Our Funfilled Action Packed Trip to Disney over the Fourth of July. COMPLETE

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Welcome to my trip report! You can find the introduction in this post below the table of contents. If you are just finding my report please don't feel shy about commenting. I love to hear from the people reading my trip report and I respond to every comment!

In addition to the Table of Contents there is a link at the end of each installment to take you to the next part of the report if you do not care to read the comments and chat.

Table of Contents

June 30th
Day One Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19649545&postcount=4) Arrival
Day One Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19660166&postcount=13) I love the Wilderness Lodge!
Day One Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19679199&postcount=18) Our first night in the Magic Kingdom!

July 1st
Day Two Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19713484&postcount=38) Magic Kingdom Part One
Day Two Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19733310&postcount=47) Magic Kingdom Part Two
Day Two Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19752541&postcount=67) Our Date With Cinderella

July 2nd
Day Three Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19777581&postcount=83) A Beautiful Character Filled Morning at Epcot
Day Three Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19814164&postcount=94) A Beautiful Character Filled Morning at Epcot continued
Day Three Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19852873&postcount=111) Our Fantasmic Night at MGM
Wilderness Lodge Photos (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19854915&postcount=115)

July 3rd
Day Four Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19894542&postcount=128) Our Totally Radical Morning at Typhoon Lagoon
Day Four Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19945235&postcount=149) Our Whirlwind Trip to Downtown Disney
Day Four Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19990740&postcount=167) A very crowded evening at the Magic Kingdom
Day Four Part Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20043701&postcount=182) Independence Day Fireworks at the Magic Kingdom

July 4th
Day Five Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20083143&postcount=195) Fourth of July at Animal Kingdom
Day Five Part Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20107208&postcount=200) Animal Kingdom continued
Day Five Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20121115&postcount=213) Animal Kingdom continued
Day Five Part Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20161549&postcount=230) Animal Kingdom continued
Day Five Part Five (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20204750&postcount=244) Animal Kingdom continued
Day Five Part Six (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20238424&postcount=263) A relaxing evening at the Wilderness Lodge

July 5th
Day Six Part One (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20278730&postcount=292) Our chilly morning at Blizzard Beach
Pictures from previous trips. (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20302545&postcount=307)Disneyland 1989 and WDW 1997
Day Six Part Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20340851&postcount=336) Mini-Golf at Winter-Summerland
Day Six Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20390423&postcount=355) In which we become photopass stalkers
Day Six Part Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20433161&postcount=370) An afternoon at the Magic Kingdom
Day Six Part Five (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20450472&postcount=381) Dinner at the Liberty Tree Tavern
Day Six Part Six (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20478270&postcount=388) Spectromagic!
SpectroMagic continued (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20478366&postcount=389)
Day Six Part Seven (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20565458&postcount=451)Just Mommy and Me
Day Six Part Eight (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20630873&postcount=484) A Late Night at the Magic Kingdom
We interrupt this trip report to bring you this special update from Alek and Erich (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20582209&postcount=468)

July 6th

Day Seven Part One (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20677923&postcount=513) Rockin Out at MGM!
Day Seven Part Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20742456&postcount=548) Tale As Old As Time
Day Seven Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20794037&postcount=575) The Tragic Death of Indiana Jones
Day Seven Part Four (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20897773&postcount=644) Going Our Separate Ways
Day Seven Part Five (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20941251&postcount=672) The Great Flood
Another update from Alek and Erich (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20973316&postcount=698)
Day Seven Part Six (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21009633&postcount=710) Splish Splashing Around The World
Day Seven Part Seven (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21097101&postcount=749) Where Have All The E-mails Gone?
Day Seven Part Eight (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21147757&postcount=778) Our evening in the World Showcase
Day Seven Part Nine (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21230427&postcount=805) Touring the World Showcase and Illuminations
Day Seven Part Ten (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21320020&postcount=871) Our Last Night at the Lodge

July 7th
Day Eight Part One (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21368580&postcount=905) An Early Morning in the Magic Kingdom
Day Eight Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21414643&postcount=923) Breakfast at the Crystal Palace
Day Eight Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21477419&postcount=956) Trapped in Cinderella's Castle!
Day Eight Part Four (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21553707&postcount=992) A Royal Encounter
Day Eight Part Five (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21587194&postcount=1050) Toontown continued
Day Eight Part Six (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21669681&postcount=1127) A Little Change in Plans...
Day Eight Part Seven (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21741696&postcount=1199) Ariel's Grotto
Day Eight Part Eight (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21845990&postcount=1286) A Procrastinated Exit
Day Eight Part Nine (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21937052&postcount=1370) Roughed Up by a Disney Duck Gang
Day Eight Part Ten (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=21998362#post21998362) Back to Reality

Final Thoughts (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=22078155&postcount=1455)


Hello fellow Dissers! My name is Lessa and this is my very first trip report. I am a 23 year old Canadian who has loved Disney her whole life and I have been planning this trip for my family since August of last year. Over the past year I have managed to make all my family, friends, and coworkers think that I am completely nuts with all my talk of Disney and my constant planning and my constant need to be reading the Dis boards and complete strangers trip reports. I love reading trip reports so much that I have decided to try my hand at it and I hope that you all enjoy it. This report will be filled with lots of laughter and fun and also some family arguments because it can not be a family vacation unless there is a blowout and I would be lying if I said our trip was perfect and that nothing was bad or horrible. I will try and be as honest as possible about our experience as I have found that the honest trip reports are the most entertaining and also the ones that help you plan your trip the most. I also promise to include lots of pictures as that is one of my favourite things when reading other trip reports!

The details of the trip are as follows: June 30th - July 7th at the Wilderness Lodge. We are booked for a courtyard view. We have signed on for an 8 day Parkhopper pass with the water parks option and we are also on the Disney Dining Plan.

The Cast Members of this report are my two brothers and our mom and here is a brief intro to them.

Mom/Beth (43)- Our mom introduced us to Disney at a very young age and made sure that we all carried the love of Disney through to adulthood. She made sure to take us to every Disney movie that came out in the theatre. One halloween she sewed me a Snow White costume to trick or treat in. She is in desperate need of this vacation as she works in a very hostile work enviroment where some of her coworkers can be very nasty to her and pretty much everybody else in the office. This really stresses my mom out as she hates confrontation and does not handle negativity very well. She has been looking forward to this trip almost as much as I have but without the crazy planning and Dissing.

Alek (21) - Alek is the middle child. His favourite character is Goofy and it is his goal on this trip to get his picture with him. Alek is very expressive and likes to act in the moment without really thinking sometimes about others around him. He can be very silly sometimes and this can cause problems with our mom as she is constantly wishing he would act more his age. Our brother Erich will often join in with Alek in his antics and they can be very funny together. Alek is a thrill ride lover. When we were children he was the only one who would go on roller coasters as the rest of the family was too scared. I am much braver now and I am glad that I can now experience the rides with Alek.

Erich (18) - Erich is the baby of the family. He graduated from high school two days before the trip and so this trip is partly in celebration of his graduation. Erich like my mom does not care for thrill rides but he suprised us a few times on this trip. I was very proud of him for conquering a fear. Erich's favourite character is also Goofy and he was very much looking forward to this trip as he is hoping that Disney World will have some good Goofy merchandise as the Disney Stores do not seem to like carrying Goofy stuff.

The other two members of the family that deserve mentioning are our precious kitties, Amber and Hobbes. Amber is 3 years old and Hobbes is about 7 months. I always hate leaving my kitties when I go on a trip but on this trip they will be well taken care of. We have two of our neighbours coming over to feed and check on them and Erich's friend Jessie has said that he will stop by to play with the cats before he goes to work at night. Here are our kitties

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1028.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_0519.jpg






Day One Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19649545&postcount=4)

[Disney5Mom]

Great start! Looking forward to your next installment. Your kitties are too cute!

[Disneyolic]

I'm signed up and waiting for the next installment. Kingston isn't too far from where we are in Central New York. We drove right past one year as we made the drive around Lake Ontario.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day One Part One

After 11 months of planning June 30th finally arrived. We were scheduled for a 6am flight out of Syracuse, NY with a connection in Atlanta and due to arrive in Orlando around noon. In order to get to Syracuse with plenty of time and in case there were any delays due to the border crossing we left Kingston around 2am. I don't think any of us got much sleep due to the excitement and nerves of traveling. The drive down to Syracuse was very uneventful, I think Alek and Erich may have slept a bit but I was wide awake. We got to Syracuse around 4am and found the long term parking lot and started to unload the car. This is when the first dramatic event of the trip occurred. My brothers and I were getting our backpacks our from the front of the car and my mom decided to go ahead and unload the very large and very heavy suitcases. Well my mom is not very strong and so she ended up dropping our big black heavy suitcase right on her big toe. It started bleeding all over the place and she was in a lot of pain. My brothers shock their heads while unloading the rest of the car as our mom is always doing things like to herself. We walked up to the terminal as mom hobbled and found the nearest bathroom. Mom cleaned her toe up the best she could and then wrapped it up in some toilet paper. Once we got on our flight she was able to get a proper bandage from a flight attendant.

We proceeded to check in, got our boarding passes, dropped off our luggage and went up to security. Well security obviously thought my shoes were suspicious as they took them over to some special shoe scanner on the side. I think this was probably due to the Nike ipod sensor that is in the sole of my shoe. It sends signals to my ipod that tells me how fast I'm walking/running, how far I've traveled, how long it's been and how many calories I've burned. I forgot to take it out before the trip and the sensor probably showed up on the security scan and they though it might be some sort of bomb, who knows. Anyways after they checked my shoes out they decided I wasn't a terrorist after all and let our group proceed to the gate where we sat for the next hour and a half waiting to board our flight.

Once we boarded we all proceeded to fall asleep, or at least we tried. I think only Erich was successful in getting any sleep.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1271.jpg

We arrived in Atlanta around 08:00 and Alek and Erich were hungry and wanted to get something to eat. They proceeded to the food court where they found out that they could only get breakfast food. They were very upset about this. Who would have figured that at 8 in the morning that only breakfast would be served?:confused3 Well Alek and Erich thought that was ridiculous:rolleyes1 but they finally settled for an Egg McMuffin type sandwich from one of the restaurants.

The flight from Atlanta to Orlando had a bunch of flight attendants in training on board and one in particular was great. His name was Luigi and he really went the extra mile to entertain the kids on the flight and to bring out their excitement over their trip. He would joke around with them and play little games with them and he really brought the smiles and laughs out of those children. He should work for Disney as he is clearly very good at spreading the pixie dust:wizard:

As we approached Orlando I saw this from my window
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1272.jpg

I said to Alek "Oh look at all the pretty white fluffy clouds" I came to hate those clouds minutes later. The pilot came on to the speakers and told everybody that the descent would be very bumpy and that everybody must remain seated for the rest of the flight. He was not kidding. I was scared out of my mind. I thought the plane was going to crash. I think I even let out a little scream at one point. Needless to say I was very happy when that plane landed. I was not feeling very well as I deplaned.

We boarded the fun little monorail to the main terminal and exited into the large atrium. We were very impressed. The Orlando airport is very nice. We quickly spotted the Disney store and hightailed it over. We were eager to start emptying our wallets. None of us bought anything at the Disney store but Erich bought a big stuffed Scooby from the Universal store. We then went down to baggage claim where our bags came out promptly. One of my big worries when flying is that our bags will get lost but all were present and accounted for.

We decided to rent a car for the trip as we were able to get a good rate for a mid-size SUV so we had to go down to the National desk to pick up our car. There was only one person working the National counter and he was incredibly slow. He eventually checked us in and we went over to the garage where we picked a pretty blue Toyota Highlander to be our vehicle for the week. We loaded our luggage in and then we were off to Disney! My mom was driving as I had to rent the car in her name since I am not yet 25 and did not want to pay the underage driver surcharge. My mom is a very nervous driver while in unfamiliar places and ordered us all (my brothers) to be quiet until we got to the hotel as she did not want any distractions. I assured her that it would not be hard to find and that the highway would take us straight to Disney and then the signs would direct us but she was still a bundle of nerves. It was not hard to find and did not take very long to get there and pretty soon I saw this
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1273.jpg

We were finally at Disney World!:cheer2:

Day One Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19660166&postcount=13)

[blue_river]

What a wonderful way to celebrate graduation :goodvibes

We weren't impressed going through the turbulance either :eek:

In fact, it may be the reason we're taking a road trip to WDW this summer rather than flying. I was outnumbered on that one :sad2:

Isn't it just the most wonderful feeling driving through the WDW arch??? :wizard: :yay:

Looking forward to more :)

[jmb912]

We were finally at Disney World!:cheer2:[/QUOTE]

[COLOR="Red"]Happily reading along......can't wait for more!!![:wave2: /COLOR]

[Disneyolic]

After 11 months of planning June 30th finally arrived. We were scheduled for a 6am flight out of Syracuse, NY ...That where we live - well, a suburb of...

I said to Alek "Oh look at all the pretty white fluffy clouds" I came to hate those clouds minutes later. The pilot came on to the speakers and told everybody that the descent would be very bumpy and that everybody must remain seated for the rest of the flight. He was not kidding. I was scared out of my mind. I thought the plane was going to crash. I think I even let out a little scream at one point. Needless to say I was very happy when that plane landed. I was not feeling very well as I deplaned. We had one of those descents once coming home and there were 3 people getting sick from it while a lot of us (me included) were going wheeeeeee!

It was not hard to find and did not take very long to get there and pretty soon I saw this
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1273.jpg

We were finally at Disney World!:cheer2:
That is always the bestest feeling seeing that sign!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great start! Looking forward to your next installment. Your kitties are too cute!

Thanks! I love my kitties, they are my babies:goodvibes



What a wonderful way to celebrate graduation :goodvibes

We weren't impressed going through the turbulance either :eek:

In fact, it may be the reason we're taking a road trip to WDW this summer rather than flying. I was outnumbered on that one :sad2:

Isn't it just the most wonderful feeling driving through the WDW arch??? :wizard: :yay:

Looking forward to more :)

Our first trip to Disneyworld was a road trip. We really enjoyed it as we got to stop off and visit places like Charleston, Savannah, Kennedy Space Center and Key West. Of course we were only driving from Virginia Beach where we lived at the time. The drive from Ontario is much longer. I wish you luck:laughing:

We were finally at Disney World!:cheer2:

Happily reading along......can't wait for more!!![:wave2: /COLOR][/QUOTE]

Thanks for reading along!

[COLOR="Magenta"]That where we live - well, a suburb of...

We had one of those descents once coming home and there were 3 people getting sick from it while a lot of us (me included) were going wheeeeeee!


That is always the bestest feeling seeing that sign!

We make trips down to Syracuse a few times a year to go shopping at the Carousel. We used to live in Virginia Beach and we really miss the shopping available in the States so we have to make trips to hit up the stores that we don't have up here in Canada like Bath and Body Works.

I have never been a big fan of flying so add turbulence in there and I am a nervous mess!:scared1: It was worth it though to get to Orlando and finally get to see Disneyworld again after 10 long years!:love:

[BeautyNBeast]

Subscribing. Cannot wait to read all about your trip. I love reading trip reports too. popcorn::

[AlyssinWonderland]

Sounds great so far! I hope you had a fantastic trip! I can't wait to read more about your adventures!!! :wizard:

[Disneyolic]

We make trips down to Syracuse a few times a year to go shopping at the Carousel. We used to live in Virginia Beach and we really miss the shopping available in the States so we have to make trips to hit up the stores that we don't have up here in Canada like Bath and Body Works.Ah yes, the Carousel Center...I try to go at least once a week. Plus I have to stop in the Disney Store.

I have never been a big fan of flying so add turbulence in there and I am a nervous mess!:scared1: It was worth it though to get to Orlando and finally get to see Disneyworld again after 10 long years!:love:If you go back to Orlando, take JetBlue from Syracuse. They have a nonstop direct flight that is wonderful!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Subscribing. Cannot wait to read all about your trip. I love reading trip reports too. popcorn::

Thanks for coming over to read my report:cutie:

Sounds great so far! I hope you had a fantastic trip! I can't wait to read more about your adventures!!! :wizard:

Thanks, our trip was great and I can't wait to tell you all about it

Ah yes, the Carousel Center...I try to go at least once a week. Plus I have to stop in the Disney Store.

If you go back to Orlando, take JetBlue from Syracuse. They have a nonstop direct flight that is wonderful!

I love going to the Disney Store! It is my favorite shop. There is a Disney Store up here in Ottawa but that is also a two hour drive from where I live:sad2:

A friend of mine recently flew on JetBlue and enjoyed his flight. It will for sure be an option for my next flight to Orlando which will hopefully be in December 2008!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day One Part Two


I left off with our arrival on Disney property. We followed the signs to the Magic Kingdom informed the booth attendant we were checking in at the Wilderness Lodge and he waved us through. About a minute later we turned onto Timberline Drive and saw this

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL002.jpg

We informed gate security who we were, he checked our names on his list, issued us a parking pass and welcomed us home!:goodvibes

We pulled up out front and walked into the beautiful lobby. I was on :cloud9: There was no line at the counter and we were able to check in right away. The CM informed us that our room was not ready but it was in a great spot and would we like to wait. Of course I said yes! After receiving all our documentation we went back outside and jumped into the car and headed to the grocery store to get our provisions for the week. I had originally planned on going to the Publix but we were tired from the flight and did not feel like navigating Orlando so we simply went to Crossroads. Mom once again drove and was a bundle of nerves. She was always asking "What did that sign say? Are we in the right lane? Are you sure this is the way to the grocery store?" It got a bit annoying but we found it no problem. Once we arrived my mom handed me the keys and said that she wanted me to drive for the rest of the trip since I seemed to know where I was going better than she did. That was a wise decision on her part as the driving for the rest of the trip was much more relaxed.

It was about 2 in the afternoon and we hadn't had anything to eat since our quick breakfast in the airport. There is a Friday's at the Crossroads so we decided to grab lunch/dinner there while looking over all the info that Disney gave us. Lunch was good and the service was quick and friendly. We were done eating around 3 and I decided to call and see if the room was ready and it was. I was told that we were in Rm 4161. We quickly ran into the grocery store to grab some bottled water and sunscreen and then headed back to the hotel.

We lugged all our bags upstairs to Rm 4161 (which is located at the end of the south wing) and Erich opened the door. The room looked great and we even had a towel Mickey on the bed which my brothers unfortunately destroyed before I could get a picture of it.:mad:

I opened the doors to the balcony and here is the view I was greeted with:love:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL008.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL009.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL010.jpg

I was thrilled! This was exactly the view I wanted and requested. I can't imagine getting a better view.

Here are some pictures of the room
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL006.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL007.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL004.jpg

My mom and I unpacked while Alek and Erich checked out the tv stations. They ended up watching Stacy's Top 7 of course.

Here is a picture of an armadillo that Alek and Erich spotted from our balcony.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL011.jpg

Once we were all unpacked we decided to head down to the pool for a while. The water was kinda warm but not uncomfortable. On later days the water was cooler. Alek and Erich had fun going down the slide while mom relaxed on a lounge chair and I drifted around in the pool. Once they were done with the slide Alek and Erich joined me on the other end of the pool where the spring meets the pool. This is when we experienced one of our favourite things about the hotel, the duck families that are all over the property get right in the water and swim with you. It was so cute and all the kids in the pool loved it.

We spent about an hour in the pool and then headed up to the room to change so that we could head over to the Magic Kingdom for the night!

Day One Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19679199&postcount=18)

[Disneyolic]

We stayed at the WL once and I always wished I got a pic of the main gate when we arrived on Timberline Dr. Your view was absolutely gorgeous! We were on the same wing, same floor, but we overlooked the Villas pool.

It's always great to get what you wanted! :cool1:

[MousekaMaddi]

great report, keep it coming! Lovely pix too:thumbsup2

[blue_river]

I opened the doors to the balcony and here is the view I was greeted with:love:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL008.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL009.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL010.jpg


Wow! What a beautiful view :woohoo:

It really is a lovely resort, you're so lucky :goodvibes

The room looked great and we even had a towel Mickey on the bed which my brothers unfortunately destroyed before I could get a picture of it.

Brothers! :sad2:

They never change eh? :rotfl2:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We stayed at the WL once and I always wished I got a pic of the main gate when we arrived on Timberline Dr. Your view was absolutely gorgeous! We were on the same wing, same floor, but we overlooked the Villas pool.

It's always great to get what you wanted! :cool1:

Yes, I was so happy when she showed me on the map where our room was going to be. I had to refrain from doing a little happy dance right there in the lobby.:rotfl: I'm sure I would have been pleased with any room we got but to get the room you had been hoping for is just such a wonderful feeling!

great report, keep it coming! Lovely pix too:thumbsup2

Thanks, glad that you have come over to read my report and that you are enjoying it. There is much more to come and lots more pictures, especially once my photopass cd arrives!:yay:

Wow! What a beautiful view :woohoo:

It really is a lovely resort, you're so lucky :goodvibes



Brothers! :sad2:

They never change eh? :rotfl2:

Yes it really is a beautiful resort. My mom has already said that she wants to stay there again when we take our mother/daughter Disney Cruise trip in December 2008. I'm just going to pray for some pixie dust:tink: and hope that a great code comes out!

:rotfl: So true, my brothers have not changed at all since they were children, at least not around me. Still got to love them though. They certainly make life interesting.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day One Part Three


After our lovely refreshing swim with the ducks we ran up to the room, threw on some clean clothes and then headed down to the dock to catch the boat over to the Magic Kingdom. We did not really have a plan for the evening we just wanted to fit in a ride on Splash Mountain and see Wishes as I could not imagine a better start to a Disney vacation than seeing Wishes. I had never seen it in person before but I had watched the video about a million times.

Here are some pictures I took on the boat ride over to the MK.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL015.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1293.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1298.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1317.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1320.jpg

There were no lines to get into the park so we got our fingers scanned for the first time and headed in for our first real sighting of Cinderella Castle. I say it is our first real sight of it because when we first visited Disney World back in 1997 the castle looked like this

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/MK010.jpg

We strolled down Main Street enjoying the atmosphere and Erich went into a shop where he bought a pair of Sorcerer Mickey flipflops. Once we got closer to the castle I spotted our very first photopass photographer.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/image149.jpg

After posing for the photographer we headed over to Frontierland. Erich stunned all of us by saying that he was going to ride Splash Mountain.:eek: Erich is not a fan of thrill rides and has always refused to go on them after he had a bad experience his first time.

:offtopic: We used to live in Virginia Beach, VA which is close to the amazing Busch Gardens and a few hours away from King's Dominion. For my 18th birthday the family went to King's Dominion along with some of our friends. If any of you are familiar with King's Dominion then you will know about the roller coaster by the name of Volcano.:scared1: Erich decided that this was going to be his first roller coaster. We all tried to talk him out of it, tried to convince him to try one of the easier roller coasters first but he was determined that Volcano was going to be his first. Well lets just say that he soon regretted that choice and has never been on a roller coaster or any similar type ride since. Here is the description of the coaster from the official site: It's the only coaster in the world to shoot you straight out of a raging volcano! Suspended from a steel track, you'll fly in and out of the rumbling mountain at speeds over 70 mph, then rocket 155 feet out of the top of the crater into a series of heart stopping inversions before a final 80-foot plummet. This is one of the world's fastest suspended coasters! Here is the ride photo of that memorable moment.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/volcano.jpg

Needless to say we were very happy that Erich was going to attempt Splash Mountain. We grabbed three fastpasses with a return time of 8:55. Mom decided she was not going to ride as she does not like big drops plus she did not want to get wet.

We had lots of time to kill so we headed over to Big Thunder Mountain. The wait time was posted as 30 minutes so we decided to jump in line. The wait only turned out to be 5 minutes or so most of which was spent walking through the queue. We all rode this one and it was great fun. It is not scary by any means but it is a fun ride and the whole family will ride it so that was a bonus.

After the ride Alek and Erich spotted a snack cart that was selling Mickey ice cream bars but unfortunately they were not taking snack credits at the moment and we had not brought any cash to the park. Instead I convinced them that we should head over to Adventureland for the famous Dole Whip I had heard so much about. They all agreed and we walked on over to Aloha Isle. My brothers just wanted plain ice cream so they got the vanilla/chocolate twist. Mom and I on the other hand got the pineapple Dole Whip and it was wonderful. I was so glad that I listened to everybody here on the Dis and tried this wonderful treat.

