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[Colexis Mom]

Great pictures! Sorry about the table location!

[cubfancolleen]

Look how tropical you all look! Adorable! Sorry about the less than good food and table location though.

[mommapants]

So sorry about the hassle with the luau, especially paying OOP. I've heard very mixed reviews about the food so I have never been to it before.

Glad you found the wheel but sorry you missed Mel and Meri

[honeybee723]

I love your Luau outfits!!! So very matchy. Honestly, I was getting peeved just reading about this whole evening. Don't apologize for getting upset and disappointed for something you paid for and didn't get. REGARDLESS how how much magic you've already had. You didn't know all of that was going to happen when you booked the luau. And besides, this was something for Josie to enjoy, and that's what would have made me the most upset...that my child was the one being affected by all of it.

Happy to hear you still enjoyed it, and she looked like she was having a blast dancing on stage. Too bad you didn't get to meet up with Melanie though.

[Cam22]

Every now and then I think I'd like to go to the luau. Then someone in their TR mentions some of the downers about the whole thing. It just seems so hit or miss that I don't think I want to fork over the money. Sorry it was so frustrating, but hallelujah you all got the wheel back.

[lfredsbo]

What a bummer about the seating

We just went for the first time in October - and we had a good time- except that it kept raining off and on - so there was no audience participation Looks like Josie had a great time!! Sorry about the phone though......

And how freakin' cool is that they found the wheel!!!! I remember all too well trying to push a 3 wheeled stroller through the world....... thank goodness Scott is resourceful and we had a rental - as he had to make a midnight trip to Walmart once when ours broke!

[sc507]

So glad you got the wheel back! Hopefully the stroller was easier to push once you got it back on Great pics from the luau.

[shazza]

Great pics from the Luau - especially the one of Josie on the stage dancing.

[num1DVCfan]

Just joining in, I know I'm late! It took a few days, but I'm all caught up. It sounds like a magical trip. You have a beautiful family! I'm so sorry you had terrible seats at the luau. I would have been really upset too if I paid OOP for those seats and then had a terrible view! No matter what magic you had earlier in the trip, this is still something you paid for! Go ahead and vent girl!

[Linnynad]

Originally Posted by mcc0313

Finally catching up on my reading, between the power, the internet going in and out and then heading back to work finally on Monday I have hardly gotten to read anyone's posts

I am so happy you guys made it through ok, I spoke to Kelly a few nights after the storm and I was so glad she had spoken with you, I thought of you guys being so close to AC...still cannot get over the devestation, I saw pictures from your neck of the woods, just terrible. Jasmine's boyfriend has been a permanent fixture in our home, they are still without power and they lost everything....I finally got her out of the house later in the week as she and some friends went to help out with some of their friends that lived out in Rockaway and Breezy, the pictures she brought back just were devestating.

So love the pictures but I always do...what a great morning at AK and YEAH for Josie for going on KRR!!!

Glad the concierge was able to find your stroller wheel...definitely a nice thing to see after your not so great seating at the Luau...your view definitely did not look like Tier 1 seating, but so glad Josie got up there and got to be part of the show. A friend of mine just came back and also sad that they did not enjoy the food at the Luau this time around...great family shots though from dinner, even though you had to walk back to the GCH to get them.

So sorry that Mel had to leave early as I know you both were looking so forward to your morning.

Oh my, I feel so bad for Jasmine's boyfriend. I hope things are getting better for him and his family. ANything we can donate? I've been making piles and dropping stuff off wherever I can
That town of Breezy Point breaks my heart.

Originally Posted by OhToodles!

I'd be upset too with the Luau situation. It's a real shame they couldn't do something. Did that empty table ever get filled? I'm so glad Josie enjoyed it though - I guess that's all that matters in the end.
Bummer you couldn't meet up with Melanie & Meri. Always missing people by a day!
I can't remember what you did the next morning, so I'm looking forward to the decision you made.

Nope, table remained empty. Whe you sit down at the Luau the sald and brread are already on the table so you just start digging in, I knew they would never have moved us. Oh well.

Originally Posted by mushu22

Love the pictures--sorry about the seating.

Originally Posted by chezp

So sorry about the situation with the Luau. How disappointing.

Eh, what an you do. We all enjoyed the show regarless of the not so stellar seats.

