Joan's Big Trip Surprise - updated 7/21 with both Parts I and II About This Page:

[Cinderbrella]

Awesome update, Joan. That sunburn looks really painful!! Your bottomless purse puts my "suitcase" to shame!! I want a chocolate souffle now!!

[my2girls]

Just catching up on your TR!!! Wonderful job!! I feel like I am there with you all. Can't wait to read more.

[Joy J]

Wonderful trip report, Joan! I've been trying to talk my DH into a Disney cruise but he always refuses saying that he's a confirmed landlubber. I'm currently using your trip report as convincing testimony on how much fun a DCL cruise is.

Joy

[lauren-roxy]

I am so enjoying your trip report Joan!! That food looks awesome!!!!! Sounds like everyone is having such a wonderful time, how often does that happen with a big group? You guys all seem to get along just great!!! Can't wait for more!!!

[dsnytina]

Joan:
Thank you, thank you for posting on the cruise forum!
This is fantastic!
Looking forward to reading more of yours...we can race to see who can finish first!
Tina

[JoanW]

Now It’s Time to Say Goodbye, June 12, 2005

Well, only to our “Wonder”ful ship and our servers. See You Real Soon! We got up and are disappointed to see we are docked at Port Canaveral and made our way to breakfast at 8:00 am, tired, but there. Final breakfast is in your restaurant from the night before, so we went to Tritons. Grace got emotional at breakfast and was in tears over leaving, especially her secret love Zoran. He took a family photo of us with his camera phone to keep. He really made our trip special. The sunburned kids are still miserable, and I dispense Ibuprofen and aloe gel again. We make our way out to the loading area where our luggage is piled and waiting for us. We gather everything and make our way through Customs. I don’t think we spent much, maybe $20 each on souvenirs. We find the waiting spot to catch the van back to the Radisson at the Port with the same people we rode over with to the ship. We all told stories of what we’d seen and done on the ship. And we notice the temperature difference. It’s mighty hot. Unbelievably hot.

I almost forgot one story. Camille, Neil and Marco told us of a woman at bingo on the first night that was very “hydrated”. Maybe many Drinks of the Day. She kept calling out to the caller, heckling him. Marco can imitate her really well. The next day when I was at the pool listening to the steel drum band, there was a hydrated woman dancing all by herself in front of the band, giving out “woohoos” every now and then. Seems it was the same woman. But the funny part was the family waiting for the van mentioned her too, as they had seen her at dinner, fully hydrated, having her own personal party. She woohooed at dinner too. I’m sure her family was so proud. Perhaps they have photos.

The van arrived and off we went, sad at leaving, but excited to be starting our next adventure. We arrive at the Radisson and the van driver took us to our cars. We load up all 10 suitcases and 7 carry-ons into the van and car. We regrouped and headed out on the Beeline, heading for Orlando.

We need to pick up the park tickets I ordered through Ticketmania. I bought them the week before we left, but because we were going on the cruise, I did not want to mail them to me. So we finally find it, and now we are heading into Kissimmee to find the rental home. After maneuvering around unknown territory, we made our way to 192, then Poinciana Boulevard. We get Eagle Pointe and find the house. It’s about 1:00 pm. The owner emailed me the code to get the key out of the box at the door. It doesn’t work. The number I have for the management company is not working. The owners live in England. The only phone that is fully charged now is Neil’s and we can’t make overseas calls on his (or anyone else’s). After about a half an hour, I remember that I have a phone card from Wal-Mart in my purse. Aha. I use that with Neil’s phone and am able to find the owner. They give me a few more codes to try. And a correct number for the management company. I finally get a hold of them and a fourth number is suggested. Success. And it’s hotter. I think it’s about 100 outside.

We go in and make sure the a/c is blasting, ceiling fan is on high and we unload the cars. We are very happy with the house I chose to rent. Spacious, and it has it’s own pool. A Passporter recommended a rental home last year when I started researching options for a large group and recommended a web site that listed many homes. I picked this one because of the amount of twin beds and bathrooms. And the pool. You can see it from this website. Eagle Pointe Home

The kids hit the pool, Pat took a nap, and I unpacked.



Then Grace and I hit the new Wal-Mart Supercenter in Kissimmee on Osceola and Poinciana, not too far from the house. It was not crowded and we were able to do some of our photo stuff right there, get groceries, and souvenir shop all in one. The kids helped me make a list of our food needs before I left: Cocoa Puffs, Reese’s Peanut Butter Puffs, Honeycombs, Oreo-o’s, Raisin something Crunch, Fruity Pebbles, Triscuits, Wheat Thins, Squeeze Cheese, Salsa, Tostitos Cheese Dip, Cheese, turkey, ham, bread, tortilla wraps, lettuce, more cheese, sodas, bottled water, milk, juice, breakfast bars, eggs and bacon, apples and carrots for Camille. Three kinds of potato chips and tortilla chips too. One of our vacay traditions is to get cereals I probably would not buy at home; you know the sugary ones like Oreo-o’s. And Squeeze Cheese is a must on vacay. It’s not real cheese; it’s a “cheese food product”. It requires no refrigeration. You can make festive cheese stars or roses or squiggles on your Triscuits.

