How EMH saved our trip-Doing the World on West Coast Time! Completed. Stop by my PTR!

[eandesmom]

Glad you enjoyed Yak and Yeti.:thumbsup2 Everything sounds so yummy!!! We will definitely have to give it a try!!!

Sorry about the bus. It is frustrating when you are watching bus after bus arrive but none of them is the bus you're waiting for.. We played that waiting game with a bus to DTD this year. :sad2: We were sooooo happy when one finally showed up.:thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear how the rest of your day goes.:goodvibes

We will definitely go back to Yak and Yeti local, I may never make it to Flame Tree BBQ! lol.

Thankfully it really was the only horrible bus wait. It's one thing when the bus doesn't exist, another thing when it doesn't come lol!

[SunnieRN]

Oh YES! pretty pretty please if you would! And take a picture! that would be fantabulous!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!:banana::banana::banana:

I just want to know, why stir versus knead? I used to be able to throw a pizza in the air to get the dough to spin out....that brings back some really fun memories!

That's pretty impressive, not easy to do. My daughter worked in a pizza parlour as a teenager. She dropped a few pizza doughs on the ground before she got the hang of it.

You know, on our trip the only really long bus wait we had was at the poly. We waited for about an hour for a DTD bus and at least two buses came for all other destinations while we waited. We also found out that the poly is a changing station of some kind and so there were about 8 buses that came through to change drivers. That made the wait seem even longer.

Looking forward to your AK day!:goodvibes

[cjackearl]

Eggs rolls for a snack credit? That's an awesome deal! 40 minutes for a bus to come? Not so awesome.:sad2: Yak Attack? Since I'm not a fan of mango, not sounding so awesome to me. Guess we'll find out when TK tries it in your honor.:rotfl:

[eandesmom]

That's pretty impressive, not easy to do. My daughter worked in a pizza parlour as a teenager. She dropped a few pizza doughs on the ground before she got the hang of it.

You know, on our trip the only really long bus wait we had was at the poly. We waited for about an hour for a DTD bus and at least two buses came for all other destinations while we waited. We also found out that the poly is a changing station of some kind and so there were about 8 buses that came through to change drivers. That made the wait seem even longer.

Looking forward to your AK day!:goodvibes

UGH! That would be even more frustrating I think, watching them change drivers!

Yes, in college I worked at a place where everything was hand tossed or rolled, in a window for the whole world to watch you do it. Performance Pizza! It was a blast. I did it for about a year.

Eggs rolls for a snack credit? That's an awesome deal! 40 minutes for a bus to come? Not so awesome.:sad2: Yak Attack? Since I'm not a fan of mango, not sounding so awesome to me. Guess we'll find out when TK tries it in your honor.:rotfl:

Definitely the best snack deal...it was a meal! And SOOOOOOOO good :)

[KathyRN137]

Yak and Yeti Local foods cafe!


Scrooge: Sweet and Sour Pork
Wall-E and myself: Shrimp Lo Mein
Tink: Honey Chicken
Steven: Mandarin Chicken Salad
Goofy went for the Pork Egg Roll Kids meal and got it with french fries (a scary combo if you ask me)


I'd so like to try this, but my kids are so darn picky! :rolleyes:

Terrible about the long bus wait... I wonder if any of the drivers bothered to notify a supervisor?

I'm guessing you voted for Kali!! Time to get wet!


Kathy

[eandesmom]

I'd so like to try this, but my kids are so darn picky! :rolleyes:

Terrible about the long bus wait... I wonder if any of the drivers bothered to notify a supervisor?

I'm guessing you voted for Kali!! Time to get wet!

Kathy

I think we are spoiled, we assume they will find something on the menu wherever we go. All of them love asian food except for Tink but the Honey Chicken was a good fit. Wall-E is actually hysterical, he and I will go to a Teppan place to get takeout do eat during Goofy's baseball games. He makes this "alleluiah" sound with each bite of tempura or sushi, eggrolls or potsickers. Like the heavens have opened for him. :) he is rewarding to feed!

We do push them, Tink and Steven in particular but generally speaking they are adventurous eaters thank goodness! I think we will have issues on the next trip if I can't list DS8 as an adult on the DDP (he will miss the cut off by about 3 weeks) so I'll have to figure that out.

It was weird, the drivers would radio in and check to see if one was coming but I didn't get the impression at any time that supervisors were being notified :(

[eandesmom]

we had just finished lunch, EE FP's weren't for HOURS and the question was, what to do?

Kali?

Safari?

Kali?

Safari?

Kali?

Safari?


Kali = 60 minutes wait

Safari= 45


Safari wins!!!!!!!!!!!

As we were walking we were mesmerized by these two
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0008.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0009.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0010.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0011.jpg

and this guy

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0016.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0017.jpg

We had a gander at the Tree of Life

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0018.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0019.jpg

I need to get the kids closer to it next time, we didn't have time to really "do" the tree and they were surprisingly unimpressed.

As we were walking we were stopped by a family who had 4 FP's for safari that they couldn't use. Score!

The 3 younger kids and I took the FP's and Scrooge and Steven decided to brave the wait.

Getting to the entrance was a bit of a challenge.

it was, of course, as befitted the entire trip...

PARADE TIME!

Picture 6 people scrambling through AK, trying to avoid the parade route and get to the safari entry BEFORE they blocked it.

We were thirsty by the time we got there even though we'd just had lunch. It was pretty funny though mildly stressful. We took a moment to stand in the shade and take some bio breaks, checking out some of the wares nearby.

As we went through the line and got on our "jeep" I snapped some pictures of what we'd be looking for

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0020.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0023.jpg

Then, we were OFF on safari!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0022.jpg
But this question came up.

Mom, can WE take the pictures this time?


Gulp.

Do I trust the kids enough to take pictures without dropping the camera in a bouncing jeep?

Am I selfish enough to let them and just enjoy the view instead of focusing on the pictures?

Will they be able to get ANY that aren't blurred?

Who is old enough?

Who can handle it?

(I'm very attached to my little camera lol)

[TarzansKat]

Yay for the random act of kindness that scored you the fastpasses!

And I so know how you feel about getting stuck with the parade. I've had that happen and it does not bring out the best in me. Long story. Glad you made it!

And I TOTALLY know how you feel about the camera. Ugh. DS and I went to the Dollar Tree today and I got him one of those dinos that grows to four times its size, takes like four days when you put it in water. So, I'm using it as a little science experiment type lesson, and I say, let's take a picture.

And he says, can I do it?

Do I really want to let my four year old hold my camera over a bowl of water? No.

Do I let him? Yes.

Do I still have a good working camera? Yes.

Thank god.

[Angies1274]

That's awesome that you were able to score fastpasses!!:thumbsup2 How nice of the other family to do that.:)

Wow!! I honestly don't know what I would do if one of my boys asked to take pictures on that ride.....hmmmm... that's a tough one.:laughing:Like you, I'm pretty attached to my camera.:rotfl:

Can't wait to find out what you did????

[Happydog]

But this question came up.

Mom, can WE take the pictures this time?


Gulp.

Do I trust the kids enough to take pictures without dropping the camera in a bouncing jeep?

Am I selfish enough to let them and just enjoy the view instead of focusing on the pictures?

Will they be able to get ANY that aren't blurred?

Who is old enough?

Who can handle it?

(I'm very attached to my little camera lol)

HA !!!! YOU sound like me on the exact same ride... my DS7 asked the same thing (I had bought him two disposables for this reason...) SO, I let him with me sort of hovering.... I was so worried the camera would end up outside!!! :scared:

can't wait for more.....
:surfweb:

[GreatBiscuit]

Slowly Catching up - just read about the Main Street Barbershop. Now I'm kinda sad I didn't wait to get a cut while we were there.

[GreatBiscuit]

Well, I think I just finished Day 5 or 6, not really sure. ANYWHO - I'm glad to hear you finally made it on Toy Story Midway Mania! :cool1: I LOVED me some EMH. It was the greatest part of our trip! I hear you on the whole "Don't toss snack credit snacks" thing. I wound up with a brain freeze after my girls decided they were done 1/2 way through their frozen concoctions.

[eandesmom]

Yay for the random act of kindness that scored you the fastpasses!

And I so know how you feel about getting stuck with the parade. I've had that happen and it does not bring out the best in me. Long story. Glad you made it!

And I TOTALLY know how you feel about the camera. Ugh. DS and I went to the Dollar Tree today and I got him one of those dinos that grows to four times its size, takes like four days when you put it in water. So, I'm using it as a little science experiment type lesson, and I say, let's take a picture.

And he says, can I do it?

Do I really want to let my four year old hold my camera over a bowl of water? No.

Do I let him? Yes.

Do I still have a good working camera? Yes.

Thank god.

:rotfl2:

brave soul!

We had a disposable that no one was interested in using, mine is "far" cooler. DS8 has a pretty cool FP kids camera that takes surprisingly good snaps but we forgot to 1) take the pics off and stick them on their puter, freeing up space and 2) it's kind of big to lug around and 3) it only holds 30 pics.

That's awesome that you were able to score fastpasses!!:thumbsup2 How nice of the other family to do that.:)

Wow!! I honestly don't know what I would do if one of my boys asked to take pictures on that ride.....hmmmm... that's a tough one.:laughing:Like you, I'm pretty attached to my camera.:rotfl:

Can't wait to find out what you did????

it was interesting to say the least!:rotfl: Steven actually brought his own camera. SUPPOSEDLY his pics are on photobucket but I've yet to see them!

That reminds me to hound him tonight or this weekend!!!!!!!!!!! He took a TON.

[eandesmom]

HA !!!! YOU sound like me on the exact same ride... my DS7 asked the same thing (I had bought him two disposables for this reason...) SO, I let him with me sort of hovering.... I was so worried the camera would end up outside!!! :scared:

can't wait for more.....
:surfweb:

yeah somehow the disposables just aren't the same to the kids. We had that issue on our big road trip last summer as well. I tried a cheap digital for them (cheap= only works on XP, loses all your pics if the battery goes dead even though you swear you formatted the memory card per the instructions). So...that was a bust. They may all get a camera for xmas, it would solve everything. :rotfl:

Slowly Catching up - just read about the Main Street Barbershop. Now I'm kinda sad I didn't wait to get a cut while we were there.

next time! something to save for next time! I :love: MSB. And...for your girls, they could get pixie dust without the scary prices of BBB (I think it's maybe $5?)

Well, I think I just finished Day 5 or 6, not really sure. ANYWHO - I'm glad to hear you finally made it on Toy Story Midway Mania! :cool1: I LOVED me some EMH. It was the greatest part of our trip! I hear you on the whole "Don't toss snack credit snacks" thing. I wound up with a brain freeze after my girls decided they were done 1/2 way through their frozen concoctions.

I did mellow out on that quite a bit as the trip went on, using them up like they were candy but early on I was kind of militant. Not only don't toss them but don't use them on a soda or a bottle of water, find something close to $4!. I will say, the minutemaid frozen lemonade was kind of icky so I caved on that one.

[Porturican]

Have been reading your updates for a couple of days now:surfweb: Cant wait till you update again!

We are going to WDW for the 1st time in Sept. and when I saw your title about WDW on west coast time it caught my eye since we will be coming from the San Francisco area. I am sooo worried about the time difference and bedtimes! But we are so excited to go!:woohoo:

Keep up the great posts!

[cjackearl]

How gallant of DH and Steven to brave the line for the women and children in your party.

My girls have their own cameras and Ian thankfully never asked, but we're forever making sure that the wrist straps are secure. Yes, they LOVE that.:rolleyes1 Looking forward to hearing which voice won out.:rotfl:

Great close up of the Tree of Life. I could look at the carvings on that thing for hours.

[MEK]

I skimmed through your update last night, but didn't post because I was doing soccer preparation chores. I do really like your AK pics. :thumbsup2 Your tree of life pics made me remember that I am going to try to find as many animals as I can next time I visit. And, I am going to take pics of all of them! :thumbsup2I finally started letting my kids take over the camera on safari because I am the proud owner of hundreds of digital safari pictures! :laughing:

[lisalonglash]

As we were walking we were mesmerized by these two

Aren't they adorable?! The baby is soooo sweet! :goodvibes

We had a gander at the Tree of Life


Coolest tree ever! :thumbsup2

As we were walking we were stopped by a family who had 4 FP's for safari that they couldn't use. Score!

:banana:

The 3 younger kids and I took the FP's and Scrooge and Steven decided to brave the wait.

Aww, good guys you have there :cool2:

it was, of course, as befitted the entire trip...

PARADE TIME!

:scared:

But this question came up.

Mom, can WE take the pictures this time?


Gulp.

:rotfl2: Been there, done that. Oh, for the record, I caved and let Mickey (6yo at the time) take the pictures - they were pretty good too :laughing:

[eandesmom]

Have been reading your updates for a couple of days now:surfweb: Cant wait till you update again!

We are going to WDW for the 1st time in Sept. and when I saw your title about WDW on west coast time it caught my eye since we will be coming from the San Francisco area. I am sooo worried about the time difference and bedtimes! But we are so excited to go!:woohoo:

Keep up the great posts!

Thanks! and Welcome! :cool1: I think there were good, and bad, things about deliberately not adjusting to the time change. Had it been a less crowded week, it would have been brilliant and based on just how nuts it was, unless we made rope drop I am not sure it would have really changed much.

How gallant of DH and Steven to brave the line for the women and children in your party.

My girls have their own cameras and Ian thankfully never asked, but we're forever making sure that the wrist straps are secure. Yes, they LOVE that.:rolleyes1 Looking forward to hearing which voice won out.:rotfl:

Great close up of the Tree of Life. I could look at the carvings on that thing for hours.

Yeah, that was great that they took the "other" line. In reality though they didn't end up more than 15 minutes behind us, the wait was definitely
overstated! Thanks for the pic comment. It is so funny what kids like and don't like (or think or don't, are they real, are they animitronics, etc. The kids weren't that into the tree of life b/c it was "fake". :confused3 no one wanted to go explore it with me. Oh well!

I skimmed through your update last night, but didn't post because I was doing soccer preparation chores. I do really like your AK pics. :thumbsup2 Your tree of life pics made me remember that I am going to try to find as many animals as I can next time I visit. And, I am going to take pics of all of them! :thumbsup2I finally started letting my kids take over the camera on safari because I am the proud owner of hundreds of digital safari pictures! :laughing:

I really wants to spend more time at the tree next time!

Soccer preparation chores

like these?:laundy:

:)

Tink is having a GREAT time at camp I'm happy to say (so far), she's been picked for one of the united teams, we'll see how the week plays out!

[eandesmom]

Aren't they adorable?! The baby is soooo sweet! :goodvibes


Aww, good guys you have there :cool2:

:rotfl2: Been there, done that. Oh, for the record, I caved and let Mickey (6yo at the time) take the pictures - they were pretty good too :laughing:

Wasn't that baby adorable! We were there quite a while :)

They might take off and do big boy stuff a lot but....they are gentlemen!

6 years old :scared1:

you are a brave brave woman!

[eandesmom]

update coming soon :)

whew! we are just back from a whirlwind 3 day trip up to our family cabin and a HUGE hike (8 miles r/t and 3500 in elevation gain and then descent).

Poor Scrooge was really down in the dumps before we left feeling like "going to the cabin wasn't really going away, or a true vacation" but as I suspected, once we got there and sat by the river...he felt a LOT better!

Of course....the stop by the nearby brewery to fill up our growlers and having a wildcat IPA in his hands didn't hurt either.

:rotfl2:

It was a blast!

[TarzansKat]

Glad to hear you had a good time! :goodvibes

[eandesmom]

Glad to hear you had a good time! :goodvibes

we did, thanks! but of course in between the surprise road trip, this mini trip and a general sadness that my TR is drawing to a close...I'm behind on updates!

[eandesmom]

update shortly but first, a very belated promised picture of the new kitty!

meet Melvin

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/IMG_2374.jpg

or White Lightning as Scrooge calls him. It has been an adjustment having such an energetic young kitty again. He's wonderful! Scrooge barks alot but secretly loves him, I can tell.

And the original

Hank (getting in the way of my DIS-ing!)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/PIC_0012.jpg

Hank in a more "regal" state
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/DSCF9937rwhscopyc.jpg

this is the cast of characters for our next trip!

next, a lemon fritter recipe and a real update :)

[eandesmom]

I take it back, this recipe is from Croatia, not Capri, 5/02 issue of Bon Appetit, Islands of the Mediterranean :)

Makes about 7 dozen

1 1/2 c. warm whole milk (105-115 degrees F)
1 1/4-oz envelope dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
Pinch of sugar plus 2 T.
3 large eggs
1/4 c. brandy
1 T grated lemon peel (about 3 lemons)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
5 c. all purpose flour
2 c. golden raisins (1 box)

Vegetable oil
Additional sugar
---------------------------

Place 1 cup of warm milk in medium bowl. Add yeast and pinch of sugar; stir to dissolve. Let stand until foamy, about 10 minutes.

Whisk eggs, brandy, lemon peel, vanilla, salt and 2 T. of sugar in large bowl; whisk in yeast mixture and 1/2 c. warm milk.

Mix in flour.

Using wooden spoon, stir dough 5 minutes. Mix in raisins.

Continue to stir until dough becomes to come away from spoon and bowl, about 5 minutes longer.

Cover dough with plastic wrap. Let rise in warm draft-free area until doubled in volume, about 1 hour.

Place sheets of wax paper on counter (recipe calls for you to put them on baking sheets but I can't see the point of that, it's just staging!)
Dip spoon into oil (have a small bowl nearby). Using oiled spoon scoop up enough dough to form 1-inch mound, Using another oiled spoon, scrape dough off spoon and onto sheet. Repeat with remaining dough, dipping spoon into oil as needed to prevent sticking.

Pour enough oil into heavy large saucepan to reach depth of 3 inches. Heat over medium-high heat to 350 degrees F. careuflly drop 10 dough balls into oil; fry until golden brown and cooked through, turning often, about 3 minutes.

Using slotted spoon, (I used tongs through, worked better) transfer fritters tp paper towels. Repeat with remaining dough balls in 6 more batches (approx). Place warm fritters in large bowl. Sprinkle with additional sugar; toss.

---------------------------
Now what I did was sprinkle with the sugar while they were warm and on the paper towels, just turning and sprinkling so the sugar would stick to the warm fritters better. Serve in a lined basket.

As I noted, my yeast mixture never got foamy but my dough did rise and they were puffy delicious morsels. Or as Steven called them "churro thingies". :rotfl: I don't think they were churro like, other than being fried dough but, he liked them.

If anyone makes them, let me know what you think!

[eandesmom]

These are pretty funny! Hopefully DS10's pics will show up soon.

DS8 as

Tiny Tim
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/Christmas%20Carol%20Train/Character_Morph_1.jpg

Scrooge
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/Christmas%20Carol%20Train/Character_Morph_1_2.jpg

Marley
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/Christmas%20Carol%20Train/Character_Morph_1_2_3.jpg

Belle
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/Christmas%20Carol%20Train/Character_Morph.jpg

the Belle one is really creepy!

[eandesmom]

When I left off I was being bombarded by three small people asking if they could use MY camera on the safari.

Since Goofy was next to me with Tink on the outside I told them they could take turns. Wall-E, to my right was on the edge and I was just too paranoid for that. Sorry dude, maybe next time!

Let's see how they did! A crash course it taking pictures in a moving, bouncing bus with equally bouncing demonstrations and then I handed it over!

A bit blurry but I can see it's an animal

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0025.jpg

oops, off on the timing!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0027.jpg

a little blurry....

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0028.jpg

there he is!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0029.jpg

making progress

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0032.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0033.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0034.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0035.jpg

I have NO idea what this is!, a picture of another jeep?

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0037.jpg

Vastly improved!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0038.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0039.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0040.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0041.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0042.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0043.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0044.jpg

The piece De resistance....great job Goofy!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0045.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0046.jpg

And our happy photographers!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0047.jpg

and a happy passenger, he handled it well!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0048.jpg

Next...the Pagani trail! We had some time to kill while Scrooge and Steven did their safari so we were off to check out Gorillas!

[MEK]

OMG ..... A Fabulous Update with a absolutely beautiful picture of the LION! Superb. :thumbsup2 I will read and comment in detail later. Trying to do some smelly laundry now!

[lisalonglash]

Wow! Update-apolooza! :woohoo:

Your kitties are adorable! I should take a picture of my geriatric mama's boy furry baby and post it on my PTR... :scratchin

That recipe sounds delish! I'm sure it's yummy :goodvibes

Those Christmas Carol pictures are hilarious (and yes, a wee bit creepy) :rotfl2:

Goofy and Tink took some GREAT pictures! Amazing shots of the lion, he's hard to get a good picture of! Kudos to them :banana: And good for you for letting them try! :hug:

Looking forward to your Pagani Trail pictures! We did the Maharajah Trail last time and I put the Pagani into my park plan for this time :)

[eandesmom]

OMG ..... A Fabulous Update with a absolutely beautiful picture of the LION! Superb. :thumbsup2 I will read and comment in detail later. Trying to do some smelly laundry now!

:eek: that's about how I feel about soccer laundry.


Wow! Update-apolooza! :woohoo:

Your kitties are adorable! I should take a picture of my geriatric mama's boy furry baby and post it on my PTR... :scratchin

That recipe sounds delish! I'm sure it's yummy :goodvibes

Those Christmas Carol pictures are hilarious (and yes, a wee bit creepy) :rotfl2:

Goofy and Tink took some GREAT pictures! Amazing shots of the lion, he's hard to get a good picture of! Kudos to them :banana: And good for you for letting them try! :hug:

Looking forward to your Pagani Trail pictures! We did the Maharajah Trail last time and I put the Pagani into my park plan for this time :)

Thanks! I was thrilled with the lion (and would have been secretly really bummed if we didn't get a good shot!) he was out strutting his stuff!

You should share pics of your kitty!

[eandesmom]

apparently most are on his Mac at his mom's house, this is all he's actually put on photobucket so far lol! He's sized everything small....

DME
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu180/musicresp63/m_ab7d0beeb8c5447d9e62abf7eb196153.jpg

HOB
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu180/musicresp63/m_a9fe5996571f4a6a984c0418c1116d91.jpg

Off Kilter
http://i645.photobucket.com/albums/uu180/musicresp63/m_2505b14b6d01479c9fa37c2edd4740ec.jpg

[cjackearl]

Aw, cute kitties. I miss my fur babies, they both both died 1 1/2 years ago at the ripe old age of 14. Hopefully DH will cave to pet pressure from his family soon, but for now he says no more, and chickens just aren't that cuddly, ya know?

Thanks for the recipe, we'll definitely be trying those at some point.:thumbsup2

Wow, the kiddos made great photographers! The hippo and lion were impressive, but my favorites were of the rhinos.:)

ETA: I forgot to mention how much I love your Christmas picture. What a great looking bunch!

[eandesmom]

Aw, cute kitties. I miss my fur babies, they both both died 1 1/2 years ago at the ripe old age of 14. Hopefully DH will cave to pet pressure from his family soon, but for now he says no more, and chickens just aren't that cuddly, ya know?

no, I can't imagine they are!:rotfl: I'm sorry to hear about your fur babies. I was SHOCKED when DH agreed to let DS10 get one for his bday. I think he kind of regrets it lol. It's funny, for as much as the man complains, he's the one out looking for Hank if he hasn't come home. Which is why Hank is now permanently grounded!


