Mommy...Why does Crush talk like you? Final thoughts and summary 10/15

[jcc0621]

Other than that, what can I say about CRT? The food was decent. Not bad, not awesome, but good and edible. I loved the fruit bowl, since that is what I usually eat for breakfast, anyway. The kids and HHBG loved the pastries. It was a little bit hectic in there, but it was a god time. The princesses were nice and spent good time with the kiddos, too.

We did dinner at CRT last year and I found that to be hectic too. Must just be the way it is there:confused3 Jimmy wouldn't even consider getting in the picture with Cindy, so we now have a picture of Jim andI with her :sad2:

The park was starting to get crowded, but we had never been on the Jungle cruise, so we decided to give it a try. The line SAID 5 minutes, and there were maybe 2 boats worth of people on the stand by line, so we went in. GAH!!!!

Just as we got in line, TWO high school groups, and a Brazilian tour group came up into fast pass....I have no idea how they determine who gets to go on those boats, but the loaded up from the ast pas line over and over and over again and never even LOOKED at the stand by line. Then a few empty boats went by....the some more people showed up for the fast pass line.

Finally AN HOUR AND A HALF later, we got on a boat. We had a horrible skipper Her delivery stank, no one on the boat laughed at all, and we got off thinking that there was no way we would ever rigde the jungle cruise again.

The skipper makes or breaks this ride::yes::

To cheer ourselves up, we rode on Pirates. I have not liked this ride so much, ever since they did the taming of the ride in the late 80s. It’s OK, but not great like it used to be. It’s really “kidded down”. I know I’m in the minority on this opinion, but I liked the more realistic portrayal of a pirates life, with the dirtiness and nastiness there.

ITA. The first time I saw it after the original reahb I was very disappointed.

As we were walking back to the room, we passed a family with two ladies and a bunch of 8-12 year old girls. AS we passed them, one of the ladies announces to the other lady in her b**chiest tone, and loud enough to be heard in Guam:

“I wish I could dress like a hooker in Disney world!”

All I can say is, thank goodness HHBG grabbed me and dragged me to our room. I was going to ask her why she though she wasn’t dressed like one. :rolleyes2:

Oh , no she didn't! :eek: Smack down in the WL lobby...:thumbsup2


Coming soon: POUNDS of seafood.....would I chase it with milk, like one famous DISer??

popcorn::

[FauntleroyFAN07]

I think you DD is the most precious looking little girl i have ever seen wear a little mermaid outfit...you can bet that i would have taken the kids with me and told you to get let that lady have it, i would have given her the what 4..(that is when you show your fists, and then show them what they are used 4.):banana:


keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing the pics and story with us.

[DisDancerina]

That lady... What nerve! What is she doing in WDW calling her THAT! I'm 13 and I'm not even allowed to use that word, but there that lady.... UGH! All I have to say to her if she's out there, "You're just jealous that you're not wearing an Ariel Costume, you know you wanna be a princess, but princesses don't have POTTY MOUTHS!!!!!"

[irene_dsc]

Oh, gosh...I'm still not sure what the right comeback would be to that particular, ahem, woman.

So, did B enjoy her surprise breakfast with Cindy?

I wish I had seen the original POTC - I wasn't impressed with the current version, either.

Sorry to hear about Jungle Cruise - we missed that one, and had heard mostly good things about it so far.

So, French food coming up...

[KatGarcia]

I was waiting for that part... I still can't believe that woman had the nerve! Brianna looks adorable in the outfit and that woman needed to be smacked!

BTW Awesome to see you last night! Thanks so much for coming!!!!

[krismom]

Oh my effing goodness! :scared1: Are you kidding me?! I don't know how you restrained yourself.:furious: At least you know (and Brianna saw) you take the high road. Has that woman ever been to the beach or a pool? Has she seen the current fashion stylings of an actual hooker? :rolleyes1 Brianna couldn't have looked cuter, and she couldn't have had a better role modeling Mom!:worship:

Love the report and feel your pain (the hair hardware removal, the pouty pictures- at least it's not just my kids!);)

[sandym718]

OMG, I think I would've been thrown out of the parks if I heard someone say this about my 4 y.o. daughter!!! I don't think I could've physically controlled myself!! What a you-know-what!

[winkers]

I noticed Spencer was a good boy and kept his fingers to himself when he posed with Jasmine! That is my favorite picture I've ever seen on the dis!

I can't believe that lady said that! I would have stewed for a couple of days and thought of all sorts of comebacks. I'm always too faberglasted to think of somthing to say when it happens.
Briana looked adorable.

[DisneyJo]

Lovely photos at CRT, Brianna looks adorable I bet you were slightly cursing her taking her hair out though :rotfl2:

OMG I can't believe what that woman said, what is it with some people? :headache:

[whogirl'smom]

It may be hard to appreciate it now, but the looks on Spencer's face are priceless! :rotfl2: Those are some adorable kids you have there! My dd was looking at the pictures while I was reading the update and said, "That's a funny looking Sleeping Beauty." I thought she looked more like a Cinderella in the face. And yes, Belle needs to dress for an appearance at the castle, not going to the market!

There just aren't words for the nasty woman at the WL. Although, the first time I read it, I was reading slowly since dd was talking, scrolling back up for the pictures, etc. I only read the line "Wish I could dress like a hooker" and thought, why does that woman think Angela is dressed like a hooker in her cargo pants? :rotfl: :rotfl2:

[Charleston Princess]

Don't you wish you could have turned around and said, "I wish I could act like poor white trash when I go to WDW." :headache: Stupid woman.

Brianna looked adorable in her costume!

Spencer was cracking me up in the pics -- especially his obsession with Jasmine's jewels! :rotfl:

[jennwndrlnd]

Your daughter looked ADORABLE, and although I would've instantaniously went off on that woman you are the bigger person for being able to control yourself at the moment.

I am still telling people about your son's last year picture/this year picture with Jasmine, thanks for adding the newest one. He REALLY likes her doesn't he?! :rotfl:

[Phibbles]

I act like poor white trash everywhere I go. :thumbsup2 :hyper:

[Tanya90210]

Stinkin rude lady! I hate when people do that!


Great chapter :) Brianna looks sooo adorable!! I have a boy that does the same as spencer.... Takes a bit for a good pic hehe

[brookelizabeth]

Too bad that woman didn't realize that Disney SOLD that outfit in their park, in the BBB where the kids are SUPPOSED TO WEAR IT! A-duh lady! She's FOUR!!!!!!! What an awful thing to say - and I know that sort of comment would just stick with me, running over and over in my mind. Grrrr!

Brianna looked adorable!!!!!

I love all the pics at CRT - Spencer is hilarious. :rotfl2:

[HeatherSue]

Oh my gosh, I wasn't getting alerts when you updated, so I foolishly thought you hadn't updated for a LONG time! I just had a wonderful morning savoring every little bit of your TR!

I just love your sense of humor. You cracky me up!

Tessa wants to be friends with your DD. She said "She's awfully cute, I'd like to be her friend." She also LOVED her yellow Giselle dress.

It sounds like you had a MUCH better experience at the BBB and with the photographers than we had on our trip -UGH!

[camelotcats]

Ahh someone else is annoyed by Belle's peasant clothes! He (DH) would not stop about that. Why is she all dressed up in Norway but thinks its okay to dress like a villager at the castle? Over and over again.

Oh and that lady! :mad: You have more restraint than I do. My DD (cat) dances and spends a lot of time in a dance top and shorts where her stomach is exposed. The rule is she can't dress like that except going to and from dance. Once I stopped quickly at a store to pick up some medicine for He and some.. lady (if you can call her that) Said something about my DD being a slut. I almost killed her.

Brianna is so cute and its Disney. She is dressed in a Disney costume. I really don't get people. And who says Hooker at Disney? That woman needs to get her mind out of the gutter and into the magic of being a child at Disney... or she just needs to leave. Either is fine with me.

-Becca-

Dude, I went OFF int he room, I just didn't let the kids hear me. Brianna keeps tryingot wear her ariel outfit to school. Uh. No, sweetie. That is for at-home wear ONLY. :rotfl2:

I'm sorry anyone would say anythign to your DD. People can be so cruel.

:eek: If that was us I wouldn't have had time to do anything before DH ripped into her. How can you even think of refering to a 4 year old like that???? I just don't get people :furious:

For what it's worth I though she looked absolutely adorable!!!

Thank you! I think she was just JEALOUS. :rotfl2:

We did dinner at CRT last year and I found that to be hectic too. Must just be the way it is there:confused3 Jimmy wouldn't even consider getting in the picture with Cindy, so we now have a picture of Jim andI with her :sad2:



The skipper makes or breaks this ride::yes::



ITA. The first time I saw it after the original reahb I was very disappointed.



Oh , no she didn't! :eek: Smack down in the WL lobby...:thumbsup2




popcorn::

It was on the walkway by the pool. a few people turned around to see what she was talkign about, so Brianna got a lot of "Hi princess" comments after that, which helped me keep my cool.

I think you DD is the most precious looking little girl i have ever seen wear a little mermaid outfit...you can bet that i would have taken the kids with me and told you to get let that lady have it, i would have given her the what 4..(that is when you show your fists, and then show them what they are used 4.):banana:


keep up the good work, and thanks for sharing the pics and story with us.

thank you for the compliment on Brianna. HHBG saved me from being removed from the resort and having to explain the words I was using to my very impressionable children. :rolleyes1

That lady... What nerve! What is she doing in WDW calling her THAT! I'm 13 and I'm not even allowed to use that word, but there that lady.... UGH! All I have to say to her if she's out there, "You're just jealous that you're not wearing an Ariel Costume, you know you wanna be a princess, but princesses don't have POTTY MOUTHS!!!!!"

No one should use that word.....seriously, especially a mother in front of her kids....

Oh, gosh...I'm still not sure what the right comeback would be to that particular, ahem, woman.

So, did B enjoy her surprise breakfast with Cindy?

I wish I had seen the original POTC - I wasn't impressed with the current version, either.

Sorry to hear about Jungle Cruise - we missed that one, and had heard mostly good things about it so far.

So, French food coming up...

Nope...seafood coming up. All the french food is done. WAAAHHH

I was waiting for that part... I still can't believe that woman had the nerve! Brianna looks adorable in the outfit and that woman needed to be smacked!

BTW Awesome to see you last night! Thanks so much for coming!!!!

We had fun, but next time we should try for less people so we can talk!!

Oh my effing goodness! :scared1: Are you kidding me?! I don't know how you restrained yourself.:furious: At least you know (and Brianna saw) you take the high road. Has that woman ever been to the beach or a pool? Has she seen the current fashion stylings of an actual hooker? :rolleyes1 Brianna couldn't have looked cuter, and she couldn't have had a better role modeling Mom!:worship:

Love the report and feel your pain (the hair hardware removal, the pouty pictures- at least it's not just my kids!);)

I wasn't surprised she took it all out. She takes everything out of her hair, after begging me to such intricate styles. I'm glad I didn't say anything, but I was ticked.

OMG, I think I would've been thrown out of the parks if I heard someone say this about my 4 y.o. daughter!!! I don't think I could've physically controlled myself!! What a you-know-what!

I agree.

I noticed Spencer was a good boy and kept his fingers to himself when he posed with Jasmine! That is my favorite picture I've ever seen on the dis!

I can't believe that lady said that! I would have stewed for a couple of days and thought of all sorts of comebacks. I'm always too faberglasted to think of somthing to say when it happens.
Briana looked adorable.

I think it helped that jasmine wasn't squattign this time. Note him being unable to look away from the jewels at her waist. he kept trying to touch them, and we kept telling him to keep his hands to himself.

Lovely photos at CRT, Brianna looks adorable I bet you were slightly cursing her taking her hair out though :rotfl2:

OMG I can't believe what that woman said, what is it with some people? :headache:

I'm glad she kept it in for pictures and breakfast. I thought she looked cuter with it out, so I wasn't too upset.

It may be hard to appreciate it now, but the looks on Spencer's face are priceless! :rotfl2: Those are some adorable kids you have there! My dd was looking at the pictures while I was reading the update and said, "That's a funny looking Sleeping Beauty." I thought she looked more like a Cinderella in the face. And yes, Belle needs to dress for an appearance at the castle, not going to the market!

There just aren't words for the nasty woman at the WL. Although, the first time I read it, I was reading slowly since dd was talking, scrolling back up for the pictures, etc. I only read the line "Wish I could dress like a hooker" and thought, why does that woman think Angela is dressed like a hooker in her cargo pants? :rotfl: :rotfl2:

Well, I was wearing a still wet Tigger shirt and my other cargoes, so I knew she wasn't talking about me....I did look around to see if there was a teenager or adult she was commenting on, but there was no one else around. Weirdo.....

The princesses were fine. They all were nice with the kids and took plenty of time. that was the most important thing to me.....even if I do agree that it seems Disney is having problems finding princesses.....

[camelotcats]

Don't you wish you could have turned around and said, "I wish I could act like poor white trash when I go to WDW." :headache: Stupid woman.

Brianna looked adorable in her costume!

Spencer was cracking me up in the pics -- especially his obsession with Jasmine's jewels! :rotfl:

Uh....I apparently Do act like poor white trash at WDW.....just ask some of the people who commented about me when I was wearing tank tops. :rotfl2:

Spencer was obsessed....

Your daughter looked ADORABLE, and although I would've instantaniously went off on that woman you are the bigger person for being able to control yourself at the moment.

I am still telling people about your son's last year picture/this year picture with Jasmine, thanks for adding the newest one. He REALLY likes her doesn't he?! :rotfl:

he LOOOOVES her....then he comes home and says "I hate princesses". Every time he says that, I think to myself: "Well, except for jasmine".

I act like poor white trash everywhere I go. :thumbsup2 :hyper:

me too! ::yes::

Stinkin rude lady! I hate when people do that!


Great chapter :) Brianna looks sooo adorable!! I have a boy that does the same as spencer.... Takes a bit for a good pic hehe

he was all hyper, it drove me crazy! Well, except with jasmine, who he was all huggie with and trying to grab and touch her jewels...no sense of personal space, that boy....

Too bad that woman didn't realize that Disney SOLD that outfit in their park, in the BBB where the kids are SUPPOSED TO WEAR IT! A-duh lady! She's FOUR!!!!!!! What an awful thing to say - and I know that sort of comment would just stick with me, running over and over in my mind. Grrrr!

Brianna looked adorable!!!!!

I love all the pics at CRT - Spencer is hilarious. :rotfl2:

She was probably trying to keep her kids from even bothering to ASK for one....not how I would have done it, personally, but somepeople are too insecure, and need to bring others down to feel superior....it DID bother me for a while, buteveryone else though she looked adorable, so I let it go.

Oh my gosh, I wasn't getting alerts when you updated, so I foolishly thought you hadn't updated for a LONG time! I just had a wonderful morning savoring every little bit of your TR!

I just love your sense of humor. You cracky me up!

Tessa wants to be friends with your DD. She said "She's awfully cute, I'd like to be her friend." She also LOVED her yellow Giselle dress.

It sounds like you had a MUCH better experience at the BBB and with the photographers than we had on our trip -UGH!

I just read yours! what jerks!! I'm so sorry you had such a rough time! that's horrible!!

brianna asks about Tessa, too. "mommy, do we know her? What's her name? Why don't we know her?" :rotfl2:

[camelotcats]

Chapter 18: Piles of Seafood, and we forget the camera AGAIN.

We got back to the room got changed for dinner, and took the kids to the club. Brianna insisted on leaving her Ariel outfit on, so we grabbed her a little sweater to throw on if she got cold..

We quickly went off and got on the bus for DTD....and realised we didn't have the camera. Oh well. The ride to DTD was uneventful. We got there and walked around. We spent some time in Arribas brthers, but HHBG said her wasn’t feeling very well, so we decided to see If we could get seated a little early for dinner at Fulton’s Crab house.

They could accommodate us, so we were seated pretty quickly. We again scored a seat by the windows. We were pretty lucky this trip with our seating at dinner.

I didn’t write down our waiter’s name, but he was pretty good. Going in, we had been planning on getting their super shellfish platter (or whatever it’s called), however, they had a special on 2 lb king crablegs, so we each got that. All told we ordered:

Oyster sampler appetizer: Yum.