After polishing off our yummy treats we still had some time to kill so we decided to explore the Swiss Family Treehouse. Alek and Erich decided to have a dramatic duel to the death up in the heights of the treehouse.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1326.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1328.jpg

After the treehouse we were able to squeeze in one more attraction before our fastpass time came up and we saw that the Country Bears show was about to start so we headed in. None of us were too impressed with this show. We couldn't really understand what they were saying most of the time and so we were not really able to enjoy the show. The only song where I could make out the words was the one that the female bear sings where she is lamenting that "The only ones who turn her on turn her down" I guess I was a bit surprised that a Disney attraction let alone one in the Magic Kingdom would have their animatronics sing songs like that.:confused3 I'm not a prude or anything I was just surprised. I wonder if the children who see the show understand what some of the songs are about.:confused:

Once we left the Country Bears our fastpasses were about to become available so we headed over to Splash Mountain. As soon as it turned 8:55 a swarm of people descended upon the fastpass entrance and it turned into a war zone, it was everybody for themselves. We had to fight to keep our group together. I swear people were pushing and shoving to get to that fastpass entrance. It was insane! We made it through the war zone relatively unharmed with only a few scratches and bruises to show for our efforts and joined the queue. We were right behind this really nice family from Alabama who had lots of fun talking with us in line and teasing Erich about the ride. The father told Erich that if he was afraid he could hold his 8 year old daughter's hand. We all got a laugh out of this.We had a nice conversation and they asked us where we were from and how long we were there for. We told them it was our first night and they told us they were leaving in the morning and this was the last ride of their vacation. We did not wait long to get on the ride and we all really enjoyed it. Erich survived the ride and the expression in our ride photo is hilarious. I wish I had had the camera with me so I could have taken a picture of it.

We meet up with mom and decided to head over to Main Street as it was almost 9:30 and I wanted to grab a good spot for Wishes.

Here is a pic looking towards the castle from Frontierland. Sorry it is kinda blurry!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/IMG_1332.jpg

As we headed over we saw that Spectromagic was making its way towards us. We decided to stop and watch the parade. It was amazing! Unfortunately my camera batteries died and I had not thought to bring the extra set as I was not expecting to take many pictures that night. Alek was very disappointed as he got some great character interaction during the parade and he would have loved to have pictures of it. He yelled out "I love you Goofy!" and Goofy blew us a kiss and waved, then those fish floats rolled over and winked at us for the longest time and so Alek likes to say that the fish were hitting on him. Then Smee came over and bowed to Alek and high-fived him. When the White Rabbit came by Alek yelled "Off with her head" and the white rabbit waved and then pointed over at the Queen of Hearts and then made a slicing motion across his neck. As the parade came to a close the seven dwarves showed up and Sneezy came over and pretended to sneeze all over Alek. Alek loved this parade and asked if we were going to see it again and I was happy to tell him that we would.

We then headed over to Main Street which was not very crowded at all and grabbed a spot right in the center of the street for Wishes. It started soon after and it was everything I imagined it would be. Alek and a couple standing in front of us kept thinking it was over whenever there was a little pause between the fireworks and so I had to keep telling them it wasn't over yet.

After Wishes we left the park caught a bus back to the Lodge and turned in for the night very happy with the way our first day turned out.

Up next our day at the Magic Kingdom and a run-in with the Dream Team!

Day Two Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19713484&postcount=38)

[disgram]

Am really enjoying your TP!!! My husband has not been with me for the last four trips to WDW.:sad1: Work has prevented it. He is a director at the local college here. I finally got him to agree to go most likely next summer but he wants to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. My favorite has always been POFQ but after seeing your pictures....maybe I will go along with the switch!!!
Am looking forward to the next installment of your report!!!

[GoofyBaby]

I am loving your TR so far! You know, my very first view of Cinderella Castle was also the castle cake back in 1997, so my very first view of the "real" castle was May 2006! I hope to stay at the Wilderness Lodge someday soon. We were going to stay there in December, but I was outnumbered and now we're staying at the Contemporary. . .so now I have an excuse to go back! :teeth:

Anxiously waiting for more - you're doing a wonderful job! :goodvibes

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hmm, I was just reviewing all my pictures on the computer here at work and they are not nearly as dark as they looked at home. I think I need to invest in a new computer monitor.:confused:

I also checked on the progress of my Photopass cd and UPS says it has arrived in Canada so I am hoping it gets here on Friday. I really need the cd so that I can post an update!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Am really enjoying your TP!!! My husband has not been with me for the last four trips to WDW.:sad1: Work has prevented it. He is a director at the local college here. I finally got him to agree to go most likely next summer but he wants to stay at the Wilderness Lodge. My favorite has always been POFQ but after seeing your pictures....maybe I will go along with the switch!!!
Am looking forward to the next installment of your report!!!

Thanks for reading, glad that you are enjoying my report as I am really enjoying writing it! That is too bad that your DH has not been able to go with you but you should stay at the Lodge with him it is so beautiful and relaxing there! The grounds are beautiful and the the rooms are very comfortable. I slept so well on this trip. Usually I wake at least once a night but while at the WL I slept through the whole night without waking up.:)

I am loving your TR so far! You know, my very first view of Cinderella Castle was also the castle cake back in 1997, so my very first view of the "real" castle was May 2006! I hope to stay at the Wilderness Lodge someday soon. We were going to stay there in December, but I was outnumbered and now we're staying at the Contemporary. . .so now I have an excuse to go back! :teeth:

Anxiously waiting for more - you're doing a wonderful job! :goodvibes

LOL, that castle cake was so awful. I'm glad that I have finally seen how the castle is suppossed to look! The Contemporary is nice and it is one of the original resorts but nothing comes close to the beauty and themeing of the Wilderness Lodge! That is just my humble opinion. My mom and I are already planning to stay there again on our next trip.

[ReneeDisney]

Great trip report! Can't wait to read more!

[aimee08]

nice trip report so far! I actually used to live in Virginia Beach too when I was little but now I live in Maryland and every summer we either go to Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens which I love both! I just got back from Busch Gardens and rode the new ride Griffon which is amazing!! It is REALLY a 90 degree drop straight down. But, Volcano is my fav roller coaster ever and is not for the faint hearted! lol

[blue_river]

I say it is our first real sight of it because when we first visited Disney World back in 1997 the castle looked like this
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/MK010.jpg


That's cool, thanks for sharing :thumbsup2

I will post the picture once my photopass cd arrives which will hopefully be in a few days.

How many pictures are on your photopass cd? I think we only had 5 on ours so we didn't bother ordering it.

None of us were too impressed with this show. We couldn't really understand what they were saying most of the time and so we were not really able to enjoy the show.

Good to know, we missed that last time and thought about going this year but I guess we'll just skip it.

Unfortunately my camera batteries died and I had not thought to bring the extra set as I was not expecting to take many pictures that night.

Ugh. That's too bad :headache:

I've learned the hard way too and now I always keep an extra set in my camera bag.

Great reporting...keep it coming :thumbsup2

[SnoopyDancer]

I'm enjoying your trip report! I lived in the Hampton Roads area too. I wish I had gone to the beach more often when I lived there. I can't wait to read more about the dream team and see the photopass pictures!

[Disneyolic]

Oops! I totally missed your last update but just read it today. We too were at the World in 1997 when the castle was a big birthday cake. We went at the end of October during my birthday so it was so appropriate. ;)

You really like them Dole Whips? I'm in the minority, along with my DH, who do not like them. :confused3

Okay...looking forward to the next installment...

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great trip report! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for reading! I will probably post a small update tonight while at work as I expect my photopass cd to arrive tomorrow and then I will post a nice long update for you all!

nice trip report so far! I actually used to live in Virginia Beach too when I was little but now I live in Maryland and every summer we either go to Kings Dominion or Busch Gardens which I love both! I just got back from Busch Gardens and rode the new ride Griffon which is amazing!! It is REALLY a 90 degree drop straight down. But, Volcano is my fav roller coaster ever and is not for the faint hearted! lol

How cool! I loved living in Virginia Beach. We lived there for six years which meant that I got to do all of my high school years there at Cox. I really miss it. I loved being able to go to the beach whenever I felt like it without it having to be a big production. Busch Gardens is possibly my favourite amusement park aside from Disney. I have not been in a few years. I have heard about the Griffon and now I really want to go back down for a visit. Maybe I will drag Alek down for a weekend visit as he is a big Busch Gardens fan as well. We especially love Alpengeist!

That's cool, thanks for sharing :thumbsup2



How many pictures are on your photopass cd? I think we only had 5 on ours so we didn't bother ordering it.



Good to know, we missed that last time and thought about going this year but I guess we'll just skip it.



Ugh. That's too bad :headache:

I've learned the hard way too and now I always keep an extra set in my camera bag.

Great reporting...keep it coming :thumbsup2

Our photopass account had about 150 photos once I entered all our cards into the account but after I edited and added stuff into the pictures we ended up with 309. I probably went a bit overboard. I was always on the lookout for photopass and would drag my family over for a photo whenever I saw one. I think they all got annoyed with me after a while:rotfl:

I'm enjoying your trip report! I lived in the Hampton Roads area too. I wish I had gone to the beach more often when I lived there. I can't wait to read more about the dream team and see the photopass pictures!

I loved living in Va Beach and I really miss having a pool and being able to just pop down to the beach whenever I felt like it. I always seem to go down to visit every two years or so to see old friends and of course to lay around on the beach:goodvibes

The dream team will be coming up very soon and if I get my photopass tomorrow like I expect than you all will be flooded with my pictures.

Oops! I totally missed your last update but just read it today. We too were at the World in 1997 when the castle was a big birthday cake. We went at the end of October during my birthday so it was so appropriate. ;)

You really like them Dole Whips? I'm in the minority, along with my DH, who do not like them. :confused3

Okay...looking forward to the next installment...

Since you were there for your bday it was appropriate. We were there for Christmas and we were disappointed with how the castle looked as a cake and especially because it was Christmas time. A big pink cake castle does not really spell out Yuletide Cheer:)

I was not sure if I would like the Dole Whips as I am not a huge pineapple fan but since so many people were raving about them I had to give it a shot and wound up loving them!

[Goofster57]

I am really enjoying your trip report.

From Canada are you so you must know Blue_river right…there aren’t that many of you up north are there? :lmao:


We lugged all our bags upstairs to Rm 4161

I opened the doors to the balcony and here is the view I was greeted with:love


We had the same view last January we were in room 4159 I think.

The Wilderness Lodge rates as our number two resort right behind Boardwalk, but that may change we have a few more to stay at yet.



Unfortunately my camera batteries died and I had not thought to bring the extra set very


I've learned the hard way too and now I always keep an extra set in my camera bag.


Boy glad this never happens to me.....:rolleyes1



Lessa,
Keep up the good work, really enjoying your report and can’t wait for some more pictures. :thumbsup2

[tracyvansmith]

How many Photo pass cards can you put on your account and how much is the CD?:confused:

[Disneyolic]

How many Photo pass cards can you put on your account and how much is the CD?:confused:
I don't know how many cards you can put onto one account but I know multiple ones at least. The CD costs $129 plus s/h.

[tinawv]

Sounds like the beginnings of a great trip report. Can't wait to read more. :) :rotfl2:

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Loving this trip report ! Love the pictures too. That view at the Wilderness Lodge must have made up for that bumpy landing :scared1: Can't wait to hear more !!!:thumbsup2

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I am really enjoying your trip report.

From Canada are you so you must know Blue_river right…there aren’t that many of you up north are there? :lmao:



We had the same view last January we were in room 4159 I think.

The Wilderness Lodge rates as our number two resort right behind Boardwalk, but that may change we have a few more to stay at yet.






Boy glad this never happens to me.....:rolleyes1



Lessa,
Keep up the good work, really enjoying your report and can’t wait for some more pictures. :thumbsup2

Yeah, Blue and I are practically next door neighbours. Not to mention we are second cousins twice removed. There are so few people up here in Canada that we are all related someway:rotfl:

Actually Blue and I are only about 2 hours apart as she is in the Ottawa Valley which is just north of Kingston.

How many Photo pass cards can you put on your account and how much is the CD?:confused:

You can put as many cards as you want on the account. We had about 6 because of all the ones we collected at the water parks. The cd is about $130 I believe and it includes all your original pictures plus any that you have modified with borders and images.

Sounds like the beginnings of a great trip report. Can't wait to read more. :) :rotfl2:

Thanks for reading! I'll have an update out tonight as I am working another midnight shift:sad2:
Loving this trip report ! Love the pictures too. That view at the Wilderness Lodge must have made up for that bumpy landing :scared1: Can't wait to hear more !!!:thumbsup2

Thanks for reading! That view sure did make me feel a whole lot better after the flight!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

My photopass cd came today:cheer2: I wan't expecting it till tomorrow so that was a great suprise. I will have another update out tonight since I now have all my pictures together and I am working another midnight shift so I have lots of time on my hands:)

[Cory's Gal]

Enjoying your TR so far! The view from your room at WL is fantastic!! Thanks for sharing your pics too!! Looks like you all are having fun!

[Crazy4Disney06]

Great trip report!!
I remember the castle like that. The one and only time I visited WDW was in Sept. 1996 they were just finishing up the cake castle. I also stayed at Wilderness then too! We are going back in Aug., but will be staying at POR this time.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Two Part One


We woke up bright and early today. I told everybody that I wanted to be at the MK for rope drop. Nobody had a problem getting up except for Erich and this would continue throughout the whole trip. Mom and I would get up first to shower and get ready as we took the longest to get ready, especially me as I can never decided what to wear. Then we would wake Alek and then Erich. Erich would never get up though. We would have to poke him every 5 minutes and yell at him to get up until he would finally drag himself out of bed 20 minutes after orginally being woken up. While waiting for everybody to get ready I took some early morning shots from the balcony including one of the geyser going off.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL017.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/WL016.jpg

The park opened at 9am today and we arrived at the gates around 8:30 and waited outside the train station with the rest of the early risers for the opening ceremony.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK001.jpg

We watched the opening ceremony which was really cute and then we headed into the park. I wanted to head straight for Space Mountain but Erich insisted on stopping to get his picture with Goofy

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK003.jpg

After snapping a quick picture we were off to Space Mountain. Mom and Erich opted not to ride this so they found a bench and Alek and I headed in. It was posted as a 10 minute wait but we were able to walk right on. I loved Space Mountain. It was so much fun zooming around in the dark. Alek and I noted that the seats on Space seemed to be rather small and we wondered how people larger than us could fit in the ride as we found it rather cosy. Perhaps they will install larger ride vehicles when the ride gets updated.

Once we exited Space mom had to go to the bathroom and while she was gone we spotted this little guy so we hopped in line to get our picture taken.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/image158.jpg

Mom rejoined us and showed us the water mister that she had bought and we decided to head over to Buzz Lightyear. As we were heading through the queue I saw the guests ahead of us being handed something and I started to get excited as I saw that it was a member of the Dream Squad ahead. We reached the CM who handed us each our very own Dream lanyards with the Year of a Million Dreams pins. I was so excited as this was our first real day in the parks and we had won a dream!:cool1: It was a small dream but I was just happy to have won something as I was not expecting to at all.

We hoped on Buzz, I rode with mom and Alek and Erich rode together. This ride was a lot of fun and was Erich's favourite ride of the trip and he would ride it many more times throughout the week. Here is my pathetic score from our first ride through Buzz.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK004.jpg

My score improved throughout the trip but I never really got a super high score. Alek and Erich did though but they rode it way more than I did and have much better aim.

Next Alek and Erich demanded to ride Stitch. I really didn't want to as I had heard so many bad things but seeing as this was their vacation too I relented and we went into Stitch. I did not enjoy it at all but Alek and Erich did not seem to mind it. They poked fun at me and told me to make sure that all my Dis friends knew that Stitch was a great ride.:rolleyes1

They saw that Laugh Floor was about to start a show so we went there next. This show was hilarious. I guess it probably varies each time you see it as it all depends on the audience but we had a blast here and thought it was great. I don't know if I would have liked being put in the spotlight though:confused3

After Laugh Floor we were pretty much done with Tomorrowland for the day so we made our way over to Fantasyland and ran into these guys.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK007.jpg

The mad hatter was hilarious. He joked around with mom and told us that she laughed funny and then she couldn't figure out how to work the camera so he ran up and showed her how. Then as we were getting ready to pose for the picture Alek yelled "Change places!" and we all ran around and switched spots except for Alice who just seemed confused about what had just happened. She must not be as familiar with the movie as the mad hatter was.

After the picture we rode the tea cups as there was no wait. We all squeezed into a tea cup and it was a pretty tight fit let me tell ya!
Alek and Erich started spinning us like crazy and I snapped this photo.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK008.jpg

Mom and I did not feel so good after that and it was just after 11 so we decided to take a little break and grab some lunch before the lunch rush hit. We went over to Pinocchio's Village Haus which was deserted. We ordered our lunch and grabbed a table right next to the window that overlooks Small World. This was a great location as we got to wave at the people as they floated by into the ride. The highlight of this meal for me was the cannoli. It is to die for! Everybody must try this dessert, you will not regret it!


Day Two Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19733310&postcount=47)

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Enjoying your TR so far! The view from your room at WL is fantastic!! Thanks for sharing your pics too!! Looks like you all are having fun!

We had a blast. I was amazed by the view I got at the Lodge. I loved just sitting out on the balcony and relaxing. It was wonderful.

Great trip report!!
I remember the castle like that. The one and only time I visited WDW was in Sept. 1996 they were just finishing up the cake castle. I also stayed at Wilderness then too! We are going back in Aug., but will be staying at POR this time.

Thanks! It seems as though a lot of us experienced the cake as our first view of the castle. Glad to see that you are getting to go back this summer. I hope you enjoy your trip!

[Disneyolic]

Sounds like lots of fun so far. I really like the way you "switched places" with Alice & the Madhatter. That's funny.

Glad you PhotoPass came in and looking forward to the pics and more reporting...

[blue_river]

Boy glad this never happens to me.....:rolleyes1



Ya right :sad2:

Very Sad Goofster...Very Sad :laughing:

Yeah, Blue and I are practically next door neighbours. Not to mention we are second cousins twice removed. There are so few people up here in Canada that we are all related someway

:rotfl2: :rotfl: :lmao:


Actually Blue and I are only about 2 hours apart as she is in the Ottawa Valley which is just north of Kingston.



::yes:: That's true

We've been to Kingston many times. We usually stay at the Ambassador Hotel because the kids love the water slide at the pool.

It's a very pretty city (if you can call it a city) :laughing:

[Disneyolic]

Yeah, Blue and I are practically next door neighbours. Not to mention we are second cousins twice removed. There are so few people up here in Canada that we are all related someway
What? Does that mean that I may be kinda sorta but not really related to some of you Cannucks just because I've crossed the border way lotsa times?

Me and my buddies were once called "you friendly teenage Americans" on our tour of Parliament in Ottawa. I think our tour guide was being sarcastic...

[blue_river]

We would have to poke him every 5 minutes and yell at him to get up until he would finally drag himself out of bed 20 minutes after orginally being woken up.

:rotfl2: Sounds like my Goofy

We reached the CM who handed us each our very own Dream lanyards with the Year of a Million Dreams pins. I was so excited as this was our first real day in the parks and we had won a dream!:cool1: It was a small dream but I was just happy to have won something as I was not expecting to at all.

WOW! Nice :wizard:

Small or not, it would have made my day too pixiedust:

I hope all the dream prizes aren't gone by the time we arrive :3dglasses

They poked fun at me and told me to make sure that all my Dis friends knew that Stitch was a great ride.:rolleyes1

:laughing: Tell them my DD's enjoyed it too!

They saw that Laugh Floor was about to start a show so we went there next. This show was hilarious. I guess it probably varies each time you see it as it all depends on the audience but we had a blast here and thought it was great. I don't know if I would have liked being put in the spotlight though:confused3

OH, I can't wait to see this :banana:

Lovin your report Lessa :thumbsup2
Keep it coming :)

[blue_river]

What? Does that mean that I may be kinda sorta but not really related to some of you Cannucks just because I've crossed the border way lotsa times?

Me and my buddies were once called "you friendly teenage Americans" on our tour of Parliament in Ottawa. I think our tour guide was being sarcastic...

You may just be kinda sorta not really related :rotfl:

How'd you like the tour??

What else did you see?

[Disneyolic]

You may just be kinda sorta not really related :rotfl:

How'd you like the tour??

What else did you see?
Oh goodness. We went on the tour back in 1985 when I was in college. I'm dating myself, eh? The tour, from what I can remember, was pretty interesting. We enjoyed Ottawa. We went to a museum there and just walked around site seeing. We were warned not to walk over to Hull because it was French speaking there and they may not be friendly to young ignorant Americans....who us? :confused3

I've been to Toronto a bunch of times and really liked that city. Plus, who hasn't been to Niagara Falls, especially when you live in NY????

Kingston? We blew right past it going about 400 mph on a drive around Lake Ontario. Wait a minute...I take that back. We stopped there for breakfast.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sounds like lots of fun so far. I really like the way you "switched places" with Alice & the Madhatter. That's funny.

Glad you PhotoPass came in and looking forward to the pics and more reporting...

Yeah my bro is pretty good with the comedy as you will see in many of the pictures. Not sure if he knows how to take a serious picture. He is very entertaining though and there is never a dull moment when he is around. I had to guilt him into to taking a nice family picture for our mom as she really wanted one for her office.


::yes:: That's true

We've been to Kingston many times. We usually stay at the Ambassador Hotel because the kids love the water slide at the pool.

It's a very pretty city (if you can call it a city) :laughing:

Yes Kingston is very small, not much to do here which is why I am glad Ottawa, Toronto, Montreal and Syracuse are all about a 2 hour drive from here. At least we have lots of options for day trips:)

When my dad brought me up to Kingston to drop me off for my first year at Queen's we stayed at the Ambassador. I also enjoyed the pool and water slide.



Me and my buddies were once called "you friendly teenage Americans" on our tour of Parliament in Ottawa. I think our tour guide was being sarcastic...

That is too funny, the same sort of thing happened to my brother's best friend Jim. As we lived in Virginia Beach when I was in high school we had to take a road trip up to Ontario so I could check out the universities I wanted to apply to. We brought Jim along as it was Spring Break and he had never been to Canada. We took a guided tour of the University of Waterloo and the tour guide was very nice and then Jim let it slip that he was American and he swears that she gave him a glare and gave him the cold shoulder the rest of the trip. :confused3




WOW! Nice :wizard:

Small or not, it would have made my day too pixiedust:

I hope all the dream prizes aren't gone by the time we arrive :3dglasses



:laughing: Tell them my DD's enjoyed it too!



OH, I can't wait to see this :banana:

Lovin your report Lessa :thumbsup2
Keep it coming :)

I'm sure that there will be lots left. The key thing seems to be hitting as many attractions as possible first thing in the morning to heighten your chances of winning as everything seems to be given out in the morning.

Don't know if I should tell them others enjoyed Stitch. They may rub it in my face and never let me forget it:headache:

Oh goodness. We went on the tour back in 1985 when I was in college. I'm dating myself, eh? The tour, from what I can remember, was pretty interesting. We enjoyed Ottawa. We went to a museum there and just walked around site seeing. We were warned not to walk over to Hull because it was French speaking there and they may not be friendly to young ignorant Americans....who us? :confused3

I've been to Toronto a bunch of times and really liked that city. Plus, who hasn't been to Niagara Falls, especially when you live in NY????

Kingston? We blew right past it going about 400 mph on a drive around Lake Ontario. Wait a minute...I take that back. We stopped there for breakfast.

Don't blame you for blowing past Kingston. The waterfront is nice in the summer with the restaurants and patios but there is not much else here. I probably sound really disloyal slamming my town like this. Oh well I am not a native Kingstonian I do not need to be loyal.:rotfl:

Glad that you enjoyed Ottawa, it is a beautiful city. I love going up there on day trips. I used to live there when I was in elementary school and my dad lives up there now so I get to visit all the time.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Two Part Two


While eating lunch at Pinocchio's we noted that there was almost no line for Small World so after finishing our meal we grabbed a set of fastpasses for Peter Pan and then jumped in line for Small World. The ride was cute but none of us felt the need to ride it again.

After getting off Small World our fastpass time was almost up so we checked out the sites of Fantasyland for a few minutes and then headed on over to Peter Pan. This was my favourite dark ride in Fantasyland and everybody else seemed to like it as well.

