She's Sleeping on the Top Bunk: An August 2017 WL TR with a Party of 10 (Updated 10/18)

So impressed you did the race, especially with the heat wave this weekend! Good job!
Thanks. Fortunately it was early enough that it wasn't crazy hot, but it was warm. We were glad to not be doing the half marathon on Sunday.

Your "party of 10" drew me in, because I am fascinated by group trips but also terrified of them and have zero desire to do it myself!! But you guys did it such a great way, splitting up and coming back together off and on. That seems so much less stressful and looks like it's worked out swimmingly so far!!
It really did work out great. We knew that we wouldn't be able to do everything together with all the kids, and we had different must dos since it was their first trip. We definitely nailed it, and had a great time.

I'm another WL fan and recognized your user name from the resort thread, so it's fun to read about your trip!
Neat! We love WL and the FAQ thread on the resorts board that @WDWKOOK puts together is where I (Paul) spend most of my time on the Dis. It is great.


:rotfl2::rotfl2::rotfl2: I think she must be related to my 14 year old. Bribes for smiles. On our first family trip, he looks like he's miserable in every. single. picture. He hates smiling in photos, even if he's having the time of his life. Thank goodness for candid shots b/c otherwise I'm not sure if we'd have any with a genuine smile.
Exactly! She really is a happy kid, until you point a camera at her and ask her to smile. Oh well, we found a solution for this trip...

Good choice on these ears!! I was so hesitant about getting my first pair of ears, and now I have 9 or ten pair...it's an addiction. Only one of mine are from WDW, the others are from instagram/etsy sellers.

Cute, cute, CUTE!! And I love this dress!! Perfect ear choice!
Thanks! They really are fun to wear at Disney, and these ones are comfortable and changeable Fun stuff!
Melissa tries to stay off etsy, it would get expensive. We love finding deals.

Such a fun read so far! Congrats Melissa on your race, too!
Thank you. We have a ball writing it, so we especially enjoy when people like to read it. Since we are in Disney reporting mode we wanted to share the race too. :)
 
It looks like I missed a few updates. We went out of town for the Labor Day weekend and stayed off the internet, for a change. ;)

I liked the new entrance procedure, even though it meant there were more people than there used to be on Main Street. I hadn't read about the changes ahead of time, I guess I was spending too much time on the Resorts board instead of reading about changes in the parks.
It makes sense that they would let people wait in Main Street instead of behind the tapstiles. That way they can do some shopping while they wait.

My favorite change is to have bag check moved to separate locations for the boats, the monorails, the resort buses and the ferry. That has made it so much faster to enter MK.

Allie's decision to do BBB without a fancy princess costume dress worked out really well. It saved us the cost of the dress that she would only wear for a little while in the heat. We did buy the Tsum Tsum dress for the occaision, and she loved wearing it all day.

After the makeover we went across the way for the photo shoot, and had a great CM who got some wonderful pictures of Allie and even let Marshall join in.
I love Allie's hair. It looks like Beauty's hairstyle. I think Allie was wise to wear a comfy dress. Our granddaughter wore a comfortable dress like Allie's dress for the 1900 Park Fare, Happily Ever After dinner instead of a princess dress. She was a lot more comfortable in it, too.

While we were in line Allie saw the decorated umbrellas and really wanted one. We initially said no because of the cost, but she must have really wanted it because she was willing to make a deal. She agreed to smile for pictures for the rest of the trip if we got the umbrella.
Those umbrellas are really cute. I'm surprised you don't see more girls with them at Disney. Our daughters had hand painted umbrellas like that when they were Allie's age and they loved them.

After the snack we headed towards Haunted Mansion, but stopped to watch the Muppets show in Liberty square. This is another thing I had heard nothing about but really thought was neat.
There are two different shows which they alternate. And they had a special show for the week of 4th of July. Sam the Eagle appeared in the round window at the top of the Hall of Presidents. It was a fun show. I can't see how anyone would complain about the Muppets. :)
 
That proved to be very fortunate because nothing happend fast during that meal.

we fisnished our meals and 3 days later our waiter brought by dessert menus.

It felt like it. I wondered if the dessert would be worth the wait, but fortunately it was. We each tried a different "flight" which had quite an assortment of different yummy things.
We had a lunch like that at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Our oldest grandson was one years old and I think the lunch took two hours. It's a good thing Marshall slept through it.

I liked everything, and thought the dessert was the highlight of the meal. The downside was the wait, and we did have to wait a long time for our checks, only to find that he didn't have them set up for the dining plan. That took another 15 minutes or so, and it still didn't have it right on the paper. The waiter had to actually take our magic bands from us (like a credit card) and go in the back to a station to ring up our meals. We were not super confident that it worked out right, but we didn't want to be there until morning so we headed out.
You would have thought that they wouldn't have problems like that now that the MB's have been around for years.

Allie actually asked to take a picture with the Metal Mickey on the way to the boats.
That is a really cute poise. I see that the blue umbrella was included. ;)

The boat pulled up on the left side and we hopped right on. This is the first time we have seen them synchronizing the Blue flag boats with both of them leaving the CR doc at the same time, but we saw it more later in the trip.
I've seen both boats at the CR dock at the same time before. I think it is the goal to have them there together but it probably doesn't always work out that way.

