~~ Sew your Disney side Alli-son-son!! ~~ Allison's grad trip Jan 2016 ~~ Complete 2/22

[Iamthequeen]

SOG looks great. I'm going to tell Jim and Karen about it since they are planning a trip next year to take the grandkids. Jim is retired from the US Marine Corps, so I guess that means he qualifies to stay there.

 

[lovegrumpy]

Can't wait to see how your trip went.

 

[Ladyfish77]

ACK! How did I miss the start of this TR? I've been watching for it! Page 4, that's just embarrasing!

I was really nervous about that, since Josh had retired since the last time we stayed there.

I didn't realize you were worrying about this, or I would have told you you'd be fine! I checked in without DH (who is also retired) last November and had no problems. We stayed in the Palms wing, and the rooms had been updated and were nice. Glad you enjoyed your room--and your view was awesome--I like it better than our golf course view.

Sorry to hear Allison is sick--that seems to happen every time you visit Disney. I hope she's starting to feel better.

Looking forward to your report. Did you feel like the hike from Poly to SoG wasn't as bad as you remembered now that you are in such great shape?

 

[think-like-tink]

Love those bags, ladies!

 

[Wood Nymph]

I'm glad that you had a great room location. I can tell by the map that it made your walk to the lobby very short.

I love those nachos at Captain Cooke's. They have made that restaurant look a lot nicer than it used to look. The view is improved, too.

 

[Chicago Mo]

YAY for your Dis meet with a great person!!! SoG does look beautiful!!!
OH MY POLY... What have they done to you..

 

[DMGeurts]

Awesome start.

Thank you!

Some how I missed the day 1 part 1 update!

But all caught up now!

Happy she can get a free nail redo!

I hope Alison's teeth are feeing better now and during the trip she is able to enjoy most of her favorites! Long layovers are never fun, but sometimes the price or times are just right!

Hotel room and location looks great! I don't qualify to stay at SoG but it sure does look nice and seems to have a lot of selling points!

I think I've said this before, but I feel like saying it again hope you don't mind... I really love your relationship with your girls and I really hope I have a close relationship with my daughter when the time comes.

Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip!

Yay!!! Welcome here!

I hope so too... Her teeth are doing pretty good. She still can't open her jaw all the way - and she does have a little pain on the top teeth, but otherwise - she is back to eating mostly normal foods... her biggest issue is things like sandwiches and hamburgers - even though they are soft enough for her - it's hard for her to open her mouth wide enough to get them in - so she has to smoosh everything down.

The room and location were just fabulous... We are definitely full converts!

Thank you... I am lucky to have such a good relationship with them... I know that one day, you will have the same.

I am so exited to share it with all of you!!!! I think that's why I write them so fast? I just get so excited to share. LOL

I'm so glad the owner is going to fix Allison's nails. I had mine done last week and my gel manicures usually last three weeks...this time it's already cracking and chipping off and it's only been a week and a half. *Sigh*

You have me convinced to look into SoG for our next trip! The extra space in the room would be very, very nice!

Yes - I am not sure when we will get in there? Hopefully this week? I normally do gel manicures too - I love them, but this time my nails were so dry/cracked/short - I had to do acrylics if I wanted them to look half-way decent. I have 9 months to grow them out and make them normal again.

You do need to - it's just an amazing resort... And such a great resource for service members and their families!

Wish i could have met you... we at least could have went for Breakfast!

Or do it in Midway...

Love the report. can't wait to read more. It's fun to get the story behind the pictures!

It's OK... That would have been fun - but I probably would have been a wreck the entire time, knowing I'd have to get through security on time again... Next time!

I am glad you are enjoying it!

I'm glad you were able to get a room in your desired location. The large room and extra space are great!

I love Captain Cook's. I always get the pork nachos; they are so good! Sorry about the long wait to get your food. That must be a common theme at CC. When we stayed at the Poly last summer we waited quite awhile for some of our meals at CC.

I was so excited about our room location - it really was perfect!

Mmmm... Those pork nachos were amazing! I didn't mind waiting - it just really seemed like it took a long time - and we were soooo hungry - not having lunch & all. It was worth the wait though!