We hit up Mickey's Philharmagic next which also had no line. We were able to walk right into the waiting area for the theatre. We loved this show it was amazing. Alek said that it was his favourite attraction at Disney World. It was very cute and I especially loved the scenes with Ariel and the magic carpet ride and who doesn't love the Fantasia mops:lmao:

Next up we grabbed fastpasses for Pooh. Alek noted that Tweedle Dee and Tweedle Dum were back at the teacups and had a small line and as we did not get a chance to get our pictures with them last time and we had time to kill we went and got in line.

Here is one of them congratulating Alek on winning the Dream lanyard
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK010-1.jpg

Is there a way to tell them apart or are they interchangeable?

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK011.jpg

For comparison here is Alek and Erich in the same spot way back in 1997.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/MK012.jpg

Next we found a pin cart and Mom and Erich bought some pins to decorate their new lanyards. And then Alek and Erich decided to use some of their snack credits to grab some ice cream from Mrs Potts Cupboard. We still had about 10 minutes to kill so Alek and Erich decided to goof around with Dumbo and here is one of their pictures.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK012.jpg

I had to yell at them to get out of Dumbo after a while because a family with kids was waiting on the sidelines for their photo op. Alek and Erich can be rather oblivious when it comes to things like common courtesy, sometimes they need to be reminded that they need to be mindful of the others around them, especially Alek. They had not even noticed the little kids standing by anxiously awaiting for their turn with Dumbo.

When we went over to get in line for Pooh we were blocked from entering by a family who was trying to enter the line with fastpasses that were not good for another two hours. They just did not want to listen when the CM told them that they could not use their fastpasses until 2:30. This would happen often on the trip and I found it very annoying. I do not think that the fastpass system is hard to understand yet people would always try and get in way ahead of their fastpass time and it would cause a backup of people with valid fastpasses who were trying to get on the ride as they would stand right in front of the entrance and argue with the CM about how they should be able to use their fastpass early. :mad: Well there is my little rant of the day.

Pooh was very cute. I wish that it would have been a little slower as you zipped through those scenes pretty fast. Next we rode Snow White which had no line. Once again it was a cute ride but obviously made for younger families as were the other Fantasyland dark rides. I still enjoyed them but had no pressing need to ride them again on the trip.

It was nearing 2:00 now and we noted that Dream Along With Mickey was going to be starting soon so we headed over to the castle to catch the show. While waiting for the show we were approached by Disney Guest Services who asked if we would answer some survey questions before the show so we said no problem. He just asked generic questions like where are you staying, how long is your trip, what kind of tickets, etc etc and then congratulated us on our Dream prize.

Soon the show started and we loved it. I don't know if any of you have seen this show yet but the tune is very catchy and it soon became stuck in our heads and we would sing it throughout the trip and Alek even memorized some of the dance routine. Here is a brief clip of the show I took with my camera.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/th_MVI_1373.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/?action=view&current=MVI_1373.flv)

Here are some pictures from the show
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK021.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK028.jpg

As I said we really liked the show but we were really suffering afterwards as it got really hot while we were standing there in the beating sun. Our mom has MS and the heat can really make her nerves start hurting so we headed over to Casey's where she grabbed a seat in the air conditioning and we got some beverages to help cool us down. It was kind of strange but that was the only time the whole trip where we found it really hot. Most of the time we couldn't figure out why everybody had been telling us we were going to die from the heat as the temperature seemed very comfortable to us.:confused3

Mom recovered quickly which we were very happy about as sometimes the effects of her MS can last throughout the day. It was 2:30 so we decided to check out the shops on Main Street and then catch the Dreams Come True Parade.

We headed out to Main Street at 2:50 expecting it to be packed and it wasn't. There was tons of curb space. We were amazed. So far everything that happened today contradicted what we had read a million times in the Disney guide books and online. I guess we were just lucky. We grabbed some curb side seats and waited for the parade.I noticed a photopass photographer so I dragged Alek over to get our picture taken before the parade started.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/image162.jpg

The strange thing about this parade was that the two cars that carry the castle winners and the grand marshals came by at 3:00 but then the rest of the parade didn't show up for another 15 minutes. I don't know if this happens all the time but we thought it was kind of odd that there was such a long delay. Mom didn't mind though as she was busy making friends with the British family seated next to us. Alek and Erich wandered into a collectibles store and came back out and reported to me that the Disney Precious Moments figurines were sold inside. (My mom had bought me the Princess ones as a thank you for planning the trip and I had seen online that there were some Disney World exclusive figurines that I wanted to check out). A family with two little girls showed up and we let them have our seats as we were going to be standing once the parade rolled around anyways. Soon after the parade finally showed up. We enjoyed the parade but it was nowhere as good as Spectromagic!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK036.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK037.jpg

Am I the only one of think that these just look wrong? My brothers said that I just have a dirty mind.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK041.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK058.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK059.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK060.jpg

We still weren't ready to leave yet so I went into a shop and bought some pins and then Erich wanted to ride Buzz Lightyear again. I told him ok so long as the wait was not over 30 minutes. Well Erich lucked out as the wait was minimal. I got a much better score this time but they still beat the pants off me.:sad2: They insisted on the Zurg photo that everybody does although I wasn't sure at first if they would be able to squeeze through the bars.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK066.jpg

When we exited we saw that Buzz Lightyear was out so we ran over and got in line. Alek once again decided that he wanted a goofy looking picture.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/MK067.jpg

After this we were pretty tuckered out so we headed back to the hotel. While walking back to the room the backing of one of the pins I won feel off but luckily Alek noticed the pin on the floor so I didn't lose it. I would have been very upset if I had.

This was the end of our Dream Filled Day at the MK. We won our dream lanyards, found out that we loved Dream Along With Mickey and we got to watch the Dreams Come True parade without a crowd. Our first full day at Disney was a success and we were hoping the evening would work out just as well.

Stayed tuned for our date with Cinderella


Day Two Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19752541&postcount=67)

[disgram]

What an amazing first day!!! Congrats on the Dream!!!! I am hoping for this during our trip in August!
That darn Buzz Lightyear ride!!! I cannot get a good score on that no matter what I do! So I usually end up "stirring" and my seat partner does the scoring!:rotfl:
Am looking forward to the rest of your TR!!!!!

[Disneyolic]

Another good update. Oh, the pic with the brooms. Uhm, I've never quite noticed what you are thinking about but thanks for putting that in my mind now....:rolleyes: :rotfl2:

[SnoopyDancer]

Congratulations on getting a dream! I'm glad Alek found your pin before you lost it. As for the Tweedles, their names are on their collars. It looks like Erich is standing next to Dum and Alek is next to Dee. Dee's green flag sticks up higher on his hat too.

I can't wait to read where you go next!

[Nicole786]

This TR rocks!! I can't wait for more! We will be at the WL for the first time in a couple of weeks (it rocks to be able to say that) and we are around the same age, so its great from that perspective!!

[blue_river]

[COLOR="Magenta"][SIZE="3"]Oh goodness. We went on the tour back in 1985 when I was in college. I'm dating myself, eh?

:laughing: Ya but I won't tell :teeth:


We were warned not to walk over to Hull because it was French speaking there and they may not be friendly to young ignorant Americans....who us? :confused3

I crossed that bridge to Hull for 11 years. Must admit that I don't miss that drive :sad2:

Plus, who hasn't been to Niagara Falls, especially when you live in NY????

Been many times ourselves. The girls love it there :)

Marineland is our favourite place while visiting :3dglasses

[blue_river]

I'm sure that there will be lots left. The key thing seems to be hitting as many attractions as possible first thing in the morning to heighten your chances of winning as everything seems to be given out in the morning.

Oh Well then, we won't get any. We're NEVER there early in the morning :headache:

Don't blame you for blowing past Kingston. The waterfront is nice in the summer with the restaurants and patios but there is not much else here. I probably sound really disloyal slamming my town like this. Oh well I am not a native Kingstonian I do not need to be loyal.:rotfl:

I think it's a very pretty town. I wouldn't mind living there during retirement years as long as we had some waterfront property :upsidedow

[blue_river]

We hit up Mickey's Philharmagic next which also had no line. We were able to walk right into the waiting area for the theatre. We loved this show it was amazing.

We thought it was amazing also, a very magical attraction :thumbsup2



For comparison here is Alek and Erich in the same spot way back in 1997.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/MK012.jpg



That's so neat!! Tell them I said, they haven't changed a bit :rotfl2:

It was kind of strange but that was the only time the whole trip where we found it really hot. Most of the time we couldn't figure out why everybody had been telling us we were going to die from the heat as the temperature seemed very comfortable to us.:confused3

I KNOW!!! Same thing for us. There was only ONE day that we found the heat really bothered us and it was while we were at MGM. :confused3

It's a Canadian thing I guess ;)

Mom recovered quickly which we were very happy about as sometimes the effects of her MS can last throughout the day.

Sorry about your mother, I'm glad she recovered quickly :goodvibes


A family with two little girls showed up and we let them have our seats as we were going to be standing once the parade rolled around anyways.

Very nice of you to spread some pixiedust:

Your first day was wonderful. Can't wait to read the rest :upsidedow

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

What an amazing first day!!! Congrats on the Dream!!!! I am hoping for this during our trip in August!
That darn Buzz Lightyear ride!!! I cannot get a good score on that no matter what I do! So I usually end up "stirring" and my seat partner does the scoring!:rotfl:
Am looking forward to the rest of your TR!!!!!

LOL. My mom gave up on Buzz after the first ride as she could not score very well and my constant swinging of the ride car made her ill. So she shopped whenever we went on it again.

Another good update. Oh, the pic with the brooms. Uhm, I've never quite noticed what you are thinking about but thanks for putting that in my mind now....:rolleyes: :rotfl2:

No problem, always happy to help!:rotfl:

Congratulations on getting a dream! I'm glad Alek found your pin before you lost it. As for the Tweedles, their names are on their collars. It looks like Erich is standing next to Dum and Alek is next to Dee. Dee's green flag sticks up higher on his hat too.

I can't wait to read where you go next!

Thanks! I have never actually been in a picture with the Tweedles so I never got close enough to have noticed the names on the collars so I was always wondering how to tell them apart and now I can!

I was so happy with Alek for finding my pin that I promised not to get annoyed with him for the rest of the day:lmao:

This TR rocks!! I can't wait for more! We will be at the WL for the first time in a couple of weeks (it rocks to be able to say that) and we are around the same age, so its great from that perspective!!

Thanks for reading! You will love the WL, it is amazing! I wish I could have had more time to just relax at the resort but somehow my nice relaxed vacation got turned into a full on commando trip.:confused3 I had planned afternoon breaks daily but that almost never happened. Oh well, next time I go down will be in December and without my brothers so I'm sure I will have more resort time:goodvibes

Oh Well then, we won't get any. We're NEVER there early in the morning :headache:



I think it's a very pretty town. I wouldn't mind living there during retirement years as long as we had some waterfront property :upsidedow

Don't give up hope Blue! Maybe the girls will surprise you and get up early one morning! Just tell them you heard there is increased lizard activity in the parks in the mornings, that should get them out of bed!

Kingston is an alright town. I really love the Queen's campus and the waterfront, they are very pretty but the rest of Princess street not so much. The newer areas of the town are nice also though. If you want to see the true beauty of Kingston you should wander into the "Student Ghetto":rotfl: It is simply lovely.:rolleyes1 I'm sure you have probably heard of the infamous Aberdeen Street party that happens every year at Homecoming. What a headache especially as I work for Queen's and I get to answer lots of angry phone calls about my fellow students:woohoo: If you do move here for retirement make sure to avoid living near the Queen's student housing area is all I can say.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

We thought it was amazing also, a very magical attraction :thumbsup2



That's so neat!! Tell them I said, they haven't changed a bit :rotfl2:

They surely have not changed at all, in many ways:rotfl:



I KNOW!!! Same thing for us. There was only ONE day that we found the heat really bothered us and it was while we were at MGM. :confused3

It's a Canadian thing I guess ;)

Must be, we Canadians have built up so much resistance to the bitter cold and to the sweltering heat that we don't even notice it any more.:lmao:



Sorry about your mother, I'm glad she recovered quickly :goodvibes

Yeah we were very happy that she recovered so quickly as well and she didn't have any more problems on the trip. My moms MS was one of my big concerns about going on this trip in the summer but she insisted that we go in July as it was the most convenient time for everybody. My brothers and I secretly put aside money in case we had to rent her a wheelchair on the trip if her MS acted up too much and we kept a constant eye on her to make sure she was alright as she has a tendency to hide her pain from us.




Very nice of you to spread some pixiedust:

Your first day was wonderful. Can't wait to read the rest :upsidedow

Thanks, one of my favourite things at Disney is seeing all the little kids amazed at the park and enjoying themselves so if I can help them enjoy it a little more I will do it.

[tinawv]

Another great update. I have always though the brooms where a little weird too. I guess we both haved dirty minds. :lmao:

[PrincessEeyore]

subscribing, im leaving for my trip in 3 days and your TR has helped putting me into the Disney Spirirt! Great report and can't wait to read more!:)

[Tanya90210]

Great Trip report so far Lessa.... your brothers seem to love to act silly... that's great to see boys their age willing to be silly.... rather than trying to be macho...


I can't wait to read more....

[Jrabbit910]

Hey LifelongDreamer; I am loving the pictures in your tr... I love the "now & Then" photos... I think they are great... Congrats to you and your family for winning the Dream Lanyards... I think thats awesome.. Cant wait to read more...
PS- the pictures of your brothers on the tea cups made me dizzy!!! :eek: :sick:

[Mr._The_King]

You guys look like you are having a blast! Great trip report:thumbsup2

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Another great update. I have always though the brooms where a little weird too. I guess we both haved dirty minds. :lmao:

Guess so:rotfl:

subscribing, im leaving for my trip in 3 days and your TR has helped putting me into the Disney Spirirt! Great report and can't wait to read more!:)

Glad I could help put you in the Disney Spirit and I hope that you have a wonderful trip filled with pixiedust:

Great Trip report so far Lessa.... your brothers seem to love to act silly... that's great to see boys their age willing to be silly.... rather than trying to be macho...


I can't wait to read more....

Yeah, they are great and lots of fun to hang out with. I'm glad that we are all able to still have fun together now that we are all grown up.

Hey LifelongDreamer; I am loving the pictures in your tr... I love the "now & Then" photos... I think they are great... Congrats to you and your family for winning the Dream Lanyards... I think thats awesome.. Cant wait to read more...
PS- the pictures of your brothers on the tea cups made me dizzy!!! :eek: :sick:

I love the now and then photos as well. There was another one I had them pose for at the end of the trip because I remebered a picture from the 1997 trip where they were posed in the same spot. I like to look at pictures and see how much we have changed and not changed at the same time.

Riding the tea cups with my brothers, not a good idea. It took a little while for my mom and I to recover from that and I have vowed never again to ride the teacup ride with them.

You guys look like you are having a blast! Great trip report:thumbsup2

We did have a lot of fun and we are eager to go back although the whole family will not be making a trip together again until 2010 or 2011 as we are waiting for Harry Potter World to open at Universal but mom and I are headed back down in late 2008 for a Disney cruise! Who knows in 2010 we may even have new members of the family joining us on the trip. You never know what life will throw at you:goodvibes

[klj27]

Thanks for the great report. We were there that week also and were quite annoyed by the people blocking the fast pass return lines before their time was up. (The castmembers were quite annoyed too.)

[heartofdisney]

Hi Lessa,
I have finally started your trip report.I haven't caught up just yet,but I will do so later today after I get some sleep.I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying it so far.You are doing a great job and I love the view from your room...it is awesome. On our next trip we are hoping to stay at a deluxe,but we are still debating which one...but the Wilderness lodge looks like it could be in the running from everything I see and hear about it.

[blue_river]

If you do move here for retirement make sure to avoid living near the Queen's student housing area is all I can say.


I haven't heard of it! Thanks for the tip :thumbsup2

Yeah we were very happy that she recovered so quickly as well and she didn't have any more problems on the trip.

OH GOOD! I was wondering that. :hug:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Thanks for the great report. We were there that week also and were quite annoyed by the people blocking the fast pass return lines before their time was up. (The castmembers were quite annoyed too.)

Thanks for reading and I am glad that I am not the only one who found this problem incredibly annoying.:)

Hi Lessa,
I have finally started your trip report.I haven't caught up just yet,but I will do so later today after I get some sleep.I just wanted to say how much I am enjoying it so far.You are doing a great job and I love the view from your room...it is awesome. On our next trip we are hoping to stay at a deluxe,but we are still debating which one...but the Wilderness lodge looks like it could be in the running from everything I see and hear about it.

Hey there, thanks for coming over to read! I'm glad that you are enjoying it so far. You should definite;y consider the WL!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Two Part Three

Once we got back to the room after Alek recovered my pin we all decided to just stay in the room and relax until dinner. We had an ADR at 1900 Park Fare for 7:10 so we had a little while to kill as it was now about 5:00. Alek and Erich turned on the tv and mom took out the UG to read up on tomorrow's parks. I headed down to Roaring Forks to pick up a refillable mug and Alek and Erich each chipped in $2 so that they would have part ownership of the cup (like I would not share:rolleyes1 ) I filled the cup up with Orange Fanta and strolled back to the room. When I got back mom had decided to take a quick nap and so Alek and Erich had turned off the tv and were playing their Nintendo DS. I took this opportunity to update my notes for the day. I glanced outside and there were some very dark ominous clouds rolling in so it is a good thing we did not stay in the park. The skies opened up and it rained like it had never rained before. It was getting close to 6:30 now and we were going to need to leave soon for dinner but I was unsure if I wanted to drive in this weather. Luckily it let up a bit so we decided to head over to the Grand Floridian.

When we arrived we were informed that it was $10 for valet and if we wanted to self-park the lot was across the street:eek: I guess all the guests must use valet as I can't believe more people don't complain about the parking lot being so far from the hotel. We self-parked as it was only spitting rain now and trekked back across the street and over to the GF. It is a very beautiful hotel but I don't think I would ever stay there as it does not have a very relaxed or welcoming feel to it, at least not to me. 1900 Park Fare was easy to find and we were seated almost right away. Heading into the dining room we ran into this lovely woman.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/ParkFare001.jpg

We were seated in the first dining room right near the buffet and our waiter showed up quickly. He introduced himself as David but his name tag said Brian, we thought that was a bit odd.:confused3 He took our drink orders and told us we should stay in our seats as we were next up for Perla but then we should feel free to grab our dinner as the other characters would not be around for a while. True to his word we were soon visited by Perla the mouse.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/ParkFare002.jpg

After getting our picture taken we headed over to the buffet. I immediately sought out the strawberry soup as I had heard so much about it here on the Dis. It did not disappoint, it was soooo yummy. I'm going to try and find a recipe so I can attempt and make it at home. The rest of the buffet was good , I do not remember exactly what I had as I had a sampling of many things. The only things I did not like were the cheese pizza and the mac and cheese from the kids station, go figure:confused3 Everybody else enjoyed their meals as well. In the middle of dinner we were visited by Suzi. Alek did not care to stop eating his dinner to pose for a picture but mom took one anyway. Since Alek had found my pin earlier I had promised not to get annoyed with him so I just had to hold my annoyance in and not say anything even though I thought he was being a little rude.:headache:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/ParkFare003.jpg

While Alek and Erich were up getting desserts Prince Charming came by. All he did was say hello and then moved on to the next table. He did not stop for a picture or anything. This kinda miffed me but was not too big a deal. He probably just figured that since there were no kids at the table that we did not want a picture:confused3 I saw him posing a few tables down from us with a little girl so at least he was stopping for the kids.

Alek and Erich arrived back at the table just in time for the princess herself.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/ParkFare004.jpg
She was very sweet and asked if she could take the prince's arms for the picture. Don't they look happy to be meeting their first princess? After the picture she thanked us for coming to visit her and wished us a magical night.

After this mom and I grabbed dessert which was yummy. I liked that they had a make your own sundae bar. We settled the bill and then we were off.

We explored the Grand Floridian a bit, here are some pictures most of them include Alek and Erich goofing around as usual
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/Grand001.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/Grand002.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/Grand003.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Two/Grand005.jpg

We checked out the gift shop which we did not think was all that great. We did not feel like heading back to the room yet but we didn't feel up to a park either so I suggested that we head to Downtown Disney to see Ratatouille. Once we got to Downtown Disney Alek looked around and asked if this is where the gangs that were in the news had been hanging out and I told him it was. He looked around at the beautiful Downtown Disney and sarcastically said he could understand why as it did look pretty ghetto:rolleyes1 We headed over to the AMC and we lucked out, there was a show that started in 20 minutes! I was surprised that the movie tickets were not overpriced. I was expecting them to be seeing as how we were at Disney but they cost just as much as they do up here. We headed into the theatre and there were only a few other people in there. We were a bit disappointed that it was not stadium seating but the chairs did recline so that was very nice.

After the movie got out we all agreed that it is one of the best Pixar movies yet. It is my favourite and Alek said it ties for first with Finding Nemo. If you have not seen the movie yet get your butt to the theatre!

It was about 11:00 now so we headed back to the room. I set the wake up call and the alarm clock for 7:30 (I am always paranoid that one will not go off so I just set both) and then quickly fell asleep.

Up next - A Beautiful Character Filled Morning At Epcot!


Day Three Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19777581&postcount=83)

[IluvXU]

AHHHHH... the WL! Love the pictures, we will be there in a month! Thanks for sharing your trip!

[klj27]

It was about 11:00 now so we headed back to the room. I set the wake up call and the alarm clock for 7:30 (I am always paranoid that one will not go off so I just set both) and then quickly fell asleep.

Up next - A Beautiful Character Filled Morning At Epcot!


It's smart to set both. On our first night there (June 25th) my husband used the automated line for a six fifteen wake up call. I woke up and looked at the clock the next morning and it was 7:09. We were supposed to meet friends of ours at 7:15 in the parking lot. I don't know how we did it but we were only three minutes late. My kids had taken their showers the night before and for some reason I had them sleep in their clothes for the next day. Thank goodness I did!

My husband called guest relations and they told him to call the operator for a wake up call and not the automated line. :confused3

[Tanya90210]

Prince charming seemed to do that alot when we were there too.. really quick from table to table and it took forever to see him... We had lil ones so we got the picture but if they weren't little I'd have been upset if he didn't stop for a picture...


Isn't the strawberry soup devine!!! Let me know if you find a recipe for it... I'd love to have a copy!

[SnoopyDancer]

It sounds like you had fun. I think the picture of you and Alek is kinda funny. I probably would have been annoyed too. For some reason, it reminds me of the Friends episode where Joey doesn't like to share food. Don't know why, but it does...:confused3

Here is a link to the strawberry soup recipe http://www.allears.net/din/rec.htm. All the recipes are sorted by hotel or park. I tried the s'mores recipe because it looked so good in other posters' trip reports. To quote Courtney of CourtneyandRyan, it was "yummo"! :love:

[Nicole786]

Ratatouille was really good, but not one of my favorites. How cool that you got to see it in Disney!! and DD isn't ghetto! I LOVE DD!

[PoohGal05]

Lovin' your trip report and pics! Can't wait to read more!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

AHHHHH... the WL! Love the pictures, we will be there in a month! Thanks for sharing your trip!

Glad you are enjoying the report. You will love the lodge!

It's smart to set both. On our first night there (June 25th) my husband used the automated line for a six fifteen wake up call. I woke up and looked at the clock the next morning and it was 7:09. We were supposed to meet friends of ours at 7:15 in the parking lot. I don't know how we did it but we were only three minutes late. My kids had taken their showers the night before and for some reason I had them sleep in their clothes for the next day. Thank goodness I did!

My husband called guest relations and they told him to call the operator for a wake up call and not the automated line. :confused3


That's lucky that you woke up in time and were not too late. I am super anal when it comes to being on time. I am ALWAYS early, not just early but extremely early. People actually find it annoying, except for my coworkers when I am relieving them as that means they get to go home early!:laughing:


Prince charming seemed to do that alot when we were there too.. really quick from table to table and it took forever to see him... We had lil ones so we got the picture but if they weren't little I'd have been upset if he didn't stop for a picture...


Isn't the strawberry soup devine!!! Let me know if you find a recipe for it... I'd love to have a copy!

Yeah, I was kinda peeved but getting our picture with the prince was not that important to me especially b/c he was not all that handsome;)

Oh and SnoopyDancer posted on here the link to the recipe, it can be found on Deb's site http://allears.net It looks really easy and simple to make, which is good as I am not exactly skilled in the kitchen!

