Adventures at 40"! May 2014 TR *COMPLETE* 9/10 **NEW** Italy ABD TR link posted 9/29
- Thread starter khertz
- Start date
SarahSlink
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 22, 2011
Joining in for the TR... I've followed along with your last one, but thought maybe it was time to come out of lurkdom... Looking forward to hearing about your adventures!
OMG!! I think you must have a hidden window into my world... With a 4 year old and two 2 year olds that is a pretty good summary of playtime around here!
OMG!! I think you must have a hidden window into my world... With a 4 year old and two 2 year olds that is a pretty good summary of playtime around here!
hokieinpa
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 17, 2014
New and following along! I'm in the middle of your last TR and love it! Planning our first family trip this October and I'm loving all the 1. Halloween details and 2. boy-centered stuff! I have 3 boys so it's nice to find a TR not princess loaded!
Can't wait to read more!
Can't wait to read more!
dtr_angel
Sorry I'm Late
- Joined
- Jan 13, 2008
I am caught up on this new TR but not on your last one that is now done. Sorry I've been such terrible DIS friends this summer! I will eventually finish your last TR! Can't wait to read this one for a lot of reasons 
You squeezed so much into such a short trip!
You squeezed so much into such a short trip!
Imagineer5
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 2, 2007
I'm here!! Great start!! The room in Destin is so spacious, looks fantastic!! Can't wait to read more. It was funny I was in dl while you were at wdw!
KelleyK75
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 3, 2010
Yay, you've started your new TR! I'm subbing in now. 
Sounds like a good start to your trip (excluding the bathroom and sunflower seed incident.)
We love DQ too. There is one right by our house and my nephews always want to go there for dinner, mainly to get their ice cream for dessert.
Sounds like a good start to your trip (excluding the bathroom and sunflower seed incident.)
We love DQ too. There is one right by our house and my nephews always want to go there for dinner, mainly to get their ice cream for dessert.
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Happy to see you, Alexis!
It's kind of a big deal to get out of the house on time with a toddler...getting out early is a miracle! Even if it wasn't much, it felt great.
I will be so happy if I never see the inside of a men's gas station restroom ever EVER again.
It was a great resort! Too bad we were only staying the night, but we were ready to get to Disney!!
The lap board has been a life saver on two roadtrips now. He can do so many things on there, including rolling his cars around which is sometimes all a kid needs in the backseat.
I think we got it on Amazon, and it was pretty cheap! It straps around the back of the car seat too to hold it in place.Yeah, Destin was kind of a mess.
I even called the resort the night before to make sure we would actually be able to get to it!OOh, conquering Everest is a biggie!! Since we probably won't be back until next fall, I know there will be a lot more things he will be able to ride. I just hope he's emotionally ready, not just physically!
Ah yes, the toddler's creed!! My days of working in daycare all through high school and college have led me to know those rules of possession all too well.
Just found your new TR and of course I'm subbed in!! Looking forward to your stay at VWL. We stayed there 2 years ago and loved it!
You ought to see the men's restrooms in the Superdome after all the drinking up until they cut everyone off to start the 4th quarter! Talking about ewww!!!
Why thank you ma'am...and from all of us in the Magnolia State to all of y'all up there in Delaware...come on down, take your shoes off and stay a while!
I really hope I can get the next updates up soon, hopefully tomorrow, so we can get to WL and get to the meat of the TR!
Oh goodness, NO THANKS! I will take you at your word that it's disgusting.
Hey, Pete, you know you're welcome ANYTIME!
The Wyndham resorts usually are entirely too nice for only a one night's stay, but it's just too tempting to have the space and, ya know, not have to pay for a hotel room.
But it does sometimes tempt us to go back for a longer stay like we did with Tennessee, and I think if we ever did go for a big beach trip, we'd stay there again. Hopefully NOT after they experience a natural disaster though!yay I made it almost at the beginning!
We don't have a DQ here either. Well, actually they put one in our ferry terminal recently but since I'm never there without rushing to get somewhere, it may as well not exist.
