We Got No Troubles; Life Is The Bubbles! 04/18 - Complete!

[teekathepony]

You know what that means then right?? It's time to start planning another even if it's a year or two away.

It's my only way to deal with "Disney depression".

I was ready to plan our Oct. 2015 trip until we decided on one for this year! Now I've already got my first three PTR posts written and saved for when I finish this one!
It's a sickness!

 

[teekathepony]

Sunday September 24
The end.

I figured I'd finish up the actual trip since there's really not much more to write.

I have no pictures from travel home day. It was too early and I was completely spent.

As always, we were ready to go home. (Blasphemy!) We were up at 3:30, quickly got ready to go. One last check of the room and we said goodbye to it.

Our suitcases were very loud as we wheeled through the empty, quiet resort.

We got to ME pickup a few minutes before our 3:45am pickup time. We then waited until 4:15 for our ME bus! 30 minutes late! If it hadn't been so early in the morning, I would probably have grabbed a cab or at least asked a CM what was up, but no one was around. I was getting nervous, thinking of Stringbean&Wingnut having a similar issue with a late ME bus. We waited it out and when finally it came, we loaded quickly, made one more stop and were then off to the airport. Much later than I would have liked!

Still, when we got there and found the Air Canada line, it wasn't open yet. We sat down on the floor like many other travelers and waited.

The line opened, we checked in and were very overweight with our bag. We quickly moved some things and checked two instead, cheaper than paying for an overweight bag. Ridiculous.

Got through security, found our gate and waited. Everything went smoothly, on time and we were back home by about 7pm. We hugged our dogs and cats, fed our fish, emptied our suitcases onto the floor and sent my mom home with a few souvenirs and thank you gifts for looking after all my fur babies while we were gone. We flopped into bed, exhausted and bitterly regretting not taking the next day off work.


So folks, there you have it! The story of my trip is complete. I hope you enjoyed it, and I thank you for hanging around with me during it.

Yet to come:

Wrap up
Souvenirs
Resort review
Favourites

And then? A new PTR in the works.

 

[wiigirl]

Love those firework pics!

 

[jedijill]

I hate those super early flights and corresponding ME pick up times! Glad you still had plenty of time even though the bus was late.

Jill in CO

 

[BridgetR3]

Whew!! So I officially finished your TR in two days start to finish!! I love the way you write and how your updates don't drag on for forever!

A few things I remember that I wanted to comment on -

AOA is gorgeous!! I think we will drive over there in June just to sight see and take pics of the kids. I love the feel of the values. It screams Disney to me.

I have NO idea how you can take pics on BTMRR!!! That ride HURTS!!! It beats me up so much that I don't ride it.

I love how you love Christmas!! lol.....

Oscar is GORGEOUS!!!! I love his colors!

I'm going to have to remember to try the RIGHT side of POTC. Thanks for the helpful hint. That's a ride that we have to go on EVERY time we go to MK, no matter how many times on a trip we visit.

I have never seen the lion up and about!! How cool!!! We've also never gone on the trails but I showed DH your pics and he agreed that we need to go down those this time.

Loved your DH's Big Bang Theory shirts!!! I again showed DH the Knock! KNock! Knock! Penny...." shirt and he laughed. It's his favorite show ever.

The cowboy part at GMR is almost not worth waiting for. We thought it was this whole different set of scenes. but it's just that they change drivers at a different point. I actually rather the gangster side. I also think the cowboy side probably costs more money to run so they probably don't perform it as much.

Oh I know there was sooooo much more that I wanted to comment on but alas I have forgotten. I can't wait to be able to keep up with the rest of your TR and your upcoming PTR now!!

 

[teekathepony]

Love those firework pics!

Thanks!

I hate those super early flights and corresponding ME pick up times! Glad you still had plenty of time even though the bus was late.

Jill in CO

We had to do the early flight to be home early because we had to work the next day... but I think next time I'll just take the next day off work!

Whew!! So I officially finished your TR in two days start to finish!! I love the way you write and how your updates don't drag on for forever!

Wow, that was quick! Glad you're all caught up and thanks for the compliments

A few things I remember that I wanted to comment on -

AOA is gorgeous!! I think we will drive over there in June just to sight see and take pics of the kids. I love the feel of the values. It screams Disney to me.

AoA really is gorgeous. I completely agree with you, the values are sooooo Disney-ish!

