'OHANA means CHUNKY! An Aug 2017 Family TR THE END 4/26 - The Last Day and Trip Epilogue!

[dnllmz]

Bring a large laundry bag, like a lightweight drawstring one, and hang it in your room, and it'll fill up with all the clothes over the week. When you leave you can just put the whole bag as is in an empty suitcase. Haha, no folding necessary.

Great tip. Going to do this next trip. I usually do something similar with a plastic bag but i never bring a big enough one for it to really work.

Rider swaps are amazing. We got a lot of use out of them but we're nearing the end of dd not being big enough or brave enough for rides. Now she's able to enjoy more rides with us which is even better.

You and your family had an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing it with us. Can't wait to read your next report.

 

[cajunfan]

​

5) Best moment of the trip: There were so many! But my favorite had to be Eva, so nonchalantly telling me over dinner at Tusker House, how she was having a "really great time" despite the fact I made her go on 7DMT! My heart just melted. I also really enjoyed the kids faces during their Pick a Pearl moment. #coolauntforever

This reminds me of a time I planned a trip for me, my son (who was probably 10 at the time), my friend and her son (same age as mine) and my friend's then boyfriend (now husband) and his two teen age daughters. Towards the end of the trip, the older teenager (who rarely even talks to any, even now 15 years later), gave me a hug and said what a great time they had due to all my planning! It was a sweet moment for me too! I think it is just that moment when you realized you have converted another to the Disney LIfe...

 

[Stasieki]

Such a great TR!!!!! Can't wait to read about the next one.

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Thank you so much for sharing your lovely trip and family with us. I look forward to reading your next report.

 

[chunkymonkey]

Okay. Toying with maybe going in 2019....not sure.

*Waves hand like Jedi* You shall come to WDW in 2019 and meet with Chunkymonkey and @Tracy161.

Consider this information noted

See above to @pkondz.

Our vow renewal trip was 12 days long and I STILL didn't feel like I had enough time to do everything!! I need to just move there!

Right?!? Wow 12 days...but it is never enough! I think the longer you spend there, it backfires and makes you just want to live in WDW!

That turned out pretty hilarious actually

sooo funny!

Perfect shirt for this trip report

Oh yes, yes it is!

Loved the Chunky Family vacation!! Thanks for sharing it with us!! Can't wait to read about the next adventure

Thank you so much for reading!

Boo!!!!! Last days are the worst!

They are. There should never be any last days! There should only be first days, and in-between days.

Don't think I've stayed that long... Nope. I know it.

Longer vacations just make you want to spend even more time at WDW. Does this make sense?

That's what I do. Just a plastic bag or two, but same idea.

I used to do that then I'd end up with multiple little bags and now I've moved up to actual laundry bags!

Me too!!

Wait.... why does your time say "PM"????

Ugh I hate the dreaded early early wake up.

Close scores!

I am the true champ though.

"This is not the tourist you are looking for."

Yup..."Move along"

All I see are smiles for miles.

When you meet us, that's all you can do!!

Note to self. Try to meet Su-Lynn on her last day in the park...

I see my Jedi mind trick is working on you...

Can't promise the rider swap though, unless I borrow a baby. Hey, where is our business plan?

Hoping she'll write about it.

I think she has!!

Last Dole Whip (despite the incorrect type).... I like that idea! Maybe I'll quickly run to MK just before I leave next time... whenever that is.

There can't be a last Dole whip if we don't have last days. I guess there's a reason to look forward to last days then...

Thanks so much for taking the time to right about your epic trip!

Thanks for reading @pkondz! See ya in 2019!

Hmmmm, I'm intrigued, @Tracy161!

I'm pretty sure she wrote about this in her TR!

A little recovery time may be in order! Maybe something a little less hectic in between, and WDW again when everyone is ready.

I can't believe this TR is over! You put so much work into this vacation for your whole big ohana, and it all paid off!! Thanks for sharing it with us.

Haha yeah a 4 year recovery is what they said...

Thanks for being a part of it! And thanks for reading! Now to catch up on your TR!