Originally Posted by lauriep

Very annoying about the Luau seating. If it's determined by when you call, why do they have an option to pay extra for a closer table? That doesn't look like a Tier 1 table to me. Glad that Josie got to participate, though-- so cute. How great that they found the stroller wheel for you! Such a disappointment that Melanie and Meri had to leave early and missed seeing you. (I hope they're ok-- haven't seen posts from Mel in a while.)

I honestly don't believe that's how they assign the seats either, BUT I have heard that more than once so who knows.
Was supper bummed to miss Mel and Meri, but with the way that girl travels, I know I'll see her soon!!

Originally Posted by Hugmonster

Yay on the wheel. Boooo on the Luau.

Yay on the wheel was right!!

Originally Posted by shnewell

That stinks about the luau seating. On the reverse side of things, we did the luau in 2009 and used the dining plan, which we knew meant settling for Tier 2. Those actually turned out to be really good seats. It seems like they need to reevaluate their seating categories. But I'm glad Josie still had fun.

What a relief about the stroller wheel!

Totally need to reevaluate the seating. I just wanted to sit close, for her sake, even all the way over on the side up front to me would have been better.

Originally Posted by Laurast

Sorry to hear that even though you paid OOP for Cat 1 seating, that is not what you got. That stinks! Glad to see that Josie had so much fun dancing at the luau though. Hope you aren't buried in snow right now.

HAHA, no more snow, but I was shocked too even see that we got it, I wasn't expecting that at all. It was pretty in the AM, but melted by the afternoon. Thank god!!

Originally Posted by OneLittleSpark

That does stink about the seating, glad Josie had fun though. You're right in the end that is what matters.

Yay for finding the missing wheel!

She did have fun and that's all that really matters

Originally Posted by rlb38

That stinks about the seating and makes me nervous for my Cat 1 seats at Hoop de doo. Cat 1 was all they had at around 80 days.
Getting the stroller wheel back is amazing.

Don't be nervous for your HDDR. We had Cat 1 there 2 yrs ago and had great seats. I think all the Cat there are pretty decent because of the stage being so elevated and how the performers come out and around to everyone. You will have fun. We used to say we loved the food at the Luau, but the show over at the HDDR. This year's show at the Luau seemed much better to me than it did a few yrs ago.

Originally Posted by llgmommy2

Sounds like another fab day! Your children are too darn cute!

Thank you

Originally Posted by buzzspal2

I'm glad Josie had fun. Sorry about the seats and your phone.

Eh, the phone......thank god for Apple Care

[Linnynad]

Originally Posted by KMB733

Sorry about the situation with the seating at the Luau. Looks like Josie had a great time though!

Originally Posted by Colexis Mom

Great pictures! Sorry about the table location!

Yes, not great seats when you pay for good ones, but what can you do, the kids had fun

Originally Posted by cubfancolleen

Look how tropical you all look! Adorable! Sorry about the less than good food and table location though.

Come on now, you think I would go to the Luau and not keep with the theming

Originally Posted by mommapants

So sorry about the hassle with the luau, especially paying OOP. I've heard very mixed reviews about the food so I have never been to it before.

Glad you found the wheel but sorry you missed Mel and Meri

The hassle before hand was so annoying, I have no idea what that was all about. I hated to even write about our experience this year because we have always been big lovers of the Luau, I still am, just hoping we had an off night??

Originally Posted by honeybee723

I love your Luau outfits!!! So very matchy. Honestly, I was getting peeved just reading about this whole evening. Don't apologize for getting upset and disappointed for something you paid for and didn't get. REGARDLESS how how much magic you've already had. You didn't know all of that was going to happen when you booked the luau. And besides, this was something for Josie to enjoy, and that's what would have made me the most upset...that my child was the one being affected by all of it.

Happy to hear you still enjoyed it, and she looked like she was having a blast dancing on stage. Too bad you didn't get to meet up with Melanie though.

I think I wen into dinner that night with a chip on my shoulder because of the whole deal going on just to check in. We will do the Luau again....just not sure when

Originally Posted by Cam22

Every now and then I think I'd like to go to the luau. Then someone in their TR mentions some of the downers about the whole thing. It just seems so hit or miss that I don't think I want to fork over the money. Sorry it was so frustrating, but hallelujah you all got the wheel back.

