The surprise trip where dreams came true! Update Day 8! LOTS of pictures)

[ms_mckenna]

A word of warning in the beginning: This is my first attempt at a TR so bare with me. All my best friends say that I am long winded and ramble so I am sure that will rear it's ugly head soon. :) Also I should say there are no "official" Disney dreams that came true on our trip, but I think our dreams that came true are better. :goodvibes:

The Players:

Myself : Callie a 33 year old Mom of 2. Substitute teacher/ stay at home mom. Certified Disneyaholic. This would be my 3rd Disney trip.

Husband : James 37 year old Dad by choice to my 2 children from a previous marriage He has always been their Daddy and has been with them since they were 1 and 3. He works way to many hours as an oilfield supervisor to make sure they have everything they want. All around a great guy, but did not share my Disney obsession

DD: Shelby who is 13 will turn 14 on the trip. She is the typical teenager attitude and all. She loves Disney but for the most part when we are not there acts like it is just OK. Spends way to much time on the phone. The week before the trip got back from New Mexico from a mission trip with the church.

DS: Alex who is 11 will turn 12 a week before the trip. He was born 3 months early and is my miracle baby. He has moderate Cerebral Palsy and some other medical issues. He uses a Kwalker most of the time unless there is a lot of walking then he uses a wheelchair. He is an extremely determined kid and very independent. He is the ham of the family and is constantly laughing.

The dates: July 30th to August 6th

How the plan was hatched:
Last year when we went to NYC from Dallas we had to come back early. I could not get a flight home on the same carrier so we ended up with credits with Air Tran. In January DH and I realized that we still had not used them and they expired on 7/22 so we needed to book something with them by then. We talked about doing a birthday trip for the kids and then it evolved into being a really cool surprise if we could keep it from them. We had just got back from Disney in November and 3 out of 4 of us already wanted to go back. Even though our next trip was not scheduled until December of 08. I talked DH into it by saying I would pay for it and would keep it small. :rotfl: So we were in agreement and I booked our short 4 day trip to Pop ... little did I know the changes that it would incur.

Since I am not writing this the way I should have I am going to bring you all up to speed and to the week before the trip and DS's birthday.

DH did not think he would be able to go on this trip because of changes at work so he agreed that I needed to stay somewhere that was at least close to one of the parks with DS. He also thought we needed to take it slow and agreed to help me and we could change it to a 7/8 trip. DD's dream hotel is AKL so I called and changed us over to AKL standard view (rack rate :scared1: ) for 7 nights 8 days. I called right after to book our airfare because the trip had already grown so much I didn't need it to grow anymore.

The talk then began about AKL construction and since DS would have to take afternoon breaks I started to worry a lot about the noise. At this point I decided to try as hard as I could to get us changed to either Poly (my DD's other first choice) or BC without breaking the bank. So I called several times a week to see if there were any codes added to my account or if we were eligible to be moved. During this time my husband decided to go ahead and take off work and go with us :cloud9: but agreed he wanted to stay in a deluxe hotel. I called and got his airline ticket the same flights as us.

I know the people at Disney probably got sick of me calling but my persistence paid off. We got a "code" but the only thing I could get was BC or BW. I chose BC because of SAB. We ended up at 200.00 less than what we were paying at AKL so I was THRILLED!

Most of the trip I planned under the guise of the Dec 08 trip. Thankfully they just thought I was obsessed with Disney as always. DD always kind of thought in the back of her mind something was going on but she did not know for sure. She ended up getting into some serious trouble and I explained to her that there was a surprise birthday trip that she was one mistake away from not getting to go on.

When I was not planning itineraries I made shirts and picked up pins for hints each night about the park we were going to the next day pins to trade and other Disney things for our trip. Pictures of all our matching shirts: http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/shirts/ We ended up with 14 shirt sets. :scared1:

The kids stayed fairly busy the first part of the summer between camp and friends houses. DD went on a mission trip to New Mexico to work with a Navajo tribe two weeks before our trip. It really was a great experience for her and think it made her understand how truly blessed she is. She came back home on Dis's 12Th birthday. He had a small slumber party for his 2 best friends and they had pizza and cake. Funny it was a very small birthday but he really enjoyed it. Which showed me a lot. :)

My best friend called to see how the plans were going for leaving. I told her we were coming up a day early to spend the night in Seagoville and my brother in law was going to drive us to the airport. She asked if we could come up a day earlier because a little girl she is the foster mom for was going to have her first ever bday party (she was turning 5). We both saw this as an opportunity for DH to be around children that needed to be adopted. I have been trying to ease him into the idea of adoption for the child we have been wanting. He agreed to going up early so the plan was we would be leaving Saturday morning for the party, spending the night at her house, then Sunday night at Seagoville, and on to the airport Monday for the reveal and to Disney for 8 days. :) :dance3:

[lookingforward]

I am hooked! Can't wait for more. Your family is beautiful and I always love surprising my kids with disney trips..so I am Lookingforward to future posts!:cool1:

[Lan]

Cant wait to hear more

[ms_mckenna]

Well I am going to go ahead and update another day or two tonight since DH is stuck out on a job. We are skipping ahead to Saturday July 28Th. Most of what has happened between the last post and now is packing ... packing and more packing. The only other major thing to happen is my sis in law spilled the beans to my oldest about the trip. She kept it to herself and did not tell anyone but constantly asked when she would get to find out her hints! :( There were lots of other surprises though so at least she had something to be excited about. Plus she was not sure my sis in law was correct in what she thought because she is a bit ditz and we did not tell her that she was.

We left Saturday afternoon bags packed the kids thinking that we were going to the bday party and spending the night at my friends house. Then on to Seagoville the next day where we would pick up my brother in law Monday morning to entertain them while I had a Dr.'s appointment. My DD thought we were going on from there to our surprise trip. We made it into Plano about 5 Saturday evening and enjoyed the bday party. This is where our magic begins honestly. DH has never really considered adoption for us right now. He has always wanted to first have a biological child and then later on foster to adopt older children. My best friend is currently a foster mom to 3 children. The youngest is 1 will be 2 in Oct. and they have had him for close to a year now. There is a good chance they will end up adopting him because his home life is not working out unfortunately. She has had 2 little girls 8 and just turned 5 who she has had for a few months. She said when she first met them she automatically thought of us. They currently are up for adoption but have 2 brothers as well, and the state wants to place all 4 together. Not an easy task and the state has tried and failed to do this more than once already. It is a long story but the boys foster mom would like to adopt the boys and is not as interested in girls (she has never had girls only boys). DH told me that night after the party that he was interested in adoption ... now. We have decided to start the ball rolling and get certified to adopt. Whatever happens happens but the girls we think would be a very good fit for our family if the state decided to take what is available to place the children now. We will see what the state will certify us to do considering we already have 2 children. I have high hopes that it will all turn out for the best and we will be able to make a difference in at least one child's life. :) Maybe even 2 since we would prefer to take older children and small sibling groups both which are harder to place.

We spent the night sitting up talking about our December 08 trip that they are wanting to go with us on, and fostering to adopt. It definitely got us in the Disney mood. :)

We left her house Sunday afternoon and headed to Seagoville. Where we sat the kids down and had a long talk to get their opinions about adoption because it would effect their lives greatly as well. Both were very excited about the idea of having a little brother or sister or 2. :) We grabbed dinner to take back to the room and DH and I discussed it might be best to go ahead reveal that night instead of waiting until the next morning. DS can get overly excited about things and that might not be the best thing when trying to board a plane. We thought it was best that he got some time to get used to the idea. We told them that we had a big surprise for them when we got back to the room. DD told DS it was a trip and he got mad at her because he thought that was the surprise. We explained that she was right it was a trip but there was a lot more to it than that. When we got to the hotel I went to the bathroom and got the reveal stuff ready. Unfortunately my dial up will not let me upload the clip of the actual reveal so I will have to tell you about it for now. When I get access to some wifi I will upload it. :)

DS's bag of hints:
a box of hamburger helper (the white glove for Mickey's gloves)
just a couple of science experiments off of the Internet - to represent Stitch the science experiment
1 package of silly putty - to represent Goofy
1 set of song lyrics from any Aerosmith song to represent the Rock N Roller Coaster.

Then for DD -
a Magic Eraser - to represent Magic Kingdom
1 package of strawberry fruit bars- because Aurora was sent to pick berries while the fairies made their cake and kept switching the dress from blue to pink (DD is a huge Aurora fan)
a package of sour apple gum apples - they taste terrible and it's for Snow White DD does not like snow white
silly putty~ to represent Goofy

We gave them their bags and I must say I have never seen two more confused kids. DS took forever to catch onto the hamburger helper hint. DD who knew was even confused. She finally got it when she saw the Aerosmith lyrics of DS. She gets a HUGE grin said Alex that is AEROSMITH! Alex where do you know roller coaster plays Aerosmith? He replies RnRC in a confused voice. She screams we are going to WDW !!! Then gets so excited he just shakes and cannot talk when we confirm that yes we are going to WDW the next morning! He spent the night giggling and thanking us over and over again. We gave them the reveal bags that were filled with all kinds of Disney things I had gotten on clearance and printed off line. Including their pins I had bought for them to do pin trading and the autograph pages that I made for them. :) DS was to excited to go to sleep and in hind site we should have stuck with our original plan and not told them till the next morning because at the very least we would have gotten a good nights sleep.

[Avivasmom]

You have me hooked...what a great story so far. We were there the same time as you..July 29to Aug 3 at BWV...cannot wait to read more.

[scottny]

Ok I am in. great start.
:thumbsup2

[hjd0411]

I'm there with you - great start, and I look forward to more!

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks guys I may update more today but most likely will be tomorrow. We are going to the orientation for adoption today. :goodvibes:
Wow Dori! Did you enjoy your trip? Was the weather not great the days it rained so much! It cooled it off and ran so many out of the parks. We really enjoyed it. :)

[ulstergirl]

Great trip report. :thumbsup2 I'm officially hooked, can't wait to read more :)

[zigzagzerr]

Great start! Your family is beautiful. :hippie:

[ms_mckenna]

Well we managed to get some sleep thru Alex's giggles during the night. I think he might have slept an hour at most. We got up at 4 and got everything to the truck while the kids got dressed. We put the weekend stuff in a separate area to make sure I would not get it mixed up with our WDW stuff. We drove to my brother in laws house and he came out and drove us to DFW. I went ahead and bit the bullet and got a skycap because I over packed BADLY! I did not realize how much until this point but we ended up with 6 checked bags plus our carry ons etc. I guess the saddest thing about it is that we ended up using everything I packed and I even did laundry halfway thru the trip!

We stood in line and got checked in and found out I had a bag that was over the limit. So it was pay 25 dollars or move things around. I chose to move things around ... in hind site I would have paid the 25 bucks lol. The lady was really nice about it and even pulled me out of the regular line the second time I went thru to check the bags and just let me come up and check the 2 I had left. James said while we were waiting in line that if we did adopt we would have to mail some stuff down before we went because he could not imagine adding luggage for 2 more people to this. I kind of have to agree with him. The flight there was great no turbulence and we had a great crew. We made it to MCO about 11 and smooth sailing with check in at Magical Express. There was a family waiting next to us mom and grandma had disabilities ... they were so cranky already would hate to see them after the trip. They did not have a clue as to what was going on. If they would have read JUST the material Disney sent them they would have been a lot less cranky. I feel bad for people that do not plan and I realize I do over plan but I did not realize until today how many people just do not have a clue. How you can drop a couple of grand on a vacation and not do the homework is BEYOND me!

We checked in around 1 and our room was ready! We are not where I was told by guest services we would be but we are really close to both the lobby and the elevator so I was more than happy with it. We also did not get a full balcony, I am sure I could have gone downstairs and said something and got moved but honestly I could care less. James is the one that would have used it and he said he is fine with it so we are going to be happy that we are here in one piece and everything seems to be going as well as it has. Everyone is really nice at Beach Clue and very helpful. More so I think than the Dolphin, The room is nice James even thinks he likes it better! We both never thought we would like a Disney hotel better than the Dolphin but we are without a doubt hooked on BC now.

We decided about 2:30 to head to Epcot and the bottom dropped out which would have been awesome if we were in the park but we were stuck in the hotel and my family was not for running to the park. We decided to check out the hotel and upgrade our tickets. The lady at Concierge said this was not the typical afternoon shower so we headed back upstairs. Low and behold our bags were already here! So I unpacked everything that made it we had 2 stray ones but they made it shortly after. Woo Hooo we made it with everything we packed! A big deal to me because last trip we lost 2 bags and did not get them until the end of the trip. After we are done unpacking the clouds start to part so we decide to hit the park.
So we head out to Epcot since the rain had cooled it off we decide to walk it is definitely less than 5 minutes which is awesome. We stop at Guest Services to get Alex's bday pin for the next day and GAC card (no problems getting one either). When we entered the International Gateway Chip and Dale were there they are hysterical!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%201%20July%2030th/1Epcot730.jpg

They were sliding everywhere because it was still wet. They looked like they were having a ball. :)

We headed into the world showcase. Got our photopass and started with the pictures. One of my favorite photopass pictures is always here so it was fitting that it was our first family picture at WDW this year. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%201%20July%2030th/Epcot7303.jpg

We hit France because we saw Marie and Aurora/ Marie left before we got to her but Aurora was AWESOME! Exactly what you think of when you think of how Sleeping Beauty would act. She made a big deal over the kids autograph pages and talked to them about their pins. Shel has a bunch of Aurora pins so she was excited about seeing herself. Alex was not thrilled with her but he is not fond of any of the princesses. We left and watched the movie about France which is about 20 minutes and BEAUTIFUL! James and I both would love to see it in person now ... though I am still not sure because of what so many people have told us about it.

When we left everyone reminded me that they were hungry and I had promised we wold go to get something to eat from Electric Umbrella. I am still not sure why but my kids LOVE Electric Umbrella and we have to eat there at least once every trip. From there we hit Test Track. It was so COOL! Alex wanted to ride it again already! We told him we would come back to it but right now we were going to the WS. Shelby wanted to see the 9/11 flag from the WTC so we left and went to the US Pavilion. We watched the American Adventure movie which at first is extremely dull but by the end I was crying. Course now that I think about it I cried watching the stupid movies on Magical Express this morning too so that says nothing. James really liked it too and Shelby went to sleep, She went to ask a lady about the flag and ended up the CM was from Wichita Falls Texas !!! They talked for a while, Unfortunately the flag was moved 3 years ago. She did a pin trade with the CM and Alex is at this point still a bit stand offish about pin trading. Both of the kids wanted to stay in the WS so we had to tell them the surprise of the night. That we had a wishes cruise scheduled so we needed to go to make sure we were there on time.