Thanks for the recipe, we'll definitely be trying those at some point.:thumbsup2

Enjoy!

Wow, the kiddos made great photographers! The hippo and lion were impressive, but my favorites were of the rhinos.:)

I thought those were pretty cool too!


ETA: I forgot to mention how much I love your Christmas picture. What a great looking bunch!

Awww, thanks! It's actually a post Christmas pic from 2 years ago, we got my MIL a photo session as her xmas present since she was out visiting us. We got really some lovely group shots, great ones with MIL, her DH and all the kids but nothing good of the 6 of us :(

We were in tears at how Hank wandered in and just plopped down like "hello! I'm part of this too you know!" :)

[Angies1274]

Oh my...your kitties are sooooo cute!!!!:goodvibes

Thanks for posting the Sweet Lemon Fritter recipe--yum!! I will definitely be making these very soon!!:thumbsup2

Wow!! Your kids did awesome taking pictures!! (the lion and rhinos are definitely my favorites!!) Those pictures have given me hope!! Now if my boys ask to take pictures on our next trip, I just may let them.....well...maybe. I still really like my camera.:rotfl:

[KathyRN137]

When I left off I was being bombarded by three small people asking if they could use MY camera on the safari.

The piece De resistance....great job Goofy!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0045.jpg



So funny! Safari photography is hard. Fantastic lion pic!!

I'm getting the girls those throwaway cameras so they can take "their own" pictures!


Kathy

[eandesmom]

Oh my...your kitties are sooooo cute!!!!:goodvibes

Thanks for posting the Sweet Lemon Fritter recipe--yum!! I will definitely be making these very soon!!:thumbsup2

Wow!! Your kids did awesome taking pictures!! (the lion and rhinos are definitely my favorites!!) Those pictures have given me hope!! Now if my boys ask to take pictures on our next trip, I just may let them.....well...maybe. I still really like my camera.:rotfl:

Aww, thanks! I like the kitties, even if they are a bit crazy at times!
I hope you like the fritters.

They did a really good job, I may have to let them use it more, or get another camera!

So funny! Safari photography is hard. Fantastic lion pic!!

I'm getting the girls those throwaway cameras so they can take "their own" pictures!

Kathy

It's really hard! they did well. I wish mine would use the throwaways. I think they are spoiled, with the digital they can see right away how it turned out and try again, with the disposables, no such immediate reward. What did we do before digital....

:rotfl:

[Happydog]

Hi there! Hey your animal photos are great! Love the Hippo and the Rhino photos! Maybe the temp and time of day on our safari, but they were hanging low (in the water, on the ground) etc.. still fun to see, but definitely not as active as these!

Nice family photo!!!:goodvibes I can't imagine how many times it took to get that one right :) I take mine every year and have to offer the bribe of the century or they just end up beating up on eachother! Yours are a little older so that probably helps!

Thanks for that fritter recipie!! I will have to store that for a brunch idea!

[TarzansKat]

Oh my gosh! I was just grousing on another TR about how I never, ever have seen a photo of the lion standing and walking around!

THANK YOU!!! What time of day was this photo, do you know? I can't believe it! I stand corrected. :lmao:

[eandesmom]

Hi there! Hey your animal photos are great! Love the Hippo and the Rhino photos! Maybe the temp and time of day on our safari, but they were hanging low (in the water, on the ground) etc.. still fun to see, but definitely not as active as these!

Thanks! We really saw a lot, and a lot at the beginning before they figured out the camera lol, so no shots of those lol.:lmao:


Nice family photo!!!:goodvibes I can't imagine how many times it took to get that one right :) I take mine every year and have to offer the bribe of the century or they just end up beating up on eachother! Yours are a little older so that probably helps!

You know, it's funny. For years we went to Sears, or the Picture People trying to get groups shots And by in large, they are pretty darn bad. I gave up a couple of years ago and have just used candids that if they happened to work out great, and if not, oh well. While I like to have an annul photo and use it in the Christmas card, it wasn't worth the stress and wait for very marginal pictures.

This was the first time since DS10 was 1 that I'd used a professional, on location shoot, kind of situation. As I mentioned, it was a gift for my MIL and her DH as we didn't have a decent group shot with them since our wedding (and that wasn't very good either!). This guy was amazing, I'd use him again in a heartbeat. We have some outside shots that are just lovely. One that some day I play to blow up and do the whole gallery frame on canvas thing. And with them turning out so nice I don't feel the need to do it annually. I'll do it when DS16 is a senior I think, maybe at the end of the year at the lake to contrast with these very wintery ones. Doing it at home made a big difference with getting the kids "naturally". In my intro you can see some individual shots that he took with groupings of the kids.

This was only about 4 takes. BUT with 9 people and one cat we did do some "swapping" to get the best image of each into the final shot, this one definitely has the most editing. You could see the cat entering the picture in the takes, it was pretty funny! The only bummer is that there wasn't a decent one of the 6 of us but oh well.


Thanks for that fritter recipie!! I will have to store that for a brunch idea!

They would be perfect for brunch! I served them with fresh fruit on the side (blueberries& strawberries tossed with a little lemon and sugar. I'd have done blackberries but couldn't find any).

[eandesmom]

Oh my gosh! I was just grousing on another TR about how I never, ever have seen a photo of the lion standing and walking around!

THANK YOU!!! What time of day was this photo, do you know? I can't believe it! I stand corrected. :lmao:

:thanks::

I was pretty excited. And it was taken by my 10 year old! From an inside seat!

My time stamps are off and I'm not sure if they are off just by am/pm or by pst/est or what. It shows 2:48 am :rotfl2: so I know that's not right!

In looking at it, I think I've realized that my recounting of the day is not entirely correct. Almost makes me want to pull receipts and the days schedule lol. But I'm guessing that it is just off by the am/pm and it was about 2:38. Which is what makes me realize that maybe, probably, we did something else right after lunch! Or before, but I think after. I know what we did, just couldn't remember when! Oops!

But I have to thank you for pointing it out, I'm going to go reset it right now! I just looked at my pics from our recent hike which confirms they are off by am/pm. Which makes no sense actually, as I sure don't recall making a time change adjustment unless my camera is smarter than I think :confused3:confused3

But, at any rate, the long winded rambling answer is late afternoon. I think. That "feels" right in my memory.

[TarzansKat]

Oh, gosh, I don't mean to start a whole internal debate for you there. :lmao: Just a rough idea of the time would be fine, no worries, hon. I just can't believe it, thank your ten year old for me! Those are some great photos.

It'll become my quest on this trip. I'll have to see if I can find that lion standing up!!!! :lmao:

[eandesmom]

Oh, gosh, I don't mean to start a whole internal debate for you there. :lmao: Just a rough idea of the time would be fine, no worries, hon. I just can't believe it, thank your ten year old for me! Those are some great photos.

It'll become my quest on this trip. I'll have to see if I can find that lion standing up!!!! :lmao:

Really, no worries, I'm quite good at internal debates all on my own! :rotfl2:

But it does puzzle me....the camera isn't like a phone and it was definitely 12 hours off but it really should have been 15 if it was on pst.

And, like I said, a good thing b/c it made me remember something else we did that I'd forgotten!

You go, you get that Lion!

[eandesmom]

I don't take notes. Generally my memory is decent and the photo order helps a lot. However, if one doesn't take photo's then, well, it doesn't work quite so well.

In trying to determine the time of the Lion it occurs to me that really, I was confused. :headache:

If I assume we are just off by am/pm then my day looks something like this.

11:38 at the bus stop. Ok. I know we are on PST but that seems way later than I thought. Not entirely atypical mind you but gosh, if that's right, it's depressing even bearing in mind we were there at least 40 minutes. And if the time stamps are right, I underestimated it.

1:04 sitting down to lunch. Meaning all that happened between the bus and lunch was...waiting, riding, grabbing EE FP's and ordering lunch. :sad1: That feels about right though.

2:05-2:19 checking out monkeys

3:34-4:26 safari and pagani

It did NOT take us an hour and 20 minutes to determine safari versus Kali. So what did we do?

Well... I'll tell you!

We did check the times on Kali right after lunch (again) as we were right there and then went for a stroll back in time. Back to...

DINOSAUR!

I cannot believe I forgot this!

This is what happens when you don't buy the ride pics apparently. Pathetic!

I really like this ride. No idea why, it kind of gives me whiplash but it cracks me up. I should have bought the pic as it was funny. The wait was not bad and soon enough we were headed back in time to rescue our Dinosaur.

The group had some pretty mixed reactions. Wall-E and Goofy had been on it before but didn't recall a thing.

Steven - "that was dumb"
Scrooge - "eh"
Goofy - "I liked it"
Wall-E was shaking. Which was a shocker. This kid is a thrill junkie (remember ToT?) but apparently the dark and loud noise combo freaked him out. Poor thing. In the picture he was pressing the temple of his glasses into his face, apparently terrified they were going to go flying off.

Tink - I LOVED IT!

Really? Also a shocker. I mean I didn't expect her to dislike it but loved it? She apparently found it as fun as I do :cheer2:

While checking out those adorable simians I did take some video. I haven't tried posting video before (though I have quite a lot) so we will see if this works!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/th_AK1.jpg (http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/?action=view&current=AK1.flv)

[SunnieRN]

Your kitten and your cat are both adorable!!!

What a fantastic Lion picture! I have only seen the lion move from lying on his stomach, to rolling over a bit. lol

Your family portrait is so nice! Wow! So this will be your treehouse grand gathering clan?

The morphing pictures are really cool!! I really hope we get to go to San Antonio when the train passes through!

Looking forward to your next update!

[cjackearl]

You have darling children, but morphed onto Dickens characters?:scared1: Aren't ride reactions shocking sometimes? I guess you never can tell. I thought Dinosaur was well done myself.:)

[eandesmom]

Your kitten and your cat are both adorable!!!

thanks, both cats actually, white lightening there is about 2


What a fantastic Lion picture! I have only seen the lion move from lying on his stomach, to rolling over a bit. lol

I'm not even sure we saw the lion last time, I don't think we did. I was in shock!


Your family portrait is so nice! Wow! So this will be your treehouse grand gathering clan?

Thanks! Yes, I hope so. The picture has MIL, her DH and BIL. I don't see BIL going but you never know. I know MIL would like him there, as would the rest of us. His GF though....sigh. It is possible, though not probable, that we might fill another treehouse with my side of the family but we will see. Of course we could end up making all these plans and then for whatever reason, DSD and/or DSS can't go but right now we plan to forge ahead with it. I foresee many a roadblock but have hopes it will actually happen. MIL and I are plotting and we usually get our way.

All kinds of conflicting ideas and priorities so we are trying to balance it out. My brother just announced he is expecting. Which could derail this trip and mandate a trip to Germany instead. Me, I'd rather wait until the baby is a year old for a couple of reasons. 1 the baby will be more fun, 2 we'd have one less kid to take to Germany and 3 this will be the last summer of "teendom" for DSS and I'd like to take him again while we can. 4, my MIL is NOT happy with us right now for lack of visits (that fit with her schedule) and this would go a LONG ways to making up for that. 5, my brother will visit here between now and then, that I can count on.

DH has decided though, in that same vein, that he wants to take all the kids to DC. Which I do as well but that's not a week trip IMHO. So either we fit that in around Presidents week or maybe tack it onto one end of the treehouse. Not sure.

MIL is the trump card though :)

The morphing pictures are really cool!! I really hope we get to go to San Antonio when the train passes through!
Looking forward to your next update!

I hope you do too!
You have darling children, but morphed onto Dickens characters?:scared1: Aren't ride reactions shocking sometimes? I guess you never can tell. I thought Dinosaur was well done myself.:)

Creepy aren't they? You'll notice I didn't save a single one of moi. Talk about frightening!:scared1:

[MEK]

update shortly but first, a very belated promised picture of the new kitty!

meet Melvin

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/IMG_2374.jpg

or White Lightning as Scrooge calls him. It has been an adjustment having such an energetic young kitty again. He's wonderful! Scrooge barks alot but secretly loves him, I can tell.

And the original

Hank (getting in the way of my DIS-ing!)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/PIC_0012.jpg



The kitten is adorable and my cat, Max, does the exact same thing around computers. He is fixated on them and always lays on top of them in the winter, cause they are warm!

I take it back, this recipe is from Croatia, not Capri, 5/02 issue of Bon Appetit, Islands of the Mediterranean :)

Makes about 7 dozen

1 1/2 c. warm whole milk (105-115 degrees F)
1 1/4-oz envelope dry yeast (about 2 tsp)
Pinch of sugar plus 2 T.
3 large eggs
1/4 c. brandy
1 T grated lemon peel (about 3 lemons)
2 tsp. vanilla extract
1 tsp. salt
5 c. all purpose flour
2 c. golden raisins (1 box)

Vegetable oil
Additional sugar
---------------------------

If anyone makes them, let me know what you think!

I am giving this recipe to my DH! He is the baker in our house! They sound so yummy!

When I left off I was being bombarded by three small people asking if they could use MY camera on the safari.



The piece De resistance....great job Goofy!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0045.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0046.jpg

And our happy photographers!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0047.jpg

and a happy passenger, he handled it well!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0048.jpg

Next...the Pagani trail! We had some time to kill while Scrooge and Steven did their safari so we were off to check out Gorillas!

I hope I cut and pasted the lion photos appropriately, cause I'm at work and all I can see if the IMG code. Oh well, if I got it wrong, sorry. I can not believe how great the Lion pics are. I have been on Safari a gazillion times and I NEVER see the lion like that. Such a great time you guys had on safari!

[cjackearl]

I noticed them on your post on my TR, but forgot to mention how much I like your new siggie pictures!! SO COOL!!

[TarzansKat]

First of all, I LOVE your new siggie. It's beautiful!!! :goodvibes

Yay, you figured it out! :woohoo: I knew you'd figure out where your lost time went. I've been on Dinosaur.

Once.

That was enough. :rolleyes1

[eandesmom]

The kitten is adorable and my cat, Max, does the exact same thing around computers. He is fixated on them and always lays on top of them in the winter, cause they are warm!

See and I always thought it was just to be in my face :)

I am giving this recipe to my DH! He is the baker in our house! They sound so yummy! I wish mine was a baker!


I hope I cut and pasted the lion photos appropriately, cause I'm at work and all I can see if the IMG code. Oh well, if I got it wrong, sorry. I can not believe how great the Lion pics are. I have been on Safari a gazillion times and I NEVER see the lion like that. Such a great time you guys had on safari!

You did! thank you so much (well thank E1, he did an amazing job!)

[eandesmom]

I noticed them on your post on my TR, but forgot to mention how much I like your new siggie pictures!! SO COOL!!

First of all, I LOVE your new siggie. It's beautiful!!! :goodvibes

Yay, you figured it out! :woohoo: I knew you'd figure out where your lost time went. I've been on Dinosaur.

Once.

That was enough. :rolleyes1

Thanks guys! Yes, someone was goofing around yesterday instead of doing much needed outdoor projects lol! I think I want to try and do my own t-shirt DISigns and figured better siggie images would be a good way to start. Not my dream images but it was fun playing. I am more accustomed to working with print layouts so this was a little different and will take some getting used to on the sizing but I'll get better at it! If anyone wants something, let me know, a good excuse to practice lol.

[GreatBiscuit]

I'm finally all caught up! I loved the photo safari! I had an "incident" with my camera on the safari that let to much muttering and futtering. :sad2: Can't wait to see how the rest of the trip pans out!

[GreatBiscuit]

Browser locked & double posted. So I guess I should add something here. Hmmm.....let's see. The Hoop Dee Doo looked pretty cool. I'm all about comfort food. Love me a mess of fried chicken!

[eandesmom]

I'm finally all caught up! I loved the photo safari! I had an "incident" with my camera on the safari that let to much muttering and futtering. :sad2: Can't wait to see how the rest of the trip pans out!
oh no! and you take such wonderful pictures! :sad2:
Browser locked & double posted. So I guess I should add something here. Hmmm.....let's see. The Hoop Dee Doo looked pretty cool. I'm all about comfort food. Love me a mess of fried chicken!
VERY fun family show!

[MEK]

I :love: your new siggies! I REALLY need to learn how to do that! So jealous!

[eandesmom]

I :love: your new siggies! I REALLY need to learn how to do that! So jealous!

Thanks! cool software helps lol. And I'm a closet geek with stuff like that. Well, not even closet but it's always been print stuff before. It's really all DSD's fault, she wanted custom avatars for her warrior cat sites and just couldn't make what she wanted with basic software so once I made her cats I figured I really should do something about my siggie. lol! (like the way I justify it?) It's a good excuse for me to get more familiar with the features of it. I'm very basic right now, stumbling along. PM me if you want though and I'll make you something, it's super easy (with the cool software). The one I made is actually 3 separate images so each could link to a different report (only the TR one is active) but there is a million things you can do!

[kschafer]

Followed you over from MEK's TR and got a start. I see a new ticker has also appeared! I too dream of someday staying at treehouse villas so I can't wait to hear how it works out for you.

[michellem1118]

Thanks! cool software helps lol. And I'm a closet geek with stuff like that. Well, not even closet but it's always been print stuff before. It's really all DSD's fault, she wanted custom avatars for her warrior cat sites and just couldn't make what she wanted with basic software so once I made her cats I figured I really should do something about my siggie. lol! (like the way I justify it?) It's a good excuse for me to get more familiar with the features of it. I'm very basic right now, stumbling along. PM me if you want though and I'll make you something, it's super easy (with the cool software). The one I made is actually 3 separate images so each could link to a different report (only the TR one is active) but there is a million things you can do!

What software are you using? I'm always looking for new, cool design software... :rolleyes1

[eandesmom]

Followed you over from MEK's TR and got a start. I see a new ticker has also appeared! I too dream of someday staying at treehouse villas so I can't wait to hear how it works out for you.

Hi and welcome! well, to call it a ticker might be pushing it but it's a tentative plan if nothing else! We are all agreed though on the treehouses! Now, to figure out when! Most likely mid august, possibly late.

How early, is too early, to start a hypothetical trip report?
:rotfl:

[eandesmom]

What software are you using? I'm always looking for new, cool design software... :rolleyes1

Hi and welcome!

I wouldn't call it new.....I have the full Adobe Creative suite so am using Illustrator and Photoshop. New (er) to me simply as I have a bit more experience with In Design and Photoshop but Illustrator really does more for certain things than PS does (not that you'll see it in those siggies other than Belle's stained glass window border thing) and In Design is a print product.

Fun to see what one can do in each though and figure out the nuances. Which is good since I'm basically clueless but love trying to figure stuff out and figured it really would be pathetic if I don't do our own T's for the next trip. That's the playing part!

[eandesmom]

After my amazing photographers marveled at their shots we headed...

to Pagani!

First, more monkeys. After the safari and Savannah, I hated looking through the cages but love these guys anyways!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0049.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0050.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0051.jpg

this guy
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0052.jpg

a few fish and (the fowl came out fuzzy!)

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0054.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0055.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0057.jpg

and of course, a hippo!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0063.jpg

we were mesmerized by these guys

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0064.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0066.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0067.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0071.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0074.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0076.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0077.jpg

so cute!
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0080.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0081.jpg

Finally, the big guys

except he looks pretty tame
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0083.jpg

him, not so much, even if it is his backside!
http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0084.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0085.jpg
there he is (though a bit blurry :()

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0086.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0087.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0088.jpg

Full of animals and hotter than blazes we hooked up with the rest of the crew who had just finished THEIR safari and "oohed and ahhed" appropriately over the Lion pictures.

First on the agenda a snack! and then...

A run in with a Rapid, a Yeti, and yet another Dinosaur!

[Angies1274]

Love all the animal pics!! Wow! You got some great shots!!:thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day--it sounds fun.:goodvibes

Oh...btw, I just love your new siggie!!!

[cjackearl]

I did NOT know that gazelles stood on their hind legs to eat! They're much more giraffe like than I thought. Very cool pictures.

It sounds like you have some excitement coming up.popcorn::

[kschafer]

How early, is too early, to start a hypothetical trip report?
:rotfl:

:lmao: I would be the wrong person to ask!! My ticker is just really just imaginary so far. I have every hope to make a spring trip with other Dis friends BUT nobody has made any real plans yet, it's all hypothetical at this point! (And has been in the works for about 8 months now!) In the meantime, we are having a great time making our wish lists of what we want to do

[eandesmom]

Love all the animal pics!! Wow! You got some great shots!!:thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about the rest of your day--it sounds fun.:goodvibes

Oh...btw, I just love your new siggie!!!

Thanks! I got really carried away with the gazelles (well between me, Goofy and Tink lol), that's only maybe half of the shots we took (although the better half).

and thanks on the siggie :)

I did NOT know that gazelles stood on their hind legs to eat! They're much more giraffe like than I thought. Very cool pictures.

It sounds like you have some excitement coming up.popcorn::

I had no idea either! At first we were like

WHOA!!!!! what is that guy doing. And then we realized. And then the other one did it. It was a trip!

:lmao: I would be the wrong person to ask!! My ticker is just really just imaginary so far. I have every hope to make a spring trip with other Dis friends BUT nobody has made any real plans yet, it's all hypothetical at this point! (And has been in the works for about 8 months now!) In the meantime, we are having a great time making our wish lists of what we want to do

:rotfl:

I hear you. This trip was in the works for a good 2 years with plotting, planning and rescheduling but wasn't firm until 3 months before the trip and "really" firm until 45 days! But the plotting and planning for next one is party of what gets us through and is a lot of fun! Or a bit OCD, I'm not sure. A hypothetical ADR list that's been revised several times already for a hypothetical trip over a year away is perhaps:confused: a bit....

[kschafer]

the plotting and planning for next one is party of what gets us through and is a lot of fun! Or a bit OCD, I'm not sure. A hypothetical ADR list that's been revised several times already for a hypothetical trip over a year away is perhaps:confused: a bit....

I hear you! the Dis keeps me feeling the magic, even over a year later and no trip in the near future.

revising imaginary ADR lists seems perfectly sane to me :rolleyes: I scroll through the food porn thread and think about retiring nearby someday so I can go and eat at least once a week (OK, in like...25 or 30 years!) :rolleyes1

[michellem1118]

Hi and welcome!

I wouldn't call it new.....I have the full Adobe Creative suite so am using Illustrator and Photoshop. New (er) to me simply as I have a bit more experience with In Design and Photoshop but Illustrator really does more for certain things than PS does (not that you'll see it in those siggies other than Belle's stained glass window border thing) and In Design is a print product.

Fun to see what one can do in each though and figure out the nuances. Which is good since I'm basically clueless but love trying to figure stuff out and figured it really would be pathetic if I don't do our own T's for the next trip. That's the playing part!

Ahh, PhotoShop.... I miss PhotoShop. I had the full creative suite on an old desktop, but my laptop doesn't really have enough RAM or processor speed to run it... waiting on a replacement desktop to reinstall it, I only really know how to use PhotoShop though, never tried to use the others. One of these days, maybe I'll take the time to figure it out. :)

Great report so far!

[MEK]

Wow - A new update that I missed and I can't see one blessed thing. I know there are some awesome pictures there. I have to wait until I get home to see yours and CP's pictures. Uggghhhhh. Everyone updates at once and I find them here at work.

Be back soon........

[Happydog]

Wow! Great pictures!!! nice one of the gazelles and the gorilla!!! really close up! What kind of camera do you have? I want to buy a new one for Christmas... as a B-day gift for me!

