Wait!!! Wasn't this supposed to be a weekend trip? TR COMPLETE 11/2 About This Page:

[lazanya]

Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

[mcc0313]

So I just came home from stocking up the empty fridge, the kids are out, the AC is going so I figured this would be the pefect time as any to start the TR. Once again we had a great trip, but like any trip we learned some lessons that would help make our next one better, it also shoed me that my kids are changing, their touring has really done a 180 and it really will help me with the next trip in how we plan.

So on with the show.

Now I will admit that this was the first time I did not feel ready. Work was crazy, the girls schedules were hectic and trying to plan and pack when one of the travel party had no idea we were going proved to be harder this time around, probably because she is just so more aware of everything I am doing. Another concern added to the list was that a few weeks prior I did something to my neck, not sure if I snapped it the wrong way during my catnaps on the train to work, or if it had to do with the fact that I was spending way too many hours in front of the computer at work but I had been having spasms and popping and while my doctor checked it out I know I need to get to an orthopedist to look at it but just never had the chance so I was concerned about how I would do on some of Angel's favorite rides.

We were leaving at night so we all had a busy day, work was not bad so my commute home was terrible, Jasmine got stuck in the same commute horror coming home from her last day of a college prep math class and Angel, whose camp bus had broken down during her morning commute was still not up and running so a last ditch emergency call to my dad at least allowed me to not stress as he went to pick her up from camp so at least I knew one of us would be ready for our trip to the ariport.

I got home, threw off my work clothes threw on my relaxing at home outfit so I could get the last few things done before my dad came back to pick us up for our ride to the airport. Now Angel had packed her suitcase as she thought we were heading to DisneyDani's house for the weekend, in her excitement she did not even stop to ask why Jasmine had packed so much for a 4 day getaway so the secret still remained a secret as we drove to JFK.

Dad dropped us off and I had already done online check-in so all we had to do was drop our bags off, the line was pretty long but we moved quickly and it was at this point I realized that something was missing from my bag. You see right before we left I had taken all I needed from my purse and put it into my bag that I was taking for the trip and I guess in the rush I had left all of Jasmine and Angel's giftcards. This was not going to work as the girls were all excited to shop.

So all the way through security I panicked trying to figure out what to do, Danielle had texted me to see if we were ok, she was waiting for the "we are ready for the suprise text" and I let her know we were just stuck on a very long security line.

At first I figured that I would have someone Fedex them to me at the hotel, then I remembered that my parents were taking my nephew home the next day and they were meeting us on Tuesday so after a call to my neighbor (who had an emergency set of keys) the giftcards were given to my BIL who would give them to my dad in the morning....ok problem resolved. All this time I am whispering to Jasmine as to what was going on and Angel trying to figure out what all the commotion was about.

Once through security, with a stop to have Angel's medication checked out we found a quiet bench, I sent a text message to Danielle and we waited for Angel's call. Now it was about this time that Jasmine looked at me and said "mom, you never changed your clothes"...yes in my rush not only did I forget the giftcards I forgot to change into something presentable so as I promised I am uploading the video and in my defense I normally would not go to the airport in baggy shorts and a tee shirt so enjoy the reveal....just try to ignore my outfit and it wasn't until I watched this video that I realized Ihave such a terrible Brooklyn accent so try to excuse that too

The big reveal:

So the plan was that Izzy (Danielle's daughter) would call Angel and say guess what Angel, there really isn't a water park here and you are not coming this weekend becuase....you mom is taking you to WDW. Hoping this link works

August 2011 Videos :: 5810a118.mp4 video by mcc0313 - Photobucket

So once Angel got over her shock...she still did not believe it becuase she kept asking over and over, "are we really going to WDW?" I don't think she really believed it until we were firmly planted at our resort...which took a long, long time.

