We "shipped" off our parents and we stayed in Disney! updated 7/18! The final chapter

[Nicole786]

http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm276/nal107/dis/minimickey.png Chapter List

1. Universal part 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31887613&postcount=5)
2. Universal part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31903469&postcount=16)
3. Checking in at the wilderness lodge (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31948794&postcount=31)
4. The magic kingdom! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31948815&postcount=32)
5. Mom checks in about the cruise! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31965050&postcount=46)
6. Our WL room, Boma, MK at night (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=31984867&postcount=54)
7. Our epcot morning, part one! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32032039&postcount=66)
8. Epcot morning, part two! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32032051&postcount=67)
9. The WL arcade, dinner at Kona! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32150855&postcount=75)
10. DHS EMH (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32150855&postcount=76)
11. Blizzard beach morning and the WL pool! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32238139&postcount=91)
12. Our afternoon off? and whispering canyon! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32303367&postcount=100)
13. Dinner at yak and yeti/AK emh (http://disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32405277&postcount=124)
14. Epcot morning waiting for mom and dad (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32462562&postcount=138)
15. Mom and dad return! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32525793&postcount=144)
16. Mom and dad return! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32525793&postcount=144)
17. We check into AKL! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32629308&postcount=150)
18. We check into AKL! Part 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32629327&postcount=151)
19. AKL, Epcot for dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32686852&postcount=156)
20. our last full day 1 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32741848&postcount=162)
21. our last full day 2 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32741856&postcount=163)
22. our last full day 3 (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32741856&postcount=164)
23. The Final Chapter (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=32763922&postcount=169)


Hello everybody! We're back from a magical walt disney world vacation!! This was a little bit different than your average trip because our parents went on a Disney Cruise (our treat!) while we stayed at disney world!! If you want to hear more about how we pulled off this awesome surprise last year, and more about the trip details in general, click here for our pre-trip report (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2100757)

But here's our plans to give you an idea

May 8th-10th - royal pacific resort in universal orlando
May 10th-15th - wilderness lodge while mom and dad are on the disney wonder!
May 15th-17th - animal kingdom lodge (the WL wasn't available the entire stay, mom and dad also stayed here when they came back from the wonder)

and here is the cast!
http://i298.photobucket.com/albums/mm276/nal107/family.jpg

Me - nicole, planner, and trip payer :rotfl:
david - my brother, loves his sister for taking him to disney world, look for his comments in BLUE
mom - so excited about this vacation (so were we all!) loves BELLE, gets so excited anytime she's near! Her comments are in PINK
dad - really needed this vacation!! So excited up until the very last second and so appreciative!

Mom and dad took lots of pictures, and even met someone on the boat who "knew them!" because of this, mom wants to participate in the trip report, and since I have no idea the details of their cruise this will be a big help!!

If you are interested in seeing loads of pictures of the Wilderness Lodge, stick around! if you are interested in seeing lots of pictures of the Animal Kingdom Lodge (light fixtures, wallpaper, carpet) stick around!! If you ever wondered what life was like at the dark side (universal) stick around!! We'll start with just a brief summary of universal studios and staying at universal's royal pacific hotel, and than we'll begin our disney trip!! first chapter coming up![/SIZE]

[teruterubouzu]

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to reading your trip report. Hope you're feeling well soon.

[MeMom]

I checked in one more time before calling it a night, and here you were!

It's nice to hear that Mom and Dad are known for their connections to some Dis celebrities. :)

I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. I'll probably even read a little bit about 'that other place', but I'll definitely be tuned in when you get started at the Disney part.

I hope you are feeling better and getting caught up on your rest.

[Nicole786]

Welcome back! I'm looking forward to reading your trip report. Hope you're feeling well soon.

Thanks we're starting early (or should I say late?) tonight!

I checked in one more time before calling it a night, and here you were!

It's nice to hear that Mom and Dad are known for their connections to some Dis celebrities. :)

I'm looking forward to hearing all about it. I'll probably even read a little bit about 'that other place', but I'll definitely be tuned in when you get started at the Disney part.

I hope you are feeling better and getting caught up on your rest.

Glad you checked in again, hopefully you'll stick around for the brief universal bits (theres only 2-3 i promise!)

[Nicole786]

I'm going to try and keep the universal parts pretty brief. I know there are a few out there interested in heading here one day especially when harry potter opens. I do think Universal has its own charm (no where near disney service of course!) but since loews owns the hotels, I do believe we've had some of our best experiences here! So for those who are interested, I hope you find these chapters useful, and if anyone has any questions about universal i'm sure i can answer them!

We always have a great time at universal orlando resort! We really enjoy the parks there (of course they don't measure up to disney) but david and I have had the pleasure of staying at the hard rock hotel. We love this place, you get universal front of the line pass for staying at a universal hotel, and you get treated like royalty! Well this time, we decided to try a different universal hotel (the royal pacific) and since mom and dad have never stayed on site there, it was a new experience for all! It was a beautiful hotel with a polynesian style theme:

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We arrived late the first night, so our trip officially started the next day! We slept in a bit and went to grab some breakfast at the BK Whopper Bar at city walk (they have boat service from the royal pacific). This is a unique restaurant to universal (they are piloting it and may bring it elsewhere) but during the day for lunch, you can get all these different kinds of whoppers and they have a toppings bar! We had a good start and ready for the day!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0018.jpg

We started at our favorite, islands of adventure. It is split into themed lands (like magic kingdom) but more entertainment-based. They have suess landing, the lost continent, jurassic park, toon lagoon, and marvel. Next year they will be adding the wizarding world of harry potter! A themed land just for HP!

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We enjoyed the rides here david and I went on dueling dragons (david was excited to try this coaster and we had a great time) We cooled off in toon lagoon with dad and took some fun pics and headed into spiderman, a family favorite!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0048.jpg

This is dudley do rights ripsaw falls in Toon Lagoon (this themed lands puts you in the sunday comics!) you get absolutely soaked on the rides here. They also have popeye which is like kali river rapids but much longer and you can't escape the water here! Mom skipped dudley do right, we all went on popeye! Heres us after dudley do right!

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Here we are on the jurassic park ride, another great one!

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By lunch time we were finished with IOA and headed over to Universal studios, the first park and more movie-themed park. It reminds me very much of hollywood studios, it used to be a working movie studio and has a lot of movie-based attractions, mom especially loves Lucy (from i love lucy) so this was our first stop. I didn't mind because I loved the air conditioning and the constant loop of classic lucy scenes!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0059.jpg

Coming up we finish off our day with the rest of universal studios and dinner at a great restaurant!!

[KatGarcia]

Welcome back! I am def interested about the US stuff, I am trying to plan a trip there. Stop by my PTR when u get the chance so I can pick your brain!

When are you coming back up to NY again?

[Charleston Princess]

I'm here and super excited that you have started your TR! The Royal Pacific is a very pretty hotel!

[CanadianWDWfan]

Yippee!! A new TR, I love this. :banana::banana::banana:

I made first page! I'm not late to this one.

You are such a sweet and thoughtful daughter/sister to treat your family to this vacay! You go girl!

Universal Studios looks like a lot of fun. The last time we went there was in 2004, I'm sure it's changed some.

Your hotel looks beautiful.

BK Whopper sounds like a great idea!

Everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves. Even when wet!

Hi, DMom! Hi, David! Hi DDad! (I gave him a color)

[topdog]

Welcome back. I went to stay at Royal Pacific a couple of years ago. Great hotel. :thumbsup2 They have great Mojito at the bar.

Can't wait to hear about the trip. popcorn::

[wdwgirl03]

If you are interested in seeing loads of pictures of the Wilderness Lodge, stick around![/COLOR][/SIZE]

YEAH!!!!! Can't wait to see all the WL pictures! :banana:

[BrooklynnsMommy]

I'm here. I checked last night before heading to bed and you weren't here yet. I go to bed earlier than MeMom since I'm getting up one or two times during the night to feed Isabella. Great start. We did Universal Studios a LONG time ago. Trent has talked about him and Jarvis going for a day because they have more thrill rides.

[timandlesley]

Welcome back, LOVE the Universal pics, so excited for your report, you are off to a great start!:thumbsup2
Lesley

[FauntleroyFAN07]

im here im here, welcome back, nice to see a little bit of different things in TR, like your universal and glad it will include some stuffrom the cruise, i love reading about the cruises.

great start

[mickeystoontown]

Signing on for more!

[Nicole786]

Welcome back! I am def interested about the US stuff, I am trying to plan a trip there. Stop by my PTR when u get the chance so I can pick your brain!

When are you coming back up to NY again?

I was planning on coming up there June 18th-21st, but I'm not sure if i can. It will definitely be this summer though!

I'm here and super excited that you have started your TR! The Royal Pacific is a very pretty hotel!

It is very pretty! I'll have more pics soon!

Yippee!! A new TR, I love this. :banana::banana::banana:

I made first page! I'm not late to this one.

You are such a sweet and thoughtful daughter/sister to treat your family to this vacay! You go girl!

Universal Studios looks like a lot of fun. The last time we went there was in 2004, I'm sure it's changed some.

Your hotel looks beautiful.

BK Whopper sounds like a great idea!

Everyone looks like they are enjoying themselves. Even when wet!

Hi, DMom! Hi, David! Hi DDad! (I gave him a color)

Haha dad may pop in also, so I guess we should give him a color too!! You should check it out again, if you go in with the expectation that its nothing like disney you'll probably like it!

Welcome back. I went to stay at Royal Pacific a couple of years ago. Great hotel. :thumbsup2 They have great Mojito at the bar.

Can't wait to hear about the trip. popcorn::

Yeah we had a great experience at the RPR! Didn't get to check out the bar (werent there long enough)

YEAH!!!!! Can't wait to see all the WL pictures! :banana:

Yaay, good cuz i have LOTS!

I'm here. I checked last night before heading to bed and you weren't here yet. I go to bed earlier than MeMom since I'm getting up one or two times during the night to feed Isabella. Great start. We did Universal Studios a LONG time ago. Trent has talked about him and Jarvis going for a day because they have more thrill rides.

They should go to Islands of Adventure if they decide to go. Are you dising while feeding Bella?? Thats what I would do! :rotfl:

Welcome back, LOVE the Universal pics, so excited for your report, you are off to a great start!:thumbsup2
Lesley

Thanks, i know you guys were interested in Universal so stay tuned for some more (albeit brief) pics/details from universal!

im here im here, welcome back, nice to see a little bit of different things in TR, like your universal and glad it will include some stuffrom the cruise, i love reading about the cruises.

great start

Oh my dad has all the pics from the cruise and there are lots!

Signing on for more!

Yay, welcome!

[Nicole786]

After cooling off at the Lucy Experience (and mom shopping) we continued our tour around Universal. We headed to ET but it was down for some reason (we love that ride, so cute!) so we moved on to Simpsons. I get sick on motion simulators and Simpsons, while its a smoother ride than Star Tours, still makes me dizzy. Dad loved back to the future so David and dad went on it while Mom and I stayed back to share a strawberry slushie, yum!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0062.jpg

They were gone for a LONG time. I was actually starting to get worried. See where they are in the "line" (gotta love express! :goodvibes) they are right outside of where they split you to go in the room for the ride. This was like 25 minutes later and still no sign of them! There was a problem and here is dad and david to explain

Davids (and dads) Thoughts: They couldn't get the lap bar down. We had to go through the preshow once and than when we got on the ride the lapbar wouldn't go down. They had to leave the car while the screen above us played the ride even though we didn't move. Then they made us get out and go in another room and watch the preshow AGAIN and then we went back in and they had the same problem! So we had to sit through the ride movie without moving again, and than back out and finally back in. It eventually worked but we were simpsons-out"

So needless to say dad didn't like the simpsons ride.

We headed to Jaws, walked right on

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0068.jpg

and than we all headed to disaster. This is such a fun attraction! Chistopher walken is a feature in it, and I won't ruin it for anyone its just a lot of fun! The ride itself is just okay but the interactions are great!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0073.jpg

Then david and I ran over to the mummy, the greatest attraction in all universal!! This ride is so awesome if anyone is heading to universal, get here as close to park opening as possible, you'll want to ride it twice!!

It was lunch time so we decided to grab some lunch back near disaster at a place called "richter burger" which is themed like an earthquake shelter. (this entire area is themed after san francisco)

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0076.jpg

Here's mom and dad walking through "NY" (does it remind you of DHS?)

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After this we went on ET (love it!) and decided to leave as it was getting very hot and very crowded very quickly. We would come to know and love this boat dock:

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_0093.jpg

All three hotels have their own boat dock that goes to this boat down in the middle of city walk. City walk is a boardwalk-like strip that seperates Universal Studios from Islands of Adventure. In order to get to the other hotels (besides walking) is to take the boat to this dock, and transfer. We did this multiple times this night! (another reason I like the hard rock hotel, to walking distance to the portofino and the parks!)

We decided to pool hop to the hard rock because their pool is a little less plain than the royal pacific (FYI at universal this is allowed and encouraged) so we had to take the boat to city walk, boat to hard rock.

We had a blast here! There is a 200ft water slide, bubble jets at the sides of the pool, and an underwater music system! If you are swimming you can hear the music! AWESOME!! Oh, and did I mention you can drink in the pool??

We spent a good amount of time here before it was time to boat hop :rotfl: back to the royal pacific. It was time to freshen up for our dinner at Mama Dellas, which just like wdwinfo.com says is amazing!!

Here we are leaving the royal pacific, by the way these pics were taken with my canon rebel, which is what I used in disney also, I carried around a pocket canon in the universal parks, and proceeded to drop it and break the flash. Which is why I try not to carry expensive things :rotfl:

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One of my favorites of the trip, this is the Portofino Bay Hotel in the background! Pretty, right??

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_9825.jpg

Dinner was awesome we had an amazing server! He even went to a neighboring restaurant just to get dad salad dressing!! They have opera singers in the restaurant who came over and sang to mom and dad congratulating them

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/universal_may/IMG_9840.jpg

We never walked inside the portofino (actually, mom and dad have never even seen it, they loved it!) so we walked inside! They do an impressive disney-like job on the attention to detail, you feel like you are walking around Italy!

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I joked around and posed them for this picture, but I love it!

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And that just about wraps up our day at Universal!! We went back that night and made sure everything was in order because Mom and dad were heading to the Disney Wonder!! And david and I were heading to the Wilderness Lodge the next day!! Stay tuned!

[KatGarcia]

LOVE the pics of your parents- they are sooo cute!!!

[Charleston Princess]

I guess your dad and David can pretty much recite the Simpsons film now! Yikes!

Love the two pics of your parents -- they are too cute having such a good time!

[MeMom]

I know it's blasphemy, but I actually have been to Universal a couple of times, but it's been a while. I know our crew has talked about going over to check out Islands of Adventure for a day. I think they would really enjoy that. If I go anywhere off Disney property, it'll most likely be to take Brooklynn to Sea World. The trouble is, once we have the Disney tickets paid for, it's hard to think about another $70+ to go somewhere else for a day.

There's no doubt that there are awesome rides and attractions and beautiful hotels over that way, though. I'm sure there will be a day we will go there again, probably when the girls are a bit older.

Sorry to hear about the camera accident.

I'm ready to hear about the arrival at Wilderness Lodge!

[BrooklynnsMommy]

They should go to Islands of Adventure if they decide to go. Are you dising while feeding Bella?? Thats what I would do! :rotfl:



Several times a day. I am trying to really clean and organize the house so I do that between feedings and then when she is ready to eat I must sit down so I usually Dis then. I have become pretty efficient at one handed typing even left handed!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

very neat to see a different side of things in universal, some year when we go down to disney to camp, we will head over and check it out

[k_reile]

is mama dellas the same italian place you ate at last time you were at universal. It makes me want to go back but I don;t think we will have time this next trip since I want to take it as slow as possible at Disney with my going to be 16 mos old son on the trip and my 3.5 yr old newphew! Maybe when the boys are older and then they can enjoy it too! I'm with memom though...we;ll probably do seaworld first and thats ok because I have never been there even though there used to be one in Cleveland.

