Come On, Drink the Fart! DIS Mega Meet July 2016 TR *NEW TR LINK 2/5

khertz

khertz

DIS Veteran
Joined
Aug 10, 2008
Come On, Drink the Fart! DIS Mega Meet July 2016

I’ll finally see a summer breeze, blow away a winter storm
And find out what happens to solid water when it gets warm!
And I can’t wait to see, what my buddies all think of me
Just imagine how much cooler I’ll be in summer
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Well, we certainly weren't cooler in summer, but we did decide to brave Disney World in summer...after swearing we would NEVER plan a trip in the middle of summer! But, when your favorite podcasters plan a long weekend that includes meetups, crazy low prices on resort stays, a dessert party, a live podcast taping AND you already have APs...well, you do the math.

Who are we, exactly? You may remember us from my many other TRs, but just in case you don't, here is a quick intro.


July 02-001 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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I'll be your narrator, khertz. I'm 31 years old, and have been visiting Disney World since I was 9 years old. This trip marked my 16th to WDW, and I have also been lucky enough to visit Disneyland 3 times, Disneyland Paris once, and taken a trip to Italy with Adventures by Disney! My titles include mom of 2, wife of DH, and pediatric oncology nurse. I love Tangled, Mickey bars, Via Napoli pizza, Splash Mountain, and Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party, among many other things.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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A rare photo of DH! Usually he is the man behind the camera, so there aren't as many photos of him. He's 32 years old, and a pretty incredible husband & father, along with the title of radiation safety officer in the oilfield. Photography has gone from a hobby to a Disney passion, and he doesn't mind being behind the lens for most of our visits. This trip was his 15th to WDW, and he has also visited Disneyland 4 times, Disneyland Paris once, and was my travel partner on our ABD Viva Italia for our anniversary in 2014. He loves Dole Whips, Donald Duck, Big Thunder Mountain, and all things Marvel Cinematic Universe.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Although not joining us on this trip, here's a picture of DS & DD! They had plenty of fun hanging out with my parents for a few days while we were away.

This trip came to be for many reasons. We are both avid listeners of the DIS Unplugged network of podcasts and were listening with longing as they began divulging plans for their 10th anniversary weekend in July. But of course, there was no way we could actually attend, right? We had already been on a weeklong trip in October 2015 where we became AP holders, and since then had added on a long weekend trip over Thanksgiving 2015 to say farewell to the Osborne Lights, another weeklong trip with family over Mardi Gras break, and added a few days in May to see Flower & Garden for the first time. Plus, we had our final trip with these APs coming up in October 2016. So we absolutely couldn't add more days in Disney! Except we could. And we did once we realized how cheap we could get a room at the Contemporary thanks to the discounts offered by the DIS for the weekend!

We decided to make this an adults only weekend, since we figured the kids wouldn't be interested in the meetups or other DIS events. I did feel marginally guilty about this, but in the end, the kids were in Disney a LOT in our 12 months as AP holders, so I got over it. I was nervous about leaving DD for the first time ever, but it ended up being a wonderful weekend for DH and I, so it was worth it in the end. We spent time with old friends, met new friends, and got to enjoy sleep in morning and late nights!

I hope you'll join in as I recap our DIS Mega Meet weekend!
 
Links

Friday July 22nd
Day 1 Part 1: We All Scream for Ice Cream!
Day 1 Part 2: Toy Story & Towers
Day 1 Part 3: Star Wars Galactic Spectacular
Day 1 Part 4: Extra Magic Hours

Saturday July 23rd
Day 2 Part 1: A Leisurely MK Morning
Day 2 Part 2: Drink the Fart!
Day 2 Part 3: That's Not Fast, It's a School Zone
Day 2 Part 4: Sip & Snack

Sunday July 24th
Day 3 Part 1: Thank the Phoenicians
Day 3 Part 2: Official Summer Snow Day
Day 3 Part 3: Just Imagine How Much Cooler I'll Be In Summer!
Day 3 Part 4: Connecting With Walt
Day 3 Part 5: A Great Big Beautiful Tomorrow
Day 3 Part 6: Chatty Pirates
Day 3 Part 7: Bring on the Desserts!
Day 3 Part 8: Pirates Re-do

Monday July 25th
Day 4 Part 1: Kona Cafe & Podcast Taping
Day 4 Part 2: Get a Move On!
Day 4 Part 3: Illuminations Dessert Party with the DIS!