This is so real to me! August heat in Florida plus humidity...BRUTAL. But, I had prepared myself for it to be the absolute most miserable weather of my life akin to walking on the surface of the sun, and so it actually wasn't as bad as I was expecting only because I had built it up so much in my head.

Yeah, my Jedi mind trick works!!

Great trip report as always!!!!

Thank you!!

I don't understand people doing laundry in Disney! It's the last thing I want to do while there.

I actually don't mind the laundry - I am one of those people who likes doing it, but you're right, at Disney it is hard to find the time.

What is up with the cup? That should be outlawed! But amazing that you could get one last dole whip!!!

I agree! I think they ran out, but I think they may have given us a bit more dole whip because of that, hehe.

I always remember to bring my ID now! I used to forget it, which is easy to do with magic bands.

Yes! You get so used to not bringing anything but then you learn the hard way when you try to buy a drink in Mexico...and can't!

Stoller Parking is no joke! I miss having somewhere to put our stuff but I don't miss searching everywhere for it!

Yes, it is akin to mall parking! LOL.

What a beautiful trip...thank you for sharing!

Thank you so much! Thanks for reading!

Great tip. Going to do this next trip. I usually do something similar with a plastic bag but i never bring a big enough one for it to really work.

I learned the hard way after going on so many trip and having random bags of laundry to just bring one big bag and in it goes and boom, I'm packed, LOL.

Rider swaps are amazing. We got a lot of use out of them but we're nearing the end of dd not being big enough or brave enough for rides. Now she's able to enjoy more rides with us which is even better.

They were great to have! But even better when the kids can go on with everyone else!

You and your family had an amazing trip! Thanks for sharing it with us. Can't wait to read your next report.

Thank you so much for reading! I had a great time writing it!

 

[pkondz]

*Waves hand like Jedi* You shall come to WDW in 2019 and meet with Chunkymonkey and @Tracy161.

Let me know! Who knows!

They are. There should never be any last days! There should only be first days, and in-between days.

Longer vacations just make you want to spend even more time at WDW. Does this make sense?

Oh, yes.
One day becomes two... then four... then a week.. then two....

Then you move to Florida.

I used to do that then I'd end up with multiple little bags and now I've moved up to actual laundry bags!

Good point.

Ugh I hate the dreaded early early wake up.

The worst!

I am the true champ though.

Okay.

When you meet us, that's all you can do!!

I believe you!

I see my Jedi mind trick is working on you...

Can't promise the rider swap though, unless I borrow a baby. Hey, where is our business plan?

Sheesh. So borrow a baby. How hard could it be?
"Excuse me? Are you using that right now?"

I think she has!!

Whups! Did I forget? I better go back and re-read.

There can't be a last Dole whip if we don't have last days. I guess there's a reason to look forward to last days then...

No. There is no way to make a last day good.

Thanks for reading @pkondz! See ya in 2019!

 

[DLo]

What an amazing trip. I still don’t know how you managed all those people ( even after reading your tips ) . I am going with me nephews - 7 and 8 - in a couple of weeks and can’t wait to see Disney through little ones eyes .

 

[Monykalyn]

But really, we were all there for each other.

I hope we can do it again with my Ohana

aaahhh so sweet and pretty much sums it up!

Flexibility is key with any size group over about 2-3. Kids can be really unpredictable. You did a great job building in breaks and planning meals/FP etc.

Now that you have DVC...you can really supersize you 'coolest aunt ever' title by taking the the nieces on one-to-one trips as they get older...

 

[wdwnut61]

Thanks for taking us along on your ‘Ohana adventure
I think with little ones being flexible is key to everyone having a good time
You did such an amazing job with planning every detail especially with such a large group
Looking forward to your next trip report

 

[Tracy161]

Still felt like I needed another week though!

Ain't that the truth... always!

We walked around Star Wars Launch Bay with Tracy and I showed her the "hidden" Mickey inside one of the ships

Yes! That's right!!!

She was also ordered around by some Stormtroopers.

What can I say? I have a weakness for men in uniform

It was so great seeing @Tracy161 one last time!!

It was truly one of the highlights of my trip SO happy we were able to make this work!!!