Ugh, I definitely don't envy your travel days! I love my quick hour flight down to Orlando.

The town car sounds interesting but I just love the DME so much that I think I would feel like I was missing something by taking a different mode of transportation. Granted I've never had a bad experience with DME before.

SOG looks like a beautiful resort, so glad you weren't kicked out.

Yah - this one was particularly crazy! I am glad it was at the beginning of the trip though and not the end.

I know - so many love DME... I dunno... In the end - it just frustrates me... It's like a trip of lines and bus waiting and DME just adds to that for me. It was so nice just to hop in the towncar and go.

Hahaha - me too! LOL It was a beautiful resort and one I am so happy to be able to stay at! I am not sure we will ever stay at a Disney resort again? The convenience of SoG - and their amazing bus system - well, it leaves a lot lacking with Disney. I am hoping that one day, I can talk you guys into staying there with me, so you can see what I mean.

What, 3rd page!!! As always you are a popular girl!! I am late to the party as usual! I have been busy catching up at work and with family stuff (two birthday parties for nephews as soon as we arrived home).
A four hour layover sounds tough, especially when you are so excited to start your vacation. I hope the layover home wasn't as long!
I love the Shades of Green room pictures! What a beautiful resort .

I was excited that we would be in Disney at the same time again and be resort neighbors! Thank you for the kind words...
Yummy dole whips! I do miss the orange flavor in the Magic Kingdom

Monica

Hahaha.... I love you! You are never late - I just get so excited that I can't contain myself. LOL I am glad you've been busy with family since you've been home - how wonderful... I hope they boy's parties went well?

The layover home was much better... A hair short - but manageable.

That was so cool! I love it when my trips overlap with friends!

What great start! Your SOG room is huge & what awesome view too!

It really set the tone for our entire trip - a great start like that just really added so much magic to everything. I was super excited about our view - but to be honest, we didn't open the curtains often - since it was so cold while we were down there, the curtains helped keep some of the heat in our room. Yes - this MN girl was VERY disappointed in her ability to tolerate the cold temps in FL.

Yay, so excited to follow your trip!!

Yay!!! So happy to have you here!

Cool, I'm here just in time!

Welcome!!! So happy to have you here and following along!

I am so happy you liked SoG. It looks like a beautiful resort.
Yeah for getting to see Monica.

I loved it there - I am not sure I want to stay anywhere else at the moment? LOL I think I am a total SoG convert? And it's always great to bump into an old friend!

How great you were able to get exactly what you want!

WOW! Now that would be cool!

Oh I'm so excited to hear about this review!

This QS tends to be very good! Better then some!

That looks heavenly - my favorite Disney World treat!

Great picture! And both bags are so cute! How nice you were able to meet up with a friend on the first night!

I'm curious, ow long does the walk take? And is there a bus to take to POLY from SOG if you want?

So pretty!! Sounds like you and Allison had a great start to your trip. Looking forward to reading more!

Hi Alison!! SO happy to have you here and following along!

I just love Disney food and those nachos at the Poly really rank in my top QS meals.

I was just so excited that she loaned me that bag - it was a huge help!

Well, the walk takes about 5 min... At the most... It's not that long - but at the end of a park day, it's not that appealing. Allison and I found a great way to avoid this walk - which I will talk about later in my TR - I don't think we discovered it until a couple days into our trip?

I am very excited to share this trip with all of you!

sounds like a great first day!

It was - it was so nice just to go to WDW and not have to worry about getting to a park - the most imperative thing we had to do was to find dinner... It was so relaxing to enjoy that first day exploring and relaxing.

So glad you got to meet up with Monica again! I had so much fun chatting with her on the November trip.

I haven't seen the new Poly lobby completed yet and I doubt I will make it there this weekend. One of these day's I'll get to see it!

I do the same thing as you with the bags! Switching over the night before makes the morning go so much smoother.

I was so excited that she was going to be there again - we were able to meet up several times.

I hope you do get to see it soon - it is beautiful... Different, but beautiful.

Yes - it's very stressful having to do it in the morning... At night, I am so tired and sometimes I really have to coax myself to switch bags, but in the morning, I am glad that all I have to do is add my charged items and go.