[Nicole786]

LOVE the pics of your parents- they are sooo cute!!!

They can be really cute when they are nice to eachother :lmao:

I guess your dad and David can pretty much recite the Simpsons film now! Yikes!

Love the two pics of your parents -- they are too cute having such a good time!

Yeah and they aren't fans of the simpsons either! Yeah wait until you see the cruise pics (i've only seen half of them) their smiles are so wide!

I know it's blasphemy, but I actually have been to Universal a couple of times, but it's been a while. I know our crew has talked about going over to check out Islands of Adventure for a day. I think they would really enjoy that. If I go anywhere off Disney property, it'll most likely be to take Brooklynn to Sea World. The trouble is, once we have the Disney tickets paid for, it's hard to think about another $70+ to go somewhere else for a day.

There's no doubt that there are awesome rides and attractions and beautiful hotels over that way, though. I'm sure there will be a day we will go there again, probably when the girls are a bit older.

Sorry to hear about the camera accident.

I'm ready to hear about the arrival at Wilderness Lodge!

It was the camera mom and dad were gonna take but it was no big deal david just gave them his and we used the small canon for filming. I think Universal feels more like just another one of those theme parks like Cedar Point or Six Flags unless you make a thing out of it like stay in the hotels. I used to like it as a park but got a whole new appreciation when I treated it like a resort. Still no where near disney though!

Several times a day. I am trying to really clean and organize the house so I do that between feedings and then when she is ready to eat I must sit down so I usually Dis then. I have become pretty efficient at one handed typing even left handed!

Haha! So she's there dising with you? Way to start her young!

very neat to see a different side of things in universal, some year when we go down to disney to camp, we will head over and check it out

Yeah universal is very fun as long as you go in with the right expectations!

is mama dellas the same italian place you ate at last time you were at universal. It makes me want to go back but I don;t think we will have time this next trip since I want to take it as slow as possible at Disney with my going to be 16 mos old son on the trip and my 3.5 yr old newphew! Maybe when the boys are older and then they can enjoy it too! I'm with memom though...we;ll probably do seaworld first and thats ok because I have never been there even though there used to be one in Cleveland.

Yeah we always eat at Mama Dellas the place rocks!! I think universal is geared more towards older kids, so when they are about 7+ they'll probably LOVE it! Never been to seaworld but I really want to try out that new Manta coaster!!

[timandlesley]

Nicole, I am loving this so far. Love the Universal TR, can't wait until the kids are a little bit older, we will definitely go to Universal then. Stinks about the Simpsons ride, that is Tim's favorite show so he would have been disappointed too! I love ET as well, GREAT ride, Tim and I honeymooned both there and at Disney, it was such fun!I LOVE the pictures of your parents, such a cute couple!
Lesley

[pooksma]

First I must apologise for my tardy arrival to the festivities~ so much going on its hard to keep track.

I agree that your parents are too cute. The pics of their hand holding maked me hope DH and I are still doing that when Declan sends us on the Disney Cruise.:lmao:

Thanks for showing us Universal. Another year or two and it will be added to our travel plans.

[CanadianWDWfan]

Your parents are an adorable couple. ;)

[karajeboo]

Well ya suckered me in with talk of this "upgrade!"

I had no idea you went to the dark side!!! But I must admit, Jeff and I do love Universal, too. It is not Disney, it is a totally different experience, and in my opinion, it's not really competition - say apples and oranges..... But Jeff has a relative with a very high powerful position at Univ, so we get a super pass every time we go..... Makes i kinda nice to be able to ride every ride at both parks in one day. We feel like VIPs. Even though I feel like I'm cheating on the mouse... kwim?

So looking forward to reading more!!!!

[MeMom]

First I must apologise for my tardy arrival to the festivities~ so much going on its hard to keep track.

I agree that your parents are too cute. The pics of their hand holding maked me hope DH and I are still doing that when Declan sends us on the Disney Cruise.:lmao:
Thanks for showing us Universal. Another year or two and it will be added to our travel plans.


Or maybe he'll just leave you at home to hold hands while he goes on a cruise that he doesn't tell you about! :laughing:

[Nicole786]

Nicole, I am loving this so far. Love the Universal TR, can't wait until the kids are a little bit older, we will definitely go to Universal then. Stinks about the Simpsons ride, that is Tim's favorite show so he would have been disappointed too! I love ET as well, GREAT ride, Tim and I honeymooned both there and at Disney, it was such fun!I LOVE the pictures of your parents, such a cute couple!
Lesley

I still say you should go for islands of adventure, its new for all! :rotfl: If simpsons is tims favorite ride than maybe he wouldn't have minded! Both the pre show and the ride are pretty funny even if you aren't a fan of the hsow. For example, as the ride starts sideshow bob says "Now, mr simpson, you are going to die!" and homer says "You sound just like my doctor!" :happytv:

First I must apologise for my tardy arrival to the festivities~ so much going on its hard to keep track.

I agree that your parents are too cute. The pics of their hand holding maked me hope DH and I are still doing that when Declan sends us on the Disney Cruise.:lmao:

Thanks for showing us Universal. Another year or two and it will be added to our travel plans.

No problem, welcome to the party!! My parents can be kind of cute :cutie: I hope one day Declan does send you on the cruise!

Your parents are an adorable couple. ;)

THanks! :)

Well ya suckered me in with talk of this "upgrade!"

I had no idea you went to the dark side!!! But I must admit, Jeff and I do love Universal, too. It is not Disney, it is a totally different experience, and in my opinion, it's not really competition - say apples and oranges..... But Jeff has a relative with a very high powerful position at Univ, so we get a super pass every time we go..... Makes i kinda nice to be able to ride every ride at both parks in one day. We feel like VIPs. Even though I feel like I'm cheating on the mouse... kwim?

So looking forward to reading more!!!!

I agree that it is totally seperate, thats really cool you guys get that pass! Have you ever stayed at any of the universal hotels? I don't really feel like i'm cheating the mouse but thats probably because we always start our vacation there and than move to disney. That way it feels like 2 trips in 1!

Or maybe he'll just leave you at home to hold hands while he goes on a cruise that he doesn't tell you about! :laughing:
:laughing:

[scottny]

great start to your tr.

Love the pics.

Next time we go we said we are going there. I want to ride E.T. again.

[Nicole786]

Wake up everybody the rest of the vacation starts today!!! If you haven't seen the 'reveal' video from last year where we gave mom and dad the cruise, heres another oppurtunity!

video, video, video, video, video, video! (http://vimeo.com/1260952)

Mom wakes up like this knowing in just a few short hours she'll be on a boat!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9859.jpg

Dad sets up the luggage tags!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9856.jpg

and we head to the lobby for some breakfast. Here are some nice shots of the lobby area, it was a really pretty hotel!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9860.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9861.jpg

We get the car and I drive over to MCO, the drive takes about 20 minutes. Mom and dad are elated! We dropped them off as close as possible to ground transportation (where ME and DCL buses are) they had to go one flight down and they were there. Everyone say goodbye to Mom & Dad! We'll hear more from them later!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9863.jpg

David and I head back to the RPR, it still isn't quite check out time, so we make sure everything is packed, check our bags with bell services, and than head out to Islands of adventure via RPR's 10 minute walking path (like Swan/Dolphin to epcot maybe in terms of distance)

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9865.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9867.jpg

We had this feeling of anticipation for Disney, it was as if we didn't really 'feel' like being in Universal anymore. So our original plans to re-do rides we like and even walk over to universal to go to the mummy were out the window. Now, we just wanted to go on the Hulk and Dr Doom and hit the road, we were excited! Goodbye Universal!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9870.jpg

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Hello disney!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9878.jpg

and hello house!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9883.jpg

When we turned into the WL, it was MOBBED with bikers, it was craziness! Even the security guard seemed frazzled, she was like out of the security booth and seemed out of breath when she said "Hello and welcome home" and seemed geniunely surprised we were checking in rather than utilizing the park lot! :laughing: Anyway, we finally made it through but pulling the car to the lodge proved difficult as well. We were greeted by valet, but he too semed so out of it he just kind of asked us to wait if we needed luggage assistance. We had to move up and we waited but finally I just asked David to sit with the luggage while I parked the car, it was no biggie. It wasn't like the man had an attitude, he just seemed so busy it wasn't a big deal. C'mon, we were on cloud 9! Look where we were!

Before we walked in I turned to David and asked him to remember this moment because it was the first and only time we were going to be checking into the WL for the first time. That feeling where its all brand new is going to be over soon so cherish it!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9885.jpg

Oh yeah baby, no line at check in!! Ben checked us in, and he was everything in a CM you could hope for! I asked him if the room we had was overlooking service area (Those horrible pics I had seen on the DIS of CMs on break and trucks backing up with the beep beep beep haunted me) sure enough this is exactly where our room was. Or as Ben affectionately calls it, the "pit" he said if we didn't like it we could come down and switch it. And than mid sentence he went "you know what, that makes no sense let me see what I can do"

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9886.jpg

he came back not 30 seconds later and had our room switched. He said the view was mostly of a roof, but it was quiet and I would probably like the location! Whopee! Yay for ben! He gave us our magical packet of awesome :lovestruc and we sat in the lobby organizing and just soaking it all in, we were here!! No flag family available :( Our room wasn't ready yet, so after a quick stop in the gift shop we were on our way to the boat dock. David was upset because he wanted a WL hat like MeMom and BrooklynnsMommy got him from the AKL, but they are doing a logo change at the WL so no more hats :scared1:

Well, except this one:

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9887.jpg

It was a scorcher outside!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9892.jpg

The boat had just left so we had enough time to talk to Mom and Dad who were as excited as excited to be! It was around 12:30pm at this point, they were eating lunch on the ship.

We hopped on, loved the boat ride, and were walking in this happy place in no time!

I got a flower when we walked in for Mother's Day even though I said I wasn't a mother. "Someday you will be" she said. And than we saw it, main street!!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9896.jpg

Continued in next post...

[Nicole786]

Surprisingly, it wasn't that crowded so we were excited for the week to come (boy were we wrong!)

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9898.jpg

We FP Big thunder, and than used our first CS at Pecos Bills. David really enjoyed Pecos Bills because he could put shredded cheese on his burger (they have taco salads there) After a great lunch we headed to Haunted Mansion and walked right on!

I tried to get some no flash pictures

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9915.jpg

Time for the wildest ride in the wilderness!

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Oh boy was it wild! So wild in fact, that I got off the ride and realized I had left something behind!! The bottom peice of my lanyard broke off! The thing that held the important stuff! My room key, tickets, and my disney gift card!! I managed to calm myself down and prepare for the worst, but we headed back there and waited for a few cars to pass by before YES! The cm had my broken lanyard and my stuff!! From then on we always took everything off on rides.

We grabbed a FP for splash before we walked over to pirates, and david called the WL but our room wasn't ready. We had intended to escape the heat for a nap but it wasn't to be. So we escaped the heat and joined some pirates!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9945.jpg

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And we couldn't walk past this place without David getting his favorite treat! Go ahead david you stand in line i'll stand in the shade, haha!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9958.jpg

Almost there!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9962.jpg

We took our treat to the new parade! I hadn't seen it, OMG I love it!! 5 minutes left and we walked right to the castle hub with nobody around. Okay that didn't last once the parade started. Eventually we had kids shoving and pushing there way to the front by their parents. I don't mind putting a small child in front of me because obviously I can see over them, but I don't agree with parents who encourage their kids to shove and push me to get what they want. I would have gladly made way for them, but out of spite (something I can't help) I ignored them. The kids stood next to me instead of front so they saw fine. But back to this colorful, AWESOME parade! THis isn't the first time i'll get to see it this trip. But the music is lively, and imagine feeling like you are IN a disney commercial cuz thats what its like!! By the way, we were MELTING at this point. I felt the sun burning my feet through my socks & Asics!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9964.jpg

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We snuck through the gift shops, an idea I posed to david and than he went "looks like i'm gonna need the gift shop leash again this trip!"

But than it was time to head back home to the Wilderness Lodge! And finally our room was ready!

[topdog]

That's a bummer you didn't get to do the flag raise thing. :mad: I always get a rush when I first check in at WL. :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear more.

[k_reile]

now that you have stayed at both wl and BC...which one do you like the best. I am torn btwn the two for our feb trip...i am thinking we will like BC..its nice...its close to EPCOT and world showcase and the boys will love stormalong bay....but the WL is sooo cool looking and the boys will love that...its a boat ride to MK...and its cheaper than BC...;)

That is why we will be going to WDW next in Feb...the weather should be just right and definitely better than the Ohio winter we will be coming from. I've been to WDW in late April before its HOT! My husband does not do heat and crowds well and with a small toddler it will be the best time for us! I soo can't wait!

[KatGarcia]

great start. I can't wait to see your room! And i think its the NYer in you that makes you not let those kids through on spite- I am the same way. I can be nice but when you push me and force your way its all over. lol.

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for being at Disney!!! Ben was super sweet to change your room! Can't wait to see where it is located! I wonder what the new Wilderness Lodge logo is going to look like -- I like the one they have right now. Magic Kingdom is a great sight to see -- even if it is just in pictures!!! Two weeks from today we will be there, and I am so looking forward to a Dole Whip and riding POTC.

[MeMom]

Our room wasn't ready yet, so after a quick stop in the gift shop we were on our way to the boat dock. David was upset because he wanted a WL hat like MeMom and BrooklynnsMommy got him from the AKL, but they are doing a logo change at the WL so no more hats :scared1:

Well, except this one:

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_9887.jpg



We hopped on, loved the boat ride, and were walking in this happy place in no time!

I got a flower when we walked in for Mother's Day even though I said I wasn't a mother. "Someday you will be" she said. And than we saw it, main street!!



Continued in next post...



If I had only known, I could have gotten him a hat from there, too. Maybe you should get a hat from every resort now before they do away with them! I know that Pop doesn't have any resort specific merchandise any more, and I wish I would have stocked up on a few more Pop t-shirts before they became extinct!

David is stylin' in the sheriff's hat, though!

I can imagine the great feeling you had on that first boat ride over to Magic Kingdom! :cool2:

I'm glad you got a special flower. In our family, we just go ahead and celebrate all the girls on Mother's Day and all the guys on Father's Day instead of just singling out the moms and dads only.

Looking forward to more pictures of Wilderness Lodge.

[timandlesley]

Nicole,
I'm just loving this!!! I got goosebumps when you were talking about checking into WL for the first time,ahhhhhhhhhh what a magical place!!! Just LOVE it there (as you aleady know : ) Looks like you had an awesome MK morning despite the heat, so glad you found your lanyard. Great luck about the room, can't wait to see your view pics from the balcony, we've always had good luck with room requests at WL, they always are willing to work with you. Sorry about Flag Family, that is so hard to get. Can't WAIT for more!!!popcorn::
Lesley

[wdwgirl03]

Yay, you're in Disney!! I can't wait until we check into the Wilderness Lodge. So glad you were able to find your lanyard!

[pooksma]

The marshall hat made me think of WC and our server Marshall Law. Then that made me think of running in to you and David.

Good times!

Looks like more good times were had.

[Grybo]

David really enjoyed Pecos Bills because he could put shredded cheese on his burger (they have taco salads there).

The only thing I don't like at Disney CS is that for any burger, no matter how big or how many burger patties there are, they only put one thin piece of cheese on the burger. That's why I really liked Peco's Bill.

[teruterubouzu]

Woo hoo, you're at Disney World. It's fun to read a report that overlaps the same dates I was there. That was such a hot day! I was at DHS and AK earlier that day and then at MK for a couple of rides and Wishes.

