Colexi's 10 Days of Fun in the Sun May 2003 - Complete with Pics! About This Page:

[Colexis Mom]

I got the stroller covers at BabiesRUs. I think they were about $15. They were the BabiesRUs brand, not the Graco ones. I'd also recommend an umbrella to attach to an umbrella stroller for a cover. I found a Graco one at TJMaxx for $5. BabiesRUs and ToysRUs were all out when I needed it. It worked great. I'll hopefully finish the report today. I was away for the weekend!! Thanks everyone!!

[Colexis Mom]

Day 9 (Friday May 16th) – Epcot

We were up early again, and I decided to go do a load of laundry so that we could take home mostly clean clothes. Since we were going to Epcot this morning, we didn’t have to meet my parents in the lobby until 8:45. I went down this morning to Riptide Lounge and got some bagels, croissants, and fruit. Matt decided to walk around with Colin early.


I decided not to put the clothes in the dryer (most were full again) and would just hang them in the room and dry them that way. After everyone showered and ate, it was off to Epcot. It was yet another hot day. We stopped at the DogGone Maze first and enjoyed the topiaries!!
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Alexa enjoyed walking thru the maze and playing in the little playground on the inside of it.

Then it was off to The Land, to ride Living with the Land. There was no one there, and the CM actually waited for more people to show up before she launched our boat. Then it was time for a snack break, so we headed to the bakery in the Land. Alexa wanted a cupcake, of which she only ate the frosting. Matt had carrot cake (too heavy for me so early in the morning, I think he was regretting it too). Mom had a Rice Krispie treat, and Dad had a fruit cup. I just munched off everyone else’s. Then it was time for the Living Seas. I really miss the ride portion of this attraction. I wish they’d bring it back. It’s so funny to be in the Hydrolater, and watching others faces as it moves (don’t want to be a spoiler here!!). We were able to see the dolphins come out into the main tank, but other than that, we didn’t really see many fish in the tank. Colin was having fun pulling himself up on the walls near the main tank and then sliding down (he did this over and over again).


After that, we headed for the Universe of Energy. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the next show, but once inside, ooh, nice cool air!! Colin was pretty good, he got a little antsy at the end, but we had a whole row to ourselves, so I let him walk back and forth a little. After that, I think it was about 12:30 (boy were we making slow progress today). We headed toward the Wonders of Life to see Cranium Command. Matt and I had seen this on our last trip, and thought it was cute. Well, Colin wanted no part of sitting down watching this, so I took him outside. Then Matt and Alexa came out a few minutes after us (she wanted me and didn’t want to sit thru this either). So, we walked around the stuff on the outside of the theater while my parents watched the show, and we pressed some more pennies!! After that, it was getting late and the kids had had enough, so it was back to the BC for lunch and the pool.


My parents were tired and decided to take the boat back to the BC. We walked back (ok, ran for a little bit, Alexa was big on racing – one of us would go up and over the hill, and the other would take the walkway next to the water, and she always had to win!!) and stopped at Hurricane Hannah’s for lunch. I think we had gotten our food when we saw the boat docking at the BC. We headed upstairs to eat and change, and then it was off to the pool.