Great start to your trip report. I like the idea of taking your children to Disney during their Senior year. I can relate to long layovers in O'Hare as I had two over 6 hours within 3 days this summer.

Thank you - welcome!!!! I am so glad that this is something I decided to do years ago... It's something we've looked forward to and planned for a long time - and it makes the final moments of them living at home a little less sad, because we have something fun and memorable to do.

Eeek!!!! Yikes - no fun!!!

The view out your window is beautiful. I never knew about SoG. It looks like a really nice resort. I think that's incredible that the Poly is within walking distance. That must be convenient. I still can't believe how early you got up. I'm sure a 7:45 bedtime was easy considering you'd been up for so long. I hope Allison is feeling better.

It was wonderful - I am so glad I asked the front desk if there was anything else available... He gave me the option of 2 other rooms, but we chose this one.

Hahahaha... Yah - that early morning start was really terrible - I am sure Monica can vouch that I hit a wall about 2 hours prior. LOL I barely remember falling into bed.

Thanks - she did go to school today - she isn't 100% yet, but she is close enough that she could go back. Hoping she does well on her finals.

Looking forward to more!!!!

Yay!!! Welcome! So happy to have you here and following along!

SOG looks great. I'm going to tell Jim and Karen about it since they are planning a trip next year to take the grandkids. Jim is retired from the US Marine Corps, so I guess that means he qualifies to stay there.

You should! I think it depends - for retirees - how long they were in service? I could be wrong? But I was told - as long as he has commissary privileges, then he would have SoG privileges. It's an excellent resort, and a great way to be able to stay on Disney property if a person qualifies. www.shadesofgreen.org

Can't wait to see how your trip went.

I am so excited to share it with all of you!

ACK! How did I miss the start of this TR? I've been watching for it! Page 4, that's just embarrasing!


I didn't realize you were worrying about this, or I would have told you you'd be fine! I checked in without DH (who is also retired) last November and had no problems. We stayed in the Palms wing, and the rooms had been updated and were nice. Glad you enjoyed your room--and your view was awesome--I like it better than our golf course view.

Sorry to hear Allison is sick--that seems to happen every time you visit Disney. I hope she's starting to feel better.

Looking forward to your report. Did you feel like the hike from Poly to SoG wasn't as bad as you remembered now that you are in such great shape?

Hahahha... No worries - I was so excited to tell everyone about our trip - I jumped in with both feet! Welcome! I am so happy to have you here!

Yah - I was pretty worried about it actually... But I knew that I could find somewhere to stay if I couldn't stay at SoG... So I tried to push it to the back of my mind.

I just love pool views the most - I don't know what it is that I love about them... I am sure I would love a castle view more - but I doubt that will ever happen, so I'll take the pool view.

It does - I think we are both fighting different things... She had a stomach bug and I have more of a dry throat/cough thing going on - nothing I can't work through though.

Well - I think we only did it that one time. I was very conscious of our steps, even though I am in great shape, Allison doesn't work out nearly as much as I do - and she definitely wasn't conditioned for this trip... So even though I didn't have an problems at all during the trip - towards the end, Allison was having a tough time. But don't worry - we found ways to use both transportation systems to our advantage.

D~

 

[DMGeurts]

Sorry guys.. You were posting as I was writing...

Love those bags, ladies!

Thank you! I think they look great together!

I'm glad that you had a great room location. I can tell by the map that it made your walk to the lobby very short.

I love those nachos at Captain Cooke's. They have made that restaurant look a lot nicer than it used to look. The view is improved, too.

It was very short - I wanted to take a picture from the door of our room looking at the resort store - because it was literally right there... But I never did. Oh well.

They were sooo good - one of my favorites! I really wanted to eat there for our last Disney meal - but we ended up somewhere totally different. I thought maybe they'd updated the restaurant since I had eaten there last? It was very nice!

YAY for your Dis meet with a great person!!! SoG does look beautiful!!!
OH MY POLY... What have they done to you..

It was wonderful! I hope that one day I can talk you guys into staying there with me... I can get up to 3 rooms if i sponsor you. And the rooms sleep 5... It's an idea.

