May 10)(Hollywood Studios):
Got up early and headed to Hollywood Studios for Rope Drop at 9am. Watched opening skit and headed over to Toy Story Mania to get FP and went on ride. Walked through queue and a family was trying to cut in front of us, the CM told them to go to the end. They took us to the handicap loading and we got right on. I don’t know if they did it because of the other family or because of Darrien’s birhtday pin. Just a little Disney magic. We had fun on the ride, Halle didn’t like getting wet though. We wanted to go back w/ our FP, but never made it, so we gave the FP to a family with kids on our way out. Took pictures in Pixar place, saw characters but didn’t wait.
Headed over to Playhouse Disney to watch show. Halle loved the show as usual, her favorite is My friends Tigger and Pooh. Then we headed over to Disney’s Animation and loved it as usual(even though it’s still Mushu). We went to find out when the characters from Bolt were going to be there(since there was a sign out front of the building saying they were going to be there) and we were told that their last day was Saturday!(yesterday!!!). Not too happy, since we had decided against yesterday since it was EMH and opted for today. Then they told us the characters from Up were going to be there(my kids can’t wait to see this and we all love the characters!)but not till next Friday!(We leave on Wednesday)
After that disappointment we realized it was almost 11am, so we headed over to Pizza Planet for lunch, we were one of the first people to order for the day. We got 3 cheese pizzas and salads, 3 pops, and 3 Mickey Rice Krispie treats. The pizza there is good, not great, but we are not fond of any of the other QS places in HS, so we eat there. 3 QS credits for over $41.12 worth of food.
Then we headed to the Star Wars Jedi training academy because my daughter has been trying to get picked and never does. She didn’t again, so we went into the queue of Star Tours, but she decided she didn’t want to ride(just like I knew she would do), she just wanted to see R2-D2 in the queue. Looked around in the Tatooine Traders for a while, she thought if we bought her a Star Wars shirt, she might get picked. We fought against it and won, especially since we already bought her an R2-D2 watch at the Lego store a few days before.
As we were walking we finally decided to check out the Honey I Shrunk the Kids movie set. It made for some great pictures, but the kids got bored soon. Got in line to see Prince Caspian and went right in to meet him, that was neat. Then we went in the attraction, which was loud, but my daughter loves Aslan, so she thought it was cool to be in his house. Past by the Club Penguin characters and had to get pictures with them, they were so cute and they gave us free tattoos too. My husband went to Lights, Motor, Action, while I attempted to take the kids to the Muppets 3D. My son didn’t want to do it, so stated it would be too long, so I decided to skip it. It was very hot so we decided to head over to Min & Bills for a shake, since I remembered they were on the snack credit list I printed out. We got 2 shakes and sat down on a bench in the shade for a while Walked over to Sci Fi to meet husband and we decided it was too hot to stay at the park, so we got a bus back to CBR. Went to quiet pool again since we didn’t have a lot of time before catching a bus for another long ride to MK for dinner.
Checked in at the Crystal palace at 5:20 for 5:35 ADRs, got in around 5:50. The chef there was great too. He told me he was going to make me some Pasta Primavera and mussels that I could eat w/o mushrooms and mustard. He brought them over to the table after I had gotten some other food too, and the plates were huge!! My family helped me eat them, but they were so good, glad I was able to eat them! Got out of CP around 7.
Headed to Adventureland and rode the Jungle Cruise. then to Small World, Cindy’s carousel, & Mad Tea party again. It was almost 9pm so we headed over to the bridge in Tomorrowland to watch Wishes. We had wanted to see Tink fly, every time we seen the fireworks it was too windy for her to fly.
After seeing Tink and a few fireworks, we headed over to the Tomorrowland Indy speedway, which was walk on. It was so cool to br driving around the track with the fireworks exploding over your head. We went to get off and the CM told us to go to car 7. We tried to tell him we were done, but he insisted on us going to #7, so we did. It was great, we got to ride again! It was now EMHs.
After that, we walked around Fantasyland, Frontierland, & Adventureland one last time for this trip. Stopped at Main Street Bakery to order 2 of those famous ice cream cookie sandwiches I had heard so much about. They use so much ice cream and giant cookies! We took the cookies apart and all 4 of use had 1 w/ plenty of ice cream on it, they were so good. 2 snack credits was all those monsters were! Left MK around 11pm to catch a bus back to the resort and to sleep.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 6(May 11)(Animal Kingdom):
We had our alarm set for 6:30 and even Mickey(and Stitch) called to wake us up, but we were all too tired. We ended up sleeping til 8:30, missing EMH. At first I was about to get up and get ready to stay on schedule, but then decided that sleep was more important right now. It has been really hot(95 and sunny), so I think that has all effected us.
We took the bus to AK and headed straight to get a FP for Kilimanjaro Safari, then to Pizzafari for lunch at 10:30(knew they started serving early). No one was in there yet and it was great. Went up to order and noticed that they took the Chicken Parm sand off the menu and we just had pizza yesterday. My DH and kids wanted pizza, but I didn’t. I wanted to eat at Flametree and get Chicken, but no one liked it last time. We only ordered 2 cheese pizzas w/ Caesar salads, 2 apple blossoms, and 2 drinks. Only used 2 QS credits and would have been $29.34. My DH let me have a piece of his salad. The 3 of them split the pizza, it is plenty for them, especially since we wanted snacks later. I ate my sons apple blossom, which was good.
After that we wanted to head to see the Nemo show and it was good timing because it started at 11:30(that’s why we ate so early). Finally got to see it and it was great! Last year we tried to see it and they had it closed while we were there. After that, we headed to Kilimanjaro safari to use our FP, it was great as always. My kids wanted to see if the Silverback gorilla would moon us again this year, so we walked the Pangani trek, it was so hot, my DH gave in and bought my DD one of those water bottle fans. It did help out on the walk, it always seems to be the hottest park. We finally made it over to the gorillas, and the Silverback was sleeping in the shade. The kids were disappointed, but we got to move on. We didn’t have much else that we wanted to do in AK, since we did a lot the last 2 years and it’s not our favorite park.
We wanted to look at our Photopass pics before we left to see if there were any good ones in front of the castle. Every year we want the free one to be that and they aren’t any good. We see one that we like, but decide to wait til the last day. On our way out we see Turk and Brer Bear, so my DD decides she wants to meet them since the lines we short. We waited for a bus for 25 min. to get back to CBR. By the time we got back we were all so tired we took a nap. My kids do not take naps and they fell asleep. Almost didn’t wake up in time to get to Epcot for ADRs for dinner.
Got to Epcot after another long bus ride and walked back to Canada to check in at LeCellier. This has been something we have been waiting to try for many years, but could never get in. Checked in at 5:20 for our 5:35 ADR and sat inside. One of the CM’s was asking questions and doing trivia about Canada. It made the wait seem shorter and was interesting, especially since one CM told us how to get out of a traffic ticket in Canada. We got in around 5:45. We ordered the Filet w/ mashed potatoes(no mushroom, do to my allergies) and it was the best meal in Disney. As I have read my many, the pretzel breadsticks were the best out of them all. It’s cool how they explain why they are different, and where they come from. They brought us more and we also had milkshakes instead of pop. By the time the steaks came, we were full, which was not a good thing. I think we all ate ½ of our steaks and hated to leave them, but obviously had to since we were going to HS for the night. I got the Chocolate moose which was cute and ok. My son wanted the smores, but the server told him he couldn’t have it because it might have nuts in it, so she said he could have a sundae, they brought him a scoop of ice cream, kids size, but it had birthday balloons on the plate in chocolate. My DH got the chocolate whiskey cake to go, so we ended up eating that a couple days later, which was really good(I ate most of it). My DD got the kids sundae too. It was 4 TS credits well used and worth $157.04. We left so stuffed around 7pm and walked to the Friendship boats and it looked like rain for the first time, but it just sprinkled for a second.