It sounds like you had fun. I think the picture of you and Alek is kinda funny. I probably would have been annoyed too. For some reason, it reminds me of the Friends episode where Joey doesn't like to share food. Don't know why, but it does...:confused3

Here is a link to the strawberry soup recipe http://www.allears.net/din/rec.htm. All the recipes are sorted by hotel or park. I tried the s'mores recipe because it looked so good in other posters' trip reports. To quote Courtney of CourtneyandRyan, it was "yummo"! :love:

LOL, that is a funny episode! I love my brother but sometimes he drives me up the wall but I guess that can be said about all siblings.:)

Thanks for the link to the recipe,I will have to try it out when I have a day off of work.

I have just started reading Courtney's trip report. Not yet got to the smores.



Ratatouille was really good, but not one of my favorites. How cool that you got to see it in Disney!! and DD isn't ghetto! I LOVE DD!

LOL, We didn't really think it was ghetto. We thought it was really funny that of all the places a gang would form Downtown Disney seemed the most unlikely. What do they call themselves, the Mickey's?

Lovin' your trip report and pics! Can't wait to read more!

Thanks for coming over! I love to hear from my readers:goodvibes

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Really enjoying your trip report. :thumbsup2 That is great that you found the crowds to be less than expected. Next year will be the first summer that we go I think. I make the best of anything but it is still nice to hear that if you get up early and head out that you might get to do some great rides before the crowds hit. You are crackin me up about the mops in the parade !!! :rotfl2: Can't wait to read more !!!! :cheer2:

[blue_river]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]He introduced himself as David but his name tag said Brian, we thought that was a bit odd.:confused3

Wonder what's up with that?


After getting our picture taken we headed over to the buffet. I immediately sought out the strawberry soup as I had heard so much about it here on the Dis. It did not disappoint, it was soooo yummy.

Strawberry soup??? :confused3
Never heard of that.


While Alek and Erich were up getting desserts Prince Charming came by. All he did was say hello and then moved on to the next table. He did not stop for a picture or anything.

Awwwww :(

Someday your prince will come ;) :laughing:



I suggested that we head to Downtown Disney to see Ratatouille.
After the movie got out we all agreed that it is one of the best Pixar movies yet. It is my favourite and Alek said it ties for first with Finding Nemo. If you have not seen the movie yet get your butt to the theatre!

Just saw it this weekend at the drive-in. I enjoyed it but DH found it boring. :confused3

Can't wait for your morning in Epcot :surfweb:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Really enjoying your trip report. :thumbsup2 That is great that you found the crowds to be less than expected. Next year will be the first summer that we go I think. I make the best of anything but it is still nice to hear that if you get up early and head out that you might get to do some great rides before the crowds hit. You are crackin me up about the mops in the parade !!! :rotfl2: Can't wait to read more !!!! :cheer2:

We were really surprised with the crowd level. With all the things we had read in books, online and heard in podcasts I thought for sure we were going to get nothing done, but that was not the case at all:cheer2: Yeah those mops, don't know what they were thinking.:rolleyes:



Strawberry soup??? :confused3
Never heard of that.

It is so good Blue, if you ever eat at 1900 Park Fare for breakfast or dinner you will have to try it.




Awwwww :(

Someday your prince will come ;) :laughing:

Maybe. I am not holding my breath:rotfl: I picture myself as the old cat lady. For christmas my brother bought me a gag gift, it was a crazy cat lady action figurine and came with about 9 toy cats. It was pretty funny.




Just saw it this weekend at the drive-in. I enjoyed it but DH found it boring. :confused3

Can't wait for your morning in Epcot :surfweb:

It was such a cute movie and the graphics were beautiful and I loved the story.

I will probably be posting an update sometime tonight. I just got all our prints in the mail so I need to sort them and put them in the photo album.:woohoo:

[Goofster57]

Lessa,
Just got caught up after a week-end out of town.

Great updates, your brothers are a real kick in the pants.

Keep up the good work

[wdwgirl03]

Great trip report! I love your pictures of the Wilderness Lodge...awesome! I would love to stay there someday. I've never even gone over to visit it...I think when my family goes in December I'm going to talk them into going over there! It's so neat seeing all the other resorts!

I won one of those dream lanyards too...but I really wanted the dream mouse ears. :snooty: :laughing:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Lessa,
Just got caught up after a week-end out of town.

Great updates, your brothers are a real kick in the pants.

Keep up the good work

They sure and they just get better as the trip goes on.

Great trip report! I love your pictures of the Wilderness Lodge...awesome! I would love to stay there someday. I've never even gone over to visit it...I think when my family goes in December I'm going to talk them into going over there! It's so neat seeing all the other resorts!

I won one of those dream lanyards too...but I really wanted the dream mouse ears. :snooty: :laughing:

LOL, I really wanted the night in the castle or the DVC but was happy with the lanyard.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I was scanning the pics from the water park onto my computer and I thought I would scan in the picture of Erich's very first roller coaster ride Volcano as I thought that you all would find it amusing.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/volcano.jpg

Don't you just love the terrified look on his face:rotfl: This is the roller coaster that has made him fear all other roller coasters.


My update will be up later tonight!

[Goofster57]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/volcano.jpg



Sorry Erich buddy don't mean to laugh at you in your time of Terror!

but that face is too funny :rotfl2:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Three Part One


Rolled out of bed at 7:30 when both the wakeup call and the alarm clock went off but Alek and Erich slept right through it. Seems they can sleep through most anything.

:offtopic: We moved to California back in 1989 and a few weeks after moving into our new house we got to experience the lovely San Francisco earthquake of 1989. This is the earthquake that measured 6.9 on the Richter scale and collapsed bridges and freeways. They even made t-shirts that said "I survived the 1989 San Francisco earthquake, I was scared out of my mind. Alek and Erich who were very little at the time slept right through it. Then when we were living in Virginia Beach we would be hit by hurricanes yearly and there would be howling winds and tree branches snapping and hitting buildings and pounding rain but did Alek and Erich notice nope they slumbered on and woke up in the morning and were surprised that the hurricane was so quiet:confused:

I showered and got ready while mom watched the news. Alek then got woken up and he got up no problem. Now it's Erich's turn.

Me - poke, Erich wakey wakey
Erich - rolls over, mumbles something
Me - poke, come on Erich it's 8:00 you need to get up. groans but does not get up
Me - Erich get your a** out of bed right now!
Erich - It's only 8:00
Me - The park opens at 9 we need to be out of here by 8:20
Erich - Fine, drags himself out of bed pouting

I was not kidding you when I said that this would happen EVERY morning. Same routine. The night before he would ask what time we were leaving and I would tell him. Then he would tell me what time to wake him up yet he never wanted to wake up. He was getting 8+ hours of sleep a night.:confused3

Since Erich had dragged himself out of bed and showered we were ready to go! I set out the tip for the mousekeeper in a cute little tip envelope I printed off from themouseforless.com and we headed out the door.

We arrived at Epcot around 8:40 and walked up to the gates. There were lines at the turnstiles but they were not that bad. Alek and Erich then went on to complain about my making them get to the park so early when they could have stayed in bed for an extra 20 minutes. I explained to them that if we showed up after opening the lines for Soarin would be unbelievable and we would not get fastpasses that would be valid until the afternoon. A family standing behind us was also giving their mom a hard time about being there early so we sent each other sympathetic looks because our families were clearly not in the know.

We were finally able to get in and we made a beeline for Soarin. On the way Alek spotted Character Connection and said that we needed to go there before we left the park. I said no problem as I wanted to visit with the characters as well. Once we got to The Land the CM's were all directing the mob towards Soarin. I grabbed a set of fastpasses and then we all got in the standby line which was showing only a 15 minute wait. It sure felt longer, people were not joking when they said that queue is boring.

We finally got on the ride and were seated in the second row. I was kinda disappointed that we didn't get the front but I let it go as I knew the ride would be amazing either way and it was. My mom had to remark throughout the entire thing about what area we were flying over which was a bit annoying as I wanted to take in the experience with no distractions which was hard to do with her yammering away beside me:rolleyes:

We all really liked the ride but decided that we would probably not be using the fastpasses as the return window was not for 2 more hours and by then we would not be anywhere near the ride and we did not want to waste time walking all the way back over.

A showing of the Circle of Life was about to start so we headed on in. Alek and Erich didn't really want to do it because "gasp" it is educational. God forbid you actually learn something on vacation:rolleyes: They only agreed because Timon and Pumba were in it and should provide some entertainment. The movie was alright but I probably won't go out of my way to see it again.

Next we headed over to the new Nemo ride at the Seas

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3001.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3002.jpg

There was no wait for the ride but it did take a while to walk through the queue area. None of us really cared for the ride. Alek and Erich then spotted Bruce and of course had to get their picture taken.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3003.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3004.jpg

Next up was Turtle Talk With Crush. We loved this show it was hilarious. It is a must do on our next trip. Erich really wanted to get called on but no dice. He still enjoyed the show though. The kids were really cute. A little girl got chosen to ask Crush a question but when presented with the microphone got stage fright and forgot her question. Crush said she must be having a Dory moment. The audience loved it.

After the show Alek really wanted to go to Character Connection but I was feeling a bit sick from hunger (I tend to feel a bit queasy when hungry, it is very strange) as I had not eaten any breakfast so I said we could go right after we grabbed some lunch. We headed over to the Electric Umbrella where we got some burgers for lunch and cookies and cheesecake for dessert. The meal was ok, the burgers tasted like fast food burgers so nothing special there but we all agreed that the cheesecake and cookies were good.

After lunch we walked over to Character Connection and I snapped this shot on the way over.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3007.jpg

The fountain and water show are really pretty.

Upon arriving at Character Connection we found a fairly long line but Alek wanted to wait anyways so Mom said she would take the tickets and get fastpasses for Alek and I to ride Test Track and Mission:Space. Alek and Erich were up to their usual antics and were getting attention from a lot of people most of whom thought they were funny. Alek was singing the song from Dream Along With Mickey and doing the dance along with it. "Come join the party, the castle party, your all invited so let's begin the fun! Come join the party, Where dreams really do come true" (We have been home for a week and a half now and that song is still stuck in my head) If mom had been there she probably would have gotten mad at them though as they would have embarrassed her so we avoided a fight there. She got back as we were approaching the characters and Alek and Erich had calmed down so she did not witness their antics which was good for all involved.

Overall I think we waited about 30-40 minutes in line. First up was Mickey Mouse. Alek was not too impressed with this Mickey as he was not very friendly or interactive. Alek and Erich tried to give him a high five and he did not respond to it. We posed for our picture and moved on. You can tell in the picture that none of us were really happy with Mickey.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image011.jpg

Up next was Goofy who is Alek and Erich's favourite charcter. We LOVE A Goofy movie and we watched it the night before the trip to get us in the mood for Disney and for a family vacation.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image013.jpg

Doesn't Alek look happy to be meeting his idol?

Next up were the lovable chipmunks Chip and Dale. They were great. They posed with us and then dragged mom into the picture as well. Mom very rarely allowed her picture to get taken on the trip but they got her to do it.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image015.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image016.jpg

Next was Pluto who was great! He was goofing around sniffing us to get our scent. He was a lot of fun:goodvibes

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image018.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3013.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image021.jpg

And lastly we got our picture with Minnie

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image023.jpg

In this picture Alek is checking out Minnie's cleavage:rolleyes:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3015.jpg

We exited Character Connection very happy with our experience. If only Mickey had been friendlier it would have been perfect.


Up next A Beautiful Character Filled Morning at Epcot Part Two


Day Three Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19814164&postcount=94)

[Nicole786]

awesome chapter as usual, epcot is my favorite park, cant wait to hear more!

[Tanya90210]

love the update....

he sure does look proud meeting his idol!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I woke up early today as I had to take my cute little kitten Hobbes to the vet to get neutered and microchipped. I felt so guilty. He kept looking at me with his big eyes and giving me this sad little cry. I will feel so much better once he is back home tonight.:guilty:

[BeautyNBeast]

We were seated in the first dining room right near the buffet and our waiter showed up quickly. He introduced himself as David but his name tag said Brian, we thought that was a bit odd.:confused3
[/B]

If the CM forgot his name tag, he probably took a nametag out of a bucket. When we visited my friend while working with Cars, he had a different name tag on, and that is what he said happened.

Still loving your TR. Cannot wait for more.

[Goofster57]

we got to experience the lovely San Francisco earthquake of 1989.


I remember that one too :scared1:


Up next was Goofy who is Alek and Erich's favourite charcter http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image013.jpg


I knew your brothers were intelligent guys and good judges of character

Nice update again, looking forward to the next installment

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

awesome chapter as usual, epcot is my favorite park, cant wait to hear more!

I enjoy Epcot as well, I will make sure to schedule more time there on my next trip as I don't feel as though we experienced the park to its fullest.

love the update....

he sure does look proud meeting his idol!!

He does love his Goofy

If the CM forgot his name tag, he probably took a nametag out of a bucket. When we visited my friend while working with Cars, he had a different name tag on, and that is what he said happened.

Still loving your TR. Cannot wait for more.

That is probably what happened although I don't really see the point in wearing a nametag if it does not display your real name.:confused3

I remember that one too :scared1:



I knew your brothers were intelligent guys and good judges of character

Nice update again, looking forward to the next installment

LOL, They are big Goofy fans as am I and they wish that there was more merchandise out there dedicated to him.

[Disneyolic]

Thought I posted but didn't....

I'm still enjoying reading your TR. My favorite pic this time is your bros with Bruce. Way funny!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Thought I posted but didn't....

I'm still enjoying reading your TR. My favorite pic this time is your bros with Bruce. Way funny!

There are plenty more where that came from. They love fooling around for the camera.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Well Hobbes made it home in one piece from his surgery so now I can stop feeling guilty over emasculating my cat and get back to enjoying trip reports and working on the next installment.:cool1:

[blue_river]

On the way Alek spotted Character Connection and said that we needed to go there before we left the park.

What? We MISSED this!!!!!! :confused:

We really need to spend more time at Epcot this summer.

You got some really cute pics with the characters :3dglasses

Fun update Lessa :thumbsup2

I knew your brothers were intelligent guys and good judges of character

This is me rolling my eyes at you Goofster :rolleyes:

:rotfl:

Well Hobbes made it home in one piece from his surgery so now I can stop feeling guilty over emasculating my cat and get back to enjoying trip reports and working on the next installment.

Oh that's good news. Poor kitty :guilty:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Three Part Two


After we had finished playing around with Mickey and the gang at Character Connection we had some decisions to make. Our fastpasses for Mission:Space would be available in just over an hour so we needed to find something to do. July 1st is Alek girlfriend's birthday and he felt a bit guilty about missing it so I suggested that we head over to the Imagination Pavillion and to Imageworks so he could send her an e-mail with our picture in it. He thought that was a great idea so we headed on over to send Jess a birthday e-mail. When we arrived we found out that Honey I Shrunk the Audience was about to start so we headed on in. We had seen this show back in 1997 and loved it. When we saw it then we had to stand in an hour long line to see it. This time we got to walk right into the preshow area where we got to see the Kodak commercial.:rolleyes: They finally let us in to sit down and I snapped this shot of Alek who was greatly anticipating the show.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3016.jpg

Before the show started they asked everybody to check around their seats for a pink visor that a little girl had lost. Luckily for her it was found and they began the show.

We were very disappointed. This was nothing like how we remembered it. We will not be seeing it again.

After that waste of time we went down to Imageworks and sent Jess a funny birthday e-mail.

I was not feeling very well and so I decided it probably would not be a good idea to ride Mission:Space today. Alek was fine with this as he did not really care one way or another about the ride. We decided to stroll around World Showcase and take in the scenery.

In Canada, Erich found a cute magnet to give Jess for her birthday. It said "I Wine A Lot. It Makes Me Feel Better" He thought this was hilarious as she does whine quite a bit. Alek however was still on the hunt for a great birthday present.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3020.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3021.jpg

Next up was England. Mom needed to take a potty break and Alek and Erich took advantage of the down time to fool around in the phone booth;)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3023.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3025.jpg
I spotted this little guy waiting patiently to make a phone call. He said he needed to call up his friends JoJo and Goofy to make sure that they stopped by to visit him when they are down in August and to make sure to bring their mom Blue along for the fun.;)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3024.jpg

Mom came back after that and we continued our stroll.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3026.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3028.jpg

Before leaving England we ran into this lovely lady.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3030.jpg
She asked if I was friends with Uncle Albert as she noticed I loved to laugh. I said that I was in fact friends with Uncle Albert and that I was off to join him for tea. She wished me a lovely afternoon and we were off.

Our goal was France as we noted on the Times Guide that Belle and the Beast should be out for pictures. We got to France and saw the Beast so we hightailed it over and got in line for our picture. Unfortunately Belle was not out but we were fine with that as we knew there would be other opportunities to see her.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image027.jpg
We moved on to Morocco where we saw Aladdin and Jasmine and the Genie. There were two more families in front of us when it was announced that the genie had to leave for a meeting with the sultan. We were disappointed as we really wanted a picture with the Genie. Aladdin and Jasmine were great and showed us how to pose. They told me to put my arms on Aladdins shoulder and for Alek and Erich to stand with their arms crossed like Aladdin.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image029.jpg

Luckily for us right before we were about to leave the Genie came back out. We were so excited. He high-fived us and then we quickly got back into our poses for another picture.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image033.jpg

You are probably feeling sorry for our mom because she was getting dragged around to stand in all these character lines. Don't be. While we were standing in line she was shopping in the countries, taking pictures and chatting with strangers and making friends and having a grand time.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3032.jpg

Next up was Japan where we all went in and checked out the store. They have some really neat stuff in there. Mom and I both decided to get a pearl. I got a very nice milky white one with a slight pink tinge to it and mom got a very pretty greyish looking pearl. She was told that the colour is very rare. I got mine put in a setting and got a chain to go along with it. Mom just had it put in a setting as she had a chain at home she could use. We were very happy with our new pearls, they were so pretty! Alek and Erich thought that the girls working the pearl station were hilarious. Everytime somebody got a pearl they would say "Super Special Lucky" This would become Alek's motto for the next day or two. Everything was Super Special Lucky.

While mom and I were waiting for our pearls to be ready Alek and Erich went outside to see the Matsuriza which is Japanese drumming. They were very impressed.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3035.jpg

We checked out the shops in Italy and mom found a shirt that she really liked but she did not buy it as she wanted to see if there was anything she wanted more.

Next up was Germany where we saw Snow White and Dopey. We were not able to get a picture to add to the collection as they had just cut the line off.

We continued on our tour of World Showcase. We were stopped at the bridge that crosses over into China as they were bringing in the equipment for Illuminations. We grabbed some ice cream with our snack credits and found a nice water front table and watched the Illuminations floats drift by.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3038.jpg

Once the bridge was down we skipped over China and headed to Norway to see what the wait time was for Maelstorm. It was 45 minutes and the fastpass return was also about an hour. We decided to do it another time. We went into the gift shop where mom admired the lovely sweaters and nearly died when she looked at the price tag. Of course Alek and Erich had to get their picture taken with the troll.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3039.jpg

Not sure what Alek is doing in that picture:confused3

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3044.jpg

In Mexico we just missed Donald and one of his friends whose name I cannot recall. We were very disappointed.

We were slowly heading out of the park now as we were getting tired and we wanted to fit in a swim before heading to dinner at MGM.

We got our picture taken in front of the ball of course
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/image035.jpg

We then did some shopping in Mouseworks where I bought a cute shirt. Right before we were about to leave I spotted Club Cool and dragged everybody over. Alek and Erich spotted another group reacting to Beverly so I was not able to pull that prank on them. Oh well. I really liked the strawberry Fanta drink. It was YUMMO;)

Side note: Throughout the day Alek got a lot of attention over his Megaman shirt from the CM's and the characters. He was eating it up.

After that we left and made our way back to the lodge for a swim. The pool was fairly empty and the three of us were the only ones in the "deep" end near the stream. We decided to play a game we used to play back when we were kids living in Virginia Beach. The good old days when we had a pool. How I miss having a pool:goodvibes It doesn't really have a name so I will just call it the movie game. Since we were in Disney we stuck to Disney movies. Basically one person is on one side of the pool while everybody else is on the other. The person who is "it" thinks of a movie and then gives two clues as to what it is. You then have to guess the movie. Once somebody gets it right, that person and the person who is "it" race to the other side and whoever wins the race gets to choose the next movie. There was a female lifeguard on our side of the pool and she got into the game as well and would try and guess the movies along with us. We had fun stumping her and we would come up with really vague clues as we did not want to make it too easy for each other. I am glad we were able to entertain her for a little while as her job must be pretty boring especially when there is nobody in the pool. We played that for a little while and once again the ducks decided to join us for a swim. I loved this. It was so cute:love:

Next up Our Fantasmic Night at MGM


Day Three Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19852873&postcount=111)

[Disneyolic]

I can't believe your brother is a booger picker! Doesn't he know the old saying?


You can pick your friends....You can pick your nose....But you can't pick your friend's nose!:rotfl2:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I can't believe your brother is a booger picker! Doesn't he know the old saying?


You can pick your friends....You can pick your nose....But you can't pick your friend's nose!:rotfl2:

:lmao: I have never heard that one so he probably hasn't either. I'll have to let him know about his distasteful behaviour.;)

[SnoopyDancer]

Still enjoying your report! I hope Hobbes is doing better.

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Enjoyed reading the update. I have two goofy brothers so I can relate to the acting up in line.....and to the relief that your mom was away when they were. :lmao: Keep the updates coming !!!!:cheer2:

[Tanya90210]

:goodvibes that sounds like a really fun swimming game... or just a fun game in general really ....

I have yet to get a pic of genie... I sure hope we see him this time... beast too :thumbsup2

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

:goodvibes that sounds like a really fun swimming game... or just a fun game in general really ....

I have yet to get a pic of genie... I sure hope we see him this time... beast too :thumbsup2

lol. We have been playing that game since we were really little. No idea why we seem to like it so much but it has stuck around.

We were thrilled to get pics with the Genie and Beast as I have heard that they are not always out for pics as much as the others.

Enjoyed reading the update. I have two goofy brothers so I can relate to the acting up in line.....and to the relief that your mom was away when they were. :lmao: Keep the updates coming !!!!:cheer2:

If she had been there I imagine she and Alek probably would have gotten int one of their famous arguments that happened almost daily on the trip. Usually over tiny little unimportant things:rolleyes:

Still enjoying your report! I hope Hobbes is doing better.

He sure is! It's like he never even had the surgery. He is running around harrasing our other cat just like before:)

[Goofster57]

He said he needed to call up his friends JoJo and Goofy to make sure that they stopped by to visit him when they are down in August and to make sure to bring their mom Blue along for the fun.;)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3024.jpg


:rotfl:


http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3039.jpg

Not sure what Alek is doing in that picture:confused3




Not sure we want to know...:scared1:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Not sure we want to know...:scared1:

I agree. Sometimes it is just better not to know, especially when it comes to Alek.:rolleyes: I will be asking Alek about it though when I see him at the end of the month for my birthday dinner with our dad.

[blue_river]

It said "I Wine A Lot. It Makes Me Feel Better" He thought this was hilarious as she does whine quite a bit.

http://bestsmileys.com/doh/2.gif What will she say though???

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]I spotted this little guy waiting patiently to make a phone call. He said he needed to call up his friends JoJo and Goofy to make sure that they stopped by to visit him when they are down in August and to make sure to bring their mom Blue along for the fun.;)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3024.jpg

http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Laughing/lol-045.gif

While we were standing in line she was shopping in the countries, taking pictures and chatting with strangers and making friends and having a grand time.


My kind of mom http://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/7.gif

The pool game sounds fun. I'll have to try it with JoJo and Goofy!

You got some great shots and looks like you were all Super Special Lucky that day :)

Waiting for Fantasmic and your comments on it. We loved it.

[blue_river]

Not sure we want to know...:scared1:

I'm in agreement on this :rotfl:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

http://bestsmileys.com/doh/2.gif What will she say though???



http://smileys.on-my-web.com/repository/Laughing/lol-045.gif



My kind of mom http://bestsmileys.com/thumbs/7.gif

The pool game sounds fun. I'll have to try it with JoJo and Goofy!

You got some great shots and looks like you were all Super Special Lucky that day :)

Waiting for Fantasmic and your comments on it. We loved it.