[Sleeping*Beauty]

I am so excited to read another one of your trip reports. I love your parade pictures. I can't wait to see it in person.

[dddisrunner]

WOW Nicole, I am LOVING your report!! I just watched the video reveal!!! AWESOME!! Your parents are too cute for words!!:thumbsup2 Awesome writing about the arrival at the WL:cloud9: Sorry it was so hot, but loving this report!:goodvibes

[Nicole786]

That's a bummer you didn't get to do the flag raise thing. :mad: I always get a rush when I first check in at WL. :thumbsup2

Can't wait to hear more.

I know the rush you are talking about, it is one of a kind!!

now that you have stayed at both wl and BC...which one do you like the best. I am torn btwn the two for our feb trip...i am thinking we will like BC..its nice...its close to EPCOT and world showcase and the boys will love stormalong bay....but the WL is sooo cool looking and the boys will love that...its a boat ride to MK...and its cheaper than BC...;)

That is why we will be going to WDW next in Feb...the weather should be just right and definitely better than the Ohio winter we will be coming from. I've been to WDW in late April before its HOT! My husband does not do heat and crowds well and with a small toddler it will be the best time for us! I soo can't wait!

We didn't end up staying at the BC last year, we stayed at AKL. The reason I didn't like the BC was for 2 reasons, 1 the awful sharing bus service, and the fact they didnt have a traditional quick service restaurant. I'd also question you were going in February because I think one of the biggest pulls to the BC is Stormalong Bay but how often would you get to use it in the February weather? I do love how close it is to epcot, I don't think you can go wrong either way but I would say WL!! You will have an awesome time no matter what the weather is great walk around weather! Never doing May again lol

great start. I can't wait to see your room! And i think its the NYer in you that makes you not let those kids through on spite- I am the same way. I can be nice but when you push me and force your way its all over. lol.

Haha it must be the new york attitude thing lol. Room coming up soon!

Yeay for being at Disney!!! Ben was super sweet to change your room! Can't wait to see where it is located! I wonder what the new Wilderness Lodge logo is going to look like -- I like the one they have right now. Magic Kingdom is a great sight to see -- even if it is just in pictures!!! Two weeks from today we will be there, and I am so looking forward to a Dole Whip and riding POTC.

Ben was awesome, he comes back in the trip later on too! Room is coming up! They showed us the logo in the gift shop because its on some tees. Basically its the words "Disney's Wilderness Lodge" in a certain font. There's nothing real special about it, kind of reminds me of hte Port Orleans logo. It's not terrible but i'll miss the old logo.

If I had only known, I could have gotten him a hat from there, too. Maybe you should get a hat from every resort now before they do away with them! I know that Pop doesn't have any resort specific merchandise any more, and I wish I would have stocked up on a few more Pop t-shirts before they became extinct!

David is stylin' in the sheriff's hat, though!

I can imagine the great feeling you had on that first boat ride over to Magic Kingdom! :cool2:

I'm glad you got a special flower. In our family, we just go ahead and celebrate all the girls on Mother's Day and all the guys on Father's Day instead of just singling out the moms and dads only.

Looking forward to more pictures of Wilderness Lodge.

Thats nice that you celebrate everyone on Mothers/Fathers day! I wish my family would do that haha. We need to pile on the resort merchandise while it lasts before even that stuff becomes generic like the mugs!

Nicole,
I'm just loving this!!! I got goosebumps when you were talking about checking into WL for the first time,ahhhhhhhhhh what a magical place!!! Just LOVE it there (as you aleady know : ) Looks like you had an awesome MK morning despite the heat, so glad you found your lanyard. Great luck about the room, can't wait to see your view pics from the balcony, we've always had good luck with room requests at WL, they always are willing to work with you. Sorry about Flag Family, that is so hard to get. Can't WAIT for more!!!popcorn::
Lesley

I wasn't that upset about flag family because at least I had done it once before, but its still awesome!! The room chapter is coming up, i'm hoping to get some video up also! Thanks for reading :)

Yay, you're in Disney!! I can't wait until we check into the Wilderness Lodge. So glad you were able to find your lanyard!

I love checking in anywhere but theres something about the wilderness lodge....:cloud9:

The marshall hat made me think of WC and our server Marshall Law. Then that made me think of running in to you and David.

Good times!

Looks like more good times were had.

Haha those were good times!! :goodvibes

The only thing I don't like at Disney CS is that for any burger, no matter how big or how many burger patties there are, they only put one thin piece of cheese on the burger. That's why I really liked Peco's Bill.

Yeah yeah...

Woo hoo, you're at Disney World. It's fun to read a report that overlaps the same dates I was there. That was such a hot day! I was at DHS and AK earlier that day and then at MK for a couple of rides and Wishes.

The whole week was so hot, we were begging for rain!! We actually had better weather last August, but I think thats because there was rain to cool it off.

I am so excited to read another one of your trip reports. I love your parade pictures. I can't wait to see it in person.

Thanks! That parade is AWESOME

WOW Nicole, I am LOVING your report!! I just watched the video reveal!!! AWESOME!! Your parents are too cute for words!!:thumbsup2 Awesome writing about the arrival at the WL:cloud9: Sorry it was so hot, but loving this report!:goodvibes

Hey!! Thanks for reading, Im just about to head over to your TR! You've never done the Nemo show?? It's too cute!

[Nicole786]

Meanwhile....

Mom's Thoughts: After being dropped off at the airport, we went to the ME counter. Everybody was really nice, I was so excited about the glass slipper on the counter.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disneycruise/DSC02853.jpg

Everything was Disney like the counter numbers and the signs, it just made us more excited! We were number three to board the ship. But than we lost the card and ended up being number 2 to go on the ship, which is really number 1 because the only people number 1 are the family of the day.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disneycruise/DSC02859.jpg

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The bus ride was an absolute pleasure! We were just excited to finally get there already. I was amazed at how smooth check in was everything was done at MCO so we got to relax in the port for a bit before heading on to the ship.

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disneycruise/DSC02870.jpg

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When we first got on we asked about Palo but nothing was opened yet so we would have to come back later. We went to Parrot Cay for lunch which was great. Than we headed to the adult only area of the ship and look who we ran into!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disneycruise/DSC02917.jpg

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http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disneycruise/DSC02922.jpg

[Leleluvsdis]

Loving you TR!!! We were there may 7-16th, and I hear ya on the melting heat!!!! It definetly was!!!

[Nicole786]

Loving you TR!!! We were there may 7-16th, and I hear ya on the melting heat!!!! It definetly was!!!

The heat was brutal, and the crowds were very unexpected but its disney so of course we made the best of it!

[CanadianWDWfan]

I am beyond excitted to read about the cruise! :woohoo:
Thanks DMOM

I would love to lay in one of those deck chairs and sip a cocktail...Heaven!! ::yes::

Glad to have you join us on the DIS!

[Charleston Princess]

The cruise looks so relaxing, and your parents look like they are having the time of their lives!

[teruterubouzu]

Your parents looks so happy in their cruise photos! What a sweet present you guys gave them.

[java]

I loved the reveal video! Brought tears to my eyes. The when you wish music did me in!

That was a wonderful gift to give your parents. I'm going to have to show this to my kids. :thumbsup2

And can I guess where you're all from? Is that Jersey or NY? Sounds familiar to me!

[Nicole786]

I am beyond excitted to read about the cruise! :woohoo:
Thanks DMOM

I would love to lay in one of those deck chairs and sip a cocktail...Heaven!! ::yes::

Glad to have you join us on the DIS!

You'll hear more from mom, she was on this thread reading earlier today!

The cruise looks so relaxing, and your parents look like they are having the time of their lives!

I just remembered I took a picture of something for you (well chelsea) im headed to your thread in a second to post it! And they were having a great time!!

Your parents looks so happy in their cruise photos! What a sweet present you guys gave them.

Thanks, they had a great time!!

I loved the reveal video! Brought tears to my eyes. The when you wish music did me in!

That was a wonderful gift to give your parents. I'm going to have to show this to my kids. :thumbsup2

And can I guess where you're all from? Is that Jersey or NY? Sounds familiar to me!

I think music added to anything will make you cry :laughing: thats what usually does me in! Thats sweet you were so touched by it. You guessed right we are from NY!

[Nicole786]

We took the relaxing boat back to the WL because finally our room was ready!! I love this part of getting a room and not knowing where it could be or if it was good. Well boy we were in for a treat!! We took the elevators up to the fifth floor and followed the signs to our room, but not for long! We were right around the corner from the elevators off of the lobby!

I took a panoramic image that would otherwise be too large for the DIS and put it on a personal website so you can see, just click here! (http://web.me.com/nicole786/wlroom/Wilderness_Lodge_Room.html)

Here is the room, and David ecstatic over the location!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0013.jpg

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0014.jpg

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http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0023.jpg

Of course the downside to all of this was the view. Since david and I aren't much of sit out on the balcony kind of people, it didn't bother us. We much prefer the convenient location after a long day in the parks! But I could see where this would bother some people because it a smaller balcony and the view is of the roof!

We layed down in the bed and watched Top 7 because of course this just seals the deal you are in Disney. But they changed it!! It is still our friend Stacey but it is totally different, gotta say, did not like it! Usually we'll watch Top 7 a few times on the vacation, but we just did not like the new format at all! Thats okay, we switched it to my guilty pleasure Disney Channel! And relaxed for a bit before heading out for dinner at Boma!!

I made these Boma reservations before we were staying at the AKL and although it felt kind of weird because it would have been so much easier to switch the Boma for later in the trip, we kept them and had a good dinner. I wouldn't say great, because I've had Boma better before, but for anyone who hasn't tried this it is such a great restaurant! There is genuinely something for everyone!

To get over there this was genuinely the bus ride from you know where!! We decided to hop on the first bus there was which was Epcot. We had to stop at Ft. Wilderness which took forever for some reason, than switch to AKL from Epcot. When we finally got on the AKL bus, the driver sat there for 10 minutes and i'm still not sure why. Since we had 2 minutes until our ADR I used the time to call Boma and let them know we would be late. They said it would be no problem, thankfully!

The WL lobby as we left

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0025.jpg

The bus line at Ft Wilderness (aka what took so long)

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0027.jpg

We walked over towards the public overlook near the pool while we waited to be seated but when we got over there we got buzzed! We weren't upset, we would have plenty of animal viewing when we'd check in later in the week!

I don't know what this picture is, I think I was testing lighting lol!

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0035.jpg

I go up to get my food and when I come back David has a plate of this:

http://i571.photobucket.com/albums/ss154/nal1007/disney_may/IMG_0044.jpg

Oh and chicken nuggets/macaroni & cheese. He questions who decided to put dessert after dinner instead of during?

Service wasn't up to par with the last time I was here but it was prime dinner time and they were busy so I understand

We headed straight to MK from AKL, and used up the Splash FP we had snagged earlier! It was still hot but you could see that crowds had tamed regardless of it being Sunday/Mothers Day/EMH.

While waiting for Wishes we went in to the gift shop (David trying to pull the gift shop leash but failed) and showed them the broken lanyard piece from the earlier incident on BTMR! Without hesitation they allowed me to exchange it, whoopee!

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And than it was time for Wishes!!

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This is my absolute favorite part when they paint the sky with gold!!

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Our original intention was to maximize EMH and go on a few attractions, but we were EXHAUSTED!! We headed over to Liberty Square for some funnel cake to go

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Than to the main street bakery for a proper to go box...

...and headed back home for some hot chocolate at the wilderness lodge!! Man there is just nothing like that place!

[Leleluvsdis]

I LOVED LOVED LOVED your parent's reaction when they finally realized they were going on a cruise!!!

Can't wait to read more about WL! DH wants to stay their something bad!!!

[MeMom]

We layed down in the bed and watched Top 7 because of course this just seals the deal you are in Disney. But they changed it!! It is still our friend Stacey but it is totally different, gotta say, did not like it! Usually we'll watch Top 7 a few times on the vacation, but we just did not like the new format at all! Thats okay, we switched it to my guilty pleasure Disney Channel! And relaxed for a bit before heading out for dinner at Boma!!


I go up to get my food and when I come back David has a plate of this:

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Our original intention was to maximize EMH and go on a few attractions, but we were EXHAUSTED!! We headed over to Liberty Square for some funnel cake to go



Than to the main street bakery for a proper to go box...

...and headed back home for some hot chocolate at the wilderness lodge!! Man there is just nothing like that place!




You can youtube the new Top 7. It is a little milder than the old one, isn't it. Doesn't get you quite as pumped up!

I hope David remembered to eat one of those zebra domes for me and one for Charleston Princess, as we had requested.

I'm sure he did. I know he wasn't too caught up in the excitement of being in Disney World, staying at the Wilderness Lodge, eating at Boma, and getting ready to go hang out at the Magic Kingdom. I just know he was thinking of us as he ate those domes! :hug:

We often plan more in our heads for arrival day than our bodies will let us do, too. In our heads, we want to go on about fifty rides and stay until the last second and walk out to empty streets, but our exhausted travel-worn bodies carry us back to the resort to crash every time!

Mom and Dad look like they are having a wonderful time! I know it makes you feel so good to see them relaxing. That's one of my favorite feelings of our trips, when I look around and see everyone relaxing at the pool or wherever and just having no thoughts of work or school or bills or deadlines and such.

[FauntleroyFAN07]

love how we are getting two differnet parts of the trip at once, cant wait to see more of hte cruise.

[karajeboo]

Nicole - I just watched your reveal video and I cried!!!! Love love LOVE that you did that for your parents!!!! Would you be my daughter???? :rotfl2:

Loving the report but hurry up with more cruise TR - Jeff is all set to go now so I've gotta get it booked before he changes his mind!!!!

[LMO429]

Great TR! Subscribing!

We were on the same exact cruise as Mom & Dad. It was our first disney cruise and we loved it especially that the adult only areas were truly "adult only" we must have been by the adult pool at the same exact time on the first day we headed to the pool as soon as we got on the ship as well.

Looking forward to reading more about the trip!

[Nicole786]

I LOVED LOVED LOVED your parent's reaction when they finally realized they were going on a cruise!!!

Can't wait to read more about WL! DH wants to stay their something bad!!!

I have so many pictures to share of the WL! I love that place, I hope you get to stay there some day!

You can youtube the new Top 7. It is a little milder than the old one, isn't it. Doesn't get you quite as pumped up!

I hope David remembered to eat one of those zebra domes for me and one for Charleston Princess, as we had requested.

I'm sure he did. I know he wasn't too caught up in the excitement of being in Disney World, staying at the Wilderness Lodge, eating at Boma, and getting ready to go hang out at the Magic Kingdom. I just know he was thinking of us as he ate those domes! :hug:

We often plan more in our heads for arrival day than our bodies will let us do, too. In our heads, we want to go on about fifty rides and stay until the last second and walk out to empty streets, but our exhausted travel-worn bodies carry us back to the resort to crash every time!

Mom and Dad look like they are having a wonderful time! I know it makes you feel so good to see them relaxing. That's one of my favorite feelings of our trips, when I look around and see everyone relaxing at the pool or wherever and just having no thoughts of work or school or bills or deadlines and such.

I agree about the planning thing, You can plan and plan and plan but it never seems to work out the same way on paper! I'll ask David if he ate the zebra domes and thought of you guys, I wouldn't be surprised if he remembered, you guys came up in more than one conversation!

love how we are getting two differnet parts of the trip at once, cant wait to see more of hte cruise.

I'll be sure to keep posting pictures but not sure if I can get mom or dads thoughts our schedules keep conflicting!

Nicole - I just watched your reveal video and I cried!!!! Love love LOVE that you did that for your parents!!!! Would you be my daughter???? :rotfl2:

Loving the report but hurry up with more cruise TR - Jeff is all set to go now so I've gotta get it booked before he changes his mind!!!!

