Work, the Fort, Thousand Trails, more work, and new friends.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

What an eventful Sunday!

 

We've never been to a water park at WDW (mainly because of the time of year we visit), but it looks like so much fun.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

-you and your wife did a good job with your Ikea project.  That looks like a great use of that space.

 

-speaking of Typhoon Lagoon, did any of you do Shark Reef?

Thanks. It wasn't "you and your wife"- it was all her. She even assembled the stuff Tuesday when I was working.

Yes, I did do the shark reef with the snorkel gear. That was really neat. My daughter tried, but her face started burning as soon as she put on the mask. Unfortunately, it caused her pain for the rest of the day. Son wasn't big enough and wife didn't mind passing on it.

What an eventful Sunday!

 

We've never been to a water park at WDW (mainly because of the time of year we visit), but it looks like so much fun.

It was a pretty good time. We liked Typhoon Lagoon far more than Blizzard Beach. But both paled in comparison to Aquatica, the water park associated with Sea World. Much more fun over there.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Thanks. It wasn't "you and your wife"- it was all her. She even assembled the stuff Tuesday when I was working.

OK, well your wife did a great job then.

 

Yes, I did do the shark reef with the snorkel gear. That was really neat. My daughter tried, but her face started burning as soon as she put on the mask. Unfortunately, it caused her pain for the rest of the day. Son wasn't big enough and wife didn't mind passing on it.

Well that stinks. I guess it was whatever they use to sanitize the masks. Speaking of which, it's kind of surprising that the reuse the snorkels like they do.

 

It was a pretty good time. We liked Typhoon Lagoon far more than Blizzard Beach. But both paled in comparison to Aquatica, the water park associated with Sea World. Much more fun over there.

Interesting. Every report I've ever heard about Aquatica was that it wasn't anywhere near as good as Disney's water parks. I've always wanted to check it out. Maybe I will one of these days.

 

I agree with you about Typhoon Lagoon being better than Blizzard Beach.  I like Typhoon Lagoon much better.

TCD

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

You are right about the wave pool being a throw down. As a kid I got pulled under and swept up into the shallow area where I got serious cuts and burns on my butt cheek and knees. I hurt for what seemed like forever. Nice pictures all around. I also like what you did with the bunk area.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Well that stinks. I guess it was whatever they use to sanitize the masks. Speaking of which, it's kind of surprising that the reuse the snorkels like they do.

She wasn't alone; I heard quite a few kids complaining about it. We tried rinsing her mask under fresh water and even her face quite a bit, but it just didn't stop.

My guess they dip it i a strong solution, dip it in water, and put them out to dry. Maybe if they rinsed them better- I don't know. But if anyone has sensitive skin, be forewarned.

Seems that it is a known issue- the photographer said she hears it regularly.

Interesting. Every report I've ever heard about Aquatica was that it wasn't anywhere near as good as Disney's water parks. I've always wanted to check it out. Maybe I will one of these days.

 

I agree with you about Typhoon Lagoon being better than Blizzard Beach.  I like Typhoon Lagoon much better.

I wondered if we were the oddballs that liked Aquatica better... But we were in unanimous agreement (wife, me, MIL, and daughter). Their raging rapids "lazy river" itself is reason to go.

You are right about the wave pool being a throw down. As a kid I got pulled under and swept up into the shallow area where I got serious cuts and burns on my butt cheek and knees. I hurt for what seemed like forever. Nice pictures all around. I also like what you did with the bunk area.

Sounds about right based on the kid after us at the first aid station. Poor kid was bloody all over. And yes- it hurt for a LONG time.

Once we knew what to expect, we enjoyed it. What's funny- last year my son hated wave pools. This year, we had to keep him from getting crashed down as he took facefulls of water.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

 I wondered if we were the oddballs that liked Aquatica better... But we were in unanimous agreement (wife, me, MIL, and daughter). Their raging rapids "lazy river" itself is reason to go.

 

I've heard that the lazy river is fun (and not very lazy), but that there isn't much else to do.  I need to go and see for myself.

