The WDW 100 Potty Tour 2007 (With pics-NOT of potties though, of WDW of course!) [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

mymainmouse

09-24-2007, 06:33 PM

Hi all! This is my first attempt at a trip report so please be patient. I am going to do my best to share all the highs and lows of a trip to WDW. I can also tell you exactly where every potty in the 40 odd square miles that is the Walt Disney Resort will be located...so anyone traveling with a child less than 8 will want to subscribe immediately.:thumbsup2
Let me begin with a little background of our traveling party. There were 6 of us ranging in ages from 5 (hence the familiarity with the potty locations) to 57 (also the cause of the familiarity with potty locations).:rolleyes1 My hubby, myself(obiviously), DD 10 Emilyprincess: , DD 5 Abbyprincess: , Grandma( my mom) and Pop pop (my dad). Hubby had been to Disney once when he was little and did not have a great desire to go back but pretty much goes with the flow as far as vacations go. He is happy as long as he is out of town and can relax and eat. Now I was not always a big fan of Disney (I know, I was out of my mind for awhile). I went once in 1989 when I was a teenager and didn't really "get" the whole experience so I never really thought about going there on vacation... then Hubby and I were given a trip to Disney in Feb. of 2006 and stayed at the Contemporary.:love: I knew from the minute we got there that we had to bring our girls back with us and soon. I have never felt so guilty about a trip without the girls as I did then so I planned one for that Nov. and invited the grandparents along to experience WDW. That trip was awesome! But once that trip was over I had the feeling we needed to go back SOON so when I found an ad for Free Dining in September:idea: I was all over it. Then I found the Disboards... talk about obsessiveness( I don't know if that is a word or not but it fits). I spent all of my free time this summer reading and surfing trying to get the best ADRs, the best flight deals, and the best park strategies. Once again we invited my parents along to enjoy the girls' excitement. As a side note my parents are great. They are awesome grandparents to my girls and enjoy being there just to see the Emily and Abby's reactions to everything. We don't have to worry about our experiences with the girls being infringed upon by my parents. They are just happy to observe and enjoy, if that means riding the teacups with Emily or Abby or just watching as Hubby and I ride the teacups with the girls. Its all good to them and that is exactly why they get invited along.;)
Now that I have a little background info there for you I will get on with the show.:)
Our flight was Sunday at 12:15 p.m. on Delta out of Columbus, Ohio. Last year we flew out out of Detroit, MI on Northwest at 7:00 a.m. which meant we drove up and spent the night before in Detroit close to the airport. That was a nice early flight and we were checked in to our room at the ASMu by 11:30 a.m. but since we still had to catch the shuttle to the ariport at 5 a.m. the girls were exhausted and took 2 days to recuperate. Sorry, I am rambling with too much background info.:rolleyes:
This year we (I-because I was doing all the planning) decided that Columbus would be better because we didn't have to spend the night before and we got a pretty good deal. So after much planning and preparation we were on the plane, in the air and on our way to WDW!!:cheer2: http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07177.jpg
Emily and Abby got to be "assistant flight attendants" while on the plane. Abby handed out mints and Emily handed out cookies. A little bit of pixie dust already.:wizard:http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07179.jpg
Finally we landed and were on the Magical Express to the ASMu again. I really like this resort. It isn't fancy but it has cute themeing. Unfortunately when we got there we hit a few snags. When I was planning this whole trip
I bought a package that was 5 nights free dining, 5 nights at the resort and 6 days worth of park tickets. I decided that since we had 6 days of tickets we might as well have 6 nights too. Little did I know that would be a pain in my backside for most of the trip. It seemed pretty simple at the time. The first lady at reservations said they couldn't add on like that (I just don't think she wanted to mess with me) so :idea: I decided to call back and talk to someone else. This nice young man was able to do this for me but it took a LONG time on the phone. Eventually it was worked out but he told me there was a slim chance we would have to move to another room and he was going to put a note on our reservation that linked it to our first reservation. Apparently it didn't work because when we got there I asked the CM at check-in about it and she checked and in fact we were going to have to move on the last night.:mad: I didn't want to have to mess with that so I asked her if there was any way we could stay in the same room and she said she would check. So after much tippy-tapping on the computer another CM got us all situated with new room keys and new rooms. Unfortunately the new rooms were about 3 buildings farther away than the original rooms but I was just glad to not have to move. :thumbsup2
After all of that we finally were able to go to our rooms in no mans land.
Our luggage had not arrived but since we had ADRs at Garden Grill for 7:00 p.m. we decided not to wait on it and head to Epcot. Here is what we arrived to:http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07182.jpg
Not a good thing when all of your rain gear is in the luggage which is still somewhere on its way to no mans land.
Up next: Will we make it to the Garden Grill or get flooded out?

Dixielady908

09-24-2007, 07:17 PM

great start....looking forward to reading more!!

mymainmouse

09-25-2007, 04:37 PM

Okay, so where was I....:confused: oh yes, now I remember. My family and I were standing at the bus stop at Epcot waiting for the rain to stop. We waited for about 30-40 mins. for it to stop and it finally did. Kind of. It was really only sprinkling by comparison to what had just came down but it was still raining a little. We were all just ready to get to the park so we risked melting and headed in. We had enough time to look around the Innoventions East pavillion and then headed over to the Land. Once we got there we had enough time to walk on (no line) the Living with the Land ride so we did that.
It was a nice ride. I don't think I would have stood in line for a long time for it but it was nice to try. Here are a few pictures from it:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07184.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07186.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07189.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07188.jpg

Then it was time for our ADRs for The Garden Grill. We went to check in and got a buzzer/lighty up thing and then sat down to wait at which point I asked both of my girls if they had to use the restroom. They both said no so we just waited for our buzzer/lighty up thing to do its job. We didn't have to wait long at all and got to go to our seats. Okay now here is where I am going to put my disclaimer, "The opinions posted now are only the opinions of myself and my traveling companions ." I think in all fairness I would give Garden Grill another try but only with a smaller group . And not for a long time.
We were seated on the first level in a row all facing out. This is not conducive to talking to anyone except the person directly next to you. When there are 6 people it's not great for conversation.
I am sure that it was so we could see the scenery but it just seemed odd to all of us. The characters were around a lot which was nice. We got quite a few pictures of Emily and Abby with them.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07192.jpg

The food was okay, nothing terrible but nothing fantastic either. Hubby loved the potato casserole and thought the flank stead was pretty good. The girls also liked the frost your own cupcake for dessert.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07200.jpg
The server was really nice but the whole process seemed to take tooooooo long. By the time she brought out the main course we were rotated around to the entrance and I felt like I was on display for a tour at the zoo.:) "Look at how the Ohioans eat. Watch as the mother Ohioan feeds the small one. " Aren't they just interesting to watch?":laughing:
So anyhow, that is all I am really going to say about Garden Grill. I know there are a lot of people who love it so please don't be mad. Maybe we just got there on an off night. It probably didn't help that we had to wait so long for the rain to taper off. It probably also didn't help that both of my darlings had to go to the bathroom during the meal . At different times. By the time I got to my food it was slightly cool.
So after we got done at Garden Grill it was close to 9:00 (we had ressies for 7) and we decided to head on back to our rooms and see if the luggage had found its way to no mans land. Here is a little bit of what we saw on the way out.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07204.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07205.jpg
On a side note we were there last year and the Earth had a wand and the word Epcot on it. I think I like it better that way than without it. It looks almost too blah to me. Only another opinion.:) Here is one from last year:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/IMG_0900.jpg

Up next: First ever trip to Animal Kingdom!! Yay!!!:cheer2:

mymainmouse

09-25-2007, 04:44 PM

great start....looking forward to reading more!!

Thanks for reading!:goodvibes I am enjoying going back over the trip. It's kind of like getting to go again. :)

VandyFan10

09-26-2007, 09:30 PM

Up next: First ever trip to Animal Kingdom!! Yay!!!:cheer2:

Excited to see your pics of AK!! :yay:

Thanks for the review!

Erica princess:

pjstevens

09-27-2007, 02:45 AM

Kelly,

great trip report so far. can't wait to read more.

mymainmouse

09-27-2007, 08:05 AM

Excited to see your pics of AK!! :yay:

Thanks for the review!

Erica princess:

Thanks for reading! :goodvibes I am hoping to have a lot of AK pictures posted today. I spent most of my computer time yesterday taking the pictures off of my mom's camera and putting them on my computer so we could place an order from snapfish. She had a lot from AK so I'll post those too.:)

mymainmouse

09-27-2007, 08:08 AM

Kelly,

great trip report so far. can't wait to read more.