Haha! I think my parents would wonder where I went if I put myself up for adoption, or they would cry for joy I'm not sure which one :rotfl:

I have plenty more pics of the cruise I cant wait to share (its all new to me also!)

Great TR! Subscribing!

We were on the same exact cruise as Mom & Dad. It was our first disney cruise and we loved it especially that the adult only areas were truly "adult only" we must have been by the adult pool at the same exact time on the first day we headed to the pool as soon as we got on the ship as well.

Looking forward to reading more about the trip!

Thats so cool! Lots of disers on that cruise, did you see them? They spent the entire time in the adults area, they loved it!

[MeMom]

I have so many pictures to share of the WL! I love that place, I hope you get to stay there some day!


I'll ask David if he ate the zebra domes and thought of you guys, I wouldn't be surprised if he remembered, you guys came up in more than one conversation!



Our Wilderness Lodge time is coming - just wait and see!

Cool! So we were in Disney World by way of conversation?!?!?
I'll take that and be happy with it! :dance3:

When we're there, we'll make sure you guys are there in conversation, too! :)

[pooksma]

Wow the 'rents look super relaxed. I'm jealous!

Great Fireworks shots. I love that the angle shows the clock.:thumbsup2

[BrooklynnsMommy]

We have altered our plans for MeMom's birthday. They now include not only all four parks but also a trip to the AKL for zebra domes. I just might have to bring a candle with me!

[MeMom]

We have altered our plans for MeMom's birthday. They now include not only all four parks but also a trip to the AKL for zebra domes. I just might have to bring a candle with me!


Hey, I don't want wax in my zebra dome!!!

Besides that, I'll probably be eating them so fast you won't have time to stick a candle in them. :)

[Nicole786]

Our Wilderness Lodge time is coming - just wait and see!

Cool! So we were in Disney World by way of conversation?!?!?
I'll take that and be happy with it! :dance3:

When we're there, we'll make sure you guys are there in conversation, too! :)

Yay its always nice to be there in spirit!

Wow the 'rents look super relaxed. I'm jealous!

Great Fireworks shots. I love that the angle shows the clock.:thumbsup2

Thanks on the fireworks shot! They definitely relaxed on the cruise!

We have altered our plans for MeMom's birthday. They now include not only all four parks but also a trip to the AKL for zebra domes. I just might have to bring a candle with me!

Haha I love that idea!! I can't believe you are doing all 4 in a day!

Hey, I don't want wax in my zebra dome!!!

Besides that, I'll probably be eating them so fast you won't have time to stick a candle in them. :)

Haha!!

[Nicole786]

We woke up and headed to Roaring fork for some breakfast! Just walking around the WL in the early morning, I can't express how much I love it here!!!

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We were running a bit behind so we ended up making it to Epcot 10 minutes after opening but learned something in the process. It is so much more relaxed a few minutes after! Instead of feeling like you're in a race or getting trampled, its just an easier walk to FP Soarin (or whatever) and much calmer!!

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We trotted over to Soarin to get our FP and than headed to FW West to get on Test Track and Mission Space. I love some of these shots on Test Track!!

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One of Davids favorites is MS so we were headed there next. This ride is a lot of fun even if you go on the less intense version (we tried that one with mom/dad later on!) So if you are skeptical I say go for it, its very similar to Soarin except youre in a closed space

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We saw the Jammitors outside and stopped to watch, David loves music and I just love them i think they are so good! We both really enjoyed this.

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On our way back to FW East, we stopped in innoventions to sign up for Kim Possible, I was really really looking foward to this!! I had talked it up to David for a while! It works like a FP machine, it gives you a time (anytime after the appointed time works too, just not before) and a place in the WS, ours was between England/France.

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We used our FP for Soarin, and waited some time because we wanted to sit front row, but when we got on the scents weren't working properly so David was a little dissapointed.

Continued next post...

[Nicole786]

Next we headed to The Seas. At this point David was becoming more and more eager to use my camera, he really enjoyed using the SLR, so unlike other trips, I am in a lot more photos because he kept wanting to take pictures!

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We talked turtle with Crush (we both agreed this time paled in comparison to the last time we visited this attraction) and than headed to davids favorite place club cool. Imagine this since opening "can we go to club cool, can we go to club cool, can we go to club cool..." YES DAVID SHUT UP WE CAN GO!

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We freshened up and headed out to the WS, the flower and garden festival topiaries are just Amazing!!

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We wanted to get over to the International gateway for the KP adventure, so we skipped over a few, but got there just a few minutes shy. We walked around England (I just love this pavillion and the people in it!) and ended up chatting with a CM in the sports shoppe where the candy is (just to give you a nice visual, haha!) We asked him what his favorite candy is, and what the signature candy of England is etc. We had a nice conversation with him and its where we decided we were going to....."DUN DUN DUN"

CANDY AROUND THE WORLD

AKA the non-alcoholic version of

DRINKING AROUND THE WORLD

when traveling with a very eager and sugar hungry minor.

Unfortunately, our WS attempts to do this would fail throughout the vacation, but we vowed next we are here to do this!! We still tried an English treat!

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We started making masks with time to spare, and than finally it was time for the WS adventure!!

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OMG this was so much fun, we had a BLAST!! Our assignment was in France (So i'm assuming the pavillion you go to isn't far from where you get your Kimmunicator)
Seriously, I can't speak highly enough of this!! There are some really funny photopass pictures that were taken of us "in action" We're looking down at the kimmunicator, all of a sudden I hear shutter and flashes and i'm like "huh? what?" I look up and theres a photopass photographer taking pictures and says "You can't be too careful, there are us evil spies EVERYWHERE" How cool is that?? Why can't people be more like him, I think photopass would be 10x better if a lot of it wasn't posed, but I guess they would waste a lot of digital space that way with people not wanting the photos or something. Back on the mission, we helped Kim Possible find the bad guy!

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And now we were hungry. To America!!

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i was really looking forward to the apple pie here I love it, but I was sad to see they exchanged it for a generic apple tart they give out at every other CS place. I was upset because we were really interested in eating at a different country, but I wanted to eat here because of the apple pie.

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After lunch we decided to head back for some nap time, but since we were still planning on

CANDY AROUND THE WORLD

we stopped in Italy to look at candy.

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Than we took the boat to FW.

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There was a butterfly garden set up which was really nice, took some great shots. And who can forget to go on Spaceship Earth??

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Coming up next, the WL arcade, more WL photos (and video!) dinner at Kona (yum!) and DHS EMH!

[AGPrincess]

Hey Nicole! I can't believe I didn't see your TR until now! Loving it so far...fabulous pics as usual! lol - CANDY around the world?!? Yes please!! :thumbsup2 The KP mission sounds really fun too -- how cool there are even hidden photopass people taking pics! Can't wait for more!

[pooksma]

Hey thanks for the comments re Kim Possible. Do you think DS would enjoy it? It's one of my fav shows:rolleyes1 but I think it might be fun for us all!

[Nicole786]

Hey Nicole! I can't believe I didn't see your TR until now! Loving it so far...fabulous pics as usual! lol - CANDY around the world?!? Yes please!! :thumbsup2 The KP mission sounds really fun too -- how cool there are even hidden photopass people taking pics! Can't wait for more!

Glad you're here now! My parents read what you had of the cruise TR before they left!

Hey thanks for the comments re Kim Possible. Do you think DS would enjoy it? It's one of my fav shows:rolleyes1 but I think it might be fun for us all!

I think he would absolutely love it! When we were at Mexico there were so many kids doing it, and they were having an awesome time!

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Hey Nicole! I am all caught up now, great pictures! Your parents look so happy to be heading off on the cruise. :goodvibes

[Grybo]

Hey everyone! Sorry I haven't been very active on the boards. I was recently having some computer issues, but now everything is a-ok!:thumbsup2

In response to MeMom's question, Of course I was thinking of you guys when I was eating the Zebra Domes! There wasn't a moment in the trip when we didn't think of you.

[Nicole786]

Sorry I haven't updated in a few days, I've been commuting to work and i'm beat by the time I come home! Im off on the weekend, so new chapter should be coming soon!

[Charleston Princess]

Just don't update too much while I am gone! :goodvibes

[Nicole786]

So we relaxed in the room a bit, but we had so many arcade cards burning a hole in our pockets so we headed through the WL and into the arcade!

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After our allotted 30 minutes of play, we headed back to the room, and freshened up for dinner!

David's Thoughts: That WWII game is so much fun I play this in all the Disney hotel arcades

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Tonight was our favorite, Kona Cafe! We took the boat to the contemporary (love the WL!) than the monorail to the poly and headed in.

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The DVC tower for those interested!

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We started off with some sticky wings, and of course the bread they bring you which just melts in your mouth its so good!

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I had the NY strip (SO YUMMY!) and david had his favorite Coconut Almond Chicken.

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We finished up with some cheesecake and lava cake, and once again Kona did not dissapoint! Its definitely on the "each and every trip" list!

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Tonight was EMH at DHS and we were really looking forward to going on RnR coaster and ToT at night!

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I love sitting at the Poly bus stop (or the GF bus stop) and pretend I am staying there, one day I will, but for now its always a fun game to look like you belong! :rotfl:

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I pretty much named TSM untouchable so we were going to relax and just hit those 2 major rides! David has a new love for roller coasters and has always loved rock music so this would soon turn into his favorite ride!

Snapped this for Chelsea (Charleston Princess's DD)

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The finale show for AI was going on so we stopped and watched that on the big screen for a bit.

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The park was still open so in an effort to let crowds die down, we headed into Animation Academy! Now I love doing this, but David (and mom) both have a hard time and thus get frustrated. Lucky for us, there was a HILARIOUS guy sitting next to me having a hard time as well, and a rambunctious family of like 13 which kept the laughter going. The guy sitting next to me went from calling his Donald Duck "Mickey" (cuz it looked like a mouse) to "sort of a duck" to calling it "King Mickey Duck" (he thought donalds hat looked like a crown) In the end I don't think I did too shabby, but David called his drawing Monald the (well i'll live it there as it would be inappropriate)--Donalds evil twin.

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When we got out the park had closed and we headed over to ToT. There was a 20 minute ToT wait and a 30 minute RnR wait. We went to ToT hoping that the line for RnR would get shorter. While waiting in line for ToT, we met a couple behind us that we chatted with about south park and family guy and we had a lot of fun with them. We got split up on the actual ride but that was a fun way to wait! Be careful if you're around us we'll make friends with just about anyone we have no reservations of just talking to you!

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Continued...

[Nicole786]

Now the moment we had been waiting for, RnR!! The wait was actually practically walk on, it was just walking over to the pre show and the small wait that came after that. and VROOM! we were off.

David's Thoughts: That was the most amazing line i've ever waited in, i love that line

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David loved this! (So did I!) He wasn't expecting the take off to be so intense but we still had a great time on this ride.

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We decided to walk around to TSM but of course it was too long of a line and we rounded the corner to the Streets.

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THEY WERE EMPTY!! We were so creeped out by this, we had the entire street to ourselves! Photo op!

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It was really strange walking around without anybody around, but definitely fun! The rockstar posed in front of the AI poster

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and we made our grand exit back home to the WL!

We had a long day ahead of us, we took Fauntleroy's advice and decided to wake up for the BB opening, would we conquer Summit Plummit??

[Charleston Princess]

I showed Chelsea your pic of Bo! She was so excited! She even talked to the computer screen, "Hi, Bo, see you soon!" :rotfl:

Love the pic of David stretched out on the ground! :lmao:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

It totally is creepy have the park to yourselves. That happened to us in 07, we walked out of Mama Melrose and the place was deserted, spooky!

[pooksma]

TOT at night!?????? Im too chicken to do that.:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

[KatGarcia]

OK the picture of David in heaven over the bread made me laugh but the pic of him laying across the street was even funnier:rotfl:!!!!

[MeMom]

I had the NY strip (SO YUMMY!) and david had his favorite Coconut Almond Chicken.

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Every time I see someone's picture of this, it makes me want to call and make a Kona ADR!

Great empty street pictures! :thumbsup2

Can you imagine sitting on a Bay Lake Tower balcony in the evening and seeing that incredible view of Wishes?!?!? That would be awesome!!!

[teruterubouzu]

The photo of you brother with the bread was so funny! DHS looks like so much fun when it's empty of people, but I would probably be a bit creeped out too.

[timandlesley]

Nicole, you are writing such a great report, I am really enjoying it. Now you have me TOTALLY regretting we don't have Kona scheduled this trip:headache: Oh well. Can't believe those empty street shots at DHS, AMAZING! The one of him laying on the ground is priceless.
Thanks for the great report, can't wait to read more. Isn't the WL the BEST!!!
Lesley

[dddisrunner]

Great update Nicole! I can't get over those empty street shots! They are SO COOL!!:thumbsup2 After your Kona review I am SO excited about going back! I LOVE that bread and butter too! My boys LOVE TOT at night too!:goodvibes

[Nicole786]

Hey Nicole! I am all caught up now, great pictures! Your parents look so happy to be heading off on the cruise. :goodvibes

Hey your pics and report look great!

Just don't update too much while I am gone! :goodvibes

Haha i bet you are having a great time right now!

[Nicole786]

I showed Chelsea your pic of Bo! She was so excited! She even talked to the computer screen, "Hi, Bo, see you soon!" :rotfl:

Love the pic of David stretched out on the ground! :lmao:

Haha, I bet you guys are visiting bo right now!

It totally is creepy have the park to yourselves. That happened to us in 07, we walked out of Mama Melrose and the place was deserted, spooky!

Yeah one trip during EMH we exited the animation academy (myself and my cousin) it was dead it was so creepy

TOT at night!?????? Im too chicken to do that.:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

Haha its fun! But it wasn't that dark when we did it

OK the picture of David in heaven over the bread made me laugh but the pic of him laying across the street was even funnier:rotfl:!!!!

Haha he loves that bread! We enjoyed the different poses at DHS

Every time I see someone's picture of this, it makes me want to call and make a Kona ADR!

Great empty street pictures! :thumbsup2

Can you imagine sitting on a Bay Lake Tower balcony in the evening and seeing that incredible view of Wishes?!?!? That would be awesome!!!

Kona is great you should definitely make that ADR. I Know what you mean about BLT, I can't even imagine how awesome one of those magic kingdom view rooms are!

The photo of you brother with the bread was so funny! DHS looks like so much fun when it's empty of people, but I would probably be a bit creeped out too.

He loves his bread!!

Nicole, you are writing such a great report, I am really enjoying it. Now you have me TOTALLY regretting we don't have Kona scheduled this trip:headache: Oh well. Can't believe those empty street shots at DHS, AMAZING! The one of him laying on the ground is priceless.
Thanks for the great report, can't wait to read more. Isn't the WL the BEST!!!
Lesley

There's always October to make that ADR! are you guys going to do the DDP? WL is definitely the best, but I have to say I wouldn't know much about it if not for your original TR!

Great update Nicole! I can't get over those empty street shots! They are SO COOL!!:thumbsup2 After your Kona review I am SO excited about going back! I LOVE that bread and butter too! My boys LOVE TOT at night too!:goodvibes

Everyones on line for TSM so the streets are empty :rotfl: I love Kona I could just taste it right now! You're so close to your trip I cant wait to hear all about it

[FauntleroyFAN07]

another great day, i cant wait to see what you thought of BB and what you guys did, and if my advice worked for you.

[anbouk]

Nicole, we are enjoying your trippie so much! Looks like your brother is a hoot! Good for you for suprising your parents with the cruise. Can't wait to hear more. Say, looks like you are AK experts. We'll be staying at AKV Jambo House (we are hotel people!) and are considering either the value or standard room, any suggestions to AK newbies :laughing:

[karajeboo]

Love ur report!!! You guys are just having too much fun!!!! Looking forward to hearing all about BB!