I know, it seems so hit or miss and I was one who would always stick up for the Luau. I still love it, but I think it's because of memories from my past and going with my dad. We will go back again because the last time we went in 09 we had a great time.

Originally Posted by lfredsbo

What a bummer about the seating

We just went for the first time in October - and we had a good time- except that it kept raining off and on - so there was no audience participation Looks like Josie had a great time!! Sorry about the phone though......

And how freakin' cool is that they found the wheel!!!! I remember all too well trying to push a 3 wheeled stroller through the world....... thank goodness Scott is resourceful and we had a rental - as he had to make a midnight trip to Walmart once when ours broke!

I can't believe we didn't notice it while walking back to the room. It wasn't until we left for the luau that we saw it, and thak god they found the wheel. My word.....I don't even want to know what they would have charged me

Originally Posted by sc507

So glad you got the wheel back! Hopefully the stroller was easier to push once you got it back on Great pics from the luau.

HAHA, yes it was!!

Originally Posted by shazza

Great pics from the Luau - especially the one of Josie on the stage dancing.

Thanks, that girl just loves a stage

Originally Posted by num1DVCfan

Just joining in, I know I'm late! It took a few days, but I'm all caught up. It sounds like a magical trip. You have a beautiful family! I'm so sorry you had terrible seats at the luau. I would have been really upset too if I paid OOP for those seats and then had a terrible view! No matter what magic you had earlier in the trip, this is still something you paid for! Go ahead and vent girl!

HI and welcome!!!! Thanks for reading all my crazy
and thanks for the compliments on my family, I like them...think I might just kep them
The Luau seats were a bust but the night itself was a good memory for us to always have

[Linnynad]

Sunday Sep 16th

When we went to bed last night we really had no plans for this morning now since Mel had to grab an earlier flight. So I had hoped to sleep in a little………fat chance. I had heard Josie get up and go to the bathroom, I was praying she would just go back to bed but then I heard her fussing around over by the curtains. I let it go and said nothing until I realized I didn’t hear her anymore, and I couldn’t see her. Yes it was dark out still but I leave the bathroom light on at night so she can see if she needs too. I finally gave her the good ol, psst, and then I see this adorable little face peek out from behind the curtains. She was sitting on the floor with the curtains behind her, I asked her what she was doing and she said “Just looking at the castle mom, it’s so beautiful” I got up to get her, and take a peek too, and sure enough she was all light up and looking as beautiful as ever. I grabbed that sweet little nugget and pulled her into bed with me and we snoozed for just a bit longer before the boys started to wake also.

Now that we were all awake I started tossing out ideas on what we should do today. Go play mini golf, putz around the hotel, swim, go to DtD??? Arnaud said; let’s just hop the monorail over to MK for a few hours. I looked around and saw a bunch of smiles and said…..”Alrighty then, let’s get movin’”

Some quick grub from the lounge and also our coffee concoction we were off and walking up to MK just as the RD was happening. Now I knew we had another morning planned at MK later in the week so I asked Josie which characters she wanted to meet today. Mickey and Minnie or the princesses. She choose the princesses, so that’s where we headed first!

The line was super short since we were there right at RD, but it still was a slow moving line. I have just recently become very good friends with Cinderella who lives near me when she is away from her castle and she was planning on making a trip down very soon, but as I walked into the room, I noticed that she was still away and we wouldn’t be seeing her today (If we were there 5 days later we would have though).

Anyway, we had a blast with the ladies and Andre was really warming up to all of them too. I’ll let the pictures do the talking.























Once we were done with our visit with the princesses, we headed out through the gift shop where Josie took a look around. I kept reminding her she still had her GC from Miss Dawn to use, and she said she already knew what she wanted……a Goofy Hat, but didn’t want to buy it just yet. I guess in case she changed her mind, but with her, it’s not likely.


We then headed up MS and stopped for some pics by the castle.