I have NO idea how you can take pics on BTMRR!!! That ride HURTS!!! It beats me up so much that I don't ride it.

Hahaha I love that ride! I just strapped my camera to my hand and kept my finger on the shutter button!

I love how you love Christmas!! lol.....

Oscar is GORGEOUS!!!! I love his colors!

Christmas is my favourite time of year! I get like a little kid again. Maybe worse.
Oscar is my adorable little buddy, he has quite the fan base too!

I'm going to have to remember to try the RIGHT side of POTC. Thanks for the helpful hint. That's a ride that we have to go on EVERY time we go to MK, no matter how many times on a trip we visit.

I have heard of some people who went left when the whole crowd in front of them was going right and had the same experience... but for the most part everyone seems to go in the left door. I read it on a few different "Disney tips" lists.

I have never seen the lion up and about!! How cool!!! We've also never gone on the trails but I showed DH your pics and he agreed that we need to go down those this time.

I couldn't believe the luck we had with that lion! I still can't. Too bad I have high expectations for the safari now!
I love the two trails, I use them to relax! Wander around and take pictures. It's a nice shady area mostly too.

Loved your DH's Big Bang Theory shirts!!! I again showed DH the Knock! KNock! Knock! Penny...." shirt and he laughed. It's his favorite show ever.

Hehehe we're both obsessed with that show, so when we saw the shirts at Wal Mart super cheap, he couldn't pass them up!

The cowboy part at GMR is almost not worth waiting for. We thought it was this whole different set of scenes. but it's just that they change drivers at a different point. I actually rather the gangster side. I also think the cowboy side probably costs more money to run so they probably don't perform it as much.

Ahh well, I still want to give it a try some time even if it isn't much different.

Oh I know there was sooooo much more that I wanted to comment on but alas I have forgotten. I can't wait to be able to keep up with the rest of your TR and your upcoming PTR now!!

I can't wait to start my PTR! hahaha that's why I'm kind of rushing through these last few posts! (Although I've got more than 7 months to go! I shouldn't be rushing!)
Again thanks for joining in!

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

I'm sad to see your TR come to an end!!

So weird about the giant fire explosion during Illuminations! At least it looks like it worked itself out!!

Glad to hear you didn't have a major ME issue!! That really is worrisome when the bus is running late/makes a lot of stops!!

 

[BridgetR3]

Reading these reminded me that I wanted to tell you that our ME was late by 45 minutes the time we flew. Our other bus had broken down somewhere so they picked us up but they could not get all of us on the bus. We were able to get on because we had the closest flight but there were others that they just left there. I hope another bus was able to come get them and bring them on time. I wonder what happens if you miss your plane because of ME???

 

[cheekypoppins]

oh wendy so sad its come to an end ,but definately looking forward to your upcoming trip

 

[JAMIESMITH]

We left Disney World two days before your arrival and had a wonderful time on our first trip (of many I hope)! I think you had a lot more rain and slightly longer waits, though. I just found and read your entire trip report today and really enjoyed it! Your photos were wonderful! We stayed at The Polynesian, but skipped Kona Cafe. I'm now kicking myself for missing out on Tonga Toast! We saw a similar explosion during Illuminations on the 9th and it really freaked me out. Two cast members swore it was normal, but it didn't seem right to me. Unfortunately, we only saw it once and didn't know if it was normal or not.

 

[teekathepony]

I'm sad to see your TR come to an end!!

So weird about the giant fire explosion during Illuminations! At least it looks like it worked itself out!!

Glad to hear you didn't have a major ME issue!! That really is worrisome when the bus is running late/makes a lot of stops!!

I'm sad to see it end, but I'm too excited about the next one to care too much! Hehe
I would say the wind took a spark the wrong way and just ignited everything on the barge. It did work itself out though, and the rest of the fireworks going on around it, if you hadn't seen the show you'd probably never know it wasn't supposed to happen like that!
All I could think of was you guys having problems with ME! I was glad it worked out ok for us though.

Reading these reminded me that I wanted to tell you that our ME was late by 45 minutes the time we flew. Our other bus had broken down somewhere so they picked us up but they could not get all of us on the bus. We were able to get on because we had the closest flight but there were others that they just left there. I hope another bus was able to come get them and bring them on time. I wonder what happens if you miss your plane because of ME???

