kellyjeanie
Grotesquely optimistic
- Joined
- Feb 1, 2012
Ok I'm sorry this is super long but I wanted to get something down somewhere!
We had a great trip. I didn't get on here or Facebook much, I felt like we were always running! I think my only regret is again not stopping to get enough Photo Pass pictures, I'd see the photographer but we'd be on our way somewhere, or the kids were exhausted, or whatever. We stayed in CBR in Jamaica 42, I was hoping for something closer to OPR but that was as close as they could get us due to Pop Warner descending on the resort at the end of our stay. Put those kids in the boonies, they can handle the walk, lol. But the room was clean and comfortable, housekeeping was good. We only ate at the resort twice, on our last night and then breakfast our last morning, food was good. I think the resort had the best options for kids' meals with all the side choices. Main pool was fantastic, even though we only got to use it twice. We used the Jamaica pool one night while I did some laundry, kids had fun there too. I thought the buses were great, the only night we had a problem wasn't really Disney's fault.
We arrived Friday night 11/25, stayed in a Hyatt near the airport that had a shuttle. Very nice room. Got back to MCO early Saturday to take DME to CBR. Our room was ready right away but we were in Jamaica 41 so I asked if they had anything closer - they managed to get us to Jamaica 42 which was pretty much the same, lol. But I felt better that I tried and they did their best to accommodate. We headed to Epcot for lunch at GG. Super tasty food and fun character interaction. I was happy we started our trip there. We headed out into a really busy Epcot but got a lot more done than I had hoped. Did the Seas and Test Track, got through the right side of World Showcase up to Japan. It was crowded but manageable. We even ran into a Mr. Smee and Captain Hook M&G! We had reservations at Marrakesh, it was pretty good. I got the beef kebab, very nicely cooked. Kids meals were terrible, I wish they had something more interesting for them than hamburger or chicken nuggets! We stayed for Illuminations. It was a little chilly but that was our only cold night.
Sunday was our first full day. We had PPO BOG, I had hoped to get in there earlier than our reservation but we didn't make it until 8:20 and by the time we got out we missed our chance for 7D. Food was really good, DH ordered the Croque Madame (yum), ODS got the cronut (super sweet but really good). I got the assorted meats and cheeses, I really enjoyed it! The pastries were ok. DD got the kids crepes, I thought they were good but she was unimpressed. YDS ordered the oatmeal, it was very no-frills but he loved putting his own toppings on. They didn't have any allergy pastries for his peanut allergy but he had plenty to eat. From there we headed out to Fantasyland - teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, all walk ons that time of day. Made our way over to HM, then BMTRR and SM. Lunch at Pecos Bill, SO PACKED holy cow, food not bad. Jingle Cruise, then picked up 4th FP for Pirates. While waiting saw the Captain Jack show, very cute. Decided to skip out when the party crowds started coming in and headed to Disney Springs. We got the poutine! Sooooooo good. I want to try to recreate that at home!
Monday we went to HS. Had hoped to get there early for the JTA sign up but didn't get there until 8:30ish, and by the time we got back to the sign up the line was an hour long! Kids still wanted to do it so we waited. By the time we got up to the front the times were in the afternoon which was fine with us. They gave us the anytime fast pass. I had hoped to head to RNRC from there but the lines were long by then. We hit our TOT fast pass (our first time - fun!!), cupcakes at Starring Rolls, then Toy Story. I felt like we crisscrossed the park all day! I don't remember the exact order but we did Star Tours 3 times (kids elected to use our anytime fast pass there instead of Toy Story, I was surprised), Frozen sing-a-long (fun show, even managed to get Frozen-hating 11-year-old to smile), Beauty and the Beast show, Jedi Training. I managed to get a FP for RNRC and we used rider swap. H&V dinner was really good for a buffet, we thought. Good character interaction. No problem finding a good seat for JBJB 30-45 mins out, the fireworks and lighting were good though the story felt slapped on and unnecessary. Never did find the time to get over to Launch Bay but saw the Stormtrooper parade a couple times.