Yes while our flight was showing as on time at 7:30 once our boarding time of 8:40 came and gone I knew that it was going to be a long night. We got to our gate and relaxing with Angel calling her friend to tell her what her birthday surprise was and we waited and waited and finally at 9:15 five minutes after our scheduled take off they started to finally board us. I figured no big deal, as I know they build in time on the flight time so I figured we would land maybe a few minutes past our scheduled time of 12:20.

that did not happen, not exactly sure but they said something about delayed flights coming in so they had only one outbound runway open so we sat on the plane, and watched TV, the girls fell asleep, and then woke and at 10:50, an hour and 30 minutes after we boarded the plane we finally made our way to the front of the line and took off. I guess at this point the storm that had been threatening to move in did so there was some turbulance for the first 20 or so minutes but thankfully after that it was smooth sailing and we arrived at MCO at 1:03. So it wasn't that late, 40 minutes behind schedule but it felt so much longer than that. I was exhausted, I do not sleep on planes, the girls slept here and there but by this time they were wired and all I wanted was a bed.

We made it down to the baggage area and waited and waited and the luggage finally came out about 30 minutes after we landed. We took the elevator back up to the 3rd floor so we could transfer over to the B side for the DME and when we got there I realized....that I forgot my DME paperwork, I was not off to a good start. They were great, printed me out what I needed and we were sent to the waiting bus.

I think there were two other families strolling over to the bus but at 2 AM we had a pretty empty bus. We too off maybe 10 minutes later and by 3 AM we were pulling into our destination, the AKL. I was so happy to finally be there...yet I dreaded the thought of getting a room all the way out at the end...I just did not think I could make it...lol

We were booked in a standard room for the night, switching in the morning fo our savannah view but at that point I would have been fine sleeping in the lobby. The CM at check-in took one look at us and thankfully for online check-in we were processed and heading to our room in 5 minutes flat and the angels must have been looking our for us becuase our room was on the 5th floor, right over the lobby so a quick elevator ride up and after a quick look at our view which was pretty nice...right over the pool, we were sound sleep...I think it took us maybe 10 minutes, we all just crashed.

Up Next: We are really here...and our opinions of our first stay "at our home"

[Dlandmom2]

What a great reveal! The look of her speechless surprise is so priceless! Sorry you were off to a rocky start, but I hope the rest of the trip was just wonderful for you all!

[dsteiny23]

I LOVE the reveal!! I got goosebumps and all choked up!! So great! Not so great that you got a late start, but glad the CM could see you didn't need a long walk but a soft bed.

[disneydani]

It was an awesome reveal....I love seeing Angel's reaction....so glad Izzy and I could be a part of it...althouh Angel will probably never trust us again!

So sorry about all the flight delays...so stressful when you are in the thick of it. Looking forward to pics and deets about the real first day.

Danielle

[Colexis Mom]

Great reveal Meg! Sorry about the plane delays and getting there so late (BTDT)! More please!

[Cam22]

the reveal! Priceless Disney magic! That was a very long travel day and so glad that your room wasn't too far away!

[Linnynad]

OMG, crying here. That was so sweet. I loved everyone's reactions.

[chezp]

the reveal - I had tears in my eyes watching that!

So sorry about the flight delays. I bet you were delighted when you finally made it to Disney, after having to deal with all that.

[Coop]

Truly sweet! Great reveal. Too bad for the transportation delay.

[PrincessSharon]

Love the reveal! It was funny to watch her expression change as she figured it out! Sorry your late night got even later with delays (been there), but glad you got right into your room. Can't wait for more!

[OCEANGRLLG]

AWESOME! Reveal!!!

[mcc0313]

Originally Posted by Dlandmom2

What a great reveal! The look of her speechless surprise is so priceless! Sorry you were off to a rocky start, but I hope the rest of the trip was just wonderful for you all!

It's funny becuase she was "practicing" being surprised becuase she wanted me to pretend to surprise her for the "October" trip she thought she was taking. She wanted to make a video. Well all her practice surprises included these screams and jumping up and down but then when the real thing happened I could not get her to day a word...she was just speechless

Originally Posted by dsteiny23

I LOVE the reveal!! I got goosebumps and all choked up!! So great! Not so great that you got a late start, but glad the CM could see you didn't need a long walk but a soft bed.

When he told me where my room was I wanted to just give this guy a hug...if he had told us our room was all the way down the hall I probably would have curled up on a sofa and just given up

Originally Posted by disneydani

It was an awesome reveal....I love seeing Angel's reaction....so glad Izzy and I could be a part of it...althouh Angel will probably never trust us again!