2 lb crab legs: These were awesome, though too much to finish. Also the waiter insisted on opening mine up for me, but didn’t open up HHBG’s. I grew up on Long Island eating shellfish, so after the waiter left, we traded plates, since I am better at removing crab from the shell than HHBG. Then the waiter came back, and de-shelled mine too. Whatever.

HHBG: Carrot Cake: He said this was good. I didn’t get a taste, so I guess he liked it.
Me: Key Lime Pie: This was very good, but HUGE. Htey gave me something like a quarter of a pie. I barely dented it.

After dinner, I wanted to explore DTD, ut HHBG just wanted to go back to the room, so that’s what we did. The bus was PACKED!!

On the way back, we noticed a sign sayign that the Friday night act at House of Blues was sold out (it was Panic! at the disco), and HHBG didn’t really want to go tot the House of Blues without seeing the act (but he had expected ME to be psychic and buy the tickets), so we decided to eat somewhere else for our last night at WDW. No more DTD for us.....

When we got back, I went to concierge to rescedule dinner for Friday, and he went to go get the kids and go to bed.

Well, I tried a few places, btu they were all booked, until I mentioned a place I really wanted tot ry that HHBG had been so-so on, and we got in there pretty easily. Where was it?? Well, you’ll jsut have to wait until we get to Friday, won’t you.

I went back tot he room, met up wit everyone, and we all went to sleep for another day at the magic kingdom tomorrow.

Coming soon: How many people are here, anyway???

[Charleston Princess]

Mmmmm, dinner sounds delicious! I love seafood!!! :lovestruc

[winkers]

dinner sounds yummy! I love crab!
that is strange how the waiter cracked yours but not hhbg's...........maybe it was his way of flirting with you?:confused3 :rotfl2:

[DisneyJo]

How funny that the waiter only opened your crab :confused: At least it was yummy :goodvibes

[jcc0621]

That was wierd how the waiter only opened your crab:confused: SOunds like a lovely grownup evening.:goodvibes

[jordanyosh]

Really? Those ladies really said that? I would've pulled out the kung fu moves on them...........

Hey, Spencer's pix with the princesses...classic.

[camelotcats]

Mmmmm, dinner sounds delicious! I love seafood!!! :lovestruc

dinner sounds yummy! I love crab!
that is strange how the waiter cracked yours but not hhbg's...........maybe it was his way of flirting with you?:confused3 :rotfl2:

How funny that the waiter only opened your crab :confused: At least it was yummy :goodvibes

That was wierd how the waiter only opened your crab:confused: SOunds like a lovely grownup evening.:goodvibes

It was definitely weird. It all worke dout in the end, though. I think because he came over and offered to open our crabs, and I said no, and HHBG said sure, he got confused. He was a good waiter.

Really? Those ladies really said that? I would've pulled out the kung fu moves on them...........

Hey, Spencer's pix with the princesses...classic.

Yep, he loves him some Jasmine...talk about teenage date blackmail......:rolleyes1

Glad you're back and feelign better. :hug:

[camelotcats]

I know this last update was a stinker, but we have a few huge ones coming up. Just had to get the uneventful night out of the way.

Some sneak peeks:

Why adults ride Dumbo.....

A guest goes postal on a lifeguard so mommy doesn't have to.....

A restaurant shares HHBG's taste in Art....

Splittign up to hit the hilights....aka, no, I don't have the camera, I thought YOU grabbed the camera....

Super park hopping.....

Under-dressed and the adventures of the lost cabbie....

Homeward bound....

AND FINALLY:

The continuing adventures of the lost cabbie chronicles.....

[ncsjodi]

Hi Angela! :wave:

Great update, as usual. I'm imagining a huge pile of crab carcasses like the picture that Buzz posted of Linnie back a few months ago on his trippie (May It Rest in Peace). Was the table full of carcasses? Did you really eat Pinchy? :lmao:

Hope you're having a good week with the kids home! Mine have been home for three weeks now, but we only have six weeks before school starts again for DD7! :sad2:

[jennifer.myers]

[QUOTE=camelotcats;25849081]Chapter 17: SURPRISE!!

Aurora (Look how thrilled Spencer is):
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1114.jpg

Spencer's to cute. Especially when he looks bored in this pic.


Spencer’s girlfriend....I mean Jasmine....he could NOT keep his eyes off of her jewels. :sad2:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1118.jpg

Spencer did look really happy.


And of course, Belle. Why do they have her coming to the “royal breakfast” in her peasant wear??? It doesn’t make sense to me.....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1120.jpg

She should have been in her gown.


“I wish I could dress like a hooker in Disney world!”

OK you had better restraint than I did. She would have gotten an earful from me. She's a little girl and I loved the ariel costume. It is one of my favorite. I seen grown woman wear next to nothing in the park last week. But a little girl in aerial costume!!! Come on. She is soo adorable. That woman is a *&^%$ and that putting it nicely. :rolleyes1

[whogirl'smom]

I've never heard of a waiter cracking your crablegs for you, either. Maybe then I would order them more often (nod to my laziness)! Looks like you have a bunch of good updates coming up!

[sandym718]

Ooh, the spoilers for the upcoming updates are GOOD!! I'm particularly looking forward to the lifeguard one!

[mrsksomeday]

Bill and I love the Spencer and Jasmine pictures :lmao:. That horrible woman that said that about the hooker better be glad Bill and I weren't around, Bill would have accidently bumped her to the ground with the wheelchair for you ;).

Where is the next installment popcorn::? Bill and I need something to read while he is healing. We are both bored out of our minds and need your humor asap!!

[HeatherSue]

brianna asks about Tessa, too. "mommy, do we know her? What's her name? Why don't we know her?" :rotfl2:

:lmao: She is SO cute!!!

I can't wait for your next installment! I love reading about your dining experiences. It reminds me never to eat at any of the restaurants that you like. :thumbsup2 Henry and I both hate seafood (and don't get me started on that French stuff)! We like nice boring food! :rolleyes:

I forgot to mention how mad it made me to hear what that woman said about Brianna's outfit. How dare she!? She looked absolutely adorable!

[brookelizabeth]

Too bad, HHBG wasn't feeling well for your night out, I hope he felt better the next day.

A guest goes postal on a lifeguard so mommy doesn't have to.....


Whooo-boy...this one sounds pretty interesting!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

:wave2:

[camelotcats]

Chapter 19: Why Adults ride Dumbo....

Day Six started with the wailing of HHBG’s alarm clock. Our mission: To make it to the rope drop at MK for our second day. We were on a mission. Dumbo was our goal. WHY were we going back on Dumbo??? Well, it’s Spencer’s favorite movie, and Iw as informed by my children that we HAD to go on it.

We got the kiddos dressed, showered ourselves, dressed, got the remaining sun block out of the triple locked secure area and put it on the kids, and ourselves, and we were off.

We got to the line for the boats nice and early....along with everyone else. Woah, there were a lot of people waiting for that boat? Was it a sign of things to come??

Waititng for the boat:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1139.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1140.jpg

The first boat that showed up was the little one. We didn’t make it onto it....so much for rope drop. 15 minutes later, the big boat showed up, and we all piled onto it. As the boat rounded the curve, and we got the visual of the front of the MK, we were greeted by a HUGE MASS OF PEOPLE!!! Where did they all come from!? This was going to be a rough day....

Woah...
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1142.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1143.jpg

Now, if you recall from my PTR, the UoG rated this day an 8, as opposed to the rest of the days we were in WDW which were mostly 5s and 6s. I have NO IDEA why a Thursday would be so crowded, but it certainly was. Wow. I will never go to WDW during 10 days if I can help it.

The boat landed and we all piled out and headed to the turnstiles. As the boat was docking, we had heard the end of rope drop, so we were still pretty early. They were letting people in the CM turnstiles, so we hopped on a short line and got into the park.

I just thought these pics were cute....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1145.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1147.jpg

We got into the already relatively long line for Dumbo. Behind us in line was an older lady and her friend. No kids with them. Now, I don’t have any problems with people who ride Dumbo as adults, but it always seems to me that, there are so many other rides in the park, why bother with a little ride that goes in little circles and always has a huge line to get onto it??

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1149.jpg

Well, my kids were being cute, and they ended up starting a conversation with these ladies. It turns out that the one lady had been to the Magic kingdom the day it opened with her father, and he had taken her on Dumbo. He had died a few months earlier, and she wanted to ride Dumbo in memory of her father. Well, I was blown away. Her friend was not planning on riding, just was there in line with her, because she was so emotional about the whole trip to WDW.

We kept her distracted with stories about the parks and our trips, and her friend had a nice conversation with the kids about their outfits, and how I had made them. Finally, we were up, she gave the kiddos big hugs, and went off to her elephant. We didn’t see her again, but I still think about her sometimes.

After Dumbo, Brianna wanted to ride “the horsies”, so we went over to the carousel. While we were riding, I saw a little girl in a Cinderella mouse-made dress, and thought “hey maybe her mom is on the disoutique”....but I was too shy to say anything to her. Both Brianna and the little girl smiled and waved at each other, and both of us mothers complimented the other on the dress, but we never said anythign about the DIS. Later, I found out that the mom HAD been a dISBoutiquer. Bleh. That’ll learn me.

After the carousel, we went to Philharmagic, which I always enjoy. Then Peter Pan and Small World. The kids didn’t want to go on Winnie the Pooh, so we skipped it. There were a lot of people in the park at that point, so we asked the kids what they wanted to do. They immediately piped up that they wanted to go to the “log ride!”

We walked over and got fast passes for Splash, then got into the stand-by line, which was about a 30 minute wait at that point. It took nearly the whole thirty minutes to get onto Splash, and we rode...and AGAIN, Mommy got all wet. It didn’t matter WHERE I sat ont hat ride, the splash always landed on ME.

We got off, and had another 10 minutes for our fast passes. We just stood by the fast pass entrance,a dn the CM took pity on us and let us in.

After riding Splash again, we got off to a complete MOB scene. You could barely walk. We had to pick the kids up, because we were so scared we were going to lose them. We decided to stop and get some ice cream and see if the crowds dispersed some.

The crowds did not lighted up, and the kids requested going back to the hotel and going inthe pool, so we walked over to the boat and went back to Wilderness Lodge.

Coming soon: Another guest goes off on a Lifeguard so Mommy doesn’t have to.

[camelotcats]

I've never heard of a waiter cracking your crablegs for you, either. Maybe then I would order them more often (nod to my laziness)! Looks like you have a bunch of good updates coming up!

I had never heard of it either. :confused3

Ooh, the spoilers for the upcoming updates are GOOD!! I'm particularly looking forward to the lifeguard one!

It's not a good story. :(

Bill and I love the Spencer and Jasmine pictures :lmao:. That horrible woman that said that about the hooker better be glad Bill and I weren't around, Bill would have accidently bumped her to the ground with the wheelchair for you ;).

Where is the next installment popcorn::? Bill and I need something to read while he is healing. We are both bored out of our minds and need your humor asap!!

I hope Bill feels better soon!!

:lmao: She is SO cute!!!

I can't wait for your next installment! I love reading about your dining experiences. It reminds me never to eat at any of the restaurants that you like. :thumbsup2 Henry and I both hate seafood (and don't get me started on that French stuff)! We like nice boring food! :rolleyes:

I forgot to mention how mad it made me to hear what that woman said about Brianna's outfit. How dare she!? She looked absolutely adorable!

It sounds like we have very different tastes! Well, except in clothes for our kids. :rotfl2:

Too bad, HHBG wasn't feeling well for your night out, I hope he felt better the next day.



Whooo-boy...this one sounds pretty interesting!

Inetersting.....maddening.....something.....

:wave2:

:wave2:

[DisneyJo]

Wow those crowds sound heavy :eek:

What a lovely way for that lady to remember her Father :goodvibes

That was nice of the CM to let you on to Splash a little early :thumbsup2

[camelotcats]

On the TTC:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1133-1.jpg

Wet people getting off of Splash....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1135-1.jpg

OOOOh....Bushes!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1136-1.jpg

But I don't WANT my picture taken, Mommy!!
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1137-1.jpg

Uh, we kind of got yelled at for this one....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1129.jpg

It took FIVE attempts to take this picture...thsi was the best one....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1131.jpg

So, we decided on a good picture:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1132.jpg

[camelotcats]

Wow those crowds sound heavy :eek:

What a lovely way for that lady to remember her Father :goodvibes

That was nice of the CM to let you on to Splash a little early :thumbsup2


It made me very happy, as the kids were getting antsy. A little bit of magic goes a long way. :thumbsup2

it was a MOB SCENE!

[brookelizabeth]

The story of the woman riding Dumbo in honor of her Dad made me tear up, how sweet and speical.

I love Brianna's dress, she looks adorable in it!

[HeatherSue]

Sawyer was very excited to see his friends, the ducks, in your picture! I love that one, too!

Oh my gosh, I am all teary about the woman riding Dumbo for her father. That is so special.

I can't BELIEVE you didn't ask each other if you were disboutiquers!!

The picture of Spencer climbing Goofy was definitely worth getting yelled at! :rotfl:

The kids look adorable! I LOVE Brianna's dress. I didn't realize it had sort of a sclalloped hem on the ruffles. So sweet!

We have one more thing in common, we read each other's trip reports. Oh yeah, I forgot, you like Teresa's best. :snooty:
I did add hyperlinks to my latest installments, just for you!!

[camelotcats]

The story of the woman riding Dumbo in honor of her Dad made me tear up, how sweet and speical.

I love Brianna's dress, she looks adorable in it!

Thanks!

Tha lady made me tear up, too.

Sawyer was very excited to see his friends, the ducks, in your picture! I love that one, too!

Oh my gosh, I am all teary about the woman riding Dumbo for her father. That is so special.

I can't BELIEVE you didn't ask each other if you were disboutiquers!!

The picture of Spencer climbing Goofy was definitely worth getting yelled at! :rotfl:

The kids look adorable! I LOVE Brianna's dress. I didn't realize it had sort of a sclalloped hem on the ruffles. So sweet!

We have one more thing in common, we read each other's trip reports. Oh yeah, I forgot, you like Teresa's best. :snooty:
I did add hyperlinks to my latest installments, just for you!!

The scallops were a PAIN IN THE TUSH!! They kept getting caught up in my serger. It doesn't help that afterwards, I realised I wasn't using serger thread, and it was not feeding properly. More people asked me where I had BOUGHT that dress than anything else.

Yeah...the CM's were grumpy on Thursday, I think in anticipation of the senior night that was that evening.

[mrsksomeday]

Great installment. I teared up too about the woman and Dumbo. That was so sweet. I loved the pics of the kids with your hubby on the way into the park :thumbsup2.

WOW that is a lot of people, that would have driven me crazy. It was a great plan to go back to the resort. I can't wait to read more!

[Charleston Princess]

Great pics and update -- I love the ones of your DH and kids!

What an awesome story about the woman and riding Dumbo! It was sooo sweet!

I wonder why MK was so crowded that day??? How odd!

I don't blame you for heading to the pool! Good call!

[whogirl'smom]

Yuck on the crowded MK day! The most crowded day we've been on was a 7 but it didn't seem too bad b/c we had an EMH morning.

The story about the woman riding Dumbo with her father was soooo sweet. And kudos to you for going back to the pool when it got crowded. For our Oct. trip I'm thinking about doing some EMH nights and starting later in the day--I have no idea if it's a good idea or not, but DH's only request was not to be over-scheduled. (I'll just hide my planning notebook and he'll think I'm naturally brilliant! :idea: )

[KatGarcia]

See thats why I try to avoid Splash! I always get wet too, not so much fun.

Nice to see an update!

[Tanya90210]

I just love brianna's dress... you did fantastic :)

Thank you for sharing that moment with the ladies before riding dumbo.... that's what makes disney so special is times like that :)

[Native NYer]

I'm all caught up. I love your tr!

The clothes you made are just beautiful!!!

Love the pic of Briana looking through her purse.

[2xcited2sleep]

I am misty over the Dumbo story. :sad1: Did you hear about/read the hullabaloo here on the boards where someone was posting that Dumbo should be kids only to cut down on the long lines? :rolleyes:

Yikes on the 8 crowds. I wonder what made that day an 8 vs. the other days being 5's and 6's. You're right... I wonder what a 10 looks like. I'll have to see it online b/c I'll never be there in person if I can help it! :rotfl:

[dreamer17555]

Aww that Dumbo Story is so sweet. I remember when the boards had a huge fight over someone suggesting children only on Dumbo. Thats what I love about Disney it brings out the kid in everyone!