We also gave Tracy our stash of Anytime FPs we had for Epcot, and the piece de resistance: a RIDER SWAP PASS for FLIGHT OF PASSAGE. She was so happy and I was so happy I gave them to someone that I KNOW at Disney! Not only that, but a DISBoarder who knows how to use them wisely. I knew she couldn't get a Flight of Passage FP+ so I was happy to save it for her.

This was AMAZING!!! You guys are just the best! I still can't thank you enough for all those wonderful rides!

Although Tracy's attempts at paying it forward didn't exactly turn out the way she thought it would.

Yeah... it sure didn't. Still surprised I wasn't paid a visit by Disney security over that one

I LOVE this picture!

It was so great being able to meet up with you that weekend. I'm so glad everything worked out. Let's do it again!

We absolutely must do it again!!!

Looks like you're already given me the thumbs up Tracy, yay!!

I sure have!

But really, we were all there for each other.

Hoping she'll write about it.

I gave a little bit of a preview in my TR, but I'll try to remember to do the full version on my next update!

All I see are smiles for miles.

How could we not?!

"This is not the tourist you are looking for."

I loved seeing the expressions on the kids faces.

Yes!!! This was the highlight of my trip in January - watching Disney through their young and excited and awed eyes

I never knew how crazy stroller parking is

OMG seriously!!!!!! Going with kids is an entirely different experience

My knowledge of park bathroom locations has never been more handy.

Yes! Also true!!!

Thank you for sharing another wonderful trip! And thank you for letting me be a part of it Can't wait for the next TR

 

[rdkeim]

Thanks for taking the time to share your family trip - I enjoyed following along!

 

[ArielSRL]

Okay, so now that it is over, I am here! But I am committed to reading through this whole thing! As you may know, our trip is in 37 days!!! And I am down to the excruciating waiting between all the planning and the actual going. So I am now catching up on everyone's reports! It is your turn. I think I may not have finished one or two of your earlier reports but I am going to just make my way through this one and then go back and see if there are any others I need to catch up on. I hope you don't mind reliving it one more time through all my comments! I'm sure it will take me a few days but I am going to get through it!

we ate at so many great places on this trip, including: Ohana(x2), Tiffins, Yachtsman Steakhouse, Crystal Palace, Garden Grill, Cinderella's Royal Table, Be Our Guest, Akershus. There was lots of counter service and I even snuck in an Earl of Sandwich somewhere, haha.

I keep dreaming about trying Yachtsman! It won't be on one of our short 2018 trips but maybe 2019. I was holding it for 2020 since I am going to try to do Beach Club or Boardwalk that year but I may not be able to wait. How was it with the fam? I'm afraid to take my crazy boys!

Well, myself mostly but it's not like Steve ever says no to any of our trips!

I love your shirt. Mulan is one bad*ss and I love that so I really need one of her shirts!

Steve's is: Gaston, hahaha.

Though Luke Evans is nice to look at!

Bryan was the most adorable little prince. He was the only boy in the group of kids and he really has simple needs:

OMG he is absolutely adorable!

Steve and I have our trusty Annual Passes as well as the Tables in Wonderland card which saved us about 20% on every meal which was huge as you can use it on up to 10 guests and includes savings on alcohol as well!

Okay, so we will be getting one set of APs to cover our 2019 and 2020 big trips (and any other trips in between that I can squeeze in) so I am thinking TiW may be our best bet but I guess I need to run the numbers between that and the dining plan. I only consider the plan because with two kids it can actually work sometimes. But I am not sure which way we will go yet.

I hope you're on board for this crazy, crazy ride with my ohana!

I am definitely ready for this crazy ride!

 

[ArielSRL]

At 5pm we all get the dreaded notification...our flight was delayed, and then delayed again.

You are kidding me??? That stinks!

This was obviously not the start to the trip that I was looking for.

Sorry!

We found out our flight was moved up to 9:07pm, thank goodness so we got to board by 8:40pm.

Thank goodness for small favors!

None of us got early boarding but since we do have children under 2 years old, we got the good ol kiddie priority boarding. Steve and I went up with them, as we are technically all the same family anyways, so we got to board first!

Wahoo!

Here's me and Chunkysis!

I love your hair!

