5th timers 1st experience with DDP(free!) TR!

[lori1043]

Hey Dis'ers! This is my family's TR for the week of September 12-19, 2009! This trip was a longshot for us b/c of my hubbys' pevious layoff(thank goodness he had a severance and is nowemployed again!). All depended on his being re-employed and it happened! So off we go....

Like said, this is our 5th time to WDW as a family. We DID have a WDW hurrication in September '08 from Gustav, so I guess you can count it as a 5 and a HALF timers TR! The hurrication was 2 nights at ASMovies with a family day at TL and a girls day(daddy worked) at MK.

Family cast:

DH39- audit manager for a big bank, LOVES God and his girls, LSU and Saints fan, loves the Cubs and the Stars too. Watches lots of financial shows, keeps up with the stock market(his passion), loves Jim Kramer's Mad Money.
Favorite Disney character: Donald Duck
Favorite WDW ride: Rock'n Roller Coaster
Favorite DL ride: California Screamin

Me39-homeschool mom, also loves Jesus and is thankful for all He does for our lives, BIG Disney fan from the time I was 16, likes to draw(but hasn't done it except at WDW or DL for years), loves her laptop and iTouch (a little too much I think). Enjoys her kids being around, trying to cook different things but very happy to have free food made for me for a week!
Favorite Disney character: Mickey
Favorite Disney ride: Splash mountain
Favorite DL ride: Space Mountain(only b/c Splash Mtn was closed!)

DD11-loves to sing constantly, hum, or whatnot, became a thrill seeker this trip. Cancer(leukemia) survivor.
Favorite Disney character: Donald Duck, and Aurora
Favorite Disney ride: Expedition Everest

DD9-loves to draw, color, has these big brown puppy dog eyes, likes horses, loves her teddy bear named 'Rose Beary bear' who is a princess!
Favorite Disney character: Belle
Favorite Disney ride: Soarin' and Pirate of the Carribean

So, we left last Saturday, September 12 and stayed at All Star Sports with 4 day PH's with water park and more. I will tell you about each place we ate and what each of us thought about it.

We have never had so much food, ever!

We are a family who does Disney on a budget. I love the budget boards for tips and ideas. We usually bring sandwiches every other day and eat CS meals on the days we don't bring sandwiches. I always bring a hotpot and make macn cheese and soup and grits, etc in that little wondrous appliance. We usually pick 1-3 TS places to eat per trip and we have a habit of going to Rainforest cafe after a long day at AK. We eat b/fast every morning in our room b/c #1, we're not big breakfast people, and #2, I want to spend my money where I want to spend it, and b/fast is not usually one of them. IF we choose to do a character b/fast on a trip, we go at the latest time possible. before this trip we really learned to hate the DDP b/c we could no longer walk into our favorite TS places. Everything was booked. We used to walk into Crystal Palace and we no longer could do that since the DDP has started.

I have a slightly different view now, but will explain as this TR goes along.

Soooo, the 1st day, we had no park plans, but we did have plans to meet my aunt and uncle in DD at Capn Jacks and to get my Disney reward card from Guest Relations. I had quite a bit of money accrued on it! $250! So we decided to use it for tips for our TS meals plus some! I had previously stuffed a bunch of cute little made up envelopes(from themouseforless.com) with cash for tips for each TS place we ate at.

So, I am not a fan pof DDP, but since it was FREE and has been for the past 5 years in the fall, we decided to try it.

pictures and story coming soon! uploading pics to site....

Day 1.....http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33654957&postcount=13
Day 1, part 2......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33662859&postcount=21
Day 2......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33662834&postcount=20
Day 3 part 1-EPCOT.......http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33688477&postcount=48
Day 3, part 2.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33688980&postcount=49
Day 4.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33756112&postcount=63
Rest of day 4.........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33784297&postcount=79
last of day 4...........http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=33784320&postcount=80.

[scoot241]

Gotta join up for this simply because you're Tiger and Saints fans! :thumbsup2

[TigerKat]

Signing on, can't wait!!!!!

[Terry36]

popcorn::

[Where'sPiglet?]

I'm in! :woohoo:

[zipuzee]

I'm here. Can't wait to hear all about it!

[mymainmouse]

Signing on. :thumbsup2 We were there almost the same time as you were. :) I am curious to hear what you thought about the past week.:surfweb:

[rie'smom]

:yay: Can't wait for more!!!

[mickeystoontown]

Another Louisiana resident and Jesus lover here! Looking forward to reading all about your Disney adventures!

[portocall]

I made it, can't wait! :flower3:

[Katie's Gram]

count me in :surfweb:

[jwhtewolfd]

I'm here. GO SAINTS!

[lori1043]

Okay, so we tried to make this a suprise for the kids, but that didn't work out... 26 days before the trip we found out that all of thier friends knew, so we broke down and told them one day after church.... they squealed like they've never been!

So they came home and IMMEDIATELY begged me to print up the countdown chain off of themouseforless.com

Anyway- 26 days later we found ourselves with one last chain link and packed and ready to fly to Orlando to go to Disney.

We always have driven, except for the 2002 Make a Wish trip for Ashton. It is a 10 hour or so drive from here to there. Not horrible, BUT since my hubby used to trvel often with his job, he had accrused some free flights, so we flew b/c it was much cheaper and faster than driving-yay!

My DD9 was a bit nervous......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2029.jpg
just buckling in on SWA.

But she ended up LOVING it!


Stitch

I spontaneously was thinking we should have a theme for our pics on the trip b/c i wanted a little different type of pics, so Bethany(a dis friend) and I were at Disney store having fun and we picked out birthday Stitch for the pics since we were celebrating birthdays on this trip. BUT he was BAD and DH decided he needed to stay in when we went to the parks(so he stayed in the window with the towel creations from the mousekeepers)....he read and tore my magazine, he stowed away in the town car, he kept biting our doxies,:laughing: etc.... here are some pics of him....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2023.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2026.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2028.jpg
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Disney
So we get to the airport in Orlando and the town car guy was holding that sign with our name!! We picked Tiffany towncar. It was $104 round trip. My friend Caron suggested it from a Disney site she was on. The guy Steve was nice enough, and we had a 30 minute grocery stop to get waters and cokes, apple juice and a foam ice chest, which was a smart thing to do we found out!

We arrive at All Star Sports, check in, got the top floor as requested(no one above you making noise) in the baseball section(yay! we've been there before and liked it)- our room was ready so we got settled, ate 2 QS meals and split it 4 ways(we had a Capn Jacks ADR for 4pm and it was abhout 1:30). We took a short refreshing nap, then headed for DD marketplace to play till our dinner with my aunt and uncle , who were driving from Gainesville to see us!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2037.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2046.jpg
I SO want this table!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2047.jpg

BTW- I picked All Star Sports b/c the kids and hubby said that the next time we did Disney, that was the place they wanted to stay.

So I call my aunt from the bus.....