We rode to HS which started EMH at 7pm. Arrived about 7:30, check for FP for Toy Story Mania, but there were none left foe the night. So we headed straight to the dance party at Playhouse Disney. My DD looks forward to this every year. My DS & DH went to the animation building as usual to do some drawing. We only go to HS for EMH to do those 2 things. My DH &DS usually stay in there the whole 3 hours. My DD and I had fun in the dance party with all the characters, bubbles, balloon animals, and line dancing. Halle had fun dancing with Minnie and Goliath. I learned the Hoedown, throw down dance and had fun too. We left around 9:45 and headed to the buses and to CBR for the night. Tomorrow my DH is finally doing the Dolphin experience.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 7(May 12)(Epcot again):
Jeff was up early to get ready to head to Epcot to meet for the Dolphins In Depth experience that I booked for him for our anniversary (actually last year, but I’ll tell you about that later). The kids and I got up around 8:30 and headed over to Epcot. It took the bus 20 min. just to get around the resort and another 20 min. to get to the park. Got there around 10am. We don’t usually eat in Epcot for lunch, because we don’t like any of the food in future world, but we were hungry and needed to. We walked over to Sunshine Seasons and figured we’d try it out. We wanted to go to Mexico for Quesedillas, but it was too far a walk. We had to wait 10 min. for lunch to start. We ordered 2 ½ Chicken dinners w/ mashed pot., strawberry shortcake, choc. Chip cookie, and 2 drinks. Used 2 QS credits for the 3 of us, which would have been $32.53. We were all not impressed with the meal. No BBQ sauce for the chicken, so I found ranch dressing, because the chicken was so dry. The mashed pot. Were dry as well and the portion for both was small for what we had gotten in previous days at other Disney places. The strawberry shortcake was just ok and the cookie was horrible. I can’t believe a choc. Chip cookie could ever be bad, but it was.
After our not so spectacular lunch, we headed to the Seas to see if we could see my DH, even though I knew we couldn’t. We looked at all the tanks and saw the dolphins, then we saw a platform where there were several people standing with the dolphins. The kids were trying to see if they could see daddy’s knees in the water. Wasn’t sure which one was him till after, but it was nice to see what he was seeing only below the water. I had booked this for him last year and he went and they couldn’t find his res. #. So he never got to do it I had to try and get the $ back, which was an ordeal in itself. Stayed to watch til about noon and then headed over to Norway to use our Kim Possible FP. We did our mission and met up with my DH, then we headed to Germany to do our last mission.
Jeff was hungry and it was about 2pm. So we headed over to the American Adventure. The kids and I were ready for a snack, since we were still hungry after lunch, so we got waffle cones at Fife and Drum again. It was hot and they tasted real good. Used 3 snack credits, $12.11 worth. Jeff went into Liberty Inn and got a double bacon cheeseburger combo, rice crispy treat, and Coke. 1 QS credit, worth $14. We sat inside with him while we ate our ice creams. Halle wanted to meet the 3 Caballaros in Mexico, so we decided to head back to Mexico. When we finally got there, it was just Donald. The line was very long and we got in it anyways. I took a picture of Donald by himself, and the kids decided they didn’t want to wait any longer. It was just too hot! Decided it was too hot to stay, so we wanted to go back to the pool and swim. On the way out we stopped by guest relations to buy some Disney dollars for the kids to earn for the next trip. Payed for them with our Disney visa, so we got more points! Took the bus back to CBR which only took 15 min.!! What is with that!
We got ready to go in the pool and saw a thunderstorm coming our way. I think we were in the pool 10 min. before we heard thunder and saw lightning. The kids jumped out of the pool and ran back to the room, it was about 3:30. We all changed and I helped Halle get in to her Cinderella dress and did her hair. I sat down and wrote some of my trip report. We were going to go to MK and take monorail to Grand Floridean for dinner, but it was still raining. We decided to drive there instead. It wasn’t a long ride, but after my DH dropped us off at the door, he had to park across the street from the resort and get soaked walking. It seems weird that they didn’t have their parking near the resort unless it was valet. I guess I’m not used to fancy resorts. We checked in at 1900 Park Fare at 5:20 for 5:30 ADRs. Sat in lobby and waited for a while. Got called about 5:50 and had our picture taken before we went in. We had went to this 2 years ago when it was Cindy, Prince, Fairy Godmother, and the mice, but we wanted to see the stepsisters and mom. We heard they were very entertaining and they were. Went up to get food on the buffet, just to find out that they changed the buffet. The chef took me around to let me know what I could eat, and it wasn’t much. He didn’t even offer to make me something else, like the other chef’s did. I figured I’d at least eat a Caesar salad and then he came back over to me and told me I couldn’t, it had mustard in it. Last time they had a chef preparing pasta they way you wanted, but that was gone. I managed to find somethings like mac. & Cheese, chicken fingers, and corn. The desserts weren’t even that great. The food was a bit disappointing, but the characters were great, except Prince Charming. He seemed rushed and didn’t want to be there. The stepsisters were introduced and Anastasia sprayed Drizella with one of those water fans on her way out, so she screamed and pretended to fight. Later Anastasia got a bunch of kids together to “throw a fit”, after the step mom put a chair in the middle of the room and made Anastasia sit and say “I will cover my mouth when I talk”. Then her sister came and made her scream again. She stuck her tongue out at her and while she moved the chair back she said, “Can’t choose your family”. It was very funny, my son video taped the whole thing. Anastasia asked my son if she could marry him, since it was his birthday. He actually liked it, since this was not the place he wanted to eat at since it was mostly for his sister. We decided to pass on the $30 picture and left around 7:30.
We drove back to the resort and it was still raining, which postponed our plan to swim all night. We cleaned up the room and packed up everything for the next day. We decided to go to the game room at Old Port Royale and use our free 30 min. card. The kids had fun, and so did I. we played air hockey, which I hadn’t done in ages. Went into the store and bought some Mickey plates for the kids when they “pretend to be in Disney” for dinners at home. Saw the hair wrapping station inside and got Halle’s hair done. The girl said that they weren’t open until 4pm, that’s why we couldn’t do it sooner. Her hair is 19 inches long so it ended up being $40. We had a coupon for a free charm, which my DD found an alligator, her favorite. I think she charged us for it anyways and made us pay cash, which seemed weird. Last year Jeff was able to use the rewards card for it, which we had planned to do.
Went back to the room around 10:15 and there was a giant frog on our window. We took pics and tried to get into the room w/o it jumping on us. The day before there was a giant snake skin outside of our room. Glad we didn’t find that. Went to bed around 11am. Next day is our last day here!
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 8(May 13)(Last Day ):
Got up at 7:30. Finished packing up the room and packed up car. Drove over to the main building and went in the main pool, finally!! It was around 9am so the waterslides weren’t open yet, but the kids liked the pool anyways. At 10am they opened the kids section and waterslides. The kids went down the waterslides a couple of times and headed over to the themed water park for kids w/ slides, nets, dunk zone, sprayers, etc. They had a lot of fun, even though they are a little big for it. It’s the only waterslides my DD wanted to go after that. They did like the slides at Port Orleans Riverside last year, but I guess the ones here are bigger. Had packed the sunscreen the night before(dumb idea), I forgot to put it on all of us. I was the only one who got burnt even though it was very sunny. Tried to go in the hot tub with my DH, but it was too hot out to be in there!