But of course as soon as we land, the flight attendants tell us that the LAST airport monorail to the main terminal was about to leave and if we didn't catch it we'd have to take buses to the main terminal. Sigh.

OMG, what in the heck??

Everyone in check, we headed to Magical Express, which of course required you to go back up across the terminal then back down again. Sigh.

I am so feeling for you guys at this point!

As you can see Steve is thinking "What did I get myself into?" or "Here we go all over again" or "Stop taking pictures already!"

Finally after a 30 minute ride, we see this:

All is right in the world!

We all checked in and realized we were in the same building, Rarotonga, which is what I requested. Yay! 3 rooms are next to each other while CT2's family had the room right below on the first floor.

Glad that worked out!

It was close to 1am when I went to bed...it was not a good start to the trip, but at least we all made it down safely!

It has to get better, right???

Coming up the next day...the kids first glimpse at the castle!

Yay!!!

 

[ArielSRL]

Today was a late start, since we had such a late night (later than I anticipated)

I would hope so....you needed rest!

but we still had to make it to breakfast at Crystal Palace by 10:20am.

Yay!

We found out that Sienna's crib wasn't delivered until 2am which is when she finally went to sleep, and I'm assuming when everyone else in that room did too. Poor family, but Disney calls!

Oh my!

Chunkysis reminded everyone to bring their 1) Autograph books 2) Sharpies 3) Pennies and quarters for the pressed penny machines. She was on top of that every day.

It is good to not be the only Disney expert on the trip!

My sister hand-makes these for our trip and she handed a bunch of them to every one else too. Each envelope is a different Disney print which is very cute.

I love them! I might need to place an order!

This was after I sent a couple of "Where is everyone" texts at 9:25am.

Waiting for the monorail

Love it!!

It's nice that the strollers can fit on the monorails and this was always why my family preferred the monorail over the buses.

That's why we prefer the boat at WL. Some of them we had to fold the stroller but most of them were big and it fit just fine without being closed up. It is also part of the reason we drive our car to all the other parks!

The puffy french toast was yummy

One of my favorites.

Oh yeah, you want to know what a sweat blanket feels like? Go to Disney in August. Good times.

 

[happy wanderer]

Fantastic report! I have loved following along over the years...but I was really interested see the littler members of your family at WDW! You did a wonderful job planning for a large group...and I loved the smiles (though Caylee’s side-eye reminded me of my own kiddo on her early trips!)!

 

[ArielSRL]

Guess who got suckered into doing the tea cups, the one ride she hates, but because she wants to maintain Cool Aunt status, she goes along with it...

HAHAHA...no thank you!

For the past few months I've been measuring the heights of Eva, Caylee, and Bryan. It's really cute, they line up against a wall and I take their heights with a tape measure and I say, Eva, you're ready for Soarin'! or Caylee, you can ride the Barnstormer!

I love this. Will is definitely atll enough for 7D this time but he wants to do Splash. At his last doctor's appt about a month ago, he was 39.5 without shoes. So I feel like maybe he has a shot. But we shall see. I told he wasn't quite tall enough yet but he might be in time for the trip.

So I think from this picture, you can tell I may have lost my Cool Aunt status.

HAHAHA...I can laugh only because I have a very similar photo of AJ!

It was cute as we were leaving Daisy really didn't want Steve to leave!

AWWWW!

Oh CS found the pressed penny machines and taught Sophie and Mimi all about pressed pennies. Then they found pressed penny books to display it all in so Kelly bought those for them using our AP discount.

My kids are obsessed with pressed pennies! We have a few full pressed penny wallets at home!

I luckily had a small microfiber towel in my bag, which came in very handy over the week, let me tell you. It could wipe up anything: sweat, rainwater, splashes, wet seats, spills. I would wash it every night and it dried overnight quickly. Just something to note if you don't like to get wet (which is me).

I have a few microfiber type washcloths that I take as well. I didn't want to commit to a huge towel but what I have works!

 

[ArielSRL]

Chunky Central , if you will,

Love it!!

This is where I also happened to have my first DISMeet of the trip!
The incredible @soniam!!!

Yay!!

I love how Sienna is so invested in the whole character dining thing.

