Disney Trip in Nov 2013
Earlier this year, JD and I found out about an opportunity available for us to get discounted tickets to Disney World during the week in November that contains Nigel's and Harper's birth days. With the discounts involved, some financial shuffling, and some Disney gift cards sent our direction, we were able to afford this trip.
We started on Saturday, Nov 16th driving most of the way down. We convoyed with JD's parents from Huntsville to a hotel we had reserved in Ocala. From that location, we woke up Sunday morning, drove an hour, and stepped into Animal Kingdom shortly after they opened for the day. We stayed there until that evening, when we traveled to the condos we were staying at and checked in.
While down in Orlando, it was our family, JD's parents, and the family of JD's middle brother - wife and four kids. There were many times where our families intermingled in the groups we divided ourselves in during the week. Each day we visited at least one park. Various groups would head out to the prioritized parks. Once on location, there were usually two or three groups that would split off. Much of our communication was done via texting.
While Nigel still stated interest in roller coasters, he seemed a bit more timid and didn't ride them as obsessively as he had on the previous trip. Harper, thankfully, nearly fully embraced the experience. She still has a bit of a fear of the indoor/dark rides, but loved, loved, loved the Barnstormer roller coaster. Calvin was surprised with how his sensory processing disorder acted up and caused issues on several rides that he had seen in videos and expected to enjoy. He had a full-fledged flip-out at the Haunted Mansion when we entered the room that stretches. The chaotic, noisy atmosphere at DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney really was a complete assault on him and resulted in a cranky demeanor and headaches.
I was sick the entire trip. It was mostly a matter of my head producing a lot of snot. The snot resulted in clogged nostrils, that lead to mouth-breathing and a sore throat, which then triggered coughing. At first, I tried to power my way through it. On the third day, I declared a sick day and spent it lying around the condo watching movies on HBO and American Pickers.
On Wednesday, we spent the first half of the day at SeaWorld. We attended an educational presentation for an hour and were then let loose into the park. I immediately fell in love with the Manta roller coaster. You are in a seated-Superman-flying position under the car. I really enjoyed looking directly straight/down during the ride. I had never traveled in such a position before and how the various curves and Gs affected my body was quite different than how I was used to feeling them in the traditional sitting position. I think this coaster is now my favorite. The Kraken was the other big roller coaster. It had a lot of inversions and the speed was such that there were several portions where the wind was roaring past my face with a quantity of force I've never encountered. There weren't any lines for Kraken, so I rode it repeatedly about 8 times. I did attend one animal show, the comedic sea lion one. JD saw the Shamu show and said she felt dirty the whole time.
JD didn't get to do as much as she wanted to do. It became very obvious that the only way she will be able to have the kind of Disney trip she really wants is for her to come with her mom for a week. She really enjoyed trading Disney pins with the various cast members. JD did get an opportunity to stroll through much of the World Showcase.
The weather was about as good as we could ask it to be. It was warm enough for shorts for nine of the ten days. A cold front came in our last day and caused us to go from shorts and t-shirts to pants and hoodies. There were a couple of days of scattered showers/overcast and one day where it rained pretty much all day long.
We stayed at the Vacation Village Condos on Hwy 194 just a few miles from WDW. The location was great. Unfortunately, over the course of the week we were there, we discovered:
1) Only the two small burners on the stove worked
2) Only one of the two sinks in the bathroom could open its drain
3) A/C control was completely wacky with it being cold when it said it was 77 and burning up when it said the room was 72.
4) The sofa beds were basically deflated futon mattresses draped over steel bars. I've slept on many sofa beds in my life and the two in the suite were the worst I've ever used.
5) Funky white foam came out of tub jets when turned on.
During the trip, the kids' recently discovered love for Wendy's was fully embedded. We had Wendy's about every other day during the 10 day trip. Whenever we saw a Wendy's, Nigel and Harper felt a need to point it out for future reference. I took advantage of every Steak N Shake I could find and consumed more chili five-way during that trip than I had in the previous year. I also indulged my craving for shwarma by swinging by the Moroccan pavilion in Epcot Center on three occasions during our stay. YUM!!!