After the pool, the same old ritual, but the kids wouldn’t go to sleep again. So we each took one. I took Alexa and went to pick up her picture that we had taken at the end of Journey into Your Imagination at the gift shop. Who do we run into but Matt and Colin. After that, Alexa had wanted more cotton candy, but it was getting late, and was still hot, and I wasn’t sure if I could make it over to the Sweet Shoppe and back before we were to meet my parents. So instead, I took her for a scoop of ice cream at B&C. After about 4 spoonfuls, she finally gets exhausted and it’s lights out. I take about 2 spoonfuls and throw the rest away. I went back upstairs to pack the bags for the night and Matt comes in with Colin (who was still awake). We were heading to MGM again to try and see the Beauty and the Beast show (this was our last try)!! We waited in the Sunset Market at a table until it was time for the show. Matt went off to see if he could get a FP for RnRC while we waited, but they weren’t giving any out!! Alexa slept the whole way there, and woke up just before we were about to head inside the theater. What a beautiful show (but it was so hot in there)!!
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Alexa loved it. She was singing the songs, and was really into it, which made me happy as it was now worthwhile!! After that, Mom and Dad took the kids so that we could ride ToT and RnRC, and we would meet back up with them near the park entrance. The line for RnRC looked long, but it wasn’t more than 10 minutes. I was worried that on a Friday night, on Star Wars weekend, that that section of the park would be mobbed since I’ve heard that everyone heads that way for Fantasmic. But it wasn’t really that bad. We had a great ride!! This is definitely our favorite ride at Disney now!! Next we headed over to ToT. The standby line said 13 minutes. Not sure if that was for real, or just an “effect”. We just got shut out of a preshow that was just starting by seconds (no line!!). There was a bit of a line after the preshow, but it couldn’t have been more than 10 minutes. The worst part of this ride for me is the anticipation of the first fall, once it happens, I’m fine. I don’t know, I’ve just lost my thrill for this one (ducking again for the flames)!! After that, we stopped at the Sunset Market and got some fruit for Colin and a pretzel for Alexa, and met up with my parents at the corner of the main street right across from Sunset. They were wisely sitting on the corner of the sidewalk outside a store, so the air conditioning was blowing right on them. Alexa was entertaining Colin, so they were all fine. We decided not to do Fantasmic with the kids this trip (heck, I’ve never seen it yet). We just thought the waiting would kill them, and this would be something to look forward to on our next trip. They both loved fireworks (Illuminations especially) so I think they would have been ok. So, next was back to the BC and to try for a trip to B&C. Matt was hungry and my Mom wanted an ice cream sundae. But alas, the line was out the door, and it was at least a 45 minute wait. I didn’t think it was worth it and the kids would have melted by then, so we decided against it. Mom tried to get a PS at Cape May Café for breakfast, but they were all booked up. So we decided that we’d go to the Yacht Club Galley for breakfast, after we transferred our luggage to their room in the morning (our last day!!). They went off to Martha’s Vineyard Lounge, and we went upstairs to start packing. We had stuffed some soft sided bags into our luggage on the trip down, so we’d have extra room coming home for all the souvenirs and stuff that we’d picked up along the way. That worked out very well and we ended up using one of them. While I was packing, Matt was getting hungry (not sure why he didn’t order room service). So he decided to walk over to the Boardwalk with Colin and look for food there while I packed with Alexa (actually, I think Alexa had crashed by now). Problem was, the hot dog stand closed at 10, and he couldn’t find the pizza place (if he had asked, I would have told him!!). So he came back hungry. Colin was now asleep and we put him to bed. But alas, Matt had dropped somewhere the kids “pillowcase”. This is like Linus’ blanket. They both suck their thumbs and this was their security blanket. It was just a pillowcase to anyone else, but to them it was their comfort sheet. Thankfully, he had dropped it in one of the elevators in the BC, and someone had put it on one of the tables outside the elevators. Lucky him it was there and not all the way at the Boardwalk somewhere. He went down to the gift shop to get some food just before it closed (the one thing I liked about staying at WL and BC is both gift stores had a good amount of food since they both have Villas, and I didn’t think the prices were too outrageous – all we needed was milk and bread). After that, it was off to sleep!!

Up Next: Our last day of Magic, as we head for home [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

[ 06-02-2003, 12:05 PM: Message edited by: Colexi's Mom ]

[Mel & Richard]

I'm really enjoying all of the detail and the pictures. I am sad it has to end. [img]images/icons/frown.gif[/img]

Mel

[goofy4goofy]

I love love love this trip report~I wish it wasn't coming to an end soon!!! Sure sounds like you guys had a blast though!!!!

Kelly [img]graemlins/usa.gif[/img]

[Cinderbrella]

I'm really enjoying your report! I would probably have the same thing happen to me with the hotdog and coke at Casey's!! [img]images/icons/rolleyes.gif[/img] We have purchased stroller covers-so we're ready??! Absolutely love your pictures. [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/cool.gif[/img] : Great color, and the kids look beautiful and soo happy!! Our trip in September will probably be a comedy of errors with our little ones!! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img]

[tikibird]

Sorry that your trip is coming to an end - it's great!

Glad you were able to find the "blankie!" I could imagine that would not go over well if it had remained lost! [img]images/icons/shocked.gif[/img] [img]images/icons/grin.gif[/img]

Enjoyed the latest installments and pics, and as the others have said, your kids are adorable! [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img]

Next, please.....

[PS - I LUV WDW]

Oh no, this story is coming to an end. Loved the pictures that you posted. Glad to hear the 'blankie' had a happy ending [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Pam

[Colexis Mom]

Day 10 (Saturday, May 17th) – Epcot, and our last day at Disney!!