...and she and her hubby were there already(it was about 3pm) walking around browsing. We had a GREAT meal at Capn Jacks. This meal was our family's overall favorite TS meal we had the whole week. The kids asked to come back here a couple times. We didn't though since I had made ADR's at that 6 month mark.

DH and I had the crab cakes, DD11 had chicken alfredo, DD9 had mac n cheese and we shared a spinach dip. Our first DDP TS meal and we skipped desert we were SO full!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2071.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2055.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2059.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2061.jpg
I thank DD's for these pics! they are taking after mom with pics of food!

After dinner and a walk to say goodbye, we headed to Disney Quest- our first time there.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2079.jpg



We did not stay long- it was cool and all, but didn't keep our interest. Put it off to having girls or just that all the games were a teaser to the REAL rides awaiting us in the upcoming days. Of course, we didn't get to every floor there and while we DID have fun, we were just anxious to get a good night sleep and head to Typhoon Lagoon the next day(Sunday). We DID find time to walk through the T Rex restaurant- it was pretty cool, esp the ice cave room-it was like the castle at night colors, but inside a icy room...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2080.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2086.jpg

DD11 loves rocks and crystals...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2083.jpg

for some reason photobucket didn't upload my ice cave pics....hmmm.

and we passed this place up....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2091.jpg

next update.... Day 2, Typhoon Lagoon incident with a Garbage Pail, teaser in MK and dinner at the wrong time at 1900 Park Fare....

Lori

[Where'sPiglet?]

Yay! An update! AND I got a shout out! :goodvibes

As always, your photos are great!

I'm glad to hear Haley did well on the flight. I know she was really nervous! :hug:

Your teaser is....hmph! *Scowl* I wanna know NOW what happened! :rotfl2:

[zipuzee]

Wow! Those crab cakes look awesome. We'll need to consider this when we go next year. Cute pics of the kids, too. I guess its been a while since I've seen pics of them, they look so grown up! Can't wait for the next installment.

[FloraFauna]

:thumbsup2Hey Lori, I'm enjoying reading your report. Its getting me excited for my trip

[lori1043]

I am uploading some pics from day 2- I do not have many from day 2-yet! We did a photopass with a family who's there this week, and I didn't bring th camera to Typhoon Lagoon, but I have a crazy, funny-from-a -spectators- point-of-view to tell about TL.

I think I am actually uploading day 2 and day 3's pics!

And re-trying those ice cave pics....

Lori

BTW- i am posting some of the same and some different pics from what put on my FB page

[mickeystoontown]

I've never given Captain Jack's much thought but after looking at those pictures, I need to check out the menu.

[shovan]

Hey girl! Loving your TR so far! :goodvibes It's great fun seeing your family enjoying it all! Can't wait for more! Never even thought about Capn Jacks before! We'll have to give that a try sometime soon. I don't have room for it during our upcoming trip, that's already booked solid!

[lori1043]

so on to DAY 2!

We got a great night sleep Saturday night at woke up and had a poptart or granola bar before heading to Typhoon Lagoon. We debated over the past 26 days about which water park to visit first. We had done TL before , so at first we were going to do Blizzard Beach first, but then decided that we LOVE TL, and had a whole other day saved for BB, so we did TL first!
Remember that we are a family of GIRLS and daddy pretty much goes with the flow here! All DD11 was bent on doing was Summit Plummet at BB and she decided she needed to try some other slides to get her nerve up.

As of right now I have NO pics of TL until my friends get back from WDW next week as we split a photopass CD, so I can show you those next week!

But here is the not so funny, yet kinda funny story about my time at TL;

Previous to this trip, we had read about and discussed with my friends(who are there THIS week) about this awesome ice cream thing that you can get at Happy Landings in TL called a Garbage Pail. It is a $10 bucket-O-ice cream sundae. People have said it could feed 4-6, but we think it can easily feed 7-10! I looked all over creation for a photopass person to take a pic of it for us, but they were all gone, trying to get out of the RAIN STORM that had started when i was getting this concoction for my family. The family went to the wave pool while I walked over the Happy Landings, when it started to rain. We agreed to meet back at the covered spot we had found to put our towels and bag in about 5 -10 minutes to share this monstrosity. So I order the humongously huge soft served hot fudged, cookies, whip creamed and Mickey sprinkled sand bucket of sugar. Literally a sand bucket- although a small one, but softserve about the same height as the bucket over the top.

Soooo, I get it and am walking back to our "spot" and the rain is not hard but it is moderate and kinda big drops, steady with no thunder or lightening, so the park stayed open. Picture me walking, walking, no hurry but at a steady pace, rain pouring down, whipped cream starting to fall down my arms from heat and rain, with LOTS of attention from other guests commenting on the large ice cream in my hands(looking like a pig who didn't NEED a gallon of ice cream!):rotfl:......

...going over a smallish hill near the lazy river, and WHOOSH!!! My butt hits the ground HARD.... so hard tears came to my eyes and I am stunned. Ice cream and whipped cream everywhere, bucket upside down on pavement.I sat there for a moment and was trying to evaluate if I could get up at all, but it was hurting so bad I couldn't move. Some really nice man stopped and asked me if I was ok and if I needed medical care- he stayed with me till a CM finally yelled from down the path if I was ok and she called the manager-I think she was a lifeguard for the lazy river, so she couldn't move to far away from it. I had visions of an emergency room and wheelchair the rest of the trip.... I also knew that NOTHING was gonna take away from this trip, even if my tailbone WAS broken. I was GONNA be HAPPY, no matter the circumstances.

So the "manager", some 25 year old looking guy came and made light of the whole thing. This British woman came over and asked if I fell b/c she did too-in the same spot. She had bloody knees from it. The guy kept saying, "I'll get you another Garbage pail", and I was like, "i don't care about the stupid ice cream". All inknew was that my feet came out from under me with no warning and my butt/lower back was throbbing. He also told me, "ok, I am asking you for the last time, do you need to go to the hospital?" And i really had no idea IF I needed the hospital.

The nice guy who stayed with me was still there and he helped me up during that whole thing. I was able to take a few steps, painful ones, and started to work it out. I could walk so I felt I didn't need an ER. The manager walked me back to Happy Landings to get another Garbage Pail(for my kids, right?!!!) and I walked really slowly back to our spot- still raining, but lighter, losing whipped cream. By the time I got to DH and DD's, I was in tears and peeee-oooood. We all took about 5 bites of the concoction- which WAS really yummy( I suggest it, but everyone should be nearby when it is ordered, not in another part of the park), and we threw it out. I wanted that darn bucket though- as a souvie so i could remember why I have lower back/butt pain- DH was all about BUYING me a darn sandbucket and shovel at Dollar Tree b/c he just wanted to throw it all away. I was all about taking that da-- pail home!!!
So he cleaned it and we walked to First Aid for ibuprofen as the adrenaline was going away and pain was still stinging. She gave me about 5 packs of ibuprofen and i took them the rest of the trip. That and aleve. Oh and ice packs.