Thanks for visiting. :goodvibes I was noticing that you have a trip coming up. I am so jealous.:) I don't have any trips planned right now. It seems weird. :)

pjstevens

09-27-2007, 08:53 AM

NMAmy

09-27-2007, 09:06 AM

Your title intrigued me! I know where every bathroom is, as well, from when my dd was little. Just for future reference--the bathroom in Morocco in the WS is one of the best at WDW and hardly anyone uses it! :rotfl2: Maybe we should compare notes.

This is a beautiful picture--it looks just like a postcard.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07205.jpg

Can't wait to hear more!

herewegodisney

09-27-2007, 09:43 AM

Ha! I love the title. Our trip was DH and I, plus dd's 3-1/2 and 1-1/2, along with my in-laws. We saw lots of potties. I totally agree about Garden Grill. It was such a let down. The service was bad and we were there for 2 hours. I'm looking forward to the rest of the report.
Melissa

bowlingchicaroo

09-27-2007, 09:50 AM

subscribing....i love you TR so far...i have to admit though the title did draw me in a little too...as i have 2 dd's~7 & 4...we will be going on our 1st family trip in january 2008 with them...

we are thinking about flying out of detroit since we only live 2 hrs. from there...so how was the detroit airline with getting around and finding where you need to go? we are kinda nervous about it being so big and all...

mymainmouse

09-27-2007, 10:02 AM

Were off to Animal Kingdom! :cheer2: When I was planning this trip I asked my oldest daughter, Emily, where she would like to spend her first full day at Disney and she decided Animal Kingdom. We made our plans to go to Animal Kingdom on Monday and then to Downtown Disney Monday evening to Capn' Jacks for dinner. So that's what the plan was and it pretty much worked out.
I tried to get my girls moving in the morning and of course that didn't happen so we didn't make it to AK until 9:30 or so. Here is us trying to get to the bus that morning:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0036.jpg

Finally ANIMAL KINGDOM!!!

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07207.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0038.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07026.jpg

I have to apologize in advance for some of the pictures. Most of them were taken as fast as possible because Hubby isn't real fond of picture taking. Some of our pictures have people who aren't us in the picture. :) I usually just stopped walking long enough to get scenery pictures and then ran to catch up. I can thank my MIL for Hubby's hate of picture taking. She always has a camera on her making us pose and takes ALOT of pictures. I mean ALOT of picture.I dread the day when we have to go through them and sort them out. They make her happy now so that is the important thing.;)

So back the trip report. Our plan was to head straight to Kilimanjaro(sp?) Safaris to get fast passes and then go look around. We got there and the wait time said 20 mins. so we just got in line instead. I think it turned out to be longer but that was okay. It was pretty stuffy and hot in the queue but we survived. The girls were really excited because they had watched every Travel Channel show on Disney and were wanting to do the Safari for quite awhile. Here are some picture from the Safari:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0040.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07003.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07001.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07008.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07007.jpg
The Safari was really fun and we all really enjoyed it. We walked the trails then and got some other pictures of animals.
The gorilla was a total poser. My dad was trying to take his picture and he wouldn't turn around. I stopped to take his picture and he walked along the edge of the moat, stopped and stared at me and let me take his picture. Maybe he only lets girls take his picture. :rotfl:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07013.jpg
This is an Okapi. My girls have thought they were cool since they first saw one at the Columbus Zoo. We had to get this ones picture.;)

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07009.jpg

After we walked the trails it was almost noon so we decided to go to Flame Tree barbeque and grab something to eat. By then it was fairly crowded so Mom and I decided to stay and order while the guys took the girls and found a seat. It was a good lunch. Em, mom and I had the barbeque chicken salad which was good and Hubby had the ribs. He said they were a little tough. He really likes ribs though and can be picky about them. My dad had the barbeque pork sandwich and liked it as well. Abby had the hotdog and grapes. She loves grapes and ate a lot of them that week.
It seemed pretty hot after lunch so we decided to ride the train to Rafikis Planet watch. This was a pretty cool area. Most of it was in a building so it was air conditioned. The girls really liked it. It had a lot of educational stuff. There was a veterinary room where you could watch them work on a bobcat. A CM also came out with an armadillo and did a little talk. There were plenty of CMs at the different stations answering questions and talking to the kids.
We stopped and took this picture on the way to the potty.:)
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07016.jpg
We also got to see some characters.
Pocahontas:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07017.jpg
We also saw Rafiki and Jiminy Cricket. After that we went to the petting zoo to see some more animals:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07020.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07012.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07021.jpg
Hubby was laughing at me for taking pictures of goats and a cow because, "You know there are goats and cows in Ohio?" but I thought the cow looked sad and wanted to give him some attention. :)
After this we headed back to our rooms to freshen up and then went to Downtown Disney for dinner at Capn' Jacks and then some shopping. Dinner was really good. I recommend this for anyone who wants to get away from the crowds at the parks. It was a fairly quiet meal. Beware though it has a small bathroom. I know that because of course someone had to go during the meal and we had to wait in line for it forever. :)
We had a nice evening. The weather even cooled down and the humidity left. It was a good first full day.
As a little hint to all parents out there: We didn't rent a stroller for the parks. We ended up just buying one for 40 dollars at Downtown Disney. I don't know exactly what the rental fee is. It seemed like it was 10.00 per day last year so this year we just bought one and then brought it home on the plane.
Up next The Magic Kingdom!!!:cool1:

pjstevens

09-27-2007, 10:18 AM

mymainmouse

09-27-2007, 12:01 PM

Kelly,

Have you used winkflash? They have a .06 sale right now (you have to pay normal postage, they are normally .99 postage no matter what size). Depending on how many pics you are ordering, it may be a good deal. I have used both.

We are going to MNSSHP on October 21st. Planning a quick weekend trip to see our daughter (not visiting the parks except for the party), as we'll be back in December for an early family Christmas with our daughter.

Can't wait to see your pics and boy do I understand the potty business. My son has a nervous stomach and we probably know where EVERY potty on wdw property is, lol.

Keep writing.

Thanks for the tip! At this point I believe we have about 450 pictures to order between my moms, mine, and the ones Emily wants of those. That will save us probably at least 50% plus if the shipping is .99 cents that will save us a lot too. I believe it was going to be about 18.00 from snapfish. I am going to check it out.
I am so glad you get to go in October. Aubre will be so glad to see you and you to see her. December is too far away.:)

Your title intrigued me! I know where every bathroom is, as well, from when my dd was little. Just for future reference--the bathroom in Morocco in the WS is one of the best at WDW and hardly anyone uses it! :rotfl2: Maybe we should compare notes.

This is a beautiful picture--it looks just like a postcard.

Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks! I love taking pictures but unfortunately Hubby(Bryan) gets frustrated with the whole deal so I take them as quick as possible and hope for the best.:)
I don't remember if we visited the Morocco potty or not. My mom did some of the potty trips with Abby so she could have taken her to that one. We did stop in that shop area though so it's possible. ;)

Ha! I love the title. Our trip was DH and I, plus dd's 3-1/2 and 1-1/2, along with my in-laws. We saw lots of potties. I totally agree about Garden Grill. It was such a let down. The service was bad and we were there for 2 hours. I'm looking forward to the rest of the report.
Melissa
I am sorry you had a bad experience there too. I was worried after we ate there that all of the ADRs I had made were bad choices. Thankfully that wasn't the case.

subscribing....i love you TR so far...i have to admit though the title did draw me in a little too...as i have 2 dd's~7 & 4...we will be going on our 1st family trip in january 2008 with them...

we are thinking about flying out of detroit since we only live 2 hrs. from there...so how was the detroit airline with getting around and finding where you need to go? we are kinda nervous about it being so big and all...

Maybe all of the parents on Disboards should get together a Potty Only map of WDW. It seems like it's a very important thing to know while there.:rotfl:

We are in NW Ohio as well. Last year it took us about 2 hours to get to Detroit from here and our flight was early so we drove up the night before and stayed at a Howard Johnson Motel that offered an airport shuttle. I think it was around 65.00 for the one night and free parking for the week. They picked us up and took us to the airport and then came and got us at the end of vacation. The Det. airport wasn't too bad to get around in. It is definitely alot bigger than Columbus. It wasn't too busy when we were there either although we left on a Wed. and got back on a Tuesday. I don't know if that makes a difference or not. We flew on Northwest out of Det. They had a pretty good deal going at the time. This year they didn't. All in all Detroit was not bad at all.

mymainmouse

09-27-2007, 12:12 PM

Kelly,

Love the pics. Great report so far. I was telling my daughter about you looking for her at Epcot and she thought it was funny you were thinking of taking a picture (of the other girl who wasn't aubre). She got to play jr. chef the past two days, getting to make cookies with the little guests. She had a ball (she loves to bake anyway and really does love kids).