Tuesday, ODS and DH went to Universal which was my son's favorite part of the trip. They only did HP, the ride lines were all very short. They had a great time. My 8-year-old, 5-year-old, and I slept in and went to MK for lunch in the castle and a few fast passes. Only bummer was the Photo Pass pictures with Rapunzel, no flash so they're terrible. Otherwise fun. We cut out late afternoon to do a little swimming and met up with DH and ODS, went to AK for dinner at Y&Y quick service and a couple nighttime EE rides. Y&Y was alright, not worth going out of the way for but decent mall-style Chinese. She forgot to give me my son's chicken nuggets but insisted she did, that was annoying but whatever.
Wednesday we were back at Epcot, got there around 11. Did the left side of WS, up to Japan again so my 11-year-old could shop. Got kind of rainy in the afternoon. Met Anna & Elsa (line moved quick!), fast pass for FEA, rode the ride in Mexico, had a fantastic lunch at Biergarten (chef even brought out some allergy safe cookies and candy for youngest). Went back to Future World to wait to see Baymax (quick line), Joy and Sadness (probably our longest wait of the trip, had to be 45 minutes but worth it), managed to snag fast pass for Soarin, though the standby wasn't all that long, DH and oldest waited about 15 minutes for Soarin while I was waiting with younger 2 for J&S. We did Mission Space, kids loved it. I did green with younger two, DH and oldest did orange. We had a fast pass but standby was a walk on. We decided to trek back to Morocco to get shawarma for dinner, caught the last boat from Canada. Yum, that was tasty, so worth it. Had to walk alllllll the way back from Morocco to get out of the park to take the monorail to MK for Wishes. Again got there later than I wanted to, it was after 9 but got lucky and got a spot right between Casey's and The Plaza on main street. Kids were soooooo tired, they were fighting before the fireworks started and my oldest cried through the show. We waited for Celebrate the Magic, that went better. We had kicked around staying in MK for a few late night rides but the kids were so done. Instead of fighting the crowds the kids were hungry so we decided to go get a snack at Cosmic Ray - dumb idea, by the time we were done there we had to walk further to get out and the buses were still mobbed. It was well after midnight by the time we got back to our room.
Thursday morning we had to be back at MK for 8:25 BBB. Again, had hoped to get there earlier to be done earlier but we ended up being about 15 minutes late. They got us in no problem and there was no wait at Castle Couture for pictures but it was still well after 9 by the time we were done. Got a sweet roll at Gaston's and did our 7D fast pass. The lines over at SM and BTMRR were short so we went over there, rode SM once (walk on) and BTMRR twice (short waits). Had lunch at Casey's, Space Mountain fast pass, Peter Pan fast pass. Peter Pan was so underwhelming, TBH! I would not wait in an hour line for that. After late night the day before we decided to cut it short after hitting a few more rides. Got fast pass for IASW (haha yes we did), fast pass for Buzz, headed out for a nap. And the kids actually napped, that never happens.
Thursday night we had ADR for Ohana at 7:30. Left the room at 6. Immediately realized none of us were wearing magic bands, had to call to get someone to let us back in. That didn't take long, we were at the bus stop by probably 6:15 to get a bus back to MK. The bus had to stop at all the villages since there were people on the bus coming from MK so it took forever. Got to MK by 7 to catch the monorail but ran into everyone leaving MK because of the party, took forever to get on the monorail and didn't get to Ohana until 8. Yes, it took us 2 hours to get from our room to Ohana, mostly due to poor planning on my part! They were nice and got us a table but we still had to wait an hour after we got there. Finally got seated at 9 pm. Definitely worth the wait, food was amazing and I would definitely eat there again! So glad we got a nap in, the kids were troopers. Only peanut allergy flag was the dip, chef kindly came out and talked to us. After dinner I decided I'd run to Disney Springs while DH took the kids back to the room so he rode with me to catch the CBR bus in DS. Well, DS may have been open until midnight but the shops start closing at 11. By the time I got off the bus, buzzed through the Disney store, decided to walk across the bridge to the Christmas store, whipped through there for some ornaments and then walked back to the stop, my family was still waiting for the bus. By the time I walked all the way around to the bus stop they were gone but I got on 10 mins after they did.