We left and hit the Monorail to the Grand Floridian .... which has to be my least favorite place at WDW. We stay in Deluxes but that one feels as Shelby said Hoity Toity. I have no desire to ever stay there. We did the Wishes Celebration Cruise out of their Marina with a guy name DT. Gina and her family and Christine and her husband joined us for the cruise (both from Dis). DT was GREAT! He took us all over the lake and told us all kinds of cool things. We bought James beer from GF private dining and he told us next time to just bring it on with us that no one will say anything. :) We saw the Electrical Water Parade and the kids loved it, I was s excited because when I booked they said we would not be able to see it but he took us to Wilderness Lodge to watch. I cannot imagine ever fighting people to watch it in the parks again. The view is SO much better from the water!!!! We ended up paying 35 each to do it after splitting it with some other people from Dis, plus DT let Gina's husband come along even though he made number 11. We did the Celebration cruise and it is decorated so it is more so it could have been cheaper. They give you snacks and drinks on the boat and the Wishes music is piped right in. Picture of our boat and driver. Not the best because my batteries were going dead and the extras were in the 2 bags I had not unpacked lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%201%20July%2030th/Epcot73014.jpg

I of course cried it was AWESOME though ... James even agreed! Even Alex was in awe! He just snuggled up and laid back and watched the fireworks. To me the cruise makes the experience more intimate. We really really enjoyed it DT our driver when we got back told Shelby she could take all the snacks because the more she took the less he had to put back up lol. Of course he did not have to tell her twice. So the kids ended up having snacks for our trip all week from the cruise. :) Anyway it was great, Gina took this picture of us after we got back to the docks.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%201%20July%2030th/Epcot73015.jpg

We took the monorail to MK and then the bus back to BC. I think in the future if we are not going to a park we will take a cab back just because that was a lot of moving around to get where we needed to be. The trip on the monorail at night was beautiful though. :)

We got back to the room and everyone took their shower and got ready for bed. Surprisingly they did not fall asleep immediately but it did not take long. :)

[VanniGirl]

Thanks for sharing - can't wait for the rest!

[ms_mckenna]

We got up at 630 this morning and went to eat breakfast at Ohana ( Stitch character breakfast). We took a cab over and I learned that they do not go by times with the cab company. I called while we were still upstairs and requested a cab for 7 AM. We got downstairs at 6:50 and waited and no cab. What had happened is our cab had come straight over and someone had gotten it because we were not down yet. So lesson learned call from the curb. ;) It did not take long waiting on another cab though.

We had breakfast there at 730 and I really like being there when it opens. The kids were really tired. The next time I plan a wishes cruise I will not plan an early morning the next morning... I know I was warned! We had a GREAT breakfast though. They serve it family style which is really nice, I really liked not having to get up to fix plates. We had probably 15 to 20 minutes of eating before the characters started. I have heard how wild and crazy Stitch can be but sadly he did not get wild with us. :( I still got some great pictures with the kids. Funnily enough Lilo is the one I was least excited about being there and she was the best! She got Alex to give her a kiss!!!! My slow shutter speed on my stupid camera made me miss it!!!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Ohana73112.jpg

This was right after he had given her a kiss.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Ohana73111.jpg

And she gave him one back.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Ohana7318.jpg

Shel and Lilo

We also saw Mickey and Pluto. Alex told me that was the best breakfast he has ever had lol. James is now sold on the Polynesian so depending on what we can figure out with our future family we may try and stay there the next time we go. We never thought he would think about staying there. So we are thrilled that he is looking beyond the Epcot hotels. :)

The kids were still tired from the night before. So I asked if we wanted to skip opening MGM and just go back and sleep a bit but by the time breakfast was over they were already very awake and said no. So we left and went to MGM to celebrate Alex's birthday. This was not Alex's actual birthday it was on the 21st, but it was the day we chose to celebrate it at WDW. Since the trip was for both of their birthdays.

We made it through the gates and were just behind everyone that waited at rope drop. I was honestly surprised we made it that early. We actually walked in at the back of the group so we got the slow walk in. We headed first of course to Rock-in Roller Coaster. It is one of Alex's favorites and so we had to ride it twice before we could go do anything else. :) Here is our yearly picture of James and the kids waiting for the HA car at Rn-RC.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/MGM7312.jpg

Alex had a ball to say the least. Here they are coming back from the second ride.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/MGM7313.jpg

Alex wanted to ride Rn-RC again but Shel talked him into giving it a rest for a bit and riding ToT.
We headed to Tower of Terror. I noticed the fog in the que this time which I did not notice when we were there in November. Not sure if maybe it was just not going then because of the weather being cool. Or if it was because it was basically a walk on the days we were there before and there was of course a wait this time. The ride itself was so much better than the last time we rode it! I had heard that it was a little different each time but last time was COMPLETELY different!!! It was really cool.
We left that area of the park and of course before we went we had to get the ToT picture. ;)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/MGM7311.jpg

We rode the Great Movie Ride next which was OK the guy we had last time was better. I had hoped we would get the cowboy scenario but no such luck it was the gangster one like before. We ran to Indiana Jones after but had just missed it. So we went to Sounds Dangerously with Drew Cary which was something we probably will not do again lol. It did kill some time though, and gave Shel an opportunity for a nap. The rain set in while we were waiting and in the show but it had pretty much let up by the time we got out. We left from there and went back to Indiana Jones, they cannot reset the show while there is lightening in the vicinity so we waited a while. Honestly I would not have been so dead set on seeing it this morning if we had not worn our Indiana Jones shirts. The cast members were trading pins with Alex and Shelby and talking about how cute their shirts were. I was so glad the kids had gotten into pin trading this trip because it gave them something to do instead of being so very bored! Finally they decided to go ahead with the show but because of the rain they did a modified version. Basically it meant the first half of the show is nixed out. The scenes with the boulder and all of that. I think Alex was a bit disappointed but he enjoyed the part we did see. James and I also thought it was a different guy than was there our last trip. I am not sure if they have more than one guy that does the show but it would make sense if they did.

We decided to come back and take a nap and a shower. Shel was so sleepy before we got back but perked up as soon as we walked into the hotel. We had a 5:30 pm dinner at Spoodles and thought we would just relax at the hotel until then. We did not do much sleeping because the kids quickly got excited to be at Disney again. Plus they brought Alex's card from Mickey and Minnie and his balloons complimentary which was awesome! Gotta love anything free right? After everyone had had a shower we decided to head out to the Boardwalk.

We left about 445 and headed to Spoodles so we could walk around a bit first. I guess the rest of my family decided we should just go ahead and eat instead so that is what we did lol. They were not busy at all we went in and checked in and they went ahead and seated us even though we were almost 30 minutes early. Spoodles was wonderful! Our server and he was great to say the least.
First they brought bread and an oil dipping sauce.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodlesbread731.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles731breaddipping.jpg

The kids both got flat bread as an appetizer which they loved and I tried as well it was really good.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7312.jpg

James had the lamb kabobs which he really liked but I took his word for.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles731.jpg

and I had calamari which was on a plate with banana peppers and a sauce that made it even better. It was great even Alex loved it.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7311.jpg

For main course Alex had pepperoni flat bread (not on the menu but Daniel offered to make him something different since he could not find something he wanted on the menu) and he loved it.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7314.jpg

Shelby ordered the linguine with garlic and shrimp

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7316.jpg

and I ordered the rigatoni with sausage an d mushrooms and tomatoes

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7313.jpg

She decided she did not like the linguine though and we switched which I was more than happy about! The Rigatoni reminds me of lasagna but the linguine was awesome. James had a pork chop and it was huge!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7315.jpg

I had asked our waiter about the cost of the glow tink and hook and kind of gulped when he gave me the price. Asked if we could skip dessert for James and I get the kids the glow things and he said unfortunately no. :( Told him that was no biggie it was worth a try lol and asked to bring James and I our desserts in a to go box. I ordered the 2 kinds of cakes for James. Shel had gelato which she loved and Alex had a build your own Sundae. It was cool when they brought it out to him they had a candle and sang happy birthday to him it was cute. He loved the Sundae.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/Day%202%20July%2031st/Spoodles7317.jpg

When he brought out our to go boxes one of them was glowing. :) He winked and said that is between you and me. Definitely pixie dust because it was not on the tab. I paid and we left for the hotel because we all had leftovers. I must say that next year I will enjoy being someplace with a microwave for the Spoodles leftovers alone!

We talked about staying in the room but Alex wanted to ride Rn-RC one more time. So he and I decided to head back to MGM again, and Shelby agreed she wanted to go with us. James hung back because he never got his nap. I only did photopass pictures of us at night because I was busy doing the kid things that James and I usually take turns dealing with. I know I could do it on my own but it really made me think about how thankful I am to have him. He helps me so much with Alex. :) We ended up riding Rn-RC 3 times. We pretty much told Alex that was it we were not going again after or else we would have rode it until the park closed lol. We left there and did the TOT one more time. Much more relaxed than the earlier ride. I talked the kids into heading home afterward. I am by now worn out and we have a big day again tomorrow. We stopped and got James a burger because he called for us to get one and headed back on the boat. We rode back on the back of the boat. I always love that ride at night. We got back to the room and the guy had come for turn down service for the room and James had him just do the kids bed they loved it! Once again it did not take long after a shower to fall asleep.

The next installment we hit MK and have our long awaited meet with Mack and Capt. Jack! :)

[scottny]

Great update. I also had that make your own sundae at Spoodles and it was good. other than that I did not care for the place. The pics look great also.
:thumbsup2

[jennydep]

Loving the report!

What is a glowing Tink?

[ms_mckenna]

I know why you don't like Spoodles Scott you are where the good Italian food is. ;) We at best get Olive Garden here so we enjoyed it lol.
Jenny a glowing tink is a clip on plastic thing that goes on certain drinks that Disney has marketed to kids (they are non alcholic). They have a watch battery inside and glow. The tink one glows green and in the shape of Tink, and the hook one glows red and is in the shape of Hook. I took a picture but unfortunately it did not turn out well it just looks like a glowing blob. ;)

[jennydep]

Thank you!

[tinawv]

I can tell this is going to be a great trip report, and I absolutely love all the pictures. What a beautiful family you have. :)

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks Tina we really enjoyed our trip. :)

[ms_mckenna]

We got up pretty early ... 6 anyway. We got dressed and ready and got the kids out the door. I have this fear of being late and honestly this morning I probably could have been a LOT later and we still would have been fine. I forgot the camera so I had to run back up the stairs and by the time I got back the bus was there and had Alex loaded and ready to go!!! We stopped at Yacht club and no one got on so we rode all the way to MK as the only family on the bus!!! It was so cool! I took pictures ... of course.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT.jpg

Notice the happiness on every ones face for being so early lol. DS is the only one other than me that thought being on a bus with no one else was cool. ;)

We got to the park way earlier than I needed to be there but I rationalized it was much better than being late. It really was so cool because there was a rainbow over the lake and one side ended at poly and the other ended in MK looked to be around Frontier-land. I tried to get a picture but it did not turn out really well. You can faintly see the rainbow in my pictures. Another reason I need a new camera :D.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/rainbowoverMK.jpg



No one was even in line yet so we sat down on the park benches to wait. Shelby was still sleepy so she laid down on the park bench and went to sleep in my lap. Alex happily waiting and taking in the sites.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT4.jpg

We waited till 7:40 and they let us in. We got a few good pictures in front of the castle ... I must say it was really nice being in MK without many people! Definitely worth getting up early for and also worth the ADR at CRT.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT13.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT15.jpg

We had breakfast at the Royal Table. That has to be one of the best breakfasts I have ever had. The french toast is AWESOME! We met Cinderella
downstairs and then went up for breakfast. The kids got a sword and a wand. Alice really got the kids giggling etc. She was adorable. All the others (Belle, Aurora, and Snow White) did not really mess with Alex because he did not want a picture with him. Alice played with him and got him to say yes to a picture.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT39.jpg

She talked to him about their bdays and how she was just a year older than him. It is wild to me how the ones I never liked much are standing out so much this trip!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/BreakfastatCRT40.jpg

The kids decided they did not want to ride Dumbo or the Teacups (no loss as far as I am concerned lol) so we rode Pooh which is adorable. Then went on Snow Whites Scary Adventure. Shel decided she wanted to watch Mickeys Phillharmagic and it is one of the cutest shows we have seen at Disney! We waited for a little bit and I must say I love that my family has a blast even waiting for something. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/MK8110.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/MK8115.jpg

I wanted to ride Its a Small World after so we would be done with Fantasy-land but we had to move so we could get to the first Pirate Tutorial. James says I ran ... I walked quickly for even me but Shel was right there with me. We made it over and there was an adorable little boy with a full Jack Sparrow costume on. We waited for a bit and Mack came out and they did their show Mack's Jack Impression was DEAD on and the guy that does Jack was awesome too. He had the mannerisms and the slurred speech and all to a T. At the beginning Mack puts down a rope to kind of draw the stage line for the tutorial he picked Shelby to stand on the rope.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/piratetutorials1.jpg

She was thrilled lol. We waited for a bit and Mack came out and they did their show Mack's Jack Impression was DEAD on and the guy that does Jack was awesome too. He had the mannerisms and the slurred speech and all to a T.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/piratetutorials7.jpg

We watched the tutorial and the little boy in the costume got picked when it was his turn to fight Mack Jack said for him to fight him. It was great. They picked 10 more kids to take the pirate Oath and Alex got picked. He was so thrilled. Jack even picked up the rope to get him with the rest of the group. Alex loves loves loves POTC so that was so cool for him to get picked. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/piratetutorials23.jpg

Here he is saying the oath ... CRT sword in hand lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/piratetutorials25.jpg

When Jack announces they are part of his crew now he was so happy. The certificate funnily enough was the first thing he was looking for to unpack when we got home and put it directly on his wall.

After it was over I asked Mack if the kids could get a picture and he said yes. To let him put up the cart so he would not lose it and he would be more than happy to. Can I just say Mack is GREAT! He has to be one of the sweetest guys we have run into at WDW. Mack told the kids to make a pirate face which is the first picture.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/kidsandmack.jpg

The second picture Alex pulled his CRT sword on Mack and he just hammed it up it was great. In hind site I should have known what he was going to do you can see that look in Alex's eyes that something is about to happen.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/kidsandmack1.jpg

We rode Pirates afterward and then got Peter Pan and Wendy's autographs. They were right outside of the Pirates wheel chair exit. We finally rode Jungle Cruise and Shel was starting to get cranky. I have some wonderful photopass pictures that really show how irritated she was with me. She said I told her that we could go to the pirates store after the ride and in all honesty if I did by the time we were done with Pirates I had forgotten all about it. I said we could and she never reminded me instead just got irritated because we did not stop. We settled her down a bit by going to the main street shops. Then we came back to the room, because it was very obviously time to take a nap lol.

DD had been looking for Art since we got to BC. When we got back to the hotel Art was downstairs and he is so sweet.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/kidsandArt2.jpg

He got down and traded with Alex.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/kidsandArt5.jpg

He gave Alex a special pin that is you keep one and you give one away. Alex adores Art now to say the very least.

The kids came back to the room and Shelby took a nap along with James. Which they both needed. Alex and I had a snack and relaxed and watched TV.

