Taking A Break from Life with a Trip to My Happy Place - Page 39 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm back, and to snow! Wow...in March no less. Yes, I was able to go away, even though Hope didn't get 100% better until yesterday. Chad kept her home from school on Monday and Tuesday, which I was fine, and he actually made the decision to take her to the doctor on Monday, all by himself.
Anyway, I'm going to get this thing finished this week, because I apparently have a new one to start writing for the Atlantic City trip we just returned from. Thank goodness it was only for a couple of days.
Glad Hope is finally feeling better and was well taken-care of by Daddy. Must have been hard to leave when she was sick, but I'm so glad you had a great time! Looking for ward to the continuation of this TR and the start of the new one!
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glad you are home all safe and sound and not stuck in an airport snowed in. Nice to hear Daddy took good care of Hope - I hope she is back to herself now.
Looking forward to hearing all about AC after this TR is done.
Day Five – Sunday, November 18th
Stuck on the Monorail
It was another early day, and because we had a super late night out, this is what I had to deal with.
We had to be at the GF by 9:05am for our breakfast ADR at the GF Café, and because we were relying on the bus and the monorail, I didn’t want to take any chances on being late. She wasn’t too happy with me for waking her up, and was pretty much in the twilight zone until we actually left the room.
We were doing really well on time, and were about 10 minutes ahead of schedule by the time we got on the monorail, but after that, it all went downhill. We made our stop at the Contemporary, and then at the TTC, but once we pulled up to the Poly, we just sat there. After waiting for a good 5 minutes, the doors closed, and then opened right back up. Finally they made an announcement saying they were having technical difficulties and we would get going as soon as they fixed them. Fast forward another 10 minutes, and we were still sitting there, but they were still allowing people to get on the monorail, so by now, our little cabin was jam packed.
We had already seen the doors close then open again about 5 more times, along with the monorail spiel being repeated each time they did, so if you didn’t have it memorized when you got on, you did by the time you got off. Then another 10 minutes passed, and we were still sitting there, and they were still trying to fix the technical difficulty, which by the way, we had found out was with one of the doors not closing in a section to the rear of the monorail. That’s why all of the other doors were constantly opening and closing, because they wanted to see if the one that was stuck open would finally decide to work.
After almost a 30 minute delay, they had finally fixed the problem, and we were on our way to the GF, but now we were really really late for our reservation. When I finally got to the podium, and I gave the CM my name, she proceeded to tell me she couldn’t find my name in the system. Then I proceeded to explain why I was so late, and all of a sudden she was able to locate me. Apparently when a guest is more than 20 minutes late for their ADR, the system automatically removes them from the reservation list, and that is exactly what happened to us. After all of that, she was able to seat us immediately, and I couldn’t have been happier.
This really is a nice quiet place to have a meal. I ordered the Vanilla-Laced French Toast, my mom ordered the Mickey Waffle, and I got Hope the Minnie’s Grand (pan)Cake. Everything was delicious, and after being stuck on the monorail, it was nice to just take our time while enjoying the sunlight coming through the glass windows all around the restaurant.
We didn’t have any real plans for the day, but it was decided that we would just stick with the MK for our last park day. There was plenty that we still hadn’t seen or done, and we knew Hope would have the most fun this way. On our way out of the restaurant, I got a call from Chad, with me thinking it was just him checking in like he normally did, but I knew I was in for it when he started our conversation with, “I don’t want you to worry, because everything is okay now, but…”. Definitely not good at all.
While I was away, we were having some major work done to the first floor of our house. This work included knocking a wall out. Duct work also had to be moved once the wall was knocked out, which my father ended up taking care of on Friday (it was now Sunday), and when he was finished, he called the contractor back to the house so he could finish up the drywall. Now, we have a cat, a very loud cat, and no one saw the cat from Thursday evening on, and no one thought, “Hmmm, why isn’t the cat crying for his food? Hmmm, why isn’t the cat eating his food? Hmmm, why isn’t the cat drinking his water”? So on Saturday evening, Chad gets home and hears our cat meowing, but he can’t figure out where it’s coming from, when all of a sudden it dawns on him. It’s coming from the floor. That’s right, my curious cat crawled into one of the holes they had cut out in our floor for the duct work, and while he was in there, they sealed it right back up…no cat from Thursday night to Saturday night…in the floor!!! Thank goodness we have a drop ceiling in the basement, and my father and Chad were able to coax him out with some food…because he was starving!!!! Needless to say I was not a happy wife at that moment, and I definitely let him know it.