Friday was our last day.
We made it to AK around 9:30, walked back for our safari fast pass. Such a good ride, so many animals!! We did Lion King, Kali Rapids, EE a couple times. Hiked out for late lunch at Sanaa, it was pretty good. The bread service was amazing. The entrees were alright, DH and ODS enjoyed the butter chicken. ODS ordered the Tandoori shrimp but he didn’t like it. I am glad we went to Sanaa because I felt I expanded my food horizons but other than the bread service I don't think I'd go back. The kids' meals were at least interesting though my 5-year-old ordered the boring hamburger and it was the worst we'd had, the bun was so bad but I didn't bother to get it replaced because he wasn't that hungry anyway. The view was neat, with the animals. After lunch we kicked around going to another park but I couldn't get any decent fast passes anywhere but AK so we went back to close down the park at EE and Dinosaur, and we did an awesome sunset safari. Found a great cache of Tsum Tsums in the Dinosaur gift shop, not that we didn't get any elsewhere, we came home with close to 2 dozen of those things.
And that's it. Saturday morning we went and used our last quick service for breakfast at CBR, made our way to the DME bus and home. My 11-year-old left his Nintendo DS at the gate in the Orlando airport, didn't realize until we were in the air. Hopefully we get that back. Landed in Milwaukee around 5:30, made it home to Michigan around 11. Oh, never eat at the Grafton, WI KFC, it's terrible. We made it home just fine but my 5-year-old started throwing up around 2 a.m., he seems fine now, must have been the junk food and the traveling. Nobody else is sick, whew. Didn't get any homework done while we were gone, whoops.
We had a great trip. I didn't get on here or Facebook much, I felt like we were always running! I think my only regret is again not stopping to get enough Photo Pass pictures, I'd see the photographer but we'd be on our way somewhere, or the kids were exhausted, or whatever. We stayed in CBR in Jamaica 42, I was hoping for something closer to OPR but that was as close as they could get us due to Pop Warner descending on the resort at the end of our stay. Put those kids in the boonies, they can handle the walk, lol. But the room was clean and comfortable, housekeeping was good. We only ate at the resort twice, on our last night and then breakfast our last morning, food was good. I think the resort had the best options for kids' meals with all the side choices. Main pool was fantastic, even though we only got to use it twice. We used the Jamaica pool one night while I did some laundry, kids had fun there too. I thought the buses were great, the only night we had a problem wasn't really Disney's fault.
We arrived Friday night 11/25, stayed in a Hyatt near the airport that had a shuttle. Very nice room. Got back to MCO early Saturday to take DME to CBR. Our room was ready right away but we were in Jamaica 41 so I asked if they had anything closer - they managed to get us to Jamaica 42 which was pretty much the same, lol. But I felt better that I tried and they did their best to accommodate. We headed to Epcot for lunch at GG. Super tasty food and fun character interaction. I was happy we started our trip there. We headed out into a really busy Epcot but got a lot more done than I had hoped. Did the Seas and Test Track, got through the right side of World Showcase up to Japan. It was crowded but manageable. We even ran into a Mr. Smee and Captain Hook M&G! We had reservations at Marrakesh, it was pretty good. I got the beef kebab, very nicely cooked. Kids meals were terrible, I wish they had something more interesting for them than hamburger or chicken nuggets! We stayed for Illuminations. It was a little chilly but that was our only cold night.
Sunday was our first full day. We had PPO BOG, I had hoped to get in there earlier than our reservation but we didn't make it until 8:20 and by the time we got out we missed our chance for 7D. Food was really good, DH ordered the Croque Madame (yum), ODS got the cronut (super sweet but really good). I got the assorted meats and cheeses, I really enjoyed it! The pastries were ok. DD got the kids crepes, I thought they were good but she was unimpressed. YDS ordered the oatmeal, it was very no-frills but he loved putting his own toppings on. They didn't have any allergy pastries for his peanut allergy but he had plenty to eat. From there we headed out to Fantasyland - teacups, Dumbo, Barnstormer, all walk ons that time of day. Made our way over to HM, then BMTRR and SM. Lunch at Pecos Bill, SO PACKED holy cow, food not bad. Jingle Cruise, then picked up 4th FP for Pirates. While waiting saw the Captain Jack show, very cute. Decided to skip out when the party crowds started coming in and headed to Disney Springs. We got the poutine! Sooooooo good. I want to try to recreate that at home!