This time we were successful with our swim adventure. Allison is a great swimmer now and had a ball in the pool and enjoyed going down the slide.
I see that she doesn't need a life vest. She must be a very good swimmer.
We found that Allie is just slightly too tall for the kids play area at WL. It is one of the only times a child gets their height checked at Disney and is disappointed in being too tall.
I would think they would let someone Allie's age into the splash area. It's too bad that they wouldn't let her in.

Marshall started to fuss as we got to the restaurant, and Melissa took him outside while I ordered. I got the meatloaf sandwich, and she got the meatloaf dinner. Allie got chicken and Mac and cheese. By the time we got a table, Marshall had fallen asleep so it looked like he would be sleeping through another meal.
Wolfgang Puck Express is one of the restaurants that we first heard about from your trip reports. We go there often and my husband always gets the meatloaf sandwich.

We also had the cheesecake, which was great too.
We ate lunch here when we had free dining in June of 2016 and I fell in love with that cheesecake. It was really good.

Outside, Allie insisted on a picture with her Lego family before we headed towards the buses.
It looks like her hairdo didn't survive an afternoon at the pool.

This is true, they were very comfortable and I enjoyed wearing them the rest of the trip.
I never heard of these but it is a great idea. That is a cute picture of you, too. :)

I went down to Roaring Fork for a mug refill and Melissa and I stayed up for a bit while she caught up on doing payroll for work back at home.

Yes, our payroll day is Monday and we had another busy day scheduled so I stayed up and got my payroll done for the week. It makes for happier employees that way.
I've had to do payroll during a WDW vacation a few times. We have a biweekly payroll and I try to book our trips so that I avoid payroll week, but it doesn't always work out that way.
 
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Melissa texted me the picture, and we waited for her at the finish line. She finished the race in 1:36:20, which was an average pace of 15min, 31sec per mile. I was so excited and proud of her.
I love the picture with Melissa and her brother. What a treat to have him at the race. It is always nice to have friends and family there to cheer you on.

I was so happy to have finished this time!
You look really happy, as you should be. Those races aren't easy and you have to train for them.

It was a great race and a lot of fun, and hopefully we can do it together next year. We now return you to our regular WDW trip report.
That would be fun to run a race together. I hope you can do it. :) My sister ran a lot of races with me, including a Disney half marathon, and it was a lot of fun more fun to run with someone. :)
 


It looks like I missed a few updates. We went out of town for the Labor Day weekend and stayed off the internet, for a change. ;)
That's nice. We love our internet disconnected vacations. We spend so much of the time when we are home online that it is nice to get a break.

It makes sense that they would let people wait in Main Street instead of behind the tapstiles. That way they can do some shopping while they wait.

My favorite change is to have bag check moved to separate locations for the boats, the monorails, the resort buses and the ferry. That has made it so much faster to enter MK.
We were concerned that the changes would be negative, but we should have trusted Disney. It is a bit of a bummer having more people on Main Street when you have a pre park open ADR, but it is totally worth it.
The security changes are great too. The smaller checkpoints seem efficient and friendly, and even with the stroller and multiple bags it just isn't a big deal to go through security. The only down side we found was it takes a bit longer to resort hop via the monorail because you have to go through security at each resort, but it is still quick and easy.

I love Allie's hair. It looks like Beauty's hairstyle. I think Allie was wise to wear a comfy dress. Our granddaughter wore a comfortable dress like Allie's dress for the 1900 Park Fare, Happily Ever After dinner instead of a princess dress. She was a lot more comfortable in it, too.
Allie loved the hair too, especially the bits of color braided in. Melissa was able to reuse them later in the trip and repeat the fancy hairdo.

Those umbrellas are really cute. I'm surprised you don't see more girls with them at Disney. Our daughters had hand painted umbrellas like that when they were Allie's age and they loved them.
They are a classic souvenir, Melissa had one. They have gotten stronger, and we were told they are even waterproof after the paint dries. It worked great for sun and rain all week.

There are two different shows which they alternate. And they had a special show for the week of 4th of July. Sam the Eagle appeared in the round window at the top of the Hall of Presidents. It was a fun show. I can't see how anyone would complain about the Muppets. :)
You gotta love the Muppets. We caught part of another show later in the trip, and it was funny too. They are a great addition.

We had a lunch like that at the Grand Floridian Cafe. Our oldest grandson was one years old and I think the lunch took two hours. It's a good thing Marshall slept through it.
Yes, if he were up somebody would have been outside for most of the time, or they would have been motivated to move a little faster.

That is a really cute poise. I see that the blue umbrella was included. ;)
Yes, the umbrella will make lots more appearances (and a disappearance) later in the trip, but it is here with her now.

I've seen both boats at the CR dock at the same time before. I think it is the goal to have them there together but it probably doesn't always work out that way.
It makes lots of sense to sync up the boats there, but they were not at least once during our last trip, when we decided to go the long way around via FW.

I see that she doesn't need a life vest. She must be a very good swimmer.
I would think they would let someone Allie's age into the splash area. It's too bad that they wouldn't let her in.
She has been taking swim classes once a week for a couple of years now and has improved so much. It is great that she is more confident in the water. The splash area was a bummer, and we saw bigger kids in there at other times, but they were strict about it with her. They did let her in with us and her brother, but said she couldn't play on the slides. Oh well, she loves the big slide now anyway, and Marshall preferred the real pool too.