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Day 0: Thursday July 21st

This will be a text heavy update because we just didn't have time for pictures, but it's some background on what we had going on leading up to this trip!

As has become typical fashion before our trips, we didn’t have the easiest time leading up to our departure! DD started running fever and had to be sent home from daycare Tuesday which meant I had to scramble to find a sitter for Wednesday so I could still go to work. This had happened the week before, but she had seen the pediatrician who didn’t see anything and said it might just be teething. So this time, I was going to forgo a doctor’s visit if she didn’t keep running fever. She spiked a couple more times, and in the meantime, DS complained Wednesday night that his ear hurt and when I looked, I saw thick green drainage coming from his left ear. That’s never good. So I knew he was going to the doctor the next day to have that checked out, and figured DD might as well get checked out too since I was about to be leaving them with my parents for several days.

Thursday was departure day, but I was still working a half day. DH took off and was keeping the kids home anyway. I called to get them an appointment and the only time the doctor could see them was 11:50. We knew it would put us behind what time we wanted to leave, but that’s all we could do. I met them at the pediatrician's office when I got off of work, and we found out DD had an ear infection and DS’s eardrum had ruptured. 10 days of antibiotics for them both and 7 days of ear drops for DS, plus no swimming for him for 2 weeks which he was devastated about. DH took him home once his checkup was complete so they could start loading the car, while I stayed with DD for her checkup and had to stop at the pharmacy on the way home to pick up their medications.

Once we all reconvened at home and each kid had gotten a dose of antibiotic, I changed out of my work clothes and fed DD. We finally left the house at 2:35 pm for the 2 hour drive to my parents’ house. DS was pretty miserable because he didn’t have his iPad for the drive (he had left it at my mom’s house the week before when he had visited), and towards the end he started getting squirmy and saying he wanted to get out of the car RIGHT NOW. As I was fussing him a little bit and telling him we only had a short time left, he looked at me and said, “My stomach hurts.” Oh no. I barely had time to grab him a plastic shopping bag I had stuffed somewhere before he puked. A lot. Most of it didn’t end up in the bag. :-/ Thankfully we were close to my mom’s. I guess the antibiotic given on a mostly empty stomach before a long car ride wasn't the best idea!

We got there and she had a bath all ready for him. While she bathed him, we unloaded all of their stuff from the car and went over their schedules with her. DS had a little bit of a meltdown when I realized we had forgotten to get his toy Everest (from Paw Patrol) from home to bring with us. I had been talking to him a lot leading up to this trip about how DH and I could try to do something fun so DS wouldn’t miss being in Disney World so much, and we had decided I would bring his little toy dog with us and take pictures of her all around Disney World to send to him. He burst into tears when I said we had forgotten her, and DH and my mom were like, “Why did you even mention it?!?” But I still wanted to do something, even if we had forgotten the dog! So we looked around the toys my mom had at her house and decided we could bring his little Lightning McQueen instead. Crisis averted. Lightning was coming along on our adventure instead.

I fed DD one more time and DH and I left at 5:40 pm. We got some food before getting on the interstate and then we were on our way. We knocked out most of the drive that night, only stopping twice more. Once at a rest area where DH and a couple other girls were all playing Pokemon Go, and a second time for gas. We arrived at the hotel we had booked in Lake City at 2 am Florida time and went straight to bed.

Day 1: Friday July 22nd


Friday morning, we weren’t in too much of a rush because we knew we didn’t have much driving ahead of us. We got up at 8:30, took showers, and got dressed. It was about 10:15 am when we left. There was a Chick Fil A in the parking lot of the hotel, which we later realized was the same Chick Fil A we stopped at when we drove to Disney in May! So we decided to stop there first for a hearty breakfast before hitting the road since we probably wouldn’t be stopping for lunch.

It took a little while to get our chicken biscuits, but we had an interesting conversation with the girl checking us out. She asked where we were from, and we said New Orleans, to which she replied, “Oh yeah! … Where is that again? I want to say Louisiana, right?” Stay in school, people.