Hehehe... I love the Poly!

 

[Pluto0809]

I am hoping that one day, I can talk you guys into staying there with me, so you can see what I mean.

Just tell me when and if I can make it work I will be there!!

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 2 Part 1

Sunday, January 17, 2016

I was up on my own at 4:45am... Surprisingly - I slept great.

I looked out our patio door and it was pouring rain - just as they had predicted. I grudgingly packed the ponchos in Allison's backpack.

I'd purchased a new coffee cup the night before at the SoG store - there was no way I could drink coffee for 9 mornings out of a paper cup... It was so hard to choose - as they had a lot of really cute ones... In the end, I purchased this one (I need a new coffee cup - like I need a hole in my head...)

Then I did my customary morning ritual of coffee/FB/Dis...

I woke Allison up at 5:30... And we proceeded to get ready for our first park day!

I did one last look at the radar and it appeared that all the rain for the day had moved through our area... As a risky move - we left the backpack of ponchos behind.

We were out the door at 7:15am.

A fun fact... Shades of Green has the ONLY resort Starbucks on Disney property - even though, as a whole, SoG food/restaurants are less than stellar - their coffee is amazing - so we took advantage of this luxury every morning. A blurry selfie with the SoG waterfall in the background.

We were on a nearly empty Animal Kingdom SoG bus at 7:30am that morning - the first park bus of the day.

There was NO line at bag check.

And no lines at the turn styles.

We stopped for a Photopass picture with out any crowds...

We walked straight back to Kilimanjaro Safari...

There was a long line here, because CMs were holding people here until the park officially opened.

Once the CMs let the line move, we walked continuously back to our vehicle and boarded without stopping.

This KS ride was amazing!!! All of the animals were out and active - especially the giraffes, as you see in a minute... It was a glorious non-rainy morning! I am glad we left the ponchos behind.

And probably the BEST part about this ride, is that a whole herd of giraffes crossed right in front of our vehicle... We could have reached our arms out and touched them - it was soooo cool! Excuse the weird giraffe neck photo - my phone camera has a strange delay on it - and sometimes the pictures turn out weird.

And then the lioness was laying so cute on top of this rock - both Alli and I said at the same time "she's laying just like Cooper..." It was so adorable - I know it's a bit hard to see because she is in a shadow...

By the time we were done with KS... We had a bit of time to kill... So - any guesses what we did???

I just love seeking out photopass photographers - it's so much fun to see what they capture.

Link to Day 2 Part 2

D~​

 

[cajunfan]

Beautiful pictures! I love AK in the morning! We had a similar thing happen with the giraffes on our trip in 2004 (my magical trip, I call it)...one giraffe was so close, that if Andrew (my friends son) had not backed up, it would have licked him! I actually have a picture of this...his (Andrew's) face was so funny, because he was so not expecting that. I will have to dig that one out...it of course it is a printed picture...you know the old days before digital pictures, lol.

I especially like the one where your backs are to the camera (not that I don't love your smiling faces, it is just unusual and really good)

I did not have a chance to post about the travel/first day. Holy cow that was really early to have to get up to be at the airport! Glad everything went smoothly. Before ME, we would always take a town car and do a grocery stop. This was always an amusing adventure, because it was usually me, my son Chris, my friend Suzanne and her son Andrew. Me, Chris and Andrew each had a normal size piece of luggage. Suzanne on the other hand, had fully loaded down multiple pieces of luggage (before most of the luggage restrictions were in force, although there was a weight limit which she always brushed up against, and always had a "HEAVY" tag on hers)...we could not always fit the entire amount of luggage in the trunk. And then we added groceries! I was excited when Garden Grocer started! Your dinner at Captain Cooks looks wonderful! May have to see if we can work that one in! Wish we could do SOG...I have heard nothing but good things about it.

I can't wait to read more!

 

[xlsm]

Animal Kingdom first thing in the morning is my FAVORITE. We had such a great experience in July with the emptiness before our 8am breakfast at Tusker House.

Love, love, LOVE the photo with your backs to the camera facing the Tree of Life!!

So jealous of the up close and person giraffe experience. That's amazing!!