Wolfgang Puck Express is one of the restaurants that we first heard about from your trip reports. We go there often and my husband always gets the meatloaf sandwich.

We ate lunch here when we had free dining in June of 2016 and I fell in love with that cheesecake. It was really good.
That is so neat, we are honored to have told you about a great meal spot. We learned about it from a Trip report too, so it is neat how information makes it around on the DIS. The meatloaf sandwich is the best. I want one now!

I've had to do payroll during a WDW vacation a few times. We have a biweekly payroll and I try to book our trips so that I avoid payroll week, but it doesn't always work out that way.
Yeah, her company does payroll weekly, and she has it set up to be able to do most of the work remotely, but it still has to get done. We try not to take Mondays off, and actually shifted our trip this time to only have one off.

I love the picture with Melissa and her brother. What a treat to have him at the race. It is always nice to have friends and family there to cheer you on.
It was great that he was there, and a total coincidence. They have been playing more for Disney, and we have gotten to watch them at Downtown Disney. It is neat, and she enjoyed seeing him and us during the race.

That would be fun to run a race together. I hope you can do it. :) My sister ran a lot of races with me, including a Disney half marathon, and it was a lot of fun more fun to run with someone. :)
We really enjoyed the 10k together when she was pregnant with Marshall, and we hope to do it again next year. We just have to get someone to hang out with Marshall and Allie for an early morning.
 
After lunch, we had Fastpasses for the character spot, so Marshall got to meet some characters.
Such good photos! We really had a great time with the characters there, as well.

I didn't think Marshall would want to sit through an attraction that long so we headed in seperate directions.
This is one of the many reasons I have skipped it lately, as well as some of the other shows at Disney. Will is just 3 and I just don't see him sitting through anything lengthy at this point.

Allie was super happy with her face paint though.
So cute!

Then made our way to Mouse Gear where we met back up with Jon and Brandy. On the way to Mouse Gear I got an ice cream, and it was really good. I have no explanation for the look on my face in the picture Melissa got of me...
:rotfl:

At the bus stop Jon took this cute shot of us.
Great photo!

I hope you didn't wait too long for a bus. Unfortunately we didn't like how far the stop was from the exit and we waited forever in the middle of the day. This helped cement our driving to most of the parks, except MK, for the rest of the week.

Back at the hotel we stopped by the room for a few minutes, and Allie expressed her love for the bunk bed.
It looks so fun. I wish they had bunkbed rooms at BRV.

Before long it was time to head over to Ft. Wilderness for dinner at Trails End.
We had brunch here in June. I am hoping to do Hoop Dee Doo this coming June.

We were fortunate to catch a combined Red/Green flag big boat that was headed to Fort Wilderness, so we were able to sit inside.
Nice!

Marshall was holding the pager when it went off and cried when I took it away from him. Buster, the nice CM who was seating us noticed this and dropped off another pager at our table, and even made it go off so it would light up and vibrate for Marshall. He said it makes him feel bad when they take them away from kids, who just want to play with them. What a fantastically nice caring CM, who gets the concept of taking exceptional care of guests.
Love this story!

We also loved the food, which is just great comfort food to start the trip with. I had plenty of ribs, pulled pork, and cobbler a la mode for dessert.
Good to know. We weren't that impressed with the brunch so maybe we will try dinner one day.

We had many afternoon thunderstorms during the trip that ended up closing the pools. Since it was so close to Firework time we headed down to Geyser Point and watched them from there.
I need to make a plan to do this in June.
 
Such good photos! We really had a great time with the characters there, as well.
They are just fun. It is also a nice cool break from the outside world. They were Marshall's first characters of the trip, and we soon saw de would definitely be into them this time.

This is one of the many reasons I have skipped it lately, as well as some of the other shows at Disney. Will is just 3 and I just don't see him sitting through anything lengthy at this point.
Yes, you have got to cater to your audience. We avoided the struggle and everyone was happier.

I hope you didn't wait too long for a bus. Unfortunately we didn't like how far the stop was from the exit and we waited forever in the middle of the day. This helped cement our driving to most of the parks, except MK, for the rest of the week.
We did well overall on bus transportation this trip, like the best we ever have. We did have one long wait at Epcot, but we got a second bus before long and it worked out fine. We just don't feel the need to rent a car, so since we fly MDE works for us.

It looks so fun. I wish they had bunkbed rooms at BRV.
Yes, we too wish there were villas with bunkbeds! Allie would later emphasize this point to us, but we all came to agreement eventually...

We had brunch here in June. I am hoping to do Hoop Dee Doo this coming June.
Good to know. We weren't that impressed with the brunch so maybe we will try dinner one day.
We have done breakfast at Trail's End a few times and much prefer dinner. Everybody has their own favorites, but we really like the BBQ food at dinnertime, and do prefer it to the similar food at HDDR.

I need to make a plan to do this in June.
Yes, Geyser point is a perfect place to start and end the day at WL. It is such a nice addition that far surpassed our expectations.
 


We started the day by getting up at 6:30. I ran through the shower and then went downstairs to fill our mugs and grabbed a couple of breakfast danishes with snack credits to go with some packaged donuts we had in the room for a quick breakfast.


Our goal was to head out for EMH at AK. We made it out the door and found Dave, Megan and the boys at the bus stop.