I am so glad I didn't ask the other girl for a picture. I would have felt so dumb. :)
Emily and Abby did the Jr. Chef thing last year. They loved it. Actually they still have the chef hats from it. The guy who led it did a great job. That would be a fun job to have. Is she going to get to be there permanently or just for the 2 days? I would have a hard time not sneaking tastes and samples of the cookies if I worked there.;)

mymainmouse

09-30-2007, 01:05 PM

Okay folks! I am back and hoping to make another update for anyone who has subscribed and all who are lurking.;) Today was Magic Kingdom day and I was really excited. To me it somehow doesn't feel like you are really at WDW until you go to the Magic Kingdom. I don't know if that is just my feeling or what. It didn't matter that we had been to Epcot, got to eat with Mickey and friends, went to Downtown Disney (where we spent enitirely too much time in the World of Disney Store) and were at Animal Kingdom with Pocahontas, Rafiki and the rest of the gang. It didn't feel like we were officially at the World until we were on our way to MK!!:cool1: When we went last year I felt the same way. Maybe we should go more often and that will take care of me feeling that way. :) I don't know if Hubby will buy that excuse or not, " We need to go to Disney more often so that I am more comfortable with not going to Magic Kingdom on the first day." I am doubting it.:)
So anyhow here we are at the bus stop waiting for the bus that will make the trip officially a Disney for me:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0059.jpg

As a side note it is VERY humid in Florida in September. I don't know if that is the case for the whole summer or not. I have been there in Feb., Apr., May, and November and none of those times were as humid as September so most of the pictures of my have my hair pulled back in this clippy thing because it was just flat the whole week. My hair just wouldn't do anything the whole time. One morning I decided to walk up to the Food court to get Hubby and the girls some breakfast and I wore my hair down. It was a mess. So if you are planning to go to FL anytime in summer or early fall and you have longer hair be prepared for flat hair the whole time. It took a few days of being home for my hair to snap out of it. Maybe its the tap water.:confused3
Anyhow we finally get to MK and I decided to get a few photos on the way in.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0060.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07030.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07031.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0061.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07032.jpg
I try to get scenery pictures as well as pictures of the girls and characters.
So after we finally made it into the park we were on Main Street USA. It was decorated really pretty for fall and Halloween. I love fall colors and Disney did it just right. :)
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0062.jpg

Our first order of business was to go to the Pirates of the Caribbean ride and get fast passes. We headed there and I took these on the way:
The Castle of course.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07034.jpg
The Swiss Family Robinson Treehouse.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0065.jpg
And some pictures as we were crossing the bridge to Adventureland.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0064.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0063.jpg

Now as we were walking to POTC both of my girls decided they did not want to ride it and were going to start crying about it. We told them it was fine and not scary and just a ride. They didn't believe us. You see last year we told them the same thing about the Stitch's Great Escape ride and they both ended up hating it and still hold it against us. This year in anticipation of Hubby wanting to ride POTC I found a video somewhere on the Disboards that showed pretty much the whole POTC ride so they could watch it and know that it wasn't bad. So after much convincing and some whining we got them on the ride. There wasn't a wait so we just walked through the queue and got on. Emily decided she would just keep her eyes closed until she felt comfortable opening them, Abby on the other hand decided she would cry through the first third of the ride until she realized that it wasn't bad at all. I apologize to anyone who may have been on that ride with us. I hope you still enjoyed what you could hear of it. We aren't the kind of parents who tell their childrent to suck it up and stop whining. We try to be sympathetic to what they are feeling. In this case, however, we knew it would be fine if they gave it a try. Not like last year and Stitch's Great Escape. We will not speak of that incident again.:thumbsup2 So anyhow they rode POTC and Em decided she would go again but Abby will still a no go. Oh well. It's not the end of the world.;)
After that we came out and caught the end of Captain Jack Sparrows Pirate tutorial and decided we would try to catch the whole thing next time. We then rode the Jungle Cruise. Again we didn't have to wait long at all. It was a fun ride. Emily got to be the captain of the boat for awhile. She is pretty outgoing and will do most of that stuff if asked to. Abby not so much. She usually want Big Sis to join her if possible or won't do it at all which we will see happen later in our trip.
Captain Emily:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07037.jpg
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07038.jpg

I didn't take a lot of pictures from the Jungle Cruise. Emily had her own camera and was snapping all kinds of pics. so I thought I could use hers. I could have if we had been able to bring her camera with us but that is another story for a later post.
Back to MK. So after Jungle Cruise we decided that since it was after 11:00 it would be a good time to stop for lunch. And it was. We went to Pecos Bill's for lunch. It wasn't very crowded at all. For anyone out there reading trip reports for hints and to learn from others here is a hint: EAT EARLY! It was much less crowded around 11:00 than noon. So after resting a little at Pecos Bill's we were ready to finish the day at MK and go to the Crystal Palace for Dinner.
Up next: Crystal Palace with or without characters?

pjstevens

10-01-2007, 07:37 AM

mymainmouse

10-01-2007, 02:25 PM

Kelly,

My son got to be the driver for the jungle cruise when we were there a couple years ago. He loved it (so did i). At that time, a lady who was taking a tour group around (does that regularly) said she had never seen them do that. Just a little pixie dust.

Can't wait to read more. Your pics are great.

That is so cool that your son got to be the driver on the jungle cruise too. I am glad Emily got asked to do it too. She is up for about anything. Abby probably wouldn't have done it. She's pretty shy.

Thanks for reading. :) I am hoping to finish Magic Kingdom day tonight. It depends on how much computer time I can get.

mymainmouse

10-01-2007, 09:29 PM

Alrighty then. So after a bite to eat at Pecos Bill's we were ready to get moving again (not before the required potty break, of course). Okay, so after the potty break we were ready to get moving again. The next stop was Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. This is a really fun ride. We went with the girls and Mom and Dad sat this one out. Mom is afraid of heights and Dad said he would stay with her. We didn't use fast passes for this ride either and it wasn't much of a wait. We didn't exactly walk on but it wasn't a long line. The girls love this ride. I am so glad they both went on it. We had a blast.
After that it was off to the Country Bears show and then on to Fantasyland. Unfortunately I didn't get many pictures during this time but I will say my new favorite ride is Flight of Peter Pan. It is such a cute ride. The theming is great and Abby loved it. We also went to Philarmagic.
:3dglasses WE LOVE THIS ATTRACTION!!!:love: Abby kept trying to catch the things "flying" through the air. It was just so cute. We went to this last year but Emily had to make a potty break during the show so I only got to see the beginning. So after catching all we wanted to see in Fantasyland we headed over to the parade route to pick a spot. We ended up being right at the beginning of the path that is a short cut to Adventureland. I strategically picked this spot because while someone was holding that spot I wanted to run to Aloha Isle to get my new favorite afternoon snack/beverage. THE DOLE WHIP FLOAT!!!:love: Those things are DELICIOUS! My mom and I were hooked on those things. So the guys waited in our spot, we went and got the goods and then we came back and waited. Here are some pictures that show about where we were:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07041-1.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07042-1.jpg

While we waited we saw these guys:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07040.jpg

And then the parade:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07043-1.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07044-1.jpg

After the parade we went back around to some other attractions and then headed to our ADRs at The Crystal Palace:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07053.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07065.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0074.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07057.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07062.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07055.jpg

This is such a pretty restaurant. The food was really good too. I liked just about everything I tried. The only thing I didn't like was some sort of couscous salad type thing. It was too hot and spicy for my taste. The rest was all great though. The only problem we had was with the characters. I don't know if it was the table location or what but all of the characters skipped us on their way around. We never did get to see Pooh and the others we got to see only after we mentioned it to our waiter. The CMs were very kind in fixing the situation and Abby got to be first in line behind Eeyore during the parade. After that we got some pictures with everyone
except Pooh-Silly old Bear!
After that we decided to skip the fireworks for tonight because we would be back in 2 days and would watch them on that day. At least that was the plan. We then started heading toward the exit. We made a few shopping stops on the way and ended catching part of the fireworks anyhow. We didn't actually watch the whole show because my husband has the idea that if we do not rush out of the park to the bus stop we will be left behind or something . :confused3 I have a hard time "encouraging" him to let us see the fireworks. I think he thinks he is beating the crowds or something. He isn't a big fan of fireworks either. Anyhow we managed to see a little before leaving.

