Super Summer Softball Extravaganza-Complete w/ final thoughts About This Page:

[buzzspal2]

Becki,
I'm so glad you went on the cruise this time. Meeting my Cumputer people that is what Joel says. Was the best part of this trip for me. Thanks again Becki, Jana and Barb

[clio]

I just found you report it's very good. I'm glad to heard that you enjoyed SeaWorld. DD used to work for the one that was up here before it closed. It was one of her favorite places.
Liz

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update More please

[BelmontBelle]

Sounds like you had fun a Seaworld. Did Jack ever find his stuffed friend? Can't wait for more!

[Tink and co.]

Day 7---July 15

We were treated to another wake up call from Zoie this morning, and it just made my day! Of course, this time she was calling asking for money. While Rob showered and dressed, I helped Hallie get ready for the day. They took their breakfast and were on their way. I went back to bed since Jack was still asleep, but never really slept myself. At about 8:30 Jack woke up, and we decided to go get breakfast at the food court and then relax by the pool.

We suited up, brushed teeth, and were off. We found the food court to be pretty crazy at this time of day. Jack had a kid’s egg platter and apple juice, and I had spinach frittata and frozen coke! We found a table with an umbrella by the pool, and enjoyed our breakfast. Well, at least I did, Jack just wanted to swim. I let him go after he’d eaten the egg and biscuit. I made a few phone calls, one to recharge Zoie’s money card, one to Rob for a softball update (doing well, Hal had just hit one clear to the fence!), and then a third call to my best friend to check on her son’s all star team tournament. We talked for half an hour or so. The whole time Jack was hopping out of the pool, having a bite of sausage or a drink of juice and then hopping back in. Ahhhh…now this feels like vacation. I finally get in the pool and we swim around. We got to see a cute pool “opening” ceremony where a little girl was chosen to “turn on” the fountain spray flowers with a magic wand. The staff wore silly, brightly colored wigs, and put one on the little girl too. It sure was fun and full of Disney spirit.

Jack had noticed the temporary tattoo stand the day before, so we decided to go get one. While mine was being applied, Rob called and I said, “I’ll call you back, Jack and I are getting tattoos!” I’m not sure if he figured it out or not, but it sure sounded funny! Jack got a cool looking one that went around his bicep, and I got Mickey on my ankle. It was fun, but mine wound up coming off after 2 days, as I forgot it was there and shaved right over it. Oops! I called Rob back, and he said the team had lost, so they’d be back to the Pop in about an hour or so. So, we packed up our stuff, got me some more frozen coke and were off to the room for showers.

Dad and Hallie returned shortly after we were ready, and after Hallie showered and changed, we were on our way to the MK. We drove again, and Rob decided he’d try to park at the Poly, and we’d ride the monorail over. I told him this was not allowed! He said, “I’ll ask and see what they say.” He told the parking guard that we were taking a fireworks cruise later that evening, and they guy said, sure you can park here, as long as you valet. Well, that was no problem, as we have DDE, and valet parking is free. Bonus! We went straight to the monorail and were at the park shortly. The monorail was one of my favorite parts of staying at the Poly last trip, but not worth more than triple the price of Pop Century for sure!

Once inside the gates, we decided to try Casey’s for lunch. I had to table stalk, while Rob ordered the food. I spoke with some nice ladies who were finished eating, and they let me have their table when they got up. The hot dogs got a big thumbs up from Rob and me. They tasted exactly like the hot dogs at our local Costco’s snack bar! The kids had mini corn dogs that were yummy too. Jack enjoyed eating while watching the cartoons, but soon it was time to head out. We went directly to Adventureland to try the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House. It was one of Rob’s favorites as a kid at Disneyland, and we’d missed it on the last trip. It was of course, totally different from the Disneyland version, but we still enjoyed it. I wonder if they’ll make it into Tarzan’s Tree House like Disneyland. After that, Rob went for Fastpasses for Splash Mountain while the kids and I hopped on the Aladdin Magic Carpet ride. It was really fun! While were riding, Aladdin came over and rode the next time around with a little girl. We met up with Rob, and rode Pirates for some nice air conditioned comfort. After that we decided that we’d better head over to the Stitch ride as that was our other “must do” for the day. We got in line just as a CM came around and said it would be about an hour wait, apparently one of the “pods” had broken down, so it was only running at half-capacity. Fastpasses were gone for the day. We wouldn’t be back to MK, so Hallie and I waited while Rob took Jack on Astro Orbiter (one of his favorites). It was really hot in line, and we wound up waiting 97 minutes (The guy behind me timed it.), but we finally got on. The kids really liked it, but I don’t think we’d wait that long again. I’d ride it again if the line wasn’t too long though.