Looking forward to your rapids ride!!! AND snack :laughing:

[lisalonglash]

Great update! I know what you mean about looking through the cages :sad2: Those close-ups are fantastic - I bow to your superior photography skills! :worship: I agree that those impalas (I think they're impalas) are fascinating - so graceful and pretty!

Looking forward to your next update - Yeti, Dinosaur, Rapids and a snack! popcorn::

[eandesmom]

I hear you! the Dis keeps me feeling the magic, even over a year later and no trip in the near future.

revising imaginary ADR lists seems perfectly sane to me :rolleyes: I scroll through the food porn thread and think about retiring nearby someday so I can go and eat at least once a week (OK, in like...25 or 30 years!) :rolleyes1

thank you for enabling me :)

Ahh, PhotoShop.... I miss PhotoShop. I had the full creative suite on an old desktop, but my laptop doesn't really have enough RAM or processor speed to run it... waiting on a replacement desktop to reinstall it, I only really know how to use PhotoShop though, never tried to use the others. One of these days, maybe I'll take the time to figure it out. :)

Great report so far!

Yeah, it's a space hog, no doubt about it! It's really interesting as they are all good for different things. PS is perfect for image editing, illustrator better for compilations and freehand type stuff that you can't do in PS and IDD is totally different from either but fabulous for multi page print needs

Wow - A new update that I missed and I can't see one blessed thing. I know there are some awesome pictures there. I have to wait until I get home to see yours and CP's pictures. Uggghhhhh. Everyone updates at once and I find them here at work.

Be back soon........

I hate that when I can't see the pics! They'll be here when you come back!

[eandesmom]

Wow! Great pictures!!! nice one of the gazelles and the gorilla!!! really close up! What kind of camera do you have? I want to buy a new one for Christmas... as a B-day gift for me!

Looking forward to your rapids ride!!! AND snack :laughing:

I :love: my camera. funny story, I was always really impressed with the shots my mom got with her little digital. She has quite a selelction of cameras but the little digital just did an amazing job. I went to get one of my own, did my own research, found something in my price range and go to find out...

it's the same camera she has. As does my SIL. And now 2 of DH's family members who liked my camera's results.

It's all the camera, not the user, trust me!

I have a Canon PowerShot SD1100 IS Digital Elph.

Great update! I know what you mean about looking through the cages :sad2: Those close-ups are fantastic - I bow to your superior photography skills! :worship: I agree that those impalas (I think they're impalas) are fascinating - so graceful and pretty!

Looking forward to your next update - Yeti, Dinosaur, Rapids and a snack! popcorn::

It's the camera, not me! :rotfl: Not sure if they are impalas or gazelles but they were so cool!

[GreatBiscuit]

Excellent photos! And kudos on the Signature! First Lady Bicuit saw it last night and LOVED it! We wound up skipping the trails on our trip. (Just sooooooooooooooo hot, that the kids were OUT of gas.)

[lisalonglash]

It's the camera, not me! :rotfl: Not sure if they are impalas or gazelles but they were so cool!

It is NOT just the camera, it's the camera operator! :thumbsup2 It would help if I read the update title, hey? I'm sure you're right about them being gazelles and, yes, they are cool! :goodvibes

[MEK]

Excellent, excellent pigani trail pictures. I am so GOING on that trail in September. I'm skipping th safari and hitting the trail. Hopefully it won't be blazing hot! So many animals to see!

[eandesmom]

Excellent photos! And kudos on the Signature! First Lady Bicuit saw it last night and LOVED it! We wound up skipping the trails on our trip. (Just sooooooooooooooo hot, that the kids were OUT of gas.)

Well thank you and the lovely First Lady Biscuit! I need to try your panoramic trick combo thing....that is so cool! I'm going to attempt it somehow on the next trip though not, I'm sure, on the trails!

It is NOT just the camera, it's the camera operator! :thumbsup2 It would help if I read the update title, hey? I'm sure you're right about them being gazelles and, yes, they are cool! :goodvibes

awww...thanks! I think it's the camera though. :)

Excellent, excellent pigani trail pictures. I am so GOING on that trail in September. I'm skipping th safari and hitting the trail. Hopefully it won't be blazing hot! So many animals to see!

Thanks!

Do the trail, it was really wonderful and it's funny, even though it was a very warm day I don't remember the trail part itself as being miserable!

[eandesmom]

when I left off we had been gifted with FP's, seen lions, hippos, rhino's, gorillas and gazelle's and magically escaped being stuck by the parade!

reunited with our other Safari companions .

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0091.jpg

who so graciously had told us to take the FP's, allowing for some amazing gazelle grazing (or not....tree eating on hind legs, who knew!) viewing.

it was determined that

it was hot! See, don't they look hot? Steven's got some seriously wilted hair (but in his new necklace which still hasn't come off since the trip lol) and I have no idea what Scrooge is doing with his sunglasses, that just looks wierd. Almost as weird as when he puts them on his head backwards (which is all the time lol!)

we needed a snack! Our lunch (for us) really hadn't been all that late and dinner wasn't until 8:30. So a substantial snack was in order.

See where I am going with this?

:cool1:

as we made the trek from Africa to Asia

it happened.

again

"we have some FP's we can't use, would you like them?"


this time, for Kali. I can't remember how many they had but it wasn't 6. So we hemmed a little bit and I kid you not, someone entirely different nearby said

"I have some too!"


so somehow, magically, in the span of a minute we had 6 FP's for Kali! (which was still on a 60 minute wait!)

Excited, a little bit dumbfounded, we kept trekking to Asia.

But first. A stop.

Yak and Yeti Local Foods Egg Rolls!

:worship:

TWO of these suckers are one snack credit.

Oh I wish I had a picture of their flaky, hot, yummy deliciousness!:cloud9:

SOOOOOOOOOOOOO good! Moist, tender and flavorful. I'd eat 2 of them right now if I could! And it's 9am here! :rotfl:

Scrooge and I each got our own, the rest of the gang wanted something cold.

For the life of me I have no idea what Goofy & Tink got. Steven was on the search for a smoothie and wasn't seeing anything nearby but had seen something somewhere else so wanted to go there later instead. I still don't know where he went, for some reason I think it may have been all the way back near the safari entry but I digress.

Wall-E, of course, got this

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0092.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0093.jpg

The last mickey bar.


he looks dazed and confused. Or intoxicated by it, I'm not sure.

:rotfl:

AK is a dangerous place to eat a Mickey bar if you are dining challenged, as is our Wall-E.

Eat fast!

Lick around the edges!

You're dripping!

Aack! here's another napkin


and yet still, most of it ends up on his face.

Go figure.

Tummies full and faces ringed with Chocolate it was FINALLY time.

To brave the rapids. To stand in line. Or not!

Thank you fast pass gods of presidents week craziness. Of magic pay it forward karma. I bow to you.

We whizzed through that line so fast I didn't take hardly any pictures! Here is a couple. You can see, as fabulous as my little digital is, it is NOT great for inside/low light pictures. Not at all!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0095.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0096.jpg

I probably had quite a few more that I deleted. I'm noticing that I did a lot of clean up and deletion of bad pics and kind of wish I'd waited. Oh well.

My brain was whirling.

Camera - protected

Poncho's - out

Hurry, get in the boat, get everything covered!!

Tink was by far the most apprehensive (I think she just didn't want to get wet) and as it was getting later it was going to cool off quickly but...we had to do it. It would just be WRONG to be at AK and not go on Kali. So it wasn't something that was ever up for debate though I confess to having bad hair concerns for dinner as we had no plans to go back to the resort.

And try as I might, I know I'll never bring myself to wear a shower cap (though I truly admire those who do, it looks amazingly effective!). I'm just not that brave.

Kali was, what can I say, wet, wild and fabulous.

and WET!

I think Tink and I got the worst of it. I had some scary looking pants afterwards but thankfully they dried quickly

And now we can see why I'm not in more pictures. UGH. Eyes closed. Looking weird. Now I know where Goofy gets that look from! Tink is the only one visibly wet though but we were pretty drippy! Scrooge again with the wierd sunglass placement. I really need to make him take them off or put them elsewhere, it ruins photos (IMO)

Thank goodness for poncho's is all I have to say!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0098.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0099.jpg

Happy, wet, it was time.

To meet the YETI!

But first....

what's this?

It looks like a bubble!

Can we stick our fingers in it?

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0101.jpg

Sure, live large, go for it!

The E's played with this for at least 5 minutes, probably longer as I think there was a bio break involved. Sadly the picture is rather lousy. Darn low light. Oh yeah, and night time was coming....EMH and Ak in the Dark!

I will say this, compared to other parks I can really now see why generally AK closes so early. It is really really DARK there after 6pm!

Cool. but dark. But very very cool!

Next....EE in the dark, another run in with a Dinosaur, Steven's elusive smoothie and MORE necklace shopping...most importantly, will I find a souvenir for ME and then, a Bomastic last dinner!

[eandesmom]

I just remembered something!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



After dinner we headed back to MK and were able to hit

Thunder Mountain (walked right on!!!!)
POTC :) Also, walked right on!
Space Mountain (again)

and then...TIME FOR BED!

What a day :)

It's been niggling at my brain...back there and just couldn't recall it!

So, on Valentine's day, as we were heading over to Space Mountain we were again presented with the

We have 2 FP's for SM that we cannot use


Really? sure!
So we took them. We figured at that point we had no idea how long standby would be and that way at least 2 people could get another ride in.

The standby line was 40 minutes. We got in line and tried to determine who should go. Or if we should all stay together and then 2 go a second time.

While we debated we realized that there was a party for two seemingly very nice young women in front of us. So we did what made the most sense.

"Hi! Would you guys like these? We're going to wait it out together."


The shock and excitement on their faces was magical!
pixiedust:

I cannot believe that with our horrible lateness to the parks, my complete lack of fast pass timing understanding at the start and the larger issue that they were often GONE by the time we got to parks, that we were given them by strangers not once, not twice, but FOUR total times!

[cjackearl]

Wow, you really were the fast pass magnets this trip!:cool1: I'm glad you didn't have to wait in a long line for Kali. It's definitely worth doing, but at a 60 min. wait? Maybe not.

Somehow I knew you were going back for egg rolls! Awesome snackage. And I love the chocolate mouth ring.:laughing: My pre teen is the same way.:rolleyes:

Hmmm. Looking forward to hearing how your yeti encounter and dino meet go.

[Angies1274]

Wow!!! What great fastpass karma you have!! Four times--that's awesome!!

Such a cute picture of your son!! You could tell he was really enjoying that Mickey bar!!!:thumbsup2

Ohh....that egg roll sounds so yummy!!!

Looking forward to hearing about EE in the dark!!:eek::rotfl:

[MEK]

Holy Fast Pass Karma. You scored big time. :thumbsup2 I bet it would have been fun to do Kali in the dark. But EE in the dark - even better! You guys really did a lot thanks to the FP fairy! Although,Tink looks seriously drenched after that ride on Kali and she's the one who didn't want to go on. You, on the other hand, stayed pretty well intact! :rotfl: I agree - TGFP (Thank God for Ponchos). Tink must have forgotten to pull her hood up! I love all the group shots, they are really good. I can definately see the resemblance between DH and his kids!

Thanks for the daily updates! So fun to read!

[eandesmom]

Holy Fast Pass Karma. You scored big time. :thumbsup2 I bet it would have been fun to do Kali in the dark. But EE in the dark - even better! You guys really did a lot thanks to the FP fairy! Although,Tink looks seriously drenched after that ride on Kali and she's the one who didn't want to go on. You, on the other hand, stayed pretty well intact! :rotfl: I agree - TGFP (Thank God for Ponchos). Tink must have forgotten to pull her hood up! I love all the group shots, they are really good. I can definately see the resemblance between DH and his kids!

Thanks for the daily updates! So fun to read!

I promise you, my pants were pretty darn wet! I think Tink forgot to tuck her hair in, that was the real problem. Hood up but it doesn't really give great coverage.

[KathyRN137]

as we made the trek from Africa to Asia

it happened.

again

"we have some FP's we can't use, would you like them?"


this time, for Kali. I can't remember how many they had but it wasn't 6. So we hemmed a little bit and I kid you not, someone entirely different nearby said

"I have some too!"


so somehow, magically, in the span of a minute we had 6 FP's for Kali! (which was still on a 60 minute wait!)



Awesome!! :thumbsup2

I'm a poncho-wearer, but I don't think I could do the shower cap!




So, on Valentine's day, as we were heading over to Space Mountain we were again presented with the

We have 2 FP's for SM that we cannot use


Really? sure!
So we took them. We figured at that point we had no idea how long standby would be and that way at least 2 people could get another ride in.

The standby line was 40 minutes. We got in line and tried to determine who should go. Or if we should all stay together and then 2 go a second time.

While we debated we realized that there was a party for two seemingly very nice young women in front of us. So we did what made the most sense.

"Hi! Would you guys like these? We're going to wait it out together."


The shock and excitement on their faces was magical!
pixiedust:

we were given them by strangers not once, not twice, but FOUR total times!


Amazing... you really were touched by the FP angels that trip!!

Oooh.. looking forward to EE in the dark!! :eek:


Kathy

[TarzansKat]

My goodness, you all have some fastpass pixie dust!

I think the look on Wall E's face when he's eating the Mickey bar can best be described by a combination of these two smilies. :love: + :cloud9:

And for pete's sake, what did you need napkins for? You were all getting soaked and rinsed anyway. :lmao:

[eandesmom]

Awesome!! :thumbsup2

I'm a poncho-wearer, but I don't think I could do the shower cap!

Amazing... you really were touched by the FP angels that trip!!

Oooh.. looking forward to EE in the dark!! :eek:


Kathy

update coming soon, probably tomorrow. I have been all consumed by job hunting and 13th birthday party planning. :scared1:
13!!!!!!! I have a week before updating that new siggie

My goodness, you all have some fastpass pixie dust!

I think the look on Wall E's face when he's eating the Mickey bar can best be described by a combination of these two smilies. :love: + :cloud9:

And for pete's sake, what did you need napkins for? You were all getting soaked and rinsed anyway. :lmao:

TK, Wall-E's face looks like that (the chocolate or WHATEVER) ALL the time. Seriously. We could hose him down and an hour later a ring appears around his mouth. I don't get it. It's like he still drools or something. Cute at 2. Kind of cute at 4. At 8 it verges on disgusting :rotfl:

[carissanboys]

Wow! FP Karma is right!! Awesome!! :cool1:

Love Kali! Last year when we went we did use ponchos (it was January - and cooler than most months) and someone in line said, "Those shouldn't be allowed on here." :rotfl:

[Sunset Cliffs]

I am FINALLY caught up! You have great updates! The lion pictures were amazing. We have only seen the lion laying down on the Safari. He looks like a rock every time. :confused3 Also, your description of the egg rolls has gotten me so hungry. Wish you had a picture (just for the torture of it!).

[Happydog]

What great luck with all those FPs!!!! SO great! Especially for those rides! I totally hear you on the getting too wet before dinner.. we had that problem, getting totally soaked before heading into the arctic cold at Sanaa an hour later!! DS's were cold. :sad2: I wish I would have had a sweatshirt or something for them... We kept taking breaks during dinner to go outside to warm up!! and once they had eaten, they each sat on DH and my laps, to stay warmer! It was a little comical... Note to self about that for next summer! ;)

Maybe I missed where dinner was? I will have to go back and check!

[eandesmom]

Wow! FP Karma is right!! Awesome!! :cool1:

Love Kali! Last year when we went we did use ponchos (it was January - and cooler than most months) and someone in line said, "Those shouldn't be allowed on here." :rotfl:

We were in Feb but tons of people had ponchos! maybe b/c it was starting to get dark!

I am FINALLY caught up! You have great updates! The lion pictures were amazing. We have only seen the lion laying down on the Safari. He looks like a rock every time. :confused3 Also, your description of the egg rolls has gotten me so hungry. Wish you had a picture (just for the torture of it!).

thanks! A picture of the egg rolls would torture me too so it's probably best I don't have one :rotfl:

What great luck with all those FPs!!!! SO great! Especially for those rides! I totally hear you on the getting too wet before dinner.. we had that problem, getting totally soaked before heading into the arctic cold at Sanaa an hour later!! DS's were cold. :sad2: I wish I would have had a sweatshirt or something for them... We kept taking breaks during dinner to go outside to warm up!! and once they had eaten, they each sat on DH and my laps, to stay warmer! It was a little comical... Note to self about that for next summer! ;)

Maybe I missed where dinner was? I will have to go back and check!

Oh that's funny! I didn't even think of that, just being girls and worrying about our hair lol!

Dinner was at Boma! Coming up soon.

[MEK]

What?????? No update! :confused3 So disappointed! :laughing: )just kidding)

[cjackearl]

Hey lady! There are a couple of replies at the bottom of page 22 that I didn't want you to miss.:rolleyes1 I would hate for you to think I didn't reply to your update.:goodvibes

[eandesmom]

Wow, you really were the fast pass magnets this trip!:cool1: I'm glad you didn't have to wait in a long line for Kali. It's definitely worth doing, but at a 60 min. wait? Maybe not.

Somehow I knew you were going back for egg rolls! Awesome snackage. And I love the chocolate mouth ring.:laughing: My pre teen is the same way.:rolleyes:

Hmmm. Looking forward to hearing how your yeti encounter and dino meet go.

Aack! I can't believe I missed you :( SO hot here today my computer and fingers were sticky! 60 minutes is too long for (almost) anything!

Oh no! you mean he'll still look like that as a tween? :scared1:

somehow it won't surprise me a bit. DSD12 has a friend who looks like that when she eats, it's a riot!

Wow!!! What great fastpass karma you have!! Four times--that's awesome!!

Such a cute picture of your son!! You could tell he was really enjoying that Mickey bar!!!:thumbsup2

Ohh....that egg roll sounds so yummy!!!

Looking forward to hearing about EE in the dark!!:eek::rotfl:

He loves his food that's for sure. Often there is humming involved. :)

What?????? No update! :confused3 So disappointed! :laughing: )just kidding)

Too hot to be in front of the computer today. Or go to a baseball game for that matter, I thought DS10 was going to melt on the mound! Hope to get an update up before it heats up tomorrow and I run away.

Hey lady! There are a couple of replies at the bottom of page 22 that I didn't want you to miss.:rolleyes1 I would hate for you to think I didn't reply to your update.:goodvibes

lame! I am lame! I'm glad you said something! Sometimes my first unread thread is not right, which drives me nuts! So sorry!

[SunnieRN]

The picture has MIL, her DH and BIL. I don't see BIL going but you never know. I know MIL would like him there, as would the rest of us. His GF though....sigh. It is possible, though not probable, that we might fill another treehouse with my side of the family but we will see. Of course we could end up making all these plans and then for whatever reason, DSD and/or DSS can't go but right now we plan to forge ahead with it. I foresee many a roadblock but have hopes it will actually happen. MIL and I are plotting and we usually get our way.

All kinds of conflicting ideas and priorities so we are trying to balance it out. My brother just announced he is expecting. Which could derail this trip and mandate a trip to Germany instead. Me, I'd rather wait until the baby is a year old for a couple of reasons. 1 the baby will be more fun, 2 we'd have one less kid to take to Germany and 3 this will be the last summer of "teendom" for DSS and I'd like to take him again while we can. 4, my MIL is NOT happy with us right now for lack of visits (that fit with her schedule) and this would go a LONG ways to making up for that. 5, my brother will visit here between now and then, that I can count on.

DH has decided though, in that same vein, that he wants to take all the kids to DC. Which I do as well but that's not a week trip IMHO. So either we fit that in around Presidents week or maybe tack it onto one end of the treehouse. Not sure.

MIL is the trump card though :)

Sorry that it took me so long to respond to this. I hope that everything works out well and that you can return! You make a lot of good points for returning next presidents day!! It's always so hard when someone else holds the trump card though, as it kind of keeps you in limbo. It does sound like you have the potential for a wonderful vacation, no matter which destination you choose!!

As for a week in Washington DC, it takes several days just to see the Smithsonian Museums from what I understand. You could also go to NYC for a couple of days if a week is too long, Have fun!!:goodvibes

Woo hoo for karma fast pass!! That is so awesome!! We always end up giving a lot away when the kids poop out!

Love your post Kali family picture! Great memories when you look at that one I bet!:)

[eandesmom]

Sorry that it took me so long to respond to this. I hope that everything works out well and that you can return! You make a lot of good points for returning next presidents day!! It's always so hard when someone else holds the trump card though, as it kind of keeps you in limbo. It does sound like you have the potential for a wonderful vacation, no matter which destination you choose!!

As for a week in Washington DC, it takes several days just to see the Smithsonian Museums from what I understand. You could also go to NYC for a couple of days if a week is too long, Have fun!!:goodvibes

Woo hoo for karma fast pass!! That is so awesome!! We always end up giving a lot away when the kids poop out!

Love your post Kali family picture! Great memories when you look at that one I bet!:)

Well my hope is DC for Presidents Day and then Treehouse in August. Not that August is my dream time to go but the kids breaks don't coincide well this year and Presidents is only a long weekend for the older two.

DC in August is less appealing than Florida. At least in FL we can escape back to the pool!

So we will see... I think I can safely say we've postponed Germany til 2011 since now my little sister is getting married here in late June.

[eandesmom]

When I left off we were slightly drippy, but excited to head...FINALLY...over to EE!

We had been waiting for this ride the entire trip.

Before the trip.

From FOUR years ago as we watched it being built.

The anticipation was ridiculous (and rarely do things live up when you've built it up that much!)

Of course, watching Stacey talk about it all week didn't help lower the excitement factor either!

Wall-E had been wanting to buy a pin all week but my rule was no ride pin unless you've been on the ride!

The standby line was still quite long. I can't recall what it was but think it was about 40 minutes.

It wasn't EMH yet so it was not dark but the sun was beginning to set.

I did not take any pictures. I think after Kali I'd put it into DH's backpack, "photo'd" out for the day if you will.

Tink of course was non stop with the questions as we worked our way in. And we really had NO idea what to expect, other than it was tall, there was a Yeti and well, that's about it.

So the anticipation was huge to say the least. I think however we all were thinking about the parts in the dark, the idea of going backward. What never, ever occurred to me was...

The view as you go up the mountain, at night, with the Tree of Life Illuminated has to be one of the most Spectacular things I've ever seen at WDW. It was just stunningly beautiful.

Gasp worthy.

And then

I realized

JUST HOW FLIPPING HIGH UP WE WERE!

I think, being in the dark, exaggerated it. I can't really compare, not having ridden it during the day.

Holy Moly!

And then, we were off.

The Yeti was pretty humorous I must say but I really REALLY enjoyed this ride, backwards broken track and all.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/ExpeditionEverest.jpg

Tink however, not so much.

She did great all week on the fast and furious rides but being outside and seeing how high up we were freaked her out. Not crying, screaming freaked out but as you can see, she looks awfully pale in the pic!

Wall-E has his new "I'm holding my glasses so they don't fall off" look and Steven is raring to go. I think the pic of Scrooge and Goofy didn't turn out or they were blocked by hands or something.

For the rest however it became a great internal debate, which was the better coaster, RRC or EE.

Afterwards, once we escaped the mandatory gift shop clutches (not escaping until we'd bought the picture and a T shirt for Goofy who still had some $$ left) it was officially EMH!