Thankfully we had done just about everything we wanted to do and we were ready to leave.

We rented a locker so DH went back for our $5 and came back with a TL coffee mug. It's cool looking, but I told him for BB I wanted my $5 and not a BB coffee mug. yeah, so I was grumpy at the time.....

We bussed it back to the room, showered and rested a bit, then when the meds kicked in, I felt better and we all agreed to go to MK for about 2 hours until we had to leave for our 7:55pm ADR at 1900 Park Fare.

We had some suprises when we got to our room after TL from mousekeeping...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2099.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2100.jpg

Funny thing is that we had this app on my hubby's iPhone called "Mouse memo"- it's a cool app- but little did we know that all of our ADR's times were changed to an hour later due to being in a different time zone-plus, i booked them so long ago that I never even thought twice about it till AFTER our 1900 Park Fare experience. The app never asked me what time zone I was in when inputting the info, so WHY would it change!!????!! Was it the app or the iPhone? who knows, but we figured it out....

Okay, so back to our 2 hour MK jaunt....

We were AMAZED at the crown levels-lower than I have ever experienced. In ONE hour and FIFTY minutes we managed to do POTC, SM(my fave!), BTMRR 2x, Teacups, Space Ranger Spin, and Haunted Mansion. We left MK at 7:15 to get to the Grand Floridian...
first look!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2104.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2105.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2106.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2107.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2108.jpg

No waits anywhere...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2110.jpgHaley looking down at SM loading up
fall at MK!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2114.jpg

on monorail b/t Contemporary and Poly(or TTC)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2115.jpg

At destination! Checked in....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2117.jpg

waiting....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2118.jpg

waiting...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2119.jpg

waiting....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2120.jpg

we waited a LONG time and it still never hit that our ADR was actually for 6:55 but we went by the iPhone app!!

Thankfully, we ARE pretty patient, most of the time..... and we finally got there...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2122.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2125.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2126.jpg
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This trip was a birthday gift to our family-ourselves! So, of course we had each picked a place to celebrate our birthday. We will have a smallish family party at home for the kids-and as DH and I are turning FORTY very soon(HIM sooner than ME!:laughing:)-we didn't want a big deal, so this was our big deal(WDW)...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2131.jpg

Anastasia dn Drusilla and her step mpom were SOOOO freakin funny!

When Lady Tremaine came to our table we were all just looking up at her quietly while she signed autgraph books- she commented on our family's "stimulating conversation":lmao:.....

Oh, we enjoyed 1900 Park Fare-the food was okay, the ambiance was hilarious and cute all at once. This night was the night I realized just how much my kids were getting older-watching all the little dressed up girls dancing around.......DD9 is on the edge of wanting to dress up vs not wanting too. We brought her Belle dress, but she never put it on. DD11 is all about the rides this time. DD9 is still a princess and loves all that, but not over the top like she used to be. All of this is fine and dandy-I LOVE watching them grow up, I just don't want us to miss the small things.

Anyway, that is what I noticed that night....

here are some hidden Mickeys, or obvious ones-in the GF- that the kids wanted pics of .....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2134.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2135.jpg

By this time we have been to 2 TS places with free DDP, and only use 2 adult CS and 1 kid CS for each meal- it is a lot of food for us!
1 adult and 1 kid could easily share 1 adult meal with dessert!

Lori

Day 3- EPCOT.....

[lori1043]

Okie dokie.... photobucket accepted the ice cave pics and here they are!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2084.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2085.jpg

In DD, Dh and DD9:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2087.jpg

AND we're ready for bed(sorry no pics of Disney Quest):
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2095.jpg

[mickeystoontown]

My goodness! I am so sorry to hear about your busted butt. I would have been just like you.....I am taking that blankety-blank bucket back home with me no matter what! So, dear hubby, go and wash it out so I can.

Oh, and I was offered one of those $5.00 Typhoon Lagoon mugs too but I got my $5.00 deposit back.

At least your day ended on a good note....you were able to see and do a lot at the Magic Kingdom in a short period of time.

Cool pics of the Ice Room at T-Rex. We ate there in August and were seated in the ice room.

[lori1043]

My goodness! I am so sorry to hear about your busted butt. I would have been just like you.....I am taking that blankety-blank bucket back home with me no matter what! So, dear hubby, go and wash it out so I can.

Oh, and I was offered one of those $5.00 Typhoon Lagoon mugs too but I got my $5.00 deposit back.

At least your day ended on a good note....you were able to see and do a lot at the Magic Kingdom in a short period of time.

Cool pics of the Ice Room at T-Rex. We ate there in August and were seated in the ice room.

Haha! My DH DID clean it(the bucket) out for me and I have it right here in my kitchen! He did it nice and quietly for ME!

Anyway, we didn't even eat at TRex, we just wandered through. I really loved Build a Dino- so cute! DD9 gotr a Trex shirt there for her bear.

AND , we did get out $5 back from BB, and not a coffee mug! It is cute but a pain b/c you ahve to take the outer sleeve off to wash it-otherwise it will soon be an ugly cream and gold coffee cup.

And call it mental, but my butt hurts more that we are home-or it could be that I cut back on the ibuprofen-except at night. I cannot bend certain ways.

[MOmousefan]

What did you think of the humidity? I was there from the 12th-17th and it felt like a hot wet wool blanket.

[D!SNEYgram]

Oh, my! What a day you had - both good and bad.
Loving your report so far. Your girls are beautiful.

[lori1043]

What did you think of the humidity? I was there from the 12th-17th and it felt like a hot wet wool blanket.

um, I am from Louisiana- it's always like that, so it didn't bother me. I actually am so acclimated to it that when I go somewhere drier, my sinuses are in PAIN! We thought the weather was cooler than the norm, until Thursday-till we left on Saturday- it was pretty scorchin' those days! I must admit that when i get off of a plane from somewhere drier to home, you can feel the air and I LOVE that feeling-it means I am home and I can breathe again!

Oh, my! What a day you had - both good and bad.
Loving your report so far. Your girls are beautiful.

Thank you for the compliment on my girls!

It was a 'different' trip for us, I may have mentioned. Other wierd age things happened too-in upcoming days! But we had fun and I am already wishing for more days with Mickey-although it WILL be a while unless some miracle happens.

Lori

[lori1043]

FYI- my camera's date was off a day!

[TigerKat]

Great update Lori, can't wait for more!!:thumbsup2

[lori1043]

:thumbsup2Hey Lori, I'm enjoying reading your report. Its getting me excited for my trip

3 days!!!!

I've never given Captain Jack's much thought but after looking at those pictures, I need to check out the menu.

I decided on Capn Jacks b/c we went there on my very 1st trip ever to WDW when I was 16. I am SURE it was called something different, but I actually remember liking it! It was very good and had a good selection. The crab cakes were sooo good!