It was about 10:30 when we had our food and hit the road for our final stretch of driving, which would be about 2.5 hours. As we got closer to Disney property, we came upon a point where we could either follow our Google directions or our GPS. We ended up choosing the Google directions, which was the wrong choice! I had been so looking forward to going under first the Disney World arches, and then the MK gates to get to our hotel. I had Lightning McQueen up on the dashboard waiting to take his picture with the gates…and we totally bypassed it. We ended up coming in the back of property by Disney University and got to the Contemporary from the other side. I was so disappointed! But I was still excited to be there. DH thought it was cool to pass so close to Space Mountain coming from this way.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We unloaded our stuff, then DH went to park the car so we could go inside and check in. It was about 1 pm at this point, and they said our room was not ready but we would receive a text when it was. We left our bags with bell services and went upstairs to the Contempo Café to grab a cup of water to take with us before going over to the monorail station. We wanted to go to MK to catch a bus to the Boardwalk to check in for the Mega Meet. We had talked about the walkway, but we knew we would probably just do that when we were actually going to MK, so we thought taking the long way by going the monorail loop would be fun.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We got on the monorail and settled in for the loop around. Just as we arrived at MK, I get a text that our room is ready. Of course it is! So we had a moment where we stopped to decide what to do…should we go back to the Contemporary and unpack in the room, or keep going?

We decided to just keep going.

So after exiting the monorail there (and realizing how damn close the bus stop is to the Contemporary and that walking would have been SO much quicker), we hopped on a bus to the Boardwalk. The silent auction was happening in one of the convention rooms, so we headed there first and ran into Mike from our Viva Italia trip in the hall, so we stopped to chat with him for a few minutes. Then we went over to the convention room and met Tom Bell (host of the Disneyland show) first because he was giving out the credentials out front. Once inside the room, we immediately saw Jeff & Val, also from our Viva Italia trip, and stopped to talk with them first, then got a chance to tell Kevin & John (from the podcast) hi and catch them up on how we have been since Italy. It was fun seeing so many Viva friends!

We had a couple of items for the auction, so we went over to give those to Kathy (from the podcast) & her daughter Katie, then checked out some of the other items. They had some pretty neat stuff available for bidding! Our items went for about $150, so that was pretty cool. We had donated a set of the Passholder prints from Flower & Garden, and also 2 framed Disney postage stamp sets that we have been trying to sell at garage sales for years and couldn’t even get $5 for!

While there, we also got to meet Michael Bowling of the Disneyland show & Connecting With Walt, and his wife Carol. They are both SO sweet! It was nice to meet them now and spend some time talking with them since we were doing the Connecting With Walt meet up later on in the weekend.

After hanging out awhile there, we decided to go check out the Boardwalk area since we have never been there before, and make our way over to Beaches & Cream to see if they could take us any earlier than our 5 pm reservation.


July 01-001 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
There’s Michael’s head down at the bottom right corner. Lol He had walked over with us, chatting along the way with us.


July 01-002 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-003 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-004 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-005 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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We took a peek inside the Boardwalk Bakery and some of the stuff was sooooo tempting, but we were about to gorge ourselves on ice cream, so we stayed strong and didn’t pick anything up.


After a leisurely walk taking pictures and trying to stay in the shade as much as possible, we arrived at the Beach Club!


We made it to Beaches & Cream a little after 3 pm and asked if we would be able to get in early for our ADR. The CM outside said they were running right on time, so we probably couldn’t get a table earlier. But she did say there would be spots at the bar if we didn’t mind that instead, and it would only be about 20 minutes, so we decided to do that instead. There were a few seats outside available, so we grabbed a couple of them and waited. We were entertained by the lifeguards coming out to the pool and dancing for the guests while we waited!

It was pretty close to the 20 minutes quoted to us by the CM when I got a text that our seats at the bar were ready, so we went back to check in. And just in time, as it started pouring down rain as soon as we went inside!

I have always read on message boards and FB groups that this place is small, but I was not mentally prepared for how TINY it is on the inside!! How we were able to find a reservation for this place not once, but twice (we had originally booked it earlier in the day, then moved it later) is amazing and kind of mind blowing.

We grabbed our seats at the bar, and our server came to take our order shortly after. We had decided early on to split a meal and get our own desserts, so we ordered the burger & fries to share. Then we got to watch them make all of the desserts while we waited for our food to be ready, including many, many Kitchen Sink sundaes.

We even had a few minutes to FaceTime with DS while we were waiting for our food, and he got to see the lights go off and the red lights start flashing when someone ordered a Kitchen Sink. He got a real kick out of that! Soon enough, our burger & fries came, already split for us onto 2 plates.