Me: Eva what's was your favorite thing you rode today
Eva (I kid you not): The roller coaster!
Me (bewildered): Really?
Eva: Yes (pauses for a bit)
Eva: Auntie Su-Lynn, I'm having a really great time.
Me (bewildered again): Really?
Eva: Yes!

Awwww....so sweet!

It was still raining pretty hard. Blech.

I think AK might the worst in the rain. It is just so hot and muggy already that the rain isn't really a cool off thing. It just adds to the mugginess.

 

[ArielSRL]

Instead I tasked her with following the plan and taking everyone to MK for a morning of rides and character meets before we met up with them at our first FP+ for the day at Buzz Lightyear. Let's hope it all works out!

Again, so glad you had assistant manager along to help!

What we DID NOT expect was we ended up waiting only 25 minutes

Nice!

Goodbye forever The Great Movie Ride, you will be missed!

So glad I got all my boys on this in June and that my mom got to catch it in 2016.

This was Eva's first princess meet! It was wasn't surprising to to hear she LOVED it.

So precious!

Next up is Tiana. Yeah, Caylee gave Tiana the evil eye. Watch out Tiana, she knows some voodoo!

The evil eye....hahahah!

Sienna: "It has come to this, I have to eat my own pacifier strap to sustain myself through this ordeal called the Meet-n-Greet"

 

[ArielSRL]

Good job CS for keeping everyone on track!

Yeh, she did great!

We met up with everyone at Buzz Lightyear. This is one of those rides where the wait times can be 15 minutes or 45 minutes and it was a good thing we had FP as the wait was close to 40 minutes at that point. I think it really depends on timing.

Totally agree. If we schedula a FP, we usually didn't need it but if we try to ride standby, the line is long. Go figure!

Someone was really happy:

Sienna: "I love Disney!"

So stinkin' cute!

 

[ArielSRL]

After lunch we went to get Dole Whips, and we sat inside the Tiki Room and ate them while watching the show.

Is this a thing? I will have to remember that we can do this! We have committed to doing Tiki Room this trip since we don't usually and there are rumors of its demise.

On the way back to the Poly I ran into a PP photographer who asked if I would like a picture with Mr. Stickly. I said, "Ok, who's Mr. Stickly?" The PP guy whips out, literally a STICK with a CM nametag on it. Mr. Stickly from Big Tree, FL. It was hilarious!

So funny!

But literally, I'm not kidding you, 30 seconds after I get into the pool the life guard says we all had to leave because there was lightening headed our way. Sigh.

SMH

It was decent but I thought the pours were a little small.

Uh yeh, very small!

To start I got the French Onion Soup topped with a Crouton and Gruyère Cheese.

OMG so yummy!

I guess she thought he needed some waking up so she whacked him on the head.

Probably twice throughout our meal we got a visit from Beast!
Wow!

The strawberry cream cheese cupcake

My favorite!

UPDATE: I have the picture of our DISMeet! I stole this from Kathy's FB page. Thanks Kathy!

So fun! Love the dress! Hot Topic? Somewhere else?

Now here's one very odd encounter we had with a CM. We knew the time of the next bus to DHS and we got there right before it was to board. But for some reason the CM made us wait for the next bus, even though we saw a few people go backstage, obviously to ride the DHS bus. It was barely a handful of people so I don't know why she didn't let us through, it's not like it was full. She had one of those fake annoying smiles that customer service people have when they are obviously not listening to you and just saying whatever is written in front of them. We kept telling her, "We need to get on this bus, it's boarding now!" but it's like she didn't hear us. It was the weirdest interaction, almost like talking to an alien. Then 5 minutes later, I think she realized her error and she apologized to us saying we could have got on the bus, which had apparently just left. Kelly was livid. She is not the sort of person who deals well with inept people and she let her know that we now had to wait another 30 minutes with her restless kids thanks to her. The CM still maintained the annoying smile and pretending like there was nothing wrong with having to wait an extra 30 minutes. This was the only unfortunate incident I've had with an express bus CM. Boo.

So weird and so annoying. I probably would not have held my tongue!

Anyways, the MB was never recovered

Oh no!

But if you've never seen it, I suggest you watch it at least once.

One of my favorite nighttime shows!