We milked one last day at a park until late that afternoon and driving up to Ocala for our road hotel. The next morning, we made our way home. While there is always room for improvement in the "When will we be home?" category, the kids were really well behaved and mostly sane during the return trip.
We started on Saturday, Nov 16th driving most of the way down. We convoyed with JD's parents from Huntsville to a hotel we had reserved in Ocala. From that location, we woke up Sunday morning, drove an hour, and stepped into Animal Kingdom shortly after they opened for the day. We stayed there until that evening, when we traveled to the condos we were staying at and checked in.
While down in Orlando, it was our family, JD's parents, and the family of JD's middle brother - wife and four kids. There were many times where our families intermingled in the groups we divided ourselves in during the week. Each day we visited at least one park. Various groups would head out to the prioritized parks. Once on location, there were usually two or three groups that would split off. Much of our communication was done via texting.
While Nigel still stated interest in roller coasters, he seemed a bit more timid and didn't ride them as obsessively as he had on the previous trip. Harper, thankfully, nearly fully embraced the experience. She still has a bit of a fear of the indoor/dark rides, but loved, loved, loved the Barnstormer roller coaster. Calvin was surprised with how his sensory processing disorder acted up and caused issues on several rides that he had seen in videos and expected to enjoy. He had a full-fledged flip-out at the Haunted Mansion when we entered the room that stretches. The chaotic, noisy atmosphere at DisneyQuest in Downtown Disney really was a complete assault on him and resulted in a cranky demeanor and headaches.
I was sick the entire trip. It was mostly a matter of my head producing a lot of snot. The snot resulted in clogged nostrils, that lead to mouth-breathing and a sore throat, which then triggered coughing. At first, I tried to power my way through it. On the third day, I declared a sick day and spent it lying around the condo watching movies on HBO and American Pickers.
On Wednesday, we spent the first half of the day at SeaWorld. We attended an educational presentation for an hour and were then let loose into the park. I immediately fell in love with the Manta roller coaster. You are in a seated-Superman-flying position under the car. I really enjoyed looking directly straight/down during the ride. I had never traveled in such a position before and how the various curves and Gs affected my body was quite different than how I was used to feeling them in the traditional sitting position. I think this coaster is now my favorite. The Kraken was the other big roller coaster. It had a lot of inversions and the speed was such that there were several portions where the wind was roaring past my face with a quantity of force I've never encountered. There weren't any lines for Kraken, so I rode it repeatedly about 8 times. I did attend one animal show, the comedic sea lion one. JD saw the Shamu show and said she felt dirty the whole time.
JD didn't get to do as much as she wanted to do. It became very obvious that the only way she will be able to have the kind of Disney trip she really wants is for her to come with her mom for a week. She really enjoyed trading Disney pins with the various cast members. JD did get an opportunity to stroll through much of the World Showcase.
The weather was about as good as we could ask it to be. It was warm enough for shorts for nine of the ten days. A cold front came in our last day and caused us to go from shorts and t-shirts to pants and hoodies. There were a couple of days of scattered showers/overcast and one day where it rained pretty much all day long.
We stayed at the Vacation Village Condos on Hwy 194 just a few miles from WDW. The location was great. Unfortunately, over the course of the week we were there, we discovered:
1) Only the two small burners on the stove worked
2) Only one of the two sinks in the bathroom could open its drain
3) A/C control was completely wacky with it being cold when it said it was 77 and burning up when it said the room was 72.
4) The sofa beds were basically deflated futon mattresses draped over steel bars. I've slept on many sofa beds in my life and the two in the suite were the worst I've ever used.
5) Funky white foam came out of tub jets when turned on.
During the trip, the kids' recently discovered love for Wendy's was fully embedded. We had Wendy's about every other day during the 10 day trip. Whenever we saw a Wendy's, Nigel and Harper felt a need to point it out for future reference. I took advantage of every Steak N Shake I could find and consumed more chili five-way during that trip than I had in the previous year. I also indulged my craving for shwarma by swinging by the Moroccan pavilion in Epcot Center on three occasions during our stay. YUM!!!
We milked one last day at a park until late that afternoon and driving up to Ocala for our road hotel. The next morning, we made our way home. While there is always room for improvement in the "When will we be home?" category, the kids were really well behaved and mostly sane during the return trip.