Jess will like her gifts. Erich got her a real gift later on in the trip. Erich and Jess were in the same Power Fit class and he loves to tease her. We all have a pretty good relationship with her which is a good thing as she and Alek have been together for over two years now and I don't see it ending anytime soon. They already live together although they also have two other roommates. She says that she wants to come along when we go down to Orlando when Harry Potter World opens up.

We were Super Special Lucky the entire trip. Never would have know it was a holiday week.

Fantasmic coming up next. I'll probably have the installment up tomorrow night as I am working and have nothing else to do so might as well post an installment!

[Nicole786]

Oh! I remember that pool game!! In new york, it went a little differently though...you had two teams...lets say 3 people on each team. one team goes to one side of the pool and the other team goes to the other side of the pool. The first team thinks of a movie, tv show, or celebrity. They give clues and wait for hte other team to guess, once the other team guesses, you race to the other side, whoever gets there first wins that round.

I cant think of the name of hte game, it was some sort of candy i think like "bubblegum" or something haha.

Great chapter as always! I can't wait for more, its so GREAT to read this because Me (20) my cousin Michael [whos more like my best friend/brother (21) and my other cousin Kara (17) are going to the Wilderness Lodge in 46 days!! It's Karas first time, but between Michael and myself our favorite park is EPCOT! So i really enjoyed this chapter.

Also, was Mary Poppins on the times guide?? Having my picture taken with her is like my dream!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Oh! I remember that pool game!! In new york, it went a little differently though...you had two teams...lets say 3 people on each team. one team goes to one side of the pool and the other team goes to the other side of the pool. The first team thinks of a movie, tv show, or celebrity. They give clues and wait for hte other team to guess, once the other team guesses, you race to the other side, whoever gets there first wins that round.

I cant think of the name of hte game, it was some sort of candy i think like "bubblegum" or something haha.

Great chapter as always! I can't wait for more, its so GREAT to read this because Me (20) my cousin Michael [whos more like my best friend/brother (21) and my other cousin Kara (17) are going to the Wilderness Lodge in 46 days!! It's Karas first time, but between Michael and myself our favorite park is EPCOT! So i really enjoyed this chapter.

Also, was Mary Poppins on the times guide?? Having my picture taken with her is like my dream!!

That does sound like the same game. Ours was probably a modified version as we usually only played it together on hot lazy days at home where we would be hanging out in the pool all day. There was only the three of us so it had to be the one vs the two.

How cool that you are so close to your cousins. I have two sets of cousins but there is a large age gap between us all and we all live so far apart that we don't really know each other that well. One set of cousins from my dads side of the family live out in Vancouver and they are in their 30's and the other set of cousins this time on my moms side are in elementary school and live in Ohio. I get to see my family in Ohio once or twice a year but I have not seen my family out in Vancouver in almost 8 years.:sad2:

As for Mary Poppins no she was not on the times guide. Very few of the characters that show up in the World Showcase are on it. I think out of all the characters we saw there throughout the trip the only ones I remember being on the card were Belle and the Beast and Aladdin. England almost always has characters out though. If you don't se any out on the street take a look inside the Toy Store as there is a character greeting spot in the back.

[disgram]

Am enjoying your TR! We are going in August and so this is like a precurser to ours. Last year, in August, we were able to see, Belle, Beast, Sleeping Beauty between France and England, and then over in Morracco, in the back, we lucked out and had both Alladin and Jasmine and then Genie came out!!!! That was great! There were few people there when he came out as they had all gotten their pics and autographs of Alladin and Jasmine and had moved off!!!!! Sometimes, you get lucky!!!!:rotfl: :banana: :rotfl: :banana: :rotfl:

[armychap]

enjoying the report... looking forward to the next installment.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Am enjoying your TR! We are going in August and so this is like a precurser to ours. Last year, in August, we were able to see, Belle, Beast, Sleeping Beauty between France and England, and then over in Morracco, in the back, we lucked out and had both Alladin and Jasmine and then Genie came out!!!! That was great! There were few people there when he came out as they had all gotten their pics and autographs of Alladin and Jasmine and had moved off!!!!! Sometimes, you get lucky!!!!:rotfl: :banana: :rotfl: :banana: :rotfl:

Sounds like you really lucked out on the characters:thumbsup2 You must be getting excited as your trip is almost here. Are you going to be writing a trip report for all us Dis addicts?

enjoying the report... looking forward to the next installment.

Thanks for reading, glad you are enjoying it so far. Next update will be out tonight!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Three Part Three


After our fun in the pool we headed back up to the room to get ready for our night at MGM. We had 8:00pm ADR's at Mama Melrose and we were planning on going to the second showing of Fantasmic at 10:30 so this was going to be a late night for us!

We arrived at MGM and were able to grab a parking spot fairly close to the front but all the way at the end of the row which was not a big deal as we don't mind walking.

Once we were in the park I spotted a photopass photographer and dragged the family over for a picture. Not that great of a picture so I'm not going to post it as we have another picture in the same spot later on in the trip.

Erich then said he wanted to find an ATM as he had already blown through most of the spending money he had brought down ($250) No idea where he spent it all and so quickly. He did buy a lot of t-shirts though and at $20+ each that could make his money fly out of his wallet pretty quickly.

We had 50 minutes to kill until our ADR so we wandered around checking things out. We spotted the Snow White and Dopey topiaries. Alek and Erich were shocked. I will leave it to you to figure out what they thought was so disturbing. You will most likely need to put yourself in the mindset of a teenage boy to figure it out.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3050.jpg

They then spotted some ducks. They were all about the ducks on this trip. They always wanted pictures of the ducks.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3047.jpg

We then made our way over to Mama Melrose. Alek and Erich got shot down outside Star Tours. I guess it will just be Mom and I at dinner tonight.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3052.jpg

We still had about 30 minutes so we checked out the Muppets store which was right across from the restaurant. Here are some pictures of the store.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3055.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3062.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3060.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3058.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3064.jpg

Next we wandered back into the Toy Story area where I assume they do the meet and greets. It was deserted at this time of night though. Mom relaxed on a bench while we looked around.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3065.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3063.jpg

It was almost 8 so we went to the restaurant to check in. They let us check in 15 minutes early and told us to wait in the lobby and our name would be called when our table was ready. They do not give out buzzers here so you do actually need to stay in the lobby or you may miss your name being called. It was jam packed in that little lobby and there are almost no sitting areas. Alek and Erich checked out all the celebrity photos that are hung on the wall.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3068.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3069.jpg

They then decided to pose with the statuary
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3067.jpg
Erich claims he was trying to look like the statue.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3066.jpg

A family of four that was seated at the bar got called to their table so we were able to grab seats.

Alek and Erich eagerly awaiting dinner with mom looking very tired in the background. We were starving at this point.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3070.jpg

We were finally seated just after 8 which I guess I can not complain about as the ADR was for 8. They really do need a bigger waiting area for that restaurant or they should give out buzzers so that people can at least step outside instead of all being crammed into the little area.

We enjoyed our dinner for the most part. The food was good although I would probably order a different entree next time (I ordered the Four Cheese Flatbread) I think it was the sauce I did not care for. It was not bad by any means I would just try something different next time. The hazelnut cheesecake that I got for dessert was very good though. Before we left Alek and Erich had to get their picture taken with our waiter Cy.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Melrose011.jpg

When we walked out of the restaurant we felt as though we were in the twilight zone. The park was completely deserted. There was nobody around. It was cool and creepy at the same time.

We went to see the Muppets show which was about to start. We unfortunately missed the pre-show. There were maybe 5 other people in that theatre so it was like we had the place to ourselves. The show was cute and funny but you could definitely tell its age.

Next we wandered onto the Streets of America where once again there was nobody.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/MGM022.jpg
I like Alek's devil eyes in this picture. My photo editing software would not remove the red eye.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/MGM023.jpg
Alek and Erich creeped out about the empty park
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/MGM024.jpg
Once again Alek has devil eyes.

Onc we got to Sunset Boulevard we found the crowds. The first showing of Fantasmic had just let out so they were all pouring out of the theatre and exiting the park. We made our way over to the theatre and joined the mob that was waiting to be let in for the second show.

Once we got let in the crowd disappeared. The theatre was maybe only half full by the time the show started. Here we are waiting for Fantasmic to start.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3081.jpg

We loved this show. It was our favourite nighttime show of the whole trip and we really enjoyed going to the second show as we did not need to wait in line for an hour just to get a seat and there was lots of room in the theatre as it was not crowded at all so we were able to spread out instead of being smushed together.

I tried taking pictures but they did not really turn out so I switched to video which was a lot better. Here are some random pictures from the show. Sorry about the poor quality.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3083.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/D3086.jpg

UPDATE: I thought I would add in a few of the video clips that I took with my camera for those of you who have never seen the show.

This first one is of the opening with Mickey
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/th_96e1fb82.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/?action=view&current=96e1fb82.flv)

This next one is of a Pocahantas scene in the first half and then the princesses in the second half
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/th_fbaa0f07.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/?action=view&current=fbaa0f07.flv)

And this last clip is of the Evil Queen from Snow White brewing up trouble for Mickey
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/th_188341ec.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/?action=view&current=188341ec.flv)


Alek was amazed by the show. He wished that we could see it again every night for the rest of the week.

After the show we popped into the Villains Store and we were not very impressed. It was mostly Nightmare Before Christmas merchandise. We enjoy that movie but we were hoping for more variety in the store.

We headed back to the car and then on back to the lodge where we quickly fell asleep after our long and active day.

If you are able to go to MGM on a night when there are two showing of Fantasmic I would take advantage of it as you get to enjoy the empty park and the walk on attractions. I wish that I had made an earlier ADR so that we could have fit in more rides after dinner.

Up next Our Totally Radical Morning at Typhoon Lagoon


Day Four Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19894542&postcount=128)

[klj27]

another great update! Which night of the week were you at Fantasmic? We went on Tuesday the third. I agree that the second show is definately the way to go.

[OhMari]

I thought I posted in the beginning of your TR, but I guess I didn't. I really am enjoying reading your TR with your brothers and mom. I was starting to wonder where your mom was, since you don't mention her to much, but then you said, don't worry, she is off shopping and meeting strangers.

We missed Fantasmic, I could kick myself for missing it.

You have great pictures too.

Did you get swimmers itch from the ducks in the pools. In Wisconsin, ducks carry swimmers itch, and I don't think there is a lake that doesn't have swimmers itch-such a bummer.

[MissMichelle]

I can't believe I'm stopping at another TR!!!

Loving it! These pictures are all so fun! Keep up the good work and I'll keep coming back for more!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I didn't put these in the main update but they are from the same day. I thought I would throw in some more pictures that were taken of the Wilderness Lodge lobby and grounds throughout the day.So here you go for all you Wilderness Lodge lovers!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL001.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL002.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL003.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL004.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL005.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL006.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL007.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Three/WL008.jpg

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

another great update! Which night of the week were you at Fantasmic? We went on Tuesday the third. I agree that the second show is definately the way to go.

We were there on July 2nd which was a Monday. I totally agree on the second show, I will never go on a night with one showing if I can avoid it.
I thought I posted in the beginning of your TR, but I guess I didn't. I really am enjoying reading your TR with your brothers and mom. I was starting to wonder where your mom was, since you don't mention her to much, but then you said, don't worry, she is off shopping and meeting strangers.

We missed Fantasmic, I could kick myself for missing it.

You have great pictures too.

Did you get swimmers itch from the ducks in the pools. In Wisconsin, ducks carry swimmers itch, and I don't think there is a lake that doesn't have swimmers itch-such a bummer.

Yeah, poor mom just not as exciting or entertaining as Alek and Erich I guess. :laughing: Don't worry she will be featured more in future updates as some interesting "family moments" happen.

I have never heard of this swimmers itch before so I guess we did not suffer from it:rotfl: The WL pool is swimmers itch free.

I can't believe I'm stopping at another TR!!!

Loving it! These pictures are all so fun! Keep up the good work and I'll keep coming back for more!!

Thanks for reading and I'm glad you find my brothers antics amusing. They are funny funny guys. It was very hard for me to convince them to take the few nice family shots that we ended up with as they were always wanting to do goofy poses.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Who here is really excited for Harry Potter in only 1 hour and 20 minutes!! I will probably be so wrapped up in the book that I will do nothing else until I finish it:cheer2:

[Tanya90210]

hehehe... the more pics I see of your brothers the more they make me giggle.. must be a riot hanging out with them....

Love the update.... I'll have to remember your fantasmic tip if we go when they have 2 shows.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

hehehe... the more pics I see of your brothers the more they make me giggle.. must be a riot hanging out with them....

Love the update.... I'll have to remember your fantasmic tip if we go when they have 2 shows.

They are lots of fun to hang out with. I'm glad that we have a good relationship as I meet so many people that do not have a close relationship with their family members.

The second showing of Fantasmic is well worth staying in the parks a bit late.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I finished Harry Potter this morning. I'm so sad that it is over now. I love those books.

I can start work on the next installment now that I'm done gobbling up the last book. It will probably be out tonight or tomorrow.

[disneynewbie07]

This is my very first post!!!! Can't wait to read all about your trip!! :banana:

[Nicole786]

I finished Harry Potter this morning. I'm so sad that it is over now. I love those books.

I can start work on the next installment now that I'm done gobbling up the last book. It will probably be out tonight or tomorrow.

I picked up half blood prince this morning and I love it! I did not read the others because i saw the movies but now i probably will!

you know how excited i am about those wilderness lodge photos and they are great! I am so excited!

Looking forward to loooots more!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

This is my very first post!!!! Can't wait to read all about your trip!! :banana:

I am incredibly honored that your first post was on my trip report! Welcome to the Dis!

I picked up half blood prince this morning and I love it! I did not read the others because i saw the movies but now i probably will!

you know how excited i am about those wilderness lodge photos and they are great! I am so excited!

Looking forward to loooots more!!

You should definitely read all the books. The movies are great but nothing can compare to the magic and detail in the books. The characters are so much richer and deeper in the books and you really come to feel as though you know and care for them. You are immersed in a wonderful world reading about their adventures and it is very difficult to put the books down once you start reading.

Glad you like the Wilderness Lodge photos. There will be more in future posts!

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

My Best girlfriend is DisneyNewbie07. :hug: We set her up tonight on the Dis and I told her she had to read your trip report. She was so excited to subscribe to your report first thing. :thumbsup2 I can't wait to read more !!!

[blue_river]

Not the best picture ever but we would have plenty of chances for a redo. Erich then said he wanted to find an ATM as he had already blown through most of the spending money he had brought down ($250)

WOW! He's a big spender.


They then spotted some ducks. They were all about the ducks on this trip. They always wanted pictures of the ducks.

Same with our group :thumbsup2



We went to see the Muppets show which was about to start. We unfortunately missed the pre-show. There were maybe 5 other people in that theatre so it was like we had the place to ourselves. The show was cute and funny but you could definitely tell its age.

Where was everyone?

I enjoyed this show, brought me back to my childhood days :hippie:


Onc we got to Sunset Boulevard we found the crowds. The first showing of Fantasmic had just let out so they were all pouring out of the theatre and exiting the park. We made our way over to the theatre and joined the mob that was waiting to be let in for the second show.

ohhh...my question has been answered :rolleyes:

We loved this show. It was our favourite nighttime show of the whole trip and we really enjoyed going to the second show as we did not need to wait in line for an hour just to get a seat and there was lots of room in the theatre as it was not crowded at all so we were able to spread out instead of being smushed together.

Definately one of our favourites too :3dglasses


After the show we popped into the Villains Store and we were not very impressed. It was mostly Nightmore Before Christmas merchandise. We enjoy that movie but we were hoping for more variety in the store.

JoJo loved this store and has asked me a few times if we can go back there this summer.

Fun pictures of WL!

Can't wait to hear about TL :banana:

Great reporting Lessa :goodvibes

[blue_river]

I finished Harry Potter this morning. I'm so sad that it is over now. I love those books.

I can start work on the next installment now that I'm done gobbling up the last book. It will probably be out tonight or tomorrow.

Whaaaat?????? So many people have already finished it.

I'm only half way through! Which is also why I'm late posting here.

Loving the book :yay:

I hope to finish by tomorrow. I need to get back to my DISing ;)

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

My Best girlfriend is DisneyNewbie07. :hug: We set her up tonight on the Dis and I told her she had to read your trip report. She was so excited to subscribe to your report first thing. :thumbsup2 I can't wait to read more !!!

How cool! Thanks for referring her to my report. I'm honoured :goodvibes I am sure that she will love the Dis boards, they sure are addicting!

WOW! He's a big spender.

I enjoyed this show, brought me back to my childhood days :hippie:
ohhh...my question has been answered :rolleyes:

Definately one of our favourites too :3dglasses


Erich sure is a big spender, he probably gets it from me although I think I did pretty well on this trip when it came to spending money.

We enjoyed the muppets as well as we would watch it when we were kids, both the original muppets and the cartoon Muppet Babies:goodvibes

Whaaaat?????? So many people have already finished it.

I'm only half way through! Which is also why I'm late posting here.

Loving the book :yay:

I hope to finish by tomorrow. I need to get back to my DISing ;)

I would have finished the book earlier but my dad brought his family down on Saturday afternoon to take us to see Transformers and then out to dinner. If it hadn't been for that I would have finished it the day it came out! I pretty much did nothing but read until I finished it. I'm going to start reading again but much slower this time so I can take in all the details.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Four Part One


Today was July 3rd and our plan for the day was to hit up Typhoon Lagoon in the morning then over to Downtown Disney for a late lunch and shopping and then the Magic Kingdom in the evening for the preview of the Independence Day fireworks.

The water park opened at 8 this morning for EMH so once again I went through the ordeal of waking Erich up. He got up much faster this morning as he was really looking forward to the water park. The water parks were the highlight of his trip and he would have been perfectly happy spending the entire vacation at a water park.

We got a great parking spot right across from the entrance as not many people had arrived yet. It was almost 8 so we jumped in line and waited to get let in. They did not let people in until after 8:15. Not sure what the delay was. When we entered I spotted photopass so we got our picture taken.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image039.jpg

Mom and I then went to grab our lounge chairs while Alek and Erich took a potty break. Mom was really annoying me at this point. We found a set of chairs in a great spot, put our stuff down and then she would see a spot she liked more so we would trudge over there, put our stuff down and then oh look a better spot! She did this about three or four times:rolleyes: This was really annoying because the chairs at the water parks are really jammed together and it makes it very difficult to navigate through. I lost count of how many times I tripped and stubbed my toes during moms quest for the perfect lounge chairs. Finally she decided on a spot on the right side of the wave pool.

We joined Alek and Erich to rent a locker, stuffed all our stuff in and then made our way to the family raft ride (Gangplank Falls). We were surprised when we found out that we had to carry the huge inner tube up all those stairs. This ride was obviously not designed for four adults or the water was turned on low that morning. We moved very slowly and Alek and Erich even had to give us a little shove at one point to get us moving again.
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We asked the attendant to take our picture at the end as there was no photopass here.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001L.jpg

We then moved on to the lazy river where Alek and Erich decided to race around the river and ditched me and mom.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001K.jpg

I meet back up with them at the lounge chairs so that we could go do the rest of the water slides. Mom decided to stay at the chairs and relax.

I took some pictures of Alek and Erich while we were testing the temperature of the water in the wave pool.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001B.jpg
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Here they are on our way to the slides
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001A.jpg

We went on the Storm Slides first which were a lot of fun. We went down these a few times as there are three different slides to choose from.

Next we went over to Humunga Kowabunga. Alek rode this one alone as Erich and I were both too chicken. When Alek came back he said it was great and he also was sporting a photopass wristband. He said he found it discarded in the bushes and thought it would by funny to keep it and see what kind of picture we ended up with. It turned out to be pretty boring, just two preteen guys on Crush n' Gusher.

Next we went on two other slides, I can't remember what they were called but they were also lots of fun. As a side note I would advise that if you are going to the water park in the morning make sure to eat breakfast before you go as you have to climb a million stairs to get to all the slides and on most of them you are also having to carry your tube up the stairs with you. This requires a lot of energy and if you have not eaten breakfast like me that day than you will get tired very quickly.

We were a bit hungry at this point so we went and got the locker key from mom so we could grab one of our room keys to buy some ice cream. We went over to the Leaning Palms and though we would be able to get our ice cream right away as there was only one other family there. We were wrong. This place had really really slow service. There were 10 people working behind the counter and it took over 5 minutes for them to get us our Mickey Mouse Ice Cream sandwiches!

We enjoyed our ice cream and then Erich decided he wanted to check out the gift shop. Alek and I told him we would meet back at the chairs. We went into the wave pool and spotted a photopass guy so we headed over. This was lots of fun as they make you stand with your back to the wave and you are not allowed to look back to see when it is coming and they snap your picture right when it hits you.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image042.jpg
When we got back Erich was at the chairs with a brand new beach towel:rolleyes1 Mom was missing and we later found out that she had made friends with a woman from Toledo, Ohio which is where our mom is from and they had gone off on the Lazy River together. We went over to Crush n' Gusher as this was the only slide we had not been on yet. There was a 20 minute wait but we got in line because we figured it would only get longer. They had innertubes for three people which was great as we all got to ride together. We rode the Coconut slide as the attendant at the bottom said it was the best. When you are getting in your inner tube they tell you to keep your butt raised, they are not kidding! Ours were not raised enough but they quickly were as we did not want to experience that pain again. The ride was lots of fun and we wanted to do it again but there was now a 40 minute wait. Photopass is at the bottom when you come shooting out. You can't really see me well in the pics as I am in the back and then underwater.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image044.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image045.jpg

As we were heading back to the wave pool we spotted Lilo and Stich but we did not have the camera with us so we could not stop for a picture. I did not know that they had characters in the water park so that was a surprise. We took Erich over to get our picture taken in the wave pool by photopass as we had so much fun last time.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image049.jpg

We then grabbed our camera from the chairs and went back into the pool to take our own pictures.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001D.jpg

Alek and Erich trying to take on the wave
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001E.jpg
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This picture was taken as the wave was hitting me and causing the camera to smack me in the face. I had been taking a picture of Alek and Erich and I did not lower the camera before the wave got to me.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001J.jpg

We had a lot of fun in that wave pool, it is so much fun. I had read that the waves are too big and too violent but I thought that they were great. If they had been smaller they would not have been as much fun.

It was approaching noon now and we were getting a bit tired so we found mom who was chatting away with her new friend and told her we were ready to leave whenever. We sat for a while to dry off a bit and then headed back to the hotel just after noon.

Next up Our Whirlwind Trip to Downtown Disney


Day Four Part Two (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19945235&postcount=149)

[Nicole786]

Great pics!! I just got a dicapac for my camera so I can use it at Typhoon Lagoon!! First time there (well, unless you count being too young to remember, than second) and i am so excited!! Great pics btw!

[Tanya90210]

Great waterpark shots!! I haven't seen many shots of people gettng hit by waves!! You guys always make me smile :thumbsup2

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great pics!! I just got a dicapac for my camera so I can use it at Typhoon Lagoon!! First time there (well, unless you count being too young to remember, than second) and i am so excited!! Great pics btw!

That's really cool, I had never heard of a dicapac before. I just bought a disposable waterproof camera to take to the water parks and depended on photopass.

Great waterpark shots!! I haven't seen many shots of people gettng hit by waves!! You guys always make me smile :thumbsup2

Yeah, those wave pool photos are some of our favourites!

[Disneyolic]

That looked like a totally great day in the water. I love them "water smack" pictures. Sorry you hit yourself in the face with your cam though but it made a kinda cool pic!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That looked like a totally great day in the water. I love them "water smack" pictures. Sorry you hit yourself in the face with your cam though but it made a kinda cool pic!

It was a great day. I love Typhoon Lagoon:love: The camera smacking the face didn't hurt that bad. There was no lasting damage and it was kinda funny.

[SnoopyDancer]

I just got caught up with your trip report. I was reading Harry Potter too! Two of my favorite lines from the book, which I'm paraphrasing, were: 1)Snape was running so fast it was as if someone were chasing him with a bottle of shampoo and 2) she was nuttier than squirrels' poo.

I love the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon! I agree with you that the big waves are what set it apart from others. It's like being at the beach without the jellyfish or other dangerous marine life. :) It looks like y'all had a blast!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I just got caught up with your trip report. I was reading Harry Potter too! Two of my favorite lines from the book, which I'm paraphrasing, were: 1)Snape was running so fast it was as if someone were chasing him with a bottle of shampoo and 2) she was nuttier than squirrels' poo.