Yikes on the crowds. Was it an Magic Hour day or just super busy?

Also I love the pic of your DH carrying Brianna on his shoulders. Too Cute!

-Becca-

[lazydoxy66]

Your kids are adorable. Great dress!! You're very talented!
Thanks for the 'Dumbo' story.:sad1: It was very touching since I just lost my DDad earlier this year. The hard thing for me on our trip in Sept. will be eating at 50's PTC. He loved that place!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

great update, those were some good stories while waiting in lines...

i love the dress of your DD.

[irene_dsc]

Finally caught up! Nothing original to say, alas - love the dress, love the Dumbo story, love that you left when it got insanely crowded...

[camelotcats]

Great installment. I teared up too about the woman and Dumbo. That was so sweet. I loved the pics of the kids with your hubby on the way into the park :thumbsup2.

WOW that is a lot of people, that would have driven me crazy. It was a great plan to go back to the resort. I can't wait to read more!

We were driven crazy! I don't know ho people go when it's more crowded than it was! it was insane!

Great pics and update -- I love the ones of your DH and kids!

What an awesome story about the woman and riding Dumbo! It was sooo sweet!

I wonder why MK was so crowded that day??? How odd!

I don't blame you for heading to the pool! Good call!

I wish it had been a better call than it was....read on....

Yuck on the crowded MK day! The most crowded day we've been on was a 7 but it didn't seem too bad b/c we had an EMH morning.

The story about the woman riding Dumbo with her father was soooo sweet. And kudos to you for going back to the pool when it got crowded. For our Oct. trip I'm thinking about doing some EMH nights and starting later in the day--I have no idea if it's a good idea or not, but DH's only request was not to be over-scheduled. (I'll just hide my planning notebook and he'll think I'm naturally brilliant! :idea: )

I don't know. we are the "get tere early, leave early" types, but I think that that's more because our kids melt-down about 2-3pm. You'll have to let us know if it works out!

See thats why I try to avoid Splash! I always get wet too, not so much fun.

Nice to see an update!

i got SOAKED! it was annoying. The kids started calling it the "get mommy wet log ride"

I just love brianna's dress... you did fantastic :)

Thank you for sharing that moment with the ladies before riding dumbo.... that's what makes disney so special is times like that :)

thanks!

I'm all caught up. I love your tr!

The clothes you made are just beautiful!!!

Love the pic of Briana looking through her purse.

She's such a little contradiction. She loves dresses, make-up, purses, and jewelry....then goes out and gets filthy dirty and beats her brother to a pulp. :confused3

I am misty over the Dumbo story. :sad1: Did you hear about/read the hullabaloo here on the boards where someone was posting that Dumbo should be kids only to cut down on the long lines? :rolleyes:

Yikes on the 8 crowds. I wonder what made that day an 8 vs. the other days being 5's and 6's. You're right... I wonder what a 10 looks like. I'll have to see it online b/c I'll never be there in person if I can help it! :rotfl:

I heard it mentioned before, but didn't know it was a big hullabaloo. Is that like the time people freaked otu over V&A being for adults only??

Aww that Dumbo Story is so sweet. I remember when the boards had a huge fight over someone suggesting children only on Dumbo. Thats what I love about Disney it brings out the kid in everyone!

Yikes on the crowds. Was it an Magic Hour day or just super busy?

Also I love the pic of your DH carrying Brianna on his shoulders. Too Cute!

-Becca-

It was jsut super busy. No magic hours, in fact the park was closing early for grad night.

Your kids are adorable. Great dress!! You're very talented!
Thanks for the 'Dumbo' story.:sad1: It was very touching since I just lost my DDad earlier this year. The hard thing for me on our trip in Sept. will be eating at 50's PTC. He loved that place!

Thanks! I'm sorry about your dad. :(

great update, those were some good stories while waiting in lines...

i love the dress of your DD.

thanks! I see from your ticker you're getting close with the $$!

Finally caught up! Nothing original to say, alas - love the dress, love the Dumbo story, love that you left when it got insanely crowded...

had to. it was crazy.

[camelotcats]

Chapter 20: Another guest goes off on a lifeguard so Mommy doesn’t have to.

This chapter begins with HHBG taking yet another nap. We SAID we were going to go back to the resort to go in the pool, but once we hi the room, he immediately laid down and went to sleep. The kids and I got changed, and the kids watched Stacy for a while, but soon they wanted him UP (I cannot take care of both of them in a pool....they go in different directions). After sleepign through being jumped on for a while, HHBG got up and changed, we tossed everything into our pool bag and we were off.

We grabbed towels and again, there were no free loungers at the pool, so I ended up just dumping our stuff in a corner. There wasn’t much of value in the bag, so I wasn’t too worried about it. HHBG had his room key card in the picket of his board shorts/swimsuit. If thieves REALLY wanted our crocs and flip flops, coverups, and a half-empty tube of sunblock, they were welcome to them.

Again, we ended up looking all over the place for the place to sign out life vests. Wilderness lodge needs to do a better job of this. They supposedly have a place to sign out life vests, but there was NEVER anyone there, and the guy at the bar wouldn’t go over there, nor call the person who was supposedly supposed to be signing out the life vests. The entire two days we were in the pool, we saw ONE kid with a Disney Life vest. If they’re going to advertise that they provide life vests, it would be nice to have them available. This will come into play later....

Now, our kids can swim. They cannot swim WELL or for very long, but if they had made all fo the parents step away from the slide and wait for the kids at the other end of the pool by the wall, our kids would have been fine, even without life vests, so we let them go on the slide. HHBG and I waited at the bottom and got them, along with all of the other parents who were all also griping about there being no one there to sign life vests out from.

After about 3 million times down the slide, the kids needed a break, so we walked them over to the baby pool. Now, the baby pool is on the opposite side of the pool complex from the steps for the slide, just letting you know. (NOOOOooooo, no foreshadowing here)

Soon, the kids were begging to go back on the slide. We said that was fine, and they took off, going the long way around the pool. Well, we yelled at them to stop running, which they did, but we just moseyed behind them, since we could see them, and we could see the line at the top fo the pool,s o we knew we had plenty of time to get there.

Until I saw something that stopped my heart.

The way the kids had taken off is past the “deep end” of the pool, where the water is about 6 feet deep instead of the usual 3-4 feet. BOTH of my kids NOT wearing lifevests climbed into the pool at the deep part!!!

WHY!?!?!?!?! They’re trying to kill me, I swear.

We were abotu 50 yards away from them at this point. I took off like a mad woman to get to them. Yes, all of the guests sunning themselves on that side of the pool got an eyeful of a fat, extremely busty woman in swimsuit running full tilt.


I saw the kids go under water and pop up. Then they went under again. They went under a third time, and my son was NOT coming back up.

Since time slowed down to a crawl, I can tell you what I was observing during my mad 10 second sprint:

1. A lady on the loungers had noticed my little non-lifevest wearing kids jumping into the deep end, and my son having problems,a nd my daughter starting to have problems. She was about ready to jump in herself, but was keeping her eye out for the parents....

2. A lifeguard was standing at the other end of the pool, CHATTING ON HER CELL PHONE, and kept turning her back on the pool while talking. She spared a glance for my kids a few times, but ignored their obvious distress.

By now, I was close eonough for a running leap. I leaped into the pool, got myself under the water, and LAUNCHED my kids heads up and out of the water. Here I was, stupidly thinking at least the lifeguard would have noticed the huge fat woman sprinting across the pool area and into the water, and would help get my kids out, but NO.

I got the kids up to the side of the pool, and HHBG had run over and helped me haul them out of the water. The lifeguard NEVER EVEN CAME OVER TO CHECK. Honestly, she never even got off of her cell phone.

While I hauled my hacking and gasping self out of the water, and HHBG and I frantically checked to make sure the kids were OK, the lady who had been about to jump in and save my kids went over and started screaming at the life guard. She pointed out that two very young children had jumped in, even SHE had noticed them having problems, and that the lifeguard had better hang up her D**N phone and start doing her job, or she was going to go have her fired. Another lady stormed off of her lounger and disappeared, I later found out she had gone DIRECTLY to the front desk to report the lifeguard.

I was very thankful for that woman, because I would have been a lot less nice, and probably would have ended up paying for a new cell phone after I broke the one she had been talking on over the rocks, then threw the pieces into the pool.

NOW, BEFORE anyone flames me:

I am aware that this situation was partially my and HHBG’s fault. Yes, we had two children who are weak swimmers in a pool situation without life vests. Yes, we let them get away from us. There is no excuse for us thinking “well, they wouldn’t jump into water over their heads”, we should have anticipated it and not let them out of our reach. No, it is not the lifeguard’s job to jump in and help a child just because he/she seems liek they might be a little bit young for the pool.

HOWEVER, if a child is obviously having problems, OR if a child seems kind of young for an area of a pool that is OBVIOUSLY way over their heads, you could at least PAY ATTENTION to them, and/or hover there in case you are needed. Heck, even if older people are in the pool, at least PAY ATTENTION. It’s your job!!

HHBG at that point convinced me to let the kids go one the slide a few more times so I could calm down. After about 10 times up and down, we were ready to go inside and get ready for dinner. We ended up going in the side door,a nd got separated. Spencer and I got lost, because I am directionally challenged.

Once we figured out how to get back tot the lobby, I decided to speak to the front desk about the lifeguard. I was VERY calm and basically stated that I was upset that the lifeguard didn’t even seem to care about what was going on in her area, and was more concerned about the phone conversation she was having. I also said it was not her responsibility to watch my children and keep them from getitng into the pool, as she doesn’t know their swimming abilities, BUT it IS her job to keep an eye on them. I also stated that, as a parent, when child is in visible distress, I would prefer a lifeguard jumping int o help a child who is NOT having problems than NOT jump in to help a child who is. We saw this a few times over at the slide where a lifeguard jumped in to help a kid who ended up OK. No one was upset about that.

That was when I was informed buyt he manager that I was not the first person coming over to speak to him about this incident, and that they would definitely address it. I thanked him for allowing me to share my concerns, and I was pleased that he seemed to take me seriously, and Spencer and I went back to our room.....

....to a sleeping HHBG and Brianna. Oh well, we had an hour before dinner. Spencer and I decided to join them.......

Coming soon: A Restaurant has similar taste in art as HHBG

[LastLookAtTheCastle]

No flames here. I dare anyone to flame you over this. As a fellow mom, to two rambunctious and water-loving kids as well, let me assure you the situation was completely understandable. I'm barely breathing reading your account, however.

What was the lifeguard's reaction to all of this though? I want to know what she did?!

P.S. Lurked for a while, love your TR. What do women do who don't own cargoes is what I want to know.

[thewesterberg]

Oh. My. Goodness. That had to have been so scary. Shame on that lifeguard for chatting on her cell phone while ignoring her job.

[carrieannie]

OH WOW! Angela! that was scary! No flames here! :hug: everything happened so fast! Did you ever find out what happened to the lifeguard?
Cant wait to hear where you guys went for dinner!! popcorn::

[jorgelm]

I really hope they take action with that lifeguard, and im with you i would have broken the lifeguard cellphone 2.... but really glad that everything turned ok.....

[Hedy]

I can't blame you one bit for reporting the incedent. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, and all.

[kafitty]

why, oh why, do people my age (i'm assuming this lifeguard was in her 20's) think it's appropriate to be on their cellphones WHILE AT WORK?!?!?!! i mean, i'll pick up for a quick "i'm at work i'll call you back in xx minutes" or i'll sneak off to send a text message, lol, but i would nevereverevereverever in a million years think of actually answering my phone in front of guests, WHILE ON DUTY! (i'm a waitress by trade, so it's a little different, but seriously...)

i'm so glad there were other people there who were just as appalled with the situation. it's nice to have your anger validated. :thumbsup2


...also...i just love this TR :lovestruc

[The Moonk's Mom]

Okay...haven't psted for you in a while...been reading...just not posting...but when water and children are involved...

I know that your heart stopped...mine did and I was just reading! I have to say, at POP we didn't have to check the life jackets out, they were just in a big bin. And the life guards were more than abundent at the pool we were at the entire time we were there. I hope she knows how lucky she really was. Glad the kiddos were okay!:goodvibes

[DisneyJo]

OMG Angela how scary, I'm so pleased the kids were OK but there were several major problems, first if the life jackets had been available they would have been fine and second what on earth was the lifeguard doing on her phone? :mad: I hope she got severely told off!!!

[irene_dsc]

OMG - that lifeguard deserved everything coming at her, and more!!! That was just plain irresponsible, no two ways about it. My heart stopped a few times during that story, believe me!

[camelotcats]

No flames here. I dare anyone to flame you over this. As a fellow mom, to two rambunctious and water-loving kids as well, let me assure you the situation was completely understandable. I'm barely breathing reading your account, however.

What was the lifeguard's reaction to all of this though? I want to know what she did?!

P.S. Lurked for a while, love your TR. What do women do who don't own cargoes is what I want to know.

Hi and welcome!

the lifeguard's reaction was to shrug, turn her back on the lady after she was done, and go back to her phone, probably to complain about the jerk who had the nerve to tell her off.

Oh. My. Goodness. That had to have been so scary. Shame on that lifeguard for chatting on her cell phone while ignoring her job.

I think I aged about 30 years in 5 seconds.

OH WOW! Angela! that was scary! No flames here! :hug: everything happened so fast! Did you ever find out what happened to the lifeguard?
Cant wait to hear where you guys went for dinner!! popcorn::

No idea what happened. we never went back to the pool. But they did specifically ask me for a description of the lifeguard.

I really hope they take action with that lifeguard, and im with you i would have broken the lifeguard cellphone 2.... but really glad that everything turned ok.....

thanks! Welcome!

I can't blame you one bit for reporting the incedent. Squeaky wheel gets the grease, and all.

HHBG was goign to do it, but he was waiting for me tog et backt ot he room, so I beat him to it. I was surprised to find out that that lady had taken it upon herself to report the incident for me. I really appreciated it.

why, oh why, do people my age (i'm assuming this lifeguard was in her 20's) think it's appropriate to be on their cellphones WHILE AT WORK?!?!?!! i mean, i'll pick up for a quick "i'm at work i'll call you back in xx minutes" or i'll sneak off to send a text message, lol, but i would nevereverevereverever in a million years think of actually answering my phone in front of guests, WHILE ON DUTY! (i'm a waitress by trade, so it's a little different, but seriously...)

i'm so glad there were other people there who were just as appalled with the situation. it's nice to have your anger validated. :thumbsup2


...also...i just love this TR :lovestruc

Hi and WELCOME! Thanks for the love!

I have no idea about the cell phones. yes, she looked like early twenties. makes me feel OLD.

Okay...haven't psted for you in a while...been reading...just not posting...but when water and children are involved...

I know that your heart stopped...mine did and I was just reading! I have to say, at POP we didn't have to check the life jackets out, they were just in a big bin. And the life guards were more than abundent at the pool we were at the entire time we were there. I hope she knows how lucky she really was. Glad the kiddos were okay!:goodvibes

At AKL they are in a bin, too. I don't know why they aren't at WL? The original life guard I spoke to the first day said people were takign them and not returning them, so they made people sign them out, but why would you not return one of the lifejackets?

OMG Angela how scary, I'm so pleased the kids were OK but there were several major problems, first if the life jackets had been available they would have been fine and second what on earth was the lifeguard doing on her phone? :mad: I hope she got severely told off!!!

I hope so, too.

OMG - that lifeguard deserved everything coming at her, and more!!! That was just plain irresponsible, no two ways about it. My heart stopped a few times during that story, believe me!

I seriously almost died. From that point on, we always take our personal life vests with us whether the place we are going has some publically available.

[beckanoah]

That lifeguard would have had her sad self THROWN in the pool (or knocked in there) had that happened around my kids. What is wrong with people having no respect for their jobs. Especially a job that involves potentially dangerous situations!

Huge hugs dude~!

[HeatherSue]

:scared1: How scary that must have been for you!!!!! :scared1:

Why would it be acceptable for the lifeguard to even HAVE a cell phone when she was on duty?! That is just so upsetting!

I'm glad the kids were okay!

You are most certainly NOT fat!!!