July 01-016 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then we ordered the most important part of the meal…dessert!! I ordered the No Way Jose (A Peanut Butter and Hot Fudge delight featuring Chocolate and Vanilla Ice Cream, Peanut Butter and Chocolate Morsels, Whipped Cream, and a Cherry) and DH ordered the Fudge Mudslide (A gooey, chewy Brownie covered with Hot Fudge, Three Scoops of Vanilla Ice Cream, Oreos, Whipped Cream and a Cherry). We even got to watch them being made!


Our server insisted on taking one of both of us with our desserts.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

Then we dug in! And let me tell you, these sundaes were totally worth the wait. We had wanted to try this place for a long time, but never made the time to get over to the Beach Club to do so. We figured it would be perfect to do this trip with no kids, which would be a lot easier than having them along with us.

I made sure to get a photo of Lightning after he helped us enjoy our desserts.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We decided that although both desserts were delicious, we absolutely could have (and should have!) shared one. It’s so much ice cream!! But it was a fun splurge. One more photo on the way out. This is pretty much the whole restaurant!


July 01-020 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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The plan had been to go straight to DHS from there, but we wanted to go back to the Contemporary and get our stuff settled in the room first since we were planning on it being a late night. After a detour through the Beach Club lobby, we went outside to the bus stop. Luckily, the rain had stopped, but all of the benches at the bus stop were soaking wet so no sitting while waiting for the bus.


July 01-021 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

This was our first experience with the new screens they had up to let you know when the next bus to each destination would be coming. We found it wasn’t really helpful, as it would just keep changing. Like if it said an MK bus would be there at 5:08 pm, once it got to 5:08 and no bus had arrived, it would change to 5:15.


July 01-022 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

We took the bus to MK, then tried out the walkway over to the Contemporary. It’s SUCH a short walk to get there!


July 01-023 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

In no time, we were arriving back at the Contemporary and getting our luggage from bell services.


July 01-024 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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We were on the second floor of the Garden Tower. There was a single elevator right as we entered the building, but we learned quickly to just take the stairs because it was much quicker! But for now, with all our stuff, we took the elevator. We were right next to all of the big suites that had multiple entrances.


July 01-025 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​


We were amazed at the size of the room! It seemed huge compared to other Disney resorts, even other deluxes, we have stayed at. I guess because it was one of the originals back when rooms used to be larger. We would have easily had space for all 4 of us including the Pack & Play and double stroller had we brought the kids with us. The only thing that I thought was kind of a miss were the sinks. They were large but not really functional as water didn’t rinse or drain like a normal shaped sink would.

Going back to the room ended up being a great idea anyway because it ended up raining the whole time we were there!

After unpacking as much as we had planned on unpacking (mainly just toiletries!) and freshening up, we went down to the bus stop to catch a bus to DHS for evening EMH! We had been hoping to take part in more late night EMH while we were there with no kids, but this was the only night that had them, which was a bummer. On the plus side, it had stopped raining and didn’t rain again for the rest of the evening.

It was shaping up to be a great night at DHS!

UP NEXT: Extra Magic Hours
 
That was a rocky start to your get away! Glad you didn't throw in the towel. Your room at the Contemporary looks wonderful - so roomy. I love eating at Beaches and Cream but next time I might just ditch the food and focus on the ice cream :rotfl:So hard to eat a meal plus dessert. It would be nice if they would also offer a smaller version of the sundaes - my fav is the Milky Way. Looking forward to following along!
 


Too bad about the rough start to your trip, but I think us parents have all had similar experiences over the years.

How exciting to be able to meet so many of the podcasters in once place! I was lucky enough to have met Pete, Kathy, Teresa, and Dustin at the Nova Scotia Dis meet in 2015. I would love to meet the others.

Beaches and Cream is fantastic. My family had a sundae each and it is a lot of ice cream. I read that you can order smaller versions of them. I've never tried it or seen actual proof, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask. I didn't eat anything there, but I've heard the burgers are very good.
 
khertz said:
, “My stomach hurts.” Oh no. I barely had time to grab him a plastic shopping bag I had stuffed somewhere before he puked. A lot. Most of it didn’t end up in the bag. :-/ Thankfully we were close to my mom’s. I guess the antibiotic given on a mostly empty stomach before a long car ride wasn't the best idea!
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A fun fact many who don't have motion issues don't know, For those with motion sickness the swelling from an ear infection is all it takes to throw off the equilibrium and cause rumblies in the tummy. Poor guy with a ruptured ear. Puke was probably bound to happen whether you gave him the meds or not.