So sorry about all the flight delays...so stressful when you are in the thick of it. Looking forward to pics and deets about the real first day.

Danielle

So glad you were able to see the other side of the reveal, it was so special to have you and Izzy part of the reveal, Angel kept asking me afterwards so Dani and Izzy knew even when we were at lunch and they kept the secret too

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great reveal Meg! Sorry about the plane delays and getting there so late (BTDT)! More please!

Thanks Marnie - I was so excited that she was so surprised, even though it would have been nice to get a word out of her...lol, when I look back the delay was not as bad as other horror stories I have heard, I think just between getting to work early and the the commuting issues from work...the day just felt endless.

Originally Posted by Cam22

the reveal! Priceless Disney magic! That was a very long travel day and so glad that your room wasn't too far away!

It really was a perfect location, Jasmine said afterwards that she loved our savannah view but she would have been happy with the view from the standard room we had, it was a perfect location to everything.

Originally Posted by Linnynad

OMG, crying here. That was so sweet. I loved everyone's reactions.

I was good with the tears until we got on the plane and she kept asking me if this was real and how it was the best gift ever, she gave me so many hugs on the plane so I think I shed a few tears then.

Originally Posted by chezp

the reveal - I had tears in my eyes watching that!

So sorry about the flight delays. I bet you were delighted when you finally made it to Disney, after having to deal with all that.

I was so happy to see those WDW gates, we had one stop before AKL, and to be honest I cannot even remember what it was I was so tired but the rest of the families got out there so all that was left was us...when we pulled up to AKL I had the biggest smile on my face.

Originally Posted by Coop

Truly sweet! Great reveal. Too bad for the transportation delay.

In the end even with the delay we were at Disney so nothing was ruining my mood

Originally Posted by PrincessSharon

Love the reveal! It was funny to watch her expression change as she figured it out! Sorry your late night got even later with delays (been there), but glad you got right into your room. Can't wait for more!

I know I was watching the video and in the beginning she looks so serious and business like on the phone, especially when I asked her waht Izzy was saying and she kept telling me one minute with her finger...then when it hit her she just changed totally. Wasn't sure if I should laugh or cry.

Originally Posted by OCEANGRLLG

AWESOME! Reveal!!!

Thanks, it was truly fun surprising her (but a lot of work keeping it from her and trying to prepare without her knowing )

[mcc0313]

Our 1st Real Day - Friday 7/29/11 Part 1

I did not plan anything for our first morning, first of all I knew we were going to get there late (ok not as late as we got there but I was thinking 1 AM), plus we were changing rooms and I wanted the girls to have some time to explore so our first morning consisted of sleeping, transfering rooms and then heading over to Kidani for our first experience at Sanaa.

I slept but I was also at Disney so by 8:30 I was up and checking out the view in the daylight. Our room was right over the pool and located right above the lobby so even if we were staying in this room I would have been totally pleased with the location. Now last night I started getting a bad migraine and I chalked it up to lack of sleep, hunger (I had not eaten since lunch) and just the plane ride but any hopes of it going away were nill becuase it was worse, so I popped a pill hoping that it would bring me some relief.

My first task of the day, taking some pictures . I did not take pictures of the room itself as the girls were sleeping and our bags were just laying in the room but I did take some pictures of the view and of course the mouse that was waiting for us.



The view from our balcony...



While the girls were still a bit sleeping I took a quick shower, got dressed and headed out to the bus stop. Now before you think I ditched the girls to go enjoy the parks I didn't, I needed to pick-up our TIW card and I also needed to pick up tickets for the girls so I figured I would jump on the first bus that came, well I was in luck as there was an AK bus sitting there, so after my what felt like 5 minute bus ride I was walking into guest services, picking up my TIW card, headed to the ticket booth, used (2) two day tickets (that we had from a previous free dining trip when we had APs) towards two 8 day tickets and headed back to the buses to find....a bus sitting in the AK spot. Well my first try at bus service at AKL was totally magical.