So we got back to our room and here is what we found:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07070.jpg
The unchaparoned babies had been watching T.V. all day! Shame on them!:rotfl:

The Mousekeeper did something like this each night with the girls stuffed animals. It was so cute. The girls got a kick out of coming home just to see how she had left them.

Up next: The Epcot day I would love to do over. :)

mymainmouse

10-04-2007, 12:48 PM

Okay so this was not my favorite day so I am hoping to make it short and as sweet as possible. We got up early again. At least as early as I could get my family moving and heading to Epcot. It was looking like rain so we packed all of our rain ponchos, umbrellas, water, babywipes, cameras and kitchen sinks in the backpack .I believe that backpack weighed 50 lbs. and I know this because I carried it most of the time. Hubby didn't want to take it so he kind of ignored it except the last night of our trip at which time he should not have been carrying it but that is another story for a later post.:thumbsup2
So we all get on the bus and it heads to Epcot. We were about half- way there when I realize I don't have the key to the safe in my pockets. I ask Hubby if he had the key. No. Great. Most of our vacation funding was in that safe and while I am sure our Mousekeeper would not have taken anything, we had gotten a message from the front desk saying they would be changing the mattresses sometime that day. Who knows who was going to be in our room. So our plan of action was for me and Hubby to head back to the room and get the key and then phone Mom , Dad and the girls and meet up with them in Epcot. The bus driver was a really nice guy and arranged to drive us straight back to ASMu instead of continuing on his route. So we got the key and headed back to Epcot. This whole process took about an hour out of our precious Epcot time.
So by the time we get to Epcot it is of course raining. We get all ponchoed up and find the family. Then at my suggestion we head to the free drink tasting place( can't think what it is called now) anyhow, I had read about the Beverly drink on the Disboards so I decided to let my family all try this delicious beverage. HeeHee. :rolleyes1 None of them were very happy with me for subjecting them to this poison called Beverly. In all fairness to them I did try it first. I didn't want to totally be mean. It somehow made me feel better to know how awful it did actually taste.
By now it was lunch time so I suggested we eat at Sunshine Seasons before it gets too crowded. I picked this because a. it was close and 2. it had a lot of choices to make everyone happy which it did. Everyone that is except Dear Hubby. I thought that it had a Oriental food counter. He loves Chinese food so I thought he could eat there. It does have an Oriental food counter but he didn't like their food. We ate there last year and I was supposed to remember that little bit of info. Oh well. So he ate a bag of chips and insisted he was fine but mostly pouted the rest of the day and refused to stop and get a meal at 1 of the 100 other food places in Epcot.:mad: He has claimed since then that he didn't feel well which I believe since he went to be at 8:30 that night and slept until 7:30 the next morning. I just wish he'd have taken a tylenol or something. Along with the 50 lbs. of necessities in the back pack I did have a little first aid kit with some meds in it. His crabbiness kind of set tone for the whole day.
After eating we walked around the world showcase. We got to see quite a few things. It was not crowded at all and the rain had stopped. It was just cloudy. That was okay because it kept it from getting too hot. Here are a few things we saw:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07073.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07049.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07089.jpg

My little Moroccan.:)
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07084.jpg
These drummers in Japan are really cool to watch. I think they should offer some sort of classes for it. It looks like quite a workout. I think it would get rid of my flabby arms for sure.:)
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07088.jpg

The Country Bears acted really silly with the girls. They loved it.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07090.jpg

We went on around WS and visited the different countries. We went into the Mexican Pavillion for the first time this year. It was really cool. We all really liked the atmosphere. We'd really like to try the San Angel Inn restaurant some day. So after the WS we went to the Nemo ride and then to the aquarium. The girls loved the aquarium. By then we were all tired so we headed back to the ASMu to grab some dinner and then rest. When we got back to the room however, we had a note and a towel animal from Mousekeeping that said a little birdy told them we were leaving soon. We weren't supposed to be leaving until Sat. as far as I knew so I had to turn around and go back to the front desk to see what the deal was. They didn't know about the Mousekeeping mix up but they still had us checking out on Friday. :confused: That darn extra day bit me in the butt again! So I got it straightened out-or so I thought. I headed back to the room and found Hubby asleep and the girls had gotten their baths and were watching Mickey cartoons. I crashed too and watched some Mickey cartoons with the girls and then went to sleep hoping for a better day tomorrow.
All in all it wasn't a terrible day. I just think my expectations were too high for the whole trip. Sometimes my expectations were met and exceeded and other times, like this day, they weren't and I let myself get too disappointed. I guess that can happen when you are soooo excited about something and you plan and plan and then it comes and goes too fast. :sad1:
The final Magic Kingdom day with dinner at Tony's. Yay!:woohoo:

mymainmouse

10-11-2007, 07:03 PM

Hopefully doing an update tomorrow. If you are still lurking out there and waiting for one let me know. :) I'll be reviewing Tony's and doing our last day at MK. :(

CiaoBelle

10-12-2007, 09:52 PM

Just in case you thought no one was reading, there really is someone. Please keep posting.
:cheer2:

hjd0411

10-13-2007, 05:22 AM

Me too Kelly - good report so far. I look forward to hearing the rest!

Thanks for sharing.

Heather :upsidedow

pjstevens

10-13-2007, 08:32 AM

Hoping the next day is a better one for you and your family. Can't wait to read more.

PrincessMomto2

10-13-2007, 06:31 PM

Hi there just found your trip report! Potty Tour count me in! I have to run but I wanted to subscribe! Can't wait to read your trip report! :surfweb:

KimAshton

10-13-2007, 07:11 PM

I just read your whole TR. the girls are beautiful. Cannot wait to read more. :)

mymainmouse

10-13-2007, 08:44 PM

Just in case you thought no one was reading, there really is someone. Please keep posting.
:cheer2:
Thanks for reading. I was beginning to wonder...:)

Me too Kelly - good report so far. I look forward to hearing the rest!

Thanks for sharing.

Heather :upsidedow
Thanks! :) I am glad your are enjoying it. :goodvibes

Hoping the next day is a better one for you and your family. Can't wait to read more.
Thanks for the tip about winkflash. It was such a great deal. The pictures were such a nice quality and it was so quick. I couldn't believe how fast we got them after I ordered them.

Hi there just found your trip report! Potty Tour count me in! I have to run but I wanted to subscribe! Can't wait to read your trip report! :surfweb:
I am glad you found it. I sure have been enjoying your trip report. It is nice to know that I am not the only mom who spends most of her vacation making sure she knows where all of the potties are located. :rolleyes:

I just read your whole TR. the girls are beautiful. Cannot wait to read more. :) I am hoping to get a chance to post my next report tomorrow. Unfortunately I didn't have time today. Thanks for reading!:)

PrincessMomto2

10-13-2007, 09:51 PM

mymainmouse

10-14-2007, 06:09 PM

Ok I'm finally all caught up! Wow we have a lot of things in common. We both have two girls, we both have 10 year olds and our little ones have an obsession with potty's! Oh yeah we both have dh's that can be grouchy and pout! :lmao:

First of all your girls are so precious and I am loving your pictures too! Keep them coming. Cindy did the same thing at the 3D show at the MK she kept trying to grab all the little characters.

I'm sorry your Epcot day turned out so poorly. You are right we do set our expectations so high and sometimes it is hard to meet those expectations. Especially when you have two young children. But it seems like you had a great time at both AK and the MK. Can't wait to read more. popcorn::

I also wanted to say that I am in awe of the fact that you guys spent the whole day at the parks without a break. You guys rock! :cool2: The heat just got to us and we needed to take a break each day or we would have totally wilted.

The CP looks great. Unfortunately we didn't get to go there this time. Cindy was looking at your pics from there and she said "Mooooooommy we didn't go there!" We better make sure we do next time around. pooh: :tigger: :eeyore:

Hope you got to enjoy Wishes at the MK.

Wow! You are right we do have a lot in common. I noticed in your signature that you husband is outnumbered at your house too. We do have a boy cat but I don't think he counts too much because he is kind of a sissy as far as cats go. Our girl cat,who weighs half as much as him, could beat him up any day.;) We also have a girl dog as well. Maybe being outnumbered is why our husbands pout so much. :)

As far as staying at the parks all day I think we just got lucky. It was never EXTREMELY hot. Maybe high 80's , low 90's. The sun wasn't out much either which seemed to help. It also rained here and there so I guess that helped too. Our worst day was our last day at AK. You can tell just by looking at the pictures of Abby that it was hot. Her little face was all red and her hair was all sweaty.