Stayed in the pool till about 11am and then headed into Old Port Royale to eat lunch. Jeff, Halle, & I had the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and Darrien had the bacon double cheeseburger. Halle and I got the Strawberry Banana smoothie, which are real good and included in the DDP, and we also got ice cream for dessert. 4 QS credits, would have been $65.16. The Philly cheesesteak sandwiches are so good, I want one now, I can just taste it!
After lunch we parked back in our space by the room and caught the bus to Hollywood Studios. Went back into the Animation building, but this time Halle and I did some drawing too. I actually had fun, we drew Pooh and Donald Duck. I am not of fan of drawing like Jeff and Darrien are, but I actually did a good job. I was surprised, it’s easier when they do step by step than trying to copy a picture. After that Halle still wanted to do the Muppets show, so I took her in while DD & DS walked around. She actually wore the 3D glasses this year and liked it. A little more progress each year. We had done everything that we wanted to do in HS so we decided to head to the Darkroom to get our free picture, but we realized it was almost 3 and the parade was starting. We saw the Block Party bash parade last year and didn’t really like it. We liked the Stars & motorcars parade from the year before better, more characters that we like. We ducked into a few stores which lead into each other to make our way to the end of the street and it started. We waited til it moved ahead a little and crossed over to the darkroom. Picked out the picture of us in front of the castle, finally a good one, even though my DH liked another that I didn’t. We caught a bus right away and it only took 6 min. to get back to the resort! Wow, were was this the whole trip.
We got in the car and drove to Downtown Disney to use up our rewards points(that was just so hard to do, lol) and get Darrien’s light saber. Went to Team Mickey and finally found the shirt I was looking for since last years trip and they didn’t have my size, what a bummer. I should have taken a picture so when my friends go, they can get it for me, but I forgot. Then to Once Upon a Toy so Darrien can build his own light saber. He got a double one, like Darth Maul. Headed to World of Disney to see if they had my shirt or the other one I had seen that I liked. They didn’t have my size in that one either, Ugg. We went to Goofy’s Candy Co. to use up our snack credits. I went to order my Mickey Rice Crispy with choc. And Reeses PB cups, but they don’t have them anymore, so I settled for Reeses Pieces instead, it was really good! We also got some cotton candy, Pez dispensers, candy apple, and Mickey for some friends back home dipped in chocolate. Used 9 snack credits, worth $30.55. As we went to leave we saw the Glacier drinks were on the DDP too as a snack, so we got a couple. My DD got a banana, that she didn’t like so my DH gave her his grape, which was good. We headed back into the Ghiradelli Chocolate shop for another free sample of a chocolate bar w/ PB in it. They are soo good, my DH bought me a package for $7.95 w/ our rewards card. After we finished with the shops, we got in the car and found a few more letterboxes. One was exciting for us because it was from a family from NY that we follow up here. They had a I Love NY stamp, but the heart was a Mickey!!
We headed to the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista which was supposed to be our home for the next couple of days. We had gotten a special of $32 a night and had heard great things about this hotel. We had gotten the 5th floor in the back of the hotel, It faced the pool. That was the only good thing about it. We entered the room and it smelled so bad. The bathroom had molding from the tub falling off and laying on the floor and the door barely closed, there was a crack big enough to see outside. It faced I-4 which made it extremely loud and being so high up it was very windy too. I have been to a lot of cheaper hotels, but none this bad, and after being at the CBR made it worse. We decided we wanted to spend as much time away from the room as we could, so we headed to All Star Music for dinner.
We went to the Intermission Food Court for dinner and it wasn’t too crowded and it was around 5:30. We had eaten at the All Star Sports and Movies last year and they were good, so we wanted to try this one too. I ordered the Baked Chicken dinner, my son got the chicken quesadilla platter, DD got the spaghetti and MB with breadstick and salad, and my DH got the Chicken Penne Alfredo dinner w/ salad. This was good last year and he liked it again this year. We also got 2 brownie Sundaes and 2 double scoop waffle cones for dessert and pop to drink. We used 4 QS credits, worth $70.28. We still had 1 QS credit left which we didn’t know what we were going to do with, since I didn’t eat at Pizzafari. Dinner was so good. Darrien shared his quesadilla with Halle and she promised to share her spag. with him, but when it was time, she wouldn’t let him have any. So, I went up and ordered another Spag. & MB dinner for him with the extra credit. Also a choc. Milk for later and a Mickey rice crispy treat for home, would have been $15.81. We ate so much food that we were full before dessert, but remembered how good they were form last year, so we made room. Especially since this was our last Disney meal for the year! The brownie sundaes are so big, but so good. They give you ice cream with a huge brownie, hot fudge, caramel sauce, M&M’s, whipped cream and a cherry if you want too. We sat down and ate as much as we could, actually finishing almost all of it. The kids ate a good amount of their dble. scoop cones too. Walked around outside a bit and left.
As we were driving back from the All Stars, we realized it was almost 9pm, so we went back to the CBR to watch the fireworks by the beach. We went into the Calypso trading post and found a set of T shirts for Jeff, and we used our last rewards credits.(Need to start earning more for next year, we had started w/ over $600!) Had been so upset because we wanted to get the coconuts to send back to our friends, but since the first day of the trip they had been out of stock all over Disney. Checked again, but they we still not in. Went back to the Comfort Inn and watched the season Finale of Lost. Couldn’t sleep because of the noise, think we got a couple of hours the whole night.
Got up at 7:30 and was going to go to Gatorland today liked planned, but they were calling for rain the whole day and that would have been a waste of money, so we decided to leave.(It didn’t end up raining til 5pm!, could have went). Went and checked out early and they only charged us for 1 night, $36 total. Couldn’t stand another night w/o sleep. The kids were disappointed because they love alligators and wanted to go, but understood. We will try next year to go during our stay at Disney instead of after. We went to get breakfast at the free continental breakfast, but they didn’t have much, everything we wanted we would have had to pay for. The restaurant and cont. breakfast are the same thing, they are smart! So we went to McDonald’s and got breakfast sandwiches and left to drive home.
Overall this was an awesome trip. Even though it doesn’t sound like we did a lot at some parks, we were doing the things we hadn’t gotten to do years past and if we had time to do more than we did. We decided to skip CBR next year and go back to POR. We will definitely visit and eat there next year though. It was nice being able to do more at the resort this year and I am going to plan even more for next trip. Since we have done a lot that we wanted to already, we can spend more time relaxing, and less time at the parks. Hopefully the buses will be like we remember at the POR and that will save us a lot of time too.
We spent around $800 for the dining plan, but our food added up to $1465 total with all TS, QS, and Snacks. I think the dining plan is well worth it, we love to eat. I’m not the type of person that could make sandwiches to bring to the park or cook back at the room. I am on vacation, I like to feel like I am. I cook enough at home.
Gas wasn’t too bad this year, only $193.28 for the whole trip(double last year) and we only spent $100 for 2 hotels, one in GA. And one in W.VA. So less than $300 to drive down wasn’t bad compared to flying. I know it takes longer, but is what we will only do! We stop at the welcome centers along the way to stretch and they are all pretty nice, also since we home school, I bring books on the each state that I got from the library so the kids can read about each state when we go through it. I also make sure to bring easy crafts for them to do, our DVD players, video games, etc. to keep them busy. Since we finish school the Friday before we leave, they don’t have to bring any school books, which Disney is a good incentive to finish on time! They only watched 2 movies down and 2 back and didn’t play their games very much, they drew pictures, wrote in their journals, and looked at the scenery mostly. They didn’t even sleep much, unless it was night. They also didn’t complain during the trip either, I used the “I’ll take away spending points in Disney if you argue or complain” and it worked, mostly.