Yikes that flood situation sounds scary! Glad you made it relatively easily!
Welcome, welcome!! Happy to have you on board.
Maybe one of these days you can at least slow down long enough to grab a Blizzard for your commute. It will likely make your day SO much better. They are delicious!!It was a pretty terrible time to try to visit Destin, but at least it was only for a one night stay. I would have been really sad to have planned a long weekend there and had all that flooding happen right before!
Sounds like you were already having a good time before you even made it to WDW! Definitely looking forward to seeing where your trip went from there.
We definitely try to have a good time as much as possible. Gotta keep that toddler in a good mood, after all!
Thanks for joining in!
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Welcome aboard! I'm glad you decided to come out of lurkdom, because we have a lot of fun around here!!
Hey girl! I'm not on here much any more but thought I'd sub anyways.Great start! Looks like a great hotel!
Carla!!! Okay, so I see you all the time on Facebook, but it's still really exciting to see you here.
So glad my last TR was so helpful!! TRs have been a huge help for me in planning trips, so I'm glad I could return the favor. I am pretty confident you will LOVE October. It's such a fun and great time to go. It is kind of hard to find TRs that aren't full of princess stuff. Which can be fun to read, but sometimes you just wanna see the boy stuff!!
Thanks for joining in!
Ugh, now I want one too!!
It was a beautiful resort, so I'm glad we had the opportunity to check it out.
Glad to have you here, Scott!
I am caught up on this new TR but not on your last one that is now done. Sorry I've been such terrible DIS friends this summer! I will eventually finish your last TR! Can't wait to read this one for a lot of reasons
No worries, I am finding it hard to keep up myself, so I can totally understand. It'll be there whenever you find the time.
We definitely wrung every last drop of fun out of it, so I can't wait to share it all!Haha That TR was kind of a beast, so I don't blame you.
Most pictures we have ever taken definitely lead to the longest TR I've ever written!Yay, Lauren! Always happy to see you! I'm so bummed that we finally overlapped Disney trip dates, and we were on opposite coasts!!! One day we will be in the World together!
Yay, you've started your new TR! I'm subbing in now.
Sounds like a good start to your trip (excluding the bathroom and sunflower seed incident.)
We love DQ too. There is one right by our house and my nephews always want to go there for dinner, mainly to get their ice cream for dessert.
Welcome!!! Happy to have you along!
Despite a couple of, let's say, interesting moments, it was a great travel day to kick off the trip.
If the new DQ they just opened where I live was any closer, I'd be in TROUBLE going after that dessert! The food was not memorable at all, but those Blizzards...YUM! Now I keep seeing the commercial for the s'mores one and I'm dying to try it!
disneygirl2785
DIS Bride turned DIS Mommy!
- Joined
- Jan 4, 2012
Hello! I'm new to your reports, but I noticed your user name from a couple of the other mommy reports I read and decided to join in! Also, I have been trying this new thing where I come out of Lurkdom! You had me at WL, too, because we are staying there for the second half of our January 2015 trip! Can't wait to read more!
afwdwfan
DIS Dad #460
- Joined
- Apr 23, 2010
You've raised him well. 
You mean there's a place in the USA that is actually DQ deprived????
Reese's Cup Blizzard... all day, every day.
Hey, not all of us contribute to that... but unfortunately, I completely understand what you mean. I'd prefer to find a tree somewhere than go to most public restrooms.
I'm sorry, but that's funny. That place looks great!
disneybarbie
Disney Princess
- Joined
- Nov 5, 2006
subscribing! Sounds like a great mini trip plan to WDW.. I'm always intrigued (and a little jealous, because I can't do it from here!) by the idea of a road trip instead of flying
Emma x
Emma x
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Welcome aboard!! I'm glad you decided to come out of lurkdom, it's a lot more fun to interact!
I looooved WL, and I'm sure y'all will too!!
No doubt about it!
You mean there's a place in the USA that is actually DQ deprived????
We JUST got one, but it's still a good bit away from our house so I don't see us making many trips there.
Reese's Cup Blizzard... all day, every day.