We got to the bus stop at 7:59, and got a text from Jon and Brandy saying they had taken an earlier bus and were on their way to the park. Meeting up the Dave and Megan and the kids was great though, and everyone had fun. The bus came at 8:12, left at 8:15, and went directly to AK, arriving at 8:29.


We were still before the park opened to everyone, but it was crowded. The lines to get into Pandora were backed up all the way to the island. We felt great to be skipping that for the time being and headed for Africa.

Our first stop was Kilimanjaro Safaris.


We walked right through the queue and onto the ride. It was an interesting safari, a lot of the animals were up and about. One of the parents on our truck seemed to want to feed their child to the animals though, our driver had to get pretty stern about keeping the baby on the seat.



She definitely had the school principal voice down. We were noticeably uncomfortable as she kept yelling about how we couldn't continue with kids not seated properly. Even though Marshall was fine, we still were afraid she was yelling at us.


After we escaped without being given detention, we walked the Gorilla trail. Marshall was pretty tired, but still had fun checking out some of the animals.




In one of the more memborable moments of the trip, while we were watching the gorlillas we watched one eat from a green bucket. He then proceeded to regurgitate what he had eaten back into the bucket, and continue eating. We watched him repeat this three times before we decided to move on.


It was hysterical to Allie and we were all pretty grossed out by it. Towards the end of the trail Allie was getting cranky and tired too so we decided she needed a snack and we all needed a place to cool off for a minute.


We popped into Zuri's sweets and got a couple of cookies, an iced slushy thing, and a diet coke.

I think we got a box of cookies for Marshall too, and spent like five snack credits at once but it was totally worth it. Everybody enjoyed the snacks, and Marshall fell asleep in the stroller while we enjoyed the air conditioning in the shop.


We saw Dave and Megan again, then Allie had one more important thing to do, she needed face paint. We had agreed to let her do it three times during the trip, and she chose to use the second one this day.


Then we headed towards Asia while they went for their Safari. We got some pics of the tree of life on the way.



Our next stop was the Pangani trail for the Tigers, but starting with the bats.


There, Melissa found a secret outhouse just after the bats.


It's a nice restroom hidden on the trail. It is nice to know about for those with kids that like to give you two minutes notice to find a bathroom.

We got Allie's picture next to the tiger painting. We've started doing this every trip to see how tall she's gotten. It's hard to believe how quick she's growing.


Here's the picture from September 2012, when she was two:
monday_allie_tiger_painting.jpg


There was only one tiger out in the enclosure because the female was due any day. He was kinda behind a rock so we didn't get a great view.

It was pretty darned warm on the trail so we took a break on a bench while I got some work done on my phone. The work it follows me where ever I go.


It was a nice relatively cool break, and we had some extra time before our Expedetion Everest fastpasses, so we hung out for a bit. While we were there a cute little girl walked up and asked us if we knew where her Mommy was.

Luckily her dad followed shortly behind her. It seems she was just done with him and wanted mom.

I felt bad for the poor guy. He was right there with the kid, but she was on a mission to find Mom instead. After that we continued our trip over to Expedition Everest, which Jon Brandy and I rode first but we got a baby swap pass, so then Jon, Melissa, and I rode it. It is a great ride.



It is a fun rollercoaster and it was nice Brandy babysat for a minute so we could ride it together.
Check out the rest of our day, including a great lunch, in our next update.
 
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After Everest it was time to get our grub on. We had an ADR at Yak and Yeti.

This has become one of our favorite WDW restaurants, and again it didn't disappoint. With it being August they were using the upstairs seating as well, and we got a nice table in the corner.


I decided to try something different and got the Kobe beef burger after Brandy loved it last time. It was very tasty and had great flavor.


I tried the Korean beef. It was amazing!


We enjoyed the cool break in the middle of a hot day, and ate far too much as we enjoyed the Mango Pie and cream cheese wontons for dessert.

Marshall really liked his noodles and there were plenty to share with his sister. Allie ended up so full she didn't want her dessert so Marshall happily finished it for her.



After lunch, we had our first fastpass in Pandora, for Flights of Passage. I had hoped we wouldn't be quite so full by the time we rode this, but this was the time we could get so we made it work.


Pandora was really impressive, and was neat just to walk around.




I waited in the dump shop with Marshall while everyone else rode. He terrorized the place.

While Marshall was attacking the dump shop, we were exploring a new type of ride. Basically I would describe it as an enhanced version of Soaring, with more motion simulation and 3D glasses thrown in.


The queue was quite elaborate, with a "screening" that took place and needed to be "reset" and performed again to fill the time caused by delays in the group ahead of us. Allie bravely rode the ride, but wound up not enjoying it since it was a little scary for her.


I was impressed by it, but was too full of lunch to enjoy it fully. I was super impressed with the size of the ride mechanism and what they did with it.

I was quite skeptical about the addition of Pandora to Animal Kingdom, I just wasn't sure if it would fit well. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed on just our first visit with how well they integrated this area into the park.

We decided to save the baby swap pass for when we weren't as full and headed out of the park.


We shopped a bit on the way out, which let us get cooled down before the hot walk to the bus. We got to the bus stop at 4:27 and it was very full. A bus arrived at 4:31, but it filled and we didn't make it on.



We have learned to not be too worried about making it on a bus that is packed full. The driver apologized for not being able to get us all on, but we gladly waited.