 

[lovedonaldduck]

I only read your introduction post, so I have some catching up to do, but by the time I'm caught up I'll forget what I want to say. I think I've seen that picture of your sewing room a handful of times and I never noticed before how much I totally love your curtains! Gorgeous!

Thanks for reminding me that I haven't been here in ages and I'm missing out just sticking to Facebook. Looking forward to reading all about this super special trip.

 

[valerie160]

Just got all caught up and officially following along! I love the idea of a one on one mother daughter trip and I sooo want to do that with my girls when they get a bit older! And my oldest son too since he is my adventurous food-buddy (can we say F&W?).

My husband didn't retire from the military, but he did do 6 years. I wonder if SoG is only for active and retired military? I'll have to look into that. I didn't realize that it was so close to Poly!

I also wanted to note that I love love love your donald and goofy ears! Did you make those? They are so creative and gorgeous!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[DMGeurts]

Day 2 part 2

With a few Photopass pictures under our belt, these girls were hungry!!!! Time for one of our favorites - which, with any luck, wouldn't be a favorite for much longer...

We checked in early for our 9:10 adr at Tusker House - where the hostess informed us that they still had empty tables... I love hearing that!

It was a great breakfast - all of the characters came right away, so then we just ate in peace - that was so nice! Even with 2 people though - the CMs weren't always around to take pictures - so our last picture with Goofy ended up being a selfie... Glad I've honed my selfie skills.

And the food... My favorites here are the mealie pap and of course - the Mickey waffles.

Once we were done eating - we settled our bill and exited via the door right next to our table.... Convenient.

We walked straight to Expedition Everest - we rode together in the standby line, the wait time posted was 20 minutes, but it was actually 10 min. Nice!

We still had time to waste before our FP for EE, so we decided to ride standby agian, while we were waiting for Cindy (NolaCindy) to arrive. The posted wait time this time was 20 minutes, actual wait time was 20 minutes.

Allison and I boarded the ride... As she was sitting down, her hand slipped and she ripped her entire pinky nail off of her right hand! She was terrified and crying in pain, the whole time the CMs were trying to push down her safety bar... It was a total frenzy of a mess - because we were trying to get them to stop, yet they kept trying to buckle her in, the whole time, she was bleeding all over. Once we got them to stop for a second and show them that she was bleeding, they let us off of the ride. We kept asking the CMs (at least 2 different ones) where First Aid was - and not one of them could tell us. I was so angry, and Allison was crying... I cannot even begin to imagine how painful that was. And I was so irritated that no one could tell us where First Aid was - that was totally unacceptable - and beyond disappointing to me. Finally - we exited the ride in a spot where people don't normally exit, and Cindy was sitting there - Cindy knew that something was up as soon as she saw Allison's face and where we were exiting the ride from.

At this point - Allison was bleeding a lot, and it was dripping down her hand. I ran into the dump shop of EE, and asked the girl working the register if she had anything that would soak up blood... After a little digging around - she handed me a box of tissues. As I was grabbing tissues, I asked her where First Aid was... Again - she could not tell me.

I brought the tissues back to Allison, the whole time, Cindy was trying to look up First Aid on her phone - with out much luck. So, we started walking - we were guessing it was at the front of the park. As we were walking - finally - a custodial CM (Ronald) saw the blood soaked tissues, and inquired if Allison was OK (the first and only CM to be concerned at all) - he then told us where First Aid was - after telling us that it was unacceptable that no one before him knew. I love Ronald - and he saved the day definitely.

We made our way to First Aid - which, by the way, if you are wondering - is located on the other side of the bridge from Tusker House.

We checked in - and the nurse looked at Allison's finger - I guess it's Disney policy not to give medical advice - I understand that ~legally~ but it was still frustrating... The nurse made me bandage up her nail - gave us extra bandaging supplies... bandaids, bacitracin, guaze, and sent us on our merry way.

By now, Allison was tired of the messing around - and she didn't feel like she needed urgent care or anything... So back we trudged to EE to use our FPs which were about to expire... Still all smiles though...

On the way - we ran into CM Ronald again... I stopped to talk to him - he was very concerned about Allison asking "How is my Princess doing?" - it was very sweet of him to be so concerned, and in a sea of CMs who seemed to care less - it was nice to have one who did.