Delicious! I keep seeing commercials for the s'mores one and I really want to try that one.
Hey, not all of us contribute to that... but unfortunately, I completely understand what you mean. I'd prefer to find a tree somewhere than go to most public restrooms.
I totally understand, I feel bad for y'all having to use those restrooms too! I don't blame you, and I wish it was as easy for us ladies when the facilities aren't up to par!
We got a good laugh over it because it was just too comical.
That place looks great!
It was beautiful! If we ever decide to do a beach trip, which neither of us are really fans of to begin with, it's a gorgeous resort that I wouldn't mind spending more time at.
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
subscribing! Sounds like a great mini trip plan to WDW.. I'm always intrigued (and a little jealous, because I can't do it from here!) by the idea of a road trip instead of flying
Emma x
Road trips can be fun, but I can assure you, when it comes to Disney World, I'd MUCH rather fly!! I'm intrigued by the fact that in Europe you can take a long weekend to another country if you want to! That just fascinates me.
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Day 1 Continued: Thursday May 1st
Once we settled on a restaurant that seemed pretty close by, we decided to take the scenic route and walk down to the beach! DS has only been to the beach once before this time, but he was only 6 months old, so this was like the first time all over again for him. He didn't really know what to make of it when his feet hit the sand, but he was okay with it.
Within the first five minutes, he noticed all the kids playing with their sand toys and started asking for his. Well, of course being that we were on the way to dinner, we hadn't brought anything. One of the nicest guys ever overheard DS asking for toys and said his kids were done with theirs and DS could play with them!
01-122 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
01-124 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
01-126 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
He had a blast, even only for the few minutes he spent playing and building in the sand. We left the toys there in case the family came back for them. Maybe they were heading home the next day and didn't plan on bringing them home, I don't know. But seriously, that was so nice of them! It made DS's day.
Then we headed down to the water to dip our toes in. Being early May, the water was still a little chilly, but bearable! DH had rubbed a callous on the bottom of his foot from his work boots before the trip and had gone to the doctor just a couple days prior. Whatever she did to it in the office made it heal up in the long run, but it was still bothering him for the trip so he wasn't walking barefoot in the sand and was able to take our pictures.
DS loved putting his feet in the water! He loved when the water would go rushing back from the shore and take the sand from underneath his feet making them sink in. Every time it did that he would say, "Jumpin' jellyfish!" We enjoyed that for a few minutes, then decided to keep walking to look for our dinner destination.
So we kept walking and walking, and soon we realized we had pretty much gone waaay too far, so we had to back track to the restaurant. We ended up eating at Rick's Sand Trap, and well...it wasn't very good. It had apparently gotten some water from the storm, because there were lots of fans drying parts of the floor, so it felt humid and musty inside. I said it kind of looked like a place you'd see on Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares! But beyond that, the food just wasn't that great either.
DH and I decided instead of getting 2 entrees that we would split the fried shrimp platter and the appetizer platter with chicken wings, fried pickles, corn dog nuggets, mozzarella sticks and maybe one or two other things. The shrimp was decent, but I've definitely had better. They were very bland. And the app platter was just gross. It was obvious it had been sitting under a heat lamp and everything was barely lukewarm. We got DS the kids corn dog nuggets and he hardly touched them either.
Our only picture from dinner, and I'm not even sure what he was doing that I took a picture of!
After dinner, we headed back to the resort to get our baths done and get to bed early. We wanted to hit the road as soon as we could the next morning!
Continued in next post...
Once we settled on a restaurant that seemed pretty close by, we decided to take the scenic route and walk down to the beach! DS has only been to the beach once before this time, but he was only 6 months old, so this was like the first time all over again for him. He didn't really know what to make of it when his feet hit the sand, but he was okay with it.
Within the first five minutes, he noticed all the kids playing with their sand toys and started asking for his. Well, of course being that we were on the way to dinner, we hadn't brought anything. One of the nicest guys ever overheard DS asking for toys and said his kids were done with theirs and DS could play with them!