The CP was really nice. The food was really good and the restaurant itself is beautiful. We just had a little character interaction problem but that was taken care of. My dad still goes on and on about how good the food was there. He has named it his favorite restaurant of the whole trip. I just thought the whole thing was great. You'll have to try to go there next time your at WDW.:)

Tanya90210

10-14-2007, 07:27 PM

Just found your report and you can count me in!!!:thumbsup2

Jiminy'sGirl

10-14-2007, 07:49 PM

I am enjoying your report - sign me up!!!

Your pictures are great!!

mymainmouse

10-14-2007, 08:09 PM

Alright so now we are up to Day 5 of our trip and our destination today was Magic Kingdom. :yay: I was really excited about today because I just love MK. Somehow I just don't feel like we are at Disney unless we are at the MK. I was kind of sad too because feeling that way and knowing that this was the last time we would be at MK for this trip brought home the fact that our trip was coming to an end. Soon. :sad1:
Anyway we got up and got ready and guess what I found on our door? The magical express reservation paper that comes in the envelope. And of course it had the wrong date on it. Darn it. That extra day bit me in the butt again. So I went next door to see if my parents had the same thing. They didn't have anything which worried us too. So off to the check-in desk Mom and I went to see what the deal was. I have to tell you the CMs at Disney must be trained extra in patience because they were all so nice to us. Everytime we had a question they did a great job fixing it or answering our questions. And believe me we had a lot.:) The CM called Magical Express for us and got it all straightened out. No problem. :thumbsup2 We went back to the room and collected the rest of the gang, the 50lb. backpack and headed to the bus.

Of course we still didn't get there early enough to see the opening ceremonies but oh well. I knew we were going to see the fireworks and the Spectromagic parade so that made me happy.
Again we headed straight to Adventureland to ride POTC. Emily decided she really liked it but Abby decided she still didn't like it. Hubby and I went with Em and Grandma and Poppop stayed with Abby. There wasn't a line at all so we walked right on. When we were done the Pirate Tutorial was just about to start so we went to watch it.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07100.jpg
This guy is a VERY good Captain Jack. He sounds just like the Johnny Depp one except maybe not as cute.:love:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07099.jpg
ARRRR.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0103.jpg

This was such a cute show. They let a few kids come up and sword play with them. One little toddler kept wandering into the "show". He had one of those little monkey leash things on so Capt. Jack kept calling him Monkey boy. It was cute.
After this we went to ride BTMR. The girls love this ride. There was a little bit of a line but it wasn't too bad so we decided to wait instead of getting a fastpass and leaving and then coming back. We were trying to save ourselves some walking and it really wasn't that bad of a wait. Mom and Dad sat this one out so they got our picture. You can kind of see us.:)

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0105.jpg

After this it was about 11 or so, so we decided to eat and beat the crowd. We ate at Columbia Harbor House at Hubby choosing. (You'll remember the Sunshine Seasons episode from the day before.) It was pretty good. I had a salad and some chocolate cake, I think. I had saved all of the receipts so that I could have some help remembering but I can't find them. We also had kept track of how much money we would have spent had we paid for our food. I am sure I'll run across them eventually.

After this we headed to Fantasyland to catch some of the rides we really liked again. We didn't go on the Dumbo ride because it seems like such a long wait but we did do IASW, The Flight of Peter Pan, the Pooh ride, and then did some shopping for the neighbor boys who watch our pets for us when we go away.
We stopped for a try at the Sword and the Stone.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07117.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07116.jpg
By then we were hungry again(at least I was) and craving a Dole whip Float(that was me too.) Abby likes the roasted almonds and we were close to the cart so we stopped to get some of those and Mom and I decided to cut across to Aloha Isle and get three floats since Hubby decided he wanted one too. Then we were going to met the men and kids back at the almond cart. Well, luckily for me my mom had the foresight to bring along one umbrella because on our way back it started to pour! The rain was going right in my FLOAT!! So she held one float and the umbrella and I carried the other 2 melting, rainy floats. I kept having to drink them as we were walking because they were melting so fast. That was the reason I gave Hubby anyhow.:laughing:

Then of course in true Florida fashion the rain left as quickly as it came and we went to see Minnie and Mickey's houses.
Minnie's chair:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07114.jpg

Mickey's House:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07101.jpg
Mickey's Garden. You'll notice Abby's mouth looks funny. She had just stuffed a handful of roasted almonds in her mouth. :)

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07105.jpg

Everyone with Mickey.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07110.jpg
After this we rode Goofy's Barnstormer and the train. Then we headed to Tomorrowland and Buzz Lightyear. I know this is hard to believe but I scored over 400,000 points. I am not sure how but I did it. I tried to take a picture of my score for proof but it was gone before I got the camera out. Hubby was my witness because he rode with me but I don't think he will back me up about it anymore because it was WAY better than his score.:laughing:
After that we went to the Carousel of Progress so that Mom and Hubby could take the girls on it while Dad and I rode Space Mountain. Unfortunately the line looked too long so we just went back to wait on everyone else. It was nice to sit and talk to Dad. I guess your never too old to be Daddy's little girl and it was nice talking to him while we waited. I always spend lots of time with my mom but not so much with Dad.
Well, after that it was time to head to our ressies at Tony's. We got there and only had to wait a few minutes to get seated. During this time I asked Abby if she needed to go to see the potty. Of course she said no. She needed to wait and go twice during dinner!!;) Even with the running to the bathroom I really enjoyed this dinner. I had the spinach and artichoke dip as an appetizer and the Chicken Fiorentina for my main course. If you are on the dining plan they don't let you choose your own dessert. You each get a sampler plate with 2 canoli, tiramisu, and amaretto cheesecake. The cheesecake and tiramisu were DELICIOUS! The canoli was okay. It had a funny taste and wasn't very sweet. It didn't matter because I was stuffed.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07127.jpg
Unfortunately this is the only picture we got at Tony's. It was a really pretty restaurant as well. Lady and the Tramp is one of my favorite Disney movies so I loved all of the artwork from the movie.

After dinner we did some shopping on Main Street and visited the Virtual Magic Kingdom hub there. Emily plays that all of the time so she really wanted to stop there.

Then we stopped to get a spot for the parade and fireworks. It had started sprinkling again but we stayed hoping that it was just one of those quickie Florida showers. Unfortunately that was not the case. We waited and waited and made a few potty trips and then waited some more. The sprinkles turned into thunder and lightening. It never rained real hard but the lightening and thunder caused them to delay the parade and fireworks. After an hour or so of waiting we decided to leave. Mom and I were disappointed but it just didn't seem like we were supposed to see that parade or really enjoy the fireworks.:sad1: None of us wanted to be that one in a million chance lightening strike. :) It was a fantastic day anyhow so one little disappointment doesn't matter. I would have liked to have seen the parade but oh well. Just give us another reason to go back. :) So we gave up our spot and headed back to our rooms.
It is good we left. We were watching the news and there were all kinds of storm warnings and a tornado touched down somewhere. :scared1:

mymainmouse

10-14-2007, 08:17 PM

I wanted to add this picture of the castle.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07067-1.jpg

I know I promised no potty pictures but here is what we got home to that night.:rotfl:
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07072.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07071.jpg
This was so cute. I think the mousekeeper had as much fun with the stuffed animals as the girls had finding them in the evening.:) It helped make up for the missed parade and fireworks.:)
Up next our LAST day at AK and dinner at Chef Mickey's.

mymainmouse

10-15-2007, 10:29 AM

Just found your report and you can count me in!!!:thumbsup2
Thanks for joining!:goodvibes

I am enjoying your report - sign me up!!!

Your pictures are great!!

I am so glad your enjoying the report! I sure am enjoying writing it and reliving our trip.:goodvibes

pjstevens

10-16-2007, 11:22 AM

mymainmouse

10-16-2007, 03:03 PM

I love mousekeeping!!! They can be so fun. We had someone like your person a few years ago, the animals watched tv one day (left a note they ordered pizza with the phone nearby), also found them in the bathroom. Love these.