We also stopped to have a Dismeet with Jennifer (LovesDonaldDuck) and her family... While we were waiting - I grabbed a picture with Cindy... Cindy is just the sweetest - we were able to spend so much time with her this trip, and it was a lot of fun... We both just love her so much!

Yay - Jennifer and her family arrived - they are so cute and so sweet! It was so fun meeting them! And her daughters - awwww... They were adorable! Both of them... They remind me of my girls when they were little - except Jennifer's girls were much better behaved and well mannered. A quick Dismeet photo and we were on our way again...

We finished our trek to EE - where all 3 of us had FPs together, and we rode... And we enjoyed it - it was important that we face the Yeti who took off Allison's nail!

After our ride - one was enough...

We headed to Dinoland - where we all had FPs for Primeval Whirl... Stopping in a really long Photopass line on the way...

We walked right on to PW... I know Cindy took a pic of Allison and I on this ride - I don't have it, but maybe she will post it?

We had FPs for Dinosaur - but they were still hours away... We decided to share a jalapeno pretzel...

And meet Dug and Russell...

And then Allison and I decided we were hungry - I really wanted to take her to eat lunch at Mara in AKL - and show her a bit of that resort... Cindy offered to drop us off - which was super nice of her... We stopped for a few Photopass pictures on our way out of the park...

In all of our years coming to WDW - this was our very first experience leaving a Disney park via car... On the way to AKL - we joked with Cindy that she could be taking us anywhere, and we'd never know it. To our great relief - she brought us right to AKL, via Kidani first... We said our goodbyes and planned to meet up again... I just have to say here - Cindy is an amazing and sweet person - both Allison and I love her so much - she is so fun to be around and such a caring person... I am so lucky to have her as a friend.

Link to Day 2 Part 3

D~​

 

[rdkeim]

Great start to your trip! Your room at SOG looks awesome - roomy and a wonderful view. There's something I too love about a pool view. It really feels like "vacation". I was worried when I read about the pinky incident! But, it looks like after some initial drama you were able to go forward having a fun day.

 

[MPWife153]

I cannot believe that not one CM, besides Ronald! Glad to hear that the awful experience didn't end up ruining the rest of the day. As always, you guys have some great PhotoPass pics!

 

[OregonMomToWDW]

I can't believe I got so far behind. It wasn't showing up in my watched thread list. Anyway, now I am caught up.

Loved the SoG rooms. Looks very roomy and with a sofa.

Shameful that the CMs did not know where the First Aid was. Yay for CM Ronald. Allison really had a rough week (wisdom teeth and pinky). Hopefully, she ran out of all her bad luck and she got to enjoy the rest of her vacation.

When we went to Universal from Disney on two days, I decided I wanted to try 2 different modes of transportation. The shuttle and the town car. The shuttle picked up 2-3 more families after us. We were jammed packed in that van. There was a large bus that took you back. We seemed to stop at every hotel in town before we even made it back onto Disney soil. It was ok for the price. The next day, was the town car. So much nicer, just us. Go straight there and back. If I wasn't trying to save as much as I can on these trips, I would probably do a town car to and from the airport also.

 

[JoeyEmmaMomma]

Your poor daughter! Hope her hand is doing ok now.
I'd write Disney about your experience. Being able to direct a guest to first aid seems like something all CM should have to know how to do.

 

[lovedonaldduck]

Okay, I am here and caught up and ready to participate as I should.

I am so glad that we finally got to meet! My girls must have been on their best behavior if you thought they were well mannered Over the past few months the sibling rivalry and bickering has really kicked up a few levels and it is driving me nuts. I hope someday our paths will cross again and maybe we'll get to spend some time together.

I need SOG advice, we are either going to stay there or POFQ for our family trip in November (4 of us plus my parents) - 2 rooms at either resort. We've stayed at SOG before, but never for a longer trip. My concerns are food and transportation - we've always walked to Poly and used their transportation and food before but I'm not sure that walk will be a viable option for my mom every day this trip given her health. I'll be paying close attention to your transportation experiences.