01-122 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
01-124 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
01-126 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
He had a blast, even only for the few minutes he spent playing and building in the sand. We left the toys there in case the family came back for them. Maybe they were heading home the next day and didn't plan on bringing them home, I don't know. But seriously, that was so nice of them! It made DS's day.
Then we headed down to the water to dip our toes in. Being early May, the water was still a little chilly, but bearable! DH had rubbed a callous on the bottom of his foot from his work boots before the trip and had gone to the doctor just a couple days prior. Whatever she did to it in the office made it heal up in the long run, but it was still bothering him for the trip so he wasn't walking barefoot in the sand and was able to take our pictures.
DS loved putting his feet in the water! He loved when the water would go rushing back from the shore and take the sand from underneath his feet making them sink in. Every time it did that he would say, "Jumpin' jellyfish!"
We enjoyed that for a few minutes, then decided to keep walking to look for our dinner destination.
So we kept walking and walking, and soon we realized we had pretty much gone waaay too far, so we had to back track to the restaurant. We ended up eating at Rick's Sand Trap, and well...it wasn't very good. It had apparently gotten some water from the storm, because there were lots of fans drying parts of the floor, so it felt humid and musty inside. I said it kind of looked like a place you'd see on Ramsey's Kitchen Nightmares! But beyond that, the food just wasn't that great either.
DH and I decided instead of getting 2 entrees that we would split the fried shrimp platter and the appetizer platter with chicken wings, fried pickles, corn dog nuggets, mozzarella sticks and maybe one or two other things. The shrimp was decent, but I've definitely had better. They were very bland. And the app platter was just gross. It was obvious it had been sitting under a heat lamp and everything was barely lukewarm. We got DS the kids corn dog nuggets and he hardly touched them either.
Our only picture from dinner, and I'm not even sure what he was doing that I took a picture of!
After dinner, we headed back to the resort to get our baths done and get to bed early. We wanted to hit the road as soon as we could the next morning!
Continued in next post...
khertz
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 10, 2008
Day 2: Friday May 2nd
We woke up Friday morning at 6:30 am, but DH and I lazed around in bed until 6:45 or so. We were excited to be heading to Disney, but we just couldn't get moving! Eventually, we got dressed, got DS up and ready, and repacked our things. We left about 7:30 am and our first stop was just a few minutes away from the resort for breakfast.
Starting the vacation off right, I guess! It all started at that moment with just a sprinkle of rain beginning to fall as DH exited the store with our donuts...if only we knew what was coming! But we will get to that later on...For now, we were just driving and enjoying our donuts. I forgot to take a picture before we started eating, but this is the oh-so-unnecessary goodness DH came back with.
Ds was not wasting ANY time chowing down on a chocolate covered donut topped with sprinkles!
I told him when he was done, to let me know so I could give him a wipe to clean off his face. His response was, "My face is not dirty!"
Uh, son...I beg to differ!
The drive went pretty well in the morning. except that it was pouring rain most of the way. We did run into a lot of traffic at one point, but DH was able to avoid the accident that was slowing things down by taking the next exit, then riding along the frontage road until we were past it and got back on the interstate. We stopped for lunch at 11:30 at a gas station with a truck stop and a Wendy's attached, so we were able to fill up the tank too. DS fell asleep after lunch with his hands on top of his car seat. Every time they would fall down and hit his lap, he would pop them back up again! DH and I got a pretty good laugh watching him do that.
He woke up suddenly and probably too early when the person in front of us hit the brakes for seemingly no reason, causing DH to have to do the same. Then he was crabby as all get out! It was so ridiculous, and nothing we tried was getting him to calm down and stop crying. He finally started to calm down when we put Dream Along With Mickey on the radio for the last 30 minutes of the drive, and by the time we got to the arches, he was all smiles!!
We were all pretty ecstatic at that point, especially as we followed the signs for Magic Kingdom to get to our resort! Never thought we would EVER be staying underneath this arch!!
Even though we were not staying at a monorail resort, I was so freaking excited to be staying at a resort in the Magic Kingdom area!!! I apologize now for the excessive amount of rainy sign photos coming your way, but I had to document this momentous occasion!