The boys all wanted to do EE again and Tink and I headed back to...

you guessed it....

Dinosaur!

Which was a riot and a half I have to admit. I get suck a kick out of that ride. Afterwards we all decided to so some last minute shopping, Scrooge wanted a espresso and Steven still needed his smoothie.

I finally found myself something!

I picked up this

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/BQp2LzQBGkKGrHgoH-EMEjlLlwLjKBJ6BjJ.jpg

Which gets an awful lot of wear. I love this shirt. I've never had a princess shirt before, and likely will never again but I love this shirt.

Scrooge was less than thrilled, saying he wasn't a beast and reminding me that I wouldn't let him get the shirt that said "I'm Grumpy because I'm with Dopey". Which actually wasn't true, I'd tease him he couldn't get it and then he'd say he didn't want it b/c I'm not really dopey lol.

I reminded him that Beast turns out to be a pretty cool dude.

I also found some great pj bottoms, black with cheetah print mickey heads. Sadly they are a wee bit short, I like them long and they did shrink but that happens with most pj pants. I still wear them anyway!

Steven took FOREVER looking at more necklaces but in the end, I don't think, bought anything else.

More so than any other park, all week, probably b/c it was our last night we really meandered with the shopping on the way out. Tink had some of her own money and picked up a very cute eyeore nightshirt. Tired to get me to get the Morning Minnie one but I'm not a nightshirt fan....too much material to twist around the legs, ugh! But of course, when I was Tink's age, I lived in them.

Finally..shopping was done and it was time to say goodbye. One last think to take care of though

the Photopass guy!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image26.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image27.jpg

See how beautiful the TOL is lit up? Now imagine, looking out at that as you ride up to the top of EE.

Spectacular!

Our PP guy was so cute. He was like "hey, you guys are smiling, that's so cool!" and I asked why, don't most people smile?

And he said....you'd be surprised!

:confused:

Finally finished, a wee bit sad, we left AK and headed over to AKL for dinner at Boma.

Either I was wiped out, focused on getting a cocktail or just thinking about how dreadfully early we had to get up the next day but like a total idiot, I didn't take a single picture of our last dinner!

So...I stole some :)

The restaurant is GORGEOUS!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/wdwboma2.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/wdwboma3.jpg

Our reservations were for 8pm. We checked in about 10 minutes early and within 5 minutes our pager was vibrating and we were escorted to our table. Boma is a BIG restaurant and very pretty. It was also pretty darn busy. Our table was right in a main traffic path but as it sat eight we simply moved one chair down so we didn't feel in the path and that worked well.

Scrooge ordered another African Amber and I went for a cocktail of some sort. Obviously nothing special as it is NOT jumping out at me, I think it was a Bahama Mama. It was ok. I was kind of bummed as there had been one cocktail at Yak and Yeti (a Yak attack I think) that I'd hoped would be on the menu, and it wasn't. Oh well.

The younger kids got the mandatory light up cars drink, not on the plan. I'd been surprised that they hadn't asked for it at Kona so I let them get one here (and pre-empted any fighting over my glow cube from PTC). Steven was able to get a different smoothie than we'd seen elsewhere as his beverage and really liked it. Some orange concoction.

Off to the buffet. Boma is in pods and you do not have to go in order but, most people do. If you don't you actually may get a look like you are cutting in line! The menu varies quite a bit. We were there on a Wednesday and the menu included the short ribs and the nut crusted salmon as well as a spice rubbed chicken.

Highlights:

1. Soups! Their soups were simply unbelievable. In particular the Coconut Curry Chicken Stew (medium in thickness with moist chicken and a wonderful base. I would have LOVED to pour this over rice and eat as an entree) and the Carrot Ginger Soup (melt in your mouth subtle flavor creamy delight). Seconds were had on both of these by several of our gang.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/boma9.jpg

2. Hummus! I'm sorry, you can't go wrong with a hummus bar and flatbread! Yum yum and yum.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/boma5.jpg

3. Short ribs. I am not a huge rib eater. These were amazing. They just fell off the bones so no fingers where needed. The recipe I just made for the 4th of July reminded me of these, I need to go look this one up and compare.

4. Salmon. Mnn! I have a spice rub from Tom Douglas that is very reminiscent of the seasoning the used and then coated with crusted nuts. Outstanding.

5. Spice chicken. Classically simple, nice spice, very moist.

6. Potatoes with attitude. While the name says it all these seasoned red potatoes were little gems of flavor. On a side note Steven got the last of one pan and they looked pretty pathetic. Wait for a new pan if they are running low, or ask!

7. Banana Bread Pudding. Not the best bread pudding ever but it was quite good. None of the other desserts really grabbed me and none of my gang really commented on the rest although people tried most everything. I thought the coco-misu was just ok. Fine but nothing super special.


Lowlights:

1. Prime rib. Scrooge liked it but it just wasn't anything special to me.
2. Salad offerings. Nothing was awful, but nothing really grabbed me either.
3. Desserts in general. Ok I may get flamed for this one (b/c I know a lot of people love the Boma desserts) but over half of the items had alcohol in them and while that might be great for Scrooge and I, who wants to be the mean parent at a buffet telling their child they can't have it. I did let Goofy taste one and he didn't like it but I would have expected a better non-alcoholic selection than cookies (which looked like nothing special though the kids liked them.

I would eat here again. AKL is a bit out of the way but if at AK I would go here though I'm more likely to try Sanaa next time. I'd liek to do Jiko but if I'm paying OOP for a signature there are others in front of it in my line up.

I'm just not a big buffet person so that is more likely the issue and on day 6 we were all a little burnt out from too much food. I truly can't imagine the DDP!

For Scrooge though it tied as his favorite meal!

The kids ate well, a bit more mac and cheese than usual but Wall-E downed 2 bowls of the Carrot Ginger Soup and Tink dived into the Coconut Chicken Stew which was a pleasant surprise.

Up next, how long will it take to get back to the resort? boarding passes and billing and a last minute travel change.

plus, the last towel animal. Which wasn't an animal. What was it?

and....having fun, at work, with ride pictures....

[eandesmom]

recognize this face shot?

:lmao:

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/BEEinamovie.jpg

[Angies1274]

Great update!!!:thumbsup2

We are so excited to ride EE our next trip!!:woohoo: Well...I'm still working on DS6, he's still a little unsure of the Yeti...poor kid.:laughing: Glad to hear that you enjoyed it!! Love the ride pic!

Great family picture in front of the TOL!! We've never been to AK at night before, the tree is just beautiful all lit up.

We definitely have to try Boma!! It looks awesome inside and the food looks and sounds yummy!! Sorry you were disappointed in the desserts. It's too bad they don't offer a better selection for kids.

[cjackearl]

No worries on the missed replies, I just didn't want you to think I'd not replied to your update.:goodvibes Wow, I'm so impressed that you all rode EE. I couldn't do it, although I'd love to experience the queue, and seeing an "aerial" view of the park would be pretty darn cool. Poor Tink! She does not look happy in the ride picture. I :rotfl2: at what you did with your ride picture. You've got some skills, lady. Have you ever thought about digital scrapbooking?

Your family picture in front of the TOL is a stunner! But the green TOL looks to me like, um, a big piece of brocolli.:blush: I'm sure it looks nothing like a cruciferous vegetable in person, though.:laughing:

I want some chicken coconut curry stew, please. The short ribs sound really good too. I wonder if they're the same ones on the Sanaa menu. The hot tables at Boma look nicer than heat lamps and chafing dishes. Thanks for the restaurant picture, stolen or otherwise.;) It really looks like a beautiful place.

[pixleyyy]

What did you think about the crowds at the evening EMH? Did you find them to be much busier or was it a great choice to utilize those? Just wondering if we should avoid evening EMH for our December trip.

[TarzansKat]

I'm impressed that the whole fam went on EE! Wow, they are some brave souls! Me, not so much. Pirate I may be, but cowardly as well. :lmao:

I'm glad to hear you liked Boma. We had a not so great breakfast there once, and I'll be hard pressed to convince DH to go back, but I'd love to try dinner at some point. It does look quite yummy. :thumbsup2

[lisalonglash]

Wall-E had been wanting to buy a pin all week but my rule was no ride pin unless you've been on the ride!

Good rule! :thumbsup2

The standby line was still quite long. I can't recall what it was but think it was about 40 minutes.

:scared:

The view as you go up the mountain, at night, with the Tree of Life Illuminated has to be one of the most Spectacular things I've ever seen at WDW. It was just stunningly beautiful.

Sounds lovely! :woohoo:

The Yeti was pretty humorous I must say but I really REALLY enjoyed this ride, backwards broken track and all.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/ExpeditionEverest.jpg

What a GREAT picture! :cheer2:

Wall-E has his new "I'm holding my glasses so they don't fall off" look and Steven is raring to go. I think the pic of Scrooge and Goofy didn't turn out or they were blocked by hands or something.

I feel Wall-E's "keeping the glasses safe" pain :laughing: I found what worked for me was to have my glasses on a cord around me neck and I just took them off my face and tucked them into the front of my shirt for the fast rides :thumbsup2

Which was a riot and a half I have to admit. I get suck a kick out of that ride. Afterwards we all decided to so some last minute shopping, Scrooge wanted a espresso and Steven still needed his smoothie.

You are so brave! Dinosaur freaks me out (not that I saw a whole lot of it because Mickey was demanding that I cover HIS WHOLE FACE during most of the ride, so I was kind of sideways trying to cover his face LOL :rotfl:

I picked up this

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/BQp2LzQBGkKGrHgoH-EMEjlLlwLjKBJ6BjJ.jpg

Adorable shirt! :love: it!

I reminded him that Beast turns out to be a pretty cool dude.

::yes::

the Photopass guy!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image26.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image27.jpg

More fantastic pictures! :woohoo:

Our PP guy was so cute. He was like "hey, you guys are smiling, that's so cool!" and I asked why, don't most people smile?

And he said....you'd be surprised!

:confused:

I'm :confused3 by that too!

The younger kids got the mandatory light up cars drink, not on the plan. I'd been surprised that they hadn't asked for it at Kona so I let them get one here (and pre-empted any fighting over my glow cube from PTC). Steven was able to get a different smoothie than we'd seen elsewhere as his beverage and really liked it. Some orange concoction.

This is the restaurant that I know we will get the boys their light-up Cars cups because we're going to Boma for dinner on our rest day, so we can take the cups right back to the hotel room afterwards and not have to schlep them around kwim? :thumbsup2

Off to the buffet. Boma is in pods and you do not have to go in order but, most people do. If you don't you actually may get a look like you are cutting in line! The menu varies quite a bit. We were there on a Wednesday and the menu included the short ribs and the nut crusted salmon as well as a spice rubbed chicken.

Oh boy, I cannot wait for our Boma dinner! Most of the stuff sounds like it's right up our alley! We love food that is a little off the beaten path :banana:

Thanks for the great review - I am a teensy bit of a food porn addict and love seeing food pictures :rotfl2:

Up next, how long will it take to get back to the resort? boarding passes and billing and a last minute travel change.

plus, the last towel animal. Which wasn't an animal. What was it?

and....having fun, at work, with ride pictures....

Not long, I hope! Oooh, a towel "animal" :dance3:

[eandesmom]

Great update!!!:thumbsup2

We are so excited to ride EE our next trip!!:woohoo: Well...I'm still working on DS6, he's still a little unsure of the Yeti...poor kid.:laughing: Glad to hear that you enjoyed it!! Love the ride pic!

Great family picture in front of the TOL!! We've never been to AK at night before, the tree is just beautiful all lit up.

We definitely have to try Boma!! It looks awesome inside and the food looks and sounds yummy!! Sorry you were disappointed in the desserts. It's too bad they don't offer a better selection for kids.

If you blink, you might miss the yeti :)

No worries on the missed replies, I just didn't want you to think I'd not replied to your update.:goodvibes Wow, I'm so impressed that you all rode EE. I couldn't do it, although I'd love to experience the queue, and seeing an "aerial" view of the park would be pretty darn cool. Poor Tink! She does not look happy in the ride picture. I :rotfl2: at what you did with your ride picture. You've got some skills, lady. Have you ever thought about digital scrapbooking?

Your family picture in front of the TOL is a stunner! But the green TOL looks to me like, um, a big piece of brocolli.:blush: I'm sure it looks nothing like a cruciferous vegetable in person, though.:laughing:

I want some chicken coconut curry stew, please. The short ribs sound really good too. I wonder if they're the same ones on the Sanaa menu. The hot tables at Boma look nicer than heat lamps and chafing dishes. Thanks for the restaurant picture, stolen or otherwise.;) It really looks like a beautiful place.

:rotfl: on the broccoli! yes, it kind of does! Ah digital scrapbooking....yes, but there is the time factor!

What did you think about the crowds at the evening EMH? Did you find them to be much busier or was it a great choice to utilize those? Just wondering if we should avoid evening EMH for our December trip.

The park really cleared out in the evening, EMH was outstanding!

I'm impressed that the whole fam went on EE! Wow, they are some brave souls! Me, not so much. Pirate I may be, but cowardly as well. :lmao:

I'm glad to hear you liked Boma. We had a not so great breakfast there once, and I'll be hard pressed to convince DH to go back, but I'd love to try dinner at some point. It does look quite yummy. :thumbsup2

Aw, EE really was quite fun, it was just HIGH! which was cool. Freaky. But cool.

Boma was good. I'm not a buffet girl but love the style of food and am sure I'd love Jiko.


I feel Wall-E's "keeping the glasses safe" pain :laughing: I found what worked for me was to have my glasses on a cord around me neck and I just took them off my face and tucked them into the front of my shirt for the fast rides :thumbsup2

You are so brave! Dinosaur freaks me out (not that I saw a whole lot of it because Mickey was demanding that I cover HIS WHOLE FACE during most of the ride, so I was kind of sideways trying to cover his face LOL :rotfl

This is the restaurant that I know we will get the boys their light-up Cars cups because we're going to Boma for dinner on our rest day, so we can take the cups right back to the hotel room afterwards and not have to schlep them around kwim? :thumbsup2

Oh boy, I cannot wait for our Boma dinner! Most of the stuff sounds like it's right up our alley! We love food that is a little off the beaten path :banana:

Thanks for the great review - I am a teensy bit of a food porn addict and love seeing food pictures :rotfl2:


ITA on the cups on the last night, it worked out well. And we still use them!
LOL on covering up Mickey's face on Dinosaur.

I should get Wall-E some croakies or something, but he'd wear them year round. I think I'll let him discover them on his own! And I'm sure he will. It just seems like false pretences to have pin if you haven't been on the ride. Kind of poser ish. I'm sure that's a little silly of me but...then the pin means more!

[OneTreeHillAddict]

What a GREAT picture of you guys from Everest! :thumbsup2

[Happydog]

HI!! How did I miss your update yesterday?!! I was a bit distracted with trip preps, we leave for Oregon on Saturday! OH wait, HOT in Seattle? UM what?! Are you seriously complaining??!! We have 90 here and HUMID. BUT I can't complain, because this week is the first week when we have had such weather practically all summer... it has been an amazing summer frankly!

OH I saw in a chat response that you were thinking about DC in February? COLD it will be, so just be ready for that... Snow or ice very likey that time of year -- tends to come really early or really late here... You can catch some of the highlights, no need to do it all. Plenty to see and you'll be busy!

Now the photos, the PPass pics, were tooo tooo precious! Very nice with your family! My DS's are too young so it is a challenge to get everyone lookin at the camera and smiling at the same time!!! Great ride shots, too! :thumbsup2 EE is mega high, I agree!!!! I was a little taken back! :laughing:

[eandesmom]

What a GREAT picture of you guys from Everest! :thumbsup2

thanks!!!!!

HI!! How did I miss your update yesterday?!! I was a bit distracted with trip preps, we leave for Oregon on Saturday! OH wait, HOT in Seattle? UM what?! Are you seriously complaining??!! We have 90 here and HUMID. BUT I can't complain, because this week is the first week when we have had such weather practically all summer... it has been an amazing summer frankly!

OH I saw in a chat response that you were thinking about DC in February? COLD it will be, so just be ready for that... Snow or ice very likey that time of year -- tends to come really early or really late here... You can catch some of the highlights, no need to do it all. Plenty to see and you'll be busy!

Now the photos, the PPass pics, were tooo tooo precious! Very nice with your family! My DS's are too young so it is a challenge to get everyone lookin at the camera and smiling at the same time!!! Great ride shots, too! :thumbsup2 EE is mega high, I agree!!!! I was a little taken back! :laughing:

it hit 103 in Seattle yesterday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! and was warmer where I live. 106 in Portland:scared1:

so yeah, that's too hot and I am complaining. I'm a sun girl and lived in Chicago for 10 years so I can take the heat BUT for the 1 week of overly hot weather (and this is a good 10-15 degrees hotter than a "normal" overly hot week) that we get a year, it isn't worth it for 99% of folks to have AC in their homes. Including us. My house was 78 when I woke up. Not that I slept much.

Good point about Feb in DC. Seriously, after this week, I am rethinking Aug at WDW.

[eandesmom]

After our Bombastic dinner we strolled around the lobby a bit, poked in the gift shop and headed out. We were worried that getting back to the fort would be a bit of an ordeal.

We took the bus back to AK and then from there, to the Fort. thanks to EMH there were still plenty of buses and the trip "home" was completed far more quickly than our arrival.

Back at the Fort I headed to the front desk to use up what was left on our visa gift card only to find out they'd already charged everything to our Disney Visa!

Which did NOT make me happy. I had assumed that would happen in the middle of the night or am. Not at 10pm on the night before our check out date! After MUCH discussion they were able to get the rest of the card credited to our bill and adjust the DV charge but it really cut into my late night packing and I was less than thrilled.

As we headed back to the cabin we re-evaluated DME for the am. DME wanted us to leave at 3:30 AM!

We decided to use a towncar instead. At that hour, an hour of sleep is..an hour! And I'm sorry but at that hour I don't buy the be at the airport 2 hours early. No way.

If we could get one! I hopped online to the DIS transportation board, got some numbers and got on the phone. Blessedly, we found a car that would pick us up at 4:30. We still had to get to the outpost by then though so scheduled a van with the fort to come get us, and our stuff, at 4:15.

Having done most of the packing the night before, big kids took showers and little ones went to bed.

We were greeted by this, in our bathroom.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0104.jpg

I wish it had been there all week, I loved it!

I also wish I had known it was ok to take the towel animals...I'll remember that next time. Granted I would have taken this but the aardvark...maybe!

Off to bed and then for a FAR too early wake up call. Grumpy and tired we dragged the crew out of bed, into the van and up to the Outpost. Thankfully we didn't have to wait too long for our driver.

I wish I had something interesting to say about the flight back but I don't. Other than it really kind of sucked. We were all tired, crabby and I was really really regretting being talked into this flight time simply so Tink could make it to soccer practice. The girl was going to be a wreck and I just didn't see how it was worth it. Both she and Steven had school the next day and really just needed to go to bed. She at least slept on the plane, she can sleep anywhere but I don't think anyone else did.

Upon arrival home my dad picked us up, took us by a classic dive for food and it was home. Scrooge then had the fun job of separating out Tink and Steven's stuff and running them to their mom's so Tink could make it to practice. He was gone an awfully long time! Turns out Steven talked him into a side trip to the DMV to get scheduled for his drivers test. While we were gone he'd passed the mandatory time period and was now eligible to test.

Steven neglected to mention that he had a big test the next day but assured Scrooge all homework was done.

Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case. He bombed the test, didn't get to take his DL test when originally scheduled and it is safe to say in many ways sabotaged his own chances of being allowed to miss ANY school for trips with us in the future. We were not happy as it made us look bad and we really did ride him on his homework the whole trip and were assured, repeatedly he was on top of it. Tink did the same thing though luckily in her case, did fine on the tests despite lack of studying.

Which is why I have to look at UGH August for our next trip!

The good news is it appears Steven has gotten his act back together school wise, we will have to see how this year goes but the end of the year was encouraging.

Up next.

What we liked, didn't like and some final thoughts.

[eandesmom]

As I think about what we liked and didn't like, would do or wouldn't do again, I thought I'd start with the Fort.

For those of you that are unfamiliar with the Fort, here's a little info!

Nestled away on a 750 acre cypress and pine forest between the Magic Kingdom and Epcot, sits the Fort Wilderness Resort and Campground. This resort offers the best of the outdoors and even offers one bedroom cabins for those who prefer the "great indoors". There are 788 campsites ranging in length from 25' to 65', for tents, tent trailers and recreational vehicles. New extensions are currently being made for larger campers vehicles.

For those who prefer the comforts of home, there are cozy freestanding Ft. Wilderness Cabins available that can accommodate up to 6 guests.

As you might expect "in the wild", there are rabbits, ducks, geese, deer, armadillos, and peacocks roaming the grounds. The Settlement Recreation Area is on Bay Lake and includes the marina, beach, Pioneer Hall and the Tri-Circle-D Ranch.

The Settlement Trading Post sells gifts, sundries, groceries, snacks and beverages. The Meadows Recreation Area is in the center of Fort Wilderness. This area includes the Bike Barn (for rentals) and the Fort Wilderness waterways and bicycle trails. Swimming, tennis, volleyball and shuffleboard are all available at the Meadows Recreation complex. The Meadows Trading Post is similar to the Settlement Trading Post, but includes a deli as well.

Today, few people know that Fort Wilderness Campground was once home to a narrow gauge steam railroad that transported passengers though out the campground.

Disney had Robert McDonnell design the overall look and graphics for the cars and engines. Disney decided to build 4/5 scale engines and coaches from the ground up.

The Fort Wilderness Line Railroad locomotives were built in 1972 by MAPO, a division of Walt Disney Productions. Serveral modifications were made to the locos by Disney to increase operating efficiency and give the locos a nicer look. Most notably is the addition of a pony truck, over-sized headlight, and a squared-off saddle tank. Some of the operational modifications include a switch from a coal/wood burner, to diesel fuel with an electronic fuel pump.

The trains started up operations in 1974. For the next five years guests of Fort Wilderness Campground were treated to live steam train transportation like no other. The train route was by far the longest train route at any Disney park, more than double the 1 1/2 mile route around the Magic Kingdom. The Wilderness Line transported guests through woods, fields, and over trestles. People realized this was no ordinary campground. You could take a steam train to a old swimmin' hole called River Country, or just ride and enjoy the scenery. A $1.00 ticket was good for an adult to ride all day. Imagine that! The train ran every day from 7:00 am to 11:00 pm. The fact that the train started running at 7:00 am brought up a 'over design' issue. The engines were fitted with whistles designed to be heard up to a county away under rural conditions. Guest, often camping in tents, were treated to a startling morning wake-up.

After a sequence of seemingly minor events, Disney let the Wilderness line operation come to a grinding halt somewhere around 1980 and slowly fade into history.

However, the Fort Wilderness RR has been resurrected...but in a new and different way. If you recall, we used the quiet pool on our trip and then the WL main pool, as the Meadows Pool was under renovation.

Check it out.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn76/Tri-Circle-D/July%202009/fw709005.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn76/Tri-Circle-D/July%202009/fw709008.jpg

With the renovation they added a hot tub and a slide and last I read a splash zone is in the works (though I'm not at all up to speed). They took the water tower here from the old River Country I believe and incorporated the railroad logo on it!

Here is my personal take on the Fort.