Yikes! That's a scary thought! I know they allow an extra hour for ME but yeah, I wonder what they do for you if you miss your flight?

oh wendy so sad its come to an end ,but definately looking forward to your upcoming trip

Well, it had to end some time and I'm just glad to have another to write about coming up! hehe

We left Disney World two days before your arrival and had a wonderful time on our first trip (of many I hope)! I think you had a lot more rain and slightly longer waits, though. I just found and read your entire trip report today and really enjoyed it! Your photos were wonderful! We stayed at The Polynesian, but skipped Kona Cafe. I'm now kicking myself for missing out on Tonga Toast! We saw a similar explosion during Illuminations on the 9th and it really freaked me out. Two cast members swore it was normal, but it didn't seem right to me. Unfortunately, we only saw it once and didn't know if it was normal or not.

Well first of all, to the report! Glad to have you!
You stayed at the Poly? Oh how wonderful! I'd like to stay there some day.
You must never skip Kona again! I would WALK to the Poly to get that tonga toast!
I'd say the explosion is normal in the sense that it's normal for a spark to ignite the whole bunch of fireworks, like it probably happens every few weeks or something.

 

[teekathepony]

I've got gadgets and gizmos a-plenty.
I've got whoozits and whatsits gallore!


If it seems like I'm rushing through the end of this, I am. Ready to move on to my PTR. hehehe

Here's my souvenirs.



The teapot, and the two dish towels. I said on OrangeJuice's new PTR that I know I'm a Disney lover because I made my kitchen to match Mickey. White walls, red cupboards, black counter top. taa daa! Johnny and I saw that teapot online and basically needed it. It was sold out online! So we made it our mission to get it in the park and we bought it our first day. It's adorable, it sounds like a steamboat when the whistle goes off.


More Mickey kitchen items for my Mickey kitchen:


My adorable Kermit mug!




Johnny's Jurassic Park mug (we love those movies!)


And my vintage MK cup that I couldn't leave behind!


Johnny wanted an Art of Animation mug but they were sold out the whole time we were there. We might take a ride over next trip just to see if they have any. But he got this cute cup instead:


And of course our refill mugs:


There is no shortage of drinking vessels in our home. We swear every trip to come home with NO mugs but we do it anyway.

I bought this album:


We LOVE board games so we got this:


This was in our room as a surprise one day:


I had to get this adorable pen:


Our pins we bought at the MNSSHP:




I forgot to tell this story. On our last day when we were in MK Johnny found this on the ground:


He looked around for anyone looking for it and when we saw no one, he brought it to a CM and told her he found it on the ground. She said "Well I guess you just got a new pin! "


These pins will in no way start a pin trading frenzy. I hope.

Adorable fridge magnet frame:


Wore this to MNSSHP.


New park bag (because our old one is getting really, really worn out!)


Our super cute Christmas ornament (we get one every year)


And two Mickey's Mini Gardens.


Unfortunately the sundew has since passed on to greener pastures, but the kalanchoe is thriving!

We also got a towel (another must for every trip), a snuggie and some t-shirts that I didn't get pictures of because the day I was taking the pictures, they were in the wash!

From Google, this is the shirt I got:

So there you have it!

Up next, a wrap up and a resort review.

 

[cheekypoppins]

aha my kitchen is mickey too,i've got the set of the dishes and the utensils,oven mitts and apron and funny enough I was thinking of buying that same kettle n tea towels on my next trip.I also wanna buy the trivet and spoon rest.i wish i had those funky cupboards though....sadly mine r very outdated fake wood from like the 70's LOL.Let me know when u start ur pretr

 

[teekathepony]

aha my kitchen is mickey too,i've got the set of the dishes and the utensils,oven mitts and apron and funny enough I was thinking of buying that same kettle n tea towels on my next trip.I also wanna buy the trivet and spoon rest.i wish i had those funky cupboards though....sadly mine r very outdated fake wood from like the 70's LOL.Let me know when u start ur pretr

I have the trivet, always wanted the spoon rest. (probably next trip!)
When we built our house, 9 out of 10 people told me I was crazy to put in red cupboards. Now everyone LOVES it hahaha

 

[natebenma]

Just finished up your report. LOVED it all!!!

Thanks for sharing your swim in the Big Blue and the Mermaid pool with us. Wow, did Disney ever nail the theming at that resort, or what!?!