[Nicole786]

another great day, i cant wait to see what you thought of BB and what you guys did, and if my advice worked for you.

Posting the chapter now!

Nicole, we are enjoying your trippie so much! Looks like your brother is a hoot! Good for you for suprising your parents with the cruise. Can't wait to hear more. Say, looks like you are AK experts. We'll be staying at AKV Jambo House (we are hotel people!) and are considering either the value or standard room, any suggestions to AK newbies :laughing:

I think you'll have a great time at the AKL no matter what you choose! Mom and dad didn't get an upgrade on their room and had a view of the parking lot, but still absolutely adored their time at the AKL and brag about it to their friends!

Love ur report!!! You guys are just having too much fun!!!! Looking forward to hearing all about BB!

We have a blast when we go! thanks for tagging along!!

[Nicole786]

So our day for BB was upon us!! We had been looking forward to this for a while because neither one of us has been here. We have been to TL and loved it so we knew we would like BB. Originally, this was our day off to sleep in, but both Fauntleroy and David felt going early was the better way so I listened and we woke up and headed over.

We got there, rented a locker, and than headed in. Our locker was in a great location and we had brought our towels from the WL (a great encouraged tip!) so we stuffed that baby up and headed to the slight crowd that was forming at the rope drop. We had about 5 minutes to go and than we were off!!!

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Per the many things I have read, we headed straight to the ski lift to take us up towards that huge mountain the sky!! We were both so nervous about riding Summit Plummit but the ski lift was so much fun!! Its a bit scary because of how high you go, but its so relaxing and the view is awesome being up there!

We decided to not hesitate would be the best thing so we just headed for it. There were even more stairs to climb to get the top before you reached this thing, oh brother! There was absolutely no wait we walked right on, and I volounteered to go first.

This thing is so much fun but it hurts!! And I had an atomic wedgie by the time I went down, I have no idea how women wear 2 peice bathing suits on these things!! David loved it too and even wanted to go on it again later!

When we hit the bottom we were in front of the ski lift again and decided to take it back up but this time to teamboat springs. We thought this was just okay. Its really long but very repetitive.

So we had a great morning in BB getting on practically every ride, the lazy river and the wave pool (TL's pool is nicer) We decided to eat lunch and than head back.

I hate how the water parks food areas are all outdoors its so uncomfortable with the bugs etc. I could understand why they wouldn't want it inside, but next time I think i'll eat counter service at the resort or something. I did love the selections they had here, especially dessert! And they gave us a special receipt so we could get our ice cream after we ate which was awesome!!

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So with our bellies full we gave some random strangers our towels (a lot of good karma this trip and it comes back later just wait!) we headed to the bus stop which shares with the contemporary so it took a while for the bus to come but oh well I can never complain about the buses I love 'em!

My verdict on BB is that I loved it! I absolutely loved the theming and the rides and like it better than TL but only by a smidge. I really like the laid back atmosphere of TL though.

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We actually headed straight to the pool once back at the WL because we had yet to check it out and we had a great time just relaxing in the hot tub, and swimming in that awesome pool. Also, I love the lifeguards here I always end up in conversation with them and its just so fun!

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We headed back to the room to relax but got a little bored. Turns out taking a day off in Disney is just not for us especially when there are parks outside calling our name!! So where did we end up??

[wdwgirl03]

Great update! Blizzard Beach is a lot of fun. Good idea to bring towels from the resort. :thumbsup2

I don't think I could really take a day off in Disney either. We used to take a day to go to Downtown Disney and relax but now I'd probably feel like I was wasting time. :laughing:

[timandlesley]

Nicole, GREAT update. We never hear about water parks, glad it was great, but I still think we'll wait until the kids are older so we can do all that cool stuff together - I'm scared of heights a bit so that ski lift would probably freak me out. Great tip on the towels, I would have never done that, thanks!:thumbsup2 So what did you think of the WL pool. Can't wait to hear where you ended up and what good kharma came back to you guys : )
Lesley

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i knew you would like it there, the wave pool is the one downside that it is not as good as TL, but i like most of the slides at BB better, well except for the crushin gusher which is one of my favorites.

hope you enjoyed the tip of going early and doing everything in the park before lunch time.

[pooksma]

Might be a stop in our future:thumbsup2

Great pics. David, what was your fav part of BB?

[MeMom]

I think a nice long nap would have been perfect after a day at Blizzard Beach.
The boys have been to both water parks, but I have been to neither. I'll probably go when the girls are older. Don't they have special souvenir mugs there?

The picture of David in the pool with Wilderness Lodge as his background - :thumbsup2

Any particularly interesting lifeguards you might be wanting to go back to see more often??? ;) Inquiring MeMoms want to know.

[princessjv]

Fun trip as always Nicole!

You two look to be having a blast with mom and dad away, enjoying themselves (you are such a generous, great kid!). We don't ever do the waterparks (wait until the kids are stronger swimmers) and have never done Universal, however you really make me want to try it with your TR's!

Look forward to reading more. I've been off of the boards for awhile (way too much volunteering!). But I'm Back and cant wait to keep up!

Hope all is well with you!

Jen

[Mrsdisneyb2b]

I just found your pJ and I am definitely hooked!! Awesome! We are staying at WL in july for our honeymoon so this has been a great help!

[Nicole786]

Great update! Blizzard Beach is a lot of fun. Good idea to bring towels from the resort. :thumbsup2

I don't think I could really take a day off in Disney either. We used to take a day to go to Downtown Disney and relax but now I'd probably feel like I was wasting time. :laughing:

Thats exactly how we felt to take a nap, but looking back, I would have scheduled a complete day off with no parks to anything

Nicole, GREAT update. We never hear about water parks, glad it was great, but I still think we'll wait until the kids are older so we can do all that cool stuff together - I'm scared of heights a bit so that ski lift would probably freak me out. Great tip on the towels, I would have never done that, thanks!:thumbsup2 So what did you think of the WL pool. Can't wait to hear where you ended up and what good kharma came back to you guys : )
Lesley

WHile theres a lot to do for little ones I think waiting until they are older is the best way to go that way you guys can ride together! The good karma comes back later in the trip, can't wait to share! I don't think i've ever heard it happening to anyone before...

i knew you would like it there, the wave pool is the one downside that it is not as good as TL, but i like most of the slides at BB better, well except for the crushin gusher which is one of my favorites.

hope you enjoyed the tip of going early and doing everything in the park before lunch time.

I agree about TL and crushin gusher is awesome! We had a great morning thanks for the tip!

Might be a stop in our future:thumbsup2

Great pics. David, what was your fav part of BB?

David: Summit Plummit!

I think a nice long nap would have been perfect after a day at Blizzard Beach.
The boys have been to both water parks, but I have been to neither. I'll probably go when the girls are older. Don't they have special souvenir mugs there?

The picture of David in the pool with Wilderness Lodge as his background - :thumbsup2

Any particularly interesting lifeguards you might be wanting to go back to see more often??? ;) Inquiring MeMoms want to know.

I love that picture of david....maybe not interesting lifeguards but definitely eye candy!! They have special souvenier mugs but we passed on them, we took souvenier pics instead those are free!

Fun trip as always Nicole!

You two look to be having a blast with mom and dad away, enjoying themselves (you are such a generous, great kid!). We don't ever do the waterparks (wait until the kids are stronger swimmers) and have never done Universal, however you really make me want to try it with your TR's!

Look forward to reading more. I've been off of the boards for awhile (way too much volunteering!). But I'm Back and cant wait to keep up!

Hope all is well with you!

Jen

Hey jen! I agree with the waiting until the kids are older thing for waterparks is smart. Universal is great but no disney, I can see you having a great time there with the right expectations!

I just found your pJ and I am definitely hooked!! Awesome! We are staying at WL in july for our honeymoon so this has been a great help!

I've seen you around the boards lots glad to see you stop by! I'm so excited for your WL suite stay!

[Nicole786]

So after our brief break, we decided to head over to our favorite place, Epcot! Just to walk around a bit and take it easy. We decided to take the loooong way and grabbed the boat to the contemporary.

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Than the monorail to Epcot and YES, front row!! So much fun!

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We went immediately into the WS and signed up for Kim Possible.

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Our return time was about 30 minutes from then so we went on the Mexico ride

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And than walked around Norway a bit killing some time. David tried the Schoolbread.

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Davids Thoughts: It was okay, nothing great

We played around a bit in Norway.

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And than it was time for our Kim Possible return time! This time we were in Mexico which was great because it was air conditioned! Unfortunately there were a lot of other people participating so it kind of ruined the fun because you saw what was coming up ahead before you got to it yourself.

Having accomplished next to nothing, haha! We took our bus back home because we had dinner reservations at the whispering canyon!

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I love eating dinner at the hotel you stay at, its so relaxing knowing you can just go downstairs to dinner and not worry about transportation.

So I checked in and we waited around the lobby, but it was taking a long time! Here are some pics I took while we waited!

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I walked up and inquired about the wait time and she mentioned that our ADR wasn't until 6:30 anyway (it was now about 5:20) I didn't realize this and really wish someone would have said something when I checked in. I apologized and we walked back to the room to relax, and when it was our actual ADR we walked back down.

This was by far the worst service I have ever had at WCC. We were seated all the way in the back off the main dining room, with bad wait service. This is one of my disney favorites (no longer) and I was almost near tears. We were so bored, that david started making drum sets out of condiments and I made a crayon tower.

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David's Thoughts: I JAMMED OUT like a beast.

The food was also mediocre. This experience totally ruined WCC for me for the near future, especially compared to my last encounter here with mom which was a blast!!

Afterwards we caught a bus to Downtown Disney, I couldn't wait to SHOP SHOP SHOP! David shook his head wishing he had a leash as we skipped (ok, I skipped) from shop to shop like a chicken without a head! Did you see the new stores?? Did you? So colorful, so exciting!! And than theres candy!!

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David finally pulled me away and we settled into our cozy WL beds. We had one more full day before mom and dad came back!

[Charleston Princess]

We noticed that, too, about the KP missions -- if there were lots of people it kind of ruined the surprise factor.

That's a shame about WCC :(. When you look forward to a meal at Disney, you should be able to expect great things.

[princessjv]

From WL to EP vis boat, then Monorail sounds like a really fun way of getting there! What a bummer that WCC was not up to standards. I always hear mixed reviews, but agree that it is really awesome being able to eat at the resort that you are staying at.


Okay, what did you get whilst skipping through those shops?

[FauntleroyFAN07]

another good update, do you have anymore from the cruise that go along with these days.

[timandlesley]

Great update Nicole!!! Loved it, now you have me totally curious about your Karma : ) Hope I get to read about it before I leave, hint hint : ) : )
So sorry about the WCC experience, BUMMER!!! Can't wait for more!
Lesley

[troobabiee7]

Hey Nicole! I can't believe I just now foudn your report. I was wondering what happened on your trip sn your parents cruise! I loooveee all your pictures, your camera's amazing :thumbsup2 I also really loved reading about Universal. Our trip's been changed - we're now going to the Universal parks instead of Disney. I know, I know... but between my free ticket and my dad's discount we wound up saving over $600 on tickets alone. Can't beat that! I started a new report over on the Universal boards so check it out, the links in my signature.

Are you still heading up here this summer??

[Nicole786]

We noticed that, too, about the KP missions -- if there were lots of people it kind of ruined the surprise factor.

That's a shame about WCC :(. When you look forward to a meal at Disney, you should be able to expect great things.

I think the trick is to do them earlier in the day like when we did the first one. We were the only people in france doing it (hardly anyone around actually)

From WL to EP vis boat, then Monorail sounds like a really fun way of getting there! What a bummer that WCC was not up to standards. I always hear mixed reviews, but agree that it is really awesome being able to eat at the resort that you are staying at.


Okay, what did you get whilst skipping through those shops?

Yeah, when I stay at the WL again i'll give WCC another shot! We just got candy this time, we didn't do a lot of shopping this trip, just window shopping. October is my next planned trip and its my birthday! Instead of getting in free i'm opting for the gift card, SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING!

another good update, do you have anymore from the cruise that go along with these days.

Posting now from the cruise, unfortunately i can never get a hold of mom/dad for commentary so photos will have to do

Great update Nicole!!! Loved it, now you have me totally curious about your Karma : ) Hope I get to read about it before I leave, hint hint : ) : )
So sorry about the WCC experience, BUMMER!!! Can't wait for more!
Lesley

Thanks!! 1 bit of karma happens in a chapter soon so hopefully you'll get to see it, but the crazy karma that i don't think has ever happened (but maybe it has?) doesn't happen until our last night.

Hey Nicole! I can't believe I just now foudn your report. I was wondering what happened on your trip sn your parents cruise! I loooveee all your pictures, your camera's amazing :thumbsup2 I also really loved reading about Universal. Our trip's been changed - we're now going to the Universal parks instead of Disney. I know, I know... but between my free ticket and my dad's discount we wound up saving over $600 on tickets alone. Can't beat that! I started a new report over on the Universal boards so check it out, the links in my signature.

Are you still heading up here this summer??

Ahh glad you found it! So much craziness has stayed in the way of me coming up there that now i'm not so sure. My uncle who i would have stayed with in Brooklyn (Redhook) lost his job so I hate to be a burden and come in at this time. I haven't spoken to my on again off again guy in a while and he was a lot of the reason I was coming up there, but I still really want to go! Plus money and all that, so we'll see what happens! Maybe july or august! and i'll have to go check out your TR are you guys still staying at a condo?

[MeMom]

I think the trick is to do them earlier in the day like when we did the first one. We were the only people in france doing it (hardly anyone around actually)



Yeah, when I stay at the WL again i'll give WCC another shot! We just got candy this time, we didn't do a lot of shopping this trip, just window shopping. October is my next planned trip and its my birthday! Instead of getting in free i'm opting for the gift card, SHOPPING SHOPPING SHOPPING!



Good to know about the missions.

I'm glad you aren't writing WCC off yet.

Shopping? Yay for shopping!

[Nicole786]

Meanwhile...

Unfortunately, I can't get commentary like I wanted to for the cruise portion, but pictures are worth 1000 words, right?? Here are some of mom and dads favorites from the trip! More to come later!

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They thought Animators Palette was just okay, the theming was excellent but the food was so-so.

The first day they went to Nassau and walked over to the Atlantis resort to check it out. Most everything costs money over there (Which is why a lot of Disers actually book a room for the day they are there, unlimited access to all of Atlantis!) they weren't impressed though, they said it was beautiful but nothing so spectacular about it.

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They loved the welcome home sign!

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Of course the next morning was the best!! They woke up early to watch the boat dock into:

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They spent all day there and were BURNT this is what they wouldn't stop talking about! When we met up in Epcot (coming up!) they talked rapid fire about castaway cay!

That night they had an anniversary dinner at Palo. Palo is the ships restaurant that is not on your everyday itinerary. You have to book it in advance and pay something like $10 pp. However, the food is UNBELIEVABLE! It's a 7 course meal and you must dress resort casual. They had an unbelievable time here, they say its a highlight of the trip, and it took them 2 hours from start to finish. My dad still points out to everyone he tells that you had to order your dessert with your first course because everything is fresh and it takes them 45 minutes to make dessert. He was so excited about that!

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That night was pirates IN the caribbean party and fireworks at sea!!

[Charleston Princess]

Wow! Seeing all of your mom and dad's pics from the cruise really makes me want to take a cruise now! It looks like such a blast!

[pooksma]

Wow guys I am bummed to hear about WCC. I know people have had bad dining experiences and that its one of your favs so that 'sux'.

Great tip on the KPM, Ill keep that in mind.

Cruisers look like they were having fun too!