[HHBG]

OMG Angela how scary, I'm so pleased the kids were OK but there were several major problems, first if the life jackets had been available they would have been fine and second what on earth was the lifeguard doing on her phone? :mad: I hope she got severely told off!!!

We were walking around looking for life jackets... unlike most Disney resorts where they are in plain sight, we couldn't find lifejackets anywhere. None of the lifeguards or staff could direct us to them either. It was ... odd. We probably aren't going back to Wilderness Lodge for that reason.

Unfortunately, I think the fact that our kids normally wear life jackets actually contributed to the problem. The kids are so used to wearing them that they just jumped into the pool. If they were used to not having life jackets, there probably wouldn't have been a problem.

[KatGarcia]

There is no way anyone can flame you guys! Thats just friggin insane about that lifeguard, I hope she got fired. Thanks god everything turned out alright.

[Tanya90210]

I don't blame you one bit for your reaction of the situation. I would have done the exact same thing and felt the same way. A lifeguard is there to guard lives ... the job describes itself! .... A nap sounds... wonderful!

[lazydoxy66]

I'm so sorry about the pool incident. Talk about scary! I hope at the very least the lifeguard was fired as an example to the rest of them. I'm glad the kids were OK.:goodvibes

[ForeverDance]

OMG :eek:

I don't think I breathed through that whole post! That lifeguard had better have been fired. There is absolutely no excuse for that! When you are doing a job where lives depend on you there is no way you should allow yourself to be distracted like that! I'm typically a very calm person but I'll tell you right now I want to hop on a plane, find that lifeguard and lay into her myself :mad:

[Native NYer]

What a horrible lifeguard :scared1: I'm glad you and other guests spoke to the manager. Something much worse could have happened.

I'm glad your children are ok.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

glad everything worked out okay, hope that she got repremanded for her actions or lack there off.

[irene_dsc]

I was thinking about this last night, and how I wanted to make sure to say that letting them run ahead wasn't the problem - kids do crazy impulsive things even when you are standing right next to them. Heck, ds has been burned twice in his life - and both times, I was standing right next to him! The first time, we were leaving a store that had uplights right next to the steps to go out, and he just reached out to touch it. (He was about 3, iirc - just potty trained, and I'd been worried that all the fountains in the store would trigger him to need to go, so wasn't concentrating on the hot light). 2nd time, we were making blueberry pancakes. He was next to me with a blueberry, and I thought he was going to eat it, but he decided to throw it into a pancake - and hit the edge of the griddle with his wrist.

Unfortunately, I think the fact that our kids normally wear life jackets actually contributed to the problem. The kids are so used to wearing them that they just jumped into the pool. If they were used to not having life jackets, there probably wouldn't have been a problem.

Ahh - that makes their actions make a little more sense now. I was thinking about this - my dd4 is very, very cautious around water, and I can't imagine her just jumping off the edge. And while my ds would go down a slide before he was a good swimmer, he wasn't comfortable jumping in until he was also a good swimmer. I don't normally have them wear lifejackets in swimming pools, only in boats and such. But, iirc, ds *did* sneak to the slide on our trip, and did in fact have to get fished out, tho not in nearly as scary a manner. (He has gotten to be a much better swimmer over 2 sessions of lessons this spring.)

[dreamer17555]

Wow. How scary! And don't feel bad about letting them run ahead, kids do tend to take off.

My DD who knows how to swim very well has even had a close call a time or two. Kids sometimes freeze up and thats why Disney has lifeguards.

I hope that lifeguard was pulled off duty. I have been a lifeguard for two summers at a camp and believe me if a child even struggled a little bit we were in the pool. Heck even at the lake where the girls wore lifejackets, if they flipped their canoe (normally on purpose!), we were in that nasty lake water. That was my job, to keep them safe. She shouldn't have been on her cell phone at all while on duty. That is a distrraction you cannot have while looking after a pool full of children. At our local water park if they catch you on a cell you are instantly fired.


I also hope you were able to talk to the manager about the life jacket problem. There is no excuse not to have them available to guests.

-Becca-

[sandym718]

As a former lifeguard (actually JUST let me certification lapse finally, though I haven't used it in about 9 years), NO flames here!!

I think you're taking the appropriate amount of responsibility and the lifeguard was WAY out of line. No, lifeguards are not babysitters and hate to be treated as such. They just can't do that. But that's not what you did. You didn't send them to the pool unattended while you laid in the sun. Kids run ahead, that's what they do. They sometimes jump in not knowing how deep it is, or just walk a little too far (esp. when there's no rope). That's what lifeguards are there for, that's their JOB!! It's one thing not to notice RIGHT away while scanning another part of the pool, that happens and no one drowns in 2 seconds. But a lifeguard should ALWAYS notice quickly and intervene. Talking on her CELL PHONE?????!!!!!!!!!!! Absolutely appalling and if not grounds for outright dismissal (you know how laws are these days, but *I* think that's grounds for immediate firing when you are in a lifesaving position!), at LEAST immediate, unpaid suspension and retraining. AT LEAST. I hope Disney acted accordingly!!

[mrsksomeday]

I am so happy the kids are ok. That lifeguard should be fired and they need to straighten out the situation with the life vests.

[whogirl'smom]

Whew, thank goodness your babies were okay! That would have terrified me, and hopefully Disney took notice of their useless lifeguard since there were so many complaints. Why don't they just put the life jackets out there and be done with it? I don't think you even had to sign them out at Pop Century, I think they were just out in a bin. :confused3

Oh, and you're not fat, Angela. :goodvibes

[camelotcats]

Hey everyone! thanks for the replies about the lifeguard, I have no idea what happened, btu I'm sure they got more complaints, since the lady who yelled at her had a bunch of attention. No idea on the life vests. :confused3

Sorry, Iam not responding individually, but I'm worried it'll look like

'Thanks! I know, it was very scary. I don't know what she was thinking. bleh" Responding to everyone. :rotfl2:

On with the updates!

[camelotcats]

Chapter 21: HHBG has the same taste in art as a restaurant. AKA WHAT!?! STILL no pictures!?!

Now, those of you who made it past the lifeguard incident and were paying attention to he more mundane things may have noticed that we pulled the kids out of the pool for dinner drop off, yet all went to sleep? Why did we do this? Well, we had made reservations for the kids club at 5, but we were having dinner at Artist’s Point, which is in the WL, at 7. We had originally planned on the extra 2 hours for...well...grown up time. But, with HHBG racked out on the bed, I figured that wasn’t going to happen, so I decided to let everyone catch up on some sleep, since I knew we were in for a hugely busy day the next day.

So, at 6:15, I got up, took a quick shower, got dressed for dinner, got HHBG up, and while he showered, dragged the VERY GRUMPY children out of their beds. They were ready to sleep for the night, but we knew if we cancelled dinner and did that, that they would be up at 4am, so we made them get up. Brianna wanted to wear her mermaid outfit AGAIN, but she had worn it three times already, and I was not having it, so I forcefully dressed her in something else, this led to us literally dragging her kicking and screaming to the children’s club. I’m sure people got quite an eyeful. Thank goodness we were 5 rooms and a corner away from the club.

Well, I dumped Brianna off of my shoulder onto the floor to pout, apologised to the babysitters for them having to deal with her being like that, caught Spencer as he ran off to his beloved computers, signed them in for the night, and HHBG and I were off.

We walked into Artist’s point and were immediately seated. We scored again with window seats. The restaurant was relatively crowded, but the way they set up the seating, it is still relatively private. I liked that.

After we sat down, I decided to look around, as I had heard that Artist’s point is well known for a lot of their artwork on display. I saw the art and started to snicker. Between HHBG and his twin brother, they have at least 3/4 of the same pieces as the ones on the walls at Artist’s point. BIL especially is a huge fan of Bierstadt and Moran. I am not as much a fan, but HHBG does have a few pieces.

At that point, we realized we had forgotten the camera AGAIN, so we could not take any pictures. HHBG did take one picture with his phone and try to send it to BIL, but with him being in London, it didn’t go through.

Our waitress was nice. She came over and explained the menu and the day’s offerings. We decided to start the eal with some champagne, and got a half-sparkling muscat. YUMMY! When we ordered, we also ordered paired half glasses of wine with our meals.

What we had:

Appetizer:
Me: duck confit
HHBG: Venison spring rolls

Entree:
Both: Buffalo tenderloin

Dessert: Cheese plate

Over all, we thought that the meal was solid, though not great. None of the sweet desserts caught our attention, so we just stuck with the cheese. The cheese plate was good, but after Flying Fish and Bistro, it just wasn’t up to par.

We got good service and attention during our meal. Now, this might have been due to the fact that at the table next to us, two guys, one of whom (maybe both) was a CM, and they were celebrating his birthday, so we ended up getting a lot of attention from the bus staff and others as an excuse to stop b and say hi to them. I was glad they were having a good time, though.

We finished up our diner, and went for a walk around the resort. We saw the geyser (though not erupting), and wandered down by the lake and around the walkway. Pretty quickly, though, we were ready to get the kids.

We collected our children, were informed that Brianna was fine within two minutes of our leaving, paid, and all went back tot he room to crash. Tomorrow was out last park day, and it was going to be crazy.....

Coming soon: Brianna’s favorite ride is WHAT!?!?!

[Tanya90210]

sounds like you all had a wonderful nap and a good dinner... good to hear she calmed down shortly therafter.... I hate lil girl tantrums when you don't want em to wear clothes for the billionth time

[Native NYer]

Sounds like you had a great night.
Glad to hear that Briana was ok.

Your tr convinced me to change our ADRs at Teppan Edo for Chefs de France.

[whogirl'smom]

What a nice grown-up evening! Everything sounds good to eat tonight. I've got two more ADRs to plan for Oct. and just can't decide. We don't arrive till about 7 p.m. the first night, and then we're having a beach day, so that's 2 "extra" TS to figure out. Decisions, decisions.

Let me guess Brianna's favorite ride was Carousel of Progress? :rotfl2:

[mrsksomeday]

Kids always seem to throw tantums when the parents are around then calm right down after they are gone. It sounds like you had a good dinner, we might try there one trip.

[ForeverDance]

Sounds like a great relaxing evening to end a stressful day... ok except for the Brianna tantrum. I'm glad she calmed down quickly and had a good night herself.

[irene_dsc]

Sounds like a great relaxing evening to end a stressful day... ok except for the Brianna tantrum. I'm glad she calmed down quickly and had a good night herself.

What she said...

Oh, and I'll have to look up those artists. I am sooo out of the art scene - the only original art I have is by people I know personally. I have to admit, the very idea of buying a painting just because I like it has become rather odd to me!

[jennifer.myers]

About the lifeguard incident. Im glad it worked out and Yes, I too would have thrown her phone in the pool and tell her to say that! :rolleyes1 .

You should NOT get any flames for the kids running ahead. All kids do it. One of mine did when we went out to eat. He was 5 and wanted to get into the restaurant quickly. I could not grab him fast enough and ran out in front of a car. Thank god the man driving the car slamed on his brakes before hitting DS. I will never forget it and the look the man gave me. The look was a mixture of disbelief and how can I let my kid run out in the parking lot.

Your kids life is more important than any phone call. The lifegaurd should have figured that one. Did dhe atleast apologise to you?

[brookelizabeth]

Sounds like you had a very nice evening! DH and I liked the private feeling of Artist's Point as well. They serve my favorite dessert-'Coffee Two Ways' which I will have to order in November and bring to my room since we aren't eating at the actual restaurant.

I just read the lifeguard incident as well. The fact that she just shrugged when the woman chewed her out and then turned her back and went back to her cell phone made my jaw DROP. I really hope she was fired. But overall, I'm glad your kids are both okay!!!!

[jordanyosh]

:goodvibes Chapter 19: Why Adults ride Dumbo....

Day Six started with the wailing of HHBG’s alarm clock. Our mission: To make it to the rope drop at MK for our second day. We were on a mission. Dumbo was our goal. WHY were we going back on Dumbo??? Well, it’s Spencer’s favorite movie, and Iw as informed by my children that we HAD to go on it.

We got the kiddos dressed, showered ourselves, dressed, got the remaining sun block out of the triple locked secure area and put it on the kids, and ourselves, and we were off.

We got to the line for the boats nice and early....along with everyone else. Woah, there were a lot of people waiting for that boat? Was it a sign of things to come??

Waititng for the boat:
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1139.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1140.jpg

The first boat that showed up was the little one. We didn’t make it onto it....so much for rope drop. 15 minutes later, the big boat showed up, and we all piled onto it. As the boat rounded the curve, and we got the visual of the front of the MK, we were greeted by a HUGE MASS OF PEOPLE!!! Where did they all come from!? This was going to be a rough day....

Woah...
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1142.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1143.jpg

Now, if you recall from my PTR, the UoG rated this day an 8, as opposed to the rest of the days we were in WDW which were mostly 5s and 6s. I have NO IDEA why a Thursday would be so crowded, but it certainly was. Wow. I will never go to WDW during 10 days if I can help it.

The boat landed and we all piled out and headed to the turnstiles. As the boat was docking, we had heard the end of rope drop, so we were still pretty early. They were letting people in the CM turnstiles, so we hopped on a short line and got into the park.

I just thought these pics were cute....
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1145.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1147.jpg

We got into the already relatively long line for Dumbo. Behind us in line was an older lady and her friend. No kids with them. Now, I don’t have any problems with people who ride Dumbo as adults, but it always seems to me that, there are so many other rides in the park, why bother with a little ride that goes in little circles and always has a huge line to get onto it??

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1149.jpg

Well, my kids were being cute, and they ended up starting a conversation with these ladies. It turns out that the one lady had been to the Magic kingdom the day it opened with her father, and he had taken her on Dumbo. He had died a few months earlier, and she wanted to ride Dumbo in memory of her father. Well, I was blown away. Her friend was not planning on riding, just was there in line with her, because she was so emotional about the whole trip to WDW.

We kept her distracted with stories about the parks and our trips, and her friend had a nice conversation with the kids about their outfits, and how I had made them. Finally, we were up, she gave the kiddos big hugs, and went off to her elephant. We didn’t see her again, but I still think about her sometimes.

After Dumbo, Brianna wanted to ride “the horsies”, so we went over to the carousel. While we were riding, I saw a little girl in a Cinderella mouse-made dress, and thought “hey maybe her mom is on the disoutique”....but I was too shy to say anything to her. Both Brianna and the little girl smiled and waved at each other, and both of us mothers complimented the other on the dress, but we never said anythign about the DIS. Later, I found out that the mom HAD been a dISBoutiquer. Bleh. That’ll learn me.

After the carousel, we went to Philharmagic, which I always enjoy. Then Peter Pan and Small World. The kids didn’t want to go on Winnie the Pooh, so we skipped it. There were a lot of people in the park at that point, so we asked the kids what they wanted to do. They immediately piped up that they wanted to go to the “log ride!”

We walked over and got fast passes for Splash, then got into the stand-by line, which was about a 30 minute wait at that point. It took nearly the whole thirty minutes to get onto Splash, and we rode...and AGAIN, Mommy got all wet. It didn’t matter WHERE I sat ont hat ride, the splash always landed on ME.

We got off, and had another 10 minutes for our fast passes. We just stood by the fast pass entrance,a dn the CM took pity on us and let us in.

After riding Splash again, we got off to a complete MOB scene. You could barely walk. We had to pick the kids up, because we were so scared we were going to lose them. We decided to stop and get some ice cream and see if the crowds dispersed some.

The crowds did not lighted up, and the kids requested going back to the hotel and going inthe pool, so we walked over to the boat and went back to Wilderness Lodge.

Coming soon: Another guest goes off on a Lifeguard so Mommy doesn’t have to.

The pictures are fantastic and the story about the lady....true Disney story for sure.

[jordanyosh]

Chapter 20: Another guest goes off on a lifeguard so Mommy doesn’t have to.

This chapter begins with HHBG taking yet another nap. We SAID we were going to go back to the resort to go in the pool, but once we hi the room, he immediately laid down and went to sleep. The kids and I got changed, and the kids watched Stacy for a while, but soon they wanted him UP (I cannot take care of both of them in a pool....they go in different directions). After sleepign through being jumped on for a while, HHBG got up and changed, we tossed everything into our pool bag and we were off.