After that ordeal, we still had an hour until our Fastpass time, so we headed for a raft to Tom Sawyer Island, another thing we’d missed on our last trip. We had a great time exploring the island, except for the heat; did I mention how hot it was yet? Blah! We had a hard time getting Jack out of the fort. He was having fun with another little boy shooting the guns. By the way, I don’t allow weapon toys, but my son talked me into swords at Disneyland a few years ago, and he bugged me the whole trip for a cap gun, but I held firm! When our neighbor cleaned out his room (He’s in high school.) he gave Jack his old cap gun, so I’ve lost that battle apparently. Why is it that the girls never once even showed interest in swords or cap guns? Boys and girls really are different!

The daily thunder and lightning could be seen and heard now, but it was pretty far away, and it was business as usual at the MK! Jack refused to ride Splash Mountain when we got there (I figured!), so we got a kid swap pass (so Hal and I could ride 2 more times! We love it!) And headed for the exit to wait. Apparently, there was quite a wait, as Rob and Hallie didn’t return for quite some time, and it was time to head to Liberty Tree Tavern for our PS. I never did get to ride Splash that whole 10 day trip (pouty face goes here)! What a bummer.

We arrived at the Liberty Tree and checked in. While we were waiting to be called, we really enjoyed how they called each family as well as the state they were from. We didn’t see any other Nevadans there. We were soon called and led to our table. Before we were served our drinks, the characters were at our table. We saw Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip, Dale, and Mickey. It was awesome! Oh, yeah, and the food was good too! Our server kept forgetting about us, as all his other tables were in another room. I felt kind of bad for him, as it was really busy, and he was either painfully shy or didn’t speak English. We never heard him talk. It was a little awkward. We were in there eating, collecting autographs, and snapping photos for two hours! We had a wonderful time, but it certainly wasn’t a quick meal. We did see all the characters twice in that time, though! I also really liked the theming of the restaurant. It really felt like we were in an old inn somewhere. When we finally got the check it was time to hustle back to the poly to meet some more characters for a Wishes Cruise!!

These characters were of the Passporter variety however! We met up with Tammy (buzzpal2) and her friend (whose name I cannot remember, but I do remember that she was a fan of pink and princesses—I remember the most important details!), the friends parents, and Barb (Grammy Grumpy) and her husband (don’t remember his name, but works at the University of Illinois), daughter (name?, but she’s a second grade teacher like me), and grandson (Tyler, cute as can be). We visited on the dock a while waiting for the skipper to direct us to our boat and we saw a HUGE gator poke his head up a couple of times. He was twice the size of the one’s we’d seen earlier in the week. Yikes! The kids were donned with life jackets, we met our captain, whose name I can’t remember either (I do however; remember lots of the trivia he shared with us!). We were enjoying our Disney chat and Passporter Board chat. One of the ladies informed me that Annabel had posted and was safe and sound. I was glad to hear that!

We got to ride in a brand new boat. It was gorgeous! We cruised around and enjoyed all the sights. Everything is just so beautiful at night. The whole time, the skipper was filling us with Disney trivia and fun facts. He even answered some questions for us. I thought I’d died and gone to heaven! When were over at near the Wilderness Lodge, we stopped to see the Electrical Light Pageant which was cute. We’d only seen a bit of it on our last trip, as several of the barges had been damaged by one of the hurricanes. I won’t tell any more about the sights we saw, so I don’t spoil it for anyone. It was just an amazing time, and a highlight of our trip. Thanks Tammy for including us! She even had 3-D glasses for the kids. Hallie fell asleep before Wishes even began, she was so tired. She woke up part way through, and later told me it was like a dream. It was like a dream for me too, and I was awake. So magical. Jack talked the entire time we were on the cruise (Sorry, everyone!). He was so excited about the whole thing. Our cruise came to an end all too soon. We bid goodnight to everyone, and made our way out front to the valet, and then back to the Pop, where the kids fell into bed. Rob and I watched the news and decided we’d sleep in the next day. Hallie needed a good, long sleep apparently. We also decided to try Typhoon Lagoon, since we enjoyed Blizzard Beach so much.

Up next…Florida’s biggest ice cream sundae, and Oh, how I love that man!!!!