We left again and went back to the park after 4. We made it back in time for the rain to set in. I actually must say I love MK in the rain. The people all run home and so not as bad crowd wise. We had dinner at CP and we just sat and enjoyed a long meal. I have heard people say that they felt rushed but I must say I did not get that from our waitress. We actually had a problem with Eeyore not coming around (just the way it worked out and problem probably is not the best word to describe it) and I told the waitress I was sorry for continuing to occupy her table waiting on Eeyore and she told us no worries.

James and I got a picture of us and Pooh ... told Pooh it was to go in our bathroom (our bathroom is classic pooh).

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/dinneratCP11.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/dinneratCP13.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/dinneratCP6.jpg

It poured most of the time we were at CP so we enjoyed being there to eat.

When we left it had let up a lot but not completely. We got a picture in front of the castle and headed over to It's a Small World. My kids up until now had never rode IASW and I explained to them that everyone has to ride it at least once. I think if I ever try to take them on it again they are going to revolt on me lol. The kids did trade with a pin trader there though. Alex has gotten really into it and it is hysterical because the child by this time in the trip has 4 of the same pins (stitch's head) I asked him in the beginning if he realized it was the same pin and he said yea he liked that one so I just decided not to worry about it. He at least is not trading really cool pins for them lol.

I was shocked how many people were run out of the park because of the rain. Maybe we are tougher than most but I don't see why you can't just throw on a poncho and enjoy the cooler temps? We left and hit future world we went looking for Laugh Factory and found Buzz first. That has to be the cutest! We rode it twice and the kids loved it. Afterward we hit the laugh factory and the kids really liked it and so did we. Next we went to see Stitch again. Kind of funny the guy at Stitch came over to say something to us because he saw a light (think that he thought I was taking pictures) and realized that what was glowing was our shirts lol. Our shirts were Mickey heads and outlined in glow in the dark slick paint. We had planned on going to Spectro but they canceled it because of the rain so we decided to go ahead and call it a night. James reminded me on the way out that we had not road the rail road yet so we tried but it was already closed. It was really nice up there looking across main street at night.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%203%20August%201/MK813.jpg

We headed back to the hotel and pretty much passed out.

Tomorrow is AK and EE in the RAIN! :)

[shaniadobie]

subscribing !!!

[Sneezie]

DD: Shelby who is 13 will turn 14 on the trip. She is the typical teenager attitude and all. She loves Disney but for the most part when we are not there acts like it is just OK. Spends way to much time on the phone. The week before the trip got back from New Mexico from a mission trip with the church.


My DD(14) is always excited about our trip to WDW until we get there. Once we're there she starts acting like a butt. :confused3 This year, I've warned her, if she starts her ungrateful attitude she's going to stay in the room and I'm taking her KTTW:lmao: Teenagers, can't live with them.... That's all!:rotfl:

I can't wait to hear the rest of your story!

[katielou]

Great trip report so far:thumbsup2 We just upgraded our Thanksgiving trip to BC. I will love seeing your pics!!!

Beth

[ms_mckenna]

My DD(14) is always excited about our trip to WDW until we get there. Once we're there she starts acting like a butt. :confused3 This year, I've warned her, if she starts her ungrateful attitude she's going to stay in the room and I'm taking her KTTW:lmao: Teenagers, can't live with them.... That's all!:rotfl:

I can't wait to hear the rest of your story!
:rotfl: lol I like that plan. Shel had 2 times where she got in that pain in the butt realm but quickly we snatched her back thankfully. DH and I were talking about what to do with her next trip if she really gets out there and not punish one of us at the same time. We had talked about sending her back to the room as well because she will be 15 almost 16 by next trip but honestly she would like to have a 2 bedroom DVC unit to herself so I can hardly call that punishment for bad behavior lol.

Great trip report so far:thumbsup2 We just upgraded our Thanksgiving trip to BC. I will love seeing your pics!!!

Beth

Will this be your first BC trip? Be sure and look for Art. He has to be the nicest guy ever. :)

I will add more to the TR probably Monday. We are going looking for houses tomorrow. Hopefully will find something big enough for us all. :dance3: :dance3:

[SwansLoveDisney]

Your trip report is great! You have a beautiful family!

It sounds like your trip was excellent so far...

[katielou]

This will be our first disney trip with our kids. :dance3: My husband and I went quite some time back before we had them. My kids and even my husband are really excited about BC. We were booked for POR and decided to upgrade when the codes came out. I will love being so close to epcot and mgm.

Is the adoption going through? Hope your house hunting goes well.

anxiously awaiting an update:surfweb:

Beth

[ms_mckenna]

That is awesome you will love BC. I cannot even begin to put into words how relaxing it is. The pace just seems to slow down there it is WONDERFUL! If you are not staying CL call and get turn down service at night it makes it a bit more magical. :) I will post some turndown pics monday the kids adored it! What kind of room do you have booked? Trying to think Nov you should still have a good chance of being able to enjoy the pool some. We were at Dolphin in Nov of 06 and DD swam in the Grotto at the Dolphin. :) I will try and remember to post more things I can remember about the hotel for you.

As far as the adoption are kinda in limbo at this point. Waiting to hear back from the agency that will certify us. We live about an hour and half away from them so there has been talk of us going through someplace closer to us instead of them. We actually have had some changes and hope to try to get all four of the children (they are a sibling group) instead of just the girls. We just have to see what the state will certify us to do ... and a big part of that is our house having to be big enough for everyone. If all works out we will be their foster parents by Christmas and adoptive parents by the next Christmas. Going through CPS is a long process. Which I wish it were quicker but honestly would not have it any other way. At least they make sure you are sure about the choice you are making. :goodvibes:

[katielou]

Well I cant sleep either so what is better than being on the dis. My husband has told me " You will know everything about Disney by the time we go as much as you are on the dis" It is alittle addicting.
We are staying in a standard room but have read that we can request turndown service. My kids will like that. I am really hoping that the pool will be warm enough to swim in. It looks wonderful:thumbsup2 .
I noticed you are in Texas. What town. We live in Houston. Watching the weather this weekend. Hopefully the hurricane wont decide to come our way. Last time we evacuated to Austin. 22 hours later and power cord to the tv forgotten at home we were a little cranky to say the least.

beth

[ms_mckenna]

Your trip report is great! You have a beautiful family!

It sounds like your trip was excellent so far...
Thanks :goodvibes Are you guys going for MNSSHP when you go in Oct? I want to make it there so badly lol I just have to geth DH to agree to a short trip to do it! Hoping within the next 2 years we can do it. My favorite holiday is Halloween would be so cool to combine it with being at DISNEY! :goodvibes

We are staying in a standard room but have read that we can request turndown service.
I know what you mean about not sleeping lol. I did way to much research online before we left for this trip. :)
We were in a standard room as well but were extremely happy with our view. Honestly if you can request it it was surprisingly quiet being with a view of the lobby entrance. Plus as standard views go I thought ours was very nice. :goodvibes
Yes I did not realize you were from Texas as well. I used to live in Victoria so not to far from Houston. My youngest spent some time in Texas Childrens in Houston ... wonderful people there. :) We now live in North East Texas near Tyler if you know where that is lol.
They are telling us up here to fill up in case of the evacuation. I guess so we have gas? I have never heard them say that though thought it was a bit strange. Course I heard that from a friend too that told me about it lol. I hope you don't have to evacuate.

[SwansLoveDisney]

Thanks :goodvibes Are you guys going for MNSSHP when you go in Oct? I want to make it there so badly lol I just have to geth DH to agree to a short trip to do it! Hoping within the next 2 years we can do it. My favorite holiday is Halloween would be so cool to combine it with being at DISNEY! :goodvibes

We are definitely going to MNSSHP! I also LOVE Halloween and I think it's fabulous that we'll be at Disney World in Halloween costumes. I haven't been to MNSSHP before, but I have heard wonderful things about it. So you should definitely try to go!

[katielou]

I know where Victoria is. I grew up in Rosenberg. Now live in Houston. About 15min from the med center. I have spent several nights at Texas Childrens with my kids. Great hospital. We have filled out gas tanks and my husband is out at Home Depot:scared1: No telling what he will come back with. We are not evacuating this time.

Beth

[scottny]

ok caught up. the Pirates experience looked like alot of fun. I loved CP when we went, no rushing when we were there either.

[ms_mckenna]

Glad you guys are safe Beth I thought about you earlier when I was watching the weather. I am sure HD is a MAD house down there right about now!

Hey Scott ya you have to do the Pirate Tutorial they are awesome. I like your CP pic. ;) Where were you guys seated? It looks like an area I may have to ask for next time was it in the middle? Looks like there was a bit more room to move around anyway.

[ms_mckenna]

AK the park we have waited for!! A little history this is one of my families favorite parks to be at. We love FOTLK, and last time did not get to ride EE so we were so excited to be riding it for the first time!

We got up about 7 and hurried to get dressed and made it to the park a little after it had opened. It was looking like it was going to pour before we even got there so I think the crowds were even more diminished because of that. We walked in and got one or 2 good photo pass pictures and the rain set in. I have very few pictures from today because of the humidity my camera was constantly fogging up. I thought it was just me but the few photo pass pictures we have later in the day of the kids and Stitch are just as foggy. Which I will definitely have to figure out a way to keep that from happening if we ever go during a rainy time of year again.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday001.jpg

Everyone was in a great mood this morning can you tell. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday002.jpg

Notice the beginnings of the fog monster. DS is doing his best to bear it he wanted to get to EE lol. I just knew that the rain was going to get worse and we really wanted AK to be our Christmas card picture this year.

Before we hit our first ride it had started to sprinkle heavily. As we were walking in we passed by the apes and they were VERY active just making
noises back and forth and playing up high. Shel thought it was a tape of the voices I think. We didn't stop for very long and I later was kicking myself in the butt because by the time we got back to them they were already pretty much gone in for the day. We rode EE first not near as scary as it looks. I do not know what I expected but it is not bad at all. It is actually a lot of fun! Alex really decided he loved it as well. We left there and decided it was time for the ponchos because the rain really started in. We went to Makaresh Jungle trail and James and I enjoyed it but the kids were not that interested. I think the kids would have been more on board if it had been dry. The tigers were out just laying around and enjoying the rain. James got some really cute pictures of them!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday006.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday005.jpg

Of course the fog again.

The kids were hungry because they did not want anything when we left the hotel so we stopped and got some soft pretzels for them after the jungle trail. A CM at one of the carts stopped me to see our shirts and wanted to see my lanyard ( I had on Alex's because I had held it while he went to the bathroom). I told her it was his lanyard and she said oh he must like stitch. I resisted the urge to say what tipped you off lol and said yes . BTW Alex at this point has 4 stitch heads and one of the same stitch head with a body. Don't ask me why but if you know my son you know why I took the "OK honey whatever you want to do" approach. I explained a little about it to her and she decided she wanted to give him a pin. Alex is a bit taken a back when anyone offers to be nice like this. He thinks that all special treatment he gets is because of his disability so he is really stand offish about it. I have finally gotten him to pretty much go with the flow with it at least at Disney. That is only because he has seen other kids get the same treatment at Disney. So she gave him a pin that I still need to look up because it is a promo pin from Epcot and she told him not to trade it away because it is hard to get. I did not put it on his lanyard instead I immediately put it up and told her I would save it for his home collection and thanked her.

Again we get going again and decide that we are going to hit FOTLK. We got lost but finally got there. DH of course remembered how to get there and my bad sense of direction made me want to go another route (I can get lost anywhere anytime). We discussed and decided he was right after looking at a map lol. It was great just like last time! I still think that has to be the most magical show I have ever seen. The eye contact that the dancers give is so amazing! We were in the front row and the kids just watched it again like nothing else in the world was going on at that moment. It is amazing how much it captivates their attention.

When we left we went and saw IT2BAB. It was cute. I was not thinking when we came in though and did not transfer Alex out of his wheelchair and I should have.

We stopped by Flame Tree and James got the ribs which he said were OK he did not like the sides though. I honestly should have known better than to suggest it to him because he cooks awesome ribs and thinks everyone else's are sub level lol. The kids and I ate from McDonald's. We sat outside because it was so cold inside and we were all wet. I love it there sitting outside and watching AK walk by in front of you. Since I love the rain it made it even better. Course we really loved being at AK when it was raining period. The people cleared out a lot and you can still do a lot there when it rains.

Then it was on to Nemo which I enjoyed but I think Shel could have done without it, The seats were just bench ones and are a bit uncomfortable. We obviously will go see it again if we adopt so that our new children can see it but unless one of them just loves it I doubt it will be something we do every year.

We made our way back over and were looking for our parade spot. We were insanely early as we always seemed to be for things like this this trip. Shel wanted to stop a shop and get a clippy that she had seen and it is the one right behind the w/c spot for the parade. So we now were in that limbo time if we left we didn't really have time to do anything else but we were to early for what we were at right now lol. So we decided to enjoy it and spend the extra time in the shops and pin trade. The kids are REALLY in to pin trading by this point! One CM said she had a mystery pin but it was an evil one. Alex told her that her sister liked the evil ones and so he called her over and Shel traded with the CM. It was Maleficent from the cauldron series. She told Shel about how hard it is to find the one from Fantasia. We left and Shel said she didn't like it that much and she would probably just trade it away.

We found Stitch at the next shop and he was an awesome one and tried to run away with Alex in the w/c. The kids really liked him. Unfortunately none of my pictures came out, and the photo pass guys were not much better.

We stopped by Island Mercantile and Shel bought a King Louie and Alex window shopped. That child is such the tightwad. Shel had a really sweet older lady check her out ... Margaret. We saw her later in the day again.

Low and behold as we walked out the door Alex got a magical moment and traded 2 times from a woman's book pin book and got a certificate and all. Both times he picked mystery pins. He got really into trading for Mystery pins! The first he was thrilled about it is a Stitch in the monorail second it was the SAME pin the lady told Shel not 30 mins before it was really hard to find! He was so excited about that one too because he finally had something Shel wanted to trade for a stitch pin that she had. Which is the point she decided she was keeping her cauldron pins lol. Then the lady told Shel she would do 2 trades with her to ... another magical moment. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday008.jpg

We left and went back to the spot. Thankfully the rain had finally let up so they went ahead with the parade. We sat and watched the parade which I have to agree with everyone it is the best day parade I have seen at Disney.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday016.jpg

Chip shaking Alex's hand.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday018.jpg

Dale kissing Shel's hand. BTW I learned this trip how to tell the difference between Chip and Dale! Chip has a black nose that looks like a chocolate CHIP! And Dale has a red nose lol.

The kids decided they wanted to do Dinosaur which I was not thrilled about but we headed that way. There was a woman asleep on the park bench as we walked in and Alex thought it was hysterical for whatever reason. Shel jokingly said someone should have taken an afternoon break lol. Because of the rain and no one being in the park it was basically a walk on. The kids loved it. James and I rode it once and because of how much it shakes you around that was quiet enough for us!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday037.jpg

We told the kids that the grownups were tired and we needed to pick one more thing then we were done for the day. So we headed back to EE only to find out because of the rain they had had some problems. Alex was a bit disappointed but we reminded him that would just mean we need to come back on another trip so we could ride it again. They decided they wanted to do Dino again so we turned around and headed back where we were. The lady on bench was still there! She did not look like she had moved. So of course Alex is rolling laughing about it and begging me to let him take a picture with her. Well I told him I would take a picture but not with him in it. He laughed about her well into the night. It takes so little to amuse that child sometimes!