[natale1980]

Your parents are so lucky to have great kids like you!!!
Now what can I do to insure that my kids grow up and ship us off on a cruise?? :lmao:

-nat

[troobabiee7]

Ahh glad you found it! So much craziness has stayed in the way of me coming up there that now i'm not so sure. My uncle who i would have stayed with in Brooklyn (Redhook) lost his job so I hate to be a burden and come in at this time. I haven't spoken to my on again off again guy in a while and he was a lot of the reason I was coming up there, but I still really want to go! Plus money and all that, so we'll see what happens! Maybe july or august! and i'll have to go check out your TR are you guys still staying at a condo?

Oh no, I'm sorry about your uncle! Let me know if you do head up here and we'll see about meeting up, that would be fun!

Yep, we're still renting the same condo. We actually just sent in the final payment this past weekend so we're all set :woohoo:

[k_reile]

so glad your parents had a great time on their cruise!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

thanks for more cruise pictures

[MeMom]

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[/COLOR]

This is the life!
They look like they are enjoying every minute.
Sorry to hear about the burning part, though. Ouch!

We will be getting pictures of fireworks at sea, won't we?

[Nicole786]

Good to know about the missions.

I'm glad you aren't writing WCC off yet.

Shopping? Yay for shopping!

Not writing off WCC just yet but I'm not eating there in October (we have our ADRs picked for my birthday trip. We're eating at Narcoosee's ON my birthday!!! How exciting is that??)

Wow! Seeing all of your mom and dad's pics from the cruise really makes me want to take a cruise now! It looks like such a blast!

THey had an awesome time, i'll post some more later!

Wow guys I am bummed to hear about WCC. I know people have had bad dining experiences and that its one of your favs so that 'sux'.

Great tip on the KPM, Ill keep that in mind.

Cruisers look like they were having fun too!

We had great times at WCC this was the first true unhappy experience. I should have offered to wait for a table in the center but next time I will.

Your parents are so lucky to have great kids like you!!!
Now what can I do to insure that my kids grow up and ship us off on a cruise?? :lmao:

-nat

Haha!! I'm sure your kids will surprise you in one way or another when they get older, they are great kids!

Oh no, I'm sorry about your uncle! Let me know if you do head up here and we'll see about meeting up, that would be fun!

Yep, we're still renting the same condo. We actually just sent in the final payment this past weekend so we're all set :woohoo:

I definitely still want to come up there, depends on whats going on with my on again off again ex you know how it goes. We're talking off and on now and we're to the point where he's offered to pay for me to come up there! I still want to come there before the end of the summer!

So cool about the condo, maybe i'll just meet you there! lol

so glad your parents had a great time on their cruise!

They had a blast, thanks!!

thanks for more cruise pictures

Glad to post them, they are really nice I want to go on a cruise!

This is the life!
They look like they are enjoying every minute.
Sorry to hear about the burning part, though. Ouch!

We will be getting pictures of fireworks at sea, won't we?

Haha they literally took their chairs and sat in the shallow end of the water for hours! They were a crisp! I have to go through their pics and see if I see any of the fireworks, I know they were there and they loved it!

[Nicole786]

Okay here it was our last full day before mom and dad came home! As much as we were looking forward to seeing them, we appreciate the brother/sister time and knew that was going to end soon.

It was already so far in our trip but could you believe we still didn't have a MK morning?? Originally we had an 8:05 crystal palace but after much discussion we felt that eating later on in the morning would be better. No rushing to get out, and much more relaxing. We were going to maximize the first hour in the park and than grab some FP for after breakfast.

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While we waited for the opening show, we met a nice "couple" although i'm not sure they were a couple, they were just 2 older women that could have been taking a friends trip like MeMom did. They were so nice, we chatted with them, they had just gotten there and were staying at SSR. Just as they reminded me of MeMom, I look down at my phone and see that MeMom was calling me!! She had seen on my facebook (or was it twitter?) that I was at MK and wanted to call and say hello. I held up my phone but it was so noisy I don't think she heard anything. When we hung up, it was time for the opening of the MK! Unfortunately the train was out of service so this was a much shorter version of the opening but still very exciting!

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And we were off!

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We headed through Fantasyland first getting on my favorite MK ride Winnie the Pooh, Walked right on to Peter Pan, and than headed over to frontierland!

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This was working out really well! We FP splash, and than walked once again on to BTMR!

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We had one more thing we wanted to do before breakfast and that was Buzz Lightyear. I can't do well on this ride no matter what I do maybe some one out there has tips?? I can beat david at TSM but can never "get" Buzz Lightyear!

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Oh well, defeated it was time for breakfast!

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We checked in and waited about 10 mins before being called in. I must say this was the greatest experience at Crystal Palace! It was so relaxing without being in a constant panic about getting to the park on time, and the food was great! I am going to be making another late breakfast ADR for my Bday trip!

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We used up our Splash FP and went on Pirates, before we started heading out. On our way out the mid-day parade was going on so we stopped to watch that a bit.

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and than when we got towards the exit Mary Poppins was there! David offered to wait in line with me, and we took turns chatting with Mary Poppins my favorite disney character!!

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We headed over to WL (took the boat!) and took some naps before heading out to AK for EMH.

[Charleston Princess]

I love mornings at MK -- you can get so much done!!! It doesn't look like it was too, too busy from your Main Street pics! :thumbsup2

[MeMom]

/disney_may/IMG_0499.jpg[/IMG]

While we waited for the opening show, we met a nice "couple" although i'm not sure they were a couple, they were just 2 older women that could have been taking a friends trip like MeMom did. They were so nice, we chatted with them, they had just gotten there and were staying at SSR. Just as they reminded me of MeMom, I look down at my phone and see that MeMom was calling me!! She had seen on my facebook (or was it twitter?) that I was at MK and wanted to call and say hello. I held up my phone but it was so noisy I don't think she heard anything. When we hung up, it was time for the opening of the MK!

Yeah, mine was definitely a friends trip!

I remember that morning. I wanted to hear the music, but all I could hear was noisy noise.

I'm really sorry your mom and dad got burned. I know how painful that is.

Jill started the new report, by the way. It's called Brooklynn Takes Bella to Meet Cinderella. See you over there!

[teruterubouzu]

Fun photos! The BTMR shot is great!

I love the welcome show at MK. Mornings there are so great. It's fun how all of the Main Street cast members greet you as you walk in.

[KatGarcia]

Mary Poppins looks like she's rolling her eyes or something. :lmao:

I totally love that you went into the park first then did breakfast, we do this too and it really is great!

[scottny]

all caught up.

great updates and pics.

I never ate at WCC and I do not think I ever will. I would be put in the back probably. :mad:

That bread and butter at Kona made my mouth water.

[Nicole786]

I love mornings at MK -- you can get so much done!!! It doesn't look like it was too, too busy from your Main Street pics! :thumbsup2

MK is so quiet in the mornings I definitely agree. I don't remember how crowded it was that day but I know it got really busy towards the end of our stay!

Yeah, mine was definitely a friends trip!

I remember that morning. I wanted to hear the music, but all I could hear was noisy noise.

I'm really sorry your mom and dad got burned. I know how painful that is.

Jill started the new report, by the way. It's called Brooklynn Takes Bella to Meet Cinderella. See you over there!

Haha I know yours was a friends trip! They didn't seem to mind getting burned as long as they had Aloe Vera and they were on a cruise!

Fun photos! The BTMR shot is great!

I love the welcome show at MK. Mornings there are so great. It's fun how all of the Main Street cast members greet you as you walk in.

Thanks! I love the morning show at MK too!!

Mary Poppins looks like she's rolling her eyes or something. :lmao:

I totally love that you went into the park first then did breakfast, we do this too and it really is great!

She probably was rolling her eyes after dealing with us! lol Yeah I'm going to do that again in October it works really well!

all caught up.

great updates and pics.

I never ate at WCC and I do not think I ever will. I would be put in the back probably. :mad:

That bread and butter at Kona made my mouth water.

I love the bread and butter at kona!

[Nicole786]

We rested up at the WL but than at around 2 we started to get hungry. For whatever reason we both have an affection for Pizzafari, it just holds some great memories! And we wanted to see the AK parade (my favorite) before EMH. So we woke up, hopped out of bed and headed to AK arriving in a pretty decent time. We headed straight to Pizzafari.

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Once done it was just about that time for the parade so we went to go find a spot. We found it a lot harder this time than it was in August, but obviously it was EMH and that probably had something to do with it. The parade was great as always, but now I feel I like the new MK parade better! So i have a new favorite, but the AK parade is still so colorful and fun!

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Originally we had an ADR for Yak & Yeti really early like 4:10 because that was all that was available 90 days out. I called periodically to see if I could change it and finally got a very nice and knowledgeable CM who said that sometimes CMs don't see that theres a drop down for extra times during EMH and she switched it for us to about 7pm. This was perfect because it gave us plenty of ride time and than we could stroll out after dinner. It still worried me that this is the only CM I spoke to who knew about this drop down, so I stopped by to make sure they would be open and they were, yipee!

From there we headed straight to dinosaur without a wait. We figured we would let the crowds die near Everest. We had a "blast" hahaha I crack myself up.

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Now it was time for our favorite, EE! I don't think david has ever been in the standby queue. It was maybe a 20 minute wait. I loved pointing out the artifacts and the fountain with the coins but we honestly moved so quick it was tough just to grab photos!

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We meandered towards the safari which again was maybe a 10 minute wait. Gotta love EMH! For being later in the day the animals were very lively!

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With plenty of time to spare, we hopped back on to Everest again.

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When we finished it was only about 6:20 but we were pretty much done so we decided to walk over there and see if they would take us early and they did! And yes they had our ADR in there machine although it was empty in the restaurant. After hearing such great things I was so excited to finally eat here. The only downfall was our server, she was unpolite and not helpful when I asked her questions, but that was the ONLY downfall. This meal was great!!

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I got a side order of the Wok Fried Green Beans they were delicious!!! I can't wait to eat them again! David ordered some sort of chicken but I don't remember what, and I ordered the Tempura Shrimp & Steak. Delicous delicious and yum!! Dessert was passable but david tried the cream cheese wontons. For someone who is obsessed with cheesescake he didn't like it, he said he could do without the cream cheese filling. I wonder if theres a way to order it like that? I got the sorbet which was good but I was so full from everything.

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It took forever to get a to go box and check but finally we were on our way out!

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I timed this perfectly because LOST had its season finale at 9 and we were going to make it on time!

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We even had this plan to get some popcorn from Roaring Fork and than head on up which we did. David went to shower and when he came back out......


I was out. Aw phooey. Coming up next Mom and Dads return!

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, how I love Animal Kingdom -- what a great afternoon of parade, Everest, and Safari. We tried Pizzafari for the first time and really liked it!

YOU FELL ASLEEP BEFORE LOST STARTED???

It was a good one, too. ;)

[FauntleroyFAN07]

never been to EMH at AK have to try it on the next trip, sounds like fun

[KatGarcia]

Awwww u passed out!

I have never done EMH at SK or seen the parade ever! I plan to fix it next time tho!

[MeMom]

From there we headed straight to dinosaur without a wait. We figured we would let the crowds die near Everest. We had a "blast" hahaha I crack myself up.

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Pizzafari and Jammin' Jungle Parade - that's a nice way to make use of an afternoon! :)

The little girl in the front is pretty small. Maybe Brooklynn will be able to ride it next month after all. Do you recall if the little girl was upset or anything when you guys got off the ride?

The Yak & Yeti food looks pretty interesting, and the mosaic tables are cool.

[CanadianWDWfan]

What a great day!
You got through all of your MK favorites quickly, had a good bkfst and met Mary Poppins.

Pizzafari and then the parade sounds like an excellent idea. :thumbsup2

I'm hoping for an AK EMH evening. :goodvibes

Glad you got to see the animals being more lively!

You two are too funny, with your poses on rides.

Not me. I would be the one holing on for dear life! :scared1:

The food sure looks good at Yak & Yetti. :thumbsup2

There's something about a soft pillow after a day at the parks, that causes a person to drift off to sleep....:cloud9:

[Nicole786]

Oh, how I love Animal Kingdom -- what a great afternoon of parade, Everest, and Safari. We tried Pizzafari for the first time and really liked it!

YOU FELL ASLEEP BEFORE LOST STARTED???

It was a good one, too. ;)

I know! Thank goodness for DVR, i was so upset when I woke up in the morning!

never been to EMH at AK have to try it on the next trip, sounds like fun

It is a lot of fun and i'm sure its even better when it gets dark!

Awwww u passed out!

I have never done EMH at SK or seen the parade ever! I plan to fix it next time tho!

the parade is really awesome! It was my favorite but i love the new MK parade

Pizzafari and Jammin' Jungle Parade - that's a nice way to make use of an afternoon! :)

The little girl in the front is pretty small. Maybe Brooklynn will be able to ride it next month after all. Do you recall if the little girl was upset or anything when you guys got off the ride?

The Yak & Yeti food looks pretty interesting, and the mosaic tables are cool.

I always take note if a small child is on this ride and what their reaction is and I have to say 70% of the time they get upset mostly because of the dinosaur at the end. the 30% that do not have parents or grandparents that are laughing and saying things like "wasn't that dinosaur funny? Lets go again!" It reminds me of when a child falls and hurts themself everyone goes "yaaaaay! you fell!"

Yak & Yeti was amazing! We are heading back there in October!

What a great day!
You got through all of your MK favorites quickly, had a good bkfst and met Mary Poppins.

Pizzafari and then the parade sounds like an excellent idea. :thumbsup2

I'm hoping for an AK EMH evening. :goodvibes

Glad you got to see the animals being more lively!

You two are too funny, with your poses on rides.

Not me. I would be the one holing on for dear life! :scared1:

The food sure looks good at Yak & Yetti. :thumbsup2

There's something about a soft pillow after a day at the parks, that causes a person to drift off to sleep....:cloud9:

We had a really great day and we have so much fun posing for those photo ops!!

[Nicole786]

I just want to share the last of Mom and Dad's cruise photos! They took a lot of video towards the end but they had a wonderful time (i'll have mom come here and talk about it a bit) and as you can see in the last photo they were ready for the next part!

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This was their australian bartender/waiter at the pool that they loved!

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They loved Triton's

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Home sweet home. But why were there check in hiccups??

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[Charleston Princess]

Oh, I love the last few cruise photos! Did they love the Pirates in the Caribbean party?

Check-in hiccups? Say it isn't so!!!

[MeMom]

This was their australian bartender/waiter at the pool that they loved!

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Home sweet home. But why were there check in hiccups??



It looks like the crew was very fond of your parents, too!

[teruterubouzu]

Your parents look so relaxed and happy! I bet it was hard for them to leave the ship.

[karajeboo]

I don't know what I like better, that you and David are such wonderful children to give your parents a cruise.... or that you two are so close to enjoy a nice brother/sister trip! It is so refreshing to see this!!!!!

And the report ain't bad either! ;)

[pooksma]

Mary Poppins!!!!!! Mary Poppins!!!!!! I think we have talked about this before Nicole but she is my fav character too:thumbsup2 In fact this trip, I actually get to have bfast at 1900 Park Fare. (its only taken me 5 trips to get there!)

I really like Y&Y too. We had a great server but the person who took us to our table was a bit of a ****.:eek:

Looking forward to hearing Mom's thoughts on the cruise.

[Nicole786]

Oh, I love the last few cruise photos! Did they love the Pirates in the Caribbean party?

Check-in hiccups? Say it isn't so!!!

They had a blast at the party! They didn't expect it so they were surprised but they loved the fireworks!

It looks like the crew was very fond of your parents, too!

It does doesn't it?

Your parents look so relaxed and happy! I bet it was hard for them to leave the ship.

They want to do a 7 day next time they've already told us! lol

I don't know what I like better, that you and David are such wonderful children to give your parents a cruise.... or that you two are so close to enjoy a nice brother/sister trip! It is so refreshing to see this!!!!!