Our mousekeepers name was Neidy (or something close to that). I saw some little kids yelling "Hi Neidy!" to her. She did a good job of doing special things for all of the kids.
You only have 5 days left!:woohoo: How awesome is that?!:cheer2:
I have to admit I am a little jealous. :)

mymainmouse

10-17-2007, 09:37 PM

So I figured I had better get this written and finished before I forget everything. Some of the events of that week are starting to get fuzzy so I had best get r done.
Today, our last full day, we decided to go to AK. We awoke to some already stuffy/humid weather. I was kind of surprised by that because when we have big storms here it will be cooler afterward. There were definitely big storm the night before. Apparently that isn't how the weather works in FL.

Anyhow we had to go to the check-in desk to check-in and get our new room keys. That extra day thing again. We still got to keep our old ones because they had our park tickets and dining on them we just needed to get new ones for the room. I can't remember when we were told this. It was one of those times we were at the front desk trying to straighten something else out . I spent a lot of time at the front desk because of that extra day. Next trip I will just have to book as many days as possible the first time I call so we won't have this problem again.;)

After that we got on the bus to Animal Kingdom. We were there in no time. The first thing we did was head to the character trails. There weren't many people there so we didn't have to wait long to see them. Here are just a few of the characters we saw:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07133.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07138.jpg

We also saw Minnie and Mickey. Emily had her autograph book and had them all sign it. Donald however was quite the card. He refused to use Emily's pen because it was a Mickey pen so the CM had to give him a Sharpie. He also did not like Emily's hat because it had a Mickey head on it. He kept covering Abby's face when we tried to take pictures. She kept moving his hand and he would put it back on her face. They both got a big kick out of Donald.

Next we went to see the Festival of the Lion King. What an awesome show! We thought it was totally cool but then a dancer came and asked Abby to join the little parade at the end! How cool was that? She said no.:confused: Emily stood up right away and said she would go. Of course she would. I told you she was outgoing. The guy said okay. Well then Abby said she would go if Emily was going. So they both got to be in the parade and shake some shaky things. Unfortunately my pictures didn't turn out real well but I was able to take some video so we could see it.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07145.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07146.jpg

I'm sorry these are so blurry. I was trying to get the best shot without using my flash. I tried several different settings. Nothing seemed to be working well.

After that we went to see the Pocahontas Show. It was really cute but it was starting to get a little warm by then. Unfortunately we towards the side with the sun. It was still worth it though.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0124.jpg

By this time it was close to 11:30 so we went to Pizzafari for lunch. It was pretty good. I got a Chicken parmesan sandwich which was tasty. It was huge though. The thing with the dining plan is you get way too much food. I didn't order anything that could not have been split with one of the girls. I ate as much as possible though. It is a shame to waste food.:rolleyes:

After lunch we walked over to the Flights of wonder show. While we waited for it to start Hubby went to get Fastpasses for Expedition Everest. Then we went to the show. It was a cool show. They had the birds flying all over which was cool. We sat up toward the top because Abby has an aversion to large birds and I didn't want her to freak out. It was all good though and we didn't have any freak outs. Actually I think it may have helped her. Usually she won't go in a pet store if they have birds out on perches. She was fine though.:thumbsup2

Okay so I told you we had fast passes to EE. I like rollercoasters. Hubby likes rollercoasters. My dad likes rollercoasters. Emily...well, she wants to like rollercoasters. Emily was the reason we got fastpasses for EE in the first place. I didn't care if we rode it and neither did anyone else. Em however was determined and we didn't want to discourage her from trying it. So we got FPs. Well, our time came to use our FPs. Guess who decided she didn't want to go? You guessed it. Emily. So after much encouragement we headed to EE. Dad decided to stay with Mom and Abby. They wasn't much of a wait so we pretty much just walked right on and sat close to the front. It was a fun ride. I think Emily kept her eyes close through most of it. I couldn't really tell because I was trying to hold my glasses on my head. It was hot and I was sweating so my glasses were slipping off. Just what I needed. My glasses flying off and either getting lost or smacking some poor soul on the ride behind us. So my experience with EE is that it was fun but stash you glasses before you get on the ride.:thumbsup2

After that we were all pretty hot and getting tired so we went through the other character stops with the gang from Pooh and then headed to the bus stop. Our dinner ressie for Chef Mickey's was at 6:30 so we wanted to swim at ASMu to cool off a bit and then head to the Contemporary for dinner.

Here is the pic with Pooh:

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07152.jpg

Abby looks so warm in that picture. Poor little thing. It makes me sweaty just looking at it. We put a cold paper towel around her neck. It seemed to help a bit.
I think that was the warmest day we had while there. The sun was out most of the day and it never rained. It was just hot. This was the only day I was really ready to leave the park. We didn't even go see the Nemo show or really check out what was up around the Tree of Life. Swimming sounded so much better. :) It was so nice to swim for a bit and cool down.

Coming Next: Dinner at Chef Mickey's and a bit of drama.

Tanya90210

10-17-2007, 10:56 PM

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07072.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07071.jpg
This was so cute. I think the mousekeeper had as much fun with the stuffed animals as the girls had finding them in the evening.:) It helped make up for the missed parade and fireworks.:)
Up next our LAST day at AK and dinner at Chef Mickey's.
Those shots are just too funny!!

Jiminy'sGirl

10-18-2007, 06:38 AM

I, too, have an aversion to large birds. They are just freaky-deaky! SO I feel your DD's pain!!

pjstevens

10-18-2007, 10:35 AM

You only have 5 days left!:woohoo: How awesome is that?!:cheer2: I have to admit I am a little jealous. :)

Kelly,

Unfortunately we won't be staying on site this short trip. Found an awesome deal at the Comfort Inn and it's just minutes for where our daughter is staying with the College Program. BUT we will get to see her and we'll be going to MNSSHP on Sunday night!!! Can't wait for that. We've only been to Disney in the deadly heat of August, this will be awesome, a trip this weekend and then again in December to see all the Christmas stuff!!! Can't wait. Loving your report.

mymainmouse

10-18-2007, 12:48 PM

Kelly,

Unfortunately we won't be staying on site this short trip. Found an awesome deal at the Comfort Inn and it's just minutes for where our daughter is staying with the College Program. BUT we will get to see her and we'll be going to MNSSHP on Sunday night!!! Can't wait for that. We've only been to Disney in the deadly heat of August, this will be awesome, a trip this weekend and then again in December to see all the Christmas stuff!!! Can't wait. Loving your report.

Patricia,
It is still great that you get to go see Aubre. :) I bet the weather is cooler by now than it was in August for you. When we went last year, in November, the weather was just perfect. It was warm enough for shorts and swimming but not so hot and humid. It did cool down quite a bit at night. You'll have an awesome time in December. The Christmas decorations are beautiful.
You'll have to let me know how this trip was and what MNSSHP is like. We saw a lot of people dressed up to go to it. It looked like they were ready to have fun. Have a great time!!:cheer2:

mymainmouse

10-19-2007, 02:16 PM

Those shots are just too funny!!

Thanks! We just loved how the mousekeeper would leave the stuffed animals in silly spots. Here is what we came home to on another night. Sorry about the blur.

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07130.jpg

I, too, have an aversion to large birds. They are just freaky-deaky! SO I feel your DD's pain!!

Birds are just too unpredictable! Once they start flying around there is always a chance of them landing on you or dropping "something" on you. :)

Tanya90210

10-19-2007, 07:16 PM

that one's cute too..... the other one though ... too funny

PrincessMomto2

10-19-2007, 08:16 PM

mymainmouse

10-20-2007, 08:41 PM

Kelly,

You had such a great mousekeeper! We have never even gotten a towel animal. How much fun it must of been to come back to see these little scenes! Your girls must have gotten a reall kick out it.

Looks like your day at AK was what our whole vacation was like. My little one would get red in the face too. Nothing like a nice swim to cool off! Can't wait to read some more. You sure saw a lot of a characters and I just love Donald. Sounds like he was a lot fun! :donald:

Yay to Emily for being brave enough to go on Everest! We love the Lion King show too how wonderful that your girls got to be in the parade. We loved the Flights of wonder show. The eagle just totally amazed me. They are such beautiful birds.

I think we must have lucked out with the mousekeeper because last Nov. when we were there we didn't get any little scenes or towel animals.

That last day, at AK, was the warmest by far. I think that was why we were able to stay at the parks all day without a break. That was the only day I couldn't wait to go back to the hotel.

The Lion King show was awesome. I was loving it even before they asked the girls to be in the parade and then after that was just too much.:cool1:

I liked the Flights of Wonder show as well. Though I have to admit I was fine with sitting up towards the top to avoid birds. I blame it on Abby but having never been to the show before I wasn't sure what to expect from the birds. I'd rather be safe than sorry. :) I was really impressed by the whole thing. The vulture especially because you don't think of them as being trainable. I tried to get several pics but they didn't turn out well. I was having camera problems the whole week, which stunk.