As soon as we got back, it started to thunder and lightening. Big rain. Possibly leftover from TS Arlene, which went up the panhandle earlier. It’s now more humid and just as hot as before the storm.

Our game plan for our first day was to relax and then head out to Downtown Disney to try Disney Quest. We did not do that on our last trip so we were determined to try it out. I can say that it is on our list of must do again. We all had so much fun there. There is something for everyone there. Pat loved the old pinball machines and spent most of his time there. I loved the interactive Pirates of the Caribbean, the raft ride and the Do it Yourself Roller coaster. We were possibly the last ones out of there.



By now Marco is like one of my kids. He is learning the ways of multiple siblings and how sisters can fight and argue, and then be the best of friends five minutes later. Seven of us in a minivan everyday for eight days was a challenge. Screams of “she’s touching me” could be heard all the way to Port Canaveral. I did the obligatory, “don’t make me come back there” and I evenly distributed the Evil Eye. I started calling out names, and when we got to Marco, everyone yelled out Polo. You all knew that was coming at some point in this trip. Oh big laughs, and of course, he said, “Gee, I never heard that before”, which made for bigger laughs, so that became one of our daily rituals.

We get back to the house and the kids are wound up and swim till almost 1:00 am in the pool. Pat gets up during the night to tell them that they need to go to bed. We notice that our bed is starting to sink in the middle.

[hktmom]

NOOOOOO don't stop there! You're writing style has me in stitches![img]http://smileys.*************.com/cat/4/4_1_102.gif[/img]

Can't wait to hear more![img]http://smileys.*************.com/cat/23/23_1_24.gif[/img]

Heather
[img]http://smileys.*************.com/cat/36/36_15_50.gif[/img]

[luvnwdwgal]

I want more tooooooo!!!!!!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great update Joan Don't leave us hanging

[Tara O'Hara]

Joan!! You can't stop there!! What an awesome update!!

[JoanW]

Magic Kingdom Day, Monday, June 13, 2005

I woke pretty early, like 6:30 am. The sun comes in through the bathroom window right into my eyes. Note to self: shut the bathroom door at night. The bed seems to have lost its framework. I know we are not petite, but it should not be dipping like that in the middle. We’ll have to look at it later. I went ahead and got up and swam some laps in the pool all by myself. It was pretty warm outside already, close to 80 degrees at 7:00 am.

The package I mailed to myself to the rental home had not arrived but I thought it would be there when we got back. This has two hydration packs (water backpacks) and the misty mate personal sprayers. I bought 5 of them in anticipation of warm weather. Little did I know it was for HOT weather when I packed them. I packed a cooler for the car for après parks and got my camera and personal gear together. Grace and Rachel were moving about, slowly. At 10:00, I’m pacing the floor. Don’t these kids understand about crowds and heat? Don’t these kids understand that the Fastpasses could be all gone for the day???? Don’t they know what I know?? This is a question I repeat to myself during the week, but I know I have no control over tired teens. I just muttered to myself like some cranky old fart. This is the reason I made no PS’s for breakfast.

Slowly the rest got out of bed. The boys quickly ate their cereal du jour (in large serving bowls, no less). They were dressed and ready in under ten minutes. Grace and Rachel were carbed and sugared from the Reese Puffs and were dressed and ready to go. Then the Princess awoke. Oh boy does Neil have his hands full when they get married! Holy Carp! After her leisurely breakfast and morning ritual of looking for all her stuff and then a power makeup session (which melted in the heat, BTW), we got in the car at noon. I kid you not.

Needless to say, we wasted a lot of time in MK with lines. It was unbelievably crowded, hot and lines were very long. Did I mention the heat? It was oppressive. We did Space Mountain, after waiting in line for 1.5 hours, although the sign said 50 minutes for standby. I had fastpassed Buzz before we went to stand in line at Space Mountain, so we were able to walk on to that after the 1.5 hour wait for Space Mountain. My score this time, 27500. Last time 2000. I didn’t understand the rules last time. Pat, Grace, Rachel and I did the Indy cars. Neil was feeling queasy after Space Mountain, so they were taking their time walking around. I got a Popsicle and Grace had a Mickey Bar to sustain us through the afternoon. Rachel bought the $15 mister bottle, which at the time I thought was overpriced, but decided it was a wonderful purchase as the afternoon baked away.