It's HUGE! Mindbogglingly huge. I've camped a lot, been to a fair amount of spread out places and wow, it's huge.

And if you love the outdoors, like to camp, like state parks and the like, it is absolutely fabulous.

For a large family or one that needs space it is by far the best deal in Disney. In my opinion.

For these reasons.


You get a FULL kitchen
A FULL deck
It sleeps 6 with a fully separate bedroom that has a separate entry to the deck.
It's in the woods
It's incredibly quiet
your kids could scream their heads off and it won't bother the neighbors
your kids could stay up till 2am watching tv and it won't bother the neighbors
your kids could wake up at 6 am and bounce off the walls and it won't bother the neighbors
It is a MK resort! But at moderate prices. Nowhere else can you take a boat from a Mod to the MK! That was AMAZING. Not only that but it's immediate access to the Contemporary or WL and from the Contemporary it's a hop skip and a jump to GF or the Poly. Talk about easy access to a huge array of great TS options!


So if I compare it to the other options to sleep 6 AND stay on property you have the following scenarios

Value-2 rooms
All other mods-2 rooms
Deluxe-2B villas

2 rooms at the values or the other mods could cost equal, significantly more or less depending on the options but you wouldn't get ANY of the items listed above!

And for us, those items are key. I want a full pot of coffee and space to sit down and drink it and not feel like I'm stuck in the room waiting for teens to wake up or tiptoe around making the coffee.

I want snacks and breakfast in the room, a place for wine, beer, and appetizers for the afternoon. I like knowing that I could cook a full meal, even if I don't. I like the ability to make lunches and have a full fridge of drinks for kids (and not pay OOP for them at the parks).

I like separate spaces for people, it makes for better sleeping for all.

I like the woods. I love the woods. I loved having my coffee on the deck in the woods. I loved knowing that I could be on the deck but my family was still inside. In a mod or a value I'd feel stuck in the room without a balcony or I'd be stressed finding somewhere to sit outside while lazy people slept. This was incredibly relaxing, or as relaxing as it could be when I was ready to go but others weren't lol! I have been at the values and just can't see doing it again but that's just where I'm at.

I could see trying the other mods but always come back to the kitchen and private space issue and can never seem to get past it. Our cabin and mousekeeping were incredible the entire trip. Just spotless! Basically, I'd stay at the Fort again in a heartbeat, as would all the kids. I think the younger ones may have loved it more but am not sure.

There is SO much we didn't do there it's just embarrassing, really. I feel like we didn't "do" the Fort and that makes me sad.

That said, here is what I didn't like

Despite the rave reviews above, for 6, it is REALLY tight. As a group of 6, 4 that were basically adult sized, we won't stay there again. As kids get older and we become a group of 4? Probably. Very very likely!

The cabins and the RV/Tent part of the Fort are pretty separate and there is a little bit of a weird mentality that bugs me, like being in the cabins is faux camping and you are kind of looked down on. Well, I'm sorry. I am a camper. A TENT camper. RV's are just cabins with wheels. It's no more real camping than a cabin is, the difference is that the cabins don't pretend to be. The attitude bugs me. It isn't huge but I sensed it at times while doing my homework.

FW does NOT have a CS option. I believe that the thinking is that b/c it is set for camping and cabins the assumption is people will cook their own food before going to a CS option. The HDDR and Mickey's backyard BBQ are immensely successful but from what I understand TE has gone downhill in food quality. We didn't eat there but the reviews didn't make me want to either. Had there been a CS option we'd have used it heavily.

FW basically has NO snacks on the DDP. Which again, is ridiculous. They could easily improve it at the trading post and it's almost offensive that they don't. Plenty of campers and cabin dwellers are on the plan. This is a huge miss.

For some people it is not resort-y and Disney-y enough. If you like hotels and resorts, this isn't for you. If you like vacation condo's, space, privacy, quite woods and camping, it's the bomb!

Some people complain about the transportation (non MK) at the Fort. We didn't find it to be an issue at all. Or at least any issues we had were within the normal span for any resort, I think. The internal buses ran like clockwork.

Things we didn't do at the Fort that I'd like to do in the future


I would have loved to try out the new pool while we were there, it is a reason to go back.

We didn't rent golf carts, just too expensive and I can't see renting them next time either BUT we could have and should have, rented bikes. That is a must do.

Smores, campfire and movies...Didn't make it one night, would really really like to!


Next, a dining recap!

[SLM]

Have you considered renting points and staying in the treehouses in Saratoga Springs? They have many of the qualities you mentioned for the cabins, but seem larger. We're going to check them out on our trip next week. I bet it was relaxing having coffee on the deck in the mornings-I loved your pictures. :)

[MEK]

When I left off we were slightly drippy, but excited to head...FINALLY...over to EE!

Wall-E had been wanting to buy a pin all week but my rule was no ride pin unless you've been on the ride!

Rough...mom...rough!



The view as you go up the mountain, at night, with the Tree of Life Illuminated has to be one of the most Spectacular things I've ever seen at WDW. It was just stunningly beautiful.

Ohhhhhh....your killin' me. You have no idea how badly I want to ride EE at night and I don't see it in the near future.

JUST HOW FLIPPING HIGH UP WE WERE!

I think, being in the dark, exaggerated it. I can't really compare, not having ridden it during the day.

Cool! :thumbsup2
[http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/ExpeditionEverest.jpg

Ok....you look hysterical because your eyes are like saucers. Tink looks downright scared. Poor tink!

For the rest however it became a great internal debate, which was the better coaster, RRC or EE.

Both good...just different. I bet EE is a bit cooler at night, though!
The boys all wanted to do EE again and Tink and I headed back to...

you guessed it....

Dinosaur!

Love this ride



http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image26.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image27.jpg

See how beautiful the TOL is lit up? Now imagine, looking out at that as you ride up to the top of EE.

Spectacular!

Our PP guy was so cute. He was like "hey, you guys are smiling, that's so cool!" and I asked why, don't most people smile?

Great photopass pictures (especially coming from someone who rarely smiles! :laughing:

The restaurant is GORGEOUS!




Highlights:

1. Soups! Their soups were simply unbelievable. In particular the Coconut Curry Chicken Stew (medium in thickness with moist chicken and a wonderful base. I would have LOVED to pour this over rice and eat as an entree) and the Carrot Ginger Soup (melt in your mouth subtle flavor creamy delight). Seconds were had on both of these by several of our gang.


2. Hummus! I'm sorry, you can't go wrong with a hummus bar and flatbread! Yum yum and yum.

3. Short ribs. I am not a huge rib eater. These were amazing. They just fell off the bones so no fingers where needed. The recipe I just made for the 4th of July reminded me of these, I need to go look this one up and compare.

4. Salmon. Mnn! I have a spice rub from Tom Douglas that is very reminiscent of the seasoning the used and then coated with crusted nuts. Outstanding.

5. Spice chicken. Classically simple, nice spice, very moist.

6. Potatoes with attitude. While the name says it all these seasoned red potatoes were little gems of flavor. On a side note Steven got the last of one pan and they looked pretty pathetic. Wait for a new pan if they are running low, or ask!

7. Banana Bread Pudding. Not the best bread pudding ever but it was quite good. None of the other desserts really grabbed me and none of my gang really commented on the rest although people tried most everything. I thought the coco-misu was just ok. Fine but nothing super special.

Fantasic review of the food! Did you take notes to remember all that?





Your last three installments are stellar and I'm not sure how I managed to miss this first one. What a wonderful last evening you had at AK. I am so jealous of your EMH ride on Everest. Will I ever ride Everest in the dark?.....I know I won't this September. :sad2:

I just have to tell you that it completely S___KS how early you needed to get up to leave, all because of soccer practice. That is just wrong, on so many levels. And Steven and his school work. I can no longer take Brian (16) out of school anymore. He just can not stay organized enough to keep up with the work and gives me the same line, "It's cool. I'm caught up". uggghhh! Sorry Steven did so poorly when he got back. I know, all too well, how that goes.

I loved reading your final summary and all the good parts about staying at the fort. I have always been curious about staying there because I like the woods and the quiet. It does sound intriguing. I do think renting DVC points might be a smart plan for you. It will probably cost you what the fort cost and it will give you an opportunity to try bigger accomodations. The treehouse villas would be really perfect for you.


Loved your TR...hate to see it end.

[eandesmom]

Have you considered renting points and staying in the treehouses in Saratoga Springs? They have many of the qualities you mentioned for the cabins, but seem larger. We're going to check them out on our trip next week. I bet it was relaxing having coffee on the deck in the mornings-I loved your pictures. :)

Hi!!!

:) if you'll notice my siggie there is a picture of THV for a August 2010 trip! Or at least I hope it's an August 2010 trip! I do think they are basically upgraded cabins and absolutely perfect for our crew. My only concern with them is that while they are at the lower mod price and a complete bargain for how many they sleep compared to the 2b villas (THV are 3br!) is that there is no direct access to a park. DTD isn't a park, or a huge draw, for me. But still, it is by far the best fit. And as much as I'd like to stay at BCV for SAB...THV just feels right.

If I had the money to buy in, I would absolutely consider DVC for THV. But that's a complete no-go right now. Darn Scrooge and his plane! LOL.

Are you going to do a TR? I would LOVE LOVE LOVE to read it! I can't wait to read on on the treehouses. I think I only have seen 2 or 3 on the cabins, and it's really a mixed bag of reviews but I think it breaks down to either you like a cabin woods type atmosphere, or not. I see some people unhappy with them who picked them for the size and kitchen but they really prefer a more traditional hotel/resort. Others just adore them, so it's either one way or the other!

That said, I don't think we will rent points. For a couple of reasons.

1. It makes me nervous. I know most of the time, probably 99.9% of the time it works out fine but it takes booking out of my control and that scares me. It's a trust issue. If it was someone I knew...maybe.

2. Given the homework issues we are going to be stuck going in the dreaded heat of summer for the foreseeable future as holiday rates are not in the budget. Which, if planned right, means free dining and I can't get FD if I rent points.

But who knows. I have to get a new job before I can book and at that point will really compare things.

I also have to convince DH that 18 months is long enough between trips. He wants to go to DC. MIL, her DH and I are campaigning for THV. Between me and MIL I think he knows he's already doomed and LOVES the idea of the Treehouses.

Your last three installments are stellar and I'm not sure how I managed to miss this first one. What a wonderful last evening you had at AK. I am so jealous of your EMH ride on Everest. Will I ever ride Everest in the dark?.....I know I won't this September. :sad2:

I just have to tell you that it completely S___KS how early you needed to get up to leave, all because of soccer practice. That is just wrong, on so many levels. And Steven and his school work. I can no longer take Brian (16) out of school anymore. He just can not stay organized enough to keep up with the work and gives me the same line, "It's cool. I'm caught up". uggghhh! Sorry Steven did so poorly when he got back. I know, all too well, how that goes.

I loved reading your final summary and all the good parts about staying at the fort. I have always been curious about staying there because I like the woods and the quiet. It does sound intriguing. I do think renting DVC points might be a smart plan for you. It will probably cost you what the fort cost and it will give you an opportunity to try bigger accomodations. The treehouse villas would be really perfect for you.


Loved your TR...hate to see it end.

Awwww....thanks! I hate to see my TR end too! Almost as much as I hated to see yours end. You, you lucky dog you, get to go back very very soon though! And without kids!

I have complete faith that you will ride EE in the dark. It's not an "if", it's a "when" :)

Yeah...for soccer practice. NEVER again. DH is in complete agreement. Not a big deal for Tink to miss 4 days of school but heaven forbid she miss a practice. Seriously. Her mom tried to guilt her into not going on the trip b/c she would miss 2 of her jr high school basketball team practices as well. Which would mean she couldn't play in the first 2 games b/c she wouldn't have enough practice time in.

Never mind the fact that she was an alternate on the team, 13 out of 13 players (and told that she was #13) and that she had to sign a document that stated she knew she was only a "practice" player and wasn't guaranteed any game time at all.

Yeah, I'd miss disney for that. Sorry. Vent over! I did get a good ODP update from her though before she left on her friend trip. She played on the invitational team the entire camp, not the WA team. Call back was almost 80 girls and apparently the ENTIRE S. Cal team made it and most of the N. Cal! About 5 or so from WA including our old goalie. No one from this years team though.

Which is very very cool for our old goalie, I hope she makes the team (though I really really wish she hadn't left!), I guess the regional pool goes through the whole process again. So not quite as bad as the only 1 from Delaware scenario but on a percentage basis, not that great either.

About the Fort....you want some great running paths.....stay at the Fort! Scrooge and Tink loved it. You can run in between FW and WL! Pretty pretty pretty!

I"ll have to look at the points, last time I priced it it was more than the Fort and it will just come down to what the better deal is knowing that we want the DDP and could go during FD which is also value rate time. It sleeps 3 more than the Fort though and is cheaper than most of the deluxe 2brs outside of SSR and OKW (neither of which I have a burning desire to stay at though).

We saved a TON of $$ on the DDP this trip and will definitely do it again. I loved knowing our food was paid for, it made is so much more relaxing not doing the day by day adding how we were doing versus budget!

[KathyRN137]

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/image27.jpg



The restaurant is GORGEOUS!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/wdwboma2.jpg




Love that PP Pic... it's the one in the montage you've got in your siggie, right?

We're looking forward to Boma... breakfast, not dinner, but you're right. The restaurant (and the Lodge) are beautiful!




....the Fort Wilderness RR has been resurrected...but in a new and different way. If you recall, we used the quiet pool on our trip and then the WL main pool, as the Meadows Pool was under renovation.

Check it out.

http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn76/Tri-Circle-D/July%202009/fw709005.jpg
http://i301.photobucket.com/albums/nn76/Tri-Circle-D/July%202009/fw709008.jpg

With the renovation they added a hot tub and a slide and last I read a splash zone is in the works (though I'm not at all up to speed). They took the water tower here from the old River Country I believe and incorporated the railroad logo on it!


Looks really great!!

You almost have me convinced that we need to stay at the Fort someday.

Almost! ;)


Kathy

[cjackearl]

No, it's not over, say it isn't so!!:sad1: Ok, melodrama over, but I sincerely loved reading all about your trip. You write really well and I related to your perspective on things Disney.

Another hour of sleep at 3:30=a very good thing. I'm glad that a towncar was available. I can't believe the resort had already charged your card! That would irk me.

:sad2: for you guys because of Steven's poor choice on the homework front. He probably doesn't even realize the ramifications for your family and future vacations. August, although hot, will at least mean no school work to have to over see.:thumbsup2

Thanks for the review of the Fort and the history of the rail road. I had never heard that. The renovated pool looks like fun.

Please, please consider writing a TR for your THV stay. I'd love to read it.:flower3:

[SunnieRN]

Awwww, really enjoyed your trip report and I wish it were not over!! I third the idea of checking into renting points vs booking through disney, although if you go during free dining with 4 adults and two children it may not be cost effective to rent points?

You are a much better person than I am. I highly doubt that I would ever take a flight that early to get home for a sport practice of any kind. Now going TO disney, would be an entirely different matter!;)

Loved your dining report also and enjoyed hearing the background of the fort!! Your Boma review and photopass pictures were outstanding!!

Thanks again for sharing your memories!!

[TarzansKat]

Okay, definitely bummed that we've hit the end, but so grateful for your final thoughts!

I've really enjoyed reading your report, and loved your final review of FW. I don't think I've ever stayed there, and from your description, it's something I feel I'd like to try at least once. So many good things going on over there! :goodvibes

[eandesmom]

Hey! I'm not QUITE done yet guys! :) Have a few more thoughts! Still to come


Dining recap

Overall trip likes/dislikes and

What I'd do different next time!


Okay, definitely bummed that we've hit the end, but so grateful for your final thoughts!

I've really enjoyed reading your report, and loved your final review of FW. I don't think I've ever stayed there, and from your description, it's something I feel I'd like to try at least once. So many good things going on over there! :goodvibes

It's a wonderful place. Interestingly there are many people who go there just to camp and don't even go to the parks! If I lived locally, I could completely see doing that...just not in August. We are gearing up to go camping this weekend and our heat wave has thankfully passed, that would be miserable! Only in FL though would you read on a camping board about putting AC in a tent! That freaks me out with the possibility of rain, plugging soemthing in like that, I don't get it. But I can see where you'd need it!

Awwww, really enjoyed your trip report and I wish it were not over!! I third the idea of checking into renting points vs booking through disney, although if you go during free dining with 4 adults and two children it may not be cost effective to rent points?

You are a much better person than I am. I highly doubt that I would ever take a flight that early to get home for a sport practice of any kind. Now going TO disney, would be an entirely different matter!;)

Loved your dining report also and enjoyed hearing the background of the fort!! Your Boma review and photopass pictures were outstanding!!

Thanks again for sharing your memories!!

If we do go during FD, which is the plan it would actually be 7, or 8 adults! DS8 turns 10 early Sept that year and I'd rather list him as an adult if I can.... We saved so much $$ doing the DDP and had the 4/3 deal but when I compared the two, FD is even more savings for us. So given the time of year it will likely be FD.

We pick our battles :) it was enough to get them ON the trip, if that's what we had to do, it's what we had to do. It was also dictated by cheap flights but the reality is there just aren't that many options to get back to Seattle.

Love that PP Pic... it's the one in the montage you've got in your siggie, right?

We're looking forward to Boma... breakfast, not dinner, but you're right. The restaurant (and the Lodge) are beautiful!

You almost have me convinced that we need to stay at the Fort someday.

Almost! ;)

Kathy

:rotfl2: It's not for everyone. But I do encourage a visit! HDDR, Mickey's Backyard BBQ, ride the horses, Segwey tour, rent bikes, petting zoo...SO much to do!

Boma breakfast would be yummy! Unless we stay there though I can't see us making the trek for bfast. It'd get us into AK by what...3om knowing us?

:rotfl:

[lisalonglash]

Which did NOT make me happy. I had assumed that would happen in the middle of the night or am. Not at 10pm on the night before our check out date! After MUCH discussion they were able to get the rest of the card credited to our bill and adjust the DV charge but it really cut into my late night packing and I was less than thrilled.

:headache:

As we headed back to the cabin we re-evaluated DME for the am. DME wanted us to leave at 3:30 AM!

:scared1:

We were greeted by this, in our bathroom.

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-18/WDW_090218_0104.jpg

How cute! :goodvibes

I wish I had something interesting to say about the flight back but I don't. Other than it really kind of sucked. We were all tired, crabby and I was really really regretting being talked into this flight time simply so Tink could make it to soccer practice. The girl was going to be a wreck and I just didn't see how it was worth it. Both she and Steven had school the next day and really just needed to go to bed. She at least slept on the plane, she can sleep anywhere but I don't think anyone else did.

Flight time home based on soccer practice?! Yikes! :eek:

Sadly, that didn't turn out to be the case. He bombed the test, didn't get to take his DL test when originally scheduled and it is safe to say in many ways sabotaged his own chances of being allowed to miss ANY school for trips with us in the future. We were not happy as it made us look bad and we really did ride him on his homework the whole trip and were assured, repeatedly he was on top of it. Tink did the same thing though luckily in her case, did fine on the tests despite lack of studying.

:hug:

The good news is it appears Steven has gotten his act back together school wise, we will have to see how this year goes but the end of the year was encouraging.

Well, that's good news! :thumbsup2

[eandesmom]

:

Flight time home based on soccer practice?! Yikes! :eek:


Well...to be fair, she missed at least 2 and one practice game (I think, although it might have gotten cancelled last minute) but upon our return they were heading into State Cup in about 2 weeks from our return so really, she couldn't/shouldn't have missed more than she did if at all possible. I still wouldn't do those times again and the reality is it is very very possible that no matter when we book the next trip, there will be a conflict and she may not get to go. We can't hold up life completely so figure if we announce now we are going next August, at least it's in her head so she can really decide if and when there is a conflict. Which, if there is, will be a tournament. We are going to try our best to plan around when we think there will be ones they'll sign up for but it's more art than science at this point!

[Angies1274]

Aw...so sad that your trip report is coming to end.:( I've really enjoyed reading it!!:goodvibes Thanks for the history and summary of FW!!! We were actually planning to stay there in August until my brother decided to join us and since the cabins only sleep 6, we were forced to look into something else. It's too bad, because I know my parent's would have loved it!! They love the outdoors!!! Oh...and the pool looks great!! It's definitely something we may look into in the future!!!:thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about your dining recaps and what you liked and disliked.popcorn::

[SLM]

We aren't staying in the treehouses-we have a week at AKL and then two days at SSR (using up developer points)-we thought that would be a good opportunity to check them out-I'll post pictures if we get good ones!
We've traveled in August when DD was in school-always too much going on during the year to miss school days once she was in HS. Now she's 26 and married but we're going in August because she's a teacher! :laughing: Anyway, we never minded our August trips-even if your teens can't make the early hours they will love staying up til 1:00 or 2:00 a.m!

[eandesmom]

Aw...so sad that your trip report is coming to end.:( I've really enjoyed reading it!!:goodvibes Thanks for the history and summary of FW!!! We were actually planning to stay there in August until my brother decided to join us and since the cabins only sleep 6, we were forced to look into something else. It's too bad, because I know my parent's would have loved it!! They love the outdoors!!! Oh...and the pool looks great!! It's definitely something we may look into in the future!!!:thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear about your dining recaps and what you liked and disliked.popcorn::

Oh that's too bad, the cabins are great but it's tight with 6 (unless the 4 are smaller kids). Hopefully next time! Dining recap coming soon!

We aren't staying in the treehouses-we have a week at AKL and then two days at SSR (using up developer points)-we thought that would be a good opportunity to check them out-I'll post pictures if we get good ones!
We've traveled in August when DD was in school-always too much going on during the year to miss school days once she was in HS. Now she's 26 and married but we're going in August because she's a teacher! :laughing: Anyway, we never minded our August trips-even if your teens can't make the early hours they will love staying up til 1:00 or 2:00 a.m!

That makes sense, and thanks for the input on August travel, that's great to hear. I would love to see pictures if you have any!

[GreatBiscuit]

All caught up again. Boma sounded great! Glad you had such a great day at Animal Kingdom.

[MEK]

Awwww....thanks! I hate to see my TR end too! Almost as much as I hated to see yours end. You, you lucky dog you, get to go back very very soon though! And without kids!Seriously big advantage to living on the east coast and being able to score cheap flights!

I have complete faith that you will ride EE in the dark. It's not an "if", it's a "when" :)I guess the when will have to remain a mystery a bit longer.

Yeah...for soccer practice. NEVER again. DH is in complete agreement. Not a big deal for Tink to miss 4 days of school but heaven forbid she miss a practice. Seriously. Her mom tried to guilt her into not going on the trip b/c she would miss 2 of her jr high school basketball team practices as well. Which would mean she couldn't play in the first 2 games b/c she wouldn't have enough practice time in.
I know you said this before, but hearing it a second time makes me realize how completely and utterly ridiculous that was!

Never mind the fact that she was an alternate on the team, 13 out of 13 players (and told that she was #13) and that she had to sign a document that stated she knew she was only a "practice" player and wasn't guaranteed any game time at all.
No comment....just :sad2:

Yeah, I'd miss disney for that. Sorry. Vent over! I did get a good ODP update from her though before she left on her friend trip. She played on the invitational team the entire camp, not the WA team. Call back was almost 80 girls and apparently the ENTIRE S. Cal team made it and most of the N. Cal! About 5 or so from WA including our old goalie. No one from this years team though.Good for tink! What's the deal with the S Cal team???? Do they have superior coaching? I guess it doesn't hurt that they can probably play outdoors year round. How nice would that be?