So the kids rode again. The lady at the gate joked with them that she remembered them. Then the guy midway that tells you where to go told Shelby he bet that she didn't remember how to get back downstairs did she? They had a blast riding by themselves.

So we told the kids we were done and they agreed so we headed back. Shel asked if we could stop and see if they had already sent King Louie back to the room and we told her that was fine. Margaret who had waited on her earlier was there and informed her that no they had already sent him over. Shel noticed when she was helping her that she had the stitch pins that Alex was looking for. So she told him and Margaret went around the store helping him look for Stitch heads. She thought it was really cool that we were letting him trade for what he wanted to trade for. By the time we left AK the child had a total of 8 Stitch heads and 4 of the ones with the head and the body. I have officially given up trying to get him to trade for anything else.

We left AK and headed back to the hotel a bit earlier than I expected but we needed the break before things went South with everyone mood. James and I left the kids at the room and ran down and got food from the CS right by SAB.

After we got back up to the room and had eaten I remembered that I really really needed to do laundry. Alex had run out of shorts and underwear so I unfortunately had no choices. I took my passporter, my phone, and laundry bag and headed downstairs. There are 2 laundry rooms at BC the one I found has 2 washers and 4 dryers. One washer was already being used so I had to do the 2 loads in shifts. I stayed with our laundry because I guess I am just paranoid no one else seemed to stay with theirs so I guess it is a personal thing. I caught up on my phone calls back home and touched base with everyone. This is probably the only time I will ever say this but I actually enjoyed the quiet of no one being in the Laundry room. I had my book and I read and relaxed. Well until another guest decided we needed to talk lol.

I got back up to the room at about 9 and I remembered that Alex had not gotten Shel a birthday present yet. I pulled him aside and reminded him that his sister's birthday was the next day. He flipped and I told him to relax there were still lots of shops open in and around the hotel lol. So we told James and Shel we had something we needed to go run an errand. He was really worried because he had not thought of her birthday on his own and I explained to him it was OK we were taking care of it now lol. He is just as bad about being forever picking out things for others as he is for himself. We hit the hotel shop and found nothing so we headed to the BW. After about 30 minutes he finally decided on some Mickey ears he had seen her try on earlier, some little crystals for her to wear on her face and something else small though I cannot for the life of me remember what now. We walked back and enjoyed the quiet time alone. When we got back he decided he wanted to give her her present before she went to bed she of course was fine with that so we let him.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%204%20August%202/animalkingdomday059.jpg

DD was happy with her bday present. :)

Another wonderful Disney day done.

Tomorrow ... DD celebrates her 14th birthday in Epcot. It was a roller coaster of a day! lol

[scottny]

Hey Scott ya you have to do the Pirate Tutorial they are awesome. I like your CP pic. ;) Where were you guys seated? It looks like an area I may have to ask for next time was it in the middle? Looks like there was a bit more room to move around anyway.

Hi,
on the left side of the restaurant directly in front of the door they use to get to the kitchen and the supplies.
also underneath the dome.
http://i55.photobucket.com/albums/g134/scottny/disney-0154b.jpg

if you look in the pic and see the white box with pink arrow, (sorry so small) that was our table. Great location, the characters loved me and always had refills from other servers other than our own,

Sorry pic is not better, my program is not cooperation tonight.

[ms_mckenna]

Good to know I will ask for it the next time we go. Thinking there might be more room to move DS's wheelchair around there. Being up against that window there just was not much space at all. Plus the larger characters had issues sqeezing in. ;)
Is that not also where they put a tree at Christmas? That could make for a nice backdrop to our pictures lol.

[Stargazer]

Great TR Callie! It looks like y'all had a great time.

[ms_mckenna]

The rest of my TR will probably be more split up because I quit writing things down at night on day 5. I have no idea why ... apparently I was not thinking about remembering for the future lol.

Now onto MK day 2 and our 5th day of vacation!

We had a 8:10 ADR for Crystal Palace at MK. James and Alex both decided the night before that they would not be going with us. Shel still wanted to go so I figured we would go just the two of us while we let them sleep in if she still felt the same in the morning. I woke her up and she said she still wanted to go so we got dressed and headed out. My husband said he would call us when they got up and moving around but that he was sleeping "late" at least one day lol. We hopped a bus and headed to MK. By 8 we are in and headed to CP. We get up there and she decides she is not hungry anymore so I spoke with the lady and she tells us no biggie we can cancel. So we are now inside MK course all that is open is CP and CRT but it was so nice to walk around slowly and look. We took way to many pictures lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84004.jpg

Shel in front of the castle.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84005.jpg

Then me.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84011.jpg

I had never thought about it before but her favorite poem when she was younger was Casey at Bat she read it 2 years in a row for UIL.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84030.jpg

Taking time to smell the roses.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84023.jpg

Another castle pic.

So we decide to head to the castle and wait for the rope drop. I had no idea they roped it off again there but we sat and waited for a while. When they were letting everyone into the park I walked over and got another picture which I think is pretty cool.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84052.jpg

Rope drop from the other side!

We were waiting at the castle and when the rope dropped Shel headed directly for Tinkerbell's Treasures. She was the first in the shop and had already asked to wake up Tink before I even got there. There was another little girl that came in right after and asked and the lady said Shel had already asked. So Shel asked her if it would be OK if they did it together? The lady smiled and said she thought that might work. I was really proud of her for asking if they could both do it. The other little girl was very happy as well.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84054.jpg

Waking up Tink.

Honestly it is neat to say that she has woke up Tink but it was really not that big a deal. Another little girl walked in right after she had finished writing up the girls certificates and I heard the CM say she thought Tink was really tired and probably needed to be woken up again. :goodvibes:

So afterward she and I decided to do the things that Alex either will not do or cannot do while they were back at the room. First we hit Peter Pan which I had not ridden since I was little, better than I remember it. It did hurt my heart that Alex will most likely never see it, but on the bright side he would probably think it was dumb anyway. We left and were going to ride IASW again (by Shel's choice!) and we got down and she decided she wanted to do something different. The CM at the entrance asked her if she got scared of the dolls lmao. We did Cinderella's Carousel, then Pooh (my choice lol).
At this point we decide to go looking for Goofy. We pass the teacups that are not running and low and behold there is the Madd Hatter and Alice! I am sick to my stomach because I do not have the backpack or any of the autograph pages. She does not care she is heading that way and I am following like all good mothers do lol. There are a few people watching them but no one is interacting with he and Alice. Course my child is not a watcher so she walks right up to the Madd Hatter and starts talking to him. He is complaining because he cannot ride his ride because they have BROKEN it lol. She asks if she can get a picture with him? He says Of course My DEAR! The CM running his well not running ride asks if she wants to take a picture in a CUP! Shel lit up like a Christmas tree and said yes yes please. MH asks her what teacup she would like? She picks the closest one with blue she sees and MH opens the door for her and Alice and they all climb in. He makes a comment about Shel having a grin like the Cheshire cat .... she does doesn't she?

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84065.jpg

He escorts her out talking the whole time. He is WONDERFUL! I wish I had taken more pictures of them interacting but I will make up for that later ;). She now remembers that she wanted to get her hair done at the Main Street Barber and says why don't we head that way and if we run into anyone else along the way we will stop. This was the point where I knew she was a lot more into the characters than she wanted to let on. :rotfl: We of course had to stop and get a picture to remember our morning at one of my favorite spots in MK.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84067.jpg

We head back to the front and she waits to get her hair done. We were really impressed with the lady that did her hair. Shel loved the way she pulled it up and she showed Shel how to do it herself. :goodvibes:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/MKbarbershop.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/MKbarbershop3.jpg

Not bad for 5 bucks plus tip! She even pixie dusted me too. :goodvibes:

Next installment the guys join us.

[scottny]

:thumbsup2

Love the update. I loved eating at CP but I would like to also walk around the park when it is empty. We ate while it was empty.

[hjd0411]

What a great update! :thumbsup2 And what a great morning you and Shelby got to share!

I look forward to reading more - you sound like a fun family.

Oh, and by the way - there is no such thing as too many photos!!!!!!!!! :lmao: :cool1: :rotfl2:

[scottny]

Oh, and by the way - there is no such thing as too many photos!!!!!!!!! :lmao: :cool1: :rotfl2:

I agree there can never be too many photos.

[katielou]

Loved that installment!! It is nice to spend time with each child independently. I planned a princess breakfast for just my daughter and myself when we are there. Shel's hair is too cute:thumbsup2

beth

[ms_mckenna]

LOL Ya I know there are no such things as to many photos she just was not very thrilled with me and my camera by the time we got to the castle. ;) For some reason unknown to me my children do not like the camera going off constantly in thier faces :rotfl:

I love spending time with my kids by themselves. I think it is so important as well. Course next trip it will be less of that and more of spending time with just the girls and mom and just the boys and dad. I spent time with just Alex and I later in the trip.

Beth which princess breakfast are you going to? I have not done 1900 Park Faire and want to next trip wondering how it is.

And as far as Shel's hair it is a new must do every trip I think. It lasted 2 days and well next installment Alex goes as well. :goodvibes

[katielou]

Katie and I are doing the Akershus Storybook. I havent told her yet. I think I will let it be a suprise. I am wondering if I should pack a costume for her. She doesnt play dress up like she used to and I dont know if she will think it was silly. We will do the hair at MK. We will be at MK on my youngest sons B-Day. Maybe he will want the cool dude. This is the son that the last day of school decided he wanted a mohawk so we let him. He got so much attention. He lives on attention. My oldest on the other hand would NEVER be caught dead having the attention directed to him. Waiting for your next installment:yay:

Beth

[ms_mckenna]

OMG I got out of order and MISSED my daughter's bday completely! Let's rewind a bit shall we lol!

Friday morning which is actually Day 5! 8/3 and my DD's 14th birthday! I should say from the beginning she was not thrilled with my choice of parks. I had my reasons but I do not think she honestly cared much at all what my reasons were until a lot later in the day. ;)

We got up early again of course. had decorated the room the night before which she was happy about but not overly lol. She happily opened her card and gift (money and a tiara). Got dressed and walked over to Epcot and the International Gateway. That has to be the coolest thing about staying close to a park! We had a slow walk and I kept checking my camera because it fogged up right out the door. So many opportunities missed because my lens was fogged. We headed over to Akershus for breakfast. Again I think that ADR's before the parks open are worth their weight in gold because it is so neat to be in the park then.

We got in line for breakfast and at this point I am flipping out because my camera is still foggy. I keep asking my husband if it looks less foggy and he keeps telling me no ... NOT what I want to hear at my child's bday breakfast. So they call us back and it looks like it is really unfogging! YA! My first picture of Shel and Belle is a foggy ... the second one is decent. I mention to the gentleman taking pictures of my children that is really no need because I doubt highly that will buy them but he does not listen.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday006.jpg

Yes I see the haze but I am choosing at this point to not think about it. ;)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday007.jpg

And now Alex's turn.

The breakfast was good. Nothing out of this world and honestly I am at this point wishing I had picked something else for her bday breakfast. Now I am not knocking Akershus by any means we had just had such spectacular breakfasts up until now that it was just not what I expected. We enjoyed our breakfast and they brought out the pictures. DD took one look at them and shook her head no. Sad that my foggy picture was better lol. We get the autographs of the few princesses that we do no have yet and I realize we have messed up because Belle is not coming around and I forgot to get her sign. We have Belle in blue's autograph but not Belle in yellow and I have a special page for her. Yes I am aware I am a dork. We get our check and I sign for it and on the way out the door I tell DH I will meet him outside. DD and I hang back and I ask a waitress if it there would be anyway possible we could get Belle's autograph. She smiles and said to wait here she will be right back. So we wait a few minutes and she comes back and says that Belle adored our pages and we got a bday wish and kiss as well. It was adorable she had "kissed" the pages and signed happy bday and each of their names love, Belle. We thanked the lady and headed out.

This is the point where my beloved teenager becomes not happy again with my idea to stay in Epcot on her birthday. I have some lovely photopass pictures to remind me of how thrilled she was forever. :rotfl: I gently remind her that I planned this whole trip without her help. I ask her if she has been disappointed in any of my decisions yet? She says no ... but this is different. DH tells her to just go with the flow and if she hates the way the day turns out she can have the rest of the vacation to do whatever she wants. :eek: I look at him and say Well that is a bit more faith than I wanted but thanks!

So we see the character connection and decide that my daughter needs so cheering up that Mickey and his friends can do. :cheer2: No it was not on the list for the day but it was definitely needed.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday022.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday032.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday026.jpg

I think my child is in love with two chipmunks. :goodvibes

By the time we left we were all much better and I had a happy birthday girl again. :goodvibes
We left and decided to do Turtle Talk with Crush. So we got into the Living Seas and made a b line for TT. The kids set down front and I set in the first row and DH stood in the back. He did not want to block any ones view (he is 6'6"). We were both so excited because Alex got picked to ask a question. I took pictures but they did not turn out great. He asked Crush if there was a Walt Disney World in the ocean? Crush said no course there was more to it than that it was a No that only Crush could do lol. They enjoyed it as always :goodvibes .

When we left we went to walk around the living seas. Shel remembers at this point that I had said something about a Dolphin show. So we head upstairs and find a CM to ask where we need to be. She told me we were in the best spot for DS to see and so we wait and the Dolphin session starts. One of the dolphins did not want to participate so it was just one of them but it was still great! The kids explored all of the Living Seas and we decided to head to The Land and Soarin next.

The whole day Alex and Shel are trading pins as well. I think we stopped about 100 times for them to check out CM's pins. So the have definitely been bitten by the pin trading bug!

We did the circle of Life thing with Simba first which we really enjoyed. We headed downstairs and did Soarin and LOVED it! Then went to Living with the Land and did the ride through. James and I both found it fascinating ... the kids could not have cared less. We want to do the Behind the Seeds walking tour next time, since it was DD's bday this time we decided not to force her to go on it lol.

Everyone is hungry again by now so we decide to go get something to eat. We hit the WS and Alex and I want Mexican and James and Shel want American. So we decide to head our separate ways and then head back to the room to eat. I am still not sure whose plan this was but it was a REALLY bad idea lol. Me pushing Alex while holding our drinks as he holds our food in the beating down sun looking for my DD and hubby was probably the worst part of the whole idea. When we finally found them they of course helped and we headed for the IG.

On the way out we see Pocahontas and decide that we might as well get her autograph because this is the first time we have seen her this trip. My husband was not thrilled with this idea lol. Neither was DS.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday084.jpg

[ms_mckenna]

So we head back to BC. We had just missed the boat and no one wanted to wait for another so we walked. We head upstairs and begin to cool off and eat our lunch. When we get done everyone has mellowed out a lot and DD decides she needs a nap.

