Live report - 3 weeks in Orlando

[tennisfan]

Sounds like you are having a great relaxing time

 

[BRobson]

Wow 14 of you - you may need a medal soon xxx

Sounds like you are having a fabulous time

 

[Cyrano]

As SIL2 had booked their hotel shuttle bus to MK. We agreed that we would meet up .
Bad idea but unfortunately not of my making. It was MK EMH.
So we ended up getting herded at the TTC before being allowed to board a monorail or ferry at 9.00am.

Diane was a trooper and volunteered to go to Rapunzel with Robyn

We headed over and rode Splash plus Big Thunder Mountain. Then picked up FP for Big Thunder for later.

We separated from SIL as Diane had been waiting patiently with DD for Rapunzel. She texted to say they were getting to see her at 10.15am.

Took the grandparents on TTA and Carousel of Progress which they both enjoyed.

Managed to grap FP for Space Mountain for everyone later.

After lunch we rode Space Mountain then the clan headed over to ride BTM.
SIL2 and I stayed with Robyn.

We headed out of the park just before 3pm.

Supper tonight was our first trip to a Sweet Tomatoes at the Crossroads.
Food was very nice but restaurant felt like a warehouse.

 

[wayneg]

Eaten at ST, Crossroads a couple of times and agree it's like eating in a warehouse, much prefer the one on Idrive.

 

[disneyholic family]

MK on EMH day?

i also prefer the ST on I-drive to the one at crossroads - same reason - feeling of a warehouse...

it also seemed as if it didn't have the same hot food selections...

 

[jockey]

where did you buy that?

that's very inexpensive!!!!

the AT&T data package just isn't enough data for DH - he needs much more than that...(he works non-stop right through the holiday - no matter where we are....a bit annoying, but hey, it pays the bills )


Reid, what's IASW? (probably a really dumb question, but i'm not proud )

I got it in the t mobile store at mall. At mallenia....it worked really well and was unlimited I will be using it again next trip

 

[disneyholic family]

I got it in the t mobile store at mall. At mallenia....it worked really well and was unlimited I will be using it again next trip

that sounds to be an amazingly good value!!

i'm going to check the t-mobile website see if they have something about it..

 

[Cyrano]

I got it in the t mobile store at mall. At mallenia....it worked really well and was unlimited I will be using it again next trip

Think I might have a look at this. For $1.49 you can't go wrong

Wow 14 of you - you may need a medal soon xxx

Sounds like you are having a fabulous time

Jackie in the build up to the holiday this was all my worst nightmares.
Admittedly we have had a couple of teething problems. But Diane's family have been great


Today while the others headed to Hollywood Studios we decided it was time for a water park day. The troops had been good about days with their cousins and niece.
We had breakfast with everyone in the hotel and then had a more leisurely start than they did to the day.

We arrived at Blizzard Beach at 8.55am and bagged a good spot at Ski Patrol.
First stop was Team Boat Springs We were about first on the ride as Summit Plummit was calling the more daring in the park.
As it was such a great ride we decided to ride it immediately again.

Thereafter we allowed the troops a bit of time enjoying Ski Patrol area.
Robyn surprised us by going on the zip line. She really has become a hero this holiday.
Around 10am we looked at the Picnic in the Park, which seems similar to AK's version last year, bur decided as Jack is not a cold sandwich fan that it was not for us. However it is a great way to order your. Food before 11am and have I ready for a specific time

SIL2 arrived at 11 and their thrill seekers headed straight for Summit Plumet. We saw then 1 hour later
In between times we had a couple of rain showers.

At 12.30 we all plus niece headed for lunch and left SIL2 to man the chairs

The grey cloud that had hung over the park for most of the day was getting darker.
We had a last ride on Team Boat Springs then quick dip on Lazy River before DW heard a CM saying that the park would be closed due to storms in 30 mins.
We bid good-byes to the relations and headed straight for the exit.

This turned out to be a wise decision as we got the tail of Arelene which meant we had a heavy ain until 6.00pm.

Despite it being our Wedding Anniversary I decided to cook at the suite. We had a nice chicken curry before going out to th shops later.

We had a few glasses of wine later at MIL's to celebrate the day

 

[Linda67]

Sounds like a lovely day
We have never been to BB, we usually go to Typhoon Lagoon
I didn't realise that BB had a lazy river; I think we should try there next time

 

[jockey]

Happy Anniversary

 

[Cyrano]

Sounds like a lovely day
We have never been to BB, we usually go to Typhoon Lagoon
I didn't realise that BB had a lazy river; I think we should try there next time

It is actually called Castaway Creek, though is the same type of slow moving river as in Typhoon Lagoon

Happy Anniversary

Thank you. Seems like only yesterday we were skipping to Kissimmee Court House.....well actually 2 years ago

 

[alibeau]

Love reading your updates

Happy anniversary

Ali

 

[Cyrano]

Managed to get some photos loaded up.