Once the anger passed, and I knew the cat was out of harm’s way, we made our way over to the MK for some much needed fun. First stop was Winne the Pooh, but before we did that, mom ran over to Peter Pan to grab some FPs for later.
Then we decided to head over to Dumbo and try out the new standby line. I’m gonna have to say I didn’t like it. The whole process seemed to take forever. First you wait in a long line to get inside the tent, then once you’re inside you wait in another line to get your pager for the play area. Then once you’re in the play area you wait for your pager to go off. Then once the pager goes off you wait in another line to go back outside to the ride. It all seems like too much waiting to me. Plus the play area is a mad house, and I actually had to yell at a kid for pushing Hope off of this swing type thing they had in the climbing area. I don’t know where his parents were, but I’m sure they heard me.
Once we were finally on Dumbo, the ride lasted about a minute, but it was worth it because Hope loves this ride so much. Next we went back over to the Teacups, and by now we realized we had made a big mistake by coming to the MK today. It was the Sunday before Thanksgiving, and the crowds were really starting to pick up, which meant so were the wait times. Instead of riding the teacups again, we noticed Alice and the White Rabbit were out, so we decided to take her over to see them instead.
When we were finished with Alice, we headed over to IASW, which had a 20 minute wait by the way, and then over to Peter Pan. When we got off that ride, I noticed it was time for the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Parade, but once we got there, and the characters stopped to dance in front of us, Hope started acting all weird again. She wanted to watch them from afar, but wanted nothing to do with them up close, so we decided to head over to more rides. We figured now would be a good time to visit the HM, and on the way over I grabbed a few more pictures.
When we got to HM, the wait time was showing a 60 minute wait. I honestly couldn’t believe it, and for the first time I had to skip getting on this ride while I was in Disney. I made the suggestion that we grab a snack, like a Dole Whip snack, and everyone seemed to like that. Then mom made the suggestion that maybe she should go get FPs for BTMRR, since we had planned on taking Hope on it for the first time, so while she went over there, I took Hope over to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House.
I can’t even tell you the last time I went up there, but Hope liked it, and she honestly thought people really did live up in the thing.
We met back up with mom, and then we took a Dole Whip break.
We decided that since we were already in AL, it would probably be a good idea to hit up PoTC next. Little did we know we’d be heading into this mess…
A 45 minute wait for Pirates! Once again, I was shocked, but I wasn’t going to pass this one up too, so we got in line. While we were waiting, Hope started to get a little whiney, so I picked her up for a second, and wouldn’t you know it? She laid her head down on my shoulder and ended up falling asleep within seconds. So while waiting in line for about 30 minutes, I had to carry an extremely heavy child who was passed out cold. She didn’t wake up when we were finally loaded onto the ride, she didn’t wake up when we went down the little hill, and she didn’t even wake up when the cannonballs were exploding all around us. The girl was tired!
As much as I wanted to go see and do more things, I didn’t want to wake her up, so I put her in her stroller, and we parked in a nice quiet area right by SM. I think we sat there for about 45 minutes before I ended up having to wake her up so we could use our FPs. I think we only had 5 more minutes to use them, and I didn’t want her to miss it. She was a little groggy at first, but once we got in line for BTMRR, she perked up. She was a little nervous before we got on, but once the ride was over, she made sure to tell us how much she loved it.
We walked back towards the front of the park, trying to figure out what to do next, when we noticed a few people in line where Princess Tiana does her meet-n-greets. We asked the CM when she would be out, and we were told in about 30 minutes, so we decided to get in line to meet with her since Hope hadn’t ever done that yet. While we were waiting, and bored, we had a few pictures taken.
And then Hope got lucky, because not only did Princess Tiana come out, but so did Prince Naveen.
Hope had princesses on her mind now, because next she wanted to go and meet Merida, so off we went, stopping again for a few more pictures.
