[Mickeybug]

Returned yesterday from an 8 day/7 night wacky weather trip.

Cast:
Me~ Cyndi
DH~Jeff
DD14~Jessica
DD11~Danielle
DD10~Emily
DDSIL~JoAnn
Dates: Oct 16~Oct 23
Location: Shades of Green & Poly

1st day~Early Thur morning we got a call from my mother-n law in OH, who was supposed to join us, but had to cancel due to medical problems which put her in the hospital. She's ok, but unfortunately too late for any refunds. We finished packing while waiting for the girls to get out of school so we could leave. The following day was our 1 lowly little day of Fall Break and since they were going to miss the whole next week we decided to wait till 3 to go.
Tick-Tock and we're off! Drove till not sure when or where, but I know it was past Ft. Walton and a clean bed so we got a good night sleep for our first day in the world.
Arrived at SoG by 1, grabbed both rooms, unpacked and showered so we could head out for awhile. Jo was flying in from CA and wouldn't be there till after 6 so we had time to kill. There was a huge Oktober fest going on at the hotel but the girls wanted to hop the rail so we walked over to the poly and did the loop, stopping at Contemporary for snacks/refreshments. Back at Poly I sent Jeff & the girls to the beach so I could try advance check-in for later that week. Nope, only on-line or day of. Didn't understand why if i'm already there, guess they have their reasons though. Hung out with the girls and a Lapu-Lapu before heading back to get Jo. Here comes the rain!!!

Jo was in so we grabbed her and around 8 all headed to the Boardwalk for dinner at Big River. Heard really good reviews on it so had to try. A lot of empty tables but many outside were wet so we opted for inside. Wait for table wasn't long, just enough to play a game or two on the Boardwalk. Once seated at a table FOR 4! with 2 extra chairs pulled up(we've noticed this happening A LOT!!) we ordered drinks which took 35 min before even placing food order. Not a good start. And it began!!!!!!! the girls complaining because they couldn't order off the menus they were used to everywhere else. "They didn't want that yucky food with all that stuff in it". We went ahead and let Em order from the kids since she turned 10 a couple of months ago, otherwise she would've starved the whole week. And she still only ate 1/2 of it. Dani and Jess both got chick fettucini. Dani ate maybe 1/3 of hers. Jess was about 1/3 through hers and found a rather large black hair on one of the noodles. She's a dark blonde. I sent it back. Our waiter brought another plate out as we were all fininshed. Only option he gave was to box it up, not to take it off the ticket, discount it or anything. DH doesn't do confrontations whereas I probably live them in my sleep, Soooo, her new full plate, Dani's 2/3's and Em's 1/2 all ended up in the trash. What a waste.
Disney, can you hear me......please, please have kid friendly menus past 9!! But w/o hair,lol
After the dinner that no one seemed overly impressed by, we walked back down the boardwalk so Dani could get her hair wrap. It started getting really cold so once finished, we headed back to the room for a full nights sleep. MK was tomorrow!!!

[nubeanie]

Ewwww!!!!!!!! Are you serious they still charged you?!!!!! That is awful!

[princesslindsey]

Yuck! Hope the rest of your meals weren't that bad!

[Mickeybug]

posted twice, hmm

[Mickeybug]

Yes, we were still charged. Although my meal was good the overall experience wasn't.

Day~2.
Saturday morning up and out the door by 8. Wanted to use the Shady Shuttle (golf cart that transports guest) to get to the Poly but it was very cold so I figured we could warm up by walking. Arrived at MK just in time as the train was pulling up with Mickey & co.

At rope drop we head to TommorrowLand first, the girls love Buzz so we grabbed FP's and went to Stitch. Never done it and haven't heard good reviews but wanted to check for myself. Only dissapointment was that it's a show and not a ride. Off we went to Astro, Speedway, CoP, TTA and Buzz. Girls wanted to ride again so we FP'd for later. Sigh* still no Space Mtn.

Across the park to AL. Noticed crowds were unusually high for this time of morning in Oct. Kept moving to everything excet no Aladdin- lines to long, but never too long for a quick Dole Whip.