DS decides we need to go see Art. So he and I head downstairs. Art sees Alex and says I have something for you! He has been saving him Stitch pins. :goodvibes Then Art does what I could not. He notices ALL the Stitch heads! By now there are 15. :lmao: Art looks at me like what happened lol. :confused3 He asks Alex if he likes any other Stitch pins besides that one? Alex says yes and he points out special things about his other Stitch pins. He shows him the pins that he has that are hidden mickeys and explains to them what they mean. And low and behold Alex trades him a stitch head for another Stitch pin that he does not have yet. :yay: I have no idea how he did it but he did and that was the point Alex started trading the Stitch heads away! :dance3: Alex asks Art if he will take another picture with him. Which I thought was awesome because Alex does NOT like pictures and this is the first one he has EVER asked me to take!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday088.jpg

If you look really hard on the left side of Alex's lanyard in the picture you can see all the Stitch heads!

We head back upstairs to take a nap because I for one need one. Everyone gets a shower and DD picks out what she wants to wear to dinner. With everyone in a MUCH better mood we head back to Epcot. DD wants to go to WS she has a list of what she wants to do (very much my child). Where we see Marie in France. So we head over because we missed her on the first day. The kids get her autograph and we head into France.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday090.jpg

In France we did a lot of nothing honestly. We looked for Belle's library which we never found. Everyone kept asking if we were looking for Belle and we kept saying no just her library lol. We left and hit Morocco where DD thought she would get a Henna. Well she thought that until she saw the prices! It is amazing how tight my children get when they are spending their own money. We will definitely be giving them a certain amount of money to spend from here on out whenever we go anywhere! I got some great photopass pictures here but I have not ordered the CD yet so those will have to wait. We checked at Japan and the candy lady was definitely on vacation and she would not be back during our trip. :( A bit of a disappointment because DD really wanted to see her. I really hope she does not retire before we get back to WDW. I check my watch at this point and realize we need to head to the Living Seas.

DD just looks at me when she sees the menu and asks me why I picked this for her bday dinner? I say because I did give me the benefit of the doubt OK? I double check that all is in order and they ask if they need to get the lift out to get DS down to the tank. I say no we will just pick him up and carry him. We wait for a bit and are called back. The guy seating us has a worried look about getting DS down the stairs. I promise him we will be OK. Dh says to just point him in the right direction he picks up DS and the hostess hurries toward the table to show him where to go. We were right next to the tank. I cannot imagine eating there and not sitting on that lower level. It was so nice to sit and watch the fish. We put Shel right next to the glass and our server came out ... Blanca. She was a GREAT server and I highly recommend her if you can get her when you eat at CR. She brings Shel's personalized birthday menu which she smiles a big smile when she opens it and sees pictures of her through the years. The kids both ate off the kids menu and DH and I both had steak (Blanca said it was really really good). Everyone got drinks. DS did not ask for one not sure why still but he just wanted a coke. Blanca brought him a glow cube so he would not feel left out though. :love: DH had a beer. Shel had something white and non alcoholic. I have no idea what it is called but she loved it.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday104.jpg

I had my first Glow-tini and I was hooked to say the least!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday103.jpg

Our appetizers arrive. DD is not thrilled by the salad since it is not shredded to pieces like she is used to. We all enjoy the bread though.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday108.jpg

Blanca comes out and gives me the sign that the diver will be here within the next few minutes so I start playing with my camera. Shel spots him before all the rest of us. She has been watching the tank all night and really enjoyed the divers when they come swimming through. She says Mom look he is swimming down here. He plants himself directly in front of her and pulls out the sign. I seriously thought the child was going to cry she was so excited! :love:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday112.jpg

Not the best picture but my camera does not do well inside and especially with the tank and all the other factors involved. He really interacted with her. He got down to the bottom of the tank and threw up the "gravel" on the bottom like confetti. She really loved it. She was shocked that I planned it lol.

Shortly after our dinner arrives. DD has Mac and Cheese which is one of her favorites.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday117.jpg

DS has pizza and mac and cheese.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday118.jpg

And DH and I both have the steak.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday116.jpg

Everyone REALLY enjoyed their food. At this point DH orders another beer and decides I need another Glowtini. I rarely drink and I am rather lush like when I do. The kids both think this is about the funniest thing in the world when I am "loopy". Blanca offers to take a picture of all of us together. And lets me know quietly that what I ordered will be coming out now. :goodvibes

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday113.jpg

Unfortunately we could not put the cake I ordered as our DDP dessert so we all ordered a dessert. DD I think thought there was no cake coming at this point lol. We all find something we want. The kids got ice cream. DH decides on the mousse and I decide on the Chocolate Wave. When Blanca comes back she has Shel's cake. She was so excited. It was to funny because Shel says to me Mom don't be mad but my cake is sexy lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday130.jpg

Blanca tells her that the kitchen really enjoyed making her cake. It was the first one that everyone she has ever made of Orlando Bloom, and they loved doing something different for a change. Shel was beaming because her cake was so special!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday126.jpg

They even put his pictures all the way around it on the sides.

She takes our order and I ask if she can hold the cake until tonight when we leave the park. She said they can and we enjoy our actual dessert for the evening.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%
20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday132.jpg

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%205%20August%203/Shelbysbday131.jpg

We sit and enjoy our drinks and the kids talk about how funny it would be to take me on Soarin'. :rotfl: The kids get into watching the tank again and DD asks if it would be OK if we just went back to the room and relaxed. So that is exactly what we did. We go ahead and get the cake and pay. When we are leaving Illuminations starts. So there it is easier getting out of the park. We have a nice relaxing stroll back to BC. We go upstairs and the kids ask if they can go walk around, we agreed as long as they are checking in. They had planned on going to watch Pirates on the beach because the movie was playing but decided the sand was to difficult with DS's wheelchair. So they called and asked if they could go looking in the shop at BC instead.

They finally head back to the room and get a bath and drift off to sleep.

[byoung]

Nice report!

[scottny]

Great updates. Coral reef looks great.

Glad she ended up enjoying her b'day.

[ILMICKEY]

What a great trip report! You made a super memory for your daughter, that was so sweet.

By the way, I married a man named James. He doesn't have any children except my two. He loves them like his own.

Small world!!

Keep it coming.

[ms_mckenna]

Nice report!

Thank you. :goodvibes

Great updates. Coral reef looks great.

Glad she ended up enjoying her b'day.

That she did even though later she said she should have told us she didn't so she could do whatever the rest of the vacation.:rotfl:

As for CR I recommend it to everyone now. It was one of the meals I was worried about but we loved it!

What a great trip report! You made a super memory for your daughter, that was so sweet.

By the way, I married a man named James. He doesn't have any children except my two. He loves them like his own.

Small world!!

Keep it coming.

Yes very small world. :goodvibes It is always so nice to see other guys like him. Restores my faith in men lol.

It will probably be a few between this update and the next. Kids start school on Monday and we will be getting ready for it this weekend. :scared1:

[kristinanderic]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, can't wait to read more!

[Joan S.]

Hi, This is one of THE BEST trip reports I hae EVER read!! What a BEAUTIFUL family you have!! Please keep us updated on the fostercare/adoption situation?? You are one:cool1: MOM!! Joan

[ms_mckenna]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, can't wait to read more!

Yes we had a magical vacation. And people wonder why we want to go back again and again. :rotfl:

Hi, This is one of THE BEST trip reports I hae EVER read!! What a BEAUTIFUL family you have!! Please keep us updated on the fostercare/adoption situation?? You are one:cool1: MOM!! Joan

What a sweet things to say. :goodvibes Thank you I think they are awesome but then again I am a bit biased. :love: I will keep everyone updated. We went and looked at another house today. I just keep thinking we will find something we love to rent until we can get something built. :tink: Just keep thinking prayers and pixie dust and we will get there. :upsidedow

[ms_mckenna]

Sorry it has taken me so long to get back to the TR this week. It has been insane the kids started school. I have been trying to come to grips with the fact that my daughter is a freshman in High school lol. Plus this is the first year that I have started subbing in the first week of school! That along with house hunting has made me a busy woman lol.

So on to the trip report! I do have a question before we start do you guys think I am posting to many pictures?

We are currently up to Saturday August 4th and the 6th day of our vacation. DH called me as I was paying for Shel's hair. I was trying to explain to him how to get there and Shel decided she would just run out and get him. Well Alex takes one look at her hair and asks if they cut hair. I decide that he will need a haircut to start school anyway so why not. :) So we go in and he gets a hair cut but quickly lets her know there will be none of the pixie dust for him lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/MKbarbershop1.jpg

He did decide to get his hair colored, I realized later that the poor kid thought it was permanent lol! He was kind of irritated when he found out it washed out.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/MKbarbershop5.jpg

He was very happy with his hair though.

We left and decided to meander down main-street the kids heads were both wet from the gel still so we did not want to ride any rides yet. The shops were not to busy and the kids wanted to, I have to say this is one of my favorite things to do. Especially since the kids were enjoying themselves as well! Shel decided she wanted ice cream so we let them run get some. She got a single scoop but got an upgrade. The lady told her Minnie came and made it special for her for YOMD. She was a bit excited. She is actually not a big ice cream kid just had a taste for it so she ended up sharing it with her brother.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84079.jpg

While she and Alex were getting ice cream I was standing outside with James. There was a photo-pass lady so we got a picture of James and I in front of the castle by ourselves! Once I get the CD I will upload it.

We head off into Fantasy-land because D'S decides he wants to see Mickeys House etc. Well we are walking buy and low and behold the characters are out at the Teacups again. James is not ever very thrilled when we decide to stop outside to stand in line to see characters lol. He let me know quickly he would be waiting over there while we stood in line. So we waited for Tweedledee and Tweedledum.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84081.jpg

Alex looks thrilled huh? He really was smiling I guess I just snapped at the wrong time lol.

The same Madd Hatter and Alice are out from the morning. Shel wants their autograph so we hit the line on the other side. Well we made it just in time because we end up being the end of the line. Kind of cool Shel was both their first meet and greet and their last. Even cooler they definitely remembered her. MH made a HUGE deal about her hair and said look at how busy she has been Alice!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84087.jpg

Alice was VERY disappointed we had nothing for her to sign but while Madd Hatter was signing she took Shel's folder to look at the "pictures". She was looking for her friends.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84091.jpg

And I have to just add this because I love this picture. He noticed I was snapping away when he was signing and so he did this. He was the funniest character we ran across this trip IMO.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84094.jpg

We figured we were already in character mode and the kids heads were both still wet so we went with the flow and hit the judges tent and the other character place. They got excited because Meeko was there.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84103.jpg

Alex grabbing Meeko's tail!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84106.jpg

Alex trying to get Donald to do the Hook Em Horns sign!

We got Photo-pass pictures of all of us with Chip and Dale and all of us and Goofy but those again will have to wait until I have the Cd's. C & D were awesome again. Dale was pointed out to Chip all the pins on Alex's lanyard that had them on them. You can still see all the stitch heads in this picture! lol

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84120.jpg

We leave and head for the railroad. We always ride it around at least once from Toon Town during our trip so we took it to the front of the park. I had wished we had rode all the way around but it was getting so hot and I knew we were going to be headed down hill very soon if I did not get them back for a break.

We get back to BC and our favorite greeter is there! So of course we have to stop for a bit. :)

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84142.jpg

I will do another installment tonight which will be after the afternoon break I just need to go make sure everyone has their stuff ready for school in the morning lol.

[scottny]

First - you can never have enough photos in my opinion.

second - there hair looks great.

third - very nice update.

:thumbsup2

[ms_mckenna]

We take our afternoon break and veg out in the room. Then get ready to head back out to Chef Mickeys. We took the monorail over which was awesome as always. :goodvibes

The wait for CM is the longest we had this trip. That place is insanely busy! I did not really expect it to be that bad I guess. I waited in line and got our buzzer and we checked out the hotel while we waited. Once we got seated we really liked it! The characters started coming though basically as soon as we sat down. I did really like the buffet there there is a pretty good variety of tame food ... we are tame food people lol. DH finds the drink list and says ummm they have those Glow-tini's want one? Disney characters and a drink makes a nice mix. :rotfl: My drink was a bit strong and the waitress laughed and said that is a new one most people say they are not strong enough lol. She brought me some pineapple juice to mix in it and it was perfect though. I really love those! I hope they do not do away with them after YOMD!

Goofy came over and I love how they can get across their message even when they do not talk. He told Shelby that he liked her sprinkles and he wanted some too!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84154.jpg

So Shel sprinkled Goofy with pixie dust!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84155.jpg

Then he gave her a big thank you hug.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84156.jpg

Pluto was awesome too. He had Alex rolling laughing.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84163.jpg

We left and hit the monorail to MK. We asked and got to ride up front! The kids were SO excited! It was a really cool experience and our driver was awesome. I just wish we had ridden at night because I think it would be beautiful up front then.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84186.jpg

James and Alex. Because of the sun coming in this is the best picture I got of the two of them on it.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84182.jpg

Then Me and Shel.

We got to MK and the kids wanted to hit adventure and frontier-land. We hit Pirates first because well it is my kids and Pirates. Plus remember on our first MK day my daughter got irritated with me about not hitting the shop? Well she decided that was the first thing we were going to do this time lol. So after Pirates we hit it and she bought nothing lol. Alex did get a gun for his costume and he finally broke down and bought the Jack Sparrow dreads he had been looking at all week. I found one that had not been opened and he had it shipped back to the resort so he would not mess them up. He told the CM to be careful with them too. :rotfl:

We hit BTMR and SM and then headed back to Adventure-land. We had never been on the Jungle Cruise at night so we decide it probably would be pretty cool to try it. James and I both are tired and our backs are starting to wear from the week of helping Alex in and out so we used the ADA raft. Our driver asked Alex if he had ridden the ToT yet? He told her yes a few times and she laughed and said now you get to ride the JC version lol. We were the last boat of the night which was kind of cool in itself. You guys know the jokes so no great detail here. We got off and the guys that work there were clowning. I was snapping pictures as always and there was one CM in particular that was a riot. He started saying Hey Look at me I am FIERCE! Shel called him Tyra.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%206%20August%204/magickingdom84199.jpg

At this point the kids were really tired and they were not thrilled with the idea of watching a parade! (My kids had never seen Spectro before). We were so close though to time the first Spectro was over and Wishes was about to start there is no way we would have let them leave now lol. I found a CM to make sure about where we needed to come back to to wait for the wheelchair area and he told me where we needed to be and when. Everyone was hungry again since we had such an early dinner, so we headed over to Cosmic Rays. We grabbed a dinner while Wishes was going on and headed back out at the bridge from future world after it was over. I learned my lesson last time about the Fantasy land bridge anywhere near wishes! :eek: We secured our spot for the second spectro in the wheel chair area. The kids are still thinking I am insane for waiting for a parade but are going along for the ride because they figure I have been right a lot this trip lol. They both start eating their chicken strips and that helped a lot with the when is it going to start etc. Plus the CM from earlier that I had asked where to go came back around to make sure we had gotten a seat and had a long talk with the kids. He was telling us all kinds of little facts and answering all the kids questions. Basically he was just a really cool guy. Shel gave him one of our CM appreciation cards right as he was leaving. He was so funny doing a little dance when he read it and thanking us. We saw him run off and showing other CM's his card which was really cool! We loved the way the CM's reacted to the cards during our trip. It was really like we were giving them some magic back. :goodvibes

As soon as Spectro started Alex leaned over to me and said Mom ... thank you. I asked him for what? He said for making us stay to watch it ... this is so awesome! They were both amazed. I did not take pictures because I just enjoyed the parade with them and watching their faces light up. They were so excited at all the characters! Course I was crying half way through from just seeing how happy that watching it made them. They both told me that this had been the best trip of their lives. :love:

We headed out of the park after Spectro. And back to the room. It was a truly magical and very full day and needless to say it did not take us long to fall fast asleep!