I am glad your enjoying my report. I am hoping to write about our last evening soon. I get too long winded though so I need to set aside enough time for it.:)

mymainmouse

10-21-2007, 09:52 PM

After a much needed swim we headed back to the room to shower and get ready for our ADR at Chef Mickey's. I got the girls ready and then got myself ready. Of course my parents were done before us so they came to our room to pick us up. Mom cleaned the bottles of water out of the 50lb. backpack and just put in the umbrellas and ponchos along with Emily's autograph book and pen and then we headed out the door. As we were leaving I asked Emily if she had her camera and she said no it was in the room and she didn't want to go back for it. Okay so we kept on moving.

As you probably all know there isn't a direct route from any of the resorts to any of the other resorts. We needed to get to Chef Mickey's at the Contemporary so it seemed to me that the best route would be to go to the bus stop at MK and then take the Monorail around to the Contemporary. That however was not Hubby's plan. :rolleyes1 He had it in his head that the best route would be to take the bus to Epcot and then take the Monorail to MK. Okay.:confused: I had poured over ever possible piece of Disney info. that I could get my hands on for the whole summer and also remembered a lot more from previous trips and knew that you can't go straight from Epcot to MK on the Monorail. You have to stop at TTC and switch Monorails. He wouldn't listen. :headache: I tried to tell him several times while we were waiting for the Epcot bus. Especially when 2 MK buses came and went and we were still waiting.:mad: Finally we got on an Epcot bus and were on our way. As we were pulling in to Epcot I saw a Monorail pulling away so I decided we had better hurry because I didn't want to miss the next one. I grabbed the stroller and the kid that went with it and Hubby grabbed the backpack. At least I thought he did. He had it when we got on the bus. When we got off of the bus...not so much. By the time we realized that no one had the backpack the bus had left.:eek:
We headed to the little guest relations booth in front of Epcot to see what to do. The lady there gave us a card to lost and found and said to call them in the morning. Now here is what she should have done... She should have told us to go right back to the bus terminal and talk to them and they could have radioed the bus and then the bus could have came back with the backpack or the driver could have at least gotten the backpack and kept it safe before any other guests got on the bus. However this is not what she told us to do. :sad2: So we took the card and headed to the Monorail.

We were getting closer and closer to our ADR time for Chef Mickey's. At this point I was getting seriously frustrated with dear Hubby. Poor guy. I kept thinking it was only a backpack and ponchos. No big deal. Then Mom says to me quietly so Emily couldn't hear, " I think Emily's camera was in the backpack." "Are you sure because she told me she thought it was in the room?" Mom said she was pretty sure so I asked Emily where her camera was. In the room. Alright. Let's keep our fingers crossed that A. the backpack gets found and b. the camera is in the room.

Finally we get to Chef Mickey's. We were only 10 mins. late and only had to wait about 10 mins. to get seated. I have to say that Chef Mickey's was really a lot of fun and delicious! We got to see all of the characters and the desserts were really good. We got a pretty good table and the waiter was very nice.
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/DSCF0132.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07168.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07166.jpg

http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07161.jpg

It all helped take our minds off of the backpack. I didn't care about the backpack or even what was in the backpack. Except for Emily's camera. If it was in there. Hopefully it wasn't. I didn't really even care about the camera. The part that bothered me was her pictures. All of the pictures on it were pictures that she took because the subject was something special to her. It made me want to cry. :sad1:

After dinner we shopped a little at the Contemporary gift shops and then got on the Monorail to head to the MK and then to MK busstop. As we were walking to the busstop I saw some bus drivers kind of hanging out.:idea: I decided to talk to them and explain my story about the backpack. These guys were very nice. One of them walked me over the the little building with some dispatcher types in it. I explained my story again. They called the bus terminal at Epcot and asked if anyone had found a tan backpack on their bus. Guess what?! :cool1: They had and it had been turned it to that terminal. I asked them the best way to get back to Epcot and they decided they would take us in a minivan.:yay: So Hubby and I went with a bus driver in a minivan back to Epcot while Mom and Dad took the girls back to the room. The bus driver was such a nice guy. He had only been driving bus for 2 1/2 months and he was so pleased to be able to help us. When we got the backpack back I gave him a hug. I was so happy that we got it back. But I opened it up when we got to the stop at Epcot and no camera. The autograph book was in it. The pen was gone as was one of the ponchos. Someone had scribbled out Emily's name and written theirs, Jason, underneath it. I still wasn't sure if the camera had been in it to begin with or if it was in the room. I tried to call Mom to see but they weren't there yet. Actually we ended up getting back to our room before they did. No camera.
Emily was so upset. Hubby was upset as well because he felt like it was his fault. We were all upset with some kid named Jason. What a rotten thing to do. I guess that just because you are at Disney doesn't mean you are surrounded by people with the best intentions. So, Jason, if you are out there reading this and responsible for stealing my little girls camera and pen, YOU STINK!!!:mad:

After that we went to the food court to spend our last few snack credits and then headed back to the room to start packing and plan for the next day. We had to be checked in for the ME by 12:00 and one of us needed to go to the Lost and Found at TTC to file a report. We also wanted to eat luch before we headed to the airport so I wanted to get as much done as possible before the next day.

Next post: Going Home.:sad1:

Jiminy'sGirl

10-22-2007, 07:43 AM

mymainmouse

10-22-2007, 10:52 AM

Good installment!!! I wish we were going to Chef Mickey's this next trip, but I could not get a ressie at a decent hour. So we are skipping it this time. I"ll miss all the napkin twirling and frivolity!

I have a little bus/backpack disaster story of my own.... Let me preface this by saying the Bus peeps over there at Disney are top notch in my book. I literally kissed one after this disiaster...You see, as many of you know, I take 2 competitive dance teams to WDW each year for a competition. Well, we had a comp. at MGM and we all got on the bus to go over there. We get to the gates and one sweet little teenage darling breaks into tears when she realizes she left her backpack (with her KTTW and her pom poms and shoes) on the bus. :scared1: :scared1: :scared1: :scared1:

I quickly and quietly had a heart attack.

We had 10 minutes to get over the Indiana Jones to check in. No check in - no perform.

Long story short, we had to buy her a one day entry to get into the park so we could all be there to check in and warm up. One of the parents then got some help and radio calls were made to the bus driver. He PERSONALLY delivered the backpack (with the poms and shoes!) to us at the Indy theater about 3 mintues before we went on. I kissed him. I could not help myself. He turned 14 shades of pink.

I totally agree with you about the bus drivers at Disney. They all seemed so nice and were really happy to help. First it was the bus driver who arranged to take us back to ASMu on our Epcot day, when I forgot the safe key ,and then all of those who helped us get our backpack. The one who took us in the minivan was especially sweet. He was telling us about his job and how he was trying to do well at it and do things "the way Walt would want them to be done". I thought that it was either true dedication to his job- or brainwashing.:rotfl: Either way it was nice.;)

PrincessMomto2

10-22-2007, 07:26 PM

mymainmouse

10-22-2007, 08:51 PM

Chef Mickey's looks like so much fun. I haven't been there in years! I think we need to make this a must do for our next trip.

I am so sorry about the backpack what a little jerk that "jason" is and what nerve he had to write his name! I just hope the tables turn on him one day. Your poor dd.

This was a great installment. I'll be sorry to see your TR ending too!

Chef Mickey's really was a lot of fun. Abby had taken her Minnie doll along and when Mickey came around to our table he picked Minnie up and kissed her. It was cute. We all really enjoyed this meal. It had a great variety of food and the desserts were really good which is why I took a picture of that table.

I totally agree with you about "Jason". Hubby was so angry he ripped the address page out of her book. I told him, "You know, when we got home I could of just glued something over top of it?" He said he just didn't want to see it any more. I kind of felt the same way. I didn't understand why the kid bothered to write his name in it if he wasn't going to keep it. Unless he didn't want to have to explain why some little girl from Ohio had put her name and address in it first.;)

On a happier note, we had money left from vacation (I don't know how that happened:) ) and Hubby took Em out the next day ,after we were home, to get her a new camera. This one is pink. Maybe the next "Jason" won't want it because of that. :thumbsup2

IluvXU

10-22-2007, 09:19 PM

mymainmouse

10-23-2007, 11:39 AM

Kelly,
I just was drawn in due to the title.... but I loved it all. So sad to hear about the camera and Jason.... where the heck where his parents?