And the report ain't bad either! ;)

Aw thank you! We didn't always get along only when we got older did we get close

Mary Poppins!!!!!! Mary Poppins!!!!!! I think we have talked about this before Nicole but she is my fav character too:thumbsup2 In fact this trip, I actually get to have bfast at 1900 Park Fare. (its only taken me 5 trips to get there!)

I really like Y&Y too. We had a great server but the person who took us to our table was a bit of a ****.:eek:

Looking forward to hearing Mom's thoughts on the cruise.

I have always wanted to eat at 1900 park fare because of that! Face characters intimidate me a bit but Mary Poppins is my favorite movie of all time its the only movie on my iPhone so i can watch it any time I want! I wonder if your hostess became our server lol

[Nicole786]

Today was the day mom and dad came back! We were very anxious to see them and very anxious to head over to Epcot as well!

Goofball david with my ears on at the bus stop

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We headed to Epcot right after rope drop about 5 minutes later but I noticed how much easier it was to head to Soarin without a mad rush of people! My newest theory is to avoid the opening and hit the park about 5 minutes after, haha! We grabbed FP for soarin and than headed into character connection which had about a 5-10 minute wait. Sometimes I feel foolish surrounded by so many parents and children but this time there were quite a few adults so it made it better!

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We wanted to do things we hadn't yet seen so we headed back to The Land to get on Living with the Land which is a family favorite. At this time it was about 9:30 and mom and dad called up to say they were on their way "home!" Hooray!

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We headed on Soarin which was spectacular of course and than went over to see Figment!

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The greatest discovery we did this day was the fun we had at Innoventions!! First we put ourselves in a video game (so fun!)

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David's Thoughts: That was cool

And than played "Wheres the fire" against a newlywed couple! We were so into this and they didn't seem so excited but we won! We were running around like we were on a real game show and they were sort of like "whatever" but the host and CMs running this are so enthusiastic so its a blast! I highly recommend it to folks.

David's Thoughts: It was fun and we beat them 200,000 to 300

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By now the world showcase was opening and we had discussed meeting mom and dad over near England. They still hadn't reached the AKL so we took the long way and walked through the countries leisurely. On the way we met Mulan who was standing all by herself! We spent a good amount of time over there talking with her and the CM and than moved along

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When we hit Germany my blood sugar dropped and I started to shake (this happens from time to time) so I grabbed some sort of peanut butter cookie which was very good but very rich. This delayed us because I had to sit down and the heat wasn't making me better. Next time i go to germany I'll get a pretzel instead! Didn't even think of that in the heat of the moment!

Moving right along...

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We hit England and mom and dad were entering Epcot so we chatted with the CMs in there because I have a thing for English accents. They had a beatles quiz and we got a few of the answers right so we got a magical moments certificate!! We had nothing left to do but wait so we stayed in the air conditioning until I finally spotted dad outside and I ran out shouting "Dad! Dad! Over here!"

But how did Mom and Dad's morning go at AKL.....?

[MeMom]

Goofball david with my ears on at the bus stop

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Cute picture!
Maybe display this one at his wedding in the future, and for sure keep it to show his kids!

Yay for getting a Magical Moments certificate and for getting some one-on-one time with Mulan.

[Charleston Princess]

Oh, I love your ears! Too cute, and they are in my favorite color! :thumbsup2

How did your parents' morning at AKL go???

[jenjolt]

I'm also reading your TR and I'm loving it!! How awesome you got your parents a cruise!!!! Can't wait to read more! You got to meet Mulan, I'm so jealous I hope to meet up with her in the fall!

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

I have to step in and say I love David's shirt in the last few updates, great choice in bands by the way.

[Nicole786]

Cute picture!
Maybe display this one at his wedding in the future, and for sure keep it to show his kids!

Yay for getting a Magical Moments certificate and for getting some one-on-one time with Mulan.

Oh i definitely have some great wedding photos for david!


Oh, I love your ears! Too cute, and they are in my favorite color! :thumbsup2

How did your parents' morning at AKL go???

It took me forever to find those ears! I saw one person wearing them and they were out of them at downtown disney! (they have that entire collection at world of disney)

I'm also reading your TR and I'm loving it!! How awesome you got your parents a cruise!!!! Can't wait to read more! You got to meet Mulan, I'm so jealous I hope to meet up with her in the fall!

Thanks for chiming in! I have never seen Mulan before. When are you going in the fall? I'll be there in Oct!

I have to step in and say I love David's shirt in the last few updates, great choice in bands by the way.

Oh he is a music nut, his favorites are classic rock bands from the 70s-80s. Thanks for joining us!

[Nicole786]

Moms Thoughts: When we checked in the animal kingdom lodge i was really excited. A girl helped us but seemed a bit rude especially when we asked questions. Nicole had requested a king size bed but when we asked her about it she abrasively just said they didn't have any. It was a less than great experience but we moved on because our kids were waiting for us at epcot. the room wasn't ready but david had mentioned that it might not be so we didn't care. We headed on our first bus to epcot and met up with the kids!

-------------------------

We met up with mom and dad in England because we decided to grab some lunch at beaches and cream!! We headed over there and our parents just wouldn't stop bragging about all the fun they had! We were glad of course, we had our own stories to share! Picture like 4 really excited people all talking over eachother, it gets loud! There aren't that many pictures because we acted like we hadn't seen eachother in years! Here they are mid sentence in beaches and cream:

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Can't you see their excitement?? The shirts they are wearing say "We left the kids behind" and they got a lot of comments about that, they might have been talking about that in the photo haha!

It was so hot this day, so we walked back to Spaceship earth (moms favorite ride)

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and they decided to come back to our room at the WL because there room still wasn't ready and we had dinner ADRs at Chef Mickeys (and if I remember correctly I had something of dads I had to give him)

We relaxed in the room when we got back (of course they loved the location!) and when it was time to go, we grabbed the bus to MK and the monorail to the contemporary (so dad could ride his favorite ride -- the monorail lol)

It was a pretty long wait here but we had a decent time. The food wasn't that great but the characters made up for it (well for me, dad didn't like chef mickeys he prefers the breakfast)

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The original plan was to head straight for fantasmic from here but it was drizzling by this point and we werent sure if it would be canceled. Plus we still had a few hours before it. Mom and dad were eager to check out their rooms and we were STILL talking about their bad encounter at check in. Hold on a second and let me put my flame retardant suit on while I make my case about this situation:

I had spent a lot of money for mom and dad to have a great experience. This was their first deluxe hotel and they were super excited about staying here. I was excited for them! I have had nothing but good experiences with CMs at any Disney hotel! It really bothered me that this was the first impression they got here and it bothered us for a good part of the evening. If it was me, I would have asked for a manager, because as we all probably know from here on the DIS the minute someone complains here, the first person shouts out "did you do anything THEN?" and I asked my mom to talk to a manager. It took a lot for me to persuade her to do this I was almost at the point to talk to one myself! We weren't looking for anything, just a better introduction to the hotel. I think she finally decided to do it when she realized she didn't even get the welcome packet! They also wanted to know if they waited if they could get a king size bed.

So David and I roamed around AKL which would become our home the next day while they did this. We also went to check out their room which was on the level above the lobby facing the buses but really close to the lobby very convenient!

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We walked back just as the manager was there (and another CM who was helping them) and they were all laughing and smiling which made me very happy! The manager explained to them that they had one king size bed which would become available tomorrow and he would put it on 'hold' for them. If they wanted it, they would call the next morning, but if not just don't call. He apologized profusely for their rude encounter earlier. He mentioned that if he could upgrade them to savannah he would have loved to, but the hotel was booked solid. David and I looked at each other both thinking the same thing as we had a standard view room the next day "oh well"

He was super nice and apparently also credited the room $75!! (We didn't know this at the time) Wow! He didn't have to do that, and even without knowing that mom and dad walked away elated and excited, exactly how I wanted them to be in the first place.

So we all went upstairs to the room and the look on mom and dads faces when they walked in was pure shock and excitement I don't know how to explain it. They loved the room and I don't think they were expecting it to be so themed...? I don't know why they were so surprised. Long story short 5 minutes into the room they decided to leave it be they loved their room and the AKL and all was right.

Oh yeah, fantasmic! So it was raining and we decided we would just go to the second showing relaxing in the room until it was time to head out! We made it just in time and had plenty of time to get great seats, grab some nachos and enjoy a great night with fantasmic! After all David and I were switching to the AKL very early the next morning! How does our experience go?

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[Charleston Princess]

I am so glad that you were able to persuade your mom to say something to the manager at AKL -- the CM's behavior was inexcusable, and she could have been so much nicer! :headache:

I am glad they fell in love with their room! I can't wait to get back there!

Did you have a long wait at Beaches and Cream?

[jenjolt]

Booo to a CM being mean when they first arrived!! That is no way to start a vacation!!!!

I'm so glad you had your mom talk to a manager and things got fixed!!!

WOOOH...I want to hear more about Beaches and Cream too...how long did you have to wait for a table and how did you enjoy the food!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

glad that they were now happy with the results and hte experience was a little better

[MeMom]

We originally had the Fantasmic dinner package for the 30th, but after hearing that there seems to be no real advantage, we're planning to cancel it. We'll just see it another night and grab snack food and munch while we wait like all of the other commoners. :laughing:

I know your mom and dad were just bubbling over with stories. You should have had video going so we could hear their excitement.

I'm kind of sorry we aren't doing Chef Mickey's this trip. I like their food. We've done breakfast and dinner.

[Nicole786]

I am so glad that you were able to persuade your mom to say something to the manager at AKL -- the CM's behavior was inexcusable, and she could have been so much nicer! :headache:

I am glad they fell in love with their room! I can't wait to get back there!

Did you have a long wait at Beaches and Cream?

It was around 20-30 minutes at Beaches and Cream but so worth it! I love the food there and the milkshakes they have are awesome!

Booo to a CM being mean when they first arrived!! That is no way to start a vacation!!!!

I'm so glad you had your mom talk to a manager and things got fixed!!!

WOOOH...I want to hear more about Beaches and Cream too...how long did you have to wait for a table and how did you enjoy the food!

We waited about 20-30 minutes and we usually get burgers and fries which were awesome! I love this place!!

glad that they were now happy with the results and hte experience was a little better

Yeah they were so excited!

We originally had the Fantasmic dinner package for the 30th, but after hearing that there seems to be no real advantage, we're planning to cancel it. We'll just see it another night and grab snack food and munch while we wait like all of the other commoners. :laughing:

I know your mom and dad were just bubbling over with stories. You should have had video going so we could hear their excitement.

I'm kind of sorry we aren't doing Chef Mickey's this trip. I like their food. We've done breakfast and dinner.

I never used the F! dinner package and never had an issue. Just give yourself plenty of time to arrive!

[Nicole786]

Mom is joining us this morning, everyone say Hi Mom!




David and I started off this day very early. We woke up around 6:30, called for bell services to transfer our luggage to the AKL and by the time we were out the door it was around 7AM.

It didn't take long for us to drive to the AKL, maybe around 5 minutes. We chose to valet (a luxury I only sometimes splurge for) and we were hearing those wonderful words "welcome home!"

So early there was no line at check in, we just walked right up and had a wonderful CM checking us in. We weren't expecting the room to be ready since it was so early and because of yesterday, we knew we wouldn't be upgraded. We were silently hoping to be near the lobby. As we chatted with eachother about whether or not to call mom and dad yet (to wake them up) we were interupted by the CM who said

"Congratulations guys, you've been upgraded!"

Wait, what? David and I quickly exchanged glances and went "uh what? where to the pool? Okay thats cool because thats close to the--"

"No to savannah!"

Our first reaction was pure happiness and excitement, but it quickly turned to worry. What about Mom and Dad? We really wanted them to have the Savannah view! We decided between us that we would let them know and ask if they wanted to switch rooms. But we couldn't wait to see our room! So we quickly headed up there because it was ready! Wow talk about a completely different situation than mom and dads!

Mom's Thoughts: Thats ridiculous why would you think we'd be upset?

It was a long trek to our room from the lobby (not too bad though) We had to walk down the lobby floor passed our old room from last year, use the elevators over there to go up to the 5th floor. Down the hall, make a second left and down that hall a bit and there we were! phew! A few of these were taken later on in the trip, but just to give you an idea. Its good that there are these nice things to look at on the way! I really really really loved this room. The Savannah was amazing! Better than last time! I actually liked the location because of the artifacts!

Mom's Thoughts: Oh, whatever. Stop bragging. :P

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And here is what we saw when we walked in!

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And when we went on the balcony!


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The backdrop was the new Kidani Village lobby which gives you an idea of how far this room was from the lobby, but I loved it! I loved this room more than the one that was right off the lobby last year!

We were eager to get going, so we called mom and dad and headed over that way. They were on the same floor as us but on the other side of the lobby, grab your best walking shoes David and saddle up!

We walked over and told them the news. They were happy for us and we offered to switch rooms with them. They said they might, but later on when they saw how far it was from the lobby changed their minds. They actually said that we deserved it anyway for this wonderful trip we had given them and they were happy we got the Savannah upgrade.

We headed out to DHS right after rope drop and David and I bolted to Pixar Place to get FP. Look at this line! It took forever!!

Mom's Thoughts: We stayed behind and found a nice bench to sit on, it was like watching salmon swim upstream!

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We met back up with Mom & Dad and we walked back to Pixar Place after I realized we could get our picture taken with Woody! Mom's favorite character! She was so excited and we were first in line! Here we are in line waiting for Woody to show up playing with the sets.

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Dads favorite DHS attraction is Muppetvision 3D so thats where we went next.

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He still laughs at Statler & Waldorf!

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On our way back David and Dad decided to go on Star Tours which makes me dizzy so mom and I stayed back. The original plan was for them to do that later because we wanted to see Beauty and the Beast so we would have split, but there was no line. We told them we would meet them at American Idol. Mom and I enjoyed some alone time sharing an ice cream!

We frantically tried to call them when AI was about to start but they weren't picking up! We were bummed because we knew that this was our only opportunity to see it this trip! Just then they called and I saw them walking towards us. Phew, we made it! American idol is so much fun for anyone who is a fan of the show, I highly recommend it!!

Dad loves posing with gift shop shirts!

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Our FP were ready for TSM so we headed there. Dad and I faced off and Mom/David went on. We had a blast on this! I beat dad but not by much! We had a really great time, great family memory!

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Continued in next post...

[Nicole786]

We wanted to see Buzz so we went in line but Dad/David were itching to get back to AKL to go to the pool. Mom and I still hadn't seen Beauty and the Beast, and the 4 of us wanted to eat. So we grabbed lunch at Pizza Planet! While waiting for the food a CM asked me "how many eyes do the green aliens have?" I said "3" and she handed me a Pizza Planet souvenir cup! Wahoo!

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After our great lunch we went our seperate ways. Mom and I practically ran to Beauty and the Beast. Belle, as some of you may remember from our Christmas TR, is moms favorite princess. Beauty and the Beast is moms favorite Disney movie, and one of my all time faves, so this was a must do considering neither of us has ever seen it!

I literally skipped in to the theatre when we made it on time! We loved this!

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On the way out we caught the eye of a photopass photographer who took the stitch picture! I love these.

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Coming up, more AKL photos, family time at the pool, Epcot EMH!

[MeMom]

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I hope they still have these in a few weeks. We have some cups from here, but they are different. We like to get all kinds, of course, and use them at home to bring us Disney happiness between trips.

I'm glad you got to see Beauty and the Beast. :)

Thanks for so many pictures this morning. The AKL ones are awesome!

Tell mom hi from us, and we hope to meet her someday!

[pooksma]

:wave: Hi Mom!!!