[ms_mckenna]

First - you can never have enough photos in my opinion.

second - there hair looks great.

third - very nice update.

:thumbsup2

LMAO I figured you would say that Scott!

Thanks :goodvibes

And Thanks :)

[scottny]

I do like photos.

:)

[micky hater]

awesome pics we had the same mad hatter when we went to awesome aristocats pictures :woohoo:

[ms_mckenna]

Sunday August 5th. Our last full day at Disney. :sad1: It is also the day that I realized that my Disney life was about to get a LOT easier!

James and I had talked to the guy at the DVC place and decided we would go take a look. So Sunday morning was our appointment. We let the kids sleep in and headed downstairs for our 8 am appointment. I was very excited because I never expected my husband to love Disney enough to consider DVC but this trip definitely did it for him. We really enjoyed our trip over they were training a new guy for the job of transporting people and they were both very friendly. We checked in at DVC and waited our guy. I had spoke with Micheal before we left but he could not be there when we went to our meeting so another guy showed us all the info.

We start covering all the bases and looking at how many points we would need and my husband gave me one of the biggest shocks of my life. He has always been very adamant on we were NOT doing Disney every year. Given we did Disney last year and again this year and are going back in 08 but he said we would not be going back the year after. (I knew the kids and I at least would but that was because it was a fight I felt was worth having with him lol. :rotfl:) Well Mr hush about Disney I do not want to hear about it tells the guy we need enough points to rent a bedroom Villa for 7 to 10 days EVERY YEAR! :eek: My jaw drops and the gentleman helping us says did you have a different amount in mind? Quickly I say no no no that is fine I am fine with that lol. He then asked if we could add more points later if we decide that is not enough?
OK this whole trip in the back of my head I thought ... you know this man is having a good time. You have to understand my husband deals with us going on vacation ... he did not go on them at all as a child and before we met he had never even left the state of Texas. He does not like leaving home basically and is always very glad to be back home! Even when we go to the local state park which he loves he makes 3 or 4 trips back to the house during our week long stay. Before we left he actually told me that if he heard ANYTHING else related to the D word before the trip he was telling the kids himself because he just did not care one way or another! This is the same man that is sitting now next to me talking about Disney World with that gleam in his eye. You guys know the one ... the one that most of us have, and the rest of the world thinks we are insane for. I am now officially married to one of US! He has converted and that has to be one of the most magical things that happened on this trip!

We fall in love with the 2 bedroom DVC and get all our info. We both knew that we would not be buying DVC until at least Feb. and honestly I never thought I would get him to agree to it anyway but figured what could it hurt to get him to look at it. Plus I wanted to see it up close and personal. We get our fast pass cards and call the kids and tell them to get up and start getting ready.

As if that was not enough exciting news for the morning there is more! We leave and get in the van with a gentleman who is "retired". OK you should know my dream is to retire in Florida, and work part time at Disney or even full time. Never in a million years was it going to happen. The idea of my husband moving out of state was at best a fond dream. Well he starts asking questions about driving for Disney (DH has his CDL) and being retired etc. It all boils down to DH saying ya that is what we will probably do when we get older! :woohoo: I am cautious at this point because I do not know how serious he is ... you know you say things talking that you are not really serious about sometimes. Well it has been a month since Disney and guess what? He is STILL talking about moving to Orlando when we retire. He says it more than I do! He was serious, and every time he says it my heart just dances with joy lol. :dance3:

Coming up in the next installment what we do with our fast passes and our last day at MGM! :goodvibes

[disneyfun2007]

Your trip report is great thus far. Your family is beautiful. I love all the pictures you have posted.:cloud9:

[ms_mckenna]

I do like photos.

:)

So do I :cloud9:

awesome pics we had the same mad hatter when we went to awesome aristocats pictures :woohoo:

Thank you. He is a great MH isn't he! We absolutely adored him! :upsidedow

Your trip report is great thus far. Your family is beautiful. I love all the pictures you have posted.:cloud9:

Thank you so much for the compliments. :goodvibes

[HomeschoolMama]

Subbing and going back to read. You had me at lots of pictures... :thumbsup2

[talicskai]

Subscribing ~ excellent!:goodvibes

[ms_mckenna]

Subbing and going back to read. You had me at lots of pictures... :thumbsup2

Subscribing ~ excellent!:goodvibes

:welcome: to both of you. :goodvibes thanks for joining.

[Avivasmom]

I love the fact you all wore matching shirts...for our trip in Nov. I have one day of that...where did you get them?

I am excited because we are staying at BCV in Nov. and heard great things about it. And love the fact so close to Epcot our favorite park.

Loved all the pics with fog or no fog....you have a beautiful family.

[ms_mckenna]

I love the fact you all wore matching shirts...for our trip in Nov. I have one day of that...where did you get them?

I am excited because we are staying at BCV in Nov. and heard great things about it. And love the fact so close to Epcot our favorite park.

Loved all the pics with fog or no fog....you have a beautiful family.

Thank you so much. We love BC and hopefully our next stay will BCV look forward to hearing how you like it! Definately stroll over to the BC lobby and let your precious daughter meet Art ... she will never forget him he is a wonderful man. :goodvibes

Well I bought the Polos from Disney shopping. They still have most of them I think. I know the orange ones were on clearance when I did buy them so they may not still be there. The mickey head shirts came from there as well I think they have 5 colors and I bought 2 of them ... I bought them when they ran them on sale for 5 to 7 a piece.

The rest of the shirts I made. I bought a bulk of dark transfers for all the iron on ones that I printed out. Then I made applique shirts, and some with spray fabric paint as well. All my tshirts came from Walmart. If you need any help let me know I still have the majority of the patterns from all of the ones I did and I have the images saved as well.

[Avivasmom]

I bought a bulk of dark transfers for all the iron on ones that I printed out. Then I made applique shirts, and some with spray fabric paint as well. All my tshirts came from Walmart. If you need any help let me know I still have the majority of the patterns from all of the ones I did and I have the images saved as well

How do you print them out and iron them on? Never did it before. And I have no artistic talent.

We are going for our 11th wedding anniversary...this is our 4th year in a row. We will go to California Grill for dinner and take Aviva to Sandcastle Club...we did it 3 years ago at Simba's Clubhouse and she loved it.

[ms_mckenna]

How do you print them out and iron them on? Never did it before. And I have no artistic talent.

We are going for our 11th wedding anniversary...this is our 4th year in a row. We will go to California Grill for dinner and take Aviva to Sandcastle Club...we did it 3 years ago at Simba's Clubhouse and she loved it.

They have paper you can buy at Walmart that is for iron ons. The one I bought from there is Avery for Dark transfers ... don't by the light even if you are putting it on light shirts it is just crap. :( Check out the Creative DISigns board here and they have tons of pictures that people personalize that you save to your computer and print it out on that paper. Just follow the instructions on the paper you get and you will be fine. On the first page I posted the links to all our shirts too and if you see anything there you like lmk and I can personalize it for you.

[ILMICKEY]

No, you can never post too much pictures. They help tell your story.

I am SOOOOO excited that you converted your hubby! Mine is STILL complaining about going this year! I guess it just takes time right? Which DVC did you go visit?

[ms_mckenna]

Yes well in our case it just took some time. Last year this time he would have barely talked about going to Disney much less anything else.
We went to SS. We both liked the resort itself. DH did not like how far it is away from everything and honestly I have to agree. With DS's mobility issues our least favorite mode of transport at Disney is the bus. At least at the Epcot or Monorail resorts there are options other than that for some of the parks.

[ms_mckenna]

I have photo-pass pictures from today but none with our camera. So I will ad them later this week when the CD gets here.

We get back to the hotel and the kids had both eaten some breakfast (cereal bars lol) and are dressed and ready to go. So we head out to MGM! I think we could have done with a day off but no one wanted to hang back at the hotel so we headed out. DH wanted to walk and the kids and I did not share in the excitement about walking so we hit the boats. He claims he strolled ... I know he stopped and talked with someone who was fishing in Crystal lake. He did get to MGM a few minutes before we did so unfortunately that proved his point of it was quicker to walk lol.

First course of action is for the kids to spread a little magic. :goodvibes We had been given 4 fast pass cards by the CM at the DVC presentation. We would not use them so the kids wanted to find a family to give them too. They started looking as soon as we got into the park. The kids wanted to give them to someone who would according to them use them correctly (ToT and RnRC :rotfl:). So finding someone that could fit that description was actually pretty difficult. They would find someone and then watch them for a few minutes to make sure of their party size. Well we rounded the corner and headed to RnRC. I told them if nothing else they could hit the FP line at RnRC and give them to someone there. As soon as I said it DD spotted a family. It was a Mom and Dad and two little girls that looked to be the same ages as my kids. They looked very confused trying to find their way ... I am thinking first trip to MGM. DD got bashful though and I had to walk with her to give them away. I explained that they each had 3 rides on them and what they were. They sounded like they were from England and they were very appreciative but I think still confused. I left them and ended up walking back because I had forgotten to tell them not to put them near their cellphones and they asked me a few questions about the cards then. We headed back out to RnRC.

Funny thing when we got there the little girls that the kids gave the cards to ended up in line in front of us! The youngest got scared right as you walk into the cage part of the cue and DD helped talk her down lol. I decided to ride with the kids this time since we had hit EE already and that was the agreement. Because of us having to enter into a different area to get Alex into a car we did not ride behind the girls but DH said he saw them get off and they were gushing about how much fun they had! :goodvibes One of our favorite CM's this trip was at RnRC and James was telling her about the girls and she told me when we got off RnRC I knew I liked you guys for a reason lol.

James wanted to watch LMA so we hurried out to catch the first show. I think at this point I realized how tired everyone was because DH was the only one that really enjoyed it. Course he loves all things cars and all things that blow up so ... It was also getting a LOT warmer than it had been! Plus everyone was hungry so we decided to grab lunch. DH waited while the kids and stopped to Toy Story and got pizza then we went to Back-Lot Express and he got a burger. While eating we decide on our afternoon and how it is going to happen. Next installment will be MGM in the afternoon ... guess who stays and guess who goes!

[AshleyMWC]

Great report! I do apologize for my late entry into your report, but I am loving it! I just sat here and read the whole thing at work this morning- slow morning, boss is out, might as well do a little Dis-ing. Great job with the pics- you can never have too many. Oh, and AWESOME job convincing your hubbie to join DVC!! My DBF is totally hooked on Disney since I introduced it to him 4 years ago, and he keeps saying "one day we will have DVC." I can't wait to hear how your TR ends, although I am sad to see it come to a close :guilty:

[ms_mckenna]

Great report! I do apologize for my late entry into your report, but I am loving it! I just sat here and read the whole thing at work this morning- slow morning, boss is out, might as well do a little Dis-ing. Great job with the pics- you can never have too many. Oh, and AWESOME job convincing your hubbie to join DVC!! My DBF is totally hooked on Disney since I introduced it to him 4 years ago, and he keeps saying "one day we will have DVC." I can't wait to hear how your TR ends, although I am sad to see it come to a close :guilty:

Better late than never. :goodvibes

Yes we are close to the end of our time. :( Sad because that will mean that my trip is "officially" over.

I see you guys are heading to Poly soon! That is one place we really want to go ... can't wait to hear about it!

[funhouse8]

Wow Callie, Your Trip report is awesome. I'm so glad you had a great trip. Thanks again for the Wishes Cruise, It truly was Magicial! :wizard:

[ms_mckenna]

Wow Callie, Your Trip report is awesome. I'm so glad you had a great trip. Thanks again for the Wishes Cruise, It truly was Magicial! :wizard:

I agree that it was Magical! DH said next time we are not doing it first night though, actually told me I could not plan anything big period for the first one lol. Thanks so much for joining us ... and taking the picture that is now my avatar. :goodvibes

[ms_mckenna]

Sorry it has taken me again so long to get back to this. We went to our orientation for the new adoption group last night and turned in all our paperwork. We start classes tomorrow and between school and house hunting my time seems to be dwindling away lol. So on to the TR! I had hoped that my photo-pass pictures would be here today but it is looking like another day without them so that will have to wait.

We were just finishing lunch and my sweet son turns to me and says "Mom do you think maybe we could stay in the park and get character autographs instead of going back to the room?". You have to understand just how utterly stupid my response of "If that is what you want to do we will." really was. This was already by far the hottest day we had been at Disney. There were no rain or clouds in sight and I can honestly say it felt hotter than any day I have ever spent outside. When I answered I was sitting in the cool of Back-lot Express looking into my child's sweet eyes, so not thinking about the heat outside those doors. James immediately looked at me like I was insane and said that's nice you guys can do whatever you want I am going back to take a nap in the cool. DD also decides that he is the brighter parent and bales on me. Though honestly at this point I am thinking what have I done so I do not blame her much for her actions.

From what I understand they took the boat back to the room where they spoke in very bad "English" accents the whole way there. I can honestly say I am glad I missed that lol. They then took a long nap and repeated the accents on the way back to the park. :rolleyes:

I can give you a first hand account of DS and I's adventure in the blistering MGM heat! We reorganized before we left Back-lot to make sure everything we would need was easy for me to get to. DD left her pins with me with strict instructions of what I was to look for and what I was allowed to trade. I would love to say I got a great plan together at this point but in all honesty it was blindness. Which is not something I tend to do well. I am to say the least a planner lol.