The next bus pulled up super quick and we were able to sit in the AC as opposed to stand up holding the kids and the stroller.

I am convinced that buses don't run specific predefined route, and instead they are dispatched as needed. We were on the second bus at 4:39 and arrived to Wilderness Lodge at 4:59.


We went up to the rooms for just a few minutes to drop stuff off and get ready for dinner. In the room we saw that housekeeping had arranged Belle and Eeyore with the TV remote on the bed.

p2501816638-4.jpg


Then we met back up in the hallway outside the rooms at 5:20.

We were headed to Hoop De Doo! This was something we hadn't done in a while and we were looking forward to seeing it again.

We headed to the boats and a blue flag boat arrived as we got there, so we walked right on.


We then made it over to Fort Wilderness by 5:35. We took the kids to the playground while Jon and Brandy went to Crockett's for a drink.




The kids loved playing for a little while until the sky opened up and we started to get some precipitation.

We joined Jon and Brandy on the porch outside Trail's End. As the rain got heavier so did the crowds trying to get away from it.


I walked over and checked us in for Hoop De Doo, and we waited on the porch a while longer. When we went over towards Hoop De Doo, all the covered areas were full and they were just starting to let people in. We weren't in a rush, but didn't want to get soaked either so we went to hang out under the roof of the DVC kiosk.

Because of the rain we were a captive audience. The sales guy tried to schedule us for a tour and explained we could do it at Wilderness Lodge and see the new cabins and then at the end we'd get a $100 Disney gift card. It seemed like a pretty sweet way to see the new cabins. We didn't set anything up then but it did sound interesting.

Once the lines cleared out we walked right in to the room for Hoop De Doo. We had a nice tall table at the back of the room on the first floor.


We didn't pay the extra for Category 1 seating, so we were happy with what we got. Soon the show and music started and everyone was having fun, especially Marshall.


There's something about Disney western corny shows, its like a match made in heaven.


Marshall clapped and danced and wore himself out, so that he eventually fell asleep during the show.

Allie enjoyed the show too, and even joined in with banging the washboard at the end. Afterwards, she started saying "Well Hoop De Doo" at well timed opportunities...

She would do it dead pan and have us all cracking up. I can't believe he fell asleep because it was so loud in there but he had a busy day.
It was a great show with good food. My favorite as usual was the strawberry shortcake. Its hard to beat a good shortcake when its been a hot day.

I enjoyed everything, including the chicken, ribs, and beans. Brandy did agree with me though saying that he preferred the food at Trail's End, despite its similarity (and shared kitchen).
The show was the reason to go though, and it was fun to see it is still very much unchanged.

Afterwards, Marshall woke up as we walked out, so we went over by the store to let him play for a bit. We sat outside and enjoyed the early sunset before getting on a boat at 8:40 for a sunset cruise back to the Lodge.


It was a great end to a busy day. When we got back up to our room we got to watch some of the fireworks from our balcony. we didn't have as good a view as last year but it's still nice seeing them over the treetops.


As we sat in the hotel room everyone was ready for bed except me and Marshall. I wanted to go explore the resort some more and he was rested from his nap, so I took him with me in the small stroller for a trip around the resort.


I got a break from the wild man for a minute and got to soak in the bathtub and finish the book I was reading. It's super rare that I get time to read anymore so I really enjoyed the break.

While Marshall and I were out I took pictures of some of the new areas of the resort. First we checked out the new outside seating area for Roaring Fork, which is a nice addition.


Then I got some more nighttime pictures of Geyser Point.




Then we walked the paths to the cabins on the South side of the resort. With 13 cabins there it is a decent length walk to the last one.


On the way back I walked towards the original villas building, and could hear animals in the woods. I stopped and got a picture of two deer about 20 feet from me with my cell phone.


There is definitely still Wilderness at the Lodge. I got a few more pictures on the way back to the room, and by the time we got back to the room at 10:30 Marshall was asleep.



Melissa and I were able to hang out together for a while, and we posted some pictures online then went to sleep at 11:15.

Check back for our next update where we start with a pre-park opening breakfast ADR at MK...
 
Melissa texted me the picture, and we waited for her at the finish line. She finished the race in 1:36:20, which was an average pace of 15min, 31sec per mile. I was so excited and proud of her.
p2497898132-4.jpg

Great job Melissa!

We got Allie's picture next to the tiger painting. We've started doing this every trip to see how tall she's gotten. It's hard to believe how quick she's growing.

I love this idea!
 
Allie had one more important thing to do, she needed face paint.
Her face paint looks really good. I bet she hated to cover it up with her glasses.

We got Allie's picture next to the tiger painting. We've started doing this every trip to see how tall she's gotten. It's hard to believe how quick she's growing.
This was a good idea. Is she wearing one of the dresses that Melissa made? I loved seeing all of Allie's dresses for that trip. :)

Did you get a picture of Marshall so that you can do the same thing with him?

This has become one of our favorite WDW restaurants, and again it didn't disappoint.
We love the pot stickers at Yak and Yeti. I had the Kobi burger the last time we ate there and it was good.

Marshall is a really good eater. It was nice that he could help Allie with her dessert. :)
Allie bravely rode the ride, but wound up not enjoying it since it was a little scary for her.
That ride is very intense. We've done it twice now and I have problems with it, mostly motion sickness. But the intensity of it was a little unnerving, too. My husband loves it. :)

We decided to save the baby swap pass for when we weren't as full and headed out of the park.
Are those good for any day of your trip?