Monday we went to HS. Had hoped to get there early for the JTA sign up but didn't get there until 8:30ish, and by the time we got back to the sign up the line was an hour long! Kids still wanted to do it so we waited. By the time we got up to the front the times were in the afternoon which was fine with us. They gave us the anytime fast pass. I had hoped to head to RNRC from there but the lines were long by then. We hit our TOT fast pass (our first time - fun!!), cupcakes at Starring Rolls, then Toy Story. I felt like we crisscrossed the park all day! I don't remember the exact order but we did Star Tours 3 times (kids elected to use our anytime fast pass there instead of Toy Story, I was surprised), Frozen sing-a-long (fun show, even managed to get Frozen-hating 11-year-old to smile), Beauty and the Beast show, Jedi Training. I managed to get a FP for RNRC and we used rider swap. H&V dinner was really good for a buffet, we thought. Good character interaction. No problem finding a good seat for JBJB 30-45 mins out, the fireworks and lighting were good though the story felt slapped on and unnecessary. Never did find the time to get over to Launch Bay but saw the Stormtrooper parade a couple times.
Tuesday, ODS and DH went to Universal which was my son's favorite part of the trip. They only did HP, the ride lines were all very short. They had a great time. My 8-year-old, 5-year-old, and I slept in and went to MK for lunch in the castle and a few fast passes. Only bummer was the Photo Pass pictures with Rapunzel, no flash so they're terrible. Otherwise fun. We cut out late afternoon to do a little swimming and met up with DH and ODS, went to AK for dinner at Y&Y quick service and a couple nighttime EE rides. Y&Y was alright, not worth going out of the way for but decent mall-style Chinese. She forgot to give me my son's chicken nuggets but insisted she did, that was annoying but whatever.
Wednesday we were back at Epcot, got there around 11. Did the left side of WS, up to Japan again so my 11-year-old could shop. Got kind of rainy in the afternoon. Met Anna & Elsa (line moved quick!), fast pass for FEA, rode the ride in Mexico, had a fantastic lunch at Biergarten (chef even brought out some allergy safe cookies and candy for youngest). Went back to Future World to wait to see Baymax (quick line), Joy and Sadness (probably our longest wait of the trip, had to be 45 minutes but worth it), managed to snag fast pass for Soarin, though the standby wasn't all that long, DH and oldest waited about 15 minutes for Soarin while I was waiting with younger 2 for J&S. We did Mission Space, kids loved it. I did green with younger two, DH and oldest did orange. We had a fast pass but standby was a walk on. We decided to trek back to Morocco to get shawarma for dinner, caught the last boat from Canada. Yum, that was tasty, so worth it. Had to walk alllllll the way back from Morocco to get out of the park to take the monorail to MK for Wishes. Again got there later than I wanted to, it was after 9 but got lucky and got a spot right between Casey's and The Plaza on main street. Kids were soooooo tired, they were fighting before the fireworks started and my oldest cried through the show. We waited for Celebrate the Magic, that went better. We had kicked around staying in MK for a few late night rides but the kids were so done. Instead of fighting the crowds the kids were hungry so we decided to go get a snack at Cosmic Ray - dumb idea, by the time we were done there we had to walk further to get out and the buses were still mobbed. It was well after midnight by the time we got back to our room.
Thursday morning we had to be back at MK for 8:25 BBB. Again, had hoped to get there earlier to be done earlier but we ended up being about 15 minutes late. They got us in no problem and there was no wait at Castle Couture for pictures but it was still well after 9 by the time we were done. Got a sweet roll at Gaston's and did our 7D fast pass. The lines over at SM and BTMRR were short so we went over there, rode SM once (walk on) and BTMRR twice (short waits). Had lunch at Casey's, Space Mountain fast pass, Peter Pan fast pass. Peter Pan was so underwhelming, TBH! I would not wait in an hour line for that. After late night the day before we decided to cut it short after hitting a few more rides. Got fast pass for IASW (haha yes we did), fast pass for Buzz, headed out for a nap. And the kids actually napped, that never happens.