khertz said:
She asked where we were from, and we said New Orleans, to which she replied, “Oh yeah! … Where is that again? I want to say Louisiana, right?” Stay in school, people.
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Oh lordy! :rolleyes2

khertz said:
On the plus side, it had stopped raining and didn’t rain again for the rest of the evening.
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Yay for good timing on the rain!
 
rdkeim said:
That was a rocky start to your get away! Glad you didn't throw in the towel. Your room at the Contemporary looks wonderful - so roomy. I love eating at Beaches and Cream but next time I might just ditch the food and focus on the ice cream :rotfl:So hard to eat a meal plus dessert. It would be nice if they would also offer a smaller version of the sundaes - my fav is the Milky Way. Looking forward to following along!
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I felt terrible dropping off two sick kids with my mom and leaving. It couldn't have been worse timing! But they ended up doing fine, of course.

The rooms at the Contemporary were huge! I didn't think they made rooms at Disney World that big.

I totally agree on B&C. Even splitting the burger, we were totally stuffed halfway through our sundaes. The Milky Way was also tempting! But having read rave reviews of the No Way Jose for so long, I just had to try it. Hopefully we will find ourselves there again someday for dessert and can try new sundaes.

Terra Nova guy said:
Too bad about the rough start to your trip, but I think us parents have all had similar experiences over the years.

How exciting to be able to meet so many of the podcasters in once place! I was lucky enough to have met Pete, Kathy, Teresa, and Dustin at the Nova Scotia Dis meet in 2015. I would love to meet the others.

Beaches and Cream is fantastic. My family had a sundae each and it is a lot of ice cream. I read that you can order smaller versions of them. I've never tried it or seen actual proof, but I guess it wouldn't hurt to ask. I didn't eat anything there, but I've heard the burgers are very good.
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I was already so nervous to leave DD for the first time in her 11 months of life, so adding in antibiotics and DS really not feeling too great that day, I felt terrible for leaving them! But it all ended up being ok.

Kevin, John, Pete & Dustin had been on the Adventures by Disney trip we had done a couple years ago, so it was nice to see Kevin & John again, and to meet Teresa, Kathy, Tom & Michael for the first time.

I probably should have asked about a smaller version of the sundaes, but honestly until I saw them making it, I had no idea how huge these things are! So much ice cream!! One of the dieticians from the hospital where I work commented on the photo of us with our sundaes and said she can't even count calories that high in her head. lol The burger was definitely good, and the grilled cheese also looks good. It's so tough that they have good food & amazing sundaes, making it hard to choose!!
 


Gracefulskinny said:
A fun fact many who don't have motion issues don't know, For those with motion sickness the swelling from an ear infection is all it takes to throw off the equilibrium and cause rumblies in the tummy. Poor guy with a ruptured ear. Puke was probably bound to happen whether you gave him the meds or not.
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That's true, I didn't think about it that way! I really felt bad that he felt so bad but that we had to continue on anyway.

Gracefulskinny said:
Oh lordy! :rolleyes2
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Right?! That was a first!! lol

Gracefulskinny said:
Yay for good timing on the rain!
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I was really surprised at how overall well we tolerated the weather. Sure it was hot and humid for most of it, but there were a couple of evenings it felt pretty nice outside, and we managed to dodge the rain entirely.
 
I'm in!!

WHAT an eventful start to the trip!! Hope the kiddos weren't feeling too bad!!!

Ah, that walkway from the Contemp, it was our LIFE for a year, lol, so much more convenient that anything else!

LOVE beaches & cream!! All the food is SO good, though portions are GIANT! We tried the kitchen sink twice, and did only okay at it, even with 5 people! Lol, though the second time I'd completely forgotten that I'd given up sugar for lent so technically I didn't indulge, bahaha!!

The room looks great! Talk about photography commitment for that picture taken from up in the corner!! Can't wait to read more!
 
Ok... this is definitely an interesting TR title!

That's so frustrating to have to leave sick kids, not to mention one puking in the car. Brutal. I'm glad that it was at least a situation where you didn't have to cancel the trip or something. Side note - DS had a ruptured ear drum a couple of years ago. I've never seen him in so much pain.

I'm glad you managed to get to Beaches & Cream. That one is a bucket list place for me that always seems just out of reach. I've had ADR's there before but it just never works out because of the time or the fact that it just isn't convenient for us to get there. The No Way Jose is definitely what I'm getting whenever I get there.
 