As soon as we arrived home, I had a pit in my stomach that I didn’t want to be here. It always seems so foreign to walk into your house after a couple weeks. I longed to be back in Disney and still do. I can’t wait for the day I can book the next trip! I think I have to wait til Oct. for May, like last year. Then I can start planning next years trip!! Jeff had suggested doing a Dec. trip, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. There are too many negatives at that time, especially us driving home in a possible snow storm. The weather was cold there last year and w/ the Pop Warner being there, well I think we should wait till our normal time in May. No rain and warm weather is what we really want, even though seeing all the lights would be nice. Hopefully they will offer another great deal like this year! Maybe my kids will conquer another ride next year!!
I will have to live vicariously through all of my friends who are going this fall and asking me to help plan their trips. I love doing that!!
Till next year…..
Michele in NY
(only 338 days til next WDW trip!)
Off site Feb. 1989
Wilderness Lodge June, 1996(honeymoon)
Port Orleans Riverside-AB-May 2007
Port Orleans Riverside-MT-May 2008
Caribbean Beach resort-May 2009
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
The trip and DAY 1:(May 4-6)
We left NY at 7:30pm Monday May 4th for our road trip to Florida! Drove most of the night and through Tuesday. Got to eat lunch at our favorite place, Sonic! Stopped for the night on Tues. in Georgia, exit 3. Had a great hotel for the night($39) and ate at Applebee’s for dinner(kids ate free on Tues.-great deal). Left on Wed. morning at 7:40am from Georgia and arrived in Disney at 11am. We were so excited to arrive at the Caribbean Beach resort. It was our first time staying there. We went to check in and they gave us N. Trinidad, we had requested section 26 in Martinique. I know that it’s only a request, but we asked and they moved us to Martinique #24. It was a first floor room near the parking lot(which we love) and near the bus stop and quiet pool. It was the perfect spot.
We went to Old Port Royale for lunch and only used 2 QS credits from, our dining plan for my DH and my lunches. We got the steak sandwiches, which are still good. I got a Strawberry banana smoothie(no root beer there)which was good. We used our Disney Visa rewards card to pay for the kids Chicken nugget buckets(around $9) that they insisted on getting for the beach later. Walked around to see the new pool which was really cool.
We got in the car and drove to Animal Kingdom Lodge(our room wasn’t ready yet) to look for a letter box and check out the resort. The AKL was so beautiful, the giraffes and gizelles were right outside the windows of the rooms. Wish we could stay there. Took lots of pictures and yes we did find the letterbox, it was an easy one.
Then we got back in the car and drove to Downtown Disney. Walked around DTD for a while. Went to check out T-Rex, which was cool. Went in Wolrd of Disney and then walked over to West side & Pleasure Island which we have never done the last 2 years. Saw the giant balloon which we saw in the air on the drive in. Went to get pics at Harley store and went into Virgin mega store and bought Bolt & Hotel for Dogs with our rewards card too! I was excited to buy a non Disney movie w/ my card. Also got a Newsboys CD I had wanted. Found out later that the store was closing during our trip. We went to Lego store, Son bought tons of Legos, he saved all year for them. Called around 1pm and our room was ready, so we headed back to the CBR. Brought in luggage and changed into shorts.
Headed to All Star Sports to see if they had a shirt I had wanted form last year, they didn’t. Went to Coronado Springs to the Pepper Market for dinner. Ordered 3 steaks with mashed pot. and fries(instead of peppers for 2). We shared w/ Halle and there was plenty for all 4 of us. It was a great meal and great use of 3 QS credits! It would have been $110. Got giant cookies(as big as Halle’s head) and apple pie. We walked around and took pics of resort and Halle with a topiary of the 3 Caballaros(her favorite). Walked over to the pool area and left for our resort.
We walked to the beach and watched the fireworks from Illuminations at Epcot at 9pm. It was great that we could see them from there, it was cool. The kids played on the playground for a while and met some friends. Went to bed around 10pm, early day at MK tomorrow.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 2-Magic Kingdom(May 7):
Got up at 6:30 and didn’t get to bus stop til 7:30. Halle ran into her friend, Caroline, that she met the night before on the playground. They got on the bus and sat together. It took over a half hour to get to MK, missed 8am opening(EMH). Halle & Caroline didn’t want to part, they held hands the whole way into MK, her parents were so nice too. They hugged and waved goodbye. Halle kept thinking we were going to see her again. Once we were in we headed straight to Fantasyland. Rode Cinderella’s carousel(never done before), then got FP for Peter Pan, and headed into Small World, it was walk on too. Walked over to Toontown and stopped at the Tea cups, which was walk on. Jeff went on with Darrien & Halle. This was Halle’s favorite ride(besides Small World) and Darrien’s 1st time ever. Got to ToonTown at 9:15 for the 9:45 opening and ended up being the 1st people in line to see Tink and the Fairies! We saw Iridessa, Tink, & Rosetta. It was defiantly worth the wait! Then walked through Minnie & Mickey’s house, tried to get Halle on Barnstormer, but no go. On the way to Peter Pan, the kids wanted pics at Pooh’s playful spot and to find hidden Mickey’s. Used FP on Peter Pan’s flight, didn’t like it, at least we did it though. Saw Frontierland Donald & Goofy on the way to get FP for Splash Mountain.
Ate lunch at 11am at Cosmic Ray’s. Ordered 3 Rib & Chicken combos w/ mashed pot. And fries instead of green beans for all 3. This is always great food, a must for us. Would have been $62. Made sure to ask for large drinks, they are included in the DDP.
Headed down Main Street for the Move it, Shake it, Celebrate it parade. It was so much fun and had great characters. It stops in the circle in front of castle and the characters get off the floats and dance with us. We did the conga with Goofy & Donald and had a blast!
Headed to Carousel of Progress, which my kids had been singing the song for months, loved it still. Then got snacks because we were so hot. It was around 93 and sunny. I got a frozen banana, Halle got an itsakadoozie, and Darrien got a shake. Used 3 snack credits and well worth it.
Headed over to Country Bears, haven’t seen it in 20 years, Jeff and kids never. They all liked it. Then it was time to head to Splash Mountain. Halle had been talking about going on since last year, but we didn’t think she would. They got on and she actually went down the drops and didn’t scream. They were wet and Halle said it was ok, but didn’t want to go back on. Got to see the new 3pm parade, pretty good.
Next we walked to Exposition Hall for the Storytelling Experience from AAA. The kids were upset because the storyteller was Fairy Godmother, just like last year. After that we caught the monorail to Polynesian for dinner.
Ate dinner at Kona Café, which was an excellent meal. I have food allergies and the chef was wonderful. He even watched over the dessert maker to make sure she changed her gloves before making my dessert. 3 of us got the Prime rib w/ mashed pot. and brocollini and Halle got the Mickey Raviolis(which she loved), chicken noodle soup, a strawberry smoothie, & ice cream sundae. For dessert we got 2 Kona Cones(really cool ice cream cone with cotton candy) and I got the Kilahuea Torte which was a choc. Lava cake and was sooo good! 4 TS credits, would have been $110. Walked around Poly. and took pictures, it was beautiful. Saw Captain Cook’s where I wanted to get Tonga Toast for breakfast one day and never had time.