 

I actually was hoping to schedule another visit to Discovery Cove and then use the "free' passes that come with it.

 

If y'all haven't visited Discovery Cove yet, put that on your to-do list.  Maybe wait a couple of years for the little one to be big enough to enjoy all of it.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I've heard that the lazy river is fun (and not very lazy), but that there isn't much else to do.  I need to go and see for myself.

 

I actually was hoping to schedule another visit to Discovery Cove and then use the "free' passes that come with it.

 

If y'all haven't visited Discovery Cove yet, put that on your to-do list.  Maybe wait a couple of years for the little one to be big enough to enjoy all of it.

 

TCD

That's funny because we actually felt like there was more to do there than at the Disney parks. Maybe it was just more to do that we wanted to do or something. Weird- give it a shot, it's not that expensive to go.

Discovery Cove is on our short list of things to do eventually. Right now, for our family of 3 or 4 it's pert near $1,000 or more. Just haven't been able to bring ourselves to spend the money.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Sheesh, I'm runing out of photos here. I left off with our day at Typhoon Lagoon. We had a fun day barring my wife's tumble in the raging wave pool. I also mentioned that I had a water leak. I arranged for a local repair guy to come out to the camper named Patrick Monahan. All told, I'd hire him again. Friendly and helpful and reasonably priced.

All told, he fixed my leaking slide out. Turns out there is a little gutter that was broken. Some sealant fixed it up and viola- no water inside. While here, he asked with a smile, "what else do ya got?" Of course there was more- there's ALWAYS more. First up, my Steadyfast stabilizers call for lube on the screws that tighten the bars - I didn't do that and the camper took a trip back to the factory in Indiana in February on either side of a snow. With the salt on the roads, these seized up. After that, I had an air conditioner freezing up - he gave me some things to try over the next few days. And after that, when I installed ball valves on my low point drains, I have had a drip from day one; he fixed that up for me.

I kid you not, when he got to the camper and I answered the door- I instantly thought, "Dude reminds me of Crocodile Dundee". I don't know why, but I liked him for it.

The camper fixed up, I went back to work and my wife and kids did whatever they do during the day. That night, my daughter and wife had a date night.

Cuties. My daughter has wanted to go to the Cirque show for years. That's where they went- first to get some appetizers, then to the show, and then to Waffle House (yes, of all places- Waffle House). Here's my daughter after finally finding out that they were going to see the Cirque show (it was kept as a surprise):

The boy and I went for a walk around the campground. I took garbage up and he took his Bedtime Duffy.

If you look in the background (upper right past the white truck), you'll see someone playing "pickle ball". This has a vehement following on the Thousand Trails FB page. It looks like it's a small court tennis with a bigger ball. I dunno.

We got chased out by lightening and felt like we were racing it back to the camper. Once back, we watched some TV:

They had a great night and daughter loved the show.

The next day was my turn for a date night. We got a late start because we were working on my daughter's blog. But we finally got out. Here was are at a traffic light:

Unlike Mom who went for date-like appetizers at a restaurant, we went for quick and a favorite:

Traffic getting to Downtown Disney was terrible. I literally loath driving to that place. We took a full 1/2-hour to go the last mile getting into the garage. YUCK.

Which, between our late leaving and traffic, we only had a little more than hour at Disney Quest. We did make the best of our time and had fun. The first game we played was "Wreck It Ralph".

We played some Skee-ball. I won.

As I Googled the name to make sure I was spelling it right, I just learned something new... did you know that you can buy Skee-ball for your home? Amazon legit has EVERYTHING. (Who says TCD is the only one with knowledge nuggets? Watch out TCD- I'm coming for ya trip repo'ts.)

Next up, we raced motorcycles and skied. She crushed me at both of these and I was reminded, as expected, some kids parents have no concept of turns or waiting appropriately.

We played some alien planet game where we went into a room and saved people or something. This game reminded me of computer games in the late 90s. Heck, maybe earlier. Very hokey, but we still had fun.