I love the wave pool at Typhoon Lagoon! I agree with you that the big waves are what set it apart from others. It's like being at the beach without the jellyfish or other dangerous marine life. :) It looks like y'all had a blast!

:lmao: Those were great lines. So sad it is over:sad1:

I think that is why we loved it so much. We really miss living by the ocean and playing in the waves.

[blue_river]

Mom was really annoying me at this point. We found a set of chairs in a great spot, put our stuff down and then she would see a spot she liked more so we would trudge over there, put our stuff down and then oh look a better spot! She did this about three or four times:rolleyes:

Hrm...this sounds a bit like myself :rotfl2:

I'm on your mom's side ;)

Looks like you had such a fun time at TL :woohoo:

Those pictures made me excited all over again. I can't wait!!!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hrm...this sounds a bit like myself :rotfl2:

I'm on your mom's side ;)

Looks like you had such a fun time at TL :woohoo:

Those pictures made me excited all over again. I can't wait!!!!

You are almost there Blue, only 29 days left!

[blue_river]

You are almost there Blue, only 29 days left!

When I first read this post I thought to myself "she's got that wrong, it's 30 days until I realized it's past midnight :rolleyes:

Off topic: I'm so sad that Dobby died. That's as far as I am so please no spoilers yet. I hope to be finished by tomorrow evening :banana:

[scottny]

Great report and pics.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

When I first read this post I thought to myself "she's got that wrong, it's 30 days until I realized it's past midnight :rolleyes:

Off topic: I'm so sad that Dobby died. That's as far as I am so please no spoilers yet. I hope to be finished by tomorrow evening :banana:

I was so so sad about that, I cried. What a noble way to die though.

[scottny]

Ok all caught up. Great report.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Thanks, glad that you are enjoying my report:goodvibes

[blue_river]

I was so so sad about that, I cried. What a noble way to die though.

I know!!!!!!!!

I finished the book today! Wow. It was great.

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Cracking up at the thought of your mom going from chair to chair to chair. :lmao: One thing's for sure.....you are an awesome daughter and sister. :thumbsup2 Loved this installment and can't wait for the next one !:banana:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I know!!!!!!!!

I finished the book today! Wow. It was great.

Hurray!:cheer2: It was so good. I am going to have to re-read it much slower this time to take everything in. So many sad things in the book had me feeling heatbroken. All the deaths, Kreacher's Tale, Snape's memory. I am glad there was a happy ending though I wish there had been a bit more after the final battle instead of skipping 19 years ahead so quickly. I guess I will just have to imagine what happened.:cutie:

Cracking up at the thought of your mom going from chair to chair to chair. :lmao: One thing's for sure.....you are an awesome daughter and sister. :thumbsup2 Loved this installment and can't wait for the next one !:banana:

Thanks, I certainly try to be a good sister and daughter but I have my moments where I am not that great.

[SnoopyDancer]

I am glad there was a happy ending though I wish there had been a bit more after the final battle instead of skipping 19 years ahead so quickly. I guess I will just have to imagine what happened.:cutie:

At first I was disappointed with the epilogue, but then it really grew on me. I would love for her to start a series on Albus Severus. However, if she didn't, at least she gave us enough information to use our imagination to come up with various endings.

Oh, I also thought Molly's line to Bellatrix was funny too.

[Mickey'sMainMami]

Loving your trip report, can't wait for more!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

At first I was disappointed with the epilogue, but then it really grew on me. I would love for her to start a series on Albus Severus. However, if she didn't, at least she gave us enough information to use our imagination to come up with various endings.

Oh, I also thought Molly's line to Bellatrix was funny too.

Yeah, that line was hilarious!:rotfl:

Loving your trip report, can't wait for more!

Thanks for reading!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Four Part Two


We left Typhoon Lagoon just after noon and we had a 2pm ADR at Planet Hollywood. This was the one place that Erich really wanted to eat on the trip so I made the ADR even though I had heard mixed reviews about the place. We went back to the hotel to change and then headed over to Downtown Disney. It was around 1pm and we decided to see if we could get a table now instead of waiting until 2. We were seated right away, the restaurant was not busy at all.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4001P.jpg

We really enjoyed our lunch here and because the restaurant was not very busy we got out food really quickly. The only con was that the tables are really close together so I can imagine that when it is busy it is a really tight fit.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4003.jpg

This guy stands at the entrance to the restaurant and greets you as you come in. Alek and Erich made it their mission on this trip to get their picture taken with the CM's they deemed to be the best and he was one of them.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4006.jpg

He was really surprised that they wanted his picture as nobody had ever asked him before. I think this made his day.:thumbsup2 Some of the CM's in jobs like this need a little appreciation as I don't think that they usually get much.

Erich went into the store they have at the entrance and decided to buy another shirt.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4007.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4008.jpg

After lunch we decided to walk over to the Marketplace section of Downtown Disney. It was getting really windy and we could see storm clouds off in the distance. I was praying that we would make it to the World of Disney before the rain hit as I knew we could kill a lot of time in there until the rain stopped. Alek was in charge of the camera for the Downtown Disney excursion as he was pouting and complaining that Erich and I hogged the camera and he never got to take any pictures.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4010.jpg

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http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4018.jpg

We enjoyed looking at all the creations that had been made out of Lego. They were really neat! After Alek and Erich were done in the Lego store we headed into the World of Disney where we all separated and proceeded to get lost. We had decided that we would meet at the entrance with the spitting Stitch once we were done. Every once and a while we would cross paths. Here is a picture from when Erich ran into Alek. Alek had decided that he was jealous of all the little girls getting dolled up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and he wanted to become a princess too.:rolleyes:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4019.jpg

Amazingly none of us bought anything here. I think that the store was just so overwhelming and there were so many choices that it was hard to choose what to get. I am not even sure if I visited all the sections of the store as it is so easy to get turned around in the place. They should provide maps at the entrance. It reminded me of this giant christmas store I went to in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was so huge that they provided you with a map of the store so that you could know where all the sections were and to also help you navigate yourself back to your starting point.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4020.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4021.jpg

It seems as though the storm bypassed us as when we came out the wind and clouds had passed. We wandered into a few more stores including the Christmas store, the Art of Disney and Goofy's Candy Company.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4022.jpg

We did not buy anything from those stores either. I don't know what was wrong with us.:confused3 We were getting tired and we were a bit bored with Downtown Disney and Alek was starting to get cranky so we decided to go back to the hotel for an hour and then head over to the MK for our big night with the holiday fireworks. The walk back to the car which was in front of Planet Hollywood was brutal! We were just really tired for some reason. The entire trip we never once used a parking lot tram we always preferred to walk but today we were desperately wishing for a tram!

Up next Our Chat with a Disney Engineer and a Spectacular Fireworks Show!


Day Four Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=19990740&postcount=167)

[Glendamax]

I almost caught up! This has been a fun report! I only have one page left!

For my 18th birthday the family went to King's Dominion along with some of our friends. If any of you are familiar with King's Dominion then you will know about the roller coaster by the name of Volcano.:scared1: Erich decided that this was going to be his first roller coaster. We all tried to talk him out of it, tried to convince him to try one of the easier roller coasters first but he was determined that Volcano was going to be his first.
This is really funny because this was my first coaster as well! I hate drops. So I watched the ride, and it seemed more FAST, than "droppy". I stood in line, and my stomach didnt even hurt from nervousness. I got in the seat, put on the harness - still fine. The ride turned the corner - I was fine - then OH MY GOSH!!!! We took off like a rocket! :eek: :headache: :scared:
I didnt see that take off in line! You should see my pic! My mouth is open sO WIDE, that you can see my toes! It was HORRIBLE!
I enjoyed the ride, but the take off I'll never forget! :sad2:

Sad to say, I still havent been on a "real" coaster. No drops for me - not even Splash Mountain!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Sad to say, I still havent been on a "real" coaster. No drops for me - not even Splash Mountain!

Maybe someday you will work up the courage to go on a drop ride just like Erich did:thumbsup2

[Nicole786]

I love DD, i know what you mean about World of Disney, it can be a bit overwhelming! My first real goal of our upcoming trip is to go to DD to "kick off" the vacation and get some treats from Goofy's Candy Co!

PS: I'm reading deathly hallows right now, i just finished HBP in like 2 days, you were right! the books are so much better than the movies! Ginny/Harry? I was like "whoa! whoa! back.up! what happened to Cho!?" now i have to go back and read all the books!

[Tanya90210]

I was quiet when we went to PH too... it's cool just to go at least once and check it out :thumbsup2

I am shocked you bought nothing at DTD!! Not too shocked... we didn't the time we went there :lmao: I figure we will this time I hope...

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I love DD, i know what you mean about World of Disney, it can be a bit overwhelming! My first real goal of our upcoming trip is to go to DD to "kick off" the vacation and get some treats from Goofy's Candy Co!

PS: I'm reading deathly hallows right now, i just finished HBP in like 2 days, you were right! the books are so much better than the movies! Ginny/Harry? I was like "whoa! whoa! back.up! what happened to Cho!?" now i have to go back and read all the books!

The only thing I wish I had done at Downtown Disney was the create your own candy at Goofy's Candy Company. I had read so much about it and it all looked so yummy. I didn't do it though as we were all pretty tired and I don't think anybody would have wanted to stick around for the 20 minutes or so that it would have taken. Oh well there is always next time!

So glad that you are reading the books! They are great and there is so much in the books that they leave out of the movies and I think that the movies make a lot more sense if you have read the books and you have those small details that are neglected in the movies that tie everything together.:goodvibes

I was quiet when we went to PH too... it's cool just to go at least once and check it out :thumbsup2

I am shocked you bought nothing at DTD!! Not too shocked... we didn't the time we went there :lmao: I figure we will this time I hope...

We have been to Planet Hollywood three times. The first time was on our first Disney trip back in 1997 then we went to the one in Niagara Falls and then on this trip. For some reason Erich just really loves the place and it was his only request aside from the water parks for the entire trip.

I am shocked at us as well. Usually we love emptying our pockets of money. My favourite thing is shopping at the mall and having my hands full of bags filled with all my lovely purchases so to not buy anything is very out of character.

[BeautyNBeast]

It reminded me of this giant christmas store I went to in Frankenmuth, Michigan. It was so huge that they provided you with a map of the store so that you could know where all the sections were and to also help you navigate yourself back to your starting point.


bronners-the largest Christmas Store in the world. I love that store. We go at least once a year.

I am still enjoying your TR. Your family must be alot of fun.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

bronners-the largest Christmas Store in the world. I love that store. We go at least once a year.

I am still enjoying your TR. Your family must be alot of fun.

That's the one, I feel silly forgetting the name. We visited it on the way to visit my grandparents in Ohio. It was a really neat store and the downtown area of the city is very pretty as well. I got to try strawberry cheese and chocolate cheese which was very interesting...:) I will probably visit again someday.

[blue_river]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]
He was really surprised that they wanted his picture as nobody had ever asked him before. I think this made his day.:thumbsup2 Some of the CM's in jobs like this need a little appreciation as I don't think that they usually get much.

That was nice :thumbsup2


Erich went into the store they have at the entrance and decided to buy another shirt.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4007.jpg

:rotfl: I had to check that twice.

Alek had decided that he was jealous of all the little girls getting dolled up at the Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique and he wanted to become a princess too.:rolleyes:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4019.jpg


Now that hat looks very very familiar :rotfl2:


I quite enjoyed this part of your TR because we didn't go to that side of DD. The pictures were great :3dglasses

You're brothers are a hoot!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

:rotfl: I had to check that twice.

I quite enjoyed this part of your TR because we didn't go to that side of DD. The pictures were great :3dglasses

You're brothers are a hoot!!

Yes, Erich was very proud of that purchase:rolleyes:

You should definitely make it over there on this trip then so you too can get lost in the World of Disney:thumbsup2

[BeautyNBeast]

That's the one, I feel silly forgetting the name. We visited it on the way to visit my grandparents in Ohio. It was a really neat store and the downtown area of the city is very pretty as well. I got to try strawberry cheese and chocolate cheese which was very interesting...:) I will probably visit again someday.

Don't feel silly about forgetting the store. I live about 45 minutes from there, and have visited there all my life. I love chocolate cheese. People think I am crazy when I say chocolate cheese. :rotfl:

[Goofster57]

had some catching up to do.....

Great up-dates and pictures



Off topic: I'm so sad that Dobby died.



I was so so sad about that, I cried. What a noble way to die though.


I haven't read the book, but I can so relate to your feelings....

Remember when Gilligan accidentally launched the Rocket Pack and ruined their chances of getting of the island? :sad1:

[Disneyolic]

I haven't read the book, but I can so relate to your feelings....

Remember when Gilligan accidentally launched the Rocket Pack and ruined their chances of getting of the island? :sad1:
What???? :lmao: Brings back memories...



G - I - double L - I - G - A - N

spells Gilligan!!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Don't feel silly about forgetting the store. I live about 45 minutes from there, and have visited there all my life. I love chocolate cheese. People think I am crazy when I say chocolate cheese. :rotfl:

I liked the chocolate cheese as well although it tastes more like a chocolate mint than plain old chocolate.:cool2:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I haven't read the book, but I can so relate to your feelings....

Remember when Gilligan accidentally launched the Rocket Pack and ruined their chances of getting of the island? :sad1:

Oh yes, that was a very sad moment as well. I was crying for days knowing that they were once again stuck on the island.:sad2:

Erich loves Gilligan's Island, he has all the episodes on DVD. He likes to watch an episode in the morning while eating breakfast before leaving for school.

[byoung]

Nice report thanks.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Nice report thanks.

Thanks for reading and I am glad that you are enjoying my report!:goodvibes

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

So Erich has been talking about how he would like to go to Death Valley and Disneyland as he was a newborn baby when we visited those places way back in 1989. I have now devised a plan to take him on a trip to California for his university graduation present(that is if he is still interested in hanging out with his big sis). I figured we would fly out to Cali,, rent a car and then do a road trip of the state with stops at Death Valley and of course Disney World and many other key places. This trip is of course a long way away so I have lots of time to plan! I now have three Disney vacations in the future:cheer2:

1)Mother/Daughter Disney Cruise and trip to Disney World in December 2008 2)Family tip to Orlando in 2010 for Disney and Harry Potter World this time with Alek's girlfriend along.
3)California road trip in 2012.

I can't wait to plan all these trips!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Four Part Three

After a little break in the room we were off to the Magic Kingdom. Don't Alek and Erich look excited about the fun night ahead of us?

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4023.jpg

The first thing we did when we arrived was find a spot to watch the fireworks from. We decided upon a table at the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station as it had a great clear view of the castle and also it would give us a table to sit at. We knew that these spots would probably be taken early so we knew we really only had about 2 hours until we needed to return to save our spot. We sat at the table and came up with a game plan for the rest of the evening. The park was pretty busy so we knew we would have to use fastpass if we wanted to go on one of the really popular rides. Erich of course really wanted to go on Buzz again as that is his favourite ride. We then talked about what we should do for dinner. Well this discussion led to a big blowout with mom. She was a bit confused about the dining plan credits since in her mind we had used our "dinner credit at lunch". For some reason she thought that we were not entitled to dinner?? Anyways we then explained to her that we were still entitled to dinner but it would be a counter service meal. She got really angry with us for "treating her like an idiot" and yelled at us all to shut it. :confused3 This was our first big fight of the trip and we did not understand why she was so mad at us when we were just trying to explain the dining plan to her. I personally think she was just embarrassed for being mistaken and took it out on us.

Well mom and Alek are very much alike and they do not know when to drop an argument. So Erich and I sat there while they had their little battle and the poor CM who was sweeping nearby got to hear it all.:scared: It was rather embarrassing but there is no stopping them when they decide to have one of their fights as they will not listen to reason. I am just glad that except for the CM nobody else was around.

I finally told them that we were wasting time and that we needed to go get fastpasses and go on any rides we wanted to, as the crowds would soon be arriving. We moved on and grabbed fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and then decided to head over to Adventureland.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4024.jpg

As we were passing the castle we saw that Dream Along With Mickey was about to start so of course we had to stop as we loved this show the first time we saw it. Everybody was sitting in front of the castle so we went over to join them. Mom did not come with us. She said it was because she did not want to sit on the ground, I think it was because she was still mad at us. She went and grabbed a seat near Walt and Mickey.

Here is Alek eagerly awaiting the show

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4028.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4029.jpg

Of course once the show started everybody stood up so we reluctantly stood up as well as we could not see the stage sitting down.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4031.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4033.jpg

While watching the show we noticed the swarms of Brazilians in their matching shirts. They were everywhere!

The crowd at this show was pretty lame. They did not participate at all. When the performers ask you to yell out "Dreams Come True" Alek, Erich and I were the only ones who did it.:confused3

The show was just as good the second time as it was the first. We found mom once it was over and headed over to Adventureland. When we got there we found out that Pirates was closed, bummer:sad1: The wait for the Jungle Cruise was also horrendous. We decided to do the Tiki Room since a show was about to start and there was no wait.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4039.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4041.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4042.jpg

The show was cute and we enjoyed it.

We decided that since we were in Adventureland we just had to get a Dole Whip. While waiting in line Alek and Mom made up from their fight and all was right with the world again.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4043.jpg

After our yummy snack we started to head over to Tommorowland. Once we saw the crowd on Main Street we decided that we needed to go grab our table for the fireworks now before it was taken. Since we had the Buzz fastpasses we gave them to Alek and Erich so that they could go ride twice and mom and I went and grabbed our table for the fireworks. It was about 6:30 now and the fireworks were not until 9. We got our table no problem, which was a relief as I was not relishing the idea of standing on Main Street for three hours waiting for the fireworks.

While waiting for Alek and Erich to show up I wandered around the castle area and snapped some pictures as I had not thought ahead like mom and brought a book to read.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4045.jpg

Here you can see the crowd that was starting to form.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4046.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4047.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4048.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4049.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4051.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4054.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4055.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4056.jpg

The crowds were really starting to build at this point so I headed back to the table to see if Alek and Erich were back yet. I saw this on my way back. :scared:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4058.jpg


Day Four Part Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20043701&postcount=182)

[Nicole786]

great chapter! I am now addicted to harry potter I'm halfway through deathly hallows! I hope when I go to universal they have something up near harry potter land!

[Tanya90210]

wow!! great pics of the castle....

I hate those blowout fights... specially at disney... but sadly... they happen... Did Erich succeed in puring the water on Alek's head??? or was he just goofing?

[tracyvansmith]

I realy love reading your report.:thumbsup2 Gives me some idea of how the parks were for my freinds who were there the same time as you.:hippie:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

great chapter! I am now addicted to harry potter I'm halfway through deathly hallows! I hope when I go to universal they have something up near harry potter land!

Good luck with Universal! I can't wait to visit the new Harry Potter park when it opens!

wow!! great pics of the castle....

I hate those blowout fights... specially at disney... but sadly... they happen... Did Erich succeed in puring the water on Alek's head??? or was he just goofing?

Yeah, the fight sucked. Alek has a thing with picking fights. He is a lot of fun to hang out with but he is easily angered. He picked at least one small fight everyday but they were never anything too serious. We are used to him though so we just try to ignore it when he is being a jerk and it blows over quickly. If you engage in the fight though it will go on and on and that is where he and mom are a problem because they never know when to drop it. Erich and I are not very confrontational so we can usually avoid the arguments.

As for the water over the head, he was just goofing:thumbsup2

I realy love reading your report.:thumbsup2 Gives me some idea of how the parks were for my freinds who were there the same time as you.:hippie:

I have to say that we never had crowd issues except for the night of the 3rd at the Magic Kingdom and even then it wasn't so bad since we were able to grab a great spot for the fireworks and thus were not crammed together on Main Street with the rest of the mob.

I used Tour Guide Mike's suggestions on which parks to go to on certain days to avoid the crowds and it worked great! I hope that your friends were able to avoid the crowds as well!

[scottny]

Great update. the pics of the castle are really nice. I understand about the crowds I saw the tour groups also. They were everywhere.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Great update. the pics of the castle are really nice. I understand about the crowds I saw the tour groups also. They were everywhere.


Thanks, I have a bit of a castle obsession:goodvibes The only place I ever saw the big tour groups was at the MK, do they not visit the other parks?:confused3 Some of them were really rude as you will read later on in the report.

[scottny]

Thanks, I have a bit of a castle obsession:goodvibes The only place I ever saw the big tour groups was at the MK, do they not visit the other parks?:confused3 Some of them were really rude as you will read later on in the report.

your lucky i saw them in every park. they were never rude to us except for on the plane ride down.'

[disney0704]

FYI i am loving the trip report! subscribing!

[Disfan3]

this is a GREAT report! Your bros are certainly hams!!! Thanks so much for this

Getting me excited for my anniversary adults only September trip

[melsmom12]

LOVING your report so far! You must have lots of patience to put up with those two characters (aka brothers) of yours. They're cracking me up, though!

Can't wait for the next installment!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

FYI i am loving the trip report! subscribing!

Thanks for reading!:goodvibes

this is a GREAT report! Your bros are certainly hams!!! Thanks so much for this

Getting me excited for my anniversary adults only September trip

Yes, they are a lot of fun! Your trip is in September are you going to be there for free dining?

LOVING your report so far! You must have lots of patience to put up with those two characters (aka brothers) of yours. They're cracking me up, though!

Can't wait for the next installment!

I try and have patience:) My mom is the one who needs the most patience though as she has to deal with all three of us although I am nowhere near my brothers level of goofiness.

[blue_river]

The first thing we did when we arrived was find a spot to watch the fireworks from. We decided upon a table at the Tomorrowland Terrace Noodle Station as it had a great clear view of the castle and also it would give us a table to sit at.

That was a great idea! Did you read about that on the boards?

For some reason she thought that we were not entitled to dinner?? Anyways we then explained to her that we were still entitled to dinner but it would be a counter service meal. She got really angry with us for "treating her like an idiot" and yelled at us all to shut it. :confused3

aww...maybe she was just very tired :(

The heat and walking will do that to you.


Here is Alek eagerly awaiting the showhttp://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4029.jpg

:rotfl2: He's quite a character!

We decided that since we were in Adventureland we just had to get a Dole Whip.

Are they as good as everyone says they are? :confused3
I can't wait to try one and see for myself.

You took some great pictures - again :thumbsup2

Looking forward to the next installment.

[Disneyolic]

Oh didn't you get all fancy schmancy with your photography! Good job. I like people pics and scenic pics!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That was a great idea! Did you read about that on the boards?

It was actually Alek who had noted that it would be a good spot for the fireworks. I had heard on the Dis that a good spot is the rose gardens but the spot we chose was slightly better because we got to sit down at a table. It has the same view that the rose garden spot would have had though.



aww...maybe she was just very tired :(

The heat and walking will do that to you.

That is very possible. Not to mention she had been putting up with our antics for 4 days now. I think she was just exhausted and embarrassed and she just snapped. I was actually surprised that a fight did not happen until halfway through the trip.


Are they as good as everyone says they are? :confused3
I can't wait to try one and see for myself.

I really enjoyed them. I was surprised I liked them so much as I am not a big pineapple fan but they were very tasty. I never tried the float though. That just seemed like way to much pineapple for me.


Oh didn't you get all fancy schmancy with your photography! Good job. I like people pics and scenic pics!

Well, I don't know how fancy they are, I tried though. I really want to work on my photography skills but there is only so much I can do with a point and shoot. I am hoping to get a fancier camera before I go on my next trip. I love looking at the pics on the Picture of the Day thread. Those guys really inspire me to become a better photographer.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Four Part Four

When I got back to the table Alek and Erich were back from their two rounds on Buzz. They said that it broke down on their second time so they got to sit in one of the rooms and rack up a lot of points while waiting for it to start back up again.

Mom said she wanted to check out a shop on Main Street quickly so I went with her and Alek and Erich stayed at the table. While on Main Street I went into what I call the "Crystal Store". They had some really beautiful objects in there which of course cost like a million dollars. One thing I saw which I thought was amazing was this:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4060.jpg

I think the price was posted as $37000:scared1: I wonder who has the kind of money to drop on something like that. Maybe if I win the lottery someday!

Mom finished her browsing and we went back to the table. It was an hour until the fireworks now so Alek, Erich and I went to grab dinner at Cosmic Ray's as it was the closest counter service to get to other than Casey's and I did not want to attempt crossing Main Street with a tray full of food.

Cosmic Ray's did not have much of a lineup and we were in and out pretty quickly. I have two complaints about this place.