Joining in, of course!

I'm so sorry to hear you had such a hectic start. 2 sick kids is terrible :(

I'm glad the drive down was smooth and you made it ok!

I love all the Boardwalk pictures- so pretty.

I'm so glad you finally got to try Beaches & Cream! It really is no joke how small it is! It is fun sitting at the counter since you get to see everything get made :) Your desserts look amazing!

Your room looks gorgeous!
 
Lurked on several of your earlier TRs but decided to more vocally join in for this one!

Love Beaches & Cream. I was shocked at how small the interior is as well, but it kind of adds to the charm, I think.

Can't wait to read more about the podcast events!
 
Ice cream is my weakness and those sundae's looked fabulous. I know I should probably share too but hey it's vacation.

I love the idea of taking pictures with Lightening McQueen. What a fun way for your son to see your adventures with his special toy.
 
katt789 said:
I'm in!!

WHAT an eventful start to the trip!! Hope the kiddos weren't feeling too bad!!!

Ah, that walkway from the Contemp, it was our LIFE for a year, lol, so much more convenient that anything else!

LOVE beaches & cream!! All the food is SO good, though portions are GIANT! We tried the kitchen sink twice, and did only okay at it, even with 5 people! Lol, though the second time I'd completely forgotten that I'd given up sugar for lent so technically I didn't indulge, bahaha!!

The room looks great! Talk about photography commitment for that picture taken from up in the corner!! Can't wait to read more!
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Welcome along!!

Luckily, they started feeling a lot better by the next day. At least, that's what my mom kept telling me. She could have totally been lying so I wouldn't worry. lol

I thought it would be terrible to make that walk in the heat, but it was still SO convenient that it won out, even at the hottest part of the day.

The Kitchen Sink is freaking ENORMOUS. I can't imagine even putting a dent in that thing without a huge group!

lol DH really goes all out for those room photos ;)

afwdwfan said:
Ok... this is definitely an interesting TR title!

That's so frustrating to have to leave sick kids, not to mention one puking in the car. Brutal. I'm glad that it was at least a situation where you didn't have to cancel the trip or something. Side note - DS had a ruptured ear drum a couple of years ago. I've never seen him in so much pain.

I'm glad you managed to get to Beaches & Cream. That one is a bucket list place for me that always seems just out of reach. I've had ADR's there before but it just never works out because of the time or the fact that it just isn't convenient for us to get there. The No Way Jose is definitely what I'm getting whenever I get there.
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HAHA I'm shocked you are the very first to mention it!!! It was one of those moments that just happened and I knew it had to be the TR title. :)

I really couldn't believe that for his eardrum being ruptured DS wasn't in even more pain! He literally was just playing in the bathroom with DD while she was in the tub and laid down on the floor to play peek-a-boo with her over the side of the tub and said, "My ear hurts." That was the first and only time he complained to me about it! I'm glad it wasn't worse for him, because I have only ever heard that it is really painful.

That's the same position we have always been in...so tempting but so inconvenient to get to, especially with kids! It really only made sense to do it this time when it's just the two of us and we are already right there at the Boardwalk.

missangelalexis said:
Joining in, of course!

I'm so sorry to hear you had such a hectic start. 2 sick kids is terrible :(

I'm glad the drive down was smooth and you made it ok!

I love all the Boardwalk pictures- so pretty.

I'm so glad you finally got to try Beaches & Cream! It really is no joke how small it is! It is fun sitting at the counter since you get to see everything get made :) Your desserts look amazing!

Your room looks gorgeous!
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It was definitely a rough start but it ended up being a wonderful getaway.

We had never been to the Boardwalk area before, and I really loved it! So beautiful, even on a hot day. I imagine it would be even better at night.

Sitting at the bar, I think we actually had a better experience than had we been sitting at a table. We enjoyed getting to watch them prepare all of the desserts and seeing how much goes into each one.


ZFamily5 said:
Lurked on several of your earlier TRs but decided to more vocally join in for this one!

Love Beaches & Cream. I was shocked at how small the interior is as well, but it kind of adds to the charm, I think.

Can't wait to read more about the podcast events!
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Awesome!! Thanks for joining & commenting!!!

It definitely does hold a special kind of charm with its small size. All of the other Disney restaurants seem to be huge and all about getting in as many people as possible. It's neat to think they still have this little place tucked away to get great food and desserts.