Our intrepid space explorers

The Jaminators having yet another grea set.

Hollywood Tower of Terror on a good day.

 

[disneyholic family]

i love teamboat springs...we've been preparing the newbies on our trip for that one...

14 still sounds impossible to me!!! the 6 on our trip this time has me concerned (two who've never been to WDW in our group...in fact, 2 who've never been to the US in our group)..

i love that nasa hat picture!!! very cute....where was that taken?

i'll have to make a point of seeing the jaminators - DSIL is a professional drummer!! i'm sure he'll enjoy them as much as we do!!

 

[Cyrano]

i love that nasa hat picture!!! very cute....where was that taken?

Beth I am sure there are a number of places where you can find the space helmets. Our photos were in the shop at the end of Mission Space.

Today we headed to Animal Kingdom again. The inlaws were breakfasting at Tusker House so they were in the park before us. Though I still managed to get FP for Everest before them

Our first ride of the day was on Kilimanjaro Safari. CM Jena was superb
We decided that we would all have a go on Kali later in the day so picked up FPs.
The rest of the day was spend taking our time over Paginini Trail, Rafiki's Planet Watch and Camp Minnie Mickey.

At around 2.30pm we were debating another FP before boarding Kali.
Within minutes the sprinkle of rain turned into a major storm. We were absolutely soaked by the time we made it back to the car.

Decided to spend a bit of time with the troops in the pool tonight so a very lazy evening

 

[Linda67]

Another great day, thanks for the update
Your photos are fab, I love the one with everyone in space helmets

 

[disneyholic family]

of course!! mission space!! makes perfect sense!

sounds like a great trip so far Reid....and i still hate you - 3 weeks!!!! i'm jealous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[crabbie1]

Just read the whole report. Sounds fab. Cant believe u only paid $120 for 14 of you. Must admit I miss places like sizzlers ponderosa etc as food is good value compared to onsite. Def gonna do offsite for our non disney parks next august. Makes more sense espec without a car. Reid how much was the phone u bought? Sounds a good idea . I want to get two so dm can hv one and us as she will be meeting us later some days.
Love the pics in the space hats. One ride I cannot do. Shame about the rain.

 

[Cyrano]

Today we decided to head for rope drop at Blizzard Beach as Morgan was building up her courage to go on Summit Plummet. I was planning to walk up with her...though I was coming down the slow way by the stairs.
BIL decided he wanted to do Summit Plummet too. So the two crazies, I mean bravehearts headed straight to the ride while we sorted out seating at Ski Patrol.
We then all went on Teamboat Springs.

Morgan did Summit twice and once on Slush Gusher. Shame that the photo pass photographers do not arrive until 10am as Morgan deserved a photo memory of Summit.

A few of the others headed over to Toboggan Racers, Snow Stormers and Downhill Double Dippers.
We took Robyn on Castaway Creek and had another couple of shots on Teamboat Springs.

The kids spend a fair bit of time on the zip line and playing on the icebergs at Ski Patrol.

The sun had been with us most of the morning but some black clouds started to roll in.
We headed to Lattawatta Lodge for lunch. Partly so that we could check in via wifi to follow Murray against Nedal. We all cheered when he won the first set

When I next checked in, Nadal was 2 sets to 1 ahead, so it was not a surprise to find could later that Murray was out.

Around about 2 o'clock the rides were closed due to a storm warning. We made it back to the car before the real rain came tumbling down

Relaxing in the room this afternoon.

The troops fancy Chinese takeaway tonight as they want to get the takeaway boxes. Easy pleased

If the skies clear we may try heading for a firework show tonight.


Btw The phone was bought in Best Buy. It was the cheapest available at $9.99 (Samsung flip phone). The store was pushing a $2 a day unlimited text deal. We did not need to be spending $60 on calls. So I bought a $15 top-up card and got the sales assistant to set it up at the $0.10/min rate.
The others got the same phone. SIL2 got the phone through Virgin. The sim did not work when they arrived on Monday. They got a replacement sim yesterday, which I do not think is great service.

Edited to add: the rain did not come on but the skies were still quite dull.
We ended up spending a couple of hours at DTD. DD was keen to spend a bit of her money at the Left Handed Store while the younger two had their sights set on the Lego Store.

 

[fairytale]

that sounds to be an amazingly good value!!

i'm going to check the t-mobile website see if they have something about it..

Did you manage to find anything out Beth on the T-mobile website?

Annette x