I have had the pleasure of meeting your kids in person and have to say you and Dad raised two fine people.:thumbsup2

Savannah view...upgrade...lucky you! Great balcony shots. Thanks for the TSM pics. DS loved them. (and since we can't show him ours...):rolleyes1

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, Mom! :yay:

What a super awesome room, Nicole!!! I love all the artifacts! I had no idea those were all there or I might have wandered farther afield! And you had zebras! We only saw the zebras the one time at night -- I don't know where they were all hiding. :sad2:

Looks like you had a great morning at DHS! I am so glad you and your mom got to see Beauty and the Beast -- it's a wonderful show, isn't it?

[Nicole786]

I hope they still have these in a few weeks. We have some cups from here, but they are different. We like to get all kinds, of course, and use them at home to bring us Disney happiness between trips.

I'm glad you got to see Beauty and the Beast. :)

Thanks for so many pictures this morning. The AKL ones are awesome!

Tell mom hi from us, and we hope to meet her someday!

Maybe this December we can have a DisMeet? I think our dates are going to be 3-7.

:wave: Hi Mom!!!

I have had the pleasure of meeting your kids in person and have to say you and Dad raised two fine people.:thumbsup2

Savannah view...upgrade...lucky you! Great balcony shots. Thanks for the TSM pics. DS loved them. (and since we can't show him ours...):rolleyes1

Aw I'll have to show this to Mom so she knows how great me and david are! He is going to have a blast on TSM! Will you show him yours when hes older?? lol

Hi, Mom! :yay:

What a super awesome room, Nicole!!! I love all the artifacts! I had no idea those were all there or I might have wandered farther afield! And you had zebras! We only saw the zebras the one time at night -- I don't know where they were all hiding. :sad2:

Looks like you had a great morning at DHS! I am so glad you and your mom got to see Beauty and the Beast -- it's a wonderful show, isn't it?

We loved Beauty and the Beast! I loved our room even though it was so far away it was so peaceful back there and that savannah was amazing!

[Nicole786]

Mom and I split up when we got to AKL on my way to my room I realized we never brought our luggage up from the morning. I was hoping David had known to do that (and tip!) Turns out he did, he says I have taught him well. But he was still in the room because it had literally just got there 30 seconds before I walked in the door. Apparently Dad was checking out the room before heading down to the pool and we were going to meet him there.

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And heres a video David was recording for me. he called the giraffes irvings because last time we were at the AKL we had one giraffe with us the entire stay and we named him Irving!

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Dad really loved the room but not the walk!

So we got dressed and headed down to the pool where we tried to look for him. We found Mom, and than eventually found Dad. I didn't bring the camera down to the pool but we had an awesome time! I don't remember the last time we swam together as a family (and we have a pool!) We set our stuff right near the hot tub because it was so nice and quiet there. I'm not sure if people realized there was a public overlook over there!

We headed back to the room and got ready for Dinner, before heading out mom wanted to come see the room. She too was ready for a towel and a bottle of water by the time she got there!

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We were all so excited for Le Cellier since we have eaten here before we all knew what to expect and how great it is! This is David's favorite restaurant! We checked in and I made sure they knew it was Mom and Dads anniversary which they said was noted. We waited about 15 minutes and were seated.

As always I ordered the Mushroom Filet (without any trace of mushrooms, yuck!) same for David. I don't remember what mom and dad got (I should have taken pics, lesson learned) but I did take pictures of Dessert and mom and dad loved their special treats!

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It was close to illuminations and this was sure to be a busy night for EMH so we headed over to our spot in France. On the way mom and dad wanted to take some pictures.

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Illuminations is Davids favorite night show (mine too!) he even has the music on his iPod and knows every cue. He's a musician so he's trying to learn it so he can play it on the piano. But no matter how many times you've seen it nothing gives us chills like illuminations!

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EMH had started and since I know most of FW is untouchable during EMH we kind of just mosey'd around the WS.

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We went on Maelstrom and than finally headed up to FW. Mom loves space and has always wanted to go on MS but is too chicken. After explaining to her that the calm side would be no worse than Star Tours she decided to try it. So did Dad after they talked with a CM who said if they could do Soarin they could do this.

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Mom and dad loved this!!! I think it might be moms favorite ride now!!

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We stopped in Mouse Gears (because how could you resist??) and than headed to the exit. We had a great day and we had to rest up for our last full day in WDW!

[FauntleroyFAN07]

i think i am going to try mission space on our next trip, we never have, is it real jerky like star wars?

[troobabiee7]

I'm finally all caught up. Congrats on the upgrade! The view looks gorgeous. And I'm glad your parents had a great time on the cruise, that's still the ultimate gift! :gooodvibes:

I just want to remind you to update the links on the first page ;) I usually follow them and didn't realize that you'd made these last three updates. I'm loving your report!

[MeMom]

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Young and in love! :thumbsup2

[Charleston Princess]

I don't know as if I would have been able to budge from that AKL balcony! What a view! :thumbsup2

The pictures of your parents are so sweet! :lovestruc

I am PMing you with an off-topic question...

[Nicole786]

i think i am going to try mission space on our next trip, we never have, is it real jerky like star wars?

I get sick on Star Tours but not mission space if it helps! Its definitely not as jerky!

I'm finally all caught up. Congrats on the upgrade! The view looks gorgeous. And I'm glad your parents had a great time on the cruise, that's still the ultimate gift! :gooodvibes:

I just want to remind you to update the links on the first page ;) I usually follow them and didn't realize that you'd made these last three updates. I'm loving your report!

I want to post another chapter when I get home so i'll remember to fix the links, thanks!

Young and in love! :thumbsup2

Aw, lol

I don't know as if I would have been able to budge from that AKL balcony! What a view! :thumbsup2

The pictures of your parents are so sweet! :lovestruc

I am PMing you with an off-topic question...

It was really exciting to leave the parks and go back there to see what kind of animals would be waiting. I actually was mildly upset that I didn't go back to the room in the middle of the day the next day (that chapter is coming up later!)

[Nicole786]

David and I walked over to mom and dads room and on the way took a bunch of photos!

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We were headed for AK this morning! We chose to sleep in this day since David and I had already conquered AK earlier in the trip, and we just needed the break as a few of us weren't feeling well after EMH the night before.

We ended up at AK around 10am and grabbed a photopass photographer before heading over to get EE fast passes.

After getting 3 FP (mom wouldnt ride) we headed towards the Safari but got side tracked by Flights of Wonder which was starting. Dad loves everything to do with the discovery channel so we knew he would absolutely love this! And as you can see from him face he did!

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[Nicole786]

We walked to the Safari without FP but ended up only waiting about 20 minutes!

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It was time for our EE FP so mom waited while we rode this amazing ride!!

Than it was time for DInosaur, Mom's favorite AK ride!! This too was about a 20 minute wait but Dad kept himself occupied in line.

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I never knew this, but there is now a CS restaurant outside by dinosaur (where donalds breakfastasaurus used to be) I am partial to Pizzafari but Dad doesn't like it so we decided to come here. I was always saying how AK doesn't have a typical burgers/fries CS but apparently they do and this is it! We grabbed some lunch here. During lunch, we were at a crossroads. Dad wanted to go swimming back at AKL and mom and I wanted to do something more Disney since it was our last day there. David didn't care, but didn't want to leave Dad alone. Mom and I decided we would go to the MK for a bit and meet them for dinner at Ohana. There, settled! I was so excited to have some alone time with mom :)

We split up from the boys and grabbed a bus to the GF. We always joke that one day we will get to stay here, we grabbed the monorail over to the MK. The parade was about 30 minutes away so we went over by Hall of Presidents where there was plenty of room (main street was packed though) We were joined by grandparents whose grandson's school was marching in the parade! That was the only reason they were there. As soon as he passed by they left. More room for us! And boy did we need it on this hot hot day. The tops of my feet were burning and I was wearing sneakers! Still had a great time at this parade I can't wait until it "applies" to me (in october when its my birthday!) its my favorite WDW parade now!

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We headed straight to haunted mansion to cool off, and I impressed mom with knowing exactly where the door was going to open! Than we braved fantasyland which ended up being not too bad! We walked on to Small World (moms favorite)

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[Nicole786]

and when that was finished we took a breather with some fruit slushies.

Our time at the MK was up and so we headed towards the monorail for our Ohana reservations! David and Dad would meet us here. Dad was skeptical about eating here and at the last moment contemplated switching to Kona which they said wouldn't be a problem. I suggested he tour the restaurant and a wonderful CM who overheard us gave us a personal tour of how Ohana works and some of the food! Dad was impressed and now that he had a better idea (he asked some questions too) he was all set, and so were we! Not too much later we were buzzed!

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Mom and Dad both really really loved it here (how could you not!) We had seconds and thirds of our favorites and they brought out a special treat for mom and dad!!

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Okay so heres where the extra pixie dust came in!! So we get the check and I always look down at the credits left to make sure they are correct and they always are. But this time, it still said 2 TS credits left!! We should have zero this didn't make any sense! Since we had just checked in to the AKL, we should only have 4 total which included Ohana (2) and Le Cellier (2) but now we still had 2!! I walked down to hte Poly guest services who were helpful but couldn't explain it. They suggested we shouldn't say anything but I still wanted answers. Later that night at the AKL we printed up our bill to make sure Le Cellier didn't charge the room etc. nothing!! So there you have it, isn't that strange?? What are we gonna do with 2 extra TS credits?? Thoughts swam through my head so fast, but of course timing couldn't be worse because this was our last full day!

Well anyway back to the magic kingdom!! David and I had a quick Dis Meet with Lessa and co. These are always so much fun!! Our timing was great because after riding Pirates with mom and dad and the dis meet it was time for Spectro!! IT WAS PACKED!!! We grabbed dole whips from the meet and went on to the bridge that connects adventureland to liberty square.

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Not the closest but we've all seen the parade and its very quiet and peaceful!! Not wanting to bear the crowds we unfortunately left before wishes. Luckily david and I saw it earlier in our trip, but what was dissapointing was as we were on the bus the fireworks started so either way we could have just waited to see them! But we had packing to do :(

Our last chapter is coming up next!!

[Charleston Princess]

Ah, I never get tired of AKL pictures -- thank goodness you are going back soon for your birthday! :goodvibes

Your last full day sounds lovely, but I am so sad that your last chapter is coming up next :(. I don't want your TR to be almost finished. :sad1:

[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Yay for the Dis meet! It was great meeting you and the bro. :thumbsup2

:woohoo: For the extra dining credits, I wonder what you ended up using them on?

[FauntleroyFAN07]

no pictures from your dis meet?

also fun to see dissers meeting.

[Nicole786]

Ah, I never get tired of AKL pictures -- thank goodness you are going back soon for your birthday! :goodvibes

Your last full day sounds lovely, but I am so sad that your last chapter is coming up next :(. I don't want your TR to be almost finished. :sad1:

More AKL photos coming up!! And even more after October!! I'm going to be bringing this awesome lens for my camera and I can't wait to use it there!

Yay for the Dis meet! It was great meeting you and the bro. :thumbsup2

:woohoo: For the extra dining credits, I wonder what you ended up using them on?

Yeah the DIS meet was fun I wish I could have stayed longer!

no pictures from your dis meet?

also fun to see dissers meeting.

I didn't have any photos on my camera but I think Lessa definitely did!

[Nicole786]

Today was our final day in WDW, always a sad one. It was a beautiful AKL morning:

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We had decided to use our credits at Boma even though I was worried that the credits wouldn't actually be there, and I would have to pay, and this would all turn in to a "haha the jokes on you, we tricked you!" but luckily it didn't!! For those who have never had breakfast at Boma, you must! Its really great food in a very relaxed atmosphere!

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They were preparing Zebra Domes in the kitchen

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Epcot was our choice for "last park" as it seldom is, being that every member in my family chooses it as a favorite.

We did our usual routine of grabbing a FP for Soarin and than immediately heading to Test Track to ride standby.

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Mom gave David some driving lessons after we rode TT:

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We did something we had never done, Innoventions. We even went on the Severe Weather (the one Charleston Princess is afraid of) It's not scary!! Its actually kind of fun. You sit in a small theatre on non-moving chairs with LCDs in front of every seat. You design a house with safety features you feel are going to protect you and the storm hits and you see if it does on the large screen!

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Next up we helped Marlin find Nemo, in that big blue world.

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And as one last Epcot adventure, we went on Soarin.

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Unfortunately that is where this story ends. And as sad as we all feel when we leave, we know deep down inside we will get to return, and it's not really goodbye, its "so long for now!"

--------------------------------------------------

Final Thoughts: This was a trip that was over a year in the making. i don't think I have ever waited that long for a WDW trip. It was so far back that there were other WDW trip in between it! (Like the very memorable August trip that David and I took, and the Christmas trip Mom and I took) You guys have been there since the very beginning and it was like a sense of satisfaction once the trip came to be! We had a blast on this trip through its ups and downs and can't wait until the 4 of us can return together as a family!!

Until then, we have 2 trips coming up in the near future! (I think MeMom and I are in an epic battle to see who can visit more often!)

On October 2nd, My cousin Kara and I will be heading to Orlando. First to Sea World for 2 nights (2nd-4th) and than to the AKL for 5 nights! My birthday is on the 7th and we have big plans for the time we are there! I hope to start a Pre-TR, and If I do I hope to see you guys there!

The second trip is the christmas trip that Mom and I are taking in early december. Right now we are looking at December 3-7th. We went the second week of december last year, and found it to be more crowded than it should have been. We are staying at POFQ.

So as you can see, I will see you guys around the DIS!

[Charleston Princess]

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This may be my favorite AKL picture EVER!!! Too cool!!! Look at all those zebra domes!

We did something we had never done, Innoventions. We even went on the Severe Weather (the one Charleston Princess is afraid of) It's not scary!! Its actually kind of fun. You sit in a small theatre on non-moving chairs with LCDs in front of every seat. You design a house with safety features you feel are going to protect you and the storm hits and you see if it does on the large screen!

Okay, that is really cool -- I think Charles and I will do it in October!

Unfortunately that is where this story ends. And as sad as we all feel when we leave, we know deep down inside we will get to return, and it's not really goodbye, its "so long for now!"

I am sad, too -- you always write such great trip reports! Thank you for sharing everything with us, Nicole!

On October 2nd, My cousin Kara and I will be heading to Orlando. First to Sea World for 2 nights (2nd-4th) and than to the AKL for 5 nights! My birthday is on the 7th and we have big plans for the time we are there! I hope to start a Pre-TR, and If I do I hope to see you guys there!

We will just miss you -- Charles and I will be there October 1st through the 4th.

[Nicole786]

We will just miss you -- Charles and I will be there October 1st through the 4th.

So you're finally getting your F&W festival spoon?? We will be checking in on the 4th heading to MK that day

[MeMom]

They were preparing Zebra Domes in the kitchen

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So as you can see, I will see you guys around the DIS!


I would be so fat!

Can't you get your schedule right??? (Like the same as ours?) :laughing:
We'll be there hopefully later in October and after Christmas through New Year's.

[Charleston Princess]

So you're finally getting your F&W festival spoon?? We will be checking in on the 4th heading to MK that day

Yes, I will! I am very excited about getting that (and a cookbook, poster -- if they have those -- and a pin).

[AGPrincess]

Mmmm...Boma, great choice! :thumbsup2 And all your pics took me straight back to the AKL--love it. Great TR, Nicole...what a fun trip! Thanks for sharing! :goodvibes

[FauntleroyFAN07]

sorry to see it end, but like you said, you go so often that your reports are greatly enjoyed many times a year.
:goodvibes

[scottny]

ok all caught up. looks like a wonderful trip. We are staying in AKL in January/February when we go, I cannot wait.

Thanks for sharing it was a fun read.

check the links, 2 of them linked to the link before it.

When is your last day in October?