We shopped a bit on the way out, which let us get cooled down before the hot walk to the bus. We got to the bus stop at 4:27 and it was very full. A bus arrived at 4:31, but it filled and we didn't make it on.
The disadvantage of sharing the buses with the Contemporary is that they are sometimes very full.

I am convinced that buses don't run specific predefined route, and instead they are dispatched as needed. We were on the second bus at 4:39 and arrived to Wilderness Lodge at 4:59.
I've noticed this, too, especially you are at the MK bus depot and see buses only go to resort bus stops that have people waiting at them.

Soon the show and music started and everyone was having fun, especially Marshall.
This show is fun for everyone, especially little kids. :)

I enjoyed everything, including the chicken, ribs, and beans. Brandy did agree with me though saying that he preferred the food at Trail's End, despite its similarity (and shared kitchen).
The show was the reason to go though, and it was fun to see it is still very much unchanged.
The food at Trail's End is probably a little fresher, too. Plus it has more variety. :)

I got a break from the wild man for a minute and got to soak in the bathtub and finish the book I was reading. It's super rare that I get time to read anymore so I really enjoyed the break.
I remember the days when I couldn't close a bathroom door without having a kid banging on it. ;) I'm glad you had some peace and quiet for a change. :)

First we checked out the new outside seating area for Roaring Fork, which is a nice addition.
It looks like a nice space. It took them forever to build it, though.

On the way back I walked towards the original villas building, and could hear animals in the woods. I stopped and got a picture of two deer about 20 feet from me with my cell phone.
I love the fact that you saw deer on your walk. This resort feels far away from the craziness of the parks. That is the appeal for us. :)
 
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Great job Melissa!
Thanks! It was a lot of fun, and we are planning for next year.

I love this idea!
Yeah, it just kind of happened. We really should do something similar with Marshall.

Her face paint looks really god. I bet she hated to cover it up with her glasses.
She didn't mind too much, because she really likes her glasses. She loves that they are transitions and get darker in the sun. One time she wanted them to do the face paint with her glasses on, but agreed to take them off to make it easier.

This was a good idea. Is she wearing one of the dresses that Melissa made? I loved seeing all of Allie's dresses for that trip. :)

Did you get a picture of Marshall so that you can do the same thing with him?
Yeah, I wish we had planned it, but we didn't know how much we'd be back to WDW. That is one of the dresses Melissa made for her, and we have T shirts for her to make some more larger ones in the future.
We haven't done something specific like this with Marshall, so we better look through our pictures and figure out what we have that we can repeat over the coming years.

We love the pot stickers at Yak and Yeti. I had the Kobi burger the last time we ate there and it was good.

Marshall is a really good eater. It was nice that he could help Allie with her dessert. :)
I have enjoyed everything I have tried there. The ribs are so unique that they are probably my favorite, but the dish Melissa got this time had a similar flavor. The burger was great, but even I don't want a burger all the time...
Marshall is always more than willing to help out when food is involved. Recently we went to Disneyland and got him and Allie the same meal, and he helped her finish it after eating all of his.

That ride is very intense. We've done it twice now and I have problems with it, mostly motion sickness. But the intensity of it was a little unnerving, too. My husband loves it. :)

Are those good for any day of your trip?
Yeah, the motion stuff can get to me a bit, but I think my biggest problem was that I was so full and was holding Allie's hand. The baby swap passes are good until the end of the month, so we had all trip to use them and were able to return and have Melissa ride it at a better time.

The disadvantage of sharing the buses with the Contemporary is that they are sometimes very full.

I've noticed this, too, especially you are at the MK bus depot and see buses only go to resort bus stops that have people waiting at them.
Yeah, shared buses fill up quicker, but the load is balanced pretty well. We had full buses at Port Orleans when they weren't shared. I do think Disney puts a lot of effort into making it go as smoothly as possible, but often the longer waits and full buses just can't be avoided. That's ok, it is a minor inconvenience in a wonderful vacation.

This show is fun for everyone, especially little kids. :)
Yeah, it is one of those WDW staples you just have to do every so often.

The food at Trail's End is probably a little fresher, too. Plus it has more variety. :)
Yeah, I like the variety at Trail's End, and they do such a good job keeping the buffet fresh and hot.

I remember the days when I couldn't close a bathroom door without having a kid banging on it. ;) I'm glad you had some peace and quiet for a change. :)
Ahh yes, eventually life will be so boring... In the mean time, we have entertainment all the time.

It looks like a nice space. It took them forever to build it, though.
Yeah, I love how well it ties into the outside of the lodge and doesn't look like an add on. I sure would miss Roaring Fork if it were closed during one of our visits. The changes inside weren't huge, but did seem to make it flow better. I like having the drink refills in the dining room now, even if there is still a line for them.

I love the fact that you saw deer on your walk. This resort feels far away from the craziness of the parks. That is the appeal for us. :)
Yes! We love that WL can feel so remote and peaceful while being just a few minutes from the busiest theme park in the world. It is a huge part of the appeal for us. We like how POR has a similar "quiet rural feel" but it just doesn't have the proximity to the park that WL has. We had seen deer before over closer to Fort Wilderness, but these were super close to the cabins.
 