Hey girl! Loving your TR so far! :goodvibes It's great fun seeing your family enjoying it all! Can't wait for more! Never even thought about Capn Jacks before! We'll have to give that a try sometime soon. I don't have room for it during our upcoming trip, that's already booked solid!

awww, well it was pretty empty when we were there at 4pm! It ws earlier than what we wanted but it worked out well enough anyway.

Great update Lori, can't wait for more!!:thumbsup2

Thanks!

[Terry36]

Awesome Lori I am loving your TR.

[Where'sPiglet?]

um, I am from Louisiana- it's always like that, so it didn't bother me. I actually am so acclimated to it that when I go somewhere drier, my sinuses are in PAIN! We thought the weather was cooler than the norm, until Thursday-till we left on Saturday- it was pretty scorchin' those days! I must admit that when i get off of a plane from somewhere drier to home, you can feel the air and I LOVE that feeling-it means I am home and I can breathe again!

Lori

:rotfl2: I thought today was "kinda dry" and then I saw the dew point was 80. :lmao:

I am enjoying reading this, especially with the pictures! Except the part about the bucket was painful even to READ! :scared: I'm sorry that happened, especially so early in the trip. :hug:

So lemme get this straight...your dinner reservations were really for 6:55 but you showed up for 7:55 because your iTouch was in the wrong time zone? I'm confused. :confused3

[kmores]

hey gal - I am in too! great TR!

[portocall]

hummmmm.... I think our friend Bethany is getting a kickback for those Birthday Stitch's. She suggested I get one for Spencer since we are celebrating his big "5" at the World.... (kidding Bethany, kidding... I know you are really just trying to add som pixie dust to the birthday ppl:wizard:)

Love you updates.... well, not the hurt hiney part, but the rest of it. I love seeing your family so excited!

[Where'sPiglet?]

hummmmm.... I think our friend Bethany is getting a kickback for those Birthday Stitch's. She suggested I get one for Spencer since we are celebrating his big "5" at the World.... (kidding Bethany, kidding... I know you are really just trying to add som pixie dust to the birthday ppl:wizard:)

Love you updates.... well, not the hurt hiney part, but the rest of it. I love seeing your family so excited!

:headache: :lmao:
I should get one for me. Oh wait I AM NOT GOING TO WDW ON MY BIRTHDAY! :mad: OR, for that matter, on any of my UNbirthdays either!

*insert BIG scowl here* ...sulks off to pout...

I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through Lori's trip report...without the painful derriere. :upsidedow

[GSD4ME]

Count me in! Sorry to hear about the ouchy tushy, though!!! :eek:

[lori1043]

Awesome Lori I am loving your TR.

Thanks!

:rotfl2: I thought today was "kinda dry" and then I saw the dew point was 80. :lmao:

I am enjoying reading this, especially with the pictures! Except the part about the bucket was painful even to READ! :scared: I'm sorry that happened, especially so early in the trip. :hug:

So lemme get this straight...your dinner reservations were really for 6:55 but you showed up for 7:55 because your iTouch was in the wrong time zone? I'm confused. :confused3

yeah, it was nice there- but that guy is from Missouri, so I can see how he felt as it were a "wool blanket"....

Yes, about the iPhone(DH's)- when I put in the info, I used the Disney time that they gave me, or that I scheduled it for, and when we got there the iPhone must have adjusted for the change in time zone and made all of our ADR's an hour later than I had originally put them in for. After leaving 1900 Park Fare, we realized WHY we had such a wait- I looked at my printed out on paper version and it was for 6:55, not 7:55! I had times all over the place so it wasn't somthing that jumped out at me at the moment. Well, I did enjoy an extra hour at MK b/c of it!
We just made sure we were an hour early(accding to the iPhone app) to be on time. This is something that confused me on TOP of needing to be somewhere every day with DDP.



hey gal - I am in too! great TR!
yay!!!

hummmmm.... I think our friend Bethany is getting a kickback for those Birthday Stitch's. She suggested I get one for Spencer since we are celebrating his big "5" at the World.... (kidding Bethany, kidding... I know you are really just trying to add som pixie dust to the birthday ppl:wizard:)

Love you updates.... well, not the hurt hiney part, but the rest of it. I love seeing your family so excited!

Look I took the "gift" that was sewed on to him off, b/c he was too bulky-you can borrow him for your trip! I will mail him to you if you promise to take some pics with him on your trip so my kids can see him!

:headache: :lmao:
I should get one for me. Oh wait I AM NOT GOING TO WDW ON MY BIRTHDAY! :mad: OR, for that matter, on any of my UNbirthdays either!

*insert BIG scowl here* ...sulks off to pout...

I guess I'll just have to live vicariously through Lori's trip report...without the painful derriere. :upsidedow

You can borrow him on your birthday too- even if you spend it at home- but promise pics, ok???

Count me in! Sorry to hear about the ouchy tushy, though!!! :eek:

Thank you!

I went to Walmart tonight to get some groceries and DD11 wanted a watermelon- it was a small one but boy I felt it in my butt!!! So I had her take it out the basket and carry it out. It still hurts when I pick up something or bend a certain way. I normally have a decent pain tolerance so I know I am feeling it decently bad. I am sorta concerned about work on Friday. I push around a 500 pound ultrasound machine. But if it isn't lifting, I think it'll be ok.

They don't do anything for broken tailbones anyway- IF it is broken. Just time, I beleive.

Lori

[portocall]

Thanks Lori, but between the very convincing Bethany AND Disney clearance.. Stitch is in my closet waiting somewhat patiently for the next two months to pass so he can come out and play. I promise to take loads of pics... and I might even follow your lead and do a TR just to keep that disney magic alive for just a little longer.

[Where'sPiglet?]

I do believe I have talked you out of purchases too... :rolleyes1
Funny how you don't mention that little tidbit! ;)

[lori1043]

Thanks Lori, but between the very convincing Bethany AND Disney clearance.. Stitch is in my closet waiting somewhat patiently for the next two months to pass so he can come out and play. I promise to take loads of pics... and I might even follow your lead and do a TR just to keep that disney magic alive for just a little longer.


woohoo!!! I will be reading it!!:woohoo::wizard:

[jwhtewolfd]

OUCH. As I so often say at work: I don't know how people ever survived before Advil!

[zipuzee]

I see it now. Birthday Stitch being mailed all around for trips to WDW and beyond. :rotfl:

[lori1043]

I will post tomorrow, I have had a LONG day. One that I was not really looking forward to but took lots of time to prepare for yesterday:

8am- get up and finish preparing for classes today
9am-breakfast and beg DD9 to GET UP
10am- science class(teach)
noon-lunch
1pm-CPR(assist)
2pm-Louisiana History(teach)
4pm-clean up duty after co-op
6:15pm-DD11's bible study
ate dinner with DD9 and friends
8:15-pick up DD11 from bible study
9:00- make DD11 some bacon and eggs for a late 'dinner' to tyde her over(all she had was fruit/cookie/cheese at bible study)
10:00-DH calls from stinking Fla(on business), talks to kids, prayers....:love:
10:30-sitting here pooped!:surfweb:

10:31- wanna post day 3 in EPCOT, but not even awake enough to open photobucket....
10:32-hunched over laptop............................................ .........
10:33-:flower3: this is I got for ya tonight........................................... .................................................
...................
10:35........signing off...............