We grabbed towels and again, there were no free loungers at the pool, so I ended up just dumping our stuff in a corner. There wasn’t much of value in the bag, so I wasn’t too worried about it. HHBG had his room key card in the picket of his board shorts/swimsuit. If thieves REALLY wanted our crocs and flip flops, coverups, and a half-empty tube of sunblock, they were welcome to them.

Again, we ended up looking all over the place for the place to sign out life vests. Wilderness lodge needs to do a better job of this. They supposedly have a place to sign out life vests, but there was NEVER anyone there, and the guy at the bar wouldn’t go over there, nor call the person who was supposedly supposed to be signing out the life vests. The entire two days we were in the pool, we saw ONE kid with a Disney Life vest. If they’re going to advertise that they provide life vests, it would be nice to have them available. This will come into play later....

Now, our kids can swim. They cannot swim WELL or for very long, but if they had made all fo the parents step away from the slide and wait for the kids at the other end of the pool by the wall, our kids would have been fine, even without life vests, so we let them go on the slide. HHBG and I waited at the bottom and got them, along with all of the other parents who were all also griping about there being no one there to sign life vests out from.

After about 3 million times down the slide, the kids needed a break, so we walked them over to the baby pool. Now, the baby pool is on the opposite side of the pool complex from the steps for the slide, just letting you know. (NOOOOooooo, no foreshadowing here)

Soon, the kids were begging to go back on the slide. We said that was fine, and they took off, going the long way around the pool. Well, we yelled at them to stop running, which they did, but we just moseyed behind them, since we could see them, and we could see the line at the top fo the pool,s o we knew we had plenty of time to get there.

Until I saw something that stopped my heart.

The way the kids had taken off is past the “deep end” of the pool, where the water is about 6 feet deep instead of the usual 3-4 feet. BOTH of my kids NOT wearing lifevests climbed into the pool at the deep part!!!

WHY!?!?!?!?! They’re trying to kill me, I swear.

We were abotu 50 yards away from them at this point. I took off like a mad woman to get to them. Yes, all of the guests sunning themselves on that side of the pool got an eyeful of a fat, extremely busty woman in swimsuit running full tilt.


I saw the kids go under water and pop up. Then they went under again. They went under a third time, and my son was NOT coming back up.

Since time slowed down to a crawl, I can tell you what I was observing during my mad 10 second sprint:

1. A lady on the loungers had noticed my little non-lifevest wearing kids jumping into the deep end, and my son having problems,a nd my daughter starting to have problems. She was about ready to jump in herself, but was keeping her eye out for the parents....

2. A lifeguard was standing at the other end of the pool, CHATTING ON HER CELL PHONE, and kept turning her back on the pool while talking. She spared a glance for my kids a few times, but ignored their obvious distress.

By now, I was close eonough for a running leap. I leaped into the pool, got myself under the water, and LAUNCHED my kids heads up and out of the water. Here I was, stupidly thinking at least the lifeguard would have noticed the huge fat woman sprinting across the pool area and into the water, and would help get my kids out, but NO.

I got the kids up to the side of the pool, and HHBG had run over and helped me haul them out of the water. The lifeguard NEVER EVEN CAME OVER TO CHECK. Honestly, she never even got off of her cell phone.

While I hauled my hacking and gasping self out of the water, and HHBG and I frantically checked to make sure the kids were OK, the lady who had been about to jump in and save my kids went over and started screaming at the life guard. She pointed out that two very young children had jumped in, even SHE had noticed them having problems, and that the lifeguard had better hang up her D**N phone and start doing her job, or she was going to go have her fired. Another lady stormed off of her lounger and disappeared, I later found out she had gone DIRECTLY to the front desk to report the lifeguard.

I was very thankful for that woman, because I would have been a lot less nice, and probably would have ended up paying for a new cell phone after I broke the one she had been talking on over the rocks, then threw the pieces into the pool.

NOW, BEFORE anyone flames me:

I am aware that this situation was partially my and HHBG’s fault. Yes, we had two children who are weak swimmers in a pool situation without life vests. Yes, we let them get away from us. There is no excuse for us thinking “well, they wouldn’t jump into water over their heads”, we should have anticipated it and not let them out of our reach. No, it is not the lifeguard’s job to jump in and help a child just because he/she seems liek they might be a little bit young for the pool.

HOWEVER, if a child is obviously having problems, OR if a child seems kind of young for an area of a pool that is OBVIOUSLY way over their heads, you could at least PAY ATTENTION to them, and/or hover there in case you are needed. Heck, even if older people are in the pool, at least PAY ATTENTION. It’s your job!!

HHBG at that point convinced me to let the kids go one the slide a few more times so I could calm down. After about 10 times up and down, we were ready to go inside and get ready for dinner. We ended up going in the side door,a nd got separated. Spencer and I got lost, because I am directionally challenged.

Once we figured out how to get back tot the lobby, I decided to speak to the front desk about the lifeguard. I was VERY calm and basically stated that I was upset that the lifeguard didn’t even seem to care about what was going on in her area, and was more concerned about the phone conversation she was having. I also said it was not her responsibility to watch my children and keep them from getitng into the pool, as she doesn’t know their swimming abilities, BUT it IS her job to keep an eye on them. I also stated that, as a parent, when child is in visible distress, I would prefer a lifeguard jumping int o help a child who is NOT having problems than NOT jump in to help a child who is. We saw this a few times over at the slide where a lifeguard jumped in to help a kid who ended up OK. No one was upset about that.

That was when I was informed buyt he manager that I was not the first person coming over to speak to him about this incident, and that they would definitely address it. I thanked him for allowing me to share my concerns, and I was pleased that he seemed to take me seriously, and Spencer and I went back to our room.....

....to a sleeping HHBG and Brianna. Oh well, we had an hour before dinner. Spencer and I decided to join them.......

Coming soon: A Restaurant has similar taste in art as HHBG


That was very DISNEY like that others jumped in to speak for you!!!!!!!!! Lifeguard=not gud. Not very Disney like.

[lazydoxy66]

I think it's great that you scheduled some adult time while you were there. Everybody needs a break once in awhile. :)

[Linnie The Pooh]

Great TR!!:banana:

[winkers]

The story about the lady riding Dumbo made me cry!

I can't believe you got yelled at for the picture of Spencer on Goofy! I have a similar one.............
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q240/winkers_photos/disneyworld08/100_4628.jpg:lmao:

I"m not sure what I would have done about the lifeguard...........but I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty!

[DisneyJo]

Sounds like a lovely evening even if you didn't get any adult time ;) :rotfl:

[teresajoy]

I just got myself all caught up on your TR! I'm really enjoying it!!! I really hope that lifeguard got fired!!! Geesh!

Can't wait to read more!!!!

[whogirl'smom]

The story about the lady riding Dumbo made me cry!

I can't believe you got yelled at for the picture of Spencer on Goofy! I have a similar one.............
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q240/winkers_photos/disneyworld08/100_4628.jpg:lmao:

I"m not sure what I would have done about the lifeguard...........but I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty!


OT: Cherie, where'd you get that cute pink Mickey shirt? Love it!

[Stretchy Shorts]

:tiptoe:

[camelotcats]

sounds like you all had a wonderful nap and a good dinner... good to hear she calmed down shortly therafter.... I hate lil girl tantrums when you don't want em to wear clothes for the billionth time

She had a long week. Lots of tantrums. She gets like that when she's overwhelmed, adn we were trying to find a balance for her to not throw tantrums but still do what she was told. I think we failed. :sad2:

Sounds like you had a great night.
Glad to hear that Briana was ok.

Your tr convinced me to change our ADRs at Teppan Edo for Chefs de France.

SWEET!! I have never been to Teppan Edo, but Chefs was great.

What a nice grown-up evening! Everything sounds good to eat tonight. I've got two more ADRs to plan for Oct. and just can't decide. We don't arrive till about 7 p.m. the first night, and then we're having a beach day, so that's 2 "extra" TS to figure out. Decisions, decisions.

Let me guess Brianna's favorite ride was Carousel of Progress? :rotfl2:

Good luck making your decision! We had a bunch of restaurants that we didn't make it too. I just keep telling HHBG, Oh well, I guess we'll have to go back. :rotfl2:

Kids always seem to throw tantums when the parents are around then calm right down after they are gone. It sounds like you had a good dinner, we might try there one trip.


I think she knew that with me not there, what she was throwing the fit over wasn't going ot be changed, so she went back to buttering up the babysitters.

[ncsjodi]

:wave: Hi Angela! Stretchy Shorts and I have missed you! :flower3:

:squirrel: Do you realize that we're under 90 days now??? :banana:

[camelotcats]

Sounds like a great relaxing evening to end a stressful day... ok except for the Brianna tantrum. I'm glad she calmed down quickly and had a good night herself.

Me too! :rotfl2:

What she said...

Oh, and I'll have to look up those artists. I am sooo out of the art scene - the only original art I have is by people I know personally. I have to admit, the very idea of buying a painting just because I like it has become rather odd to me!

They're american frontier and Hudson river style artists. I don't know for certain off the top of my head. When I met HHBG, he and his brother had an apartment full of their work and mission style furniture.

....now we live in an old victorian home with british colonial and victorian men's club style furniture......:rolleyes1

About the lifeguard incident. Im glad it worked out and Yes, I too would have thrown her phone in the pool and tell her to say that! :rolleyes1 .

You should NOT get any flames for the kids running ahead. All kids do it. One of mine did when we went out to eat. He was 5 and wanted to get into the restaurant quickly. I could not grab him fast enough and ran out in front of a car. Thank god the man driving the car slamed on his brakes before hitting DS. I will never forget it and the look the man gave me. The look was a mixture of disbelief and how can I let my kid run out in the parking lot.

Your kids life is more important than any phone call. The lifegaurd should have figured that one. Did dhe atleast apologise to you?

The lifeguard completely ignored me. The manger apologised to me a few times. My kids like to bolt in parking lots too. I'm glad your son was OK. Very scary.

Sounds like you had a very nice evening! DH and I liked the private feeling of Artist's Point as well. They serve my favorite dessert-'Coffee Two Ways' which I will have to order in November and bring to my room since we aren't eating at the actual restaurant.

I just read the lifeguard incident as well. The fact that she just shrugged when the woman chewed her out and then turned her back and went back to her cell phone made my jaw DROP. I really hope she was fired. But overall, I'm glad your kids are both okay!!!!

I am not a coffee fan, but maybe if I go back I'll try it. :) I am all about cheese, though. Who knows what happened with her. :confused3

:goodvibes

The pictures are fantastic and the story about the lady....true Disney story for sure.

I agree. It was very "magical".

That was very DISNEY like that others jumped in to speak for you!!!!!!!!! Lifeguard=not gud. Not very Disney like.

She was stinky. :headache:

I think it's great that you scheduled some adult time while you were there. Everybody needs a break once in awhile. :)

Thanks! we scheduled a LOT of no-kids time.....hey, it's a vacation for us, too, right? :rotfl2:

Great TR!!:banana:

Thanks!

The story about the lady riding Dumbo made me cry!

I can't believe you got yelled at for the picture of Spencer on Goofy! I have a similar one.............
http://i137.photobucket.com/albums/q240/winkers_photos/disneyworld08/100_4628.jpg:lmao:

I"m not sure what I would have done about the lifeguard...........but I'm sure it wouldn't be pretty!

Hey! We're twins! (this is from May '07)

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%20May%2007/image50.jpg

I think it was that he was standing on Goofy. :confused3

Sounds like a lovely evening even if you didn't get any adult time ;) :rotfl:

:rotfl2: Hey, is your Dh in the British open??

I just got myself all caught up on your TR! I'm really enjoying it!!! I really hope that lifeguard got fired!!! Geesh!

Can't wait to read more!!!!

Thanks! She was stinky.....Hey! If you're reading my TR, how did you not know about the boat!?!

:tiptoe:

I SEEEEEEEEEE you!! (And smell you)

[camelotcats]

:wave: Hi Angela! Stretchy Shorts and I have missed you! :flower3:

:squirrel: Do you realize that we're under 90 days now??? :banana:

Yep. :thumbsup2

Guess I better get the rest of my camping stuff together, huh? :rotfl2:

[camelotcats]

Chapter 22: Splitting up to hit the highlights.....


We woke up on Friday for our last day of the parks. We were ready for the end, so it was all ok. The night before, HHBG and I talked about it, and since we had been to all of the parks already, and ridden all of the rides we or the kids really wanted to, it was going to be a day of highlights. When the kids got up, we told them they could choose their 2 favorite rides, and we would go back on them.

WELL!

Spencer chose Killiminjaro safari as his first ride. No surprise there. Spencer LOVES animals. It was really wearly, so we figured it would be no problem to hit the rope drop and get on this ride. Then we would go and get on Brianna’s favorite, then go from there. I was anticipating a jump from AK over to the Magic Kingdom, most likely, considering Brianna’s love affair wirth all things Princess. Boy was I wrong. Brianna then announced that her FAVORITE RIDE was.....



....Tower of Terror.



Seriously. My FOUR year old little girl’s favorite ride at WDW is the Tower of Terror.

Well, Spencer was having none of that. He did NOT want to go back onto the Tower of Terror. So, to prevent tantrums and fights, HHBG and I decided to split up. I would take Brianna to DHS for the rope drop and ToT and HHBG would take Spencer to AK for rope Drop. HHBG and Spencer would then come meet us at DHS so HHBG could see Lights Motors Action and I could see the Muppets again. Then we would have lunch at DHS, and figure out where to go from there.

And with that, we were off!

I have no idea what happened with the boys at AK for rope drop. Brianna and I got on the bus just as it pulled up, and we were off to DHS. We got through the turnstiles and into the mass of people waiting to get into the park.

While we were waiting for Rope Drop, people kept pushing forward harder and harder. After the THIRD PERSON decided that where Brianna was standing was an area they could push through and almost trampled her, I had to pick her up. She was VERY SCARED.

Well, the rope finally dropped, and everyone rushed off. I continued to carry Brianna, because people were shoving past us. We just weren’t in that much of a hurry.

We got to ToT and got in line. As we were waiting, a NUMBER of people took it upon themselves to let me know how SCARY ToT was and that I shouldn’t really be bringing my daughter on that ride just so I could ride it. Brianna piped up a few times that she had ridden it before and it was her favorite ride. THAT shut a few people up.

Well, we got through to the back, and onto the “elevator”. This was the first time we rode the ride that we never made it into the light. The whole ride was in the dark. No views of the park for us. Brianna was sad, because her favorite part was seeing the park, so we got Fast Passes for later and went off towards Star Tours to await the guys.

On our way over, Brianna got distracted by a shop, and begged me for a toy. Since it was our last day, and I had told the kids they could each get a toy on the last day, I said OK. So, Brianna got a Minnie doll dressed as Belle, since Yellow is her favorite color.

Then I had to use the facilities. Brianna did NOT want to go in, so we compromised, and I had her stand outside the stall so I could see her feet at all times. She decided I needed to see Minnie’s feet too, and it was so cute, I took pic. No idea what the other people in the bathroom thought I was doing, snapping pics while sitting on the throne.....

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1164.jpg

Note the shoes......yep, the flip flops from BBB.

After washing hands, we were on our way....and got distracted. Brianna decided she wanted to do “Sounds Dangerous” instead of Star Tours, so we waited for that, and watched it. It was an interesting show, and Brianna was thankfully not too scared by all of the dark parts.

Bythe time we got out of Sounds Dangerous, we didn’t have time for Star tours, so we went over to wait for LMA. We grabbed some pretzels and bottles of water for us and the boys and sat ontot he curb to wait.

Soon the guys were there, and we were ready to go in.

LMA is still the same show it has beenfor years. It’s fun, but once or twice for my lifetime is my limit on the show. Besides, I had a date with the Muppets!!

I took some cute pics of the kids in the stands while we were waiting for the show, though.
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1162.jpg
http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1163.jpg

Soon it was time for the Muppets! Me lovee the Muppets. The kids enjoyed it again, and then it wsa off to the Muppets Dump Shop.

I REALLY wanted Swedish Chef and Beaker kitchen magnets. They had animal, kermit, Piggy, gonzo.....everyone except for those two. I was sad. WHY no Swedish Chef Kitchen magnets??? Does that just make too much sense?? That’s like them not having rubber squeaky three-eyed alien guy toys from Toy Story (which they also don’t have). Sheesh!

I walked out of the store empty handed, and we walked across the walkway to lunch......oh yeah. While we had been in line for Sounds Dangerous, I made some lunch ADRs. I know you know where we are eating....

