Tag: Stormalong Bay

Here is part 2 of our trip report for our family trip to Disney World – for part 1 please click here.

Tuesday Feb 4^th:

I woke up way earlier than Heather and the kids so I decided to suit up and go for a run on the Boardwalk.  It was very foggy and pretty hot and humid already – ended up being a pretty warm day all around.  I did 4 laps around the Beach Club / Yacht Club / Boardwalk area – the official running path maps say each lap is 0.8 miles but my running GPS app on my Samsung Galaxy S4 says each lap is a bit longer than that.  Took it nice and easy and just enjoyed the peace and quiet.

After everyone else got up we went and had breakfast at Stone Harbour lounge (also known as the Club room or the Concierge lounge) that we had access to being on Club Level.  Nice selection of pastries, hard boiled eggs, cereals (hot and cold) and juices, coffees and milk.  Not a heavy breakfast but all you need to get a good start on the parks for the day!

We headed off to Epcot to sort out some issues with our tickets – for some reason Heather’s and my annual passes were not linking to the bands properly for the park readers – all the computers said it was ok but the readers would have none of it.  We got things sorted out and got into the part about a half hour later than we intended but got complimentary passes for the kids for the day which was nice.

Tried to walk on Soarin’ but wait was too long – so we fast passed it with the app and got a spot about 45 minutes out!  That worked!

We went on Living with the Land and Nemo to pass the time until the fast pass came up.  We also tried Turtle Talk with Crush but we waited for 10 minutes and they told us it would be another 10 so we headed out and did our fast pass for Soarin’.  It was a first ride for Heather and K and a second for T and I.

After that we did Journey into Imagination with Figment, Mission Space, Ellen’s Energy Adventure,  skipped Test track because the wait was too long, Space Ship Earth, Club Cool ( this was the kids first time trying any of the drinks – they were not fans of Beverly), Three Caballeros and then tried Maelstrom but it was too long a wait.  Hit lots of things!

We then headed back out the World Gateway and walked back to the room.

After a quick lunch / snack in the Club room we had a few hours swim at Storm Along Bay and then hit the snack room for supper.

At this point we decided Magic Kingdom for the evening – hit the bus and then the park about 7 pm.

We managed to do multiple rides here including Pirates of the Caribbean, we looked at Big Thunder but it was too long a wait, Haunted Mansion, watched fireworks near Pinocchio Haus restaurant (fantastic spot – everything lights up and you feel like you are in the middle of everything as it is happening – very cool), Small World, the Carousel, Tea Cups, Space Ranger Spin, Space Mountain (first for me, T and K – Heather did not ride), and then finished with Stitches Great Escape (first again for all of 4 us).  By this point the park was closed and we wandered out to the buses.

We missed a bus just as we were coming up to the cue but another came very quickly and had a quick ride back to the hotel.

We were able to grab supper from the Market Place at the Beach Club right before it closed at 11 pm and ate outside as it was still very nice out.

 

Wednesday Feb 5^th – hot again!

Once again I was up way earlier than everyone else (bit of a theme here) so I went for a run on the Boardwalk again – it was a bit cooler and less humidity which was very nice as I could actually see the scenery.  I forgot my headphones on the run but it was still nice and peaceful despite the leaf blowers.

Once everyone else got moving we had breakfast at the Club room again – and once again it worked well for to get us moving quickly without having to drop a small fortune on a too big of a breakfast.

The forecasts showed this likely to be the hottest day of our trip so we made the call to head to Typhoon Lagoon – we were a touch concerned when we got off the bus and saw hoards of teenage girl tour group folks.

Saw lots of these tour groups through the week – appeared to South American Quinceañera or Quince tours.  Later in the week there were several cheerleader crews to contend with.  They were all well behaved and not rowdy or crazy, but as they traveled in packs if they got in line before you at a ride, what was a 5 minute wait turned into a half hour very quickly.  Basically at Typhoon Lagoon we had to move around the park staying ahead of them – if we saw them coming we would head to a different area of the park and when we saw them stop for lunch we hit as many slides / rides as we could before they came back out.

So we started with the lazy river for a while and then did Humunga Cowabunga with T (his first time).  We then tried the storm slides but only got one run before being overrun by the hoard, so went and did the tamest (blue rafts) raft ride and then were overrun again, so we did the family raft and then headed to the main wave pool for a short bit.

Decided on some lunch at this point and we had some confusion on what we ordered but was ok in the end – they missed one kids meal (they hadn’t charged us for is so it not like we were short changed or anything like that but we didn’t want to go through the line again to order one more meal) but still gave us the fries, the grapes and the drink, and bucket – so we got enough food and shared everything around instead of going and paying for another kids meal.  We still had plenty of each of us.

We then dodged the hoard and got on Crushin’ Gusher (first for T) – and did several runs of that with either me or Heather with T.  Went back to storm slides and got a couple more runs of the slides and the Humunga Cowabunga (T did go one more time too and then Heather went with him for her first time (she had some delays as she built up her courage for it)).

Since K was missing out on several rides since she isn’t tall enough yet we decided to give her some time in the kids play area then headed out and got mini donuts and popcorn for a snack.

We then got back in the wave pool and did some bobbing waves before heading out.