Grumpy's Wife said:
Ice cream is my weakness and those sundae's looked fabulous. I know I should probably share too but hey it's vacation.

I love the idea of taking pictures with Lightening McQueen. What a fun way for your son to see your adventures with his special toy.
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YES! I even posted the picture on Facebook with the caption "It's a good thing calories don't count on vacation." In our normal life, we would absolutely share something of that size, but when in Disney, all bets are off!!

I was so glad I thought of it. DS really got a kick out of the pictures we would send to him, and he never really seemed jealous of where we were or what we were doing. He just wanted to see what Lightning was up to! And it kept him interested in talking to us, because a lot of times when we are away from him, he HATES talking on the phone or FaceTiming with us.
 
I am excited to hear about this trip. Now that I've got two toddlers, I always catch myself imagining what it'll be like when Alex and I get to go back to Disney without the kids. I loved that you guys were able to sneak in this long weekend, even if it did mean you had to leave the kids when they were sick. Glad you took them both to the doctor beforehand and got them the medication they needed.

How fun seeing all the podcasters! I've been reading Phil's recap of the MegaMeet, and it just seems so cool, to attend those events with folks you watch on youtube every week.

The ice cream at Beaches and Cream is the best. Smart idea on splitting an entree. And I'm sure the dessert tasted just a tad bit sweeter due to the fact that you didn't have to share with any tots. :rotfl2:
 
amazingact21 said:
I am excited to hear about this trip. Now that I've got two toddlers, I always catch myself imagining what it'll be like when Alex and I get to go back to Disney without the kids. I loved that you guys were able to sneak in this long weekend, even if it did mean you had to leave the kids when they were sick. Glad you took them both to the doctor beforehand and got them the medication they needed.

How fun seeing all the podcasters! I've been reading Phil's recap of the MegaMeet, and it just seems so cool, to attend those events with folks you watch on youtube every week.

The ice cream at Beaches and Cream is the best. Smart idea on splitting an entree. And I'm sure the dessert tasted just a tad bit sweeter due to the fact that you didn't have to share with any tots. :rotfl2:
Click to expand...

I was definitely glad we caught it all before we left so at least both of the kids were able to be checked out before we had to leave. I would have really hated if something new had happened while we were gone!

It was pretty cool to see the ones we knew again, and to meet the ones we hadn't met yet. We really loved hanging out with the Martins later on in the trip, too! They have always been the podcasters most like us, young family with small kids, from Louisiana, etc.

OH YES! Dessert ALWAYS tastes better when you don't have to share!!! lol It was the best decision to split food and try out two different desserts. But if we ever go back, I'm sure we'd just get one sundae to share. They are huge!!
 
Day 1 Continued: Friday July 22nd

Soon enough, we arrived at DHS.


July 01-028 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-029 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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Our first stop was to head straight to TSM before our FP+ window expired. We had already missed our Star Tours time by going to the Contemporary first, but we weren’t really worried about that one.


July 01-030 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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When we got to the merge point for standby and FP+, there were only a few groups ahead of us, but everyone was at a complete standstill and everyone that had gone up the steps to the original track was coming back down and crossing over to the new track! Apparently they were having technical difficulties, so the entire original side was not operating and everyone had to use the new track. There were some people losing their minds over this, complaining and storming out of the line. But we kept our cool, stuck it out, and soon enough we were going over to the new track!


Lightning got in on the TSM fun too.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-037 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It was cool to see the new track, despite having to wait a little longer! On the way out, they were handing out anytime FPs. They couldn’t be used at TSM, but we held on to them and hoped we could use them for RnRC before regular park closing.


Then, we went over to ToT to use our last FP+. It’s been ages since we had been able to ride this together!


July 01-043 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It was pretty crowded down this way as people were pouring into Fantasmic.


Continued in next post...
 
Day 1 Continued: Friday July 22nd

We didn’t have time to go ride RnRC, even with a FP, because we needed to go find spots for the Star Wars Galactic Spectacular. On the way, I told DH I wanted to stop really quick at Rosie’s for a cup of ice water to drink while watching the show. Unfortunately, it didn’t turn out to be so quick!! If you’ve never done this, you still have to stop at the register and tell them you want an ice water and they give you a receipt even though it’s free. Usually, I go up to the counter and get my drink in a minute or two. But that night, they were just passing me over continuously as they handed out trays of food. I’m not impatient, so I just waited. And waited. And waited. The lady behind me with her grandchild was waiting too because all she had ordered was a milk. And no one seemed interested in giving us our drinks and letting us be on our way.