We tried to do EMH at MK and it was the only time we ever really waited for an MK bus from WL. So we ended up doing about as well as you guys with AK.

AK is always such a hot park. I like it but my DH wasn't a huge fan...well except for Flight of Passage, which he claims is the best ride at Disney. I have motion sickness issues so I skipped it, as did the boys.

Love the face painting and the photo comparison. I need to do something like that.

How was the Mango Pie? When went in 2016, I was stuck between that and the wonton dessert and I would up choosing the wonton, but really wondered what the Mango Pie tasted like.

Yay for Hoop De Doo. I can't wait. Oh and I love all the photos around the resort!

And I agree with Melissa on the reading since kids...it's pretty much Facebook or the Disboads now, with a little Entertainment Weekly thrown in. I keep saving names of books I want to read but who knows when I will have time?
 
We tried to do EMH at MK and it was the only time we ever really waited for an MK bus from WL. So we ended up doing about as well as you guys with AK.
Yeah, morning EMH are hard, especially with a kid that would prefer to sleep in. Sometimes it is better to be a little late than to mess up the rest of the day with a tired kid.

AK is always such a hot park. I like it but my DH wasn't a huge fan...well except for Flight of Passage, which he claims is the best ride at Disney. I have motion sickness issues so I skipped it, as did the boys.
We often have been super hot in AK. At least there is Air Conditioning to escape to (Unlike LegoLand in California, which is the hottest we have been at a theme park) but most of the times we've been the hottest a t a park were at AK.

Love the face painting and the photo comparison. I need to do something like that.
Allie really enjoys the face paint, and it was one of her favorite parts of the trip. She did good budgeting them. The picture thing just worked out, and has been easy to repeat, although sometimes she sure doesn't want to pose for the picture.

How was the Mango Pie? When went in 2016, I was stuck between that and the wonton dessert and I would up choosing the wonton, but really wondered what the Mango Pie tasted like.
ohhhh Mango Pie. I like it better than the wontons, both are good but the Mango Pie is heaven.
I prefer the wontons, but the Mango pie is pretty darn good. For me the ice cream with the wontons pushes them to the win.
Clearly the best answer is "both".

Yay for Hoop De Doo. I can't wait. Oh and I love all the photos around the resort!

And I agree with Melissa on the reading since kids...it's pretty much Facebook or the Disboads now, with a little Entertainment Weekly thrown in. I keep saving names of books I want to read but who knows when I will have time?
Ahh yes, Hoop De Doo is fun, and another reason to go next door and check out Fort Wilderness. Melissa's reading time is definitely limited, but fortunately she can sometimes check out the DIS boards at work when she isn't working on TR updates...
 
I woke up at 6 AM, and went downstairs to get mug refills before the 6:30 AM alarm. On my way down and back I saw Cast Members working on refinishing the hand railing on the ramp to Roaring Fork.



I also got a picture of the Roaring Fork dining room completely empty.


Having coffee in the room made it easier for Melissa to get up and get the kids ready.

It is important that I am properly caffinated when I have to function early in the morning. Especially on vacation when I try to get into relaxation mode.


We did really well and made it to the bus stop with the kids ready to go by 7:25.


We watched a bus come and go but waited for Jon and Brandy. They got there at 7:30, and we were on a bus at 7:38, which arrived at MK at 7:45.

we stopped on Main Street for some photopass pictures in front of the castle.




The kids had fun running through the construction scrims on Main Street.


They must have spent 5 minutes running back and forth.


This gave enough time for Jon and Brandy to get caffeinated at Starbucks. A nearby Photopass photographer took some pics of me playing with the kids.


Then we headed over to Crystal Palace to check in for our ADR.

The kids enjoyed playing on the bridge a bit until our pager went off.


It seems like it's always such a relief when the pager finally goes off at this restaurant. It was a warm morning and it was nice to be in the AC.

This year there was no problem with the number of chairs, and we were seated right away. The characters started coming by soon after, and then we went and picked up some yummy food.





This breakfast never disappoints. Marshall LOVED meeting all the characters and Allie even enjoyed it too.





I think we all did. You just can't beat the combination of great food and fun characters. Allie seemed to be more into them this year than ever, probably because she loved showing them to her curious little brother.

During breakfast the boys talked about the possibility of doing the DVC tour. They decided it would be worth the time to check out the new stuff and then get the giftcard.

We really wanted to get a chance to see inside the new cabins. Also we figured we could put up with pretty much anything for a couple of hours for a $100 Disney gift card.

I figured it was harmless enough for them to check it out.

Breakfast went quickly, and in an hour we had filled ourselves up and seen all the characters, so we headed out to see how crowded the park was.


We rode the carousel and Small World, but Peter Pan had a long line so we skipped it. (When does it not?)



Then we headed over to Fantasyland and rode Dumbo.




After Dumbo we were HOT so we walked over to the giftshop to do some shopping. Marshall really wanted to take one of the basket holder bucket things home.


When our sweat was dry we were headed back to the resort. Paul had a phone appointment that he needed a quiet place to take.

On our way out of the park we shopped on Main Street, and we saw the ultimate Lightning McQueen.


I called Brandy over and told him to talk me out of buying it because I wanted it. Marshall wanted it and Paul wanted it. I think even Allie wanted it.