Now I have to stop her and let you in on something. If you haven’t noticed by now, Arnaud is holding Andre is just about every single picture we have. Trust me, it’s not because I don’t mind carrying this 35lb sack of pure cuteness, but this kid would not stop screaming for his daddy everywhere we went. At first I thought it was cute, then I was a little upset about it, but then I remembered how much he weighed and I quickly got over it. Arnaud said he didn’t mind, he travels a lot for work and doesn’t spend all day with them like I do, so he said it was all fine in his book. I also have to tell you too, I can probably count about 5 times I changed his diaper this whole trip too. Arnaud was always more than happy to do it. Uhmmmm…..can you say “keeper”!!!

We made our way over to AL at this point to finally meet another princess that we never have before, JASMINE!!! They weren’t out yet but would be any minute. So we got in line, only to see a lot of fuss going on over by the carpets. Ah HA!! I knew what was up right away. I started looking at the carpets flying by and sure enough there was Jasmine and Aladdin ridding a carpet with some cute little kids. This got me to thinking, and I’m sure someone can say if it’s true or not. There meet is scheduled at 30 min past opening of the park, I’m thinking it’s because they must do this every day at the start of the day?? Wait to find some kids to take the first ride on the carpets with and then head over to their greet spot for the day? I don’t know?

Anyway, when they came over we had a nice little meet with them






We then wanted to have some pirate fun so we took off for PotC. From there we moved over to the Tiki Bird house. I love this attraction for some reason. I mean it’s really boring, but I just think the nostalgia gets me. This is one attraction I will always think about from when I was little. I think the kids liked it, they weren’t screaming so I guess that’s a good sign.


We decided to head over to FL and maybe get Josie on Spl M or BTMRR, but as we walked through the walkway from AL to FL we found ourselves smack dab in the middle of some good ol country fun. Josie got grabbed by name from a CM and off they went. This whole ordeal was ADORABLE! I have no idea what time it was, if I had to guess I would say somewhere around 10ish? They danced and sang and every time you thought it was all over, they kept going on and on. It really was so much fun and I hope we can run into this again, but I think it’s just a random thing they do. We loved this!








Josie was now being funny about going on the 2 bigger rides so we talked her into going on the HM. She has been on this before and loves the music, but as we got closer she started to get a little whinny about it all. I took her through the interactive queue and of course that calmed her down. Everything was fine through the stretching room, with her clenching my side. As we started to get ready to load our doombuggie, I just assumed we could all sit together. We did for Nemo and PP flight. Andre on our laps, then the 3 of us. Well this CM would not let us sit together she was NO, NO, NO of course there isn’t much time to argue because of the way they load the ride, lucky for her, so off went the boys and we followed.

Once off the ride Arnaud and I were all, what a witch!!! But then Josie had now claimed this to be her FAVORITE ride!! She loved it after all the whining going on beforehand.


We spent a nice couple hrs. Here this morning and decided to head back to the Poly. We did have our super sweet ADR this night for R&C at a perfect time to watch Illuminations, but I just knew that sitting down to eat a dinner at 7:45 was just not gonna cut it. So coming home from AK yesterday we made the decision to cancel it. The CM on the phone was all “Are you sure you want to cancel this, because this time slot is very hard to get?” I assured her we were and then she asked if I’d like to make another ADR. I decided to try for lunch at Kona Café and sure enough they had one at 12pm, so we headed back to grab some lunch.

I honestly cannot say enough good things about KC, I have never had a bad meal here and from what I read, no one else has either, but yet you can always get an ADR. Bizarre to me. This was our most favorite meal of the trip, I don’t know if it was a combo of just really great food and then easy access back to our room or what, but it was heaven. We split the pot stickers and then split the pork sandwich and fish tacos. I have no idea what the kids had; I was loving life at this moment.

UP NEXT: Epcot with a fancy surprise!

[chezp]

What a great day so far! I absolutely love Josie's comment about the castle!

[Colexis Mom]

What a great morning at MK! Love the pictures! Lunch sounds delish!

[OneLittleSpark]

I have to come back and read the newest entry, but I wanted to tell you the way I was told seating is assigned.

I was told that you pick your tier, and your seat is not assigned at that time. It is assigned when they print out your tickets. Basically, when you pick the tickets up, you get the next best seat in the house in your tier. Which would make sense in the way of, you picked yours up right before you went.

The only time I have done a dinner show, I picked up the tickets as soon as we arrived at the resort. We had awesome seats.

Not sure if this is how it really is done or not, considering everyone seems to have been told alternate things, but it's what I was told.