Complaint #1) The drinks were overflowing. Not just a little bit but all over the place. We had to use a ton of napkins to clean it up and the cups were still sticky from the pop. Not very pleasant.

Complaint #2)They put all our food on one tray. That tray was really heavy and filled to the brim. We were really afraid of dropping it and losing all our food. Erich carried the tray and then Alek and I waked on either side of him to make sure that nobody knocked into him. Once we got back to the table with our dinner mom went up to the noodle station to get hers. Dinner was only okay. The burgers were all right but nothing special and mom said the same about her dinner.

We discovered that while we were getting dinner mom had made friends with the man sitting at the table next to ours. It turns out that he moved down to Orlando two years ago and is an engineer for Disney!! How cool is that. He was telling us all about his job and some of the rides that he works on. He then told us that plans are in development for a fifth theme park that will be focused mainly on thrill rides:eek: I really hope this is true and he wasn't just pulling our leg. How awesome would that be! He was then joined by his kids who had been shopping on Main Street. They showed us all a clock they had just bought for their mom. What sweet kids! The dad told us that his wife also works for Disney as a Photopass photographer. He said she was working Typhon Lagoon that day and was hoping to get off work early enough to get to the MK for the fireworks. We told him we were at Typhoon that day and perhaps she took our picture. Luckily she was able to join her family for the fireworks. She was so happy when her sons gave her the clock they bought her. Another interesting thing we learned from the family is that every year Disney has a big sale in one of the MK parking lots for Disney employees where they have the merchandise they are getting rid of at massive discounts. I really wish I worked for Disney!

It was starting to get dark out and the time for fireworks was quickly approaching. Here are some pictures I took while waiting.

This one is looking towards the Crystal Palace
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4061.jpg

And of course I took a million castle pictures!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4063.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4065.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4069.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4071.jpg

It is dark out now, can't be much longer!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4075.jpg

It is finally time for the fireworks!

The Independence Day fireworks are amazing! The best fireworks show I have ever seen aside from the 4th of July in Washington DC. The fireworks go off all around you, not just in front of the castle. It was spectacular. Instead of trying to get good pics I decided to train my camera on the castle and video tape the show. For any who are interested in seeing the holiday fireworks here is the video. I only focused on the castle as I did not want to be jerking the camera around trying to get everything in. I had merged all the clips into one video but it was too large to be posted on Photobucket and Youtube so I will just post the individual clips. You will be able to hear Alek and Erich every once and a while. They are the ones doing the exaggerated ohhhs and ahhhs.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/th_7f4bc8bc.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/?action=view&current=7f4bc8bc.flv)

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/th_617726c4.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/?action=view&current=617726c4.flv)

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/th_9f6c3a6a.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/?action=view&current=9f6c3a6a.flv)

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/th_ae88d439.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/?action=view&current=ae88d439.flv)



After the fireworks we decided to head over to Toontown for some character pictures as we were not tired and we did not even want to attempt to fight through the mob on Main Street.

Toontown was pretty dead. We waited maybe 10 minutes to get into the character room. The princess line was much longer though. That had about a 40 minute wait. They had Lilo and Stitch walking up and down the lined entertaining the people who were waiting. I thought that this was a great way to keep kids minds off the wait in line.

First we got to meet Minnie
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image050.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image051.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image052.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image053.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image054.jpg

Then it was Daisy
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image057.jpg

Then Donald
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image058.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/image061.jpg

We decided to head over to Adventureland to ride the Jungle Cruise and to see if Pirates was up and running yet. Jungle Cruise only had a 10 minute wait but Mom and Erich had to go to the bathroom before getting in line so Alek and I waited near the ride. 15 minutes later and they were not back yet. Alek and I decided that they had probably gotten lost as that is a signature mom move, she is terrible at navigation:rotfl: I went off to find them and Alek waited at the ride in case they showed up. I found them on my way back to Alek, turns out they had taken a wrong turn at Aladdin ride and ended up at the entrance to Frontierland:rolleyes:

We got in line for the Jungle Cruise and were soon on the ride. We were not too impressed. Our skipper was not really into it and said her lines liked it pained her to be doing it.

UPDATE: Alek wishes for me to clarify that he actually enjoyed the skipper and her awful cynical view on life. He thought that she was hilarious.

We thanked god when we got off that ride and went over to Pirates which was open! and only a 10 minute wait! It was not even that. We walked through the queue and then were immediately put into a boat. We really enjoyed this ride. It was really fun and we liked seeing the new additions they put in. They kept it very minimal and so did not take over the original atmosphere of the ride. Alek really liked the water effect at the beginning with Davy Jones. The Johnny Depp animatronic was really good as well, looked just like him!

It was starting to get late so we decided to head back to the hotel. Spectromagic was going on while we were leaving so we were able to avoid the post-parade rush out of the park. We had to wait about 10 minutes for the bus and there was only one other family waiting with us. The bus ride is nice and quick and we were soon jumping into bed for the night.

Next up the Fourth of July at the Animal Kingdom


Day Five Part One (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20083143&postcount=195)

[Tanya90210]

great videos!! Love em!

[Glendamax]

Loved your last installment! Thanks for posting video of the fireworks!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

great videos!! Love em!

Loved your last installment! Thanks for posting video of the fireworks!

Glad you enjoyed the fireworks!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey all you dis board lurkers! Come on out and post, I would love to get to know you all!

[EvilinaDM101]

Hi!!

GREAT trip report! :thumbsup2 I've read everthing that you've posted so far this morning! (*whispers-I'm supposed to be working:surfweb: )

Anyway! Thanks again for the great reading and I can't wait to read more!!

BTW your family is fun and I think we can all say we've been there with the family battles..:rotfl2: I have an older brother and we used to be the same way with our mom. :rolleyes1 :)

~Shonnel

[SnoopyDancer]

Day Four Part Four We discovered that while we were getting dinner mom had made friends with the man sitting at the table next to ours. It turns out that he moved down to Orlando two years ago and is an engineer for Disney!! How cool is that. He was telling us all about his job and some of the rides that he works on. He then told us that plans are in development for a fifth theme park that will be focused mainly on thrill rides:eek: I really hope this is true and he wasn't just pulling our leg. How awesome would that be!

That would be awesome! I love thrill rides! It could be like California Disney with a big wooden roller coaster. Of course, I haven't been to California Disney, so I don't know if the rides are good. I hope they lure some people from Cedar Point to help design the rides!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, what was up with Minnie? ....(asked in my best Chandler Bing impersonation).... Those pictures were hilarious!

[Nicole786]

I;ve heard that thrill ride park rumor before, so cool to see that it might actually come true! (supposedly its "villain" themed how cool!)

awesome fireworks, great spot too! can't wait for more!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hi!!

GREAT trip report! :thumbsup2 I've read everthing that you've posted so far this morning! (*whispers-I'm supposed to be working:surfweb: )

Anyway! Thanks again for the great reading and I can't wait to read more!!

BTW your family is fun and I think we can all say we've been there with the family battles..:rotfl2: I have an older brother and we used to be the same way with our mom. :rolleyes1 :)

~Shonnel

:lmao: Nothing better than dising while at work! I do it all the time but then again I never have much to do at work during the summer. Most of the fun happens when the students come back to campus in the fall. Yay for drunk frosh:rolleyes:



That would be awesome! I love thrill rides! It could be like California Disney with a big wooden roller coaster. Of course, I haven't been to California Disney, so I don't know if the rides are good. I hope they lure some people from Cedar Point to help design the rides!

Okay, now that that's out of the way, what was up with Minnie? ....(asked in my best Chandler Bing impersonation).... Those pictures were hilarious!

She was a great Minnie, really friendly!

I have not been to Cedar Point in 15 years but I have heard that the roller coasters are amazing!

I;ve heard that thrill ride park rumor before, so cool to see that it might actually come true! (supposedly its "villain" themed how cool!)

awesome fireworks, great spot too! can't wait for more!

I am so hoping that we get a thrill ride park! I love all the Disney parks but I can't help but wish there were more thrill rides!

[Disneyolic]

Wonderful update! It was nice to watch your fireworks video. I loved hearing someone in the background singing, "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni." :lmao: We never viewed them from that angle so it would be nice to try that next time!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wonderful update! It was nice to watch your fireworks video. I loved hearing someone in the background singing, "stuck a feather in his hat and called it macaroni." :lmao: We never viewed them from that angle so it would be nice to try that next time!

That would be Erich singing along to the music. I did not even notice that until you pointed it out:rotfl:

[blue_river]

One thing I saw which I thought was amazing was this:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Four/D4060.jpg

:eek: Okay, even if I had that kind of money, I just can't see myself spending that much for it!!!

We discovered that while we were getting dinner mom had made friends with the man sitting at the table next to ours. It turns out that he moved down to Orlando two years ago and is an engineer for Disney!! How cool is that.

That is cool! :thumbsup2

He was telling us all about his job and some of the rides that he works on. He then told us that plans are in development for a fifth theme park that will be focused mainly on thrill rides:eek: I really hope this is true and he wasn't just pulling our leg.

Hmm...I wonder if anyone on the boards has heard anything about a fifth park. :confused: That would be awesome!

Another interesting thing we learned from the family is that every year Disney has a big sale in one of the MK parking lots for Disney employees where they have the merchandise they are getting rid of at massive discounts. I really wish I worked for Disney!

JoJo keeps telling me she isn't going to College....that she is going to work at WDW :headache:

I didn't see your videos because I'm on dialup and it would take far too long for them to load for me :headache:

You got some fun character pictures :yay: :banana: :yay:

We thanked god when we got off that ride and went over to Pirates which was open! and only a 10 minute wait! It was not even that. We walked through the queue and then were immediately put into a boat. We really enjoyed this ride. It was really fun and we liked seeing the new additions they put in. They kept it very minimal and so did not take over the original atmosphere of the ride. Alek really liked the water effect at the beginning with Davy Jones. The Johnny Depp animatronic was really good as well, looked just like him!

I'm glad you finally got to see it. It was amazing. The girls LOVED Pirates :wizard:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

:eek: Okay, even if I had that kind of money, I just can't see myself spending that much for it!!!

I probably would not as well. I wonder if they seriously expect to sell it or if it is just there for show?

That is cool! :thumbsup2 He was a really nice guy and was fun to talk to. His kids were nice too.


Hmm...I wonder if anyone on the boards has heard anything about a fifth park. :confused: That would be awesome!

On the Rumours Board they have an ongoing topic about a fifth park.

JoJo keeps telling me she isn't going to College....that she is going to work at WDW :headache:

Tell her she can do both. She can go to school during the academic year and then work for Disney through the college program in the summer. I had a friend who did this two summers ago and she loved it! She even meet her fiance there.

I didn't see your videos because I'm on dialup and it would take far too long for them to load for me :headache:

You got some fun character pictures :yay: :banana: :yay:

We loved getting pictures taken with the characters. It became a big priority for us on this trip. We arrived in Florida with the mentality of avoiding all characters until we hit all the major rides and that somehow got thrown out the window the first time we saw them. It didn't cause any problems though as we were still able to get everything done without waiting in any major lines.


I'm glad you finally got to see it. It was amazing. The girls LOVED Pirates :wizard:

We loved Pirates as well. I was worried we would have to wait until later in the trip to ride when I saw it down earlier in the day but fortunately they were able to fix it:banana:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Five Part One

Today was our one and only day at the Animal Kingdom. I had dedicated the whole day to the park at we did not have dinner reservations until 8pm so we could spend the whole day without worrying about needing to be somewhere. We were really excited about this park as it was not open the last time we were down in 97. It also has Expedition Everest which Alek and I were super excited about being the roller coasters lovers we are.

Today was also the Fourth of July. We decided to do the Animal Kingdom today as we figured it would be the least crowded of all the parks as it did not have any activities or fireworks going for the holiday, it was just business as usual.

The park had EMH this morning, which meant we had to get up really early after our late night at the MK. It was painful dragging myself out of bed but after a quick shower and some breakfast I was wide awake and ready to go.

People are not kidding when they say the Animal Kingdom is far away, it felt like it took forever to drive there, I can't imagine how long it would have felt on a bus!

We parked the car and made the short walk to the entrance. They were not letting people in yet as it was just shy of 8. I was surprised that the lines were as short as they were. Soon it was 8, we scanned our cards and we were off. I was impressed with the park as soon as we entered. It really is beautiful. Very green and lush. We spotted some animals near the entrance. Here are some flamingos
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK003.jpg

And the ever so exotic duck
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK004.jpg

We spotted a photographer and had our picture taken of course
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image063.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK002.jpg

As you can see the weather that day did not look too promising. I was hoping for a beautiful blue sky to be framing the tree. Oh well, next trip!

I spotted yet another photographer so since I am a photopass stalker I had to get our picture with the tree from another angle. This guy was great and a lot more fun than the first photographer we ran into. I am so glad we stopped. He took lots of different pictures and then told us to growl for the camera. We all did it except for mom, too silly for her I guess:rotfl:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image066.jpg

We continued on towards Africa but Alek spotted some characters so you know what that means!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK006.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK007.jpg
While we were waiting to get our pic with her we could not remember her name for the life of us. I finally remembered it was Turk! The lady in front of us thanked us as she had no idea what her name was either. Glad I could help!

Next up was Rafiki, Alek was really excited about him. Alek told us we were going to do a Kung Fu pose with him.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK008.jpg

After our character fun was over we finally made it to Kilimanjaro Safari. The line was about 20 minutes. The line seemed to move pretty fast and we enjoyed seeing what all the animals names are in what I assume is Swahili?

We were standing near a CM at the bus loading area and she saw our dream lanyards and started up a discussion about pin trading. Alek told her about how one of mine had fallen off the other day and she told us that we should invest in some metal locking backs for the pins. She said that you can find them at almost all the pin carts. It also turned out that she is from a town that is only about 45 minutes away from where we live. She says she misses home but loves working at Disney, she has been there for two summers with the college program. Our bus pulled up so we said thanks for the advice about the pins and got ready for our adventure into the wild!

One mistake we made with this ride was only bringing one camera. I was sitting on the left end and Erich was sitting on the right end. We were constantly passing the camera back and forth to get pictures. I so wish we had brought Erich's camera to the park that day. We did not get a lot of really good shots as the bus moves pretty quickly and with the passing of the camera back and forth sometimes we would miss a shot or it would be blurry from movement. Here are some of the ones we got though!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK017.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK020.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK024.jpg

This one is a termite hill:scared1:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK031.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK034.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK037.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK044.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK046.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK052.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK054.jpg

After the safari, which we enjoyed, we stopped by and visited this big guy. Alek and Erich insisted on this shot.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK058.jpg

And here’s one from a slightly different angle:rolleyes:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK059.jpg

We were off to grab fastpasses for Expedition Everest next but before heading to Asia I wanted to snap some pictures of Everest from the bridge.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK060.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK061.jpg


Day Five Part Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20107208&postcount=200)

[Tanya90210]

A picture of an animals backside.... not shocking your brothers insisted on that lol:lmao:

[Nicole786]

awesome animal kingdom shots! dont leave us hanging, you better post more! haha

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

A picture of an animals backside.... not shocking your brothers insisted on that lol:lmao:

:rotfl: Yes, it is very typical boy humour straight from Alek and Erich:thumbsup2

awesome animal kingdom shots! dont leave us hanging, you better post more! haha

LOL, there will be more probably tomorrow. I am at work tonight and it has been strangely busy for a shift in the summer. So due to the busy shift I had to shorten the installment. This day will probably cover lots of posts because I have so many pictures to share!

[blue_river]

Today was our one and only day at the Animal Kingdom. I had dedicated the whole day to the park at we did not have dinner reservations until 8pm so we could spend the whole day without worrying about needing to be somewhere. We were really excited about this park as it was not open the last time we were down in 97. It also has Expedition Everest which Alek and I were super excited about being the roller coasters lovers we are.

We LOVED AK!!!

As you know my girls are nature lovers ;)

As you can see the weather that day did not look too promising. I was hoping for a beautiful blue sky to be framing the tree. Oh well, next trip!

That's the beauty of being able to go back :thumbsup2
I can't believe how much we missed the first time around.

It also turned out that she is from a town that is only about 45 minutes away from where we live. She says she misses home but loves working at Disney, she has been there for two summers with the college program. Our bus pulled up so we said thanks for the advice about the pins and got ready for our adventure into the wild!

What are the chances of that? Neat!

One mistake we made with this ride was only bringing one camera. I was sitting on the left end and Erich was sitting on the right end. We were constantly passing the camera back and forth to get pictures.


You still got some great pics :thumbsup2

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Five Part Two

After getting my pictures of the river with Everest looming in the background we started to head over to Asia. Of course before we left Africa we saw Baloo and King Louie so we had to stop! We only waited in line maybe 5 minutes until our turn was up. They were lots of fun and we enjoyed our time with them.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK063.jpg

We made it into Asia and Alek and I grabbed our fastpasses for Everest.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK067.jpg

They were not going to be available for use for another two and a half hours though so we needed to figure out our next move. We looked at the Times Guide and saw that the Finding Nemo musical would be showing at 11:00 so we decided we would go ride Kali River Rapids as it had no wait and then head over and get in line for Nemo.

Mom and Erich needed a potty break before going on Kali so we stopped and while waiting for them Alek and I watched some chimps running along these ropes and playing around. They were hooting and making a lot of noise. They were fun to watch. I tried to get a picture of them but they were too far away or they were in shadows and so you couldn't really see them in the picture.

Mom and Erich returned and we were off to the Kali River Rapids. Here is a statue from the queue area which I thought was really well done.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK073.jpg

Kali was only so-so. We did not get very wet either. I did like how they had the covered containers where you could stow your belongings so that they did not get wet. I will not go out of my way to ride it again unless it is a really hot day and I want to get wet.

With Kali out of the way we were off to Fining Nemo: The Musical. Along the way we were handed some little plastic American flag buttons by a CM. That was nice that the parks were giving those out.

It was about 45 minutes before the show but the line was already starting to get really long so we figured we better get in line now or we might not be able to get in. We chatted with the family in front of us who were really nice. I believe they were from Alabama. They were admiring Erich's pins and thought that they were really cool. They saw that I had a Sleeping Beauty pin and that made the little girl really happy. She said that she doesn't like Cinderella because she gets too much attention and that Aurora is her favorite. I showed her my pin and how it could flip around to change her dress colour from pink to blue and she really liked that.

Here is a picture of Everest I took while waiting in line for Nemo.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK078.jpg

They finally let us into the theatre and the family we made friends with came and sat with us in the theatre. That place was packed! We were really squeezed in there. No photography is allowed during the show but Erich snapped this shot of the stage before the show started.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK080.jpg

The show was about 30 minutes I believe and the performers come out into the audience at times which was neat.

I know that this may be shocking as the reviews I have read here on the dis have all been positive but we did not really care for the show. The music was alright but we did not really like how it was performed and how the story was put together. I was glad that we saw it but we will not being seeing it again on our next trip.

Once the show was over there was only about 10 minutes until our fastpasses for Everest became available. We gave mom and Erich our cards and sent them over to Dinosaur to get fastpasses and said we would meet them at Pizzafari for lunch once we got off the ride.

Mom and Erich headed off on their mission and Alek and I walked back towards Everest. We got our picture taken by photopass along the way.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image069.jpg

We then went and looked around the Everest gift shop until our fastpasses became available. I really like the cute little stuffed Yeti.:love:

Soon it was time to ride Everest. I had been looking forward to this for months and I was not disappointed. It was awesome!!! I was not sure I would like going backwards but it was so much fun! Alek loved it as well. We are very snobby :snooty: when it comes to roller coasters and not easily pleased but this is one of our favs now! I wanted to go on it again right away but the standby line was 40 minutes. The single riders line was pretty short but we decided that we should just go to lunch as mom and Erich were waiting for us.

As we made our way over to Pizzafari I felt a few raindrops but that was it. I was praying that the rain would hold off as we did not remember to bring the ponchos to the park and both mom and I were wearing white not to mention I didn't want our stuff to get wet. We made it to Pizzafari and I did not feel any more rain so it seemed like it had decided not to rain. Mom and Erich had grabbed a table outside as mom thought it was too cold inside. She saved the table and the three of us went in to order lunch. There was almost no line, which was surprising because it was around noon. I thought for sure it would be packed! We got our food and headed back outside. The one thing that I though was odd here was that they do not put lids on the drinks and there were no straws???:confused3 We got halfway through our lunch and then the rain started. We quickly grabbed our food and rain inside where we were able to grab an empty table. We made it in just in time. It was pouring!! Here is a picture I took to give you an idea of how heavily it was raining.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK085.jpg

We were hoping that it would be a quick rain but no such luck. We finished our lunch and then I took some pictures of the restaurant while we waited to see if it would stop raining.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK082.jpg
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK083.jpg

I really like Pizzafari. I thought that the food was tasty and the restaurant is decorated so nicely. So bright and colourful!

After sitting there for 20 minutes we had a decision to make as it did not look like the rain was going to stop any time soon. Do we leave or do we continue on with the park despite the rain?

Stay tuned to find out what we decide to do with the rest of our day!


Day Five Part Three (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20121115&postcount=213)

[disney0704]

am i the first to reply!
omg i wish i found your TR sooner! so good!
we ate lunch at pizzafari as well and spent like an hour trying to find straws! haha

i love baloo and king louie :)

[Bibbidi]

I'm enjoying your trip report and all your photos. Overall it doesn't look like it was as insanely busy as I'd expect the week of the 4th to be. Looking forward to reading the rest.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

am i the first to reply!
omg i wish i found your TR sooner! so good!
we ate lunch at pizzafari as well and spent like an hour trying to find straws! haha

i love baloo and king louie :)

It was very odd that they did not have straws. I did not believe my brothers when they said they didn't have any so I went in and searched as well. Very strange:confused3

I'm enjoying your trip report and all your photos. Overall it doesn't look like it was as insanely busy as I'd expect the week of the 4th to be. Looking forward to reading the rest.

We were very surprised at the crowd level. It was not bad at all. Maybe we were just lucky and missed the crowds. I did use Tour Guide Mike's suggestions for days on which to visit each park. He was very accurate as we did not hit crowds except for on the 3rd in the MK but that was to be expected because of the fireworks. If you ever go at a bust time of the year I highly recommend TGM and his daily park suggestions:thumbsup2

[scottny]

Love the latest update. I agree with you about Kali. I loved Everest and cannot wait to do it again. looking froward to more.

[Disneyolic]

Sounds like fun, except the rain.

You didn't know about the straws? Animal Kingdom has a "no lids, no straws, and no balloons" policy. This is for the safety of the animals.

[Nicole786]

Kali does dissapoint especially when compared to Popeye over at Universal, can't wait for more AK!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Love the latest update. I agree with you about Kali. I loved Everest and cannot wait to do it again. looking froward to more.

Woohoo for Everest!!:cheer2:

Sounds like fun, except the rain.

You didn't know about the straws? Animal Kingdom has a "no lids, no straws, and no balloons" policy. This is for the safety of the animals.

Yeah the rain was a bummer. I don't know how I missed the info on the no straws policy at AK. It makes sense though and I figured it had something to do with the animals. It was just a bit annoying trying to drink our pop without a straw.

Kali does dissapoint especially when compared to Popeye over at Universal, can't wait for more AK!

Never been to Universal. At Busch Gardens in Williamsburg they have the Roman Rapids which we love. You always get soaked on that ride. I think that is why we were disappointed, we did not get soaked. That is what makes these types of rides fun. The rapids splashing you and the water falls falling down on you and the water jets spraying you. Kali just did not seem to have much of that. Perhaps they had the level of water intensity turned down that day because of the weather.:confused3

[Disneyolic]

I don't know how I missed the info on the no straws policy at AK. It makes sense though and I figured it had something to do with the animals. It was just a bit annoying trying to drink our pop without a straw.
That's why I order my drinks with no ice. My teeth hurt with ice if I have no straw so most of the time I order with no ice anyway. And, BTW, it's SODA not pop. :lmao:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

That's why I order my drinks with no ice. My teeth hurt with ice if I have no straw so most of the time I order with no ice anyway. And, BTW, it's SODA not pop. :lmao:

I would have ordered no ice if I had know about the straw thing. Oh well, I know for next time.