Took monorail back to MK and walked around a bit. Was going to stay for Spectromagic, which we have always missed, but too tired. Took bus back to CBR around 9pm and was in bed by 10pm.
Epcot tomorrow!
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 3 Epcot(May 8):
Got up around 7:30am and took another long bus ride to MK, was there by 9pm and decided to take the train ride around the MK, which we’ve never gone the whole way before. Took pics and then headed to the monorail, we got to sit up front, but it was only for one stop, were going to the Contemporary for Chef Mickey’s. We had a 10:45 breakfast ADR, got in right away. Had an awesome breakfast buffet w/ Mickey waffles and everything. Mickey, Minnie, Pluto, Goofy, & Donald came to us for pics! It was much better for breakfast than it was for dinner. Used 4 TS credits, would have been $88. Took monorail to Epcot around noon.
First thing we saw was the beautiful princess topiaries, but didn’t linger, headed right to Innoventions to get Kim Possible FP. We played some virtual games where they put us in the game, it was neat. Then Jeff got to ride on a Segway, which he’s always wanted to do. Got in line for the Disney Visa Character picture. Goofy & Minnie were in there. Got a free picture. Went to Club Cool, where Halle loves trying the different Coke’s from arounfd the world(Yuck). Walked by the Yard Crashers garden that we watched them make on DIY last week and played on playground for a bit.
Next headed all the way over to Italy, it was a long walk. We had to check in there to get our Kimmunicator for our missions. We started in Japan. The missions are fun, but you have to keep walking back and forth throughout the country. They were very tiring. While in the store, Halle tried on a Kimono, she looked so cute, Jeff bought her one. On our way to the second mission in France, we stopped at the Fife and Drum in America for a waffle cone, great snack credit and it was so hot, we needed it. Did mission in France, then went to UK to find another letterbox. Over to Mexico for another KP mission, which was fun.
Then we headed over to the friendship boat for the Beach Club. We had 5:30 ADRs at Cape May for the Clam Bake. It was great, they gave us buckets for the mussels and clams(never had those before). We ate 5 buckets between all of us. The buffet was great as always. Don’t like their dessert selections very much, but never have room for it anyways, so I don’t care. Would have been $100. We walked the pathway back to Epcot and did another KP mission in the UK and had time to do one more in China. We rode the 3 Caballaros in Mexico, another of Halle’s favorite rides. Thought the park closed at 9, so we left by 8:30. Got back to the room by 9:15 and realized it was EMH til midnight. We were so mad I messed up, we missed Illuminations. Watched a little of the from the beach again. Oh well, we went to bed around 10:30. Was tired and needed sleep, feet were killing me with blisters. Pool tomorrow, so we thought.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 4 (May 9th)-
Got up early to go to the main pool and to get Halle’s hairwrap. Jeff went with the kids to Old Port Royale, while I finished getting ready. He came back to the room and told me that the slides don’t open til 10am and the hair wrapping station opened at 4pm. The bikes didn’t open til 11am either. We had to figure out what to do, so we went to Downtown Disney to shop since they opened at 9:30. We wanted to get to Port Orleans Riverside by 11am for lunch, so we stayed close. Went to Lego store again, Once Upon a Toy , and Pin Traders.
Off to the Riverside Mill at POR at 11am. Jeff and I got the make your own pasta w/ Fett. Alfredo, broccoli, and artichokes, Darrien had spaghetti with chicken. There was so much we shared with Halle as usual and still threw some out. They have the best cheesecake and apple blossom!! Used 3 QS credits, would have been $52. We walked around POR and felt homesick, this was our normal resort and love it there a lot. Went to the store and bought a shirt I liked. We drove around to alligator Bayou and found another letterbox.
After that we went back to CBR and rented a surrey bike at the marina. We went around the resort(1.2 miles) twice. It was fun but tiring. There is a hill by the bridge and we peddled so fast up the hill, my feet fell off the peddles. We laughed so hard. Then going down the hill was just as fun, just no work. We returned the bike and headed into the quiet pool since we didn’t want to spend a lot of time at.
Then we went back to Epcot and got another free Visa picture taken(we have 2 different cards)and this time it was Mickey, Minnie, & Goofy. We went to The Land and rode Living with the Land. It is so cool to see the gardens and Mickey shaped pumpkins being grown. Then we went to the Imagination Pavillion for the first time to see Figment. We went on the ride which Halle loved til the very end(I won’t give anything away). Then into Imageworks to look around.
We headed over to Coral Reef by 5:20 for 5:30 ADRs, at in the second row of booths and had a good view of the tanks. This is usually our favorite restaurant, but this time the food was just ok. No more scalloped pot. and broccolini . They said the menu was going to changed again in 2 weeks. We ordered 3 strip steaks with seasoned potatoes. Halle got the Meaty Macaroni w/ lobster soup which I had to talk her into letting me have(it’s my favorite).The kids got smoothies to drink. For dessert we got 3 chocolate waves which is our fav., this time it was just ok. The Kilahuea torte at Kona was better. Used 4 TS credits and it would have been, $145. Got out of restaurant at 7:15 and headed over to Minnie’s butterfly garden to see the chrysalis and butterflies. Then we found Tink’s garden which was so cute! They had all the Fairies in topiaries and their little homes and the things the tinkers made. Halle sat down to make a special craft that they laminated. They also gave us Fairy Dust Impatiens seeds. Went through Mouse Gears and headed to a bus, back to resort by 9pm. Early day tomorrow at HS.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 5(May 10)(Hollywood Studios):
Got up early and headed to Hollywood Studios for Rope Drop at 9am. Watched opening skit and headed over to Toy Story Mania to get FP and went on ride. Walked through queue and a family was trying to cut in front of us, the CM told them to go to the end. They took us to the handicap loading and we got right on. I don’t know if they did it because of the other family or because of Darrien’s birhtday pin. Just a little Disney magic. We had fun on the ride, Halle didn’t like getting wet though. We wanted to go back w/ our FP, but never made it, so we gave the FP to a family with kids on our way out. Took pictures in Pixar place, saw characters but didn’t wait.
Headed over to Playhouse Disney to watch show. Halle loved the show as usual, her favorite is My friends Tigger and Pooh. Then we headed over to Disney’s Animation and loved it as usual(even though it’s still Mushu). We went to find out when the characters from Bolt were going to be there(since there was a sign out front of the building saying they were going to be there) and we were told that their last day was Saturday!(yesterday!!!). Not too happy, since we had decided against yesterday since it was EMH and opted for today. Then they told us the characters from Up were going to be there(my kids can’t wait to see this and we all love the characters!)but not till next Friday!(We leave on Wednesday)
After that disappointment we realized it was almost 11am, so we headed over to Pizza Planet for lunch, we were one of the first people to order for the day. We got 3 cheese pizzas and salads, 3 pops, and 3 Mickey Rice Krispie treats. The pizza there is good, not great, but we are not fond of any of the other QS places in HS, so we eat there. 3 QS credits for over $41.12 worth of food.
Then we headed to the Star Wars Jedi training academy because my daughter has been trying to get picked and never does. She didn’t again, so we went into the queue of Star Tours, but she decided she didn’t want to ride(just like I knew she would do), she just wanted to see R2-D2 in the queue. Looked around in the Tatooine Traders for a while, she thought if we bought her a Star Wars shirt, she might get picked. We fought against it and won, especially since we already bought her an R2-D2 watch at the Lego store a few days before.