[buzzspal2]

Great update Becki,
please allow me to fill in some names, Lisa is my friends name Steve and Eunice are our other friends, They live in Leesburg Fl. Barb's husband is Bob and Cari is their DD. Trevor is Cari's son. I think the boat captain was Tim. We all had a great time, The only photo was taken by Cari so hopefully when Barb does her TR she will post it.

[lauren-roxy]

Another great update Becki!! Your photos are too cute! Sounds like you had a very busy, but fun day! We went on a Wishes Cruise too and it was the highlight of our trip also! Can't wait to read more!!

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update More please

[RobDVC]

Thanks for another fun update.

[TroianRae]

Cool update, Becki!! Glad to hear you had a great time with Barb & her family, and Tammy & Lisa.

[Tink and co.]

[ QUOTE ]
Great update Becki,
please allow me to fill in some names, Lisa is my friends name Steve and Eunice are our other friends, They live in Leesburg Fl. Barb's husband is Bob and Cari is their DD. Trevor is Cari's son. I think the boat captain was Tim. We all had a great time, The only photo was taken by Cari so hopefully when Barb does her TR she will post it.

[/ QUOTE ] Thanks for filling in the names! I think I was having a pre-senior moment!

[luvnwdwgal]

I'm really enjoying your trip report! Can't wait for the next installment!

[krisk11]

Great update. My dd's softball coach said something about the softball opportunities down at Disney then I found out he was a disney junkie like me when he commented on the ringtone of my cell phone (Zippity do dah). Maybe next summer we will be playing softball down in Florida.

[dsnytina]

Great job!
Can't wait for more!
Tina

[Tink and co.]

Day 8 July 16

Rob and I slept until almost 8. It was just wonderful. The kids woke up around 9. We suited up walked over to the food court. Rob said he was starving and cereal or pop tarts were not going to cut it! I remember that I had a breakfast burrito and frozen coke, of course. Hallie and Jack had sweet rolls, donuts, yogurt and fruit. I don’t remember at all what Rob had. I just remember he wasn’t terribly impressed.

We stopped back at the room and grabbed our bag for the day, and then drove to Typhoon Lagoon. The road leading back to the water park was very secluded. It felt like we were driving into a swamp somewhere. Soon enough we encountered a very full parking lot and were directed to overflow parking. A little crowded, I guess! We walked forever to make it to the gate, made it through the turnstiles, and figured out how to rent a locker so we’d have a place to store the bag and video camera.

We decided to start off at the Crush ‘n Gusher since it was new, we thought it’d have a long line. It took us a bit of wandering around to figure out where we were, but we did find it eventually. That would be a theme throughout the day. We sort of were perpetually lost the whole time we were there. There was only a short line for the new slides. Woo Hoo! Maybe no one else could find them either! They were sort of out of the way, almost like they weren’t really part of the park. We rode “banana” and it was pretty tame. Even Jack said, “That was it?” But it was fun. So we hiked back up and tried “coconut” this time. Now that’s better! We caught some major air, and I wanted to try the third one, but now there was a line. So, we marched back to the main part of the park and wandered around a bit confused.

We saw several people sleeping in the bushes and one guy with his leg out on the path! Jack almost tripped over him. I thought he was some kind of prop…you know, shipwrecked sailor or something. Later on I discovered that there wasn’t a single place to sit down in the whole place, and he must have been really tired…I was just quite surprised that it was allowed, but several cast members stepped right over him. Maybe he’s a regular. I don’t know…Anyhoo, in our wandering we actually wound up in a line for a slide. Why not. As we get close, the cm operating the ride starts shouting at people. “Take off your water shoes” “Take off your glasses” Now, as someone who was legally blind before Lasik surgery, you DON’T take your glasses off until you’re seated and ready to go or you’ll hurt yourself. The poor woman in front of me was having trouble getting her water shoes off with her glasses in her hand, and the cm just kept shouting at her. It was quite uncalled for. There was no signage stating that the shoes had to be removed or anything, and we wore them on every other slide in both water parks. Rob asked why the shoes had to be removed, and she said you’d get stuck part way down. Okay? He said, “Thanks and have a great day.” And I swore she was going to bite his head right off…someone woke up on the wrong side of the bed!