[shovan]

Loving your TR! I was thinking that the iphone app sounded really cool, but I'm confused enough already.

Enjoying all the pics of the girls! It sure is bittersweet seeing them grow out of the princess stage. BUT We are so grateful that they both will grow out of it. Praise the Good Lord for that!

Sorry your bootie is hurting! I fell on mine years ago, unfortunatly it takes forever to stop hurting. :hug:

[rie'smom]

Lori, when I saw the picture with the 3 girls, I was like, "Wait, she only has 3 daughters." The I realized the tallest daughter was you!!!

[jordanyosh]

Okay....I'm here...Did I know you were going? I think you told me right?

Sorry about TL and your bum...

I think Capn Jacks recently changed their menu and I've heard some good things about it......:thumbsup2

Did you ever get the desserts to go? Some servers offered it to us as it came with the DDP.

[Stefy]

All caught up :)

Capn's Jacks looks quite yumma, like others this is one restaurant that we have overlooked in the past, but I think I might have to go check the menu out now. TRex also looks awesome too :)

Ouchio about BB, I would have been the same as you too. But I am glad it didn't affect you too much and you were able to enjoy the rest of your day.

Nice pics of 1900 PF, you daughters are adorable.

Can't wait to read more :)

[lori1043]

Loving your TR! I was thinking that the iphone app sounded really cool, but I'm confused enough already.

Enjoying all the pics of the girls! It sure is bittersweet seeing them grow out of the princess stage. BUT We are so grateful that they both will grow out of it. Praise the Good Lord for that!

Sorry your bootie is hurting! I fell on mine years ago, unfortunatly it takes forever to stop hurting. :hug:

It was a GREAT app, except for that glitch! It had all of our info in it that had confirmation #'s...
Thanks and YES I am SO thankful they are GROWING UP!

And, yes, my butt STILL is in pain-still taking aleve/ibuprofen for it. Someone tols me a chiroprachter(sp?) would do the job-not sure though...

Lori, when I saw the picture with the 3 girls, I was like, "Wait, she only has 3 daughters." The I realized the tallest daughter was you!!!

woohoo- you can hang around any ole time you want!

Okay....I'm here...Did I know you were going? I think you told me right?

Sorry about TL and your bum...

I think Capn Jacks recently changed their menu and I've heard some good things about it......:thumbsup2

Did you ever get the desserts to go? Some servers offered it to us as it came with the DDP.

Yes, they asked us if we wanted to take it to go, but we were going to Disney Quest and hanging out at DD, so we couldn't keep it anywhere.

Yeah, my FB entry that day was "I fell on my bum..... bummer";)

Jordan, I went to srart a PTR, but planning was kinda low key b/c my kids didn't know until 26 days before-then it was just a time constraint!

All caught up :)

Capn's Jacks looks quite yumma, like others this is one restaurant that we have overlooked in the past, but I think I might have to go check the menu out now. TRex also looks awesome too :)

Ouchio about BB, I would have been the same as you too. But I am glad it didn't affect you too much and you were able to enjoy the rest of your day.

Nice pics of 1900 PF, you daughters are adorable.

Can't wait to read more :)

Thank you, thank you!! I think the adrenaline and excitement took over my very low lower back pain. My DH thinks it is mental b/c it actually hurst worse since we've been home... go figure.

[lori1043]

The plan is to get to EPCOT at rope drop.

Something you should know or may know about us is that we are NOT rope drop kinda people. It's our vacation and an 8 hour rest is really imperative... so we rarely, if ever, have made rope drop. Yes, we are the anti- TGM'ers. I did not use good ole TGM this time b/c I think using his wonderful info once is enough. I felt we got our tips from him that we still use, some we already used, and enjoyed the new ideas enough to try to put them into effect.

THIS trip, the GOAL was to make rope drop in every park, so we could see all the hoopla, and you'll see how we did each day....

So we have Mickey and Stitch call to wake us up each day-THAT service was disappointing this stay-it was the same every day! My kids didn't even care if they picked the phone up or not by day 3! It could've been just plain not wanting to get out of bed syndrome, or their interest in the message had floundered. We liked the times when you didn't know WHO was gonna be waking us up! I am not complaining, I love Mickey and Stitch to call me in the morning:laughing:....

I still cannot believe that it was one week and 2 days ago today that we headed to EPCOT at 8:30am and made rope drop! We have only made 1 rope drop in our 5.5 family stays there-and it was for our hurrication last September, for Gustav. In MK!

We are in the park and no one is moving and we wondering WHY...
Because rope drop was inside the park, not outside like MK. New to me!!!

We headed straight for those golden Soarin' FP's........... and saw that the line was like 5 minutes, so we rode. I LOVE the smells in that ride. We asked for the 1st row-my kids do not like seeing feet of the people above us in that ride. They say it takes from the "soarin'" experience. I secretly agree as does my DH.

I'd love a bottle of that smell, please.

I think Soarin and SM are my alltime favorite Disney rides.

Flying over MK in DL brings back really good memories too.

hmmm.............................................. .................................................. .......................................
.........................Napa................... I know why people love California. If it weren't for those pesky earthquakes and ridiculous cost of living......

ohh, daydreaming...

Then we headed to Test Track............ DD9, who swore she would ride everything before leaving, had already decided against BTM. So, I wasn't sure she was gonna do it. She reminded me right before that she LOVED it last time(oops momma forgot).... so we got FP's and rode it 2x. Then we got more FP's. The lines were NIL this trip- it was amazing! We wound up not using most of our FP's, nor did anyone want them.... more on that in AK, too.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2141.jpg

I have some video of the ride itself, but it takes so long to download, I may just post a link when I get it done.

Okay, so the next pic was for DH....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2140.jpg

When he was in Texas about a month ago, he got an upgrade on his rental...... and THAT camaro was it. He said the only difference was that this one was maroon and the one he drove was fire engine red! I think his tongue was hanging out when he saw it at the end of Test Track......

We were getting hungry at about this time with little to no breakfast. DD11 had a granola bar every morning that we didn't have a scheduled breakfast. Today our ADR was for Teppan Edo at 8pm (the corrext time).
I purposely made out ADR's late b/c I do not like crowds and so i like to avoid the traditional 5-7pm times unless i have no choice. We'd either eat earlier or later than that. I do the same thing with lunches-avoiding 11:30-1:30. Most of the time we were eating lunch at 11am b/c neither DH, DD9 or myself had anything but a coke or juice that morning.