As we were walking we finally decided to check out the Honey I Shrunk the Kids movie set. It made for some great pictures, but the kids got bored soon. Got in line to see Prince Caspian and went right in to meet him, that was neat. Then we went in the attraction, which was loud, but my daughter loves Aslan, so she thought it was cool to be in his house. Past by the Club Penguin characters and had to get pictures with them, they were so cute and they gave us free tattoos too. My husband went to Lights, Motor, Action, while I attempted to take the kids to the Muppets 3D. My son didn’t want to do it, so stated it would be too long, so I decided to skip it. It was very hot so we decided to head over to Min & Bills for a shake, since I remembered they were on the snack credit list I printed out. We got 2 shakes and sat down on a bench in the shade for a while Walked over to Sci Fi to meet husband and we decided it was too hot to stay at the park, so we got a bus back to CBR. Went to quiet pool again since we didn’t have a lot of time before catching a bus for another long ride to MK for dinner.
Checked in at the Crystal palace at 5:20 for 5:35 ADRs, got in around 5:50. The chef there was great too. He told me he was going to make me some Pasta Primavera and mussels that I could eat w/o mushrooms and mustard. He brought them over to the table after I had gotten some other food too, and the plates were huge!! My family helped me eat them, but they were so good, glad I was able to eat them! Got out of CP around 7.
Headed to Adventureland and rode the Jungle Cruise. then to Small World, Cindy’s carousel, & Mad Tea party again. It was almost 9pm so we headed over to the bridge in Tomorrowland to watch Wishes. We had wanted to see Tink fly, every time we seen the fireworks it was too windy for her to fly.
After seeing Tink and a few fireworks, we headed over to the Tomorrowland Indy speedway, which was walk on. It was so cool to br driving around the track with the fireworks exploding over your head. We went to get off and the CM told us to go to car 7. We tried to tell him we were done, but he insisted on us going to #7, so we did. It was great, we got to ride again! It was now EMHs.
After that, we walked around Fantasyland, Frontierland, & Adventureland one last time for this trip. Stopped at Main Street Bakery to order 2 of those famous ice cream cookie sandwiches I had heard so much about. They use so much ice cream and giant cookies! We took the cookies apart and all 4 of use had 1 w/ plenty of ice cream on it, they were so good. 2 snack credits was all those monsters were! Left MK around 11pm to catch a bus back to the resort and to sleep.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 6(May 11)(Animal Kingdom):
We had our alarm set for 6:30 and even Mickey(and Stitch) called to wake us up, but we were all too tired. We ended up sleeping til 8:30, missing EMH. At first I was about to get up and get ready to stay on schedule, but then decided that sleep was more important right now. It has been really hot(95 and sunny), so I think that has all effected us.
We took the bus to AK and headed straight to get a FP for Kilimanjaro Safari, then to Pizzafari for lunch at 10:30(knew they started serving early). No one was in there yet and it was great. Went up to order and noticed that they took the Chicken Parm sand off the menu and we just had pizza yesterday. My DH and kids wanted pizza, but I didn’t. I wanted to eat at Flametree and get Chicken, but no one liked it last time. We only ordered 2 cheese pizzas w/ Caesar salads, 2 apple blossoms, and 2 drinks. Only used 2 QS credits and would have been $29.34. My DH let me have a piece of his salad. The 3 of them split the pizza, it is plenty for them, especially since we wanted snacks later. I ate my sons apple blossom, which was good.
After that we wanted to head to see the Nemo show and it was good timing because it started at 11:30(that’s why we ate so early). Finally got to see it and it was great! Last year we tried to see it and they had it closed while we were there. After that, we headed to Kilimanjaro safari to use our FP, it was great as always. My kids wanted to see if the Silverback gorilla would moon us again this year, so we walked the Pangani trek, it was so hot, my DH gave in and bought my DD one of those water bottle fans. It did help out on the walk, it always seems to be the hottest park. We finally made it over to the gorillas, and the Silverback was sleeping in the shade. The kids were disappointed, but we got to move on. We didn’t have much else that we wanted to do in AK, since we did a lot the last 2 years and it’s not our favorite park.
We wanted to look at our Photopass pics before we left to see if there were any good ones in front of the castle. Every year we want the free one to be that and they aren’t any good. We see one that we like, but decide to wait til the last day. On our way out we see Turk and Brer Bear, so my DD decides she wants to meet them since the lines we short. We waited for a bus for 25 min. to get back to CBR. By the time we got back we were all so tired we took a nap. My kids do not take naps and they fell asleep. Almost didn’t wake up in time to get to Epcot for ADRs for dinner.
Got to Epcot after another long bus ride and walked back to Canada to check in at LeCellier. This has been something we have been waiting to try for many years, but could never get in. Checked in at 5:20 for our 5:35 ADR and sat inside. One of the CM’s was asking questions and doing trivia about Canada. It made the wait seem shorter and was interesting, especially since one CM told us how to get out of a traffic ticket in Canada. We got in around 5:45. We ordered the Filet w/ mashed potatoes(no mushroom, do to my allergies) and it was the best meal in Disney. As I have read my many, the pretzel breadsticks were the best out of them all. It’s cool how they explain why they are different, and where they come from. They brought us more and we also had milkshakes instead of pop. By the time the steaks came, we were full, which was not a good thing. I think we all ate ½ of our steaks and hated to leave them, but obviously had to since we were going to HS for the night. I got the Chocolate moose which was cute and ok. My son wanted the smores, but the server told him he couldn’t have it because it might have nuts in it, so she said he could have a sundae, they brought him a scoop of ice cream, kids size, but it had birthday balloons on the plate in chocolate. My DH got the chocolate whiskey cake to go, so we ended up eating that a couple days later, which was really good(I ate most of it). My DD got the kids sundae too. It was 4 TS credits well used and worth $157.04. We left so stuffed around 7pm and walked to the Friendship boats and it looked like rain for the first time, but it just sprinkled for a second.
We rode to HS which started EMH at 7pm. Arrived about 7:30, check for FP for Toy Story Mania, but there were none left foe the night. So we headed straight to the dance party at Playhouse Disney. My DD looks forward to this every year. My DS & DH went to the animation building as usual to do some drawing. We only go to HS for EMH to do those 2 things. My DH &DS usually stay in there the whole 3 hours. My DD and I had fun in the dance party with all the characters, bubbles, balloon animals, and line dancing. Halle had fun dancing with Minnie and Goliath. I learned the Hoedown, throw down dance and had fun too. We left around 9:45 and headed to the buses and to CBR for the night. Tomorrow my DH is finally doing the Dolphin experience.
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 7(May 12)(Epcot again):
Jeff was up early to get ready to head to Epcot to meet for the Dolphins In Depth experience that I booked for him for our anniversary (actually last year, but I’ll tell you about that later). The kids and I got up around 8:30 and headed over to Epcot. It took the bus 20 min. just to get around the resort and another 20 min. to get to the park. Got there around 10am. We don’t usually eat in Epcot for lunch, because we don’t like any of the food in future world, but we were hungry and needed to. We walked over to Sunshine Seasons and figured we’d try it out. We wanted to go to Mexico for Quesedillas, but it was too far a walk. We had to wait 10 min. for lunch to start. We ordered 2 ½ Chicken dinners w/ mashed pot., strawberry shortcake, choc. Chip cookie, and 2 drinks. Used 2 QS credits for the 3 of us, which would have been $32.53. We were all not impressed with the meal. No BBQ sauce for the chicken, so I found ranch dressing, because the chicken was so dry. The mashed pot. Were dry as well and the portion for both was small for what we had gotten in previous days at other Disney places. The strawberry shortcake was just ok and the cookie was horrible. I can’t believe a choc. Chip cookie could ever be bad, but it was.