After that, we were basically out of time. She wanted to record a song, but all of the working booths were taken. Instead, she designed a rollercoaster:

I left her ride this one on her own as I don't care for simulators. Overall, she was underwhelmed with her design. She would have liked many more loops and fast.

After Disney Quest, we hit up a few shops and tried to figure out what to do for second dinner. Ultimately we hit up the candy shop and headed back without getting food. It was a good night, though.

The next day was an exciting one- Grandma was flying in! Poor Grandma took our plans really rough. (In fact, Grandpa did too- they just showed up here in Detroit a couple of hours ago.) We had Grandma in Florida and later in Stone Mountain, GA. (Which was neat to take her to Atlanta as she's an aspiring jewelry designer. In Atlanta, there was an author and jewelry designer that my MIL has followed for a few years. She was able to setup some one-on-one classes together while there.)

On Friday, we had reservations for Chef Mickey's. The kids enjoy the characters and the food is decent. The first that we saw was Donald:

Big hugs!

Next came Goofy. He was fun as he kept picking on my son.

Pluto was there.

And Minnie is always a hit.

It's always fun to see my daughter get into it:

The S'Mores desserts sounded better than they were:

And then, yep- I did it. I went for a big plate and I filled it with every dessert that caught my fancy (which was most except some of the cakes and ice cream).

After dinner, we went up to the 10th floor and went out to a balcony to watch Wishes. This first picture shows the Orlando Eye:

And then Monorails pass in the night:

My wife is almost always wearing a pair of Mickey earrings these days. Tonight, she was wearing 2 different kinds:

All of Wishes summarized in one picture:

Finally Saturday was our last day before leaving on Sunday. It was NOW OR NEVER time for getting the fabled Waffle Cone Breakfast. While many of you eww and yuck this idea, I was definitely intrigued and think I would have liked it.

We drove to the Yacht and Beachclub. We learned that parking was by valet only ($20) and there was no self-parking unless you had dinner reservations. We had arranged to meet up with the wheelchair rental company to return the wheel chair this morning. We had to wait around the lobby for a bit while they got there.

Once that bit of business was taken care of- we made our way to the quick serve bakery.

Clearly, I'm excited:

Nowhere that we saw in the bakery, Disney site, or anywhere that I read identified what time breakfast hours are. When I ordered my Breakfast Waffle Cone, I was informed that they were sold out of Waffle Cones for the day. When I complained that it was literally the reason we went there- the CM copped a bit of attitude and said, "Well it is 10:45. We stop serving breakfast at 11." So, shame on me. I got some sandwich on a bagel or croissant, I don't remember. It was good. We got 3 or 4 sandwiches and 2 drinks and spent $43. Add in $20 for valet parking and I had a $63 disappointment.

(Look closely on the right-side of that last picture; the glass is literally shattered in place. They had a CM standing there to keep people from touching it or, in my case- chastising me when I did. I don't recall what they said happened, but it had been broken for an hour or two by that point.)

Moving right along, we made our way to Blizzard Beach. My mother-in-law had a non-expiring ticket from sometime in the 90s. They had to go to a guest relations window and I took the kids inside. As we walked up, we saw Goofy coming towards us. We were second in line. Goofy's handler was not pleased about the family in front of me summoning people from the store to get their picture done while the line formed and we waited. Anyway, we got some cute pictures.

I think we have exactly 0 pictures from the rest of the day. There were no injuries, BUT we found Blizzard Beach to be sort of "ho hum". The family raft ride was fun and not a very long wait, except my wife ended up being backwards for the whole ride. (And she gets motion sick. And she didn't take Bonine that day.) We split up- me taking my daughter and my wife + MIL taking my son.

We did a handful of rides, but the lines were slow and long. We're also not big fans of mat rides. We did have a good time on a couple of the raft rides. Once we got back together, I left everyone and went down the really tall slide. That wait took just shy of forever and it was rough- the back side of my legs were literally sore from it. I didn't enjoy it.