I pick up a character schedule and we head off to find someone ... anyone lol. We walk down to where the Toy Story characters are and they are inside so we head out again ... DS decides he wants to see the Incredibles. I bite my tongue about it being clear across the park because he does not know that and we are staying here for him. Plus I figure it will be cool! So we lucked into the fact that they were about 10 minutes from the next "show". We sat through the first little show which is cute but better yet it is COOL! When it was over we head out. I do not see the incredibles first but we do see Remy and Emilee. I have wonderful pictures on photo-pass from all the character interactions but none on my personal camera. I really am impressed by single parents that have pictures of their children lol. The lines inside are not long and we wait a few minutes and are to Remy and Emilee. Alex adored them! Emilee was so awesome ... they played thumb war. The way they interacted honestly was enough to make the whole hot afternoon worth while alone! Emilee brought tears to my eyes the way that he played with Alex. When we went to leave Emilee grabbed hold of Alex's hand and pretended to be trying to sneak off. When his handler got on to him and told him he had to stay here he got Alex's chair and would not let go. Then she told him that we had to go and could not stay. Emilee dropped his head and waved by to Alex and we left. All while Remy is patting his back doing the it will be OK. Alex ate it up. :love:

We headed upstairs for the Incredibles. I will be honest I was hoping that Frozone would be there but no such luck. We saw Mr and Mrs Incredible who were really great. Their handler was awesome as well. She was talking about our autograph pages and how cute they were. Also talking about how cute it was that we were matching. Alex tells her she would like our other shirts better because we had Incredibles shirts this morning to wear but his started peeling up so we could not wear them. She laughs and says these are cute too! :rotfl: Mr Incredible is getting Alex to flex his muscles and they are playing with them. Mrs Incredible walks over to see the autograph pages and does a thumbs up. The handler asks about when DS's bday is and if they should say anything and I say no he is one of those kids that does not really like the huge fuss and she signals at Mrs I. I am very impressed by there silent language, and how aware they seem to be of how kids with special needs can be. I have heard others talk about Mrs Incredible and how wonderful she can be with autistic children and I can definitely see why!
So our time is over and we head out into the shop with all the art. Alex and I both are quickly amazed and fall in love! It is without a doubt a dream of mine to have some of those paintings in my home! They are amazing! Also I found something for DH if we ever get a game room built. DS saw them and said Mom look!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85002.jpg

We spend a while looking around the shop because it is awesome. Alex is my take it slow and take it all in kid. I love spending time with him because of this. He makes me slow down when we are together alone ... which is a very good thing. We find a CM and ask for a good plan on doing checking out the characters. She advises we head over and find Mike and Sully and DS is thrilled by that idea.

So we book it over because we do not have a lot of time before they get ready for the parade. We get there and the CM has just closed off the line. DS hears her talking about how the parade and decides he would like to do that. So I ask her if she could point us in the direction of the w/c area? She gets her manager because she is not sure and we start talking. Well Alex notices her pins and says Mom that is one of HM ghost pins that Shelby is getting you need to trade with her! :rotfl: So I do and she says you should have a happy daughter when they get back to the park huh? She then asks how many are in our party and I say just my DS and myself right now. Well she checks her watch and the line and says she thinks that Mike and Sully would have time for just one more. I ask her if she is sure because all that hair in this heat must be really hot! She smiles and says yes. They tried to get me to take a picture with them but I declined ... I knew how bad I looked from the heat and honestly did not want to remember it lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85003.jpg

We leave and head out to the area to watch the parade. There was no one there and after about 2 minutes of sitting I realize why ... there is no shade straight heat! I grab us both a cold water out of the bag and pour a little on Alex's towel so he can wipe his face down. Thankfully we were not far from the start of the parade! I am glad we stayed put though because almost all the characters that walked by him interacted in some way with him. :love:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85005.jpg

Alex and Emilee

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85007.jpg

Jessie reaching down to shake his hand.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85013.jpg

Animal one of my favorites from childhood. Alex had no idea who he was but thought he looked really cool lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85025.jpg

Maleficent came up and gave Alex "the look" and walked off. He was beaming!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85031.jpg

DS saw Goliath and said Mom get a picture it is that lion Shel likes lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85036.jpg

Alex and Pinocchio.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85038.jpg

He thought this car was the coolest and I have to agree! He said Mom it is Gangster Goofy! LAO not really but I went along for the ride. :rotfl:

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85039.jpg

Just thought this was a good picture of Pluto!

So now the parade is over and it is HOT. I am afraid to take us straight into ac so I head out in search of water. We get 2 cold waters and head over to the shaded covered area where there is a outside store. Where we sit till he and I both start to cool off. I notice the big thing of ice for those spray bottles and I ask if I can dip his towel in it and she says yes. So I get him cooled off fairly quickly. We both down our water and start talking about the day. He says Mom I am really sorry, and I ask him if he is having fun even in the heat. He says yes , I tell him so am I so you know what there is nothing to be sorry about. He smiles and looks cooled off so I throw away our empties and get him a refresh on his towel and another water.

He sees the cars guys coming around and says Mom LOOK! So we head off in that direction. We are the end of the line and I start talking to a CM. Alex has his towel over his head and she asks about him being out in the heat. I explain how we do not normally do heat but how we ended up here in the afternoon. Well Alex decides he has to go to the bathroom ... I ask her since we are the end of the line is it possible we could run to the bathroom and get back before they leave. She doubts it because of how far away the bathroom is. :( I ask him if he can wait and he says no so we head off.

I take him to the bathroom and honestly that was the best thing I could do because I was able to kind of wash up his face and back and get the sweat off of him and me both in the bathroom. We get done and of course the Cars guys are gone but we do spot Woody and Buzz. which I only have pictures on Photo-pass of. He sees the cars characters rounding the corner again and says Mom hurry lol. Once again the same CM sees us and she comes over to talk to me. She says since you guys waited so long time last time I am going to bump him up in line. I have never been so happy ... I am sure we got bad looks but if they knew the whole story and how we already had waited they probably would have felt different so I just avoided looking at others lol. :rotfl: I also reminded Alex we needed to be quick and he agreed.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85040.jpg

Alex and Lightening McQueen.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85041.jpg

Alex and Mater.

I do not know what the smudge or fog is. It is only in these 2 pictures so go figure.

Next we head to the Christmas shop and pick our ornaments for the trip. Alex finds a perfect one. :goodvibes

First though I have to go pick up kids from school. I would like to say I will get back to this this afternoon but I am not for sure. At latest I will finish the day on Monday.

[scottny]

great update. The pics are really good. I think you had it hotter than when we were there in July.

Looking forward to more.

:thumbsup2

[thptrek]

I know where Victoria is. I grew up in Rosenberg. Now live in Houston. About 15min from the med center. I have spent several nights at Texas Childrens with my kids. Great hospital. We have filled out gas tanks and my husband is out at Home Depot:scared1: No telling what he will come back with. We are not evacuating this time.

Beth

I'm close by the med center too in West University. We are never evacuating, no matter what.

[ms_mckenna]

great update. The pics are really good. I think you had it hotter than when we were there in July.

Looking forward to more.

:thumbsup2

Our only really hot days were the last 2 the day at MGM was brutal and the day we left probably would have been worse had we not had to leave to get on ME so early. What temps did you guys have when you were there?

[scottny]

Our only really hot days were the last 2 the day at MGM was brutal and the day we left probably would have been worse had we not had to leave to get on ME so early. What temps did you guys have when you were there?

it was 95 - 91 it kept going down until we left.

[ms_mckenna]

Pre warning: this evening mark the only negative experiences we had on site for our trip. I am reporting so I am reporting them all. I will admit I was tired from not taking a break that I probably was not my normal let it roll off my back type attitude that I have at Disney. Plus I think when one bad thing happens it tends to spiral after that.

So I look at my watch and notice that it is almost time to meet James and Shel at Mama Mia's. We have no more character time which Alex and I both are disappointed about. :( We decide to take a look around the Christmas shop next to Toy Story we are looking for a Christmas ornament to commemorate our trip. Well Alex finds the perfect thing for us. The big deal about this trip to us was the wand coming down. He found a set of 4 ornaments each being the park icons ... the tree of life, Cinderella's castle, the sorcerer house, and finally the Epcot ball with the wand and all its glory! :goodvibes I called James to let him know we thought we had found our ornament for the trip and to come look. They were on their way into the park. DS then informed me it was time for a bathroom break.

So we head to the closest bathroom at Toy Story Pizza Planet. Because of DS's limited mobility he goes to the bathroom with me when DH is not around. If DH is there he takes him because well he is a boy. Because of the wheelchair at Toy Story we have 1 stall that is available for him to use. So of course we walk past all the empty stalls and the accessible stall is full. So we wait ... I look under the stall to see if I can tell what point the person in the stall is at so I can gage how much longer it will be. Do I see wheels? Nope I see high heels. My blood at this point I will admit begins to boil ... we have been waiting for close to 5 minutes for what looks like a woman with no mobility issues (the high heels) and no children with her so need for a larger bathroom. She stands at the sink in the bathroom for another 5 minutes I am assuming primping, apparently she wanted the privacy of the larger stall. When she finally did come out DS said I gave her a very nasty look. I can honestly say if I had been her I would have felt so bad about taking up the only stall that this child could use ... not this woman she acted like we were in her way. :sad2: She obviously did not get the magic of Disney and that is all I can say about her.

We headed back to the Christmas shop and met my husband and everyone agreed DS had made a perfect choice so we bought the ornaments and had them sent up front for later.

We were close to running late and we headed off to Mama Mia's. We were seated immediately into a booth and honestly I should have told the hostess that that would not work for us. This is me taking responsibility for my roll in this evenings meal fiasco. I was tired and just wanted a nice meal and we had just gone to the bathroom so I for saw no problems it it. Our waiter was to say the least not very attentive. I wish we had had the waitress who had the table next to us because they were never short on drinks etc. Ours acted put out that we were not ready to order and took him a long time to come back around again. DD and DS have been ordering off the kids menu for most of the trip off and on. Our waiter told them that it was not allowed. So it took another while to figure something that the kids wanted to eat. DH and I were already agreeing before the food came that we would probably not be back. The appetizers came and it was nothing grand. The kids did not like their appetizers though I forget what they ordered. Everyone was hot so we had already run out of drinks. DS decides at this point he needs to go to the bathroom and this is the point where I start to come undone. I walk to the podium to get his WC which they had assured me would be safe there. There are small children playing on it and one of the hostess's is smiling watching them like it is cute what they are doing! :sad2: They see me walking up and that what are you doing mom look and immediately get off. I see no parents to confront so I head back to the table to get Alex. We go to the bathroom and come back and the waiter is there. He asks probably saw the look of irritation on my face and worriedly asks if there is something he can do to help. I think that he was thinking more along the lines of putting the w/c back where it was but I immediately said yes you can get me a manager. She came and was very very nice. She asked what had happened and I calmly explained about the service and more importantly the w/c. She asked what she could do to fix it and I said I have no idea. She put the chair back where it could not be messed with. The kids were busy picking everything but the pepperonis off their flat bread and she offered to redo their pizzas without the other things. She came back and said that they would comp one of our dinners. I told her that was very nice but since we were on the DDP and leaving tomorrow that was kind of pointless for us, then she offered us fast passes and I again declined and explained that it would be something we would not be able to use. She laughed with us and asked if we needed anything else. DH said yes could you get our waiter to get her a drink and me a beer? She offered to comp it and we accepted. We enjoyed the rest of our meal the food was decent but not enough that we will ever chance Mama Mia's again. Our service other than the manager was still really bad. Our waiter actually brought the check before even asking about dessert. I was very glad to get out of there after our meal.

So now I have had a drink and the day will get better right? Absolutely lol. We head out and decide to do some shopping. DH and I wanted to buy margarita glasses and beer mugs. The kids had money burning a hole in their pocket as well. We spent the rest of the evening walking the shops and taking pictures.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85048.jpg

This has apparently become our every year picture lol.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/kidds%20kids%2011%2010%2006/shelbyAlexdragonMGM1.jpg

From our November trip. I realize now that we should have sat him in front of the dragon.

The kids traded pins and we hung out. I have a photo-pass picture or 2 but I will have to wait till this weekend when I will have WiFi to upload them.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85051.jpg

DH loves this car so he gets a picture with it every time lol.

It finally becomes time for us to be seated with our Fantasmic Package so we head to the front of the park. We head in and take our seat. The kids were really hyped about seeing it again.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%207%20August%205/mgm85059.jpg

I think the look in their eyes in this picture shows how hyper they were. ;)
I go to get the kids water in the insane line ... Disney really should get more than one place inside there that sells water! Alex had gone with me and decides to buy a stitch light up toy. We sit back down and DD wants to now of course buy a light up toy ... so we head back up and she gets a Mickey sword. I can already see this being an issue lol. Shortly after it starts I end up taking the lighted things away because they are going to end up hitting a stranger lol. Fantasmic was magical! I thought the second time I saw it it would not be as great. Well I was wrong it was better! There were parts DD did not remember and kept swearing they were new lol.

After Fantasmic we walk back to the hotel ; I love that walk at night it is so magical. When we get back I start packing up. Tomorrow will be our last day at Disney. It goes to quickly. :(

[scottny]

Sorry to hear about the lady. She really should have apologized. I would have banged on the door when I saw no wheels.

Mama Melrose is TERRIBLE. We had a bad time there. We did it for Fantasmic and never again. Fantasmic I will rather get to early and sit in the middle.

The ornaments sound nice.

[ms_mckenna]

Sorry to hear about the lady. She really should have apologized. I would have banged on the door when I saw no wheels.

Mama Melrose is TERRIBLE. We had a bad time there. We did it for Fantasmic and never again. Fantasmic I will rather get to early and sit in the middle.

The ornaments sound nice.

I should have done that. DS would have probably laughed to hard and then well we would not have needed the stall immediately then. :lmao:

MM is definately someplace we will not try again. It was not horrible food just such a contrast to all the wonderful meals we had at Disney. Definately not up to the same standards.

[scottny]

I should have done that. DS would have probably laughed to hard and then well we would not have needed the stall immediately then. :lmao:

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: that would not have been good.

[katielou]

I'm close by the med center too in West University. We are never evacuating, no matter what.

Hi there, It's nice to see someone that lives close to us. We live in Maplewood which is off of South Braeswood. I was shopping in the village the other day. Looking for a princess outfit for my daughter:wizard:

I'm so glad to hear that things are progressing well with the adoption process. My prayers are with you and your family.

Beth

We are in the countdown mode at our house:woohoo: Only 67 more days til we are at the BC:cheer2:

[ms_mckenna]

:rotfl2: :rotfl2: that would not have been good.

My thoughts exactly ;)


I'm so glad to hear that things are progressing well with the adoption process. My prayers are with you and your family.

We are in the countdown mode at our house:woohoo: Only 67 more days til we are at the BC:cheer2:

Thank you we will take all we can get. :goodvibes This weekend we are driving to Dallas on Saturday and spending the weekend with the kids. We are very excited my best friend said she is going to go to church Sunday and leave us all at the house so we can get a feel for it all without anyone there. I cannot wait. :yay:

I bet you guys cannot wait! You will love BC :love: The only bad thing is you may never want to go anywhere else lol. Did you get your scheduled fixed back from the move and all?