After our not so spectacular lunch, we headed to the Seas to see if we could see my DH, even though I knew we couldn’t. We looked at all the tanks and saw the dolphins, then we saw a platform where there were several people standing with the dolphins. The kids were trying to see if they could see daddy’s knees in the water. Wasn’t sure which one was him till after, but it was nice to see what he was seeing only below the water. I had booked this for him last year and he went and they couldn’t find his res. #. So he never got to do it I had to try and get the $ back, which was an ordeal in itself. Stayed to watch til about noon and then headed over to Norway to use our Kim Possible FP. We did our mission and met up with my DH, then we headed to Germany to do our last mission.
Jeff was hungry and it was about 2pm. So we headed over to the American Adventure. The kids and I were ready for a snack, since we were still hungry after lunch, so we got waffle cones at Fife and Drum again. It was hot and they tasted real good. Used 3 snack credits, $12.11 worth. Jeff went into Liberty Inn and got a double bacon cheeseburger combo, rice crispy treat, and Coke. 1 QS credit, worth $14. We sat inside with him while we ate our ice creams. Halle wanted to meet the 3 Caballaros in Mexico, so we decided to head back to Mexico. When we finally got there, it was just Donald. The line was very long and we got in it anyways. I took a picture of Donald by himself, and the kids decided they didn’t want to wait any longer. It was just too hot! Decided it was too hot to stay, so we wanted to go back to the pool and swim. On the way out we stopped by guest relations to buy some Disney dollars for the kids to earn for the next trip. Payed for them with our Disney visa, so we got more points! Took the bus back to CBR which only took 15 min.!! What is with that!
We got ready to go in the pool and saw a thunderstorm coming our way. I think we were in the pool 10 min. before we heard thunder and saw lightning. The kids jumped out of the pool and ran back to the room, it was about 3:30. We all changed and I helped Halle get in to her Cinderella dress and did her hair. I sat down and wrote some of my trip report. We were going to go to MK and take monorail to Grand Floridean for dinner, but it was still raining. We decided to drive there instead. It wasn’t a long ride, but after my DH dropped us off at the door, he had to park across the street from the resort and get soaked walking. It seems weird that they didn’t have their parking near the resort unless it was valet. I guess I’m not used to fancy resorts. We checked in at 1900 Park Fare at 5:20 for 5:30 ADRs. Sat in lobby and waited for a while. Got called about 5:50 and had our picture taken before we went in. We had went to this 2 years ago when it was Cindy, Prince, Fairy Godmother, and the mice, but we wanted to see the stepsisters and mom. We heard they were very entertaining and they were. Went up to get food on the buffet, just to find out that they changed the buffet. The chef took me around to let me know what I could eat, and it wasn’t much. He didn’t even offer to make me something else, like the other chef’s did. I figured I’d at least eat a Caesar salad and then he came back over to me and told me I couldn’t, it had mustard in it. Last time they had a chef preparing pasta they way you wanted, but that was gone. I managed to find somethings like mac. & Cheese, chicken fingers, and corn. The desserts weren’t even that great. The food was a bit disappointing, but the characters were great, except Prince Charming. He seemed rushed and didn’t want to be there. The stepsisters were introduced and Anastasia sprayed Drizella with one of those water fans on her way out, so she screamed and pretended to fight. Later Anastasia got a bunch of kids together to “throw a fit”, after the step mom put a chair in the middle of the room and made Anastasia sit and say “I will cover my mouth when I talk”. Then her sister came and made her scream again. She stuck her tongue out at her and while she moved the chair back she said, “Can’t choose your family”. It was very funny, my son video taped the whole thing. Anastasia asked my son if she could marry him, since it was his birthday. He actually liked it, since this was not the place he wanted to eat at since it was mostly for his sister. We decided to pass on the $30 picture and left around 7:30.
We drove back to the resort and it was still raining, which postponed our plan to swim all night. We cleaned up the room and packed up everything for the next day. We decided to go to the game room at Old Port Royale and use our free 30 min. card. The kids had fun, and so did I. we played air hockey, which I hadn’t done in ages. Went into the store and bought some Mickey plates for the kids when they “pretend to be in Disney” for dinners at home. Saw the hair wrapping station inside and got Halle’s hair done. The girl said that they weren’t open until 4pm, that’s why we couldn’t do it sooner. Her hair is 19 inches long so it ended up being $40. We had a coupon for a free charm, which my DD found an alligator, her favorite. I think she charged us for it anyways and made us pay cash, which seemed weird. Last year Jeff was able to use the rewards card for it, which we had planned to do.
Went back to the room around 10:15 and there was a giant frog on our window. We took pics and tried to get into the room w/o it jumping on us. The day before there was a giant snake skin outside of our room. Glad we didn’t find that. Went to bed around 11am. Next day is our last day here!
Boyer Disney Trip May 2009(ddbuggins)
Cast of Characters: Me-Michele(Mom), Dad- Jeff, Daughter(Halle)-6, and Son(Darrien)-11(almost 12)
Day 8(May 13)(Last Day ):
Got up at 7:30. Finished packing up the room and packed up car. Drove over to the main building and went in the main pool, finally!! It was around 9am so the waterslides weren’t open yet, but the kids liked the pool anyways. At 10am they opened the kids section and waterslides. The kids went down the waterslides a couple of times and headed over to the themed water park for kids w/ slides, nets, dunk zone, sprayers, etc. They had a lot of fun, even though they are a little big for it. It’s the only waterslides my DD wanted to go after that. They did like the slides at Port Orleans Riverside last year, but I guess the ones here are bigger. Had packed the sunscreen the night before(dumb idea), I forgot to put it on all of us. I was the only one who got burnt even though it was very sunny. Tried to go in the hot tub with my DH, but it was too hot out to be in there!
Stayed in the pool till about 11am and then headed into Old Port Royale to eat lunch. Jeff, Halle, & I had the Philly cheesesteak sandwich and Darrien had the bacon double cheeseburger. Halle and I got the Strawberry Banana smoothie, which are real good and included in the DDP, and we also got ice cream for dessert. 4 QS credits, would have been $65.16. The Philly cheesesteak sandwiches are so good, I want one now, I can just taste it!
After lunch we parked back in our space by the room and caught the bus to Hollywood Studios. Went back into the Animation building, but this time Halle and I did some drawing too. I actually had fun, we drew Pooh and Donald Duck. I am not of fan of drawing like Jeff and Darrien are, but I actually did a good job. I was surprised, it’s easier when they do step by step than trying to copy a picture. After that Halle still wanted to do the Muppets show, so I took her in while DD & DS walked around. She actually wore the 3D glasses this year and liked it. A little more progress each year. We had done everything that we wanted to do in HS so we decided to head to the Darkroom to get our free picture, but we realized it was almost 3 and the parade was starting. We saw the Block Party bash parade last year and didn’t really like it. We liked the Stars & motorcars parade from the year before better, more characters that we like. We ducked into a few stores which lead into each other to make our way to the end of the street and it started. We waited til it moved ahead a little and crossed over to the darkroom. Picked out the picture of us in front of the castle, finally a good one, even though my DH liked another that I didn’t. We caught a bus right away and it only took 6 min. to get back to the resort! Wow, were was this the whole trip.