Do you mind me asking what Johnny uses for an underwater camera? I have been using underwater-rated cameras as my main travel camera since 2008 (I did recently purchase a big girl Canon, but we are still getting to know one another). I am currently loving my Panasonic Lumix, I really loved my Canon Powershot until it died in Puerto Rico, and I have had 3 or 4 Olympus "Tough" cameras die on me while on vacation.

Yeah for ending your trip with an Illuminations viewing. Gorgeous pictures, once again! Great viewing spot!

A little scary about the late ME bus. I would have been so scared that I had missed it. Especially since there wasn't anyone around for you to check with. Now, if I am recalling correctly, you had an issue with the ME bus on the way in, didn't you? Almost missing your stop?

GREAT soveniers! We love the Jurassic Park movies too- one of my favorite books of all time. My husband and I went to see JP on opening weekend so many years ago since we both think the book was so good. Although they missed including a couple of my favorite parts, I can watch the original again and again and not be bored.

I'm so glad you will be starting a PTR soon- can't wait to hear your details.

 

[teekathepony]

Before I begin, I send my heart and my condolences, my prayers and best wishes to all those in Boston and to those affected by the tragedy that occurred there.

In 1917 Boston came to the rescue here in Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion (the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons) and the subsequent blizzard the following day. Over 1900 were killed, and over 9000 wounded.
Within hours, a train left Boston for Halifax carrying doctors and nurses from Harvard, tons on medical supplies and operating theaters. Even more help was to follow.

I can't tell you how my heart breaks for everyone involved.


Resort Review

I wanted to do a full resort review since it's such a new resort and I was one of the first people to stay in the Little Mermaid section. I guess I should have posted it at the beginning because by now thousands have! Haha oh well. Maybe I can be of some help to anyone wanting to stay in the future.

I want to preface this review by saying that before this trip, the only Disney resort I had stayed in was Pop Century.



********************************************************
I stayed in the Little Mermaid section, building 9, in room 9703. I was facing the quiet pool.





About the distance.
Lots of people were concerned about the walking distance at this resort, saying that the Little Mermaid rooms were far from the bus stop. It took us approximately 7 minutes to casually walk from our room to the bus stop, main building, or food court. It was pleasant to walk through the beautiful resort, but no denying when we came back from a long day of walking through the parks, it felt a LOT longer than 7 minutes.




About the food.
The food court was great, imo. Lots of different choices that you might not see anywhere else, but with a few very traditional choices for those of us who are nervous of trying new foods. The food we did try there (not much) was very good. There's a lot to choose from.





About the room.
The Little Mermaid room was a standard room. We had a king bed which was lovely. Room was clean and very nice. I thought they did a good job of "gender neutralizing" the room so if you have boys and want to stay there, it's not too girly despite the name of the section. The shower is adorable. The room was nothing especially spectacular, just an ordinary standard value room. It has a fridge, but at the expense of some storage space (three drawers) so you might want to bring some extra hangers for your clothes.







About the transportation.
The bus system was excellent (and the bus stops are covered!) We never waited longer than 15 minutes for a bus going to the parks and coming back was of course, totally dependent on the crowd. We never shared a bus with Pop, even in very slow times. Excellent bus service. For those who don't know, there is no other transportation at this resort.



About the pools.
The pools are gated and you need a valid AoA room key to enter. That meant it was less crowded than I expected it to be, since no one from Pop (or anywhere else for that matter) could use the pools. The Little Mermaid quiet pool is ok, lots of seating and water. You know. It's a pool. The Big Blue main pool was really awesome. The jellies trickled water around the edges, the zero entry was pretty cool, but the thing that blew my mind was how awesome the underwater sound system was. Every time you go under water, Marlin and Dory were talking or music was playing! Also they're saltwater filtration pools, meaning no awful chlorine smell/feel/taste. It doesn't smell like the ocean though, you barely know you're in salt water.







About the lobby.
AAAAAAAH! This lobby is STUNNING! Gorgeous! Go there to see it even if you're not staying there! Maybe it's me, I love rainbows, but wow. And I like the individual small desks instead of one huge desk. It makes for more personal service.





About the sections.
There are four. Nemo is the closest to the main buildings. Cars to its right (if the main building is behind you), Lion King to its left and Little Mermaid to the far left. LM & Cars have quiet pools, Nemo has the main pool and LK has a play ground. LM is big and bright and beautiful with lots of over-sized statues and is a nice blue colour. The Lion King was slightly disappointing. The playground was nothing worth talking about. The theming here was good but maybe the least impressive of them all. Nemo was fantastic, dominated by the Big Blue Pool, but with lots of statues of the characters too. Cars was mind blowing. Absolutely hands down my favourite for theming. The roads and light posts and desert feel were pretty amazing, and the statues of all the cars would be fantastic photo ops for any fan of the movie.