Coming soon: LUNCH and some more park hopping.

[carrieannie]

2 Updates!!! Woo hoo!! :cool1: I`ve never heard of a cheese plate for dessert before I met you! :sick: they didnt have anything chocolate? :confused3

I love that picture of Briannas feet (and minnies), in the bathroom! :cutie:
What happened with the guys at Animal Kingdom? :surfweb:

[jcc0621]

Hey Angela, its been crazy busy so I am just catching up!

Lifegaurd :mad:

AP - What day of the week did you go? I wonder if it was my mom that was your seater:scratchin

[irene_dsc]

Ok, I love the feet pic! Minnie is awfully cute! So is Brianna, for that matter.

I'm trying to figure out where you made your lunch ADR...Sci Fi? Prime Time?

[camelotcats]

2 Updates!!! Woo hoo!! :cool1: I`ve never heard of a cheese plate for dessert before I met you! :sick: they didnt have anything chocolate? :confused3

I love that picture of Briannas feet (and minnies), in the bathroom! :cutie:
What happened with the guys at Animal Kingdom? :surfweb:

You know, I think I'm the only woman on the planet who just isn't that into chocolate. HHBG is more the chocolate person than I am.

And I see your ticker is back....you going camping?? :wizard:

Hey Angela, its been crazy busy so I am just catching up!

Lifegaurd :mad:

AP - What day of the week did you go? I wonder if it was my mom that was your seater:scratchin

Welcome back! I hear you on craziness!! This summer has been hectic!!

We were there on a Thursday night, and a young woman seated us (in her twenties young), so probably not your mom. :)

[camelotcats]

Ok, I love the feet pic! Minnie is awfully cute! So is Brianna, for that matter.

I'm trying to figure out where you made your lunch ADR...Sci Fi? Prime Time?


I thought the feet were cute. :) Now everyone can see what the inside of a ladies bathroom stall looks like, too. :rotfl2:

You'll see......

[Native NYer]

Great update. I love Briana's flip flops!

Hmm I wonder where you're having lunch.

[winkers]

I love the feet picture! It's just so darn cute!
I agree that you only need to see LMA once.

[jcc0621]

Welcome back! I hear you on craziness!! This summer has been hectic!!

We were there on a Thursday night, and a young woman seated us (in her twenties young), so probably not your mom. :)

I can't believe how fast this summer is going. Jim was talking about going into school to get the classroom ready and I kept looking at him like he was crazy...then I looked at the calander. He has to do it before we leave for WDW becasue we get back the Friday before labor day and he goes back to scholl on Tuesday:sad2:

My mother wishes that were her:lmao:

[FauntleroyFAN07]

great update, i thought the bathroom pic was great..very cute.

[whogirl'smom]

Great idea to split up that morning! I hope HHBG is going to update with the boys' adventures! Brianna is one little brave girl and so cute with her Minnie Mouse.

[ForeverDance]

I also love the feet picture... though I have to admit had I been in that bathroom I would definately have wondered what the heck you were doing :lmao:

[KatGarcia]

The feet pic was really cute!!! Hey at least she wore the shoes! :)

[mrsksomeday]

Great update!! That was a very good idea to split up!! I love that your 4 year old loves TOT. She is very brave, you will NOT see me getting on it. I loved the pictures of the kids at LMA.

I can't wait to find out where you atepopcorn::.

I want to know too Ed, I see the ticker here and other places, are you going camping??

[jordanyosh]

Hey! We're twins! (this is from May '07)

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%20May%2007/image50.jpg


I love this picture

[jordanyosh]

Chapter 22: Splitting up to hit the highlights.....


http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1164.jpg

Seriously Angela, I was laughing hard for 5 minutes when I read your account surrounding this picture. I mean who else takes a picture while on the throne, but a DISer? Were you laughing when you took the pic?

I'm still laughing...:rotfl2: :rotfl2: :rotfl2:

[Tanya90210]

That Feet pic is sooo cute!!! if they saw what u saw they would've taken a pic too hehe

I agree about LMA ... once was plenty for me... too hot and it's the same show every time pretty much

[carrieannie]

You know, I think I'm the only woman on the planet who just isn't that into chocolate. HHBG is more the chocolate person than I am.

Its not the Chocolate part....its the whole cheese thing for dessert..:confused3

And I see your ticker is back....you going camping?? :wizard:
I just never took it down,,,I would`ve made a big announcement if I had re-booked ...I should be woring 2 jobs come Sept, because Annie starts full day K..:banana: So I`m hoping to get something from 8:30-3 maybe Daycare center,,,I`m going to go around in August,,,and also keep my 4 nites a week at the Liquor store,,because I really like that one...if I re-book it will be because of my extra job,,,its been on my mind alot though!!

[DisneyJo]

The feet photo is so cute and hilarious that you took it :rotfl: Good idea to know she stayed where she was meant too though :thumbsup2

[HHBG]

The other side of the story...

Spencer and I got up and going pretty quickly in the morning and headed off. When we got to the bus stop, the buss showed up right away. All in all, it was a pretty smooth start to the day. Our good luck mostly continued - we got to Animal Kingdom in time for the rope drop.

Once we got inside, I managed to guide Spencer into a relatively safe location (standing on a bench). But, pretty soon, the crowds were really pushing hard. Sadly, the teenagers next to us were well behaved, but a couple of 50 year old ladies climbed up on the bench too and started pushing Spencer off. I finally put him on my shoulders. I'm not sure what goes through people's minds during rope drop, but I'm not sure that I recommend bringing kids.

When the park finally opened, it seemed like the entire crowd walked straight to the safari and got into line. It was like being in a sea of spandex wearing lemmings driving motorized wheelchairs and pushing double strollers. Fortunately there was no cliff at the end.

We (and everyone else in the park) started funneling through the super long holding area for the safari. I hadn't actually been through it all before. There are lots of neat touches like airports, travel offices, and stuff. They must open a half-mile of extra line space in the mornings just to accomodate everyone at the rope drop.

A bunch of rowdy teenagers sat next to us. They didn't know any of the animals, so Spencer decided to educate them about each of the animals. Spencer's favorite kind of ride - one with a captive audience. A great time was had by all, and we headed off to Hollywood studios to meet up with the girls.

[jordanyosh]

Thanks HHBG for your side of the story. Rope drop.....what's that?;)

[HHBG]

Thanks HHBG for your side of the story. Rope drop.....what's that?;)

Prior to the park opening in the morning, everyone is lined up behind the gates to go in. This is a lot like a race where there is a rope at the front. At some point, the rope is dropped indicating the start of a race. At Disney, this event looks like the New York Marathon - people sprinting to be first in line on the rides, double strollers careening around corners, crazed parents 'boxing out' other people and forcing them into walls. Not exactly a magical beginning to a relaxing day at the park - but it is kind of interesting in the 'day after christmas' shopping frenzy kind of way.

[whogirl'smom]

That's pretty bad when grown-ups are crawling up on benches and knocking little kids off! We got there for rope drop last time, but I don't remember it being that bad--of course we were going toward EE, so maybe that made a difference? Thanks for your side, HHBG!

[irene_dsc]

Prior to the park opening in the morning, everyone is lined up behind the gates to go in. This is a lot like a race where there is a rope at the front. At some point, the rope is dropped indicating the start of a race. At Disney, this event looks like the New York Marathon - people sprinting to be first in line on the rides, double strollers careening around corners, crazed parents 'boxing out' other people and forcing them into walls. Not exactly a magical beginning to a relaxing day at the park - but it is kind of interesting in the 'day after christmas' shopping frenzy kind of way.

Heh - we only made one rope drop (MK). I think I'm kinda glad we sort of hung back and didn't actually try to rush. Of course, a lot of that had to do with ds' tantrum after hearing dh say that today was his sister's day. Oops. Said tantrum lasted during the frenzied part of rope drop and was resolved by deciding to split up - and then assuring ds that dh was referring to the surprise dinner with Cinderella that night, not that the entire day was to be spent catering to her.

Anyhow, glad you guys survived rope drop!

[brookelizabeth]

I agree with everyone-the feet picture is adorable. :goodvibes

And what the heck is up with no Sweedish Chef and Beaker?! They are my 2 favorites. Followed by the grumpy old guys in the balcony who's names I can never remember.

Do they have anything Sweedish Chef?

[lazydoxy66]

The other side of the story...

Spencer and I got up and going pretty quickly in the morning and headed off. When we got to the bus stop, the buss showed up right away. All in all, it was a pretty smooth start to the day. Our good luck mostly continued - we got to Animal Kingdom in time for the rope drop.

Once we got inside, I managed to guide Spencer into a relatively safe location (standing on a bench). But, pretty soon, the crowds were really pushing hard. Sadly, the teenagers next to us were well behaved, but a couple of 50 year old ladies climbed up on the bench too and started pushing Spencer off. I finally put him on my shoulders. I'm not sure what goes through people's minds during rope drop, but I'm not sure that I recommend bringing kids.

When the park finally opened, it seemed like the entire crowd walked straight to the safari and got into line. It was like being in a sea of spandex wearing lemmings driving motorized wheelchairs and pushing double strollers. Fortunately there was no cliff at the end.

We (and everyone else in the park) started funneling through the super long holding area for the safari. I hadn't actually been through it all before. There are lots of neat touches like airports, travel offices, and stuff. They must open a half-mile of extra line space in the mornings just to accomodate everyone at the rope drop.

A bunch of rowdy teenagers sat next to us. They didn't know any of the animals, so Spencer decided to educate them about each of the animals. Spencer's favorite kind of ride - one with a captive audience. A great time was had by all, and we headed off to Hollywood studios to meet up with the girls.

Thanks for sharing this info. I was wondering how bad the line was for the safari after rope drop. When I called to request FD on my package the CM and I were chatting and she told me to make sure I went on the safari first thing. I plan on swinging by EE first to get FPs. Then we'll go stand in line for the safari. Is rope drop pretty crazy at every park??

CC - The feet, the feet. Too adorable!!

[heatherlynn444]

so maybe I am a total loser but I just found your TR and read the whole stinkin thing! on a friday night! ya we are boring. (actually DH is sitting behind me on the other computer playing world of warcrack...yes..he shares the addiction...and is a full time law student...go figure)

wanted to make some comments

1.)the pool incident. what the heck? that lifeguard makes me mad...I agree with what I think your DH said. the kids were so used to life vests they thought nothing of jumping in the deep. thats how I almost drowned at age 5, thjought I had my vest on...poor mom jumpe din fully clothed/shoes etc. to save me. :confused3

2.)love your writing style and all the great pics, what a fun trip!

3.)we are looking forward to trying flying fish in september, and now I am even more excited! cant wait to hear more!

[HeatherSue]

I just love that other parents carry their children over their shoulders when they are throwing a tantrum.

Yet another restaurant that will be crossed off my list...;)

Poor Brianna, almost getting trampled! What are people thinking, anyway?

The whole ride was in the dark on TOT? I'm not sure what you mean. You mean, you didn't get to see out the little "window type things" when you dropped? If so, how weird!

Oh my gosh, how hilarious are you, taking pictures of Brianna's feet while you're on the toilet?!

I can't believe HHBG and Spencer had the same issues with kids getting trampled at rope drop!

[jordanyosh]

popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn::

[brookelizabeth]

Hello? :flower3:

[Hedy]

popcorn:: popcorn:: popcorn::

[camelotcats]

Hey guys. Sorry. Life here has been rough. HHBG and I are home with no income right now and living on our savings. he is writing his book and I am trying to find a job, but am not really qualified for much.

I'll update soon. Promise.

[ForeverDance]

:hug: I hope everything works out for you.

We'll be here when you're ready to update.

[irene_dsc]

Been wondering how you are - I hope HHBG's book goes well, etc.

[Charleston Princess]

:grouphug: :grouphug: :grouphug:

[brookelizabeth]

Great to hear from you! I hope HHBG's book goes well and you find a job that is more a joy to do than a JOB. :hug:

I'll be here when you are able/ready to update!

[KatGarcia]

Hey guys. Sorry. Life here has been rough. HHBG and I are home with no income right now and living on our savings. he is writing his book and I am trying to find a job, but am not really qualified for much.

I'll update soon. Promise.

Hey! Nice to see you !!! You have my # if you need anything!

[winkers]

Thanks for checking in! I miss you!

I've been there with the unemployment before, it sucks!:hug:

[DisneyJo]

:hug:

[camelotcats]

Chapter 23: The long awaited lunch and more park hopping.....

Ok. HHBG got an agent today for his book, so I am happy. I have decided to get this trip report slammed out. It would be nice if I could get it done before I go back in October for my getaway weekend.

NOW!

When we last left.....what seems like millions of year ago........we had just seen Lights Motors action and the Muppets, and we were off for lunch across the courtyard from the Muppets.

As anyone who has been to DHS three million times can tell you, the restaurant across the courtyard from the Muppet theater is Mama Melrose.

To this DAY, I do not know what made us decidet o get ADRs at Mama Melrose. I am half Italian. My paternal grandmother was OFF THE BOAT Italian. Actually, so was my paternal grandfather. Yes, I take after the scottish side, but I am half Italian. I grew up on Italian cooking. GOOD Italian cooking.

Mama Melrose is NOT good Italian cooking. It’s OK at best. Of course, no one in our family got anything remotely italian. Lol.

What we got:
Appetizer: Calamari
Brianna: Chicken nuggets
Spencer: Pizza
HHBG: Flatbread Chicken Pizza
Me: Mozzarella and tomato plate and a caesar salad.

Our food was OK. MY mozzarella was, I think, Polly-O. It was SQUARE! HHBG’s Pizza was pretty yummy. The kids’ food was blechy. (That’s the actual word I wrote down).

After lunch, I gave Brianna’s and my ToT FPs to a couple who were waiting to eat. Why did I do this instead of going back to the Tower? WELL, the kids wanted to go onto their second favorite ride, which was a unanimous decision:

SPACESHIP EARTH!!

The kids LOVED spaceship Earth. It was cute. It was the only line they didn’t whine about waiting on. They would just talk about the little computer world they would make at the end of the ride.

So, we caught the bus and headed off to Epcot.

This last time, Spaceship earth had some technical difficulties. It turned into a 20 minute ride. It was kind of funny, actually, since HHBG and I decided to spend some time looking for hidden Mickeys, since this was our 5th or 6th time riding SE.

When we got off of SE, the kids had had enough. They were fighting, screaming, and throwing tantrums. It was time to head back tot he hotel for a nap.

On the way out, on our LAST DAY in the parks, what did we see??

Well, here’s a pic:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1173.jpg

That’s right!! A HUGE group of peeps taking pictures!! It was a great end to a great week in the parks.

We got back to the hotel, and guess who was the first one to fall asleep? Yep.

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1176.jpg

Note the open trashy romance novels I put next to him. I emailed that pic to his twin brother after we got home to show him HHBG’s reading materials on vacations. I think he’s still being teased about that one. Serves him right, all of that sleeping...lol.

This time, the kiddos slept, too. I took a long bath and then got up and got ready for our last night without the kids.

Coming soon (hopefully!): Dinner with a swimming mammal......

Some random pics from that day:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1166.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1168.jpg

[Hedy]

:dance3: for HHBG getting an agent!

[mrsksomeday]

Ok. HHBG got an agent today for his book, so I am happy.

Thank goodness!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Great installment!! We can't wait to meet you at Ip-Dip!

[ncsjodi]

YAY!!!! Angela's back! I've missed you, Dude!

I love the pic of HHBG with the trashy novels... good pay back there! So, how many days do you have left in this trip? I've forgotten where we are in this saga! You've got just shy of one month until Ip-Dip, so I'm betting you'll finish this trippie. Of course, our travelling companion will still be on day # 4 of 14 of his trip report....:rolleyes1 :rotfl:

[KatGarcia]

Thats great HHBG got an agent for his book!!! You must be thrilled!!!! Now don't be a stranger, on the boards or otherwise!!!! I miss ya!

[mrsksomeday]

Of course, our travelling companion will still be on day # 4 of 14 of his trip report....:rolleyes1 :rotfl:

:lmao: We are giving him trouble about it on the Ip Dip PTR at the other place :rotfl: .

[FauntleroyFAN07]

congrats on signing an adgent for the book, that is great news.