After Blizzard Beach, we got showers and changed there at the park. Wife and I had date night dinner plans and Grandma + the kids were going to do some resort hopping. And, I'll have the coupe de grace of pictures that will have all of you clamoring and asking for prints (seriously, it's that good). But, you have to wait for the next and final update.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

(Who says TCD is the only one with knowledge nuggets? Watch out TCD- I'm coming for ya trip repo'ts.)

 

 

You're doing a great job!  This update was really good.  I am looking forward to the photos you're hyping.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

You're doing a great job!  This update was really good.  I am looking forward to the photos you're hyping.

*Photo. It's just one, but it's that dang good. If social media is any indicator, I've gotten 400+ likes on it. :D

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Wow - you all did so much in a short period of time!

 

By any chance are the small earrings your wife was wearing in the picture made by Pandora?

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Wow - you all did so much in a short period of time!

 

By any chance are the small earrings your wife was wearing in the picture made by Pandora?

I'll have to ask, but I doubt it. I think they're just cheap earrings.

[ependydad...Doug 176]

I only have a few pictures left. By this point, it is Saturday, July 11 and we're leaving on the 12th to take 2 days to get to Stone Mountain, GA. As I mentioned, we spent the end of morning and early afternoon at Blizzard Beach. Good, but nothing great. Certainly liked Typhoon Lagoon better.

We wrapped up the day and our plan was to get showers and cleaned up. We were going to drive over to the Grand Floridian because my wife and I had date-night dinner reservations at Narcoossee's. It was the best meal we had in a long time and especially at WDW on our anniversary trip, and we wanted it again. The only reservation that we could get was at 5:30, so it was an early dinner. We warned our waitress that we had a long, lazy plan for dinner. We ordered one course at a time (drinks, appetizers, dinner, dessert) so that we could manage the slowness.

My wife saw that the kids at the table next to us had Mickey straws and she joked that she wanted one. I don't know why she was surprised when I asked for one. Ask and ye shall receive:

Our waitress even gave us a couple of extra clean ones to take back to our kids.

I don't seem to have pictures of my wine or our appetizer/salads. And right now, I'm drawing a complete blank on what it was. The wine for me was one out of the flight of wines from our last visit. Super sweet white wine- most wine drinkers would snub their nose at it. I'm OK with that.

For dinner, I got the Key West Shrimp and Garganelli Pasta. Very yummy and just the right-size portion for me:

Of course we had to get the loaded mashed potatoes again:

And more of course, she got the steak + lobster again:

Note, the butter in the upper corner remains untouched through 2 meals now. The butter poached lobster is just that dang good.

(Unfortunately, the steak was just slightly underdone for her. I guess places get scared by "well done" steaks that they'll end up dry and sent back. But, she had enough that was cooked wholly through that she ate most of it.)

When it came time for dessert, the waitress brought out the regular dessert menu. Both things that we had last time were really good, but they weren't quite what we were after. See, the kids at the table next to us (the same ones who caused me to ask for Mickey straws) had something special. Something wonderful. Something only on the kid's menu. Again, ask and ye shall receive.

BAM. Yep- s'mores. We freaking got s'mores from Narcoossee's.

Now, mind the OCD- count the crackers.

Like a good husband, I took one for the team and ate a marshmallow with nothing else. YES, LADIES- SHE'S THAT LUCKY.

Where is Grandma and the kids through all of this, you ask? WHO CARES! We were eating at Narcoossee's!

Ok, we cared once we left the restaurant. While at the restaurant, we noticed that the resort monorail was inoperable. There was the yellow sitting at the monorail station at MK the whole time. The TTC monorail was running. We called and found that Grandma and the kids walked to the Polynesian for dinner. They meant to take the Monorail, but with that down- Grandma isn't very adventurous with buses.

Being fat, fed, and happy- we weren't about to walk. That would be un-American (unless you're DaveInTN). I snapped this picture which I call "Castle, Castle, and Palm Trees":

But, that's not the amazing one. You just have to wait for that. In fact, I'm breaking chronological order to close with it.