Which is very very cool for our old goalie, I hope she makes the team (though I really really wish she hadn't left!), I guess the regional pool goes through the whole process again. So not quite as bad as the only 1 from Delaware scenario but on a percentage basis, not that great either. Good luck to your goalie. What a tough position that is.

About the Fort....you want some great running paths.....stay at the Fort! Scrooge and Tink loved it. You can run in between FW and WL! Pretty pretty pretty!I would love, love, love that!

I"ll have to look at the points, last time I priced it it was more than the Fort and it will just come down to what the better deal is knowing that we want the DDP and could go during FD which is also value rate time. It sleeps 3 more than the Fort though and is cheaper than most of the deluxe 2brs outside of SSR and OKW (neither of which I have a burning desire to stay at though).I hear ya.....free dining would definately be an advantage not to be passed up!

We saved a TON of $$ on the DDP this trip and will definitely do it again. I loved knowing our food was paid for, it made is so much more relaxing not doing the day by day adding how we were doing versus budget! Agreed. We do the dining plan every trip we are able, too. It's really worth it!

Sorry I did not respond sooner. I read this last night, but it was late and my computer was acting crazy, so I turned it off and went to bed.

[eandesmom]

All caught up again. Boma sounded great! Glad you had such a great day at Animal Kingdom.

Thanks! We did! now I need to get over to your TR and get caught up myself!


Seriously big advantage to living on the east coast and being able to score cheap flights!

and being DVC! Harder to justify DVC from wayyyy out here...


What's the deal with the S Cal team???? Do they have superior coaching? I guess it doesn't hurt that they can probably play outdoors year round. How nice would that be?

Well, we play outdoors year round, we just figure it's a bigger state, a bigger deal and I don't know, they are amazing. We get killed by them but so does everyone else. N. Cal is pretty impressive too. Certain clubs in particular, it would be interesting to see the pool by club actually.


Sorry I did not respond sooner. I read this last night, but it was late and my computer was acting crazy, so I turned it off and went to bed.

no worries, that sounds like a good reason to go to bed to me! Which I'm off to do myself and get caught up with everyone else in the am and then post my dining recap! Today got away from me, in a much needed mental health kind of way :)

[eandesmom]

Our week of gluttony in review.

First off I want to state how much we LOVED the DDP.

We really debated whether or not to do it, whether or not we'd save. We did save. Quite a bit. But as important or more, all our meals were paid for. ahead of time. No mentally adding throughout the week to see how we were doing on the budget. No changing of where we were going to eat because we'd over spent the night before. We had ADR's, a new concept for us. Scrooge had really really worried that a daily ADR anchored us too much and didn't give us enough flexibility. That couldn't have been farther from the case. It actually ended up being something everyone looked forward to each day and I loved NEVER having to deal with the..

What do you want to eat?
I don't know, what do you want to eat?
What sounds good to you?
I don't know, what sounds good to you?

No, that doesn't sound good
No, I don't have a better idea

I want mexican
but I want pizza
but I really want a steak
what about fish mom?

I could let the kids have a treat every day without mentally adding up just how much I was spending on Mickey Bars, smoothies and popcorn. I like to treat my kids, I do. I do not however let them get something like that as a general rule every day on vacation! Once or twice, maybe even three times, sure. But not every day. The kids thought they were in heaven.

But first...

a Garden Grocer review

We worried it wouldn't be enough food and so I'd had our cabin stocked with about $200 worth of groceries. We didn't need that much. I bought stuff to make hot breakfast in addition to cold cereals, yogurt, fruit and poptarts. I'd skip that next time. I overbought on the dinner items a little but was able to pack it back home so it wasn't an issue. I mis-ordered one item but that was all me. Ideally on the next trip we will time it so there is no need for more than cold breakfast items, beer, wine and snacks! Although with MIL and her DH along...may need to do rum and coke lol!

That said I was incredibly pleased with Garden Grocer. There seems to be quite a debate between GG and WeGo. As I am not from the area, all our stores are different, so for me to specifiy to WeGo exactly what brand of everything I wanted just seemed nightmarish. Several of our normal brands would be hard to find or non existent and just the idea of making the list bugged me. It sounded like work! I figured I could actually end up spending more if I wasn't careful. And, in looking at the GG site I really didn't see most items as being horribly overpriced.

Our items were not only delivered on time, they were early. Which bugs some people but as the cold stuff was already put in the fridge (except for the beer which would have been really appreciated when we go there lol) I can't complain. Scrooge had been dreading the idea of getting the groceries from check in, into the cabin, and it was already handled!

My only issue is both a plus, and a minus, for GG. We were able to order beer and wine. Which, arriving at almost midnight to our room (but 9pm Seattle time) was a very very good thing! However you can't put it on your order, you email them separately and then when they actually get it they call you with the additional amount. Which means it doesn't count towards your order total and I'd assumed it would. Which meant I didn't get free delivery despite spending enough. I'd still use them again. The delivery fee was far cheaper than renting a car and as, or more important, I didn't spend the first few hours of an actual vacation, at the grocery store! Which is what usual happens. And feels like work. This made it feel like a vacation, right away. We did pack a few items on the dry goods and condiment side and I'd do that again (like GOOD coffee), that worked really well. I would probably do a bit more of it next time. But, compared to my original plan which had been packing almost all our food, and thus another bag to check, this worked better and I don't think cost us much more in the end. What we saved in time, stress and baggage fees more than outweighed it and made our late night arrival relatively painless.

And now,

a trip dining recap……

On this trip we went to ALL new places, both for TS and CS.

We dined at

Table Service

Biergarten
Teppan Edo
Kona
Boma
HDDR
PTC
HOB (OOP)


Counter Service
Cosmic Rays
Yak and Yeti Local Foods
Gasparilla Grill
Roaring Forks
Tangerine Café
La Cantina De San Angel
Starring Rolls
Toluca Turkey Legs

If we had to rank our favorites for our sit down meals (and we did) it would be

Table Service
Me:
1-Kona
2-PTC

DH:
1-Biergarten
2-Boma

Kids:
1-Teppan Edo
2-HDRR

Dinner Show
Probably a show down between the HDDR and Teppan but PTC is right up there for me! DH didn't get to see as much so he can't vote lol. Out of these only the HDDR technically counts as a show (and the 2 TS credits to pay for it) but I really think Teppan, PTC and Biergarten all count as having "shows"!

Which means all of our ADR's were someone's 1st or 2nd favorite so I'm pretty darn pleased! Interesting how different our tastes are but everyone liked every place, just had a different line up of favorites. I am surprised that buffets were DH's fav's. I knew we'd all like the food but I had no idea he liked buffets that much! Kind of fun to be surprised like that!

Top Snacks

No surprises here!


Yak and Yeti Egg Rolls!
Mickey Bars
Goofys (espresso for me, yum!)
Main Street Confectioners


I know a lot of people love Sunshine Seasons for both food and snacks, we were not overwhelmed. On that note....here are my thoughts by park.

Epcot
#1 in TS options
#1 in CS options
#4 for snacks. We had a hard time with snacks here. Partially b/c we'd left the WS. Or at least I think that's the reason. Also could simply be it was early in the trip!

MK
#4 in TS options
#3 in CS
#1 for snacks

DHS
I'm actually going to give this a #2 in TS. While there aren't a ton of options, I think PTC and SciFi are good enough to be repeaters and for in the park dining that's pretty important
#4 for CS (even though we liked Starring Rolls)
#3 for snacks

AK
I'm going to give this a #3 in TS b/c of Yak and Yeti and Tusker House. Even though we haven't eaten at either, they are on my someday maybe list which is more than I can say for a single sit down in the MK.
#2 in CS
#2 in snacks. Say it with me. Yak and Yeti local foods egg rolls!

:love:

Speaking of snacks. DHS, AK and MK did a FABULOUS job of having those nice little snack credit icons on the menus. Epcot flunked that one. Big time. I didn't see a single icon on any menu, the entire trip. They are very very helpful! Even if you have your wonderful DIS list, which was a godsend for snacks1

It's going to be hard next time to balance all these wonderful experiences with trying new places!

We had late ADR's (7:30-9:30). If memory serves there was something going on with booking windows on ADR's that was different then (shorter?) than it is now. I was NOT tracking that at all before the trip. Despite planning the trip for in truth, about 18 months (as it kept moving dates) I didn't look into dining until it really seemed like we were actually going! Which meant I started looking the day after we paid off our balance lol! So I booked all our ADR's about 42 days out.

Other than LeCellier, despite the insane crowds of the week, got everything I wanted. I am sure a lot of it had to do with my mostly 8pm slots. And I am a bit of a loss as to how to fix that next time. The reality is we never eat before 7:30 at home anyway. So 8:30 on vacation feels perfect to us given the time difference, even a little early. BUT it did impact fireworks. In a big way. And I have to say that I don't trust park hours. I booked all of my ADR's around them, and showtimes, and they all changed. So that's frustrating but I will try to figure it out!

And so…that brings me to my....

hypothetical ADR list for my mythical 2010 trip.

LOL! I know the kids will want to go back to some of their favorites (just like they want to stay at FW again) but I also know DH and I would prefer to try new places. So my gut is we will do 100% new places again for our sit downs but at a bare minimum, get some egg rolls for a snack!

Here are my thoughts at present, a wish list for the future. This plan assumes we are at THV. If we stay elsewhere, the plan will change!

Dinner Top Choices:

Turf Club
California Grill
Les Chefs
Ohana
Olivias
Sanaa
Tokyo Dining
anywhere I get in on a fantasmic package!


Dinner Second Choices:

Raglan Road
Narcosees
Citricos
The Wave
Coral Reef
Yak and Yeti
Teppan Edo (yes, this breaks the all new rule)


Breakfast:


Chef Mickeys
Kona
Cape May


Counter Service
If it works out I'd like to try

Columbia Harbour House
Boulangerie Patisserie (which we wanted to go to but no one wanted to hike back to France)
Flame Tree BBQ
Earl of Sandwich


But CS isn't something we are going to really plan. It works better that way.

I'd love to try Beaches and Cream some day but just don't see it as a good use of TS credits as they don't take reservations but...could be an option for a late night dinner at DHS.

And Yes. I am planning to do breakfast. I might be crazy. We might end up with only half of the crew making it out of bed to go but I love breakfast. I never get to go out to breakfast. I'm always the one making breakfast. It's going to be "my" thing this next trip.

As with this trip all of our lunches will be CS and the remaining breakfasts in our room or CS. We (quite) often didn’t really eat 3 meals on the last trip so I’m going to make myself relax about those CS credits! I look forward to staying somewhere that has CS there! I have more places on my list than will be covered by our plan so either I will have to whittle it down or pay OOP. Right now my plan is for one signature and to do it OOP. I am hoping to make it an 8 night trip so this time we really get 7 full days with how much time the travel takes from here. Breakfasts will have to be OOP or, if I really want breakfast, do a CS dinner or two.

We will not really do 3 sit down breakfasts, especially since 2 are buffets, so will need to choose between the 2 character ones. MIL will be into breakfast though so that's ammo for me. We’ve never done a Character meal and I think it must be a rule to do at least one in your lifetime! Plus I think MIL and her DH would get a huge kick out of it. Tink too though she’d act otherwise.

If I can’t get a fantasmic package I’m not sure. It is helpful eating at DHS though plenty of things are relatively close. MIL would “love” going to the Brown Derby but I’m not sure that’s where I want to spend 2 credits or go OOP, just think there are better choices for that. We’ve done PTC and SciFi, liked them both. DH would vote for Mama Melrose as he LOVES Italian but the reviews are generally so bad….I don’t know. Might well end up out of the park that night. I’ll eat anywhere if it’s a fantasmic package. Maybe I’m over thinking that but we didn’t get to see it this trip and the trip before, the wait and the crowd was INSANE! Granted, in August it may well be a totally different “world”. But the time we saw it was early Nov, not still Halloween, Not yet xmas or thanksgiving decorations so you wouldn’t have expected it to be as insane as it was. Dh would eat at Big Time Brewery again but it’s not on the DDP. So…I don’t know! I do know there is a new place happening on the Boardwalk so maybe that will be my fantasmic backup.

Oddly enough, though I've seen tons of lunch reviews for Yak and Yeti, it doesn't seem anyone eats dinner there but....we're just not into sit down lunch, especially as late as we get to the parks.

Feel free to weigh in on my imaginary list and year away over thinking!!

Next, park summary, what we liked/didn’t like and will do again (or not, or different) next time!

[KathyRN137]

Scrooge had really really worried that a daily ADR anchored us too much and didn't give us enough flexibility. That couldn't have been farther from the case. It actually ended up being something everyone looked forward to each day and I loved NEVER having to deal with the..

*************************************************[/COLOR]

We worried it wouldn't be enough food and so I'd had our cabin stocked with about $200 worth of groceries. We didn't need that much.....That said I was incredibly pleased with Garden Grocer.

**************************************************

[I]hypothetical ADR list for my mythical 2010 trip.





Ed and I have the same feelings about ADRs and the Dining Plan... the first are a "necessary evil" (!) and the second is just so convenient... never mind the savings!

I second your review of Garden Grocer.:thumbsup2

I also have made the mistake of packing too much food for the DVC Villa just because it had a kitchen. There is so much food on the DP that it really makes it unlikely that you cook full meals.... next time I'm just doing cold cereals, milk, fruit, and bottled water.

I love the "Mythical Trip" title!! :rotfl: DISers always have mythical trips planned it seems!


Kathy

[MEK]

Our week of gluttony in review.

First off I want to state how much we LOVED the DDP.

And now,

a trip dining recap……

On this trip we went to ALL new places, both for TS and CS.

We dined at

Table Service

Biergarten LIKE
Teppan Edo Love
Kona Love
Boma Love
HDDR Love
PTC Love
HOB (OOP) What is this? I am having a senior moment!

[Top Snacks




Yak and Yeti Egg Rolls! Have to try these!

Epcot
#1 in TS options
#1 in CS options
Agreed!


hypothetical ADR list for my mythical 2010 trip.





Dinner Top Choices:
[LIST]
Turf Club Haven't tried and this is my home resortlol!
California Grill Love this, but I would go without all the kids! Can be a very romantic evening, especially at one of those tables for two near the window!
Les Chefs Enjoyed this, although my family didn't and I still have no idea why. I think because it was day 7 of a 7 day trip and the food was too much by this point
Ohana This is seriously at the top of my must do list. I love this place. I have eaten there three times.
Olivias Never tried
SanaabNever tried
Tokyo Dining Never tried
anywhere I get in on a fantasmic package! I have eaten at Mama Melrose several times and I have no complaints. I also liked H&V, but it is a buffet.


Dinner Second Choices:

Raglan Road Never tried
NarcoseesGoing soon
Citricos Never tried
The Wave Very good. And easy to get an ADR. Definately would do again
Coral Reef Other than the fish tank there is no need to eat here. It gets bad reviews and its not a lot of food. Ate here once....it was a cool atmosphere, but the food was eh.
Yak and Yeti Want to try this in Sept and can't get an ADR. ugghhh!
Teppan Edo (yes, this breaks the all new rule) This is definately a do-over in my book


Breakfast:


Chef Mickeys Only ever had dinner here
Konathe french toast is supposed to excellent. Still toying with the possibility of breakfast here in Sept
Cape May I love the BC, so that alone is reason for me to eat here. Plus the characters are so cute and the food is good, IMHO. I don't think you can really ruin breakfast. I also like that you can get a late ADR 1055....so its practically lunch

I would also recommend the Crystal Palace for breakfast because its puts you in the MK and Eeyore is there. :lovestruc

Counter Service
If it works out I'd like to try

Columbia Harbour House Good and quiet upstairs with good view of HH
Boulangerie Patisserie (which we wanted to go to but no one wanted to hike back to France)Crowded
Flame Tree BBQ Liked, but I reverse to eat outside in the summer heat. This is strictly a cool weather visit for me
Earl of Sandwich Very good sandwiches and lots and lots of choices




Sorry. I am too lazy to cut and paste today (and most days for that matter), but above are my humble opinions. Thanks for the great dining review. Love it....so much detail! Can't wait to hear about the parks!

[cjackearl]

I love your dining recap! ITA regarding the dining plan. It was fantastic to have most of our food paid for before the trip and to be unconcerned with the cost of our choices at TS restaurants. Your favorites are pretty similar to our favorites, especially Kona and HDDR.:love: I'd say definitely try a character meal next trip, we liked Chef Mickey's for dinner and Crystal Palace for breakfast. Ohanas looks really good for breakfast also. I guess it depends on who your crew might like to meet. I wanted Cali Grill and Raglan Road this trip but they just didn't fit, and we had an ADR for Chef de France but we had too many ADRs so we cancelled this one.

We liked the food at CHH a lot, but we ate it on the fly. Their tuna sandwich is amazing.:lovestruc

Garden Grocer sounds like a great deal.:thumbsup2

[TarzansKat]

Thank you for such an unbelievably thorough recap!

Oddly enough, although I love reading about what you thought of the various restaurants, I was most interested in your take on GG. I've never used one of those services and have often wondered whether it was worth it and if it really went as smoothly as a lot of people claim. Looks like for you, it was great! :thumbsup2

[eandesmom]

Ed and I have the same feelings about ADRs and the Dining Plan... the first are a "necessary evil" (!) and the second is just so convenient... never mind the savings!

I second your review of Garden Grocer.:thumbsup2

I also have made the mistake of packing too much food for the DVC Villa just because it had a kitchen. There is so much food on the DP that it really makes it unlikely that you cook full meals.... next time I'm just doing cold cereals, milk, fruit, and bottled water.

I love the "Mythical Trip" title!! :rotfl: DISers always have mythical trips planned it seems!
Kathy

I think mythical trips keep us sane! Bottled water is the one thing I forgot but it actually was never an issue, DH or I would get one for our beverage and then refill the bottles as needed. Plus it wasn't that hot

Sorry. I am too lazy to cut and paste today (and most days for that matter), but above are my humble opinions. Thanks for the great dining review. Love it....so much detail! Can't wait to hear about the parks!

lol, no worries on the cut and paste :) good point on Cali Grill, we may do that! Only if MIL and her Dh are up for it but I bet they will be! And that they will suggest one night out for us anyway. Assuming all the pieces line up for the trip to even happen of course!

Thanks for your thoughts on the adr wish list!

I love your dining recap! ITA regarding the dining plan. It was fantastic to have most of our food paid for before the trip and to be unconcerned with the cost of our choices at TS restaurants. Your favorites are pretty similar to our favorites, especially Kona and HDDR.:love: I'd say definitely try a character meal next trip, we liked Chef Mickey's for dinner and Crystal Palace for breakfast. Ohanas looks really good for breakfast also. I guess it depends on who your crew might like to meet. I wanted Cali Grill and Raglan Road this trip but they just didn't fit, and we had an ADR for Chef de France but we had too many ADRs so we cancelled this one.

We liked the food at CHH a lot, but we ate it on the fly. Their tuna sandwich is amazing.:lovestruc

Garden Grocer sounds like a great deal.:thumbsup2

Good idea on Ohana as a breakfast option....

Thank you for such an unbelievably thorough recap!

Oddly enough, although I love reading about what you thought of the various restaurants, I was most interested in your take on GG. I've never used one of those services and have often wondered whether it was worth it and if it really went as smoothly as a lot of people claim. Looks like for you, it was great! :thumbsup2

I was very very pleased with them and will use them again!

[MEK]

I copied this from December TR. It's my reivew of California grill. DH and I had a solo dinner there..........


Post 9: Dinner at the Cali Grill

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We checked in on the 4th floor, I think???? I actually forget what floor it was, but the check in process was simple. I didn't know that you took a private elevator to get to the CG. That was pretty cool!


It was about 5:30/5:40 when we checked in. By the time we were seated it was dark out. I think its cool how the twilight lasts just minutes in florida and then, poof, it's gone and its dark. We rode up on the elevator with a family of 5. I was actually surprised how many children were checking into the restaurant with their parents. I just wouldn't think to take my kids here because it's an expensive dinner and I don't think they would fully appreciate it. There are too many other less expensive restaurants that would better meet the needs of their teenage palates. But, hey, if you really want to eat at CG and you can afford to take your kids - go for it!

They handed us a beeper when we got upstairs, told us where the rest rooms were, pointed in the direction of the observation deck, and showed us the lounge where we could wait. Except we didn't need to wait at all. Our beeper went off almost instantaneously. We were seated at a fabulous table for two right along the window. It was very quiet, with no kids, and we had a spectacular view. DH told me I would not get good pics through the glass, so I did not take them. Instead, I just savored every minute of the view.

Our waiter, Steve, who was originally from Massachuesetts, told us he had worked for the CG for 19 years. He had worked for Disney for 25 years total. I guess once you get a job waiting at the CG, you probably become a lifer! He said, despite the fact that he has worked there for so long, he never gets tired of the view and he spends time everyday just soaking it in. He said he never wants to forget to appreciate it. He said he also enjoys viewing it during the different seasons because of the way the sun casts shadows on the lakes and the surrounding buildings.

When we sat down, we were presented with a very comprehensive wine list. I don't know a lot about wines, but I thought this would be a good place to share a bottle. I was drawn to the section called "Interesting white wines". I asked Steve if he could pick out a bottle for us. He recommended a wine from Monterrey which actually had a german name. It wasn't overly sweet or overly dry. In my opinion, it was perfect. I knew if Steve had worked there for 19 years, he had to know a thing or two about wines!

My appetizer was this lovely salad with blue cheese and cranberries and probably a few nuts thrown in there. It was delish. DH had the beet salad, we had these big slices of different types of beets. He was quite pleased with his salad. I refrained from bread during this meal, because I wanted to really enjoy the food.

My entree was scallops. It was three huge scallops arranged on the thin layer of potatoes and a relish made of corn. It was fabulous. They were honestly the best scallops I have ever had. I did sneak a pic of my dish, but I did not photograph DH's dish.

I asked DH what he had for dinner, cause I couldn't remember. He couldn't really remember either, but we know it was some type of seafood dish. Next time, I will have to take better notes!!!!! I know his dinner did not fail to please.

We also had dessert. It was a chocolate filled brownie with rasberry topping. We split this. It was seriously just OK. But I didn't really notice by then, because I had quite a bit of wine to drink. In fact, by our estimates, I probably drank about 3/4 of the bottle.

We were seated near a couple who were on their honeymoon. They sprinkled the table with confetti. It was really cute and I congratulated them when we left.

Well - I gotta get ready for work. We obviously stayed and watched the fireworks from the observation deck. I will post those pics later. But I will leave you with this lovely picture of the castle........

I wanted to post a little bit more information about our dinner and my final impressions.

First of all, let me say that this dinner really lived up to my expectations of a magical Christmas present. I tried to make a mental imprint of what it was like, sitting next to the window looking out over the expanses of the Magic Kingdom and the MK resorts. I have little freeze frame images in my mind of the castle changing colors, the astro orbitor spinning, and the ferry boats, outlined with sparkling lights, coming and going. Even the bus depot looked magical, sprinkled with bright, glowing lights. During dinner I kept sneaking sideways glances of the nighttime vista. I don't want to ever forget it!