[funhouse8]

Thanks for the boo! :dance3:

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks for the boo! :dance3:

You are quiet welcome Gina ;)

[ms_mckenna]

First I will say I am so sorry this TR has been so long in coming! There will be a few posts today. And this TR will be finished within the hour. Life has definately gotten in the way of it lately. It is bitter sweet coming to an end. If things go as planned I think we are going to nix our Dec 08 trip, my idea not my husbands he was very shocked I would consider it. Things are looking like they are waiting for us to get the kids we are expecting to have our home study completed and turned in by the 8th so I am scrambling trying to get our last minute things done. We had the actual study last night and it went very well, we still have a few more things like TB tests and health and fire inspections to do though. Plus my hopefully soon to be 5 year old FD has some issues that we will have to get under control before I take her to the World. I do not want issues to get in the way of anyones magic, including mine lol. Course we may find that she adjusts quicker than we expect after being reunited with her brothers. I also want to try a smaller scaled down trip with them for thier first trip with us like to the beach etc. The world is a big step for kids that have never even really been to county fairs etc. We moved and found a 6 bedroom home in another district. We love it and just found out the landlord was considering selling it before we rented it so we are hoping when our lease is up in a year if it is still working for us he will agree to sell. We are less than 2 blocks from the Lake and a park. It is in town but the yard is huge for an in town yard. We love it here and so do the kids.

So onto why you are reading! Disney of course! :)
First is how to do the photopass pictures. There are in excess of 200 so I can't really post as many as I would like. So I am just going to post a link and post a few that I really loved. I also did not get to edit these down to smaller just because I do not have the time with everything going on. http://s175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/photopass/

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/photopass/day%201/image03.jpg

Our first photopass picture of the trip.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/photopass/day%207/image363.jpg

Alex with Remy and Emile at MGM.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/photopass/day%205/image215.jpg
Shel's bday.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/photopass/day%206/image307.jpg
MK at the Judges Tent.

[ms_mckenna]

First I will start by saying the bad I had thought about ending this TR by talking about our Air Tran flight. It was really bad and very demeaning ... I have received an apology from Air Tran and a 50 dollar credit for each of us which I will never use. Honestly they could have offered us a free flight and I probably would have not used it either. I used to sing their praises but now I will discourage anyone dealing with a special need to fly elsewhere. The reason this is all I want to say about it and I am saying it now is because I do not want this TR to end on such a sour note. We had a magical and very blessed trip and I am trying to forget about the negatives that came once we came back to the real world. Now onto the good part.

Today was DTD to start. My husband let me know on Sunday night if he has to drive home from Dallas tomorrow night he was not getting up early. He was sorry but he WAS sleeping in and I could deal because it was just DTD lmao. DD was on the fence. If you cannot tell she normally sides with him so I did not expect her to head out with us. Alex was another ball game the child without had a doubt had dreams of Goofy's candy Shoppe. He had been saving his snack credits all week awaiting his trip to Goofy's. We get up Monday morning and get dressed. DD of course rolls over and growls at me that she is sleeping in spend her credits for her. Alex was awake as soon as I got up. We caught the first bus to DTD ... anyone seeing a trend here lol. In hind site we could have slept another half hour which would have done us both a lot of good because when we got there we were still a half hour from opening. So we window shopped and made our game plan. Our time was limited and before the shops even opened Alex was making me promise that next time we would have more time here. I was already agreeing seeing how much we were going to miss. We decided to hit Goofys, the pin gazebo, World of Disney, and then the Christmas shop.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%208%20August%206/lastday001.jpg

Not so patiently waiting for Goofy's to open.

Well we were the first customers in the door. First we stopped and talked to a CM about what you could really buy with snack credits. So we found out the definite rules and grabbed a basket and headed off. I have never seen him that excited lol. He had a BLAST spending the credits; we had over 20 to spend. The phrase "Kid in a candy store" has a whole new meaning to me now. I wish I would have gotten some pictures of him inside but we were busy picking things out. He was a bit more laid back than typical Alex but was still really careful about what he chose. Then he saw the make your own counter because I wanted some rice crispy treats to take home. The CM's were awesome. She got down on his level and showed him how to fill out a card and he was an old pro at it quickly. He ordered the dipped marshmallows on straws for himself and his 2 best friends. The child got his money worth because he got every sprinkle she would put on them on it. While she was making his order he picked out more snacks for his sister and himself. He came across the Mickey pretzels and flipped out! He said Mom if you get those will you make your chocolate covered pretzels at Thanksgiving with them? I of course agreed and he was happy as could be about it. He did really well making sure he had snacks that would last a while and not expire too. The kids actually still a month later have a few Disney snacks in their boxes. When they were done making his snacks he talked to the CM's for a long time about what a cool job they had and then gave them CM appreciation cards. We headed up front with our overflowing basket to check out. The CM at the counter was amazed we were using the DDP to pay for it all lol. We spent close to 100.00!! With our bags in tow we headed back out ... next time Goofys will be our last stop not our first. We headed to the Pin Gazebo which was pretty dead still because it was so early and it was a Monday so we did not stay long. We left and found World of Disney. We spent a while playing in the water with Stitch and watching people it sprayed and not know where it was coming from.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%208%20August%206/lastday002.jpg

WOD is awesome. I think Alex was a bit overwhelmed by it though. We did not find anything that he wanted to buy so we headed back out. That is when I passed the kitchen shop and had we had time I would have gone in. It is DEFINATELY on my to do list next trip. Plus I plan on saving money for it; my kitchen is Disney so I can only imagine how much I could spend in that shop lol.

Alex is a big big Christmas decor person so he wanted to hit the Christmas shop as well. Walking in it took his breath away. He was constantly saying Mom go over there Mom look at this Mom can we do that? Disney plus Christmas and he was definitely sold. lol I took lots of pictures and got the card so we could order stuff from home after DH had had an opportunity to see it all. (We still have not ordered because we have been so blasted busy lol).

My husband called at this point and asked where we were? He mentioned we needed to check out and into Air Tran. He had also called and gotten all the information for Beaches and Cream and if I would hurry we would be there early enough to not wait. I did not realize how long Alex and I had spent looking around!

So we headed back. He and I talked and watched the sites of Disney the whole way back. It was one of those moments you want to etch forever in your mind. We talked about nothing but it was a wonderful talk it was like no one else was on that bus but us.

When we got back James had all the luggage packed. DD went through to make sure she approved of what he got and was very excited. She I think was wishing she would have gone. No big surprise there. We packed up our snacks and called bell services. I am cheap but there is no way I was lugging all that luggage downstairs lol. We got checked out and the guy from Disney said we needed to check in at the Air Tran gate when we got there to move Alex up because they had us on the 21st row. We showed them what was checked and what was not and they put our carry ons separate. That check in counter for the airport is to say the least painless! I love that feature.

Next stop was Beaches and Cream. We had ressies at Le Cellier for lunch as well but I called and cancelled them because no one felt like a heavy meal. Plus the kids really wanted to try the ice cream! We were very lucky and only had a 15 minute wait. She put us in an area that Alex could stay in his chair since it is such a small place we were afraid there would not be enough room. Beaches and Cream is AWESOME! I highly recommend it! The burgers were great, they wait staff was amazing. I dropped a spoon and she literally heard it dropped headed over picked it up and brought me another one ... immediately. The kids were more than ready to order ice cream when the time came!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%208%20August%206/lastday019.jpg

Alex got a banana split. He was so excited they had them because they are his favorites.

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%208%20August%206/lastday021.jpg

Shel ordered the Fudge Mudslide, brownie and Oreo cookies ... she was sold!

http://i175.photobucket.com/albums/w134/thecamerons/07%20WDW%20Birthday%20trip/day%208%20August%206/lastday020.jpg

James and I both had he No Way Jose. James loves peanut butter sweets and I had heard so much about it I had to try it. It was AMAZING!


We left B&C and headed to Epcot. We did a leisurely stroll to Epcot, taking in all the sounds and smells. We had missed a few things over in the WS so we decided to hit it again. Shel had wanted a parasol from France so that was first on our list. She got it and happily danced for a while under it walking around ... note she calls ME a dork. We took it slow because the heat was blistering. Winding in and out of shops and picking up Kidcot stuff for the kids to color at home. We quickly drank up my reserve water and ended up buying some water. It was well worth the extra costs lol. We decided we needed to hit someplace cool with a short line and there was Maelstrom. I freely admit this is a dorky ride but I love it lol. Most importantly to everyone it is LONG and COOL! It was sad though because I knew it was our last ride at Disney. I found myself slowing down walking back trying to slow down time. We hit one more shop on the way out of Epcot and the alarm on my phone went off to signal it was time to start heading back. We picked up a few things in the shop. Including my husband buying a set of Mickey ice cube trays which he still adores. He told me yesterday that I needed to put some Mickey's in the ice maker so when we got ice out of the fridge door we could have hidden Mickey's. No he is not a Disney Dork really lmao.

We took the boat back and barely spoke. I watched my children and husband doing what I was doing trying to take it all in. Trying to burn the images in our mind. I can play that trip back over and over in my mind. We were the most connected as a family that we had ever been I think at that point. All just enjoying not wanting it to come to an end. We headed inside BC and got our carry ons and prepared to wait for our bus. James and I found chairs in the lobby and sat taking in the sites and sounds of BC. The kids went pin trading around the lobby. James turned to me and said I wish we could stay just a few more days. Something he has never done before ... he is always ready to head back to the real world from vacation. I think that is because we are so near it on other vacations, at Disney it really is a whole new world. You are so separated from the harsh realities of the world around it. I sat there thinking about what a magical place this truly is. It is the only place that everyone seems to slow down in. In the real world if you miss the elevator you are irritated. Here if the doors are closing you slow your walk and find something to look at while you wait. There is no hurry there is no urgency to get to your next spot. Here you have time to take a deep breath and smell ALL the roses. Here you can have a long talk with your child just about life and how wonderful it is, about how much they love you and you love them. There are no pressures of the real world peering over your shoulder. Disney is the most magical place on earth ... there is no doubt. For those that do not think so they did not slow down long enough to find all its treasures.

I sit here thinking about what a difference a year makes in ones life. A year ago I never thought I would go to Disney, in less than a year we have been on 2 trips. Last year we were struggling to make ends meet, this year we were able to plan a surprise birthday trip for our children. A year ago I wanted another child but did not ever see it happening, this year I am on the brink of adopting 4 children. Last year we thought Alex would never walk any better than he does now. This year we are looking at a surgery that has allowed many children who crawled before to walk without any extra help. We went to Disney and I firmly believe we brought the magic back home with us. For that I will be eternally grateful and my heart will always be intertwined with a mouse. :smickey:



Thank you for the opportunity to share our lives with you. I hope you enjoyed the story as much as I enjoyed reliving and telling it. :tinker:

[scottny]

well let me first say it has been a pleasure getting to know you and your family through your tr. it seems like you really did have a magical time.

Best of luck with the adoption. The new house sounds great and I hope in a year you are able to buy maybe.

Sorry to hear your not going to Disney next year but totally understandable.

Good luck with all of his medical coming up.

I almost flew Airtran then went Southwest. You should have posted it so others know. When a company does wrong always tell others is my motto.

Hope to see you around here and best wishes to you and your family.

[ms_mckenna]

Thanks Scott. I will sure I will see you more on your thread once life settles down a bit. Things have just been very crazy, and I am sure they are going to get worse before it gets better. DH keeps telling me well maybe everything will go well and we can go back to Disney next Dec. I think he has caught the bug as bad as me lol.

I know what you mean about telling people about my experience, and I still may do so. It was just such a bad experience ... suffice it to say the lady at the gate was beyond rude to me. I actually cried and I only cry when I am really really angry. Southwest on the other hand is amazing and we adore them. So moral of the story ... flly Southwest lol. DH definately told me that would the last time he would be flying Airtran. ;)

[scottny]

It kinda sounds like you will be at Disney next year if DH has his way. :cool1:

I have never flown either so this is first time on Southwestern.

we shall see.

[ms_mckenna]

Scott I do not know how I missed your post sorry. I hope you like Southwest. Are you flying out of JFK or Laguardia? We flew into Lag last year when we went to NJ to Bookends for the John Cena signing for DS's bday.

Update:

Well we as of about 11 this morning we are officially foster parents. I have not figured out if it is a roller coaster or a train wreck yet lol. My best friend says they want to see how serious you are during the licensing process and that it will get better. We shall see.

CASA and the kids Attorney had basically told us that as long as we got licensed we would have no problems getting the kids. As of Monday that changed. We are now in the running with 15 other families in the state of Texas and are being "reviewed". I do not have high hopes, because of how far we are away from the kids. I think they will pick someone that CPS does not have to drive as far to check in on them. We did agree though as long as they make the decision with the kids best interest in mind we will be happy with whatever the outcome. There is a reason we have been through all of this and I just have to believe it will show itself eventually.

I had a long talk with our worker this morning and told her that if we did not get these kids we would NOT be taking four. They still have us licensed for four foster children 0 to 14. She asked me what we really wanted and wrote down 18 months to 10 years legal risk kids, then reminded me she would call me on anything that fit our license and that I would have to tell her no. I reminded her that we wanted races that are typically harder to place since we do not mind what race the child is and there are so many that do. I was amazed that she told me they typically get Caucasian children. (the rest of Texas from what I hear has the opposite problem) James said if the 2 boys that are supposed to have our front room do not get it no one is and he is going to make it a game room. Course I still have room in the other 2 bedrooms for 3 children, which she reminded me of lol. We went over the fact that we did not want a placement until after Alex's surgery so she has down to start calling us on Nov 15Th. We also had a talk about if the placement of 4 did not happen we would be going to Disney in Dec of next year so whatever child we get around that time will need to come with permission to go because I am not leaving a child with respite while we go. She agreed and noted it.

Anyway I know a lot of you knew what was going on with us and I just wanted to update everyone on where we were on the ride.

[scottny]

neither, I am flying to West Virginia and picking up my cousins then driving to louisville KY and that is where we fly on Southwest. :confused3

Sounds like it can go either way with the children so I will be thinking of you all. Keep us informed of what happens.

You said as of 11 this morning ur foster parents, r the kids with u now?

[ms_mckenna]

neither, I am flying to West Virginia and picking up my cousins then driving to louisville KY and that is where we fly on Southwest. :confused3

Sounds like it can go either way with the children so I will be thinking of you all. Keep us informed of what happens.

You said as of 11 this morning ur foster parents, r the kids with u now?


Oh ok. We flew on Airtran into Laguardia. I was thinking you were in NYC ... please tell me I am not losing my mind lmao. :rotfl:

Yes it could go either way.

As of right now we do not have kids except for our 2 bios. We are just officially liscensed by the state of Texas now. She asked us if we wanted a 14 year old girl this afternoon and I had to tell her no. I can not imagine having 2 14 year old girls in my home at the same time! :scared1:

[scottny]

Oh ok. We flew on Airtran into Laguardia. I was thinking you were in NYC ... please tell me I am not losing my mind lmao. :rotfl:

Yes it could go either way.

As of right now we do not have kids except for our 2 bios. We are just officially liscensed by the state of Texas now. She asked us if we wanted a 14 year old girl this afternoon and I had to tell her no. I can not imagine having 2 14 year old girls in my home at the same time! :scared1:

I am in NYC. I have to pick kids up and instead of them traveling up here alone I will go to them and then fly out. They have never flown so don't know how they will be.
Oh ok, now i understand it. That would be scary having two 14 yr old girls there.