We stood in line in front of the grumpiest people you'd ever meet. First they were mad at their friends for going somewhere. Then they were mad at the long line. Then they were mad at the length of time the boat was going to get there. Then they were mad because they weren't going to make the first boat (they did, sadly). I was never so happy to get away from people.

These insufferable fools didn't stop me from taking the photo. The one that you'll want to get prints made of. The one that I might even win awards at this year's fair. (if that's a real thing) But again, I want to close with it. I saw a neat line up of elements from the boat dock and I took a few pictures (about 23) to where the lighting was just right. It's really beautiful. You can't wait to see it.

A quick boat ride to the Polynesian and we were walking in. We laughed as we noticed this sign:

(Note, we just rode the boat and people were getting on the boat that we rode.)

We found our crew over at the Polynesian. They were a site for sore eyes. My daughter was hurting because this was her first day walking. My son was tired. And Grandma was worn out. We headed out to a bus to go to Downtown Disney. On the way, I snapped this picture of the floor:

Outside, I played mean dad and called a veto on the Downtown Disney plans. Instead, we headed back. We had a big day the next day- we needed to pack up the camper and get to getting. Mentally, to me, our fulltiming year was officially kicking off (before that was "vacationing"). Now, s$#%t got real- we were making our first of many weekly moves. Leaving Florida was also the last time for a long time that we would be somewhere for more than a week or two.

But first, we had to get going. I made a run to the dumpster and snapped this photo of our camper. I don't recall why- but here's the last shot of our camper in Florida:

I was headed to take some pictures of someone's camper. See if you see why I took it:

Let's focus in a little closer; ignoring the Corvette and double-decker car trailer:

Do I count that right? Is that FIVE (5) AIR CONDITIONERS? Sheesh! (Though, I'll admit- I keep considering a third for my camper.)

A quick air pressure check, topping up of tires, and loading all 5 of us into the truck, we were off. Goodbye Florida, see you next February.

And now, it's time for my big reveal. I loved the sunset that we were given on our date night. I also noticed that the TTC Monorail was running. With the hotel, the water, and all- it turned out beautifully.

[CCIntrigue...aka Gwen 547]

Your big reveal was worth the wait.  That picture is beautiful!

[keith_h 420]

That's one of those once in a lifetime shots. I like it.

[twiceblessed....nacole 433]

Wow!! That picture is wonderful!

5 units... crazy. Lots of computer equipment maybe?

[lightbikes 73]

Beautiful picture - composition and exquisite colour - gorgeous

[momof3kids-Yvonne 596]

Beautiful last photo.

[bhall 115]

I need that car trailer!!!!!   I would be able to take both cars to the Ocean City Car Shows.  That has to be 13' tall.

 

 

Nice sunset pic by the way.

[Littleolwoman.aka.Kristie 119]

You didn't disappoint with your picture, nicely done. I have always enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard beach but have found most people disagree. Whatever. Dinner looked very yummy and a great way to close out your stay.

[Northerngirl--Lori 5]

What a beautiful picture!! Thank you for posting this report. Now to follow your adventures on your blog!

[Travisma 1,317]

I've heard that the lazy river is fun (and not very lazy), but that there isn't much else to do.  I need to go and see for myself.

 

I actually was hoping to schedule another visit to Discovery Cove and then use the "free' passes that come with it.

 

If y'all haven't visited Discovery Cove yet, put that on your to-do list.  Maybe wait a couple of years for the little one to be big enough to enjoy all of it.

 

TCD

Discovery Cove is great. We lucked out a couple of years ago and got some special deal for $69 without the Dolphin Encounter. That was $120 at the time.

We enjoy Aquatica with the Raging River. We do that, the lazy river and the 2 wave pools. My granddaughter does all of the rides. I think they have about 6 other slides/rides. They have a large toddler section and a huge splash park. Plus they have an all day dining deal for $17, really good chicken, burgers, hot dogs, salads, drinks and deserts.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

That photo is outstanding, and was worth the wait.

 

I'm sorry that you had to leave Florida, but you're going to have the adventure of your lives now.

 

Safe travels!