I truely recommend a couple's dinner at CG. I don't think I would have enjoyed our dinner nearly as much if it had been a family affair. The cost for our dinner - 2 appes, 2 entrees, a bottle of wine, and one dessert, was about $160 with the 20% discount and the 18% gratituity. Steve was definately worth more than 18% and he was tipped accordingly. We were at our table about 1 1/2 hours. There was no rushing, yet the evening flew by. I was originally worried about our 5:45 dinner time. I thought it was too far in advance of the 8pm wishes. But it ended up being perfect. By the time we got up from the table and went out to the observation deck, it was close to 7:30pm.

The temperature was perfect for the deck. And, surprisingly, the deck was not very crowded. I envisioned a small area with people crowded together to watch the fireworks. It was not like that at all. There were several small children with their parents out on the deck, but they didn't stay long. We had no trouble taking pictures. I literally just snapped and snapped and snapped. It was somewhat labor intensive and I think I probably missed the best part of the fireworks because of my preoccupation with the camera and getting theh best shots.

[Angies1274]

Great Dining recap!!:thumbsup2 You ate at alot of great places! I think one of the best things about the DP is that it's completely paid for and that you don't have to budget everyday to make sure you are going to have enough. We've tried Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and Ohana's for breakfast so far. I would have to say out of all of them, we enjoyed the food at Crystal Palace the best. But also because you are able to get some great pictures of the castle before the park opens on an empty Main Street!!;) Although we love Chef Mickey's for the characters and atmosphere, we thought the food was just alright compared to CP.

[eandesmom]

I copied this from December TR. It's my reivew of California grill. DH and I had a solo dinner there..........


Post 9: Dinner at the Cali Grill

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------


We checked in on the 4th floor, I think???? I actually forget what floor it was, but the check in process was simple. I didn't know that you took a private elevator to get to the CG. That was pretty cool!


It was about 5:30/5:40 when we checked in. By the time we were seated it was dark out. I think its cool how the twilight lasts just minutes in florida and then, poof, it's gone and its dark. We rode up on the elevator with a family of 5. I was actually surprised how many children were checking into the restaurant with their parents. I just wouldn't think to take my kids here because it's an expensive dinner and I don't think they would fully appreciate it. There are too many other less expensive restaurants that would better meet the needs of their teenage palates. But, hey, if you really want to eat at CG and you can afford to take your kids - go for it!

They handed us a beeper when we got upstairs, told us where the rest rooms were, pointed in the direction of the observation deck, and showed us the lounge where we could wait. Except we didn't need to wait at all. Our beeper went off almost instantaneously. We were seated at a fabulous table for two right along the window. It was very quiet, with no kids, and we had a spectacular view. DH told me I would not get good pics through the glass, so I did not take them. Instead, I just savored every minute of the view.

Our waiter, Steve, who was originally from Massachuesetts, told us he had worked for the CG for 19 years. He had worked for Disney for 25 years total. I guess once you get a job waiting at the CG, you probably become a lifer! He said, despite the fact that he has worked there for so long, he never gets tired of the view and he spends time everyday just soaking it in. He said he never wants to forget to appreciate it. He said he also enjoys viewing it during the different seasons because of the way the sun casts shadows on the lakes and the surrounding buildings.

When we sat down, we were presented with a very comprehensive wine list. I don't know a lot about wines, but I thought this would be a good place to share a bottle. I was drawn to the section called "Interesting white wines". I asked Steve if he could pick out a bottle for us. He recommended a wine from Monterrey which actually had a german name. It wasn't overly sweet or overly dry. In my opinion, it was perfect. I knew if Steve had worked there for 19 years, he had to know a thing or two about wines!

My appetizer was this lovely salad with blue cheese and cranberries and probably a few nuts thrown in there. It was delish. DH had the beet salad, we had these big slices of different types of beets. He was quite pleased with his salad. I refrained from bread during this meal, because I wanted to really enjoy the food.

My entree was scallops. It was three huge scallops arranged on the thin layer of potatoes and a relish made of corn. It was fabulous. They were honestly the best scallops I have ever had. I did sneak a pic of my dish, but I did not photograph DH's dish.

I asked DH what he had for dinner, cause I couldn't remember. He couldn't really remember either, but we know it was some type of seafood dish. Next time, I will have to take better notes!!!!! I know his dinner did not fail to please.

We also had dessert. It was a chocolate filled brownie with rasberry topping. We split this. It was seriously just OK. But I didn't really notice by then, because I had quite a bit of wine to drink. In fact, by our estimates, I probably drank about 3/4 of the bottle.

We were seated near a couple who were on their honeymoon. They sprinkled the table with confetti. It was really cute and I congratulated them when we left.

Well - I gotta get ready for work. We obviously stayed and watched the fireworks from the observation deck. I will post those pics later. But I will leave you with this lovely picture of the castle........

I wanted to post a little bit more information about our dinner and my final impressions.

First of all, let me say that this dinner really lived up to my expectations of a magical Christmas present. I tried to make a mental imprint of what it was like, sitting next to the window looking out over the expanses of the Magic Kingdom and the MK resorts. I have little freeze frame images in my mind of the castle changing colors, the astro orbitor spinning, and the ferry boats, outlined with sparkling lights, coming and going. Even the bus depot looked magical, sprinkled with bright, glowing lights. During dinner I kept sneaking sideways glances of the nighttime vista. I don't want to ever forget it!

I truely recommend a couple's dinner at CG. I don't think I would have enjoyed our dinner nearly as much if it had been a family affair. The cost for our dinner - 2 appes, 2 entrees, a bottle of wine, and one dessert, was about $160 with the 20% discount and the 18% gratituity. Steve was definately worth more than 18% and he was tipped accordingly. We were at our table about 1 1/2 hours. There was no rushing, yet the evening flew by. I was originally worried about our 5:45 dinner time. I thought it was too far in advance of the 8pm wishes. But it ended up being perfect. By the time we got up from the table and went out to the observation deck, it was close to 7:30pm.

The temperature was perfect for the deck. And, surprisingly, the deck was not very crowded. I envisioned a small area with people crowded together to watch the fireworks. It was not like that at all. There were several small children with their parents out on the deck, but they didn't stay long. We had no trouble taking pictures. I literally just snapped and snapped and snapped. It was somewhat labor intensive and I think I probably missed the best part of the fireworks because of my preoccupation with the camera and getting theh best shots.

SOLD! and then some. It is a must do, at the top of my list!

Okay now I have to eat there, sans kids! Definitely OOP. Our kids would be fine and appreciate it but DSS16 would kill us in cost lol. The others could be regulated. But still, if we can pull of a no kid night....need to do it.

See, this is why I need an ADULT only trip!

If I could only win the lottery, DH and I could go during F&W and FD for our anniversary in Nov. LOL! It however would NOT be his first choice of a couple trip.

Great Dining recap!!:thumbsup2 You ate at alot of great places! I think one of the best things about the DP is that it's completely paid for and that you don't have to budget everyday to make sure you are going to have enough. We've tried Chef Mickey's, Crystal Palace and Ohana's for breakfast so far. I would have to say out of all of them, we enjoyed the food at Crystal Palace the best. But also because you are able to get some great pictures of the castle before the park opens on an empty Main Street!!;) Although we love Chef Mickey's for the characters and atmosphere, we thought the food was just alright compared to CP.

We ate well :) I am blessed to have good, adventuresome little (and big) eaters.

I don't know what it is but I have no desire to eat at CP. Part of it is colored by a horrible experience a dear friend had recently when they'd booked her autistic son's 10th birthday dinner there. Apparently there was some kitchen issue and they were CLOSED! But neglected to inform any one who had an ADR or provide an alternate option.

They had to eat at Pecos Bills! (or whatever it's called). I've heard mixed reviews about CP but also a lot of glowing ones but I think I'm leaning towards Cape May and Kona (as I MUST have tonga toast). Maybe if I get those 2 out of my system I can look at CP with fresh eyes and Ohana. The crowds at Chef Mickey's freak me out a little bit and I'm just not sure for my crowd, we need to deal with that. lol!

[eandesmom]

please excuse the bad video skills, it's just a few snippets all spliced together but you get the idea :)


http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-16/th_AI.jpg (http://s91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Travel/Disney/2-16/?action=view&current=AI.flv)

[carissanboys]

What a great TR! Very informative and I loved the dining recap. :thumbsup2

Thanks for posting the video of AI. It was great to see what's it's like since I didn't get to see it in person on my trip. :goodvibes

[MEK]

The third girl sounded like she was pretty good, but I only heard the end. Thanks for posting the video. Was this the finale or was this a show with 4 or 5 contestants? I think the talent was a little bit better in June but they only had 3 contestants in each show. I guess a better talent pool is to be expected, considering that's when the kids are out of school.

[eandesmom]

What a great TR! Very informative and I loved the dining recap. :thumbsup2

Thanks for posting the video of AI. It was great to see what's it's like since I didn't get to see it in person on my trip. :goodvibes

:)

The third girl sounded like she was pretty good, but I only heard the end. Thanks for posting the video. Was this the finale or was this a show with 4 or 5 contestants? I think the talent was a little bit better in June but they only had 3 contestants in each show. I guess a better talent pool is to be expected, considering that's when the kids are out of school.

It's a little bit of both as we saw two shows. I should have taped more in the finale as they were all quite good, most of this is from the daytime show, not the finale, the girl in black with the short bob won the show we saw but not the finale, the guy won the finale. The first show we saw had 4 or 5 and then the finale was also 4 or 5. I was worried about using up too much memory on the camera!

[MEK]

Looking forward to your final thoughts about the parks.

[cjackearl]

Thanks for posting the video. It looks like a fun show.:)

[eandesmom]

Looking forward to your final thoughts about the parks.

coming later today, got it started but then got sidetracked! Amazing how 3 days of camping and a job hunt will do that!

Thanks for posting the video. It looks like a fun show.:)

it was, I'd go again!

[eandesmom]

What we did, what we didn’t do, what we won’t do again, what we will do again and…what we’d like to do in future trips

What we did
MK: BTMRR, Space Mountain, Teacups, POTC, HM, Main Street Barber, Buzz, Celebrations Parade, Wishes, Indy Speedway
Epcot: Soarin’, Test Track, Mission Space, Spaceship Earth, Three Caballeros, HISTK, The Seas with Nemo
AK: EE, Safari, Kali, Dinosaur, Jammin Jungle Parage
DHS: Beauty and the Beast, AI, RRC, TSM, Star Tours, Indiana Jones, TOT, HSM parade
DTD: Goofy’s
Resorts: Spa’s at WL, GF. SeaRaycers at WL, HDDR

What we didn’t do
MK: A LOT! Peter Pan, HOP, Philarmagic, Spectromagic, Jungle Cruise, SFRTH, Splash Mountain, Asto Orbiter, Laugh Floor, Tiki Room, and so so much more
Epcot: Malestrom, KP, Ellen’s Energy Adventure, Illuminations, World Showcase (as in really “doing” it), WS Masks
DHS: LMA, Jedi Training, Great Movie Ride, Fantasmic
AK: FOTLK, TOL (Close up), Kids Discovery Clubs, FOW, Finding Nemo
DTD: Pin trade!
Resorts: Ride bikes, campfires, smores, outdoor movies

What we won’t do again
I can’t see us attempting WDW during President’s week or spring break/easter, again. We’ve all agreed we’ll brave the august heat instead.
I can’t see us pulling kids out of school for more than 2 days, again. I can see a couple of days, especially with the younger ones but that’s it, tops.
Order quite as much food for the room

What we will do again
Garden Grocer
Something “special” for each person
“Matching” Treats for each person
ADR’s, sit down dinner daily
Skip having a rental car

What we’d like to do for future trips
Free Dining!
A thanksgiving trip, someday
Food and wine (again) someday
Flower and garden although I’m not sure how that can ever happen with the kids along
Star wars weekend (same problem as above though)
Go out for breakfast!

And so....our trip ends.

I wish I could be in the throes of planning the next one. I have high hopes that there will be one a year from now. However....I have to find a new job first and can't plan a darn thing until that happens. But...I have high hopes and when there is a will, there is a way, and I have LOTS of will!

DH and I are really really feeling the lack of a week long vacation this summer and are truly hoping to do another trip next summer. We do have savings for it but...need the job thing resolved.

Once it is...planning will commence and it WILL include a PTR!

So I leave you with a sneak peek at the cast of characters for the next adventure and our ideal lodgings!

Thanks for coming along, I'm very sad to see it end and will just have to live vicariously through everyone elses PTR's and TR's.

The crew. Our gang, MIL, her DH. BIL is also in this picture, he's a maybe

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/Family/untitled.jpg


and....THV!

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/treehouse1.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/treehouse2.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/treehousefloorplan.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/treehousekitchen.jpg

http://i91.photobucket.com/albums/k308/eandesmom/treehouseinside.jpg

[MEK]

Thank you for your wonderful TR. :flower3: I am so sad to see it officially end. I love your summary. You really did get a lot done between sleeping late and the crowds. I hope you will be able to go back next August. It must seem like an eternity, but its really not. Plus, I hope you get to stay in a THV. They do look pretty cool and I am looking forward to staying in one someday.

Anywho....good luck with job hunting and I look forward to your PTR. Maybe you will be able to go during free dining in late Augst 2010!

[cjackearl]

I'm officially bummed out that your TR is over. I really liked your final thought lists. There will always be "next time" lists, unless you could stay for like 2 weeks! Ahhh...wouldn't that be heavenly?:cloud9: The picture of your family is stunning. Everyone looks very relaxed and pretty/handsome.:goodvibes I'll be looking for that PTR!!:thumbsup2

[eandesmom]

Thank you for your wonderful TR. :flower3: I am so sad to see it officially end. I love your summary. You really did get a lot done between sleeping late and the crowds. I hope you will be able to go back next August. It must seem like an eternity, but its really not. Plus, I hope you get to stay in a THV. They do look pretty cool and I am looking forward to staying in one someday.

Anywho....good luck with job hunting and I look forward to your PTR. Maybe you will be able to go during free dining in late Augst 2010!

I'm sad too! I'm ok with waiting a year to go back actually, I just need a vacation of some sort in between now and then lol!

I didn't sleep late though! Nor did the e's :) One thing we will do next time is get up and go with those that are up and hook up later! Part of the reason we are targeting late August is exactly that, FD!

I'm officially bummed out that your TR is over. I really liked your final thought lists. There will always be "next time" lists, unless you could stay for like 2 weeks! Ahhh...wouldn't that be heavenly?:cloud9: The picture of your family is stunning. Everyone looks very relaxed and pretty/handsome.:goodvibes I'll be looking for that PTR!!:thumbsup2

Thanks! 2 weeks would be great, you could hit Universal without feeling bad, Cape Canaveral (we did that last time but would do again!), Sea World and have lots of lazy resort time!

Ha. I'll be pushing it to get DH to 8 nights instead of 7:laughing:

[SunnieRN]

Oh man, it sucks that your trip report is over! I really enjoyed both your dining and trip reports!!

Great summations/wish lists!! That is what is so great about WDW. There will always be something else to do each time you visit!! I can't think of too many other places that can entertain entire families of multi generations as well as Disney does!!

Thank you so much for sharing your memories with us!!

[MEK]

I'm sad too! I'm ok with waiting a year to go back actually, I just need a vacation of some sort in between now and then lol!

I didn't sleep late though! Nor did the e's :) One thing we will do next time is get up and go with those that are up and hook up later! Part of the reason we are targeting late August is exactly that, FD!


Ha. I'll be pushing it to get DH to 8 nights instead of 7:laughing:

I do think that everyone needs a real summer vacation. I'm sorry you didn't get one. I know I would hate summer to end if I didn't really get a chance to go away.

I know you and the e's were up early. It's just those pesky teens who sleep late. I hope FD does work out for the kids return to school dates. I know it would have worked for me this year, except for preseason soccer.

8 nights sounds good. I think 8 or 9 nights is best. I would have pushed for that, too but I knew we had to get LJ home.

Promise to read your dining report soon!

[eandesmom]

I do think that everyone needs a real summer vacation. I'm sorry you didn't get one. I know I would hate summer to end if I didn't really get a chance to go away.

I know you and the e's were up early. It's just those pesky teens who sleep late. I hope FD does work out for the kids return to school dates. I know it would have worked for me this year, except for preseason soccer.

8 nights sounds good. I think 8 or 9 nights is best. I would have pushed for that, too but I knew we had to get LJ home.

Promise to read your dining report soon!

We did 8 the first trip and it was perfect. This time was 7 but with the flight times, was really only 6 nights and 6 full days which just wasn't enough! If you can get a half day on each end then it works, but we didn't. Definitely deprived :rotfl:

It is our first summer of "not" having a real summer vacation. I can guarantee it won't happen again. I would have booked us a trip to Hawaii about 3 months ago and Dh was on the fence, the rates are amazing right now and I have family there that I REALLY want to see. We didn't, waiting on soccer, waiting on ODP, then only to be thwarted by someone else giving permission for Tink to be gone the one week that "worked". And then the wind was out of our sails, no week worked for all of us...yada yada yada.

Now, tonight, DH is now saying he wants to do Hawaii next summer. Which, we can do if we move WDW to thanksgiving (which would work for us but might mean I'd REALLY prefer to stay at WL!).

Then again, with FD, we "might" be able to swing both. Depends on my job situation. Of course this year I could get FD at thanksgiving (not that anything is left) but the kitty isn't full until April vacation wise lol. That'd be too soon for DH anyway.

So, who knows. He thinks the HI deals will be just as good next summer.

At any rate I can say this with assurance. Neither of us will let soccer keep us from a trip. If we all can't go then that is what will have to be. But, as a family and a couple, we need at least a week each summer, preferably 2!


All that said, we've had lovely short trips. One to Idaho with my sister, One to our cabin, One camping with friends. Upcoming soon is one to OR with FIL and his wife and then a girls only retreat. And they all have been truly fabulous. Just not relaxing. San Diego was relaxing but my, that seems like a million years ago (even though it was May).

I think, sadly, is what it really comes down to is that I am not cut out for staying at home FT with my kiddos in the summer. Combine that, without a full week away and....bleh. And if I'm bleh, then well, it rubs off on DH.

I was home FT last summer but we had a huge (2 week!) trip. Bottom line is it really reinforced that I need to go back to the corporate world. I needed a sabbatical, and I've had it.

Telecommuting and startups are great but...I'm too old, too set in my ways, too used to having a break. As are they.


:)

[Angies1274]

I'm very sad that your TR is over.:sad2: I've enjoyed reading it so much!! Your final thoughts were great!!--and what a wonderful picture of your family.:goodvibes Thanks for sharing!!!:thumbsup2

[eandesmom]

I'm very sad that your TR is over.:sad2: I've enjoyed reading it so much!! Your final thoughts were great!!--and what a wonderful picture of your family.:goodvibes Thanks for sharing!!!:thumbsup2

thanks! I'm sad too. One can only stretch it out for so long....

:rotfl:

You've got a new trip coming soon so hopefully I'll get to read another one of your trip reports soon so I can live vicariously!

:)

[Sunset Cliffs]

I just got caught up on your TR to find out that it is over. :sad1: What a nice way to end it though! I love all of the summaries and reviews. It helps remind you of all that happened on the trip. I really hope that you will get to go on your trip to THV and I will be looking for your PTR! :goodvibes

[eandesmom]

I just got caught up on your TR to find out that it is over. :sad1: What a nice way to end it though! I love all of the summaries and reviews. It helps remind you of all that happened on the trip. I really hope that you will get to go on your trip to THV and I will be looking for your PTR! :goodvibes

I'm sad it's over too! But am looking forward to planning the next one. There will be one, it's a "when" not an "if"

:)

Thanks for reading!!:goodvibes

[TarzansKat]

Well, it's always sad to write those final thoughts, but so nice to dream of the next trip! I love the photos of the Treehouse Villas, they look intriguing! :goodvibes

[eandesmom]

Well, it's always sad to write those final thoughts, but so nice to dream of the next trip! I love the photos of the Treehouse Villas, they look intriguing! :goodvibes

I can't wait to see them live! DH and I were just talking about them last night with some friends, it will be such a fun trip to plan! Some surprisingly good traction on the job front this week so...we will see. I don't want to get my hopes up but....

:)

[TarzansKat]

I can't wait to see them live! DH and I were just talking about them last night with some friends, it will be such a fun trip to plan! Some surprisingly good traction on the job front this week so...we will see. I don't want to get my hopes up but....

:)

Ooooo, I will keep my fingers crossed on the job front!!! :goodvibes

[eandesmom]

A job search update :)

Not that this is really part of the TR, though the search did take me away from my TR and has kept me from starting a new PTR, I do think it is linked! LOL!

I am having an encouraging week. I've been "looking" since late June but only looking "hard" for about a month. I made an industry change about 18 months ago and what I've been targeting is back in my old industry, not my new one.

Apparently I need to stick with the new one.

I've had 2 recruiters contact me, in my current industry, for things I hadn't applied to. One not even knowing I was looking. On the surface one sounds like an amazing opportunity, the other one probably just ok but very stable, which frankly, would be good (even though the work wouldn't be quite as interesting).

So...we will see. It is encouraging but odd and does tell me that regardless of the outcome of these 2 opps, I need to redo the darn resume yet again and target things in my current industry. Apparently there is more of a demand (or less supply) than in the more traditional channels.

I'd been avoiding that for a couple of reasons. One, I love the guys I work for/with and could continue to do it on a contract basis depending on where I went. That would not be the case if I stay in the industry and I do have concerns about my non-competes and all that rot. Two, if I do make a move to another agency then I'm cementing my career it seems in the ad agency world versus product and brand sales/marketing and I'm not sure I want to do that. I'm not sure I don't either. LOL! It's my own midlife crisis. I came to my current company specifically to get my feet wet and get more current on digital marketing technology but hadn't necessarily planned for it to be a permanent move.

But I do believe things happen for a reason and career wise most of the best things I've done have come to me so....going to keep an open mind.

[TarzansKat]

Wow! Good for you! Not one but two possible opportunities, and they sought you out. Something to be proud of, my dear. Good luck with everything. :goodvibes

[MEK]

Digital Marketing Technology. .... LOL.....and I still can't even get my bouncing Mickey Pumpkin to show up, plus I screwed up my whole signature. I need to stay in Health Care. :rotfl:

So, Maybe Hawaii next summer? That would be nice. Such a shame that you can't take advantage of this fall's free dining. But with a group of 6 and then flights, well....free dining still adds up. Good luck deciding what you will do next summer. At least you have plenty of time to plan it.

I'm glad you have decided not to let soccer come first in the future. I still think Tink is too young to have soccer rule her life like that. In a couple years....yes. But now.....NO!

It sounds like you are getting ancy to get back to work. I have never had an extended period off from work (just two maternity leaves and several years of part time work when my kids were young), but never no work. I often wonder how I would handle being home. I think I would like it, but you never know. Good luck with the job hunting. I wish you much success.

Keep us posted about your future trips and your job search.

[eandesmom]

Wow! Good for you! Not one but two possible opportunities, and they sought you out. Something to be proud of, my dear. Good luck with everything. :goodvibes

Well, we will see. One is definitely better than the other on the "coolness" factor but higher profile/risk as well. Of course the less cool company is moving faster! I'll have a 2nd interview with the less cool one later this week and hopefully will at least get a timeframe on the cool one.