In conclusion:

Would I stay here again? Yes I would. I will admit though that when we started talking about our next trip, we decided on Pop Century in a preferred room over the far away Little Mermaid rooms again. Not that it was too bad most of the time, but if you just wanted to refill your mug... well, you wouldn't run all that way just for a cup of fountain pop. If I ever went with a group and needed more space, I would love more than anything to try a suite.


I give this resort 4.5 out of 5.

 

[teekathepony]

Just finished up your report. LOVED it all!!!

Thanks for sharing your swim in the Big Blue and the Mermaid pool with us. Wow, did Disney ever nail the theming at that resort, or what!?!
They absolutely did, what a fantastic job!

Do you mind me asking what Johnny uses for an underwater camera? I have been using underwater-rated cameras as my main travel camera since 2008 (I did recently purchase a big girl Canon, but we are still getting to know one another). I am currently loving my Panasonic Lumix, I really loved my Canon Powershot until it died in Puerto Rico, and I have had 3 or 4 Olympus "Tough" cameras die on me while on vacation.
He uses an older Fuji model, the Z33WP (before they were shock proof!) It's not bad, takes great under water pictures and decent pictures otherwise. It's a tough little camera!
A friend of mine who used to work here at the camera store with me is VERY hard on cameras and she swears by the Pentax line of waterproofs. I like them a lot too for that matter. If Johnny's ever bites the bullet, I'd probably get him a Pentax. The WG10 has come down a LOT in price!

Yeah for ending your trip with an Illuminations viewing. Gorgeous pictures, once again! Great viewing spot!
Thanks! I really like that viewing spot. Every time we watch the show we say "We're going to find a new spot today" just for something different... but we always go back there.


A little scary about the late ME bus. I would have been so scared that I had missed it. Especially since there wasn't anyone around for you to check with. Now, if I am recalling correctly, you had an issue with the ME bus on the way in, didn't you? Almost missing your stop?
Ohhhh how wonderful. You remembered. Haha yes you're right. I guess they figured we were in no hurry the first time, why rush to get us now?

GREAT soveniers! We love the Jurassic Park movies too- one of my favorite books of all time. My husband and I went to see JP on opening weekend so many years ago since we both think the book was so good. Although they missed including a couple of my favorite parts, I can watch the original again and again and not be bored.
Jurassic Park was one movie series that Johnny and I found early on that we had in common. One of our first dates was cozying up and watching all three right in a row!

I'm so glad you will be starting a PTR soon- can't wait to hear your details.

Thanks! One more post on here and then I'll probably get it started! I can't wait to share!

 

[natebenma]

Before I begin, I send my heart and my condolences, my prayers and best wishes to all those in Boston and to those affected by the tragedy that occurred there.

In 1917 Boston came to the rescue here in Nova Scotia after the Halifax Explosion (the largest man-made explosion prior to the development of nuclear weapons) and the subsequent blizzard the following day. Over 1900 were killed, and over 9000 wounded.
Within hours, a train left Boston for Halifax carrying doctors and nurses from Harvard, tons on medical supplies and operating theaters. Even more help was to follow.

I can't tell you how my heart breaks for everyone involved.

Wendy- thanks so much for your thoughts and kind words for the people of Boston and for sharing the story of the bond between Boston and Halifax. As I'm sure you know, every year Halifax sends thanks to Boston, along with a huge beautiful Christmas tree, which is displayed at the Prudential Center, less than a mile away from the marathon finish line.

It truly is a small world, and although I haven't heard that anyone I know personally has been injured, I just learned on Facebook that one of my friends went to school with the father of the young boy who was killed.

The only comfort from something like this is remembering that there is far more light in the world than darkness.

 

[natebenma]

I enjoyed your wrap up and very thorough review of AoA. It really looks like a wonderful place to stay and immerse yourself in Disney surrounds. If my heart was not totally committed to another resort, I would be seriously considering a stay here.

 

[OrangeJuice]

Art of Animation looks amazing but I think that if it wasn't for the pool I would still pick POP over it. I really liked our preferred rooms at pop for our honeymoon. That being said, I might change my mind once we try AoA. Thanks for the review