I stand firmly by my POP. Just like I say Diz boards. It is the only proper way;)

[TnkrBoo]

i finally made it over here :banana: ...i know it took me a while. :rolleyes1 i'm really loving your trip! :woohoo: i read all of it in one sitting.
i had to laugh at your brother's gorilla picture...i took one just like it the last time i went to AK. :rolleyes: your brothers seem like a fun handful!
i can't wait for the next update! popcorn::

[PirateFish989]

Hello!

I just found your TR and am excited to keep reading (I'm only on page 2)!!!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

i finally made it over here :banana: ...i know it took me a while. :rolleyes1 i'm really loving your trip! :woohoo: i read all of it in one sitting.
i had to laugh at your brother's gorilla picture...i took one just like it the last time i went to AK. :rolleyes: your brothers seem like a fun handful!
i can't wait for the next update! popcorn::

Hey TnkrBoo! I'm glad you made it over and that you are enjoying the report:goodvibes My brothers are a lot of fun! Here is a dancing banana because I know you like them so much!:banana:

Hello!

I just found your TR and am excited to keep reading (I'm only on page 2)!!!

Hey there! Thanks for reading. I am always happy to hear feedback from my fellow dissers:goodvibes

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Five Part Three

Well time was trickling by and we were still sitting in Pizzafari waiting for the rain to let up. We still had our fastpasses for Dinosaur that we had not used and there was so much of the park we had not seen yet and this was our only day at the Animal Kingdom so we decided to continue on despite the rain. There was a gift shop near the restaurant so we all ran over there so that mom and I could get ponchos to protect our clothes (we were wearing white:scared1: and we also needed to protect the camera). Once we got our ponchos we decided to hustle over to It's Tough To Be A Bug. We all enjoyed this show but Alek said it was good but would not go out of his way to see it again.

When we exited the show it was not raining as heavily as it was before but it was still a pretty steady rain. We made our way over to Dinosaur so we could use our fastpasses. We loved this ride! It was so much fun. I almost wish that I did not know what happened in the ride so that I could have been surprised like everybody else. I of course took a redneck photo of our ride picture. We are in the back row.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK086.jpg

We checked out the gift shop and Erich saw a shirt he really liked but they only had it in kids sizes. So that was a bummer for Erich. I think he checked every other gift shop we passed for that shirt but he had no luck finding it again.

It was now only a very light and slow rain so that was great, it now seemed as though it may actually stop raining!:banana: I looked at the Times Guide and saw that Festival of the Lion King was going to start in about 30 minutes. We decided to head over to see the show. Erich took this picture of mom and I in our styling ponchos on the walk over.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK087.jpg

I love this waterfall, so creative!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK088.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK090.jpg

It had pretty much stopped raining by now so I was glad we would be able to take off our ponchos and let them dry off somewhat while we were in the show.

We loved this show. It is so so good. Do not miss it or you will regret it!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK097.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK099.jpg

Here are some really short clips from the show. I wish I had taped the whole thing as I was not able to get my favourite parts on video as I did not think of it until those parts were over! Next time I go to Disney I really need to take a video camera.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/th_cc222752.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/?action=view&current=cc222752.flv)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/th_5b56f0c1.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/?action=view&current=5b56f0c1.flv)
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/th_7dadb9de.jpg (http://s183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/?action=view&current=7dadb9de.flv)

When we exited the show we saw that the character greeting trails were nearby so we of course had to go get our pictures taken!

First up was Donald. Poor Donald had almost no line so we were able to see him right away. I did not understand why nobody wanted to see Donald. He is my favourite character! My dad says that when I get really upset and start screming at people that I sound exactly like Donald.:rolleyes1

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image38.jpg

Next up was Goofy
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK100.jpg

Then Mickey Mouse! His line was a bit longer than the one for Goofy and Donald but it still wasn't bad at all. Mickey had to take a break while we were waiting and a dad who was waiting behind us got impatient and left. His kid wasn't making a fuss or anything but the dad seemed really irritated and stormed off. Don't know what his problem was. Poor kid missed out on getting to meet Mickey. Right after he left Mickey came back and it was less than 5 minutes before our turn.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image48.jpg

This encounter with Mickey went much better than the one at Epcot. Alek decided that he could let go of his grudge on Mickey.

Minnie's line looked a bit long but we couldn't leave without getting the complete set of pictures so we hopped in line anyways. The wait was only 15 minutes. It seems that the line only seemed long because there were large family groups in line and they all moved through quickly as only the kids got their pictures taken.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/image082.jpg

I just love all the Safari outfits that the characters wear. Too cute! I looked at my watch and realized that we had probably missed the parade. Oh well.

It was now time to head out of Camp Minnie-Mickey but not before I took some pictures of Mickey and friends on their fishing trip!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK104.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK105.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK108.jpg

We were heading out of Camp Minnie-Mickey and we saw the tail end of the parade passing by. We also saw Flick and Lilo and Stitch posing for pictures on our path so we hightailed it over there. We got in line for Flick and we were the second to last people before they cut the line off.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK112.jpg

Lilo and Stitch were leaving by the time we were done with Flick but we were not too upset about that as we had already gotten our picture with Stitch the other day while at the Magic Kingdom.

We were about to start heading to the exit of the park when I was struck by inspiration. :idea:

What is it that I have thought up? Well you are just going to have to wait until my next installment to find out!:banana:

Day Five Part Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20161549&postcount=230)

[OhMari]

I know some people don't like AK, but me and my husband did. We also enjoyed The Lion King show, except we waited a really long time and we found out, we could have walked into the show right before it started, like 500 other people did.

Would you believe we didn't see any characters anywhere either. You and your family really have a knack for finding them.

Love your updates.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I know some people don't like AK, but me and my husband did. We also enjoyed The Lion King show, except we waited a really long time and we found out, we could have walked into the show right before it started, like 500 other people did.

Would you believe we didn't see any characters anywhere either. You and your family really have a knack for finding them.

Love your updates.

We loved Animal Kingdom and wished that we had more time to spend there. On our next trip I am scheduling a lot more time for the AK!

We loved meeting the characters and I think we must have had character radar as we found them all over the place!

[emmaca]

Looking forward to reading more...:coffee:

[Lovinlifesooomuch30]

Love your most recent updates ! I especially loved the fireworks video that you shared with us. :wizard: How awesome !!!! Can't wait for the next installment !

[Tanya90210]

and she leaves us with a cliffhanger!!! :scared1:


Another great update.... Love the videos!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Looking forward to reading more...:coffee:

Glad you are enjoying my report!:banana:

Love your most recent updates ! I especially loved the fireworks video that you shared with us. :wizard: How awesome !!!! Can't wait for the next installment !

I'm glad you enjoyed the fireworks. I know that before I went I was really curious about what the fireworks would be like so I thought I would include it for all the curious dissers like me!

and she leaves us with a cliffhanger!!! :scared1:


Another great update.... Love the videos!

:rotfl: It seems everybody is using cliffhangers in their trip reports so I thought I would throw one in there for all my readers:laughing:

[Glendamax]

Wow! I didnt realize that I'd missed so much!

I really enjoyed your pics in AK of the (statue) characters by the water and such. I've NEVER seen those, nor have I seen "Devine". That park gets sooooo hot sooo fast, that I just try to hit my favorites, and get out there FAST! Maybe this year, I'll try going 2 different days, so I can see more.

Sorry you weren't wowed by the Nemo show. I just saw clips of it on the Travel Channel, and thought it looked great. At least now I'll know I'm not crazy if I'm not really excited about it either. OH! On the travel channel, it seems that they have updated some of the Disney shows. I barely paid attention to the one about Animal Kingdom since it was from a few years ago. But they had new info on AK, and the Disney Cruise. So if you see the shows listed, take a look.

Once again, I've enjoyed your latest installments. I think its really cool that all of you enjoy going. Hopefully one day I'll find some family/friends who really likes to go too!

See ya!

[Nicole786]

no, not a cliffhanger!! LOL i've never seen the jungle jammin parade, nor have I seen any of the walk throughs that AK has, so I'm really looking forward to AK this year! cant wait for the next one!

[Disneyolic]

I finally got to read. I am subbed to so many TRs/PTRs that I have to write down the page # of an update so I can go back and read it sometimes. Too bad about the rain but as long as you had fun, that's great! I love that you had so much character interaction. That's cool. :cool1: I love Tough to be a Bug.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Wow! I didnt realize that I'd missed so much!

Animal Kingdom was my favourite park after the Magic Kingdom. I did not even get to see the whole park on this trip so I am making it a priority when I go next year!

I really enjoyed your pics in AK of the (statue) characters by the water and such. I've NEVER seen those, nor have I seen "Devine". That park gets sooooo hot sooo fast, that I just try to hit my favorites, and get out there FAST! Maybe this year, I'll try going 2 different days, so I can see more.

I guess we were pretty lucky the week we were there as the heat did not bother us at all except for our second day when we were watching Dream Along With Mickey. I don't know if it was because the temperature wasn't bad that week or perhaps it is because we are used to the heat from living in Virginia Beach for 7 years so we just didn't notice it. Summers in Virginia were so hot! They would get up to 100 with very high humidity so Florida in the summer was nothing new to us!

You should definitely explore Animal Kingdom more though. It is a great park:thumbsup2

Sorry you weren't wowed by the Nemo show. I just saw clips of it on the Travel Channel, and thought it looked great. At least now I'll know I'm not crazy if I'm not really excited about it either. OH! On the travel channel, it seems that they have updated some of the Disney shows. I barely paid attention to the one about Animal Kingdom since it was from a few years ago. But they had new info on AK, and the Disney Cruise. So if you see the shows listed, take a look.


Most people love the Nemo show so I'm sure that if you liked what you saw on tv you will like the show. It just wan't for us. I liked some of the music, I thought that was done well!

I do not get the Travel Channel up here which is a major bummer as I always read about the great Disney episodes here on the Dis. I wish that I could see the show on the cruise. I can not get enough of looking at pictures/video from the Disney cruises in prep for my first cruise next winter!

Once again, I've enjoyed your latest installments. I think its really cool that all of you enjoy going. Hopefully one day I'll find some family/friends who really likes to go too!

See ya!

My brothers and mom love Disney. We always have. My dad on the other hand is a Disney hater. The first time we went to Disney World he was with us and he was always talking about how fake everything was and how phony everybody acted. Well my parents are divorced now and let me say this trip to Disney was so much better without the Disney grump along. We did not even tell him we were going because we knew he would give us a hard time about it and talk about what a waste of money it is. He just does not get the Disney magic. I feel sorry for him. I feel even worse for my poor step-sister who will never get to experience Disney as a child as both my dad and her mom both said they will never take her. Poor kid.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

no, not a cliffhanger!! LOL i've never seen the jungle jammin parade, nor have I seen any of the walk throughs that AK has, so I'm really looking forward to AK this year! cant wait for the next one!

:rotfl: :laughing:

I finally got to read. I am subbed to so many TRs/PTRs that I have to write down the page # of an update so I can go back and read it sometimes. Too bad about the rain but as long as you had fun, that's great! I love that you had so much character interaction. That's cool. :cool1: I love Tough to be a Bug.

I know how it is. I am also subscribed to a billion reports. I'm lucky though because I can read them all at work as I usually have nothing better to do. I love trip reports, they sure make the boring 8 hour shifts go by much faster!

[blue_river]

Kali was only so-so. We did not get very wet either. I did like how they had the covered containers where you could stow your belongings so that they did not get wet. I will not go out of my way to ride it again unless it is a really hot day and I want to get wet.

We didn't get wet either but the other two unknown people with us got soaked :rotfl2:

I know that this may be shocking as the reviews I have read here on the dis have all been positive but we did not really care for the show. The music was alright but we did not really like how it was performed and how the story was put together. I was glad that we saw it but we will not being seeing it again on our next trip.

I'm still anxious to see it :wizard:

Soon it was time to ride Everest. I had been looking forward to this for months and I was not disappointed. It was awesome!!! I was not sure I would like going backwards but it was so much fun! Alek loved it as well. We are very snobby :snooty: when it comes to roller coasters and not easily pleased but this is one of our favs now! I wanted to go on it again right away but the standby line was 40 minutes. The single riders line was pretty short but we decided that we should just go to lunch as mom and Erich were waiting for us.

I can't wait to try EE!! Gee, reading this trippie is really getting me excited for my trip :woohoo:

The one thing that I though was odd here was that they do not put lids on the drinks and there were no straws???:confused3

I think that is because of the animals :confused3
We liked Pizzafari also and couldn't believe the size of the meals. We could have shared them if we had known.

Off to read your next update. I hate getting behind.

[blue_river]

There was a gift shop near the restaurant so we all ran over there so that mom and I could get ponchos to protect our clothes (we were wearing white:scared1: and we also needed to protect the camera).
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK087.jpg

Love your ponchos :thumbsup2

We loved this show. It is so so good. Do not miss it or you will regret it!

We thought it was fantastic also!!

It was now time to head out of Camp Minnie-Mickey but not before I took some pictures of Mickey and friends on their fishing trip!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK104.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK105.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK108.jpg

Wonderful pics Lessa :banana:

What is it that I have thought up? Well you are just going to have to wait until my next installment to find out!:banana:[/COLOR]

popcorn::

More great updates! Keep them coming :yay:

[blue_river]

I know some people don't like AK, but me and my husband did. We also enjoyed The Lion King show, except we waited a really long time and we found out, we could have walked into the show right before it started, like 500 other people did.



I know eh? Many have said it's just another zoo but come on people, it's a DISNEY ZOO!!! :woohoo:

We loved AK :upsidedow

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

I'm still anxious to see it :wizard:

I am sure you will enjoy it seeing as most people do. I guess we were just the odd ones out who didn't really care for it that much. I didn't think it was bad I just won't be taking time out of my day to see it again.

I can't wait to try EE!! Gee, reading this trippie is really getting me excited for my trip :woohoo:

You only have 2 weeks to go. It is almost here Blue!:banana:



I think that is because of the animals :confused3
We liked Pizzafari also and couldn't believe the size of the meals. We could have shared them if we had known.

Yeah I figured it was due to the animals and DM verified that. What I don't get is that Blizzard Beach also had no straws and lids on their drinks:confused3


Love your ponchos :thumbsup2

Thanks, aren't they beautiful. I am surprised that they are not a fashion staple;)
Wonderful pics Lessa :banana:

Thanks Blue! I just love those statues of Mickey and the gang. They are so cute!

[blue_river]

Thanks, aren't they beautiful. I am surprised that they are not a fashion staple;)



But they are aren't they?? :laughing:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Five Part Four

So when I last left you we were standing on the path to Camp Minnie-Mickey about to leave the park and I was struck by sudden inspiration. I told my family that we could not possibly leave yet and we had to high-tail it over to Africa or we would miss our opportunity.

W
H
E
N

W
E

G
O
T

T
H
E
R
E

W
E

S
A
W

T
H
I
S

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK113.jpg

I remembered a tip from a trip report I had read that if you go to Africa the parade will pass you twice as it starts and ends at the same place. I remembered this and knew that we still had a chance to catch the parade and luckily I was right and we got there and were able to catch the whole thing.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK117.jpg

They had some really interesting "floats" in this parade. I really enjoyed it!
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK121.jpg
Chip and Dale were really goofing around and a parade CM gave them a scolding and told them to move it along as they were staying in the same area too long. At least that is what I assume happened as she had this stern look on her face and then they quickly moved on after she spoke with them.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK124.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK127-1.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK128.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK130.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK131.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK133.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK135.jpg
Timon is pointing right at me!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK137.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK139.jpg

I love this picture. This girl looks as though she has waited her whole life to see Pluto and is his biggest fan.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK140.jpg

I was really happy that I remembered that DIS tip or we would have missed the parade. This was also great as it was not very crowded where we were viewing it from as the parade had already passed once so most of those people and left leaving lots of open space right in front.

After the parade Alek and I went to find mom and Erich who has wandered off and found seats further along the parade route. We now had to discuss what to do. Did we still want to leave the park or had the Jammin Jungle Parade got us back in the mood for some more park touring?


Day Five Part Five (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20204750&postcount=244)

[scottny]

Nice pics of the parade. We saw no parades except for "Spectro" and that we only saw the last bit of. Thanks for posting the pics.

[Tanya90210]

yay!! we didn't have to wait long for the result of the cliffhanger....

but then...

she leaves us with another!!:scared1:

[Disneyolic]

Thanks for the pics of the parade. I can't tell you if we saw it or not because I'm not that far in my TR so.....:rolleyes1

[arbeywolf]

[COLOR="DarkOrchid"]Day Five Part Four


http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK139.jpg

I love this picture. This girl looks as though she has waited her whole life to see Pluto and is his biggest fan.




LOL! That girl could totally be me...it's not, though, I'm much older :P
But still I have pics of me with the Dawg and I have a similar starstruck expression :love:

[Nicole786]

Wow! When i read your TR chapter and you said you missed it, my thought was "i wish they would have just gone to africa!!" how funny.

I cant wait to see this, its the only current parade i have yet to see!

[blue_river]

I remembered a tip from a trip report I had read that if you go to Africa the parade will pass you twice as it starts and ends at the same place. I remembered this and knew that we still had a chance to catch the parade and luckily I was right and we got there and were able to catch the whole thing.

You were so on top of things Lessa. I hope your brothers appreciated all your DIS knowledge ;)


I love this picture. This girl looks as though she has waited her whole life to see Pluto and is his biggest fan.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK140.jpg

I agree with you!!!

You really captured a magical moment. :wizard:

More please popcorn::

[blue_river]

Thanks for the pics of the parade. I can't tell you if we saw it or not because I'm not that far in my TR so.....:rolleyes1

Don't worry, you should get to that part by Christmas :rotfl2:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Nice pics of the parade. We saw no parades except for "Spectro" and that we only saw the last bit of. Thanks for posting the pics.

We had not planned on viewing any parades except for Spectro but it just sorta worked out for us. I'm glad we saw them though as they were all very good.

yay!! we didn't have to wait long for the result of the cliffhanger....

but then...

she leaves us with another!!:scared1:

Yes, I am very speedy with the updates unlike some dissers and they know who they are;) but then again I have lots of free time at work in which to type them up.

I am also trying to master the art of the cliff hanger:rotfl:

Thanks for the pics of the parade. I can't tell you if we saw it or not because I'm not that far in my TR so.....:rolleyes1

Yes well like Blue said in her comments we can expect that update around christmas time:lmao:

LOL! That girl could totally be me...it's not, though, I'm much older :P
But still I have pics of me with the Dawg and I have a similar starstruck expression :love:

That's great! I love pictures of people being starstruck by their favourite characters. It is part of what makes Disney magical:goodvibes

Wow! When i read your TR chapter and you said you missed it, my thought was "i wish they would have just gone to africa!!" how funny.

I cant wait to see this, its the only current parade i have yet to see!

We really liked it. I especially enjoyed all the unique floats that they had instead of it just being the characters in safari outfits.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

You were so on top of things Lessa. I hope your brothers appreciated all your DIS knowledge ;)

Alek and Erich liked to make fun of me for being so Dis obsessed and spending so much time here on the Dis boards. I am sure that they appreciated my knowledge even if they did not say so. My mom thanked me though for studying up and living up to the name that someone in high school gave me, the Walking Encyclopedia. I guess I am famous for being a know-it-all:rotfl:


Don't worry, you should get to that part by Christmas :rotfl2:

:rotfl: So true:lmao:

[Disneyolic]

Don't worry, you should get to that part by Christmas :rotfl2:Spoken from the gal whose last PTR update was....when??????????? :lmao:

Just sayin'....:rolleyes1

[blue_river]

Spoken from the gal whose last PTR update was....when??????????? :lmao:

Just sayin'....:rolleyes1

PTR's don't count!

Just sayin'....:laughing:

I don't have much more to add and I leave in 2 weeks :yay:

[Glendamax]

Once again you've seen something at AK that I havent. I've never stayed for that parade. I think the longest I've there is about 1pm. By then, I feel like I'm standing on the equator!!!:headache:
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK139.jpg

I love this picture. This girl looks as though she has waited her whole life to see Pluto and is his biggest fan. What a GREAT picture! Too bad you can't sell it to Disney!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Once again you've seen something at AK that I havent. I've never stayed for that parade. I think the longest I've there is about 1pm. By then, I feel like I'm standing on the equator!!!:headache:



I think you definitely need to schedule more AK time on your next trip. You really will love it. Animal Kingdom is my second favourite park!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Day Five Part Five

Well after the super fun parade we decided that we were still ready to pack it in for the day but we decided to slowly exit the park and look at some of the wonderful animals they had around the park and also we wanted to take a closer look at the tree of life.

We found a path that goes behind the Tree and along the river and we wandered down there.

This path mostly seemed to have birds along it but they were beautiful. I wish that I had thought to write down the names of all the animals we saw that day!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK142.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK145.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK146.jpg

We loved the giant tortoise!

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK148.jpg

Here are some of the gazillion pictures we took of the Tree of Life

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK150.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK153.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK155.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK156.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK159.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK160.jpg

These cravings really are remarkable

As we were exiting we passed the entrance to Asia and I longed for another ride on Everest but I knew that the wait would be way too long.
http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK163.jpg

Here are some more of the birds we passed

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK165.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK166.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK173.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK175.jpg

After we left Discovery Island we still had to walk through the Oasis. There are two paths you can take to the entrance. We took the right path on the way out and here are some of the creatures that we saw. I really love this park and how the animals are simply everywhere.

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK181.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK186.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK182.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK183.jpg

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK185.jpg

After admiring all the beautiful animals we exited the park and headed out to the car, or so we thought. Wouldn't you know it we managed to lose our car! It seems that none of us thought to look and remember where we parked when we arrived that morning. Well we split up into two groups and proceeded to search what seemed like the entire parking lot for the car. It felt like it took forever. I was not watching the time but it felt like a good hour until we found the car. It seems that every rental car in the state of Florida is a blue Toyota Highlander. Every time we spotted one we were sure we had found the car only to find out it belonged to somebody else.:headache: I kept hitting the alarm button on the key but it never went off as we were always too far away from the car. I finally found it and Alek and I piled into the car and then started honking the horn to get mom and Erich's attention. I spotted them in the section next to ours so I drove over and picked them up. Here is a picture of us looking for the car. Let me say this search for the car had to have been the highlight of our whole trip:rolleyes:

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK190.jpg

Do we get a prize for stupidest family alive?

This should be a lesson to all, make sure to write down or take a picture of where you parked your car or you may end up like us fools and have to wander around the parking lot for hours searching for your car. After that stressful experience we headed back to the hotel to relax. We had an ADR at 8pm for Wolfgang Puck Cafe so we had an hour or two to kill at the hotel.



Day Five Part Six (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=20238424&postcount=263)

[scottny]

The animals there r great. As for the car I believe we all have done that. Thank god for cell phone cameras, now I just click the lot number we are in. Technology is great.
Great update.

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

The animals there r great. As for the car I believe we all have done that. Thank god for cell phone cameras, now I just click the lot number we are in. Technology is great.
Great update.

That is what we had been doing every other day but for some reason nobody thought to take a picture of where we parked that morning. I think we were just so excited to get in the park that we rushed right in without thinking about how we would find the car later.

[Tanya90210]

http://i183.photobucket.com/albums/x292/cndnlesser/Day%20Five/AK190.jpg

Do we get a prize for stupidest family alive?

This should be a lesson to all, make sure to write down or take a picture of where you parked your car or you may end up like us fools and have to wander around the parking lot for hours searching for your car. After that stressful experience we headed back to the hotel to relax. We had an ADR at 8pm for Wolfgang Puck Cafe so we had an hour or two to kill at the hotel.




Been there... done that... cept at disneyland.... We thougt we were on Daisy Level.... searched searched.... called for assistance on their phones in the parking garage... they asked what time we got there.... and when we said 8am they said.... we were parking Donald then....

So we went downstairs... Hi car!!!

Ever since.... all of us are required to remember the spot so that nobody is blamed because if all 3 of us notice the spot.... 1 of us is bound to remember lol... If not... check w/ the tram or parking ppl... they know where they sent people to park if you arrived in the AM...

[Disneyolic]

I can honestly say that we have never lost our car. We've either been lucky enough to remember it before kids or have taken a picture of the aisle we were in. Rob thought I was crazy when I took a picture of the Goofy section back in October. We all remembered but you just never know at 11 pm with 3 tired kids....

That is another reason I love Disney transportation...

[nts4wdw]

That path near the tree is my favorite! Great update.

[Nicole786]

I hate losing my car even for 10 minutes, i cant imagine an hour!! lol thats why i've vowed to park my car at the WL and use disney transportation ONLY, lets see how that goes.