Made it back in about an hour and we relaxed in the room for a bit and around 10:30 we headed downstairs to checkout / check-in. Now I will admit that I had some trepidation, we lucked out last night with a room in a great location but while I did not mind the walk I started thinking of some of the TRs which talked about 1/4 mile walks to the lobby late at night after a long day at the parks.

We headed to check-in and our room was not ready yet which I figured so I asked just out of curiousity if there was any room that was ready. The CM was great and checked the computer and made a call and then said while I could give you another room you will want to keep the room you have, its a great location. I took her word for it, took my paperwork, checked our luggage in to hold and we went out to explore.

We decided to walk to Kidani, now it really was not a bad walk at all. We are fast walkers but we timed it and even with Jasmine stopping to take some pictures we made it in less than 10 minutes. Funny as the distance always seemed longer on the bus.

Jasmine took pictures along our walk.





I took Heather's (Ilovedisney247) advice and booked an early lunch so our ADR was for 11:45. We still had some time so we wandered and we can all guess that Jasmine had been taking pictures.



We then headed outside to take in some of the action on the savannah. There was just so much going on, I won't post them all but here are some of our favorites.





It was about this point that the girls declared this the most amazing resort, and that next trip they wanted to come back here. Jasmine was in heaven, there was no way I was taking the camera away from here and I love the giraffee shots she got, I want to get a really cool frame and blow some of them up for my wall.

It was getting hot and I think hunger finally set in, I realizing I had not eaten since lunch yesterday, and the girls not eating since they made hot dogs before we left the house. Also my headache had gotten worse so I was hoping that some food, and another pill with lunch my hopefully do the job as my head was splitting.

We checked in, waited a total of 2 minutes and were taking to a seat by the window. Our server was wonderful and within minutes of taking our drink orders the chef came out to talk to me about my allergies and Angel's.

We decided to split the roasted califlower which I have heard such wonderful things about and we all claimed it absolutely delicious, Jasmine wanting the recipie so we can make it at home.



The chef talked with Angel and they decided on some chicken, and while the rice has no nuts / dairy products he was concerned about the facility so he asked if it would be ok to make some potatoes, he offered them to us as well so we all took him up on it.

Angel proclaimed her lunch totally yummy



Jasmine and I decided to split a sampler, we went with the Spicy Durban Chicken and the Short Ribs with the roasted potatoes, which were amazing, they were spicy and tender...I did not miss having the rice pilaf at all.



Jasmine loved it as did I, and while my headache was still there, I guess finally getting some food in my stomach helped allivate it somewhat so the drilling pain in my head had dulled to a nagging knocking. While I passed on dessert Angel had some fruit and tofutti and Jasmine went with the Orange Seasme Cake which she said was wonderfully light.

Now I promised I would try to record what we spent and saved and how it compared to the Dining Plan so here we go.

Lunch at Sanaa without tax and gratuities: $41.25
With tax, gratuities and TIW discount: $42.58
Total TIW savings: $8.25

We also rated each meal on a scale of 1 - 5 (we rated on atmsophere, service & food and combined a score) Our rating for Sanaa 4.8

We all really enjoyed and while we were planning on walking back, a waiting shuttle van was sitting outside Kidani so with my head still bothering me we voted for AC and comfort and took the van back.

While we were at lunch we got the text that our room was ready so by 1:30 we were upstairs and heading to room 5503 which happened to be two doors away from the elevator in the back section which led right down to the pool, the Mara and the arcade. I was pretty happy I listened to the CM in regards to this room.

We went in, called down for our bags and just took a breather. Jasmine took some pictures of the room before our bags came upstairs.



While we waited for the bags Jasmine decided to relax on the balcony and take a shot of the view...albit a strange one



And some more normal shots of the savannah, minus any animals at this point, even the animals were proabbly relaxing in the shade.



Our bags came up quickly and the girls wanted the pool, my head was still throbbing so Jasmine offered to go down with Angel so I could lay down some which I did.

Up Next: An afternoon at the pool

[Colexis Mom]

What a great room Meg (both times)! Sounds like a great meal at Sanaa! Love all the pictures! Pixies that the migrane goes away!