Now for Mission Space, I knew it would be DD11 and I doing the orange version(non winpy) and DH and DD9 doing the green version(wimpy). I think I have those colors correct. I am sure someone will let me know!

DH has had inner ear issues before with uncontrollable ummmm.........vomiting.............in the past and the last time he did this ride he felt BAD the rest of the day, so he knows his limits and was happy to do the non twirling version with DD9.

So we rode it 2x! No lines at all! DD11 and I rode non wimpy while they did the other one, then we all rode wimpy version together- and heck, I was pleasantly suprised that it was still GREAT! I thought I'd be disappointed. You still feel some sensation, and even a little G's in the lift off-but no slingshot(my favorite part) around the moon-but it was all good!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2198.jpg

Then we walked to WS, b/c we were hungry.. and found this on the ground......

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2142.jpg

always looking for Mickeys, even if they are gross.......

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2143.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2144.jpgnot good of DD11, but pretty anyway....

DH and I were definitely going to have fish n chips from Yorkshire County Fish house, so while he got that, I walked over to France with my non fish eating kids to get croissant ham and cheese sandwiches from La Boulangerie Patisserie.... where we had an smallish interesting experience...all this in a sweet french accent....

french guy #1-bonjour, can I help you?
me-(I didn't know what to expect about DDP in here)- I have DDP and would like 2 ham and cheese croissants, what can they get with that?
french guy #1-um, I don't understand, talk to him(and he points to a guy on the other side)he knows english
me- to french guy #2- I'd like 2 hamd and cheese croissants, what comes with that on DDP
french guy #2- you need to talk to him(pointing at yet, another french guy back on the other side.

Thank goodness there was no one else in there b/c then I woulda felt rushed on top of it all

me- can I please get to ham and cheese croissant sandwiches-and what comes with it b/c I have DDP(NOW I am feeling like I should read a bit more)
french guy #3- yes mam, and here's what you can get as a side(he shows me all the desserts(I really didn't know if they got chips or something with it, ???). My kids pic out a darn chocolate chip cookie out of all those pastries(ugh) but whatever makes em happy is good with me.

So, DH has our fish and we sit to eat.....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2146.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2147.jpg
and another not so good mid bit pic of my poor DD11(who is obviously not happy with this pic....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2149.jpg

The ham and cheese were good but our memory of the fish n chips was much better than what was in front of us. It was NOT that good this time at all. Sorta slimy.

Here is a pretty duck begging for some food. DD11 named him Abner(she names all animals that cross her path-she's goofy!!)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2150.jpg

Then off to UK...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2151.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2152.jpg
Ugh!!!!!!!! These booths smelled like some strong BO!!! It was completely nasty. DD11 loves the HP books and she loves visiting these phone booths.... but jeez, I think mousekeeping or whomever SKIPPED disinfecting. The kids were OUT quick!

A fun and never done before thing for us was the Kim Possible phones. We really enjoyed it, even if it took a bit of time.....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2153.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2156.jpg
We had Mexico.

We saw some other kids later that had Germany.

In Mexico, we watched the glass blower for a while....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2157.jpg
He was making an octopus. So cool.

Norway.........
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2158.jpg

Germany...............


http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2169.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2167.jpg
DH likes that German beer

and we went to the candy shop.......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2172.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2178.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2176.jpg
Okay, so that ones shows something I used to do with gummy bears as a kid-so we all got goofy and bit off heads and tails of bears and mixed them up. Gross I know.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2180.jpg
gotta do the masks-still!

Another Mickey...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2183.jpg


Continued.........

[lori1043]

Japan.....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2185.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2186.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2188.jpg

Then we walked back to FW and can you guess where we went next?
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2192.jpg

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2196.jpg
Just love the above pic..... and the below....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2197.jpg

we must have gone back to TT too......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2199.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2202.jpg

and ice station cool.....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2204.jpg

The funny thing about this day was that we skipped Journey into Imagination AND The Seas. It bothered none of us. It was kinda cool to be able to NOT stress over missing something. The Land was closed. We did go do the stupid Ellen's Energy thing-my family loves it- but I wanted to skip it. I rested in the coolness though, but it made me tired!

The NOT stress part was a joke b/c we decided to take a risk and head over to Ohana. I had wanted to have dinner at Ohana but it was booked immediately and I missed out. 2 CM's told us that it was so slow this time that we should be walk in's and we should get in pretty easily. It was 6pm and our Teppan Edo was for 8pm-so we took the monorail to TTC,
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2205.jpg
got on the Poly monorail and went to Ohana-and thier computers were down:guilty: and the manager was flipping out busy and told he he couldn't guarantee we could get in b/c he had NOidea who was even ON the reservation list.......

so we hightailed it back to EPCOT and our feet were killing us by this time and we were dragging and DD9 was starting to melt down and we made it back to WS. At the bottom of WS!!! Then I felt like it was the marathon all over again........ "cmon you can do it", "get up off the ground kid we're ALMOST to Japan!", "look it's RIGHT THERE" on the other side of the world. (The boats across the lagoon had stopped 10 minutes before we got to it)......

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2207.jpg

FINALLY

We waited about 15 minutes then got called, we wound up having a BLAST here....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2210.jpg
esp after a drink!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2219.jpg look at the monorail meal!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2220.jpg
This was not the best meal, but it was the best time. Our hibachi mates were wonderful and we got along great and we had a fun time! They were from Virginia and it was thier last night at WDW. It was a family of 4, they had a 15 and a 10 year old- who left mid dinner to go to DHS to ride TOT and RRC one more time!

We have a wonderful Japanese place here in Covington, Louisiana and nothing, not even Disney hibachi in "Japan" beats it- it is called Osaka. So, where the food was really good in Disney, and probably healthier, Osaka kicks its butt-but I have seen the butter and stuff they use, where teppan Edo did not. That is my plug for Osaka. there is one in Slidell too.
There is also one in Destin, but it is not the same people and not the same food.

We celebrated DH's 40th here- and he has the hat and we both have the red faces from the ONE drink we had there(it doesn't take much)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2221.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2222.jpg

So we left Teppan Edo at about 10pm- our ADR was for 8, we got sat about 8:15-8:30, we had such a good time, EPCOT was empty as we walked back.

We got outside and the busses were scarce- all those cabs were there trying to get us to use them.......

thankfully we waited just a few more minutes and bus came for us....tired...

One to leave you with.........

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2223.jpg

[Stefy]

Excellent update, sounds like you had an eventful day in Epcot.

I am the same as you, I love having Stitch wake us up, he's so naughty!