Then Jon walked over and pulled up a Youtube video of it. It was definately no help in talking me out of buying it.

Since we're all little kids it was just a matter of time before we wound up at the register with it.

Brandy decided we really needed it, and he bought it for us for all of our work planning and organizing the trip.


Jon was supposed to talk us out of it so that Brandy could buy it. Oh well, we got it, and appreciated the gift. We saw it needed AA batteries, and we asked at the register but they were out of them,. so we continued on to another shop. Two shops later we found them, but the Cast Member insisted that they were AA4 batteries, not double As. We saw that the 4 pack he had would work, and despite his insistance that they were the wrong ones, we bought them and took them with us to play with the car.

We took the boat back to WL after arriving at the dock at 11:35.


We got on a boat at 11:42 and were back to WL by 11:50. There was only one other lady on the boat at that time, it was a nice quick trip.


When we got back to the room I attempted putting Marsh down for a nap and that was a huge failure. We got out the new Lightning McQueen car while Paul was out waiting to take his call. The car was so cute and Marsh had fun playing with it and generally terrorizing the room.



After we stopped by the rooms, Brandy and I went downstairs to see about scheduling a DVC tour. We met Scott, a nice DVC guy at the desk in the lobby (Aren't they all?) and he set us up for a 10:30 tour on the following day. For some lunch I went by Roaring Fork and got a flatbread and chicken nuggets for us to share in the room.

I went outside the room to take my call from the sitting area on the 4th floor inside the windows that overlook Bay Lake. It was a beautiful location to "work" but the scheduling didn't work out and the call got postponed until later in the week.

Check back for more on the rest of our busy day in another park in our next update.
 
You guys did so well with getting up early! Oh and Melissa...I love the Lula! I have collected way too much Disney Lula since it came out in June. But shh, don't tell the hubs...lol.

Love, love breakfast at CP. it's pretty much a must do almost every trip!

And my 3 year old is obsessed with McQueen and wanted that car, too, but he had already "spent his money" at the Lego Store by then.

Can't wait to hear about the DVC tour. We wanted to do one to get the gift card but never actually did.
 
You just can't beat the combination of great food and fun characters. Allie seemed to be more into them this year than ever, probably because she loved showing them to her curious little brother.
That is cute to see her enjoying her little brother. I know she would never have spent 5 minutes running through the scrims at MK if it wasn't for Marshall. It kind of makes up for all the times he drives her crazy. ;)

That was nice of Brandy to buy the race car. It looks like a lot of fun. It is nice to have some "boy" toys to play with, since they are a little more fun than girl toys. ;)

They got there at 7:30, and we were on a bus at 7:38, which arrived at MK at 7:45.
We got on a boat at 11:42 and were back to WL by 11:50.
The bus ride was almost as long as the boat ride. :) We love taking the boat to WL from MK, even when we aren't staying there. :)
 
You guys did so well with getting up early! Oh and Melissa...I love the Lula! I have collected way too much Disney Lula since it came out in June. But shh, don't tell the hubs...lol.
I have caught the Lula bug and the Disney stuff makes it worse! Check out my leggings I'm rocking at work today...


Love, love breakfast at CP. it's pretty much a must do almost every trip!
Yes, we have done it every trip since we first tried it. I'm not too big on using a Table Service meal at breakfast, but this one is definitely worth it!

And my 3 year old is obsessed with McQueen and wanted that car, too, but he had already "spent his money" at the Lego Store by then.
Ahh yes, you can't go wrong with Disney Legos. We HAD to get the car because all of us wanted it...

Can't wait to hear about the DVC tour. We wanted to do one to get the gift card but never actually did.
It was a lot of fun. We'll write all about it when we get to it on the next day. Melissa stayed with the kids and didn't do it, which she still sort of regrets, but it all worked out.

That is cute to see her enjoying her little brother. I know she would never have spent 5 minutes running through the scrims at MK if it wasn't for Marshall. It kind of makes up for all the times he drives her crazy. ;)
Exactly. She really amazes us with what a great big sister she is. They both had so much fun running back and forth, and nobody was around so it was a great time for them. He does drive her nuts sometimes, but you're right that it is neat to see her enjoying time with him too.

That was nice of Brandy to buy the race car. It looks like a lot of fun. It is nice to have some "boy" toys to play with, since they are a little more fun than girl toys. ;)
It was super nice, and it makes it even more special. Brandy is a car guy too, and we all wanted to play with it.

The bus ride was almost as long as the boat ride. :) We love taking the boat to WL from MK, even when we aren't staying there. :)
It was the fastest boat ever. It really surprised me, and I even checked the picture time stamps. The boats are something we really love about WL, and this trip I think we used them for every trip back from MK, and at least one of the trips to there. We tend to use the buses for morning MK trips, and enjoy the short ride too.
 
Love the aliens! Here is my last few "Tropical Storm Irma" days of leggings (since school has been closed)View attachment 269333 View attachment 269334 View attachment 269335 View attachment 269336 ...
I love them! I'm on the hunt for Tigger leggings and I would LOVE something Stitch if that ever happens.

Allie also has two pairs of Disney leggings, one with the green aliens and another with Minnie Mouse. She also has a Toy Story Sloan and I got Marshall a Mickey Mouse Sloan. Although now Paul knows everything, we've gotta keep this on the down low... ;)

 

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