:cool1:

[Phibbles]

Swimming Mammal? :confused:

You sharing cabbage with a Manatee? popcorn::

[winkers]

An update!!! I nearly fainted!!

Congrats to HHBG for geting and agent!
I love the peep picture!

[2xcited2sleep]

:wizard: :cheer2: :wizard: :cheer2: An agent!! :cheer2: :wizard: :cheer2: :wizard: That's fantastic news!!!!!!

And how nice of you to take advantage of HHBG's napping state to document w/ trashy romance novels... I knew I liked you! ;)

[brookelizabeth]

:rotfl2: Love the pic of HHBG with the trashy romance novels!!! Oooh, you are a smart lady!!! :lmao:

And CONGRATULATIONS on him getting an agent for the book!!!! :yay:

It's great to see you back and have an update. :goodvibes

[DisneyJo]

Congrats on HHBG's book agent :yay:

I love the new bits on SSE too the future scenes are so funny :rotfl:

[camelotcats]

:dance3: for HHBG getting an agent!

Thanks!

Thank goodness!! :banana: :banana: :banana:

Great installment!! We can't wait to meet you at Ip-Dip!

I am really excited, too!!

YAY!!!! Angela's back! I've missed you, Dude!

I love the pic of HHBG with the trashy novels... good pay back there! So, how many days do you have left in this trip? I've forgotten where we are in this saga! You've got just shy of one month until Ip-Dip, so I'm betting you'll finish this trippie. Of course, our travelling companion will still be on day # 4 of 14 of his trip report....:rolleyes1 :rotfl:


Ok, HHBG got mad at me. They are MY trashy romance novels. I just SAID they were his in the pics. I apparently didn't make that very clear (though he did read one on the plane after he had finished his books).....

I only have 2 installments left. (maybe three). The last night's dinner, and last day/going home.

[camelotcats]

Thats great HHBG got an agent for his book!!! You must be thrilled!!!! Now don't be a stranger, on the boards or otherwise!!!! I miss ya!

Miss you too! I'll call when life isn't so crazy!

congrats on signing an adgent for the book, that is great news.

:cool1:

Thanks! How's Park Hopper?

Swimming Mammal? :confused:

You sharing cabbage with a Manatee? popcorn::

Oh, shucks. You guessed it.....:lmao:

An update!!! I nearly fainted!!

Congrats to HHBG for geting and agent!
I love the peep picture!

Wake up!! *looks for smelling salts*

Now, if I could just get my butt in gear and catch up on ym READING! lol

:wizard: :cheer2: :wizard: :cheer2: An agent!! :cheer2: :wizard: :cheer2: :wizard: That's fantastic news!!!!!!

And how nice of you to take advantage of HHBG's napping state to document w/ trashy romance novels... I knew I liked you! ;)

Hee hee. He will never live that picture down.....

:rotfl2: Love the pic of HHBG with the trashy romance novels!!! Oooh, you are a smart lady!!! :lmao:

And CONGRATULATIONS on him getting an agent for the book!!!! :yay:

It's great to see you back and have an update. :goodvibes

Thanks! I'm surprised he isn't on here yelling about them being MY trashy romance novels (Which they were)......

Congrats on HHBG's book agent :yay:

I love the new bits on SSE too the future scenes are so funny :rotfl:

I love them, though the kids always got half-face pictures so I couldn't email them.....

[carrieannie]

Dude!!! Whats up?!! We miss you..:hug: :sad1:

[whogirl'smom]

Good to hear from you again! I'm glad that your dh got an agent for his book. And "pshaw" that you aren't qualified to do much; you should be a clothing designer with all those cute outfits for the kids.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

park hopper is good, just passed 5 months last week,

[irene_dsc]

Ack - been busy, so almost missed your update!!! Great news on the agent! And I love the napping pic - you didn't even have to disturb him at all to set up the scene...

Sorry to hear about Mama Melrose being blechy...

[camelotcats]

Chapter 24: Dinner with a mammal, or YES, you can be underdressed at WDW

When we last left you, everyone was asleep, HHBG with some lovely trashy romance novels tucked under one arm....

Well, I woke up first, adn got the kids up and dressed. It was HHBG and my last night out without the kiddos, and it was about time for them to head off to the cub's den.

When we dropped the kids off, we asked the lady working (who had watched the kids EVERY NIGHT) whether or not they were allowed to take tips, and they were, so HHBG and I made a plan to pick up some gift cards ont eh way back that evening.

First, HHBG and I went back to our room and packed up. *sigh* There was stuff EVERYWHERE. In case you haven't figured it out, we are not neat travelers, so we were rescuing toys and clothing from all reaches of the room.

Eventually, we got everythign all packed up, and headed outside to catch a cab to the Dolphin. The cab ride to the Dolphin was uneventful (insert foreboding music), and we were soon in front of what has to be one of the most gorgeous hotels at Walt Disney World. I know there isn't a lot of theming at the Dolphin, but the inside is understated and opulent without being pretentious. It's obviously a "convention" hotel, and HHBG and I took quite a bit of time walkign around both the Dolphin and the Swan, and their little covered walkways. Let me tell you, the Dolphin is definitely on my list of "want to stay without kids" hotels now.

Unfortunately, I hadn't planned on heading over to a hotel where there was obviously some sort of convetion going on. Here I am,w earing an Old navy polo shirt and some nice jeans walking around people dressed in business formal clothing. I was feeling rather conspicuous, and upon checking into the restaurant, felt even more so.

For ANYONE considering dinner at Tod English's BlueZoo, a word of advice: there isn't much of a posted dress code for this restaurant, beyond the normal "no cut offs, etc" spiel. However, I highly recommend dressing a little bit "nicer" when going to this restaurant. Most of the women were in dresses or nice skirt outfits, and the men were in a minimum of khakis and collared shirts. I felt very conspicuous and underdressed, and the fact that they tucked us into the corner only reinforced this feeling.

HHBG took care of this discomfort by ordering a bit of champagne (Il Moscato....very nice and sweet),and once I was suitably "relaxed" we ordered adn ate a fabulous meal. What we had:

Appetizer:
HHBG - Sashimi - he says this was excellent. I didn't get to try any.
Me - Tuna tartare. This was awesome, though whether I liked this tartare or the one at the Flying Fish better, I'm not sure. They're different, but both awesome.

Dinner:
Drink: Oregon Pinot noir (I forget what vineyard, but it was excellent)
HHBG - 2 lb. lobster cantonese
Me - Seafood Raw Bar Platter

Both our meals were excellent, though neither one of us managed to finish our food. The oysters (which were the big thing I ordered the raw bar for) were excellent, though if I wanted to go somewhere on WDW property for oysters again, I would head back to Fulton's for a dozen, where they were SLIGHTLY less expensive, since both were awesome. If I were going to go back, I would get one of their cooked dishes, since everythign we saw looked excellent. HHBG's Lobster was awesome.

While we were waiting for our dinner, an Asian couple was seated next to us. (Peeps!!). They were really nice,a dn we had a few nice conversations across tables. They couldn't finish their food either.

Of course, not being able to finish in no way stopped us from ordering dessert! What we got:

HHBG - Strawberry (The chocolate bar this came with made this dish)
Me - Apple (The spun sugar apple this came with was so gorgeous, it almost pained me to eat it....but it was yummy)
Drink: Cappucino

After we had finished gorging ourselves, we caught a cab to head back to our hotel....and this is where things got interesting......

We got into the cab and the bell-hop AND we both said that we were headed to the WILDERNESS LODGE.

Well, apparently our cab driver was deaf......

We got about half way to the Anuimal Kingdom Lodge and I started askign him where we were going, this wasn't the way to the WILDERNESS LODGE.....he said to trust him, he knew where he was going......

....well, we went to turn into the Animal Kingdom Lodge, and I pointed out AGAIN that we were goign to the WILDERNESS Lodge.....

Then he got embarrassed, turned around, and took us to the Wilderness Lodge.

I left HHBG to talk to him about how much we should pay for the ride, since he took us so far out of the way, and went in to the gift shop. Soon HHBG joined me, saying things were taken care of (whatever that means). We picked out some gorgeous Wilderness Lodge greeting cards, wrote heartfelt notes to the three CM's who were the ones who watched the kids the most, tucked some $$ into the cards, and went to pick up the kids.

When we got there, the kids were watching Enchanted for the third night in a row. When I mentioned it to the CMs, they mentioned that it was decided by vote, and that Enchanted had won every night....I guess poor Specer never won the vote. We got Brianna of the couch in front of the movie and Spencer offf of the computer, gave the CMs their cards, and went back to the room for one last night.

Before we even had the kids in BED, the two CMs who had been there that night BOTH had knocked on our door separately and thanked us for the notes, tellign us how much they appreciated them, and how nice it was of us to write them, and the notes were better than the tip. (the third CM called us the next morning).

It was time for sleep.....tomorrow we were going home......

Coming soon: A Second Chance Breakfast and heading home.....

[camelotcats]

So, anyway, we haven't told the kids that Mommy (and now Daddy) are going to WDW in 2 weeks. We think that would be cruel. They will just know that we are going to Florida, while they stay with Grandma and Grandpa, who offered to watch the kids so HHBG can go with me to WDW for his birthday present from them.

However, to stop the "when are we going back???" whining, we have started a "Disney Jar". We got a huge jar with pretzels in it when we were at Costco a few weeks ago, and we dumped the chage box into it. We told the kids that when this HUMUNGOUS (more than a gallon) jar is full, we will go back to Disney. The first thing they did was run and get their piggy banks and dump them into the jar. So cute.

Right now with money, WDW is out of reach for a while (Fortunately the trip this month was already paid for), but we will keep our words and take them when the jar is full. By then the money in the jar will probably pay for the trip!

[Charleston Princess]

I :lovestruc Disney CM's! I think it is just great how touched they were by their notes!

I don't want you to go home in the next update!!! Are you going to do a TR for your next trip?

[ncsjodi]

Sounds like a great date night for you and Davis, Angela! I can't wait to meet you guys in two weeks! :banana: Eric & I had dinner with Buzz on Thursday and it just added to my excitement! I can't wait for our trip! Two weeks from today we'll be headed to the airport!:yay:

[2xcited2sleep]

We told the kids that when this HUMUNGOUS (more than a gallon) jar is full, we will go back to Disney. The first thing they did was run and get their piggy banks and dump them into the jar. So cute.


Adorable!! It is amazing how quickly change adds up so you're right- a full jar just may pay for another trip!! :goodvibes

Thanks for the review on Bluezoo and the 'warning' re: wardrobe. BZ is on my "someday" list. I know I enjoy some of Todd English's other restaurants.

Sounds like you really touched those CM's with the notes. I think it's great that you were able to send some magic their way. BTW I'm a big dork but I could probably watch Enchanted 3 nights in a row... Patrick Dempsey...:love:

Have a great time on your upcoming trip!!

[DisneyJo]

Sounds like a lovely meal and I'm sure you weren't under dressed at all :)

How kind of you to tip the CM's and how wonderful that they all said thankyou.

Have a fantastic ip dip trip oh and thanks for tending my lil green patch :lmao:

[brookelizabeth]

I've heard great reviews of Bluezoo...someday it'll have to make my list! I also recently saw pics of the Swan and Dolphin on a TR and was just amazed at how beautiful it was inside. IMO it doesn't look all that great from the outside, but the inside is breathtaking!

Very sweet of you and your HHBG to think of the CMs. I'm sure they don't get thanked very often like that.

And :yay: on the Disney Jar and being back in at WDW very soon!!!

[eeyore3847]

So, anyway, we haven't told the kids that Mommy (and now Daddy) are going to WDW in 2 weeks. We think that would be cruel. They will just know that we are going to Florida, while they stay with Grandma and Grandpa, who offered to watch the kids so HHBG can go with me to WDW for his birthday present from them.

However, to stop the "when are we going back???" whining, we have started a "Disney Jar". We got a huge jar with pretzels in it when we were at Costco a few weeks ago, and we dumped the chage box into it. We told the kids that when this HUMUNGOUS (more than a gallon) jar is full, we will go back to Disney. The first thing they did was run and get their piggy banks and dump them into the jar. So cute.

Right now with money, WDW is out of reach for a while (Fortunately the trip this month was already paid for), but we will keep our words and take them when the jar is full. By then the money in the jar will probably pay for the trip!

have fun on your trip. you will enjoy a trip by yourselves?
Are you using the Queen of hearts outfit for Halloween? I loved that dress. I just made some super cute new stuff lately too!
woo hoo have fun!
lori

[FauntleroyFAN07]

the change jar really does work, we did that and i cashed it in for this last trip, we had over 400 dollars in it, did not pay for the room, but paid for the flight...

[eeyore3847]

the change jar really does work, we did that and i cashed it in for this last trip, we had over 400 dollars in it, did not pay for the room, but paid for the flight...

WOW now that is a lot of change!! My kids keep a piggy at Grandmas and they brought it home this weekend. Since April there was $43 in there!!! They are happy to spend it next week at DL!

Lori

[whogirl'smom]

Glad you guys had such a great dinner at Bluezoo! Wouldn't it be a great idea to start a thread with pics of appropriate outfits for each restaurant/event! :rotfl: We're going to LaNouba and I keep reading to "dress up a little"--that's pretty relevant, and it's supposed to be a surprise for dh's birthday, so it will be fun getting dh to dress up for no reason!

It sounds like you had some great CMs take care of the kids. Very sweet.

[camelotcats]

I :lovestruc Disney CM's! I think it is just great how touched they were by their notes!

I don't want you to go home in the next update!!! Are you going to do a TR for your next trip?

I might do a TR, since HHBG is going, but we're not really planning on doing much. Who really wants to read, "Day 2, we grabbed a beer local tot he country we were in and a bunch of snackies, and sat around for 2 hours people watching......then we moved on tot he next country....."

'Cause, that's really what we're planning on mostly doing.....

Sounds like a great date night for you and Davis, Angela! I can't wait to meet you guys in two weeks! :banana: Eric & I had dinner with Buzz on Thursday and it just added to my excitement! I can't wait for our trip! Two weeks from today we'll be headed to the airport!:yay:

lucky. 11 days! We are droppign the kids off in 10!! Keepign htis secret is going to be hard.....I gotta start Buzz's Jock.....

Adorable!! It is amazing how quickly change adds up so you're right- a full jar just may pay for another trip!! :goodvibes

Thanks for the review on Bluezoo and the 'warning' re: wardrobe. BZ is on my "someday" list. I know I enjoy some of Todd English's other restaurants.

Sounds like you really touched those CM's with the notes. I think it's great that you were able to send some magic their way. BTW I'm a big dork but I could probably watch Enchanted 3 nights in a row... Patrick Dempsey...:love:

Have a great time on your upcoming trip!!

Well, we don't go out a lot right now, but I am going to try to add to it. It's a HUGE jar. More than a gallon, so we should have LOTS of money by the time we fill it, but I am anticipating a few years before it's full.

I have watched Enchanted about 3,000,000,000,000,000 times. Brianna loves it. I am sick of it.

Sounds like a lovely meal and I'm sure you weren't under dressed at all :)

How kind of you to tip the CM's and how wonderful that they all said thankyou.

Have a fantastic ip dip trip oh and thanks for tending my lil green patch :lmao:

I thought it was awesome they went out of their way to thank us.

We weren't underdressed, since wew ere within dress code, I just felt underdressed, since most of the other people were dressed up.

Thanks for helping my green patch, too! lol

I've heard great reviews of Bluezoo...someday it'll have to make my list! I also recently saw pics of the Swan and Dolphin on a TR and was just amazed at how beautiful it was inside. IMO it doesn't look all that great from the outside, but the inside is breathtaking!

Very sweet of you and your HHBG to think of the CMs. I'm sure they don't get thanked very often like that.

And :yay: on the Disney Jar and being back in at WDW very soon!!!

BlueZoo was worth it. It was really good.

People SHOULD thank the daycare (night care?) CMs. I have worked daycare. it can be a rough job.

I'm thinking 2010 for the jar.....

have fun on your trip. you will enjoy a trip by yourselves?
Are you using the Queen of hearts outfit for Halloween? I loved that dress. I just made some super cute new stuff lately too!
woo hoo have fun!
lori

Brianna wears the queen of hearts dress as a party dress, actually! She always gets such compliments on it. She has change her mind 15 times about costumes. I have a belle dress half made for her, since she has gone back tot hat one three times, but I think it's going to be Ariel again.

the change jar really does work, we did that and i cashed it in for this last trip, we had over 400 dollars in it, did not pay for the room, but paid for the flight...