02-014 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-016 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-017 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-018 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-020 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
We're here!!!
We parked under the overhang in front so we could go inside to check in before unloading our luggage. Oh my gosh, I could barely contain my excitement!! We were here, and not just to visit, we were staying!!
UP NEXT: Welcome Home!
We woke up Friday morning at 6:30 am, but DH and I lazed around in bed until 6:45 or so. We were excited to be heading to Disney, but we just couldn't get moving! Eventually, we got dressed, got DS up and ready, and repacked our things. We left about 7:30 am and our first stop was just a few minutes away from the resort for breakfast.
Starting the vacation off right, I guess! It all started at that moment with just a sprinkle of rain beginning to fall as DH exited the store with our donuts...if only we knew what was coming! But we will get to that later on...For now, we were just driving and enjoying our donuts. I forgot to take a picture before we started eating, but this is the oh-so-unnecessary goodness DH came back with.
Ds was not wasting ANY time chowing down on a chocolate covered donut topped with sprinkles!
I told him when he was done, to let me know so I could give him a wipe to clean off his face. His response was, "My face is not dirty!"
Uh, son...I beg to differ!
The drive went pretty well in the morning. except that it was pouring rain most of the way. We did run into a lot of traffic at one point, but DH was able to avoid the accident that was slowing things down by taking the next exit, then riding along the frontage road until we were past it and got back on the interstate. We stopped for lunch at 11:30 at a gas station with a truck stop and a Wendy's attached, so we were able to fill up the tank too. DS fell asleep after lunch with his hands on top of his car seat. Every time they would fall down and hit his lap, he would pop them back up again! DH and I got a pretty good laugh watching him do that.
He woke up suddenly and probably too early when the person in front of us hit the brakes for seemingly no reason, causing DH to have to do the same. Then he was crabby as all get out! It was so ridiculous, and nothing we tried was getting him to calm down and stop crying. He finally started to calm down when we put Dream Along With Mickey on the radio for the last 30 minutes of the drive, and by the time we got to the arches, he was all smiles!!
We were all pretty ecstatic at that point, especially as we followed the signs for Magic Kingdom to get to our resort! Never thought we would EVER be staying underneath this arch!!
Even though we were not staying at a monorail resort, I was so freaking excited to be staying at a resort in the Magic Kingdom area!!! I apologize now for the excessive amount of rainy sign photos coming your way, but I had to document this momentous occasion!
02-014 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-016 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-017 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-018 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
02-020 by disneymom1024, on Flickr
We're here!!!
We parked under the overhang in front so we could go inside to check in before unloading our luggage. Oh my gosh, I could barely contain my excitement!! We were here, and not just to visit, we were staying!!
UP NEXT: Welcome Home!
Nermel9
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 18, 2009
Ok so I failed miserably at keeping up with your other TR, so instead of trying to get caught up on that one, I'm going to start fresh with this one!
I really want to go to Destin someday (I always think it's Desitin, like the baby rash stuff!)...I saw it on House Hunters once and I thought it looked so beautiful!
The resort you guys stayed at was beautiful! And huge! It was like an apartment!
The beach looks so nice, I can't even imagine what it must be like to have a beach with real sand (here in CT, we have the beach, but we have Long Island blocking us, so our sand is mostly little rocks...I want perfect white sand!)
OMG I forgot you were staying in the Wilderness Lodge! My home!!! I hope you loved it almost as much as I do, that place is pure magic!
Can't wait to read more!
I really want to go to Destin someday (I always think it's Desitin, like the baby rash stuff!)...I saw it on House Hunters once and I thought it looked so beautiful!
The resort you guys stayed at was beautiful! And huge! It was like an apartment!
The beach looks so nice, I can't even imagine what it must be like to have a beach with real sand (here in CT, we have the beach, but we have Long Island blocking us, so our sand is mostly little rocks...I want perfect white sand!
)OMG I forgot you were staying in the Wilderness Lodge!
My home!!! I hope you loved it almost as much as I do, that place is pure magic! Can't wait to read more!
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