We got in the car and drove to Downtown Disney to use up our rewards points(that was just so hard to do, lol) and get Darrien’s light saber. Went to Team Mickey and finally found the shirt I was looking for since last years trip and they didn’t have my size, what a bummer. I should have taken a picture so when my friends go, they can get it for me, but I forgot. Then to Once Upon a Toy so Darrien can build his own light saber. He got a double one, like Darth Maul. Headed to World of Disney to see if they had my shirt or the other one I had seen that I liked. They didn’t have my size in that one either, Ugg. We went to Goofy’s Candy Co. to use up our snack credits. I went to order my Mickey Rice Crispy with choc. And Reeses PB cups, but they don’t have them anymore, so I settled for Reeses Pieces instead, it was really good! We also got some cotton candy, Pez dispensers, candy apple, and Mickey for some friends back home dipped in chocolate. Used 9 snack credits, worth $30.55. As we went to leave we saw the Glacier drinks were on the DDP too as a snack, so we got a couple. My DD got a banana, that she didn’t like so my DH gave her his grape, which was good. We headed back into the Ghiradelli Chocolate shop for another free sample of a chocolate bar w/ PB in it. They are soo good, my DH bought me a package for $7.95 w/ our rewards card. After we finished with the shops, we got in the car and found a few more letterboxes. One was exciting for us because it was from a family from NY that we follow up here. They had a I Love NY stamp, but the heart was a Mickey!!
We headed to the Comfort Inn Lake Buena Vista which was supposed to be our home for the next couple of days. We had gotten a special of $32 a night and had heard great things about this hotel. We had gotten the 5th floor in the back of the hotel, It faced the pool. That was the only good thing about it. We entered the room and it smelled so bad. The bathroom had molding from the tub falling off and laying on the floor and the door barely closed, there was a crack big enough to see outside. It faced I-4 which made it extremely loud and being so high up it was very windy too. I have been to a lot of cheaper hotels, but none this bad, and after being at the CBR made it worse. We decided we wanted to spend as much time away from the room as we could, so we headed to All Star Music for dinner.
We went to the Intermission Food Court for dinner and it wasn’t too crowded and it was around 5:30. We had eaten at the All Star Sports and Movies last year and they were good, so we wanted to try this one too. I ordered the Baked Chicken dinner, my son got the chicken quesadilla platter, DD got the spaghetti and MB with breadstick and salad, and my DH got the Chicken Penne Alfredo dinner w/ salad. This was good last year and he liked it again this year. We also got 2 brownie Sundaes and 2 double scoop waffle cones for dessert and pop to drink. We used 4 QS credits, worth $70.28. We still had 1 QS credit left which we didn’t know what we were going to do with, since I didn’t eat at Pizzafari. Dinner was so good. Darrien shared his quesadilla with Halle and she promised to share her spag. with him, but when it was time, she wouldn’t let him have any. So, I went up and ordered another Spag. & MB dinner for him with the extra credit. Also a choc. Milk for later and a Mickey rice crispy treat for home, would have been $15.81. We ate so much food that we were full before dessert, but remembered how good they were form last year, so we made room. Especially since this was our last Disney meal for the year! The brownie sundaes are so big, but so good. They give you ice cream with a huge brownie, hot fudge, caramel sauce, M&M’s, whipped cream and a cherry if you want too. We sat down and ate as much as we could, actually finishing almost all of it. The kids ate a good amount of their dble. scoop cones too. Walked around outside a bit and left.
As we were driving back from the All Stars, we realized it was almost 9pm, so we went back to the CBR to watch the fireworks by the beach. We went into the Calypso trading post and found a set of T shirts for Jeff, and we used our last rewards credits.(Need to start earning more for next year, we had started w/ over $600!) Had been so upset because we wanted to get the coconuts to send back to our friends, but since the first day of the trip they had been out of stock all over Disney. Checked again, but they we still not in. Went back to the Comfort Inn and watched the season Finale of Lost. Couldn’t sleep because of the noise, think we got a couple of hours the whole night.
Got up at 7:30 and was going to go to Gatorland today liked planned, but they were calling for rain the whole day and that would have been a waste of money, so we decided to leave.(It didn’t end up raining til 5pm!, could have went). Went and checked out early and they only charged us for 1 night, $36 total. Couldn’t stand another night w/o sleep. The kids were disappointed because they love alligators and wanted to go, but understood. We will try next year to go during our stay at Disney instead of after. We went to get breakfast at the free continental breakfast, but they didn’t have much, everything we wanted we would have had to pay for. The restaurant and cont. breakfast are the same thing, they are smart! So we went to McDonald’s and got breakfast sandwiches and left to drive home.
Overall this was an awesome trip. Even though it doesn’t sound like we did a lot at some parks, we were doing the things we hadn’t gotten to do years past and if we had time to do more than we did. We decided to skip CBR next year and go back to POR. We will definitely visit and eat there next year though. It was nice being able to do more at the resort this year and I am going to plan even more for next trip. Since we have done a lot that we wanted to already, we can spend more time relaxing, and less time at the parks. Hopefully the buses will be like we remember at the POR and that will save us a lot of time too.
We spent around $800 for the dining plan, but our food added up to $1465 total with all TS, QS, and Snacks. I think the dining plan is well worth it, we love to eat. I’m not the type of person that could make sandwiches to bring to the park or cook back at the room. I am on vacation, I like to feel like I am. I cook enough at home.
Gas wasn’t too bad this year, only $193.28 for the whole trip(double last year) and we only spent $100 for 2 hotels, one in GA. And one in W.VA. So less than $300 to drive down wasn’t bad compared to flying. I know it takes longer, but is what we will only do! We stop at the welcome centers along the way to stretch and they are all pretty nice, also since we home school, I bring books on the each state that I got from the library so the kids can read about each state when we go through it. I also make sure to bring easy crafts for them to do, our DVD players, video games, etc. to keep them busy. Since we finish school the Friday before we leave, they don’t have to bring any school books, which Disney is a good incentive to finish on time! They only watched 2 movies down and 2 back and didn’t play their games very much, they drew pictures, wrote in their journals, and looked at the scenery mostly. They didn’t even sleep much, unless it was night. They also didn’t complain during the trip either, I used the “I’ll take away spending points in Disney if you argue or complain” and it worked, mostly.
As soon as we arrived home, I had a pit in my stomach that I didn’t want to be here. It always seems so foreign to walk into your house after a couple weeks. I longed to be back in Disney and still do. I can’t wait for the day I can book the next trip! I think I have to wait til Oct. for May, like last year. Then I can start planning next years trip!! Jeff had suggested doing a Dec. trip, but I don’t think it’s going to work out. There are too many negatives at that time, especially us driving home in a possible snow storm. The weather was cold there last year and w/ the Pop Warner being there, well I think we should wait till our normal time in May. No rain and warm weather is what we really want, even though seeing all the lights would be nice. Hopefully they will offer another great deal like this year! Maybe my kids will conquer another ride next year!!
I will have to live vicariously through all of my friends who are going this fall and asking me to help plan their trips. I love doing that!!
Till next year…..
Michele in NY
(only 338 days til next WDW trip!)
Off site Feb. 1989
Wilderness Lodge June, 1996(honeymoon)
Port Orleans Riverside-AB-May 2007
Port Orleans Riverside-MT-May 2008
Caribbean Beach resort-May 2009
POP Century resort-Dec 2009
Port Orleans Riverside or POP-Dec 2010!!(Lord Willing)
Port Orleans Riverside or POP-Dec 2010!!(Lord Willing)