I can't believe you rode TT twice and got FP's plus a 5min wait for Soarin'! Wow. The crowds were on your side that day :)

Teppan is awesome, we tried it out last year and had such a blast and the two families we were seated with were really cool. We have a similar restaurant here in the UK called Benihana and we love it, although it gets alot of birthday celebrations there, so you are always hearing the happy birthday song. Can't wait to go back to TE next year as I have discovered the taste for shellfish and am loving prawns right now :)

Can't wait to read more :)

[D!SNEYgram]

Great update. I understand about not being "rope drop people". We are not either. However, we are in the group that "closes the park down".

[lori1043]

Excellent update, sounds like you had an eventful day in Epcot.

I am the same as you, I love having Stitch wake us up, he's so naughty!

I can't believe you rode TT twice and got FP's plus a 5min wait for Soarin'! Wow. The crowds were on your side that day :)

Teppan is awesome, we tried it out last year and had such a blast and the two families we were seated with were really cool. We have a similar restaurant here in the UK called Benihana and we love it, although it gets alot of birthday celebrations there, so you are always hearing the happy birthday song. Can't wait to go back to TE next year as I have discovered the taste for shellfish and am loving prawns right now :)

Can't wait to read more :)

Yes, I love shrimp/prawns too-they are my favorite next to crawfish. But my all time favorite seafood is crab.

We have a Benihana too!

The crowds were like this all week!! It was great!

Great update. I understand about not being "rope drop people". We are not either. However, we are in the group that "closes the park down".

Same here! It was kinda ironic that the week WE pick to do rope drop, the rides are walk on. We LOVE closing down the parks too-it is so quiet and peaceful. We swore not to push ourselves, but this trip was not as planned and we wound pushing ourselves a little more and we felt it on our last day... but more on that later.

Usually EPCOT takes us a day and a half-we just love this park. But it has been an aquired love. EPCOT WS was the bane of my Disney trips prior to our 2005 trip. Until we got to really "know" it:laughing:.

Now we know it well, we LOVE WS.


One of my best friends who was htere the same week as we were, and her family's first time, hated EPCOT, with exception of Soarin(her favorite ride of all). BUt they really didn't get to know it now did they?!!

I do credit a lot of my love for Disney to loving it's history's founder!
She doesn't have that. But they had a wonderful time and are like us-having post WDW blues!

[TigerKat]

Lori – I couldn’t agree more about sitting in the first row on Soarin! It makes a huge difference IMHO. We are so not "rope drop" people, we've seen one and it was totally unplanned.:laughing:

Really enjoying your TR!!!!:thumbsup2

[portocall]

Oh thank god you can go to WDW and not make rope drop and STILL have fun... I was getting worried about that. (and a ton of other things) We are so not an early bird type of family...

I am glad you had a much better experience in Teppan Edo than we did. Table mates and hibachi chefs make all the difference and in our case, neither were good. I saw all the other lucky ppl who had really funny chefs (can't speak about their table mates though) and they were laughing up storm.

Loving you TR so far....

[zipuzee]

We have a wonderful Japanese place here in Covington, Louisiana and nothing, not even Disney hibachi in "Japan" beats it- it is called Osaka. So, where the food was really good in Disney, and probably healthier, Osaka kicks its butt-but I have seen the butter and stuff they use, where teppan Edo did not. That is my plug for Osaka. there is one in Slidell too.

Osaka is pretty good; we go several times a year. We ate in Japan in the restaurant before they redid it and agree that we don't need to do hibachi there when we can get it here.

[rie'smom]

There's an Osaka in Houma too. I haven't been yet.

[jordanyosh]

What a fantastic day at Epcot and a full one at that! Doing both the WS and Future World is very bold indeed, but since it was so slow....:thumbsup2

Teppan Edo...heaven....but now I guess I need to make a trip to your neck of the woods for some great Osaka!!!!

[Charleston Princess]

You are super sneaky, Lori!!! I didn't know you had started a TR! I am here and off to catch up!

[lori1043]

There's an Osaka in Houma too. I haven't been yet.

Hmm, I wonder if it is the same peeps? Since Katrina, we go there every Christmas Eve, after service at church. We used to go to IHOP:goodvibes, but after Katrina IHOP never opened back up for MONTHS and Osaka was one a a few places open-and it became a tradition. Even when we are moved to Houston, we will come home for Christmas Eve and go to Osaka. It is simply the BEST hibachi ever! haha- we went from a $30 meal to a $100 meal on Christmas Eve!

What a fantastic day at Epcot and a full one at that! Doing both the WS and Future World is very bold indeed, but since it was so slow....:thumbsup2

Teppan Edo...heaven....but now I guess I need to make a trip to your neck of the woods for some great Osaka!!!!

No, Teppan Edo had nothing on Osaka, except maybe less butter! I AM from Louisiana, home of the BEST FOOD EVER! Also has very high heart attack rates! And I am sure we are high on the obesity scale too. But we brag really good food, and rightfully.:lovestruc

It was NO LINES, seriously not exaggerating. It was a GREAT time to go. I have been to WDW in February 2x(Mardi Gras not during Presidents week), March 2x, October, January, June, and September 2x now- and September seems to be really low crowds like January. June is totally unacceptable crowd wise for our family.

Some busier attractions like Soarin's signs SAID 20 minutes on the wait, but we walked all the way in every time. The only wait we had was for a bus an hour and a half after MK was closed one night- and that was ridiculous as we saw Pop/ASmusic/ASmovies had bus after bus, sometimes 2 buses, but we had one, then 10 minutes later came another, then 10 minutes later was another. The line was LONG-all the way to the fence that seperates the wait lines from the greenery by the water of 7 seas(I think) lagoon. We waited 40 minutes for that-and we soooo didn't whine b/c we have been in worse and we were sooooo happy to have NO waits in any park.

More on that night later.

[lori1043]

You are super sneaky, Lori!!! I didn't know you had started a TR! I am here and off to catch up!

I am glad you are here!!!

I must admit it is neither as creative as yours nor as descriptive! But we had a blast and like I said, it was a very different type of Disney trip for us!!

Lori

[lori1043]

We normally begin and end our trip with MK, but this time we had MK on day 4, which also happened to be a Tuesday, which also happened to coincide with MNSSHP. We have done that, on Halloween night, in 2003. It was pretty miserable crowd wise. We were thinking of going to this as I am SURE it would have been a different experience. So, since 2003, our rule has been "do not go to a the Halloween party on Halloween night". BUT since we had been there and done it, and we did have fun despite crowds way back when- we did not go this time. We did, however , enjoy seeing people dressed up slowly seeping into the park in the early evening!

We had a NINE pm ADR at WCC, which was NOT the original plan. Ohh, goodness, we got to go get our kids from a church function, so I'll add more later........

I will leave you with our typical morning....at least before we used DDP.... and on days we had late ADR's!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2230.jpg

[portocall]

More please? Sounds good... and I need your report to help me get through the next 56 days!!!!!:goodvibes:surfweb:

[lori1043]

Okay, so maaaybeee i am talking to myself 'round here but i am still gonna get this done, for ME, to drag out the magic...............:wizard:

My friends who I have been waiting for to get home from WDW got home tonight- so now I cannot wait to see our photopass pics-we shared a CD!