The line wasn’t too bad, I think it was only a 30 minute wait, and we got lucky because there was a really nice couple standing behind us that we started talking too to help pass the time. When we were finally let inside, Hope was the very first person to meet Merida. Now, we had never seen the movie Brave before meeting with her, so I’m not sure what they talked about, but she was one of the best princesses we had met with all week, and we made sure to see the movie as soon as we got home.
After she said good-bye, Hope made her way over to the archery area, and tried out her skills with a bow and arrow.
It was starting to get dark, and we were starting to get hungry, so we went across the way to Cosmic Ray’s and enjoyed a very large dinner, with Hope realizing our vacation was coming to an end, so she gave us a sad face.
Because it had been an early day, and we knew we still had to finish packing, we made the sad decision to head back to the room, but not before saying good-bye to the castle one more time.
We also still had snack credits to use up, so I grabbed a few rice crispy treats for Chad, and I let Hope pick a few things out as well, and then we had to say our final good-bye to MK for real this time.
Well despite the crowds it looks like you all got quite a bit done!! I have never taken Josie up the SFRT but I'm thinking this next trip we might have too.
Did Hope wind up liking BTMRR? We had FP's for it on our last trip, but then that was when that major storm came in and didn't want to end, so we never got on it.
Your pics look really good today, I so miss the castle with the ice lights.
We've been on the monorail headed to breakfast when we hit the same kind of delay, a bit frustrating, but not much you can do until it moves again. Glad you all were able to get in for breakfast. Great final day at MK, though it seemed quite busy that day.
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Yes, I was able to go away, even though Hope didn't get 100% better until yesterday. Chad kept her home from school on Monday and Tuesday, which I was fine, and he actually made the decision to take her to the doctor on Monday, all by himself. 
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"Sparky"(My first trip.)
PassPorter Guide Author
back home, but sorry about all the snow. Glad Hope is finally feeling better, too.
Holly: 
We made our stop at the Contemporary, and then at the TTC, but once we pulled up to the Poly, we just sat there. After waiting for a good 5 minutes, the doors closed, and then opened right back up. 
Finally they made an announcement saying they were having technical difficulties and we would get going as soon as they fixed them. Fast forward another 10 minutes, and we were still sitting there, but they were still allowing people to get on the monorail, so by now, our little cabin was jam packed. 
Then another 10 minutes passed, and we were still sitting there, and they were still trying to fix the technical difficulty, which by the way, we had found out was with one of the doors not closing in a section to the rear of the monorail. That’s why all of the other doors were constantly opening and closing, because they wanted to see if the one that was stuck open would finally decide to work. 
When I finally got to the podium, and I gave the CM my name, she proceeded to tell me she couldn’t find my name in the system. 
Then I proceeded to explain why I was so late, and all of a sudden she was able to locate me. 
Apparently when a guest is more than 20 minutes late for their ADR, the system automatically removes them from the reservation list, and that is exactly what happened to us. After all of that, she was able to seat us immediately, and I couldn’t have been happier. 
Thank goodness we have a drop ceiling in the basement, and my father and Chad were able to coax him out with some food…because he was starving!!!! Needless to say I was not a happy wife at that moment, and I definitely let him know it. 
The whole process seemed to take forever. First you wait in a long line to get inside the tent, then once you’re inside you wait in another line to get your pager for the play area. Then once you’re in the play area you wait for your pager to go off. Then once the pager goes off you wait in another line to go back outside to the ride. It all seems like too much waiting to me. 
Plus the play area is a mad house, and I actually had to yell at a kid for pushing Hope off of this swing type thing they had in the climbing area. I don’t know where his parents were, but I’m sure they heard me. 
I made the suggestion that we grab a snack, like a Dole Whip snack, and everyone seemed to like that. 
Then mom made the suggestion that maybe she should go get FPs for BTMRR, since we had planned on taking Hope on it for the first time, so while she went over there, I took Hope over to the Swiss Family Robinson Tree House.
So while waiting in line for about 30 minutes, I had to carry an extremely heavy child who was passed out cold. She didn’t wake up when we were finally loaded onto the ride, she didn’t wake up when we went down the little hill, and she didn’t even wake up when the cannonballs were exploding all around us. The girl was tired! 
and what a relief about the cat too! 
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