We got up early to pack as we were going home today. Boo hoo. We finished packing all the stuff, and went downstairs to meet my parents for breakfast at the Yacht Club Galley. We walked by Cape May Café, and there were a lot of people waiting. As we turned the corner at the Yacht Club, the Galley sounded like it was busy too, but that was just due to a large party. It was really empty inside and we were seated right away. You can order off the menu or get the buffet. The adults opted for the buffet, and I got Alexa an order of pancakes off the menu. There was a wide variety of foods to choose from (premade omelet, pancakes, sausage, bacon, fruit, cereal, sticky buns, corn bread, bagels, etc.) and the food was really good. The kids ate mainly melon again (Alexa did have a big serving of eggs). Maybe I’m wrong, but I’d have to say that I’m assuming that the food selection is similar to Cape May, as they are sister resorts, so if you don’t mind not having a character meal (or waiting in line if you don’t have a PS) the Galley is a great alternative.
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After that, we headed up to our room to move our stuff into my parents room. Now, this is the first time that I had gone into their room, and guess what??? They had double beds, not queens. I know I have seen posts (and read in books) that BC only has queen beds. Well, not so, I saw it with my own two eyes!! And they also had a newly renovated room. Their room also seemed smaller than ours, but that could have just been my eyes playing tricks on me. So while they paid for the view (waterview), we got a better deal IMHO with a standard view!! Also, they were on a corner, and right around their corner there was scaffolding up, etc. She said it was pretty noisy during the day, but today was Saturday and it was pretty much quiet. After we moved everything over, we headed out to Epcot. I still had to do my shopping, and Alexa wanted to ride the monorail.
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Again, we stopped at the DogGone Maze to take some more pictures.


This is where it gets fuzzy because it was the last day, so I stopped carrying my Passporter (gasp!!). I know we split up from my parents. They went to see HISTA (which we decided Alexa wouldn’t like) so we were heading back to JIYI. However, Alexa decided she didn’t want to ride this because of the skunk smell in one part, so she wouldn’t go on. Colin was napping by now. We got a snack (pretzel and water) and decided to wait over near the entrance to JIYI where there is a little shade. Matt and I took turns going into the Kodak Imageworks section, and I emailed another picture home (although they never got here???). Oh well, it didn’t come out that good anyway!! Alexa got some candy at the store, and we waited for my parents to come out. After that, we headed toward SE. Again, Alexa wouldn’t ride, Colin was still asleep, so me, Matt and my Dad rode. The ride stopped twice while we were on, so it was probably better that the kids (or Mom) weren’t with us. After that, it was time to take some pictures in front of SE. We rarely got to this part of the park since we entered thru the IG most of the time, and we only visited once when we stayed at WL. We talked about doing Leave a Legacy, but in the end, we ran out of time. So onto the monorail we went for Alexa’s ride.


This is the one thing I miss that you don’t get to do as often when your not staying at a monorail resort. We’ll have to try one for the next time!! We got to TTC, and stayed in the car for the return trip. Mom and Dad decided to head to MK and catch the bus back to BC (I don’t think they wanted to walk all the way back from the entrance of Epcot to BC, but hey, we’re young, and it’s our last day). We hit a little bit of a line trying to get back into Epcot (not sure why), and stopped to get both kids water. They were starting to fade. We started walking back, and stopped in Ice Station Cool, since I had read so many reviews. I don’t think Matt tried the Beverly. I didn’t spit it out, but it isn’t something that I’d want to be drinking. I did like the lemon one (can’t remember the name of it but I think it was from Israel). And Alexa like the watermelon one. It just tasted too sweet to me, I don’t think I could a lot of it. After that, we headed toward the gift shop where FW and WS meet (can’t remember its name). I got a bunch of T-shirts and a pin or two for Alexa, Colin, and some friends, and we also got a CD of the Illuminations music, as we all enjoyed this show very much. After that, we headed toward the IG. The CM asked if we wanted our hand stamped, but alas, I said no, we’re on our way to catch a plane.