We made our way over to Mickey’s Philharmagic, which was closed last time we were there due to technical problems. It was wonderful, and air conditioned too. We decided to try for Pirates of the Caribbean and the Jungle Cruise before dinner. We made it through Pirates quickly and shopped in the gift shop so Grace could look for the Will Turner action figure, but they did not have him in stock. We headed over to the Jungle Cruise, which had an unbelievably long line. At one point I thought we were going to have to get out of line to head over to the monorail for dinner. Fortunately, the line moved once we made it to the front. Rachel didn’t think it was worth the wait, but I like it because it’s classic WDW.

Once we were out of the jungle, we headed over to catch the monorail to head to 1900 Park Fair at the Grand Floridian. Our PS was for 7:30 and we got there right at 7:30. We were hot, sweaty, tired and very hungry. Neil was on a mission to try and have steak or prime rib every day of his trip and so far, except for the Wednesday in Port Canaveral and Sunday night, he accomplished his goal. Everyone loved 1900 Park Fair. The prime rib was delicious and there was something for everyone. Neil had three plates of prime rib, and Marco was right behind him, with alternate plates of the pasta. The character interaction was great. Prince Charming came to our table and so did Cinderella, so Grace and Marco were happy. Cindy is now his girlfriend. PC is now Grace’s boyfriend. Suzy and Perla were hitting on Pat. I tossed them out on their tails.




While we were regrouping at the Grand Floridian after dinner, Grace found one of her girlfriends from school and her family. Sing along now, It’s A Small World After All”…..We knew they were going to be at WDW when we were there, but didn’t know where they were staying. They were leaving in two days to go back home and had been there while we were on the cruise. It seems that every vacation we go on, Grace finds people she knows, like when we went to Hawaii and when we went on our first Disney Cruise. So far I had only seen Tess on the cruise. Would I see more Passporters????

We decided to go back to MK and ride a few more rides, hoping that it would be less hot and less crowded. Large mistake. Neither happened. We got off the monorail, and entered the park. Right into the Spectromagic parade. Trapped like rats, we could not move. And it is still oppressively hot, with everyone very close together. Luckily, we made our way to where the parade floats enter the parade, so we got there at the end of it, but had to follow it through the park, listening to the same song over and over and over. We wanted to get to Big Thunder Mountain RR, so we headed up the hill and got in line. It was not too bad, but I suddenly realized, OH NO, IT’S LATE MAGIC NIGHT! That’s why it was so crowded! I did not have that info on me when we went back into the park. I forgot. And these people were serious about getting their money’s worth. It was worse than daytime. Kids were crying because it’s so hot and they are so tired. Parents are cranky. After BTMRR, we decide to call it a day. We saw some of Wishes while we were in line, but just a little. They don’t know that I scheduled a Wishes cruise for Friday night.



We wanted to take a dip in the pool and go to bed. I encouraged everyone to pack their stuff for tomorrow when we got back to the house so we could get an earlier start. I think they saw the need to get there earlier. I think we were famished by the time we ate at 7:30, but we had an earlier PS for Tuesday at Boma, so that should be better. We find the car, but also find out that I forgot to put the cooler in the car when we left at noon. Ugh. We stopped at the Hess gas station and bought a few waters and sodas. Rachel announced she earned full strenth Sprite, and no stinkin diet one! We get back to the house, and the box I mailed is not there yet. I actually mailed it to the management company, but it's not far from the house. I check online, and it was delivered there, but late in the evening. Maybe tomorrow, but we really need the misters and hydration packs.

After a cooling dip in the pool, we all went to bed. I mention to Pat that we did not get to look at the bedframe before we went to bed, and we are both sleeping in the middle of the bed, and not by choice. It looks like the front legs of the bedframe have folded in. Popping them back up does not do the trick. The sides of the bed are folding up like a taco. We are so tired we don't care.

[lauren-roxy]

I am so loving your trip report Joan, you are such a wonderful trip writer, you have had me laughing the entire time!! We really enjoy 1900 Park Faire too!! Can't wait to read more!!

[barries5199]

Awesome report, Joan! Not only is it incredibly entertaining (you should write a book!), but I'm sitting here taking notes for our upcoming land/sea trip. Thanks for sharing. Okay, more!

[Cinderbrella]

I enjoyed your update, Joan!! Your day at MK sounded so hot, but you guys were still able to accomplish a lot. Your meal at 1900 Park Fare sounded very good. Hope your box with misters arrives soon, and you aren't trapped in your taco like bed!

[Tara O'Hara]

Joan I'm so sorry for your bed woes but about the taco reference! I just got this picture in my head! Anyway! Great update!! You are too funny!