 

 

Discovery Cove is great. We lucked out a couple of years ago and got some special deal for $69 without the Dolphin Encounter. That was $120 at the time.

We enjoy Aquatica with the Raging River. We do that, the lazy river and the 2 wave pools. My granddaughter does all of the rides. I think they have about 6 other slides/rides. They have a large toddler section and a huge splash park. Plus they have an all day dining deal for $17, really good chicken, burgers, hot dogs, salads, drinks and deserts.

 

That is a good deal on Discovery Cove.  We have gone twice with Florida Resident rates- still expensive, but it is a whole day's worth of fun (and when I went AB still owned it, so free beer all day).

 

$17 a day for food is a good deal.  We did a deal like that at SeaWorld once.  It wasn't great food, but it was better than paying out of pocket for meals all day.

 

TCD

[ependydad...Doug 176]

Your big reveal was worth the wait.  That picture is beautiful!

 

Thank you! I'm kicking around having it printed and gallery wrapped on a frame. I think it would display pretty nicely. But, wallspace is at a premium these days...

 

That's one of those once in a lifetime shots. I like it.

I think you're right. The timing of all of it just worked out. Pretty remarkable for a camera phone picture. :)

 

 

Wow!! That picture is wonderful!

5 units... crazy. Lots of computer equipment maybe?

Thanks! And yes, you can only imagine what the person is running in there. Heck, I want to know how they're powering all of them! Even a 50amp site only has so much...

 

 

Beautiful picture - composition and exquisite colour - gorgeous

Thank you! It took a bunch of tries and I still had to do some straightening/cropping after the fact, but I am really happy with how it turned out.

 

Beautiful last photo.

Thanks, Yvonne!

 

 

I need that car trailer!!!!!   I would be able to take both cars to the Ocean City Car Shows.  That has to be 13' tall.

 

 

Nice sunset pic by the way.

The car trailer is a little embarrassing for the guy- I mean, it's custom painted but clearly doesn't match the motorhome. Sheesh, the gall of some people. :) I couldn't imagine getting that car trailer around OC's streets, though! And yeah- it was likely 13' tall, right up there with the motorhome.

 

You didn't disappoint with your picture, nicely done. I have always enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon over Blizzard beach but have found most people disagree. Whatever. Dinner looked very yummy and a great way to close out your stay.

Glad that we agree. Now, you should go try Aquatica and tell me if you agree there, too. :)

 

 

What a beautiful picture!! Thank you for posting this report. Now to follow your adventures on your blog!

 

Thanks! I really need to update the blog. So much goings ons!

 

Discovery Cove is great. We lucked out a couple of years ago and got some special deal for $69 without the Dolphin Encounter. That was $120 at the time.

We enjoy Aquatica with the Raging River. We do that, the lazy river and the 2 wave pools. My granddaughter does all of the rides. I think they have about 6 other slides/rides. They have a large toddler section and a huge splash park. Plus they have an all day dining deal for $17, really good chicken, burgers, hot dogs, salads, drinks and deserts.

I saw the all-you-can eat thing, but we didn't do it. We're those people who pack a full set of sandwiches and a ton of snacks. Our first day, we walked back out of the park to eat our sandwiches. After that, we just snuck them inside of towels and moved them to the cooler once inside. Yeah, total rebels.

 

That photo is outstanding, and was worth the wait.

 

I'm sorry that you had to leave Florida, but you're going to have the adventure of your lives now.

 

Safe travels!

Thanks, TCD! I was hoping that everyone liked it. The adventure is ever unfolding in front of us. I need to update the blog or treat the thread as a trip report or something. But, so many changes. It's getting exciting!

[fladogfan aka Gretchen 259]

Well here it is September 6 already and I just read this TR.  So much fun and learning for your kids and the parents too.  I'm going to check out your blog to see where you are now.  Have a great year and be safe.

 

I love your daughter's smiling eyes.

Your son is so cute when he looks serious.

Your beautiful wife is so lucky.

So are you to have that wife!

 

Oh yeah, great photo of the sunset!

 

THANKS