Over to Frontierland. Of the 6 only 3 of us wanted to ride Splash & BTRR so we FP'd both back to back. Had about 45 min so we decided to grab lunch. By this time the park had gotten Stupid Crowded (dd14 kept saying). I've never seen anything like this, not even during our June trip. We ducked into Pecos Bill since we knew it would be quick and easy. They are waiting till you're whole party is together to seat you, but you do not all have to stand in line together to order. Lunch was really good. Used FP's for DD14, Dsil and I on Splash. Jess hadn't rode it since she was 8 so most was like a brand new ride to her. Used our other 3 fp's for BTRR except it broke when we were next in line to ride, so we got a ride anything/anytime FP in MK until the 31st. Last time we had one of those was when we found Huck's paintbrush on Tom Sawyer's Island.

Went over to HM....when did they stop FP's for that ride Filtered our way through rides across to Toontown. Had to see Mickey & Minnie's house 1 last time. Unfortunately we didn't get to see Mickey that day as the que was over an hour

Around 6 I realized it was too late to leave, I was tired and probably wouldn't make it back for Spectro if we did so we hit a few more rides/shops before heading to our fav viewing spot....the stockade in Libertyland. Everything was perfect for pics and viewing. Standing on the platform watching over everyone's head with the parade straight on then another view as it turned. Just as the 1st float approached, it happened....some guy on the FRONT ROW put his (not so small) child on his shoulders (both of whom had zero restrictive views) That completely blew the photos for everyone.
Stuck around for Wishes then I remembered we still had FP's for Buzz from earlier. DH didn't want to use them since he was told by 2 other CM's that you have to use FP's in your window. We tried anyway and was initially told no but was let on anyway. It was around 10 and we realized we hadn't eaten dinner so we decided to go through shops on our way out and wait till we got back to the hotel since Mangino's was open till midnight. Got to the hotel at 11:20 only to find out that the restaurant closed at 11. Someone forgot to speak with the mgr before updating the info in the check-in booklet. Sooo, off to bed w/o dinner. We'll just have to wait till tomorrow. It's F&W at Epcot so plenty to eat there.



I changed the title of this thread as our not-so-great dinners had already started a pattern.
Will try to upload pics later today.

[princesslindsey]

I've never had a problem using FPs outside of the listed time, as long as it's after the start time. Is this something new they're enforcing? That's disappointing if it is...

[nubeanie]

wow i didn't think you could use them after the allotted time ever. i mean we've been a minute or two late and were allowed. that would make life so much easier if you can!
sorry about your food issues :(
whoever said the economy was bad obviously hasn't been to disney. it was really crowded the 17th and 18th.

[jo-jo]

So for Pecos Bill, is there an area where tons of people are waiting while the one member goes into the food line? It sounds nice to get a table right away, but to be standing in a "holding pen" with a few kids while one parent goes into the food line sounds like fun.

[lovemysons]

Originally Posted by jo-jo

So for Pecos Bill, is there an area where tons of people are waiting while the one member goes into the food line? It sounds nice to get a table right away, but to be standing in a "holding pen" with a few kids while one parent goes into the food line sounds like fun.

"Holding pen" haha!

I, too, am surprised about the fast pass thing. I wonder if they are trying to change that, or if it just depends on the cm or the ride.

[Mickeybug]

It's still the same policy, hasn't changed in several years.
They have to tell you, or rather supposed to, that they can only be used in your window.
It was explained to us several days later and made a lot of sense: X number of fp's are allotted during an hour. They have a certain amt of entries (say 200) calculated to allow for easy access during a certain time frame. If say, an additional 200 people that had fp's left from earlier in the day decided to use their's at the same time then the FP line would jam up and it would defeat the purpose of having them.
Most will allow entry but be warned, a new or stickler CM may choose to follow original guidelines at a whim.


Those crowds were weren't they? Insane!

[Mickeybug]

Girls hanging out with Mickey


Shade of Green Resort


Waiting for the bus in the lower lobby

[Mickeybug]

[Mickeybug]

One last visit to Toontown as is today since we'll never see it this way again

[Mickeybug]

I just told Dani & Em about the proposed plan to close Toontown. Needless to say they weren't happy about it.

[Mickeybug]

Really going to miss Minnie's House.
But since the teacups aren't leaving things are much better