Our first real, big, family vacation! Day Six

[BrerGnat]

Wednesday, March 31, 2010

Cast:
Me
DH
DS 5-Max
DS 4-Lucas

Today was off to a bad start. DH had woken up in the middle of the night with a fever again, and had been feeling pretty awful for most of the night. When the boys woke up around 9, he was NOT ready to wake up. I took the boys to eat breakfast in the lounge and brought a plain bagel and banana back for DH, just in case he felt like eating later. I decided to take the boys over to Downtown Disney, while DH rested in the room alone for a bit. He said he'd try to meet up with us in a bit, but he wasn't sure... I was a bit bummed, because today was supposed to be our water park day. Didn't look like it was going to happen.

So, the kids and I headed out. We had a bit of a wait for a DtD bus (about 10 min), and once on, the ride was LOOOOONG. We first stopped at the Boardwalk Inn to pick up guests, then we made a stop at Typhoon Lagoon (which was PACKED already by 10am...it was a nice, warm and sunny day today), then we were stuck in traffic outside of the marketplace for what seemed like forever. There were signs indicating that ALL the DtD lots were FULL! Wow. Once we FINALLY got off the bus (over an hour after we left the resort), our first stop was the Christmas store (Max loves Christmastime!). Not finding anything worth buying, we moved on. Next stop was Once Upon a Toy, where the boys had a BLAST! They loved seeing all the "giant" toys and did some playing with Mr. Potatohead parts. I bought each kid a small souvenir here. Then, we headed to the Lego Store, which was absolute chaos inside! I took the boys outside where they had a good time playing on the playground and building HUGE towers in the play area. Max drew a small crowd of admirers as he built a VERY complex tower structure... He's an amazing "architect". We spent a good 45 min there. At that point, DH called and said he was on his way. I took the boys over towards the bus stop, and they wanted to ride that little train, so I let them do that. At that point, DH showed up and we went to a few more stores and decided to have some lunch.

We ended up at WPE for lunch, and I have to say, it was a bit disappointing. I have always LOVED this place, but they changed the menu, and the options are very limited. I ordered the BBQ chicken pizza, and was surprised when it showed up with TOMATO sauce poured over the top of it, along with full slices of roma tomatoes. It had bbq chicken and some red onions, but it was missing the cilantro and the BBQ sauce. It was weird, and didn't taste particularly good. (later, I went back to look at the menu description, which listed: bbq chicken, red onions, cilantro, mozzarella cheese, and "tangy" bbq sauce). I realized the cook had really screwed up my pizza. Oh well. DH ordered a Margherita Pizza and after one slice, didn't feel well again, so I ended up eating about half of it. The rest of the pizza ended up in the trash. Lucas liked his chicken fingers, but instead of the good, panko breaded ones they used to have, they were the same old stuff that Disney USED to serve (fried chicken fingers). Not too good. Max ordered Mac and Cheese, but it was penne with parmesan and cheddar just melted on top, with chives for garnish (he didn't like all the "little green things" on top...). So, our meal was sort of a bust here. It took a LONG time to get our food too, and the place wasn't particularly busy. We should have gone to Earl of Sandwich.

After lunch, we were ready to leave. It was approaching 1:30 and I wanted to go to a park or something. We got on the bus, and discussed what to do. Max said he wanted to "go to the waterslide park", which had been our original plan. DH said he'd be up for going, so we agreed to do that. I was eyeing the clock, because I knew Blizzard Beach would be closed at 6pm, and it was creeping towards 2pm as we rode the bus for the LONGEST BUS RIDE EVER. I swear, it was ridiculous. Our driver (for some reason) decided to stop at the Pleasure Island stop, and we sat there for like 10 min, and then a family got on and was like "thanks for coming to get us..." Then, the driver announced we'd be heading to Typhoon Lagoon (what?) first. So, we did. And there was no one to pick up there. So, then, the driver said, "our next stop will be the Swan Hotel, followed by the Dolphin, then the Yacht Club, Beach Club, and Boardwalk." Ugh. I was hoping to be back to the room by 2:15, changed over, and out waiting for the BB bus by 2:30 at the LATEST. So, when we stopped at the Swan, I told DH that we were getting off there and walking. Seems EVERYONE on the bus had the same idea, as it almost completely cleared out! We had been on that bus for close to an hour at that point! I could not have escaped it fast enough.

So, we got back to our room, changed over, and were out waiting for the bus at around 3pm. DH was like "we still have three hours", but I was dreading a slow ride to the water park. Turns out, it was very quick, and we didn't need to rent a locker or anything (we just had a bag with towels and a change of clothes for the boys...nothing valuable...and we left it on a chair at the kiddie area).