Thursday night we had ADR for Ohana at 7:30. Left the room at 6. Immediately realized none of us were wearing magic bands, had to call to get someone to let us back in. That didn't take long, we were at the bus stop by probably 6:15 to get a bus back to MK. The bus had to stop at all the villages since there were people on the bus coming from MK so it took forever. Got to MK by 7 to catch the monorail but ran into everyone leaving MK because of the party, took forever to get on the monorail and didn't get to Ohana until 8. Yes, it took us 2 hours to get from our room to Ohana, mostly due to poor planning on my part! They were nice and got us a table but we still had to wait an hour after we got there. Finally got seated at 9 pm. Definitely worth the wait, food was amazing and I would definitely eat there again! So glad we got a nap in, the kids were troopers. Only peanut allergy flag was the dip, chef kindly came out and talked to us. After dinner I decided I'd run to Disney Springs while DH took the kids back to the room so he rode with me to catch the CBR bus in DS. Well, DS may have been open until midnight but the shops start closing at 11. By the time I got off the bus, buzzed through the Disney store, decided to walk across the bridge to the Christmas store, whipped through there for some ornaments and then walked back to the stop, my family was still waiting for the bus. By the time I walked all the way around to the bus stop they were gone but I got on 10 mins after they did.
Friday was our last day.
We made it to AK around 9:30, walked back for our safari fast pass. Such a good ride, so many animals!! We did Lion King, Kali Rapids, EE a couple times. Hiked out for late lunch at Sanaa, it was pretty good. The bread service was amazing. The entrees were alright, DH and ODS enjoyed the butter chicken. ODS ordered the Tandoori shrimp but he didn’t like it. I am glad we went to Sanaa because I felt I expanded my food horizons but other than the bread service I don't think I'd go back. The kids' meals were at least interesting though my 5-year-old ordered the boring hamburger and it was the worst we'd had, the bun was so bad but I didn't bother to get it replaced because he wasn't that hungry anyway. The view was neat, with the animals. After lunch we kicked around going to another park but I couldn't get any decent fast passes anywhere but AK so we went back to close down the park at EE and Dinosaur, and we did an awesome sunset safari. Found a great cache of Tsum Tsums in the Dinosaur gift shop, not that we didn't get any elsewhere, we came home with close to 2 dozen of those things. And that's it. Saturday morning we went and used our last quick service for breakfast at CBR, made our way to the DME bus and home. My 11-year-old left his Nintendo DS at the gate in the Orlando airport, didn't realize until we were in the air. Hopefully we get that back. Landed in Milwaukee around 5:30, made it home to Michigan around 11. Oh, never eat at the Grafton, WI KFC, it's terrible. We made it home just fine but my 5-year-old started throwing up around 2 a.m., he seems fine now, must have been the junk food and the traveling. Nobody else is sick, whew. Didn't get any homework done while we were gone, whoops.
I was going to add some pics but I can't figure out how to resize them and they post huge from Instagram darnit! 
Hit up Pirates with a SDFP which the kids loved. Hopped on carpets with a 1 min wait, then went to pick up Sorcerer's cards took the train to do a few portals. Used our last SDMT FP's and then teacups twice before we left for Whispering Canyon. HAd a great meal there - server was fun, food was great. He even brought us a giant glass bottle of Evian to take with us since DH ordered a beer and didn't use his drink entitlement. Pumpkin cheesecake was DIVINE and the cobbler was incredible. Will definitely be back!!
We left for AKL and had dinner at Boma. Server was a dud but food was delicious. I seriously ate 3 bowls of sausage stew and am wishing I had asked for a recipe. We still had our anytime FP and Dino still wasn't up so we hauled it back and did a nighttime safari at 6:55 lol. couldnt see much but it was a fun experience. We watched the tree of life awakening and then left for the hotel. 