We rode a few more slides, but not that one again. No need to let a grumpy cm spoil the day. The slides weren’t anything special, and one had huge bumps in it that were very jarring and HURT! We wanted to ride the family raft ride, but the wait was 90 minutes, so we decided to try later. We were ready for lunch and some more sunscreen by this time, so we trekked back to the front of the park; sun screened up, and then found a spot to eat at. We gave our orders to Rob who stood in line, and then we went to table stalk. Only the very skilled would find a seat on a day like this. I pounced on a family, and spoke with them, and got their table a few minutes later when they were ready to leave. I then sent Hallie back to Rob, so he’d know where we were. People were standing in all the walkways eating, sitting in the planters eating, and it was pure lunacy! I’ve never seen so many people in my whole life in one place! Back to lunch, Rob and I had Chili Cheese dogs, Hallie had a hot dog, and Jack had PB&J. The kid’s meals came in little sand pails. Very cute! While munching, we decided to try the Crush ‘n Gusher again, and then head to the wave pool, and hang out until we were ready to leave.

We found a short line again, and this time rode “pineapple” and it was the best by far! It was such an exciting ride! I was all for hiking up and riding again, but everyone else wanted to go to the wave pool. Rob and the kids had a ball in the wave pool. I had fun for a while, but the strong waves made me really nervous with the kids and all the people around. And strong waves are the only thing that bothers my knee that has been operated on. I didn’t want it to start hurting with a couple more park touring days ahead of me, so I found a rock formation that looked like a bench to sit and wait for everyone else for a while. It was soon time for the daily ice cream (I love vacation!), and I’d spotted just the place! The kids and Rob ordered plain cones, and I got some kind of brownie sundae thing, and it was massive! It was the largest ice cream concoction I’d ever seen (other than the Kitchen Sink at Beaches and Cream). Several people commented on it. It was quite impressive. And yes, I ate it all! Mmmm….

Now it was time for a float in the lazy river. We were bumper to bumper, and all four of us had to share 2 tubes, so it was not terribly relaxing. Jack wanted to go spend some time in the kid area, and Hallie wanted to check out the shark reef. So, I took Hallie and Rob took Jack. Hallie and I would meet them at the kid’s area when we were done. When we got to the Shark Reef, it was a 90 minute wait, and Hallie decided it wasn’t worth the wait. So we made our way to the kid’s area stopping to check the time on the family raft ride on the way—60 minutes now. Jack was having fun on a little slide that was like a built in slip and slide. Hallie was too tall for this area, so she used her lunch bucket and made a sand castle. We let the kids play until sudden lightning and thunder caused the park to close suddenly. What that means is all 200 million (only a slight exaggeration) people in the park descended on the lockers, restrooms, and exit at once! It was insane. We were able to retrieve our stuff, get our locker deposit back, and use the restroom, but it took about half an hour. Then, we made the trek to the car where we waited in another half hour line to get out of the park.

Whew! While driving back to Pop, Rob asked what our plan for dinner was. I reminded him that this was one of the “no plans” days and suggested we try and find somewhere offsite and cheap maybe to eat dinner. I suggested we look for a Steak and Shake maybe. Rob said okay, and we were soon at our room and taking turns showering. When I came out of the bathroom, my dear, sweet, loveable husband was lying across the bed studying my Passporter. He said lets go try Trail’s End and check out Fort Wilderness! Of course, I agreed and as soon as everyone was ready we were on our way. It took a little while to figure out where to park, but soon we were on the bus through the camp ground, and at the Settlement. We stopped at the podium and found a 20 minute wait. Then we wandered to the gift shop where I purchase a magnet for our collection, and Hallie bought some more bracelets. The kids were playing the checkers game in the store when our beeper went off, and we made our way to the restaurant. We were seated, the kids were given pictures to color and our drink order was taken. Then it was time to eat!!

We found the food delicious, even though it was simple. The only thing we didn’t care for was the carved beef. It was really dry. I particularly liked the salad bar area and the barbeque and fried chicken. Mmmm…Jack didn’t seem to care at all for dinner, which is unusual, as he really likes salad with ranch. He kept telling us everything tasted funny. And he was getting kind of whiny. We decided he must be tired, and after dinner we caught the bus, and then drove back to the Pop in a jiffy. It was here that the evening began to disintegrate. Jack was gagging by the time we were back in the room, and then throwing up shortly thereafter. Hallie decided to sleep on the floor, and it’s a good thing, because Jack was up and down all night (and me too), and it wasn’t pretty. We bagged up all the bedding and housekeeping came and picked it up, and we let them know the carpet would need cleaning in the morning. Blech…and the whole time Rob was complaining that his stomach hurt and he didn’t feel good. So, we should have seen the “part 2” coming, but we were on vacation in Disneyworld. You can’t get sick, right? Rob was convinced it was our dinner, but Hallie and I felt fine, so I concluded it was nasty “boy germs” of some kind!

Next up, Disneyland’s Birthday, two sick boys, and two yummy restaurants…