Sweet!!

Glad you guys had such a great dinner at Bluezoo! Wouldn't it be a great idea to start a thread with pics of appropriate outfits for each restaurant/event! :rotfl: We're going to LaNouba and I keep reading to "dress up a little"--that's pretty relevant, and it's supposed to be a surprise for dh's birthday, so it will be fun getting dh to dress up for no reason!

It sounds like you had some great CMs take care of the kids. Very sweet.

For la Nouba (we went the year before this trip), we didn't really dress up. You could if you wanted to, but it's not really necessary. Nice jeans and a top would be fine.

The CM's were great.
:thumbsup2

[Charleston Princess]

I might do a TR, since HHBG is going, but we're not really planning on doing much. Who really wants to read, "Day 2, we grabbed a beer local tot he country we were in and a bunch of snackies, and sat around for 2 hours people watching......then we moved on tot he next country....."

'Cause, that's really what we're planning on mostly doing.....

Sounds heavenly -- wish I was going to be doing that in a week!

[irene_dsc]

Ooh - more updates! Sorry to hear about the bluezoo unwritten dress code. Susan did a great bluezoo review on her TR, and now I'm a bit curious to go there for a datenight dinner.

Dd has not let up with dropping "Dis-en-ey World" hints and outright begging every so often. We will be visiting my FIL in LA this weekend - we haven't mentioned that such a thing as Disneyland exists, lol, since this is more of a family and friends visiting trip, and hopefully a budget one, too. I did let dh know that I have mentally pegged Spring Break of 2010 as a possible time to go back, if we can afford it. I have NOT mentioned this to dd!

I missed that HHBG was going to go camping with you! Have fun! No idea how you are going to keep that secret from the kids - the mind boggles. ;)

[mrsksomeday]

I would read a TR about your trip. I would be very interested to see what you thought about the Ip Dippers :rolleyes1.

[Stretchy Shorts]

Sounds like a great date night for you and Davis, Angela! I can't wait to meet you guys in two weeks! :banana: Eric & I had dinner with Buzz on Thursday and it just added to my excitement! I can't wait for our trip! Two weeks from today we'll be headed to the airport!:yay:

She forgot to mention that when I returned from the restroom, they had shagged out leaving me to pay the bill. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc316/Raazorred/Videos/Emotes/tantrum1.gif

[ncsjodi]

She forgot to mention that when I returned from the restroom, they had shagged out leaving me to pay the bill. http://i214.photobucket.com/albums/cc316/Raazorred/Videos/Emotes/tantrum1.gif

Whatever...:sad2:

[Stretchy Shorts]

Whatever...:sad2:

;)

[camelotcats]

Ooh - more updates! Sorry to hear about the bluezoo unwritten dress code. Susan did a great bluezoo review on her TR, and now I'm a bit curious to go there for a datenight dinner.

Dd has not let up with dropping "Dis-en-ey World" hints and outright begging every so often. We will be visiting my FIL in LA this weekend - we haven't mentioned that such a thing as Disneyland exists, lol, since this is more of a family and friends visiting trip, and hopefully a budget one, too. I did let dh know that I have mentally pegged Spring Break of 2010 as a possible time to go back, if we can afford it. I have NOT mentioned this to dd!

I missed that HHBG was going to go camping with you! Have fun! No idea how you are going to keep that secret from the kids - the mind boggles. ;)

I forgot to mention, I guess, but before HHBG was going, he was VERY uncomfortable with my camping alone so far from home, so he got me a hotel room a few months ago. Then my parents offered to take the kids, so now he's going, too. We'll be at ASMu for the weekend, since that was the extent of what we can afford right now.

[ncsjodi]

Hi Angela! :wave:

Where will you be two weeks from today??

[camelotcats]

Hi Angela! :wave:

Where will you be two weeks from today??

Two weeks from today, right now, I will probably be finishing up in my last park of the weekend and heading over to the busses to get back to ASMu, pick up my bags from the bell-people, and catch ME for my flight home. :(

[ncsjodi]

Two weeks from today, right now, I will probably be finishing up in my last park of the weekend and heading over to the busses to get back to ASMu, pick up my bags from the bell-people, and catch ME for my flight home. :(

Sorry. But you get there before me, right? I'm thinking I'll be at MK right now in two weeks. Or else we'll be finishing our afternoon break before heading back to MK for Wishes & Spectro. :banana:

[camelotcats]

Chapter 25: Homeward Bound

At 5:15 AM I was still awake and nervous about hotel check in. We had hard tickets for our flight, something I had never dealt with before. I didn't know if they would cause a problem checking in at the hotle or not. After a lot of hemming and hawing and laying awake, I finally decided I might as well jst go check in already, since it was open and all.

So I grabbed all of the checked bags as quietly as I could, hauled them out intot he hall, grabbed the ME envelope HHBG had left on the doorknob, and headed over.

Of COURSE there were no problems. Of COURSE I felt like a fool. bleh. :sad2:

I got our boarding passes (No business class going home. :guilty: ) and headed back to the room. I was asleep instantly.

The kids were the first ones up at a normal hour, and went immediately into the "drawer pf plenty" and grabbed the last of the pop tarts and fruit snacks for breakfast. Yep, we feed our kids HEALTHY! HHBG got up, showered, and dressed. While he headed down for some rootbeer and Pepsi goodness, I got myself out of bed. I was going to shower, but the kids were FILTHY, so I ended up popping them into a bath after they had eaten.

HHBG came back while I was in my shower. As I got out, he handed me my pepsi, and caught this gorgeous shot of me with my soda (my favorite drink....just for you, Jordan!)

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1178.jpg

Don't I look awake and perky!?!

Yeah I am NOT a morning person.

So, we sat around and let the kids watch Tv while I finished my pepsi and put on some make up and did my hair. By then, it was time for "breakfast" at WCC, and time to check out.

We dropped off our bags at bell services, checked out, and got some "breakfast" (at 10:30 am).

I will say something, breakfast at WCC was MUCH BETTER than the dinner we have, cemeting my belief that we caught WCC ona bad night and got a really bad waitress.

For breakfast, the kids both got pancakes and HHBG and I got the breakfast skillet. Yummy. There were LOTS of cheerleaders in the restaurant!! Maybe that's why it was so busy on Thursday??

Anyway, I finished my coke, and the waitress brought me a 2 liter mason jar full of coke.....which I nearly finished. Yeah, just CHUCK the good intentions out the door when face with that challenge. good thinking to fill up on caffeinated beverages before a long flight, huh??

After breakfast was finished, we made everyone go use the potty, we walked around one last time (HHBG left the camera in one of the bags we checked with bell services....dork), went potty AGAIN (darn coke!), and finally got our bags and sat down to await our ME pickup.

Some final "bench" pics:

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1182.jpg

http://i235.photobucket.com/albums/ee143/asapien21/WDW%2008/DSCN1183.jpg
But I don't WANT to leave, Mommy!!

The ME bus came, and we were on our way home......

Coming soon: Some final thoughts on our trip and a summary.

[irene_dsc]

Oh, no, you're almost done!

Glad everything went smoothly, and you got yummy breakfast. Even if it did induce multiple potty breaks later...

Oh, and B looks adorable in her dress, of course!

[ncsjodi]

So, you're trying to finish before you leave, right? I've given up on mine. At this point, I'll just start a new one after this trip and not let DH have anything to do with it!

We did WCC for dinner in Jan 2007 and I wasn't impressed either. We were seated in the back room, so the kids weren't told about the special stuff until we heard the antics going on. It was not gud. :sad2:

[winkers]

I love your grumpy shirt!

[DisneyJo]

You're going home already?????

Love the photo of you, I bet you love HHBG for taking that :rotfl:

BTW thanks for all my gifts :)

[brookelizabeth]

Oh, the end is near...:guilty: But, at least we all know you are going back veryyyy soon!

I hope you were able to get some sleep on the plane and the caffine didn't keep you too awake-sounds like you didn't get too much that night (er...morning).

[Charleston Princess]

I am not a morning person, either -- it takes several cups of coffee for me to feel human!

I hate that your TR is almost done! :( I will miss hearing about all of your adventures!

[camelotcats]

Oh, no, you're almost done!

Glad everything went smoothly, and you got yummy breakfast. Even if it did induce multiple potty breaks later...

Oh, and B looks adorable in her dress, of course!

Thanks! yep. Finishing up tonight in a few minutes, I think. leaving Friday.

So, you're trying to finish before you leave, right? I've given up on mine. At this point, I'll just start a new one after this trip and not let DH have anything to do with it!

We did WCC for dinner in Jan 2007 and I wasn't impressed either. We were seated in the back room, so the kids weren't told about the special stuff until we heard the antics going on. It was not gud. :sad2:

Yep, finishing up. It's so close to done, might as well. :) I'm sure the three month break int he middle drove many off, and I have a few die-hard readers left. I APPRECAITE YOU GUYS!

I love your grumpy shirt!

Me too. :) It says:
I'M GRUMPY
which dwarf are you?

Grumpy's my second favorite character. :)

You're going home already?????

Love the photo of you, I bet you love HHBG for taking that :rotfl:

BTW thanks for all my gifts :)

Yep, home. we were there for 8 days. it was time. Kids were getting grumpy.

Oh, the end is near...:guilty: But, at least we all know you are going back veryyyy soon!

I hope you were able to get some sleep on the plane and the caffine didn't keep you too awake-sounds like you didn't get too much that night (er...morning).

Yep. this will be our first time without the kiddos. :cool1:

I never sleep on planes. Or in cars (usually). Once I even let HHBG upgrade on an overnight flight so he could sleep and I stayed in coach and watched my ipod.

I am not a morning person, either -- it takes several cups of coffee for me to feel human!

I hate that your TR is almost done! :( I will miss hearing about all of your adventures!

Mornings stink. Maybe I'll write a TR for this weekend coming up. it depends on whether or not I remember to take pictures. lol

[camelotcats]

So...my thoughts on our trip in April.

Some bad things (let's get them out of the way)

1. I don't think that removing tip from the DDP has helped service at all. maybe Disney needs to do some better staff training? maybe it's somethign else? All I know is, we had some of the best and some of the worst service we have ever had in restaurants during the course of this trip. Mad props (did I just say "mad props"??) to 50's prime time, Flying Fish (A+ 2 years running), Bistro de Paris, Chefs de France, Akershus, and BlueZoo. Big raspberries to Whispering canyon Cafe, Yak and Yeti, and Mama Melrose.

2. People need to think about what they say and do around children. Some comments and things people did, I felt like i had to do a behavior lesson for my kids on the spot to keep them from thinking what "that grown up" did/said was OK.

3. Some cab drivers suck.

4. going to WDW 2 years in a row made my kids start takign things for granted. I don't think they were as well behaved this time because they just assumed that we would come back next year (which we will not). I need to work on this sense of entitlement they are developing. I already say "no" a lot (and follow through).....hmmm.....

5. WL is kind of out of the way. It can be a bit of a pain with the boats, since some have a very small capacity, and the doubled busses took some geting used to, after staying at AKL.

Good things:

1. All o the seafood we got all trip was excellent. I love fresh seafood, and that is NEVER a concern at disney.

2. We got to go on some new rides this year. Epcot went from being kind of a waste of time to being one of our favorite parks. I still don't understand the height restriction on Space Mountain, but I guess it just gives us something to look forward to.

3. putting the kids into the clubs every night was the best idea we ever had. Yes, they probably ened up getting less sleep, but HHBG and I got some "alone" time, we didn't have to deal with kids who don't eat dinner in restaurants (They don't eat dinner ever, actually), and they got their computer and movie times.

4. I still love disney transportation. Not dealing with renting a car is awesome.

5. refillable mugs are also awesome.

OK, this summary is lousy. Basically, we had a good time, and will plan on returning probably in 2010. The kids still talk about the trip, and loved it. I am having trouble hiding from them that we are going without them this weekend.

Finally I want to finish with a giant "thank you!"

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for following along as I relived our trip in writing. Thank you for sharing in our fun,a nd for putting up with me while I disappeared for a while to get my life in order after everything blew up in our faces. I never would have gotten this done without all of you, and I apprecaite your following along.

See you soon! Thanks!

-Angela
camelotcats

[beckanoah]

Have fun on your IpDipTrip! LOL!

[Hedy]

Looking forward to reading your ip dip report.

[ncsjodi]

Angela,

I can't wait to meet you this weekend!!!! I'm so excited!!!! I have a funny feeling that Davis and Eric are going to get to talking tech/WoW/finance and we'll have to entertain ourselves... :drinking1 :rolleyes1 I'm thinking Grey Goose slushie.... :banana:

[Charleston Princess]

Have a great time this weekend and just know that even without pictures, I would read a TR!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Quick question based on your final thoughts -- did you like AKL better than WL?

[brookelizabeth]

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Quick question based on your final thoughts -- did you like AKL better than WL?


CP! :sad2: You have a sickness!!! ;) :goodvibes


Angela, great report, I really enjoyed re-experiencing it with you! Have fun on your IpDip Trip!!!!!!

[camelotcats]

Have a great time this weekend and just know that even without pictures, I would read a TR!

Thanks for sharing your trip with us! Quick question based on your final thoughts -- did you like AKL better than WL?

We did like AKL better. After savannah view AKL, WL felt like AKL lite to us. Others, I know, love WL. We jsut preferred AKL

[mrsksomeday]

Jodi said Grey Goose Slushie!! I am in!! :banana: :banana:

I can't wait to meet you and Davis, although I worry about what he will think of all of us, especially Buzz :lmao:.

[irene_dsc]

So...my thoughts on our trip in April.

Some bad things (let's get them out of the way)

4. going to WDW 2 years in a row made my kids start takign things for granted. I don't think they were as well behaved this time because they just assumed that we would come back next year (which we will not). I need to work on this sense of entitlement they are developing. I already say "no" a lot (and follow through).....hmmm.....

Good things:

3. putting the kids into the clubs every night was the best idea we ever had. Yes, they probably ened up getting less sleep, but HHBG and I got some "alone" time, we didn't have to deal with kids who don't eat dinner in restaurants (They don't eat dinner ever, actually), and they got their computer and movie times.

OK, this summary is lousy. Basically, we had a good time, and will plan on returning probably in 2010. The kids still talk about the trip, and loved it. I am having trouble hiding from them that we are going without them this weekend.

Finally I want to finish with a giant "thank you!"

Thank you for reading this. Thank you for following along as I relived our trip in writing. Thank you for sharing in our fun,a nd for putting up with me while I disappeared for a while to get my life in order after everything blew up in our faces. I never would have gotten this done without all of you, and I apprecaite your following along.

See you soon! Thanks!

-Angela
camelotcats

Thanks for confirming my idea of waiting until 2010 to return, as well. Fortunately, dd is relatively easy to distract. We just got back from a long weekend visiting my FIL in LA (nope, no side trip to DL!), and on the ride home from the airport, she asked if we could go to WDW on Sunday! I appeased her by mentioning that in 2 weeks we'd be going to a Hallowe'en party, lol.

And maybe next time we'll try out the kids clubs. I hear you on the no eating dinner thing. We went to a Greek restaurant on our weekend trip, and dd had a roll and ice cream for dinner. I was very happy I hadn't tried to find something on the menu for her! (No kids menu whatsoever, not even smaller portions of the regular items, and she had already said she wasn't hungry.)

It's been a pleasure getting to know you and follow along! I hope you guys get everything straightened out.

[Charleston Princess]

CP! :sad2: You have a sickness!!! ;) :goodvibes

You so busted me, Brooke! :lmao:

We did like AKL better. After savannah view AKL, WL felt like AKL lite to us. Others, I know, love WL. We jsut preferred AKL

Oh, the dilemma! I think AKL is my true love though. :love:

[DisneyJo]

Thanks for a lovely TR Angela, we're returning in 2010 too but it'll be in August!

Have a fantastic time at ipdip :wave2:

[ncsjodi]

Just got a text from Angela. She and Davis made it to WDW this morning and have already met Ed and Steeb (Carrie and her DH). I can't wait to join them tomorrow!

[camelotcats]

YEs. Me = back

New Tr = Started

Pictures = forgot to take.