When I was finally ready to say something about how long I had been waiting, suddenly there were no CM’s to be found at that end of the counter! Finally, I was able to flag down a CM and let him know I was just waiting on a water and the lady behind me just needed a milk. He was very apologetic and gave the lady her milk and a cupcake for the grandchild, and gave me a free bottled water instead of just the cup. That was really nice of him! The lady thanked me, and we went on our way. I found DH and we headed to the front of the Chinese Theater to find a spot to wait for the nighttime show. It was already pretty packed by then.


July 01-054 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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It was about 9:10 and the show started at 9:30, so we had a little bit of waiting around until it started. We were both really looking forward to seeing this after how much we enjoyed the Star Wars fireworks we saw in February. Buuuuuuttttt…I know some people love this show, but it didn’t live up to the hype for us.

The fireworks were off to either side of the theater, so they were difficult to see fully. The rest was projections, which again were cool, but hard to see because it’s not the same as watching projections on something as large as Cinderella Castle. So, it was okay, but not great for me. DH did take some pictures though.


Pretty much the second the show ended, DH picked up his tripod and we hurried as quickly as we could through the crowds to get over to RnRC to use our bonus FP before regular park closing time arrived.


Both the single rider and standby lines were PACKED! We were very happy we had those bonus FPs to use!! In no time at all, we were heading into the studio to see Aerosmith.


July 01-076 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-077 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Good thing DH got this pic this time, since it’s the last time we’d ever see Steven Tyler’s hand gesture as is! Lol


July 01-078 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-079 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


PhotoPass_Visiting_STUDIO_7752039105 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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Man, I had forgotten how fun that ride is!! The launch is amazing! We had the live version of Sweet Emotion playing for our ride.


Continued in next post...
 
Day 1 Continued: Friday July 22nd

We stopped to get a Mickey pretzel and a water to share, then walked over to Star Tours once EMH had officially started.


July 01-082 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-083 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-084 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-085 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-086 by disneymom1024, on Flickr


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr
Lightning enjoyed the ride too.​

You may know from my other TRs how much DS loves building a droid in the exit gift shop before we leave. So we thought it would be fun to let Lightning build one!


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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DH wanted to take a few minutes to go take some nighttime shots of the Muppets fountain.

We walked over to Pixar Place to check the wait time at TSM to see if we could get back on that.


July 01-092 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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That one was still a little too long, so we went back over to RnRC to check that one.


July 01-093 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
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Nope, that one was still too long too. But ToT was only 20 minutes, so we decided to do that one more time.


After that, we were ready to go. It was about 11:50 at that point.


We stopped for one more photo op with Lightning because DS always likes to stop for a picture with this guy.


Untitled by disneymom1024, on Flickr


July 01-102 by disneymom1024, on Flickr​

It had been a great night at DHS! After the rain, the humidity had dropped and the weather was actually pleasant all evening. I had really not been expecting that, because usually during the summer it’s so humid at night that it never really cools off.

We got onto a bus quickly and made it back to the Contemporary around 12:30, but it was about another hour before we were able to get to bed for the night. I’m definitely not used to being up at that time of night anymore! So needless to say, I was asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow.

UP NEXT: Rope Drop or Sleep In?
 
Joining in - definitely interesting to hear your take on the weekend (especially since I know you guys got to a number of the smaller events)

So sorry about the challenges with the kids being sick - hope that the did ok while you were goin and no major issues

That is so great you were able to take advantage of the great rates at the contemporary ... I fully agree with you about those sinks!

Looks like a good time at Beaches & Cream - are the bar seats ADRs as well or was that just the wait for standby for them? Those desserts look amazing!

Seems like a fun and productive evening at DHS. It's amazing how some people really do flip out when there is a delay or something goes wrong - but good job keeping your cool! nice that they gave out those FPs though

Great pictures of the outside of ToT!

Sorry you didn't like the Star Wars show better. We really liked it - not sure if have the reserved viewing area helped a bit though ... just really liked feeling like we were "in" the show with all the lazer lights and then hearing Darth Vader's breathing all around you, etc. Do agree about the Fireworks being off to the side takes away from it a bit
 
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