We got back to the BC and changed into our swim gear, lathered up with sunscreen, and headed for the pool. My parents hadn’t made it back yet from their adventure. See, it was quicker to walk it (even with stopping for souvenirs)!! Matt got lunch at Hurricane Hannah’s again. Colin had his usual fruit cup and potato chips. The pool was definitely more crowded today, as was the lobby. It must be a high turnover day for them with guests checking in, and those who don’t want to leave (like us). First we headed over to the slide underneath the big SAB slide, so Alexa could have a few more turns before we left.
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The skies were starting to get a little dark, which we didn’t mind too much. It did start to sprinkle a little, so Matt moved the carriages up onto the YC walkway under the awning. Then it got a little heavier, so we decided to call it a day. It was time to go upstairs, take showers, and finish packing, as Tiffany Town Car would be here in a little over an hour. We got every showered, and packed, and I’m just starting to not feel good. I had woken up this morning with a cracked voice, which was now getting worse. I was just exhausted from the trip and needed a few days of rest. We got all the baggage downstairs to the front of the resort, and waited for the town car (which was 15 minute early, fine by me). So we packed the car, said our goodbyes to my parents, and headed for MCO. The driver took us a different way (I think I-4, we usually went south out of the airport) so we got to see how much development is going on in the area. Both kids fell asleep in the car, which I was afraid of, and we took both of them out sleeping and put them into the strollers when we got to MCO. We did curbside check-in (I love not waiting in lines) and the baggage handler asks Matt if he has any film in any of the checked bags (before he took them away). Matt said yes, he had put all his film in there. So out it came and the baggage was on its way. A little sidebar: Matt informed me a couple of days after we got home and were about to develop the camera that his film had been in the checked baggage on the way down. Argh!! So we may have lost all of his film, thank goodness I bought a digital camera. Actually, thankfully, it all developed fine without any problems, we were very lucky!! Onto the security check point. Boy, the lines in Orlando are long (I had heard stories about this and was a little nervous about TTC only picking us up 2 hours in advanced). But we got to the first checker in about 10 minutes, and since we had 2 strollers and 2 car seats, the woman directed us to a different line in the center, and we walked right thru the x-ray machines (we were lucky, there was another queue for others to go thru the machines). Colin was now awake, but not Alexa, so Matt decided to carry him and put the 2 car seats in his stroller to make it easier to move along. We got to the gate about an hour before we were scheduled to leave (of course, it was the last gate at the end of the concourse). I sent Matt up to get gate check slips for both strollers, and I went to get a lemonade and some pretzels (there wasn’t much selection, and by this time my head is pounding, and of course, I don’t have any Advil with me). We had to wake Alexa up in order to board. We get on the plane, and we meet the car seat police (flight attendant) making sure we were using the harness on the car seats, which we were (there was a family behind us on the other side that wasn’t using the harness and she made them take it off the plane and gate check it. Well, she did it for them). I made sure I knew all the rules before I left as to whether or not the car seats could be used or not, and made sure that the high back booster we just bought for Alexa was FAA approved. Both kids were awake the whole ride. It was exhausting. I think Colin finally petered out about 15 minutes before we landed. He was asleep as we carried him off the plane. We were the last ones off, we weren’t in any rush. After that, it was back to reality, we were back from Disney (the temperature told us that, it was in the upper 40s by now)!! Our trip was over. We listened to the Illuminations music on the ride home, and both kids fell asleep again.

Coming soon, a trip summary and more pictures if I can find them!!

[CJDrew's Mom]

Awesome report! It sounds like you had a terrific time! I hope you were not too sick when you got back. [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img]

Laurie aka CJDrew's Mom

[lilprincess]

Marnie, it sounds like you had a fantantic trip! It's so sad that it's over already after all that planning, right?!

Great report and your kids are adorable! Thanks for sharing your great vacation!

[Goofy'sGal]

Marnie, I totally enjoyed reading your report!! Your family is beautiful and your pics came great too!! You were able to do and see so much!

We loved our stay at WL and we've been pondering over whether or not to buy into DVC and use the Beach Club as our home base. I'm curious which you preferred although you did mention a few times some things which made WL a bit better than BC. But BC sounded like it was so convenient to hop over to Epcot.

Anyway, just had to tell you how much I enjoyed your report and pics!!!

Val

[loobyoxlip]

Thanks so much for sharing, Marnie. I don't really read many reports here. Actually, I was just skimming through some one day and your pictures were so cute I just started reading yours [img]images/icons/smile.gif[/img] It was such fun to read [img]graemlins/love.gif[/img] Thanks again

~Tina

[Colexis Mom]

Thanks again everyone!!

Val, we actually preferred BC to WL. Although WL was great (mug refills, wonderful lobby), there were just more features we enjoyed at BC (convenience to 2 parks, pool, rooms were bigger, next to Boardwalk, I could go on and on). We felt kind of stranded at WL. At BC, when one of us was in the room with the kids napping, the other could walk over to Epcot and enjoy some park freetime. At WL, by the time you actually got to a park (MK included) it would be time to come back. If they had buses from WL to MK that would help sway me back there, but you're so close to MK, yet so far you can't get there quickly. Granted, sharing the buses with BW, Swan and Dolphin also had it's disadvantages at BC, we only had to take the bus to 2 parks and not 3 like at WL. Otherwise, when we were at WL, we took the car most places.

If you have any other questions, let me know!!

[Suzie]

I loved your report and your kids are really darling!
About the buses to the CRT, I think the CM's may have misunderstood what you were asking for. There were "Character caravan" buses that were coming around to the resorts in place of early entry days when attendance fell post 9/11. Those "Character" buses were done way with not so long ago. The CM"s may have thought that was what you were asking about instead of regular bus service to the parks for breakfast. I have never heard of anyone on property needing to take a taxi to those meals because buses weren't running.
Just a thought.
Suzie

[tikibird]

Wow, another great installment and Alexa looks like she is having a great time on the slide!

Looking forward to your wrap-up!