Crystal Palace is awesome isn't it and I am sorry you missed Spectromagic.

You got to do a lot at AK- fun fun fun!

Thanks!
I wondered where Jasons parents were as well. I suppose he could have been old enough to be with a group of friends although I can't see a teenage boy even being remotely interested in an autograph book.

We loved the Crystal Palace. My dad still goes on about it. I guess it was his favorite.:)

I am sorry we missed Spectromagic too. I guess it gives us a reason to go back. Unfortunately Hubby wants to go on a Mommy/Daddy only trip this spring for our 15th anniversary so I don't think there will be any Disney trips for awhile. :sad2:

mymainmouse

10-27-2007, 09:55 AM

I am sad to say this is the post for the last day of our trip. Our day started off early again because we had some extra things to do. Mainly one of us needed to run to Central Lost and Found to report the camera. Now, I don't know about the rest of you but I feel much better when I am in charge of the luggage. I just don't feel right if I am not the one in charge of packing the clothes and stuff collected throughout the week. It's probably not a healthy thing but it is how I tick. I always worry if I don't check all of the drawers in the room several times, under the beds several times, in the bathroom several times. I also have to have any travel documents in my possession at all times and check them several times until we get to our destination. You get my drift. :thumbsup2
So with that weirdness in mind Hubby and I decided he and my dad would go to make that report and Mom and I would pack up and then check in for our flights and ME. The men left and we finished packing. We decided that it would be easier to use a luggage cart to move our luggage to the check-in area since it was just the two of us. I headed up to get one. Yeah right. :rolleyes: No carts were available so we just did the best we could. The girls did their best to help and we managed to get to check-in. At least what we thought was check-in. So after a half hour of standing in the wrong line we went around to the front of ASMu and stood in another line. I have to tell you it was hot and stuffy that day. The sun wasn't out but the air was still and not moving at all. I had sweat pooling in spots that should not be spoken of and was loosing my patience. The girls were doing their best to be good. Mostly. Abby just kept trying her best to help in that 5 year old" I am helping you Mommy "but not really helping kind of you kind of way.:rolleyes: After the fourth or fifth time of moving all six bags up in line one of mine suitcases fell backwards and hit the man behind us on his shin. :sad2: I felt so bad. I apologized profusely and he was very gracious. I hope he didn't have a huge bruise because it was a huge suitcase.
Finally we got checked in and then headed to the Food Court to get some lunch. That seemed to take forever. It was also a bit of a shock because up until this point we had been on the dining plan and didn't have to pay for anything. It was around 47.00 for a cheeseburger, a chicken strip meal, and a personal pan pizza. :scared1: We also had a container of apple slices and 2 milks. The girls and I shared the pizza and chicken and Hubby had the cheeseburger. It was so nice being on the dining plan.;)
We got on the bus and were at the airport in no time. We went straight to the proper gate and sat down to wait. We had to wait about and hour and a half but that was okay. I wanted to check to see if we could get our seats switched because Delta had changed our flights so many times that we were not sitting together. Luckily they were able to do that for us because I was the first one there to ask.:thumbsup2 While we were waiting we did get the opportunity to see some lovebugs all over the windows. Blech. Of course my oldest wanted to know why their butts were stuck together so I kind of explained it. Luckily they didn't watch them long and eventually we boarded the plan to home.
We did have a small delay. There were a lot of families on the plane and I am sure it was hard to get everyone seated with their family. There was some confusion because a family with a smaller girl was sitting in the emergency exit row. You aren't allowed to do that so they wanted them to move. I don't exactly know what happened but I did hear a lot of "I want my Mommy" being screamed from that area. We were in rows 3 and 4 and this whole thing happened behind us a ways. I didn't turn around to look .Finally the whole family marched up the aisle and off the plane. I think they must have tried to get the little girl to switch and she wasn't having it. I don't know exactly. I just felt bad for them. We probably could have rearranged ourselves so that Hubby, Dad, and Mom or I could have taken their places. Then one of us would have still been with the girls but it all happened fairly quickly and they were off the plane. We had to delay a little longer while their luggage was removed and then we were on our way.
I was sitting with Abby and Hubby was across the aisle from us. I was so tired. I think the whole week just wore me out and I didn't know it until it was over. I guess when your'e on vacation you run on adrenaline. When we were in the air awhile it just hit me. Luckily for me my dear husband decided to document it.:)
http://i216.photobucket.com/albums/cc9/kellyj501/disneypics07169.jpg

We were finally back on the Buckeye state and on our way home. We did stop at McD's for some grub (which only cost 14.00) . Funny how that little blue KTTW card can spoil you. The joke for the next week was we couldn't believe how no place around home accepted it. The free dining was such a treat. We got to eat at so many places we probably wouldn't have eaten at. We enjoyed most of them even the Garden Grill to a certain extent.:)

All in all we had a great trip minus a few mishaps. We were so excited to go and then it was over too quickly. I guess it is that way with any vacation.
I don't have any trips in the planning stages right now and it makes me feel weird. Hubby wants to go on a Mommy/Daddy only cruise soon but I just can't seem to get excited about it. I need to work on it to be fair to him. We have taken 2 Disney trips since our last cruise. I'm just not as in to that as Disney. I tried to talk him into a Mommy/Daddy only Disney trip but no luck.

Thanks for joining me as I relived our trip. I would be happy to answer any questions for anyone and I will definitely be looking for more trip reports to read and live vicariously through. ;)

Tanya90210

10-27-2007, 11:55 AM

So did they have the camera???

Great report!! Thank you so much for sharing :)

mymainmouse

10-27-2007, 12:04 PM

So did they have the camera???

Great report!! Thank you so much for sharing :)

Sorry, I forgot about the camera.:rolleyes: No, they didn't have it. Hubby filed a report and I have called several time since then but no camera. I guess I never really expected to get it back since it was stolen. If we had lost it maybe but not since it was taken from our backpack. I had hoped that if "Jason" took it he would feel guilty and turn it in before the end of his vacation. No such luck though.
Thanks for reading!!:goodvibes

Tanya90210

10-27-2007, 12:07 PM

Sorry, I forgot about the camera.:rolleyes: No, they didn't have it. Hubby filed a report and I have called several time since then but no camera. I guess I never really expected to get it back since it was stolen. If we had lost it maybe but not since it was taken from our backpack. I had hoped that if "Jason" took it he would feel guilty and turn it in before the end of his vacation. No such luck though.
Thanks for reading!!:goodvibes

That's a bummer... :(

PrincessMomto2

10-27-2007, 07:58 PM

mymainmouse

10-27-2007, 09:44 PM

What a great trip report! And you finished yours before I finished mine! I have to get my last posts done. But with Halloween and Swimming Season in full gear not to mention work and homework things have been crazy.

Anyhow I just love the picture of you and your daughter sound asleep! You both look very cute! Does your daughter suck her thumb? Can't be sure but it looks that way from the picture. My Cindy is a thumb sucker. I am trying everything I can think of to get her to quit! So far nothing has worked.

Sounds like you had a great trip! It never seems long enough. Great news about the extra money for a new camera! Yes I want to know how you managed that? Money left over from Disney? :eek:

Thanks for the great trip report I really enjoyed it. Great pictures too!
Thanks! I know what you mean about being busy. I figured I had better get mine done before I forgot all the details. :) Abby's Halloween party at school was last week so we have that out of the way but Emily's b-day is this week plus her school party and my in-laws are coming to visit for a few days because of Em's b-day. My memory is awful so I knew if I waited much longer it wouldn't have half of what we did in it.:)

Abby is a thumb sucker. She used to twist her hair really bad as well. It would get so twisted that I would have to cut the knots out. She has out grown that mostly but still kinda rubs the ends of the hair on the one side of her head when she is sleepy. You can tell in that picture that she had her one arm up doing that.:) If I come up with any good ways to break the thumb habit I'll let you know. My neighbor bought some sort of pepper oil that you put on their thumb that is supposed to taste bad and stop them from sucking their thumb. She bought it to stop her son from chewing his nails. I don't think I have the heart to put that stuff on Abby's thumb. Lately I have just been reminding her during the day to not suck on it.

I don't know how we managed to have money left either. I think it was because we didn't have to buy food. It was really weird to come home from vacation with money. It seemed like we missed some souvenirs or something.:)

I am glad you enjoyed the report. I enjoyed writing it. I'll be looking forward to the rest of yours when you get time. I know it is hard when you are so busy. Thanks again for reading!