Digital Marketing Technology. .... LOL.....and I still can't even get my bouncing Mickey Pumpkin to show up, plus I screwed up my whole signature. I need to stay in Health Care. :rotfl:

So, Maybe Hawaii next summer? That would be nice. Such a shame that you can't take advantage of this fall's free dining. But with a group of 6 and then flights, well....free dining still adds up. Good luck deciding what you will do next summer. At least you have plenty of time to plan it.

I'm glad you have decided not to let soccer come first in the future. I still think Tink is too young to have soccer rule her life like that. In a couple years....yes. But now.....NO!

It sounds like you are getting ancy to get back to work. I have never had an extended period off from work (just two maternity leaves and several years of part time work when my kids were young), but never no work. I often wonder how I would handle being home. I think I would like it, but you never know. Good luck with the job hunting. I wish you much success.

Keep us posted about your future trips and your job search.

If rates stay the same, Hawaii would actually be cheaper! BUT I think WDW may win simply due to MIL guilt. LOL. Rates are out for 2010 and I priced it...GULP! But it's still a better deal then renting points due to FD.

I would LOVE to go this fall but unless someone else is buying, it's not happening. Oh well. I do hope to get a way for a weekend with DH around our anniversary but WDW is too far to go for just a weekend, for us. 2-3 hour flight, ok. 5 hour+ the time difference, nope.

I am actually working but it's a little funky. Long story short I was laid off in Feb 08 after 13 years with a company. I took 6 months off to just hang and try to write a book, and then went back to work on a part time contract basis and then went full time in the fall of 09. I've been with the company I work for now since then, so a little over a year. However they've moved my position to 100% commission contract (non-employee status) which really doesn't work for me.

So I'm looking but bringing in business elsewhere at the same time. And doing it from home with the kids underfoot. I do like telecommuting. I don't like doing it 100% from home with the kids home. They (and I) need camps and the like if I'm going to work from home but without the base salary....no camps.

If I had unlimited funds I could stay home but I'd need to do more volunteer work during the day, it gets a bit old being here all day. That said, I needed the break from the big corporate world and as much as I might think I want to go back to it, it seems like things are leading a different way so...we will see.

I think I'm just more antsy for a more regulated schedule.

I don't actually create any technology...I just sell the services. LOL! And siggies and the like on boards are not the most user friendly thing out there. I swear, reading HTML code reminds me of DOS. It makes my eyes glaze over.

And as far as soccer ruling Tink's life, lets be honest. Her Mom is ruling Tink's life and her mom wants soccer to rule it so....it is what it is. Don't get me wrong, Tink loves it but...her mom definitely pushes things and I suppose, in all fairness, is not the most psycho about it of the parents we know.

It was a little freaky when in conversation she started comparing Tink to Montero but...whatever. It's more sad than anything.
:rotfl:

[Happydog]

WELL!!! I just finally caught up on all the final posts the good the bad and the ugly reports on your trip, the "final words"!!!! Loved all the reflection! Great ideas and you really did a lot afterall, in my opinion!!!

We just returned after two weeks, mostly disconnected and really no time to DIS, but boy have I had fun catching up!!!! :goodvibes

Anyhow, I waved to you as we left SeaTak and headed to Palm Springs!!!! We flew from Bend Or to Palm Springs via Seattle not Portland, but Portland to Bend from DC. Anyhow, it was very HOT in central OR as well! AND hotter in Palm Springs, but if you spend most of the day in a pool.... well.... ;)

Glad to have read your TR and I really enjoyed it! I am wrapping mine up this week as well! I do have to get my act together though, ADR day is a month away! :scared1:

[eandesmom]

WELL!!! I just finally caught up on all the final posts the good the bad and the ugly reports on your trip, the "final words"!!!! Loved all the reflection! Great ideas and you really did a lot afterall, in my opinion!!!

We just returned after two weeks, mostly disconnected and really no time to DIS, but boy have I had fun catching up!!!! :goodvibes

Anyhow, I waved to you as we left SeaTak and headed to Palm Springs!!!! We flew from Bend Or to Palm Springs via Seattle not Portland, but Portland to Bend from DC. Anyhow, it was very HOT in central OR as well! AND hotter in Palm Springs, but if you spend most of the day in a pool.... well.... ;)

Glad to have read your TR and I really enjoyed it! I am wrapping mine up this week as well! I do have to get my act together though, ADR day is a month away! :scared1:

Disconnected is good. 2 weeks is even better. You can REALLY relax that way! Central OR is HOT no matter what I think. Ugh!

I don't know what it is. You wouldn't think, from here or Portland that PS would be hard to get to, and yet it is. Direct is almost non existent and what little there is, has wacky times and is overpriced. I've had to go through Portland, LA and SF to get there before. Palm Springs is HOT. Not my favorite town but...I don't golf.

:rotfl:

For me, lots of other places I'd rather go to, even if I'm in the pool the whole time and it seems like there is so much driving between places. Great dining and it is pretty but....my kids would be completely happy in the pool all day too!

We will see, we have some friends who live there that keep trying to get us down there.

I'm glad you waved down at me! :thumbsup2 Only 1 month till ADR day? :banana: so jealous! We are off to Portland this weekend so that should be fun, no idea what the weather is supposed to be like, hopefully nice.

[MEK]

Well, we will see. One is definitely better than the other on the "coolness" factor but higher profile/risk as well. Of course the less cool company is moving faster! I'll have a 2nd interview with the less cool one later this week and hopefully will at least get a timeframe on the cool one.

Sending Serious good luck your way!


If rates stay the same, Hawaii would actually be cheaper! BUT I think WDW may win simply due to MIL guilt. LOL. Rates are out for 2010 and I priced it...GULP! But it's still a better deal then renting points due to FD. Wow...that's a hard choice, but I'd still stick with WDW. But that's just me. I'm sure quite a few people would think I am nuts

I would LOVE to go this fall but unless someone else is buying, it's not happening. Oh well. I do hope to get a way for a weekend with DH around our anniversary but WDW is too far to go for just a weekend, for us. 2-3 hour flight, ok. 5 hour+ the time difference, nope.Even with a 2 hours flight, its not worth it to go for a weekend. Our trip is 4 nights and that is one night too short, but with leaving the kids at home that's all we are comfortable doing.

I am actually working but it's a little funky. Long story short I was laid off in Feb 08 after 13 years with a company. I took 6 months off to just hang and try to write a book, and then went back to work on a part time contract basis and then went full time in the fall of 09. I've been with the company I work for now since then, so a little over a year. However they've moved my position to 100% commission contract (non-employee status) which really doesn't work for me. I can see why you are not loving that arrangement. Especially being home with the kids and trying to work. Sheesh!

So I'm looking but bringing in business elsewhere at the same time. And doing it from home with the kids underfoot. I do like telecommuting. I don't like doing it 100% from home with the kids home. They (and I) need camps and the like if I'm going to work from home but without the base salary....no camps.

If I had unlimited funds I could stay home but I'd need to do more volunteer work during the day, it gets a bit old being here all day. That said, I needed the break from the big corporate world and as much as I might think I want to go back to it, it seems like things are leading a different way so...we will see.

I think I'm just more antsy for a more regulated schedule.I can certainly understand that.

I don't actually create any technology...I just sell the services. LOL! And siggies and the like on boards are not the most user friendly thing out there. I swear, reading HTML code reminds me of DOS. It makes my eyes glaze over.
Please laugh now but we actually have a DOS order entry system at work. It is so ridiculous. We have no money to upgrade.
And as far as soccer ruling Tink's life, lets be honest. Her Mom is ruling Tink's life and her mom wants soccer to rule it so....it is what it is. Don't get me wrong, Tink loves it but...her mom definitely pushes things and I suppose, in all fairness, is not the most psycho about it of the parents we know. No, its not. But a family vacation at her age is more important that soccer 24/7.

It was a little freaky when in conversation she started comparing Tink to Montero but...whatever. It's more sad than anything. Definately freaky!
:rotfl:

As you can see I was just too lazy to cut and past.

[eandesmom]

As you can see I was just too lazy to cut and past.

lol

Thanks for the good luck vibes!

I'm torn on the Hawaii versus WDW. Greedy me wants both so just need to figure out how to to make that happen! LOL! I don't think you are nuts for choosing it over Hawaii...plus it's a lot closer to you. It's equal flight time for us.

Ideally it'd be spring break in Hawaii, August at the world. A girl can dream, right?

I'd do 5 nights for an adult only trip :) I have a hard time leaving the kids for more than 3, something always seems to happen while we are gone!

Please laugh now but we actually have a DOS order entry system at work. It is so ridiculous. We have no money to upgrade.

You know what though, DOS works and in some ways, for some things, that's a beautiful thing. It's kind of timeless. I think I'd rather have something stuck in DOS than a software program that's been completely eliminated. It's impossible to keep current, even when you are in the business.

We agree, a family vacation is more important. And hopefully Tink will be in on the next one. DSS made it to the cabin, and camping with us so we've had 2 mini trips with him. It will be interesting to see how much we get of Tinks time this weekend getaway in Portland as it isn't our weekend so she is staying with her mom, and the team. Hopefully she can stay with us through Monday down there (the tourney ends Sunday) but DH is worried she will have to be back for practice. Oh brother!

Normally I'm like you, I just know what weekend a tournament is and really look at the schedule a day or 2 before. As this it out of state, it requires hotel rooms etc and without a schedule we don't know if we need a room for friday night or not, which is what is stressing us out. DSS has a concert at EMP that he is performing in that goes until 7pm so we will miss any friday games. So either we drive down right after the concert or get up early to make her Sat. game. Problem is, we don't know when the games are, even now and check in starts tomorrow! They posted a temp one yesterday and then pulled it due to due "field conflicts". I also have an aunt down there who is going to meet us at the game and I don't know what to tell her. makes it hard to plan a trip!

[GreatBiscuit]

I just finished reading your final updates. Great job! We need a crowd cherring emoticon around here! Loved all the summaries and final thoughts. I hope your job search goes well for you!

[MEK]

lol

Thanks for the good luck vibes!

I'm torn on the Hawaii versus WDW. Greedy me wants both so just need to figure out how to to make that happen! LOL! I don't think you are nuts for choosing it over Hawaii...plus it's a lot closer to you. It's equal flight time for us.

Ideally it'd be spring break in Hawaii, August at the world. A girl can dream, right?

I'd do 5 nights for an adult only trip :) I have a hard time leaving the kids for more than 3, something always seems to happen while we are gone!






Please dream! And keep us all posted so we know AS SOON AS your next trip is planned. I loved following along with your family's adventures!!!!!!

5 nights....perfect for an adults only trip. I wish I has one more night in September, but I think my trip is only a month away now. :eek: I'm going to need to start packing soon, being the obsessive compulsive packer that I am. :laughing:

[cjackearl]

Hey! Just wanted to check in and tell you good luck with the job hunt. I hope you find clarity in the direction to take.:goodvibes

[eandesmom]

I just finished reading your final updates. Great job! We need a crowd cherring emoticon around here! Loved all the summaries and final thoughts. I hope your job search goes well for you!

Thanks! I need to go get caught up on yours, amazing how far behind one can get between a few days out of town and the back to school madness!

Please dream! And keep us all posted so we know AS SOON AS your next trip is planned. I loved following along with your family's adventures!!!!!!

5 nights....perfect for an adults only trip. I wish I has one more night in September, but I think my trip is only a month away now. :eek: I'm going to need to start packing soon, being the obsessive compulsive packer that I am. :laughing:

I will! I do have an 3 night adult only trip coming this weekend, which I need after the out of town soccer tournament with the in-laws and my aunt last weekend. lol! Not really, for the most part it was great, even though we didn't win. It would have been good for the team, it's the first summer season they've not won any of their tourney's but...they did come in 2nd and lost to the OR state cup champs so...I guess that's ok.

It's a women's retreat...should be interesting, frankly I'm just looking forward to a couple of days with no one to cook for or clean for! I will probably just hole up and read for 3 days straight and not speak. Except to ask for more wine. Which we aren't supposed to bring but supposedly my sisters sneak it in and my mom turns a blind eye (she's an organizer). :rotfl:

I would have another 2 nighter with my dinner club in Oct but of course it's the same weekend we bought show tickets with friends so that will be a one nighter instead. Still, I need the away time. I love my kids but a bit too much togetherness this summer!

Of course my lovely DH mentioned to my FIL that maybe we'd go there for Thanksgiving since Tink will be elsewhere for a tourney. WHAT? Not what I plan on using travel budget for! Much as I love my FIL and his wife. Ok really? Will you really start packing now? I could see making my list now....I am so jealous of your fabby plans! I can't wait to read your TR.

Hey! Just wanted to check in and tell you good luck with the job hunt. I hope you find clarity in the direction to take.:goodvibes

Hi! Thanks!!!!:hug: I really appreciate it. No real updates but I do have faith that things will work out as they are supposed to, whatever that is!
Somehow, they always do.

[PracPerfPatricia]

hey...:wave2:I'm subbing on...late to the party but better late than never...:goodvibes...I've just read the first two pages...so I have a bit of catch up to do...

First- you are from the Pacific Northwest...well based on your photo-that's where heaven must be located...absolutely lovely...I haven't been further up the Pacific coast then a little above San Francisco and I feel in love with that -the blue of the ocean on one side and the redwoods on the other...:cloud9: I'm jonesing to get to Vancouver...

Also love the looks of the cabin at FW...had no idea what they were like inside...I haven't done a lot of camping...have stayed at some camps in CA near Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara that are know as glamping-glamourous camping because the cabins have beds w/ linens-bathrooms and little kitchens...but that sounds at bit like the cabins at FW also...:lmao: (haven't done "real" camping but might be since my 7 year old is joining Cub Scouts...)

I have a friend with 4 sons...but they are all in the same school...each 2 years apart...so I can only begin to imagine what it is to be coordinating 4 in different schools...:rotfl2:

Wall-e wanders huh? I don't have a wanderer per se but he is sort of in his own time-space continuum at times...so I have to keep an eye on him...;)

Well back to reading...who knows what's happened in the last 26 pages...:lmao:

[PracPerfPatricia]

OK I just finished page 5 but had to post a couple things/?s before I forget them...:lmao:

BTW-I am loving your trippie...:goodvibes

Thanks for the carmel tip-DH is a huge carmel fan...I order stuff from Rechutti (sp?) a couple times of year because it is really good and it reminds me of the Ferry Bldg. but I will have to give Woodhouse a try...:thumbsup2

The Grand Floridian looks just like the Coronado...When we were in San Diego and drove by it...I think I said "look-It's the Grand Floridian"...I didn't read far enough so I don't know how your weekend went yet...

I love the comment about Steven...when I first had my DD who will be 15 :scared1: next month...I remember thinking that 15/16 year old boys looked kind of surly/menacing too...but now as she has brought home these 14/15 friends who are boys...they really don't seem so menacing anymore...it's all just posturing...I also think it must be hard for them sometimes...they get this big growth spurt and the hormones and stuff but in so many ways they're kids...it must be confusing...:confused3

Your review of Teppan Edo was great...has in TE different than Tokyo Dining?

Just keep reading...just keep reading...:surfweb:

[eandesmom]

hey...:wave2:I'm subbing on...late to the party but better late than never...:goodvibes...I've just read the first two pages...so I have a bit of catch up to do...

First- you are from the Pacific Northwest...well based on your photo-that's where heaven must be located...absolutely lovely...I haven't been further up the Pacific coast then a little above San Francisco and I feel in love with that -the blue of the ocean on one side and the redwoods on the other...:cloud9: I'm jonesing to get to Vancouver...

Also love the looks of the cabin at FW...had no idea what they were like inside...I haven't done a lot of camping...have stayed at some camps in CA near Santa Cruz and Santa Barbara that are know as glamping-glamourous camping because the cabins have beds w/ linens-bathrooms and little kitchens...but that sounds at bit like the cabins at FW also...:lmao: (haven't done "real" camping but might be since my 7 year old is joining Cub Scouts...)

I have a friend with 4 sons...but they are all in the same school...each 2 years apart...so I can only begin to imagine what it is to be coordinating 4 in different schools...:rotfl2:

Wall-e wanders huh? I don't have a wanderer per se but he is sort of in his own time-space continuum at times...so I have to keep an eye on him...;)

Well back to reading...who knows what's happened in the last 26 pages...:lmao:

:welcome:

I know the feeling, I found your PTR, and it was already closed! And then I found your TR :goodvibes

I think it is what heaven looks like, I am very very spoiled by all the natural beauty around here. SF is the bomb but it is fairly different in many many ways. I :love: Vancouver, we go there fairly often although not since they started making kids have passports. I can't justify the expense for a day or weekend trip.

This year we are actually up to 5 schools! UGH!

The cabins were wonderful. For us. I do think if you aren't a woodsy, rustic, camper person and wanted a resort, you'd be dissapointed. But we loved them. And yes, they had linens! I wouldn't call it camping though. You may well end up camping with Scouts, I did a 4 day overnight camp with Wall-E last summer, it was a blast!

his own time-space continuum
that is EXACTLY what causes Wall-E to wander...it is not deliberate...he is just lost in his own world.

OK I just finished page 5 but had to post a couple things/?s before I forget them...:lmao:

BTW-I am loving your trippie...:goodvibes

Thanks for the carmel tip-DH is a huge carmel fan...I order stuff from Rechutti (sp?) a couple times of year because it is really good and it reminds me of the Ferry Bldg. but I will have to give Woodhouse a try...:thumbsup2

The Grand Floridian looks just like the Coronado...When we were in San Diego and drove by it...I think I said "look-It's the Grand Floridian"...I didn't read far enough so I don't know how your weekend went yet...

I love the comment about Steven...when I first had my DD who will be 15 :scared1: next month...I remember thinking that 15/16 year old boys looked kind of surly/menacing too...but now as she has brought home these 14/15 friends who are boys...they really don't seem so menacing anymore...it's all just posturing...I also think it must be hard for them sometimes...they get this big growth spurt and the hormones and stuff but in so many ways they're kids...it must be confusing...:confused3

Your review of Teppan Edo was great...has in TE different than Tokyo Dining?

Just keep reading...just keep reading...:surfweb:

TE is a lot different than Tokyo. It's all Teppan style so cooked in front of you on the hibachi. There is some tempura available but that's about it. Toyko has the full tempura gamit, plus sushi, etc. I hope to try it one of these days.

It's so funny as I never think of Steven as looking menacing but my IL's were so wierd when they saw these trip pictures, they thought both of the older kids looked awful. Comments about Steven's hoods making him look like a gang member and saying Tink wasn't as "cute" as she used to be. GRRR.

He is a sweet kid. Although I'm sure he'd cringe if he read that I wrote that!
The hormone thing is tough at times to be sure, on all of them!

Woodhouse is SOOOOOOOOOO good!

GF is actually modeled on the Del. Funny thing is that the GF looks on the inside like I think the Del should. The Del is very very different on the inside. It is a lovely lovely resort! We'll be back one of these days.

[PracPerfPatricia]

Ok I've finished...hmmm...lets see...

Congrats to Goofy on his black belt and his 10th birthday...His BD looked like a lot of fun...:goodvibes

Seattle is my list of want to go to s also...:goodvibes

(I'd love to take the Ferry from Seattle to Victoria-but I'd have to tie down DD and fill her with dramamine first...:lmao:)

The Black Belt-that is a great accomplishment...my 7 year old guy just started kenpo karate last year-it's been great for him...he is still at the white belt colored stripe phase-he's up to the 5 stripe -blue-I think...

But back to the Black Belt-Kudos to him...that's a lot of dedication for a 10 year old...:thumbsup2...(I agree with you on the parent front-nice example some people set for their kids...how about the lets work some more and try again...:confused3

It sounds like you really had quite a fab trip-i got here just in time to say good bye to this TR and get in over on your new one...:lmao:...see you over there...

[eandesmom]

Ok I've finished...hmmm...lets see...

Congrats to Goofy on his black belt and his 10th birthday...His BD looked like a lot of fun...:goodvibes

Seattle is my list of want to go to s also...:goodvibes

(I'd love to take the Ferry from Seattle to Victoria-but I'd have to tie down DD and fill her with dramamine first...:lmao:)

The Black Belt-that is a great accomplishment...my 7 year old guy just started kenpo karate last year-it's been great for him...he is still at the white belt colored stripe phase-he's up to the 5 stripe -blue-I think...

But back to the Black Belt-Kudos to him...that's a lot of dedication for a 10 year old...:thumbsup2...(I agree with you on the parent front-nice example some people set for their kids...how about the lets work some more and try again...:confused3

It sounds like you really had quite a fab trip-i got here just in time to say good bye to this TR and get in over on your new one...:lmao:...see you over there...

We did the stripe belt phase too....Goofy has been doing TKD for four and a half years now. So a full set of striped belts and then a full set of color belts and now this. Next is the international 1st degree which theoretically he could test for in Dec. He may not be ready. I may not be able to afford the test fee so...I figure if it is mean to be, it will be and if not...June!

There are actually 2 different ways to get to Victoria. You can take the Clipper which is a high speed boat (2 hours?), versus the Old Princess Marguerite which took 4 hours, or you can drive up to Anacortes and take the Ferry from there. Which is 4 hours but only b/c it meanders its way through the San Juan Islands. It is so pretty! I take it DD gets motion sickness? What a bummer. those ferrys are pretty slow, if you stay inside I"m not sure you even realize you are moving. At least I don't but maybe I'm just so used to it from living here most of my life.

See you on my PTR. Yay!

[PracPerfPatricia]

There are actually 2 different ways to get to Victoria. You can take the Clipper which is a high speed boat (2 hours?), versus the Old Princess Marguerite which took 4 hours, or you can drive up to Anacortes and take the Ferry from there. Which is 4 hours but only b/c it meanders its way through the San Juan Islands. It is so pretty! I take it DD gets motion sickness? What a bummer. those ferrys are pretty slow, if you stay inside I"m not sure you even realize you are moving. At least I don't but maybe I'm just so used to it from living here most of my life.

See you on my PTR. Yay!

Actually DD might be better now...I usually give her dramamine on long car rides and she took a little on some of the rides at DWD...like EE- but she loves them all now...(when she was younger she was motion sick all the time...like 10 minutes into a car ride...:sad2:

I really would like to get to the Pacific Northwest...that whole Washington, Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Victoria, Vancouver area...I had read that the ferry ride is beautiful...

It didn't really help my case when Em heard her friend's mom refer to the ferry from Maine to Nova Scotia as - and I quote here, "the Vomit Comet." :sad2:

[eandesmom]

Actually DD might be better now...I usually give her dramamine on long car rides and she took a little on some of the rides at DWD...like EE- but she loves them all now...(when she was younger she was motion sick all the time...like 10 minutes into a car ride...:sad2:

I really would like to get to the Pacific Northwest...that whole Washington, Puget Sound, San Juan Islands, Victoria, Vancouver area...I had read that the ferry ride is beautiful...

It didn't really help my case when Em heard her friend's mom refer to the ferry from Maine to Nova Scotia as - and I quote here, "the Vomit Comet." :sad2:

Ok you cannot compare that. Open ocean versus Puget Sound. LOL! In my entire life I've never seen anyone get sick on the regular ferries. Fast boat from downtoan? Maybe. I'd go the san juans route, besides, if it doesn't work just get off at an "earlier" island!

:rotfl:

I may post some pics on my PTR of the San Juans from a recent flight we did, even have a ferry from the sky pic in there...