Several firsts today!  The kids on the Storm Slides, Heather and T on the Humunga Cowabunga, and T on Crushin’ Gusher.  Very cool.

We then got changed and headed out to catch a bus back to the hotel and had about a 25 minute wait for a bus but it went directly back to the hotels on the loop and did not have to hit Downtown Disney first.

After a quick stop in the hotel room and a snack in the Club room we headed to Downtown Disney.  We had intended to hit T-Rex for supper but the wait was just too long.

In the end we went to Planet Hollywood which we got into in around 30 minutes or so.  We had never eaten there before so it was a first for all 4 of us – enjoyed it.  The kids really liked the décor and pointing out things they were seeing on the wall.

Then it was shopping time.  K and I built our own droids and T got some Lego figurines.

Then back to the hotel to sleep, sleep, sleep.

 

Thursday Feb 6^th – bit cooler today and some light rain

I did not run this morning – I decided to sleep in a bit later to rest and recover.

Once again we had breakfast in the Club room and then headed straight to Animal Kingdom.  K was wearing Anna dress from Frozen and got many compliments from cast members and other little girls.  She enjoyed that, a lot.

 

We had a fast past for Expedition Everest – Heather did not ride but T and K sat together and I was right behind them.  In all the trips we have had this was a first for all three of us – granted this is the first year K has been tall enough.  K was pumped to do this ride as she wanted to see the yeti.  Chants of “Yeti, Yeti, Yeti” proceeded us through the park on our way to the ride.  In the end I think T enjoyed it the most but K liked it too and said she would do it again even though she was frightened in the dark areas.

We then wandered over to Kali River Rapids – we had a fast past for a while later but it was a walk up so we did it.  It was a first time for all 4 of us and we only got a bit wet.  Slowly dried off as we headed towards Kilimanjaro Safari ride but it had a half hour wait and we had a fast pass for later in the day so we decided to do lunch instead.

Rain Forest Café for lunch – only about a 15 minute wait to be seated and lunch went smoothly.  No Blue Moon beer though as they are switching away from it.  Very disappointed there.

Then back out in the park and went to the Safari ride and it listed a 10 minute wait and our fast pass still was about 15 minutes out so we did the standby line – it was basically a walk on.  Animals were very active though which was super cool – hippos were out of the water  (one came out just to relieve itself just as the truck went by before going back in the water – gave everyone on the truck a bit of chuckle) , the lions were awake, rhinos were walking around and the giraffes were close to the truck.

After that we went to the bird show which was just starting as we went by – the kids absolutely loved it.

We then went back to Kali River Rapids as it was still a walk on – since it was raining at this point we figured that if we got wet it was not that big a deal – T got absolutely soaked.  K got pretty wet as well (her Anna dress was drenched) but we all got wet.  We were able to short cut back through for another ride as there was no wait.  Since we were already drenched, why not go again?  We ended up with our own family raft for the four of us and we didn’t end up getting too much more wet.

By this point the kids were getting chilled so we found a sweater for K at the Everest store and yeti plushes for the kids.  T was still freezing and we still had to find him a sweater.  Eventually found something at the main store on Discovery Island that he liked and started getting him warmed up.

We then headed out to the buses and there was one waiting when we got to the bus stop – straight to the Yacht and Beach.  Whoohoo – although we apologized to the bus driver for the puddles where we were sitting.

To warm up the kids quickly we put them in a hot bath while Heather and I had an adult beverage from the Club room to warm up after we got changed.

Now we kids dressed warmer and headed into Epcot after a quick supper/snack in the Club room.

We went straight to Test Track and got on in the standby line after 30-40 minutes – rain was causing the ride to shut down occasionally but it went fairly smoothly.  I have never done Test Track in the rain – it is a different sensation on the outside portion of the ride with the rain lightly falling and hitting your face at 60 mph.  It doesn’t help when I am in the front row my head goes over the windscreen.  Some of the interior parts of the ride seemed slower than normal – I suspect that was deliberate as they would have been worried about wet tires on some of the sharp corners.  Still fun though.

We also did Spaceship Earth at the request of the kids, not sure why this is one of their favorites but I like that it is.  The kids also like to ride this one together so it is one of the few rides Heather and I get to sit together on.

Headed out to the entrance to World Showcase and caught Illuminations (which T directed using the Force) – and got a bit of a reminder about all cultures being different.

There was a man standing on the edge of one of the planters / seating areas filming the show and K got up to stand too close to him and I was afraid she would bump him and cause either or both of them to fall.  So I got her to move, seconds later an oriental family came up and planted their kids there and let them go wild while they had an extremely loud discussion about a wheelchair.  Not sure what was going on but you could tell the man filming was getting a bit upset as he kept getting bumped and the adults were not supervising the children.  Plus T’s view was partially blocked.  Maybe it’s my size but I am always conscious of where I am, who is around me and if I am in someone’s way, etc but I am always surprised when I see people who don’t offer the same courtesy to others.

That family left part way through Illuminations and the man’s wife got up beside him to provide a buffer and T had an easier time seeing the rest of the show.

After that was over we headed back to the hotel and stopped to pick up ice cream to eat in the room.  Then off to bed.

 

Bored yet?  Still part 3 to go!