We had a pretty good time at Blizzard Beach. We did the kiddie area first, which was a nightmare. The place was packed and there were people everywhere! DH and I each took charge of a kid, but quickly realized that wouldn't work, as the walkway up to the slides was long, and once you get up there, there are three slides to choose from and our kids still need "help" waiting their turn in lines (one of us needs to be with them reminding them of how to wait patiently). So, we tried me taking the boys up, and DH waiting at the bottom, which just didn't work well either (the boys didn't like being forced to ride the same slide, and when one went down, wanted to immediately head back up, etc.). It was too difficult, so we ditched that area.

We went to the lazy river next, and hopped in and realized the water was FREEZING! Wha.... I thought it would be nice and warm, but nope! Felt like that kiddie pool on the back of the SAB slide. We did half a circuit and had to get out because it was too cold. Lucas was not having a good time (he doesn't like water shooting out from places and hates waterfalls, so the lazy river was not his cup of tea, really). We headed up the tube slides at the back of the mountain. We walked up, up, up, up, up, and up some more. Wow. I forgot how many steps it takes to get up there, and our kids were huffing and puffing halfway up. There was no line, so we went down in double tubes. Max LOVED it. Lucas, not so much. He kept saying "all done". Max wanted to ride again, so he and DH headed back up while Lucas had a meltdown because he wanted to swim in the catch pool and he couldn't. After that second ride, we decided to hop back in the lazy river and ride until we could get off and go in the wave pool. THIS was Lucas' favorite thing. Luckily, the wave pool WAS nice and warm. It was actually a sunny day, but since it was late afternoon, the park had more shade than sun (those trees have really grown in since the last time I was at BB 10 years ago...) and it was rather chilly. The wave pool felt good and the boys loved it in there. Max wanted to ride more slides, though, so DH took him on the body slides at the front of the mountain. He liked those as well. Lucas and I stayed in the wave pool, where he was happy. Once DH and Max came back, it was approaching 5:30, and we felt we'd had enough. It was really getting chilly, and I wanted to get out of there and beat the masses back to the buses. So, we got out, changed the boys into warm clothes and headed out. We had to wait FOREVER (again) for a bus. This was turning out to be a bad day for Disney transport for us. We were the first ones at our bus stop, and by the time the bus showed up, there were over 30 people waiting! In the time we waited, we saw multiple buses coming for ALL the other resorts, and then leaving empty! So frustrating...

The rest of today is a bit fuzzy. I'm honestly not sure what we ate for dinner that night, or what we did for the rest of the evening. I believe we turned in early, as the boys had been wiped out from BB.

Tomorrow would be our last full day, and DH and I talked about what we wanted to do. DH wanted to go back to MK, and get some Photopass pics of just the four of us in front of the castle. We also wanted to try to visit the Wedding Pavilion, since we got married there almost 9 years ago! Wanted to bring the boys there and show them where we got married. And, we wanted to FINALLY walk the World Showcase loop and see the countries. It was a lot to pack in, so we decided to get as much rest as possible so we could be up EARLY (yes, you read that right) and at the MK before 9am. The MK had closed the past two days prior to 11am due to capacity, and we wanted to get in there early enough in case it would happen again.

[buzznwoodysmom]

I've been waiting for the rest of your trip reports!! What a bummer at WPE, I had the BBQ chicken pizza before and it was nothing like yours, mine was very tasty. I love how Lucas says "all done" when he's had enough of something. So cute. Can't wait to read about your last full day in the world. So sad that your trip reports are coming to an end, I'm really enjoying them.

[faline]

What a hard trip your having! I'm so sorry your husband hasn't been feeling well - that certainly has put a damper on your trip! I do like that you still make the best of whatever comes your way!

[KylesMom]

Boy, this bug of DS' is really being a pain. It needs to go away so that you can enjoy the last few days of your trip!

Disney Transportation was not kind to you today. I can understand if you were trying to get to a specific resort by park & bus hopping, but a shopping trip to Disney shouldn't take an hour to get there. Wow.

I'm glad you were able to make it to Blizzard Beach after all. A few difficulties, but it sounds enjoyable enough. I must confess, we haven't been to a Disney water park since our honeymoon in 1991 . . . One of these days we'll get there!

Looks like tomorrow is going to be jam-packed. I hope you're able to see and do everything you want. Thanks for taking the time to post the details of another day!

[vizsla]

Thanks for the report.

[DizNee143]

ugh..sorry your hubby still isnt feeling all that well!!! i was hoping he would of been better by now!
sounds like you all had a nice day though..besides the really long bus rides!

[princessgirls]

Sorry your husband is not feeling well. That is not fun...

Glad you were finally able to get to Blizzard Beach.

Thanks for the report Natalie!

Julie

[offwego]

long delay's and your DH not feeling well are not a great combo at all. I hope your last day makes up for it.

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!

[pdrlkr]

Thanks for the Report!