As you can see we the kids started their day with chocolate milk and pringles:rotfl: and we had a coke and a poptart, or just a coke........ or DH had coffee.

Ok, so I am tired of writing DH, DD, etc, so I will tell you our names, besides, most of you reading this already know us!

DH- Paul
DD11-Ashton
DD9-Haley

We were heading to MK........

and as always, we are in awe of Main St and the castle........ all decorated for fall, my personal favorite time of year. I anot a fan of the color orange, but I LOVE all the colors that the trees up north turn, as close to orange as that gets!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2106-1.jpg

The weather while we were there was NOT unbearable. It sure wasn't cool, but for native southerners, it was a bit dryer feeling than the norm. And bearable...

So our goal was to get here at rope drop, right?
NOT today!! We were tired and needed to sleep in a bit, so we got there about 10:30 am.

My personal goal was to see the "small" things on Main St I read about.......like the phone in a store on Main St you can pick up and there are people talking, or the photo ops in the Kodak store........ but the kids were all about the rides this time and I figured i could see it later.....which never happened, BUT I also figure that a trip without my kids one day would facilitate those ideas, so it really didn't bug me that much.........

Fall/halloween displays...
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2232.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2235.jpg


Pictures of THE castle....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2240.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2242.jpg

So I downloaded an app on Paul's iPhone about where some Hidden Mickeys are........the back of the blue ones head is one, but I kinda thought that was a forced one on the app makers part.......

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2245.jpg
If you ask me all 3 of them had hidden mickeys if you looked at them from the back........

I am gonna give a shout out to Jordan here: I now think it is hilarious that you devoted some of your trip to rating WDW resrtrooms. I found that we weren't in them long enough to bother noticing! But there WERE a few left to be desired.

We rode IASW, PPF(my FantasyLand favorite), CGC, seen the show in front of the castle(part of it), went to add a day to our passes at City Hall by a very cute young French guy.......b/c we had used a day for the 2 hour jaunt we did at MK on Sunday night already. Very worth the $12.43.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2256.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2257.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2259.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2261.jpg

We were hungry, so we headed to Columbia Harbor House- a place we had never been, but HIGHLY recomended by a few gals on the NOLA Dis thread, one being Lorie, who makes it a WDW trip-ly tradition! I MUST add that THIS place will be a WDW "trip-ly" tradition for us too! Our kids asked us a few times to come back here to eat! It was the BEST CS meal we had the whole trip.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2246.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2247.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2248.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2249.jpg
That salad and apple crisp were GOOD!

Full, very full, and walking back toward Dumbo, we spied Ariels Grotto- a place, even when our kids were younger, that we had never been to. The lines were short, for once, so we ventured there.......

My kids are so funny with characters still and this pick will be on our photopass, which I will share later b/c I do not have them yet!

We felt no need to do Dumbo, so we headed to Mickey's Philarmagic and again, walked right in!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2252.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2253.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2254.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2255.jpg

[portocall]

YAY, that was fast! Thanks... and if you figured it out yet, you are most certainly not talking to yourself. And Day 4 already.. wow, the week is just flying by!

I can't wait to go to Columbia Harbour House. Really glad for the good review...

[lori1043]

YAY, that was fast! Thanks... and if you figured it out yet, you are most certainly not talking to yourself. And Day 4 already.. wow, the week is just flying by!

I can't wait to go to Columbia Harbour House. Really glad for the good review...

Thank you Cara!!!

It didn't feel like day 4 at the time b/c we had only been to EPCOT and MK so far!

But I will never end the vacation with AK again. I will tell you why when I post about that day. We just need to begin and end at MK!

CHH was really good. You feel like your in a TS when you only used a CS!

My hubby says we'd never pay for DDP- it was just too much food. Please remember that we have girls and they are finicky and so we felt a lot had been wasted, and we are not the type people who can casually throw food away very easily. We had to learn to on this trip, or skip a desert at a TS. The second to last day of the trip we still had 8 snack and 8 CS, and 1 TS left to use! I'll tell you about the 1 TS leftover also on the last day. Paul DID say, however, that the CS Dining Plan may work for us in the future. We just don't like quite how scheduled it made us each day.

Lori

[Stefy]

Yay another update :) I keep hearing alot of good things about Columbia Harbour House, must try this next year :)

I love Mickeys PhilharMagic, such a cool ride :)

The Carousel pics are so cute, you look like you are having so much fun.

Can't wait to read more :)

[Charleston Princess]

Hi, Lori! Your girls have grown up so much since your last trip report!!! :goodvibes We are all about Columbia Harbor House as well (except for Connor :rolleyes:) -- that apple crisp was quite good, wasn't it?

I just love Magic Kingdom all decked out for the fall and Halloween! So pretty!

[TigerKat]

Great update Lori! We love CHH too.:thumbsup2

[shovan]

Lori, Loved your TR! :goodvibes It has me excited for our upcoming trip!

I really enjoyed all of your pics! Gave me a little Disney magic smile!:wizard:

[mymainmouse]

Great updates! CHH is my favorite CS meal. I especially like the tuna sandwich. It also seems to be a little bit quieter than the others which is nice.
The food pics are making me hungry!:)

[lori1043]

Yay!! My friends are here:rotfl:. I didn't say that to MAKE you comment, I REALLY am going to finish this for ME!!!;) But I AM glad you stopped by!

Yay another update :) I keep hearing alot of good things about Columbia Harbour House, must try this next year :)

I love Mickeys PhilharMagic, such a cool ride :)

The Carousel pics are so cute, you look like you are having so much fun.

Can't wait to read more :)

We were having a blast and CHH was fabulous! I think the next time we go it'll be a place we go a few times!

Hi, Lori! Your girls have grown up so much since your last trip report!!! :goodvibes We are all about Columbia Harbor House as well (except for Connor :rolleyes:) -- that apple crisp was quite good, wasn't it?

I just love Magic Kingdom all decked out for the fall and Halloween! So pretty!

Connor doesn't like CHH??? I think I remember a referral to that.......

MK IS beautiful in fall!

Great update Lori! We love CHH too.:thumbsup2

Thanks!:hug:

Lori, Loved your TR! :goodvibes It has me excited for our upcoming trip!

I really enjoyed all of your pics! Gave me a little Disney magic smile!:wizard:

I hope you do a TR! Even if it is just a mini one on the NOLA board!

Great updates! CHH is my favorite CS meal. I especially like the tuna sandwich. It also seems to be a little bit quieter than the others which is nice.
The food pics are making me hungry!:)

I'll have to try the tuna next time! It was quiet, it really felt like a TS place to us for a CS price-even though the DDP was free!

[jordanyosh]

CHH....one of my faves! I LOVE the theming. I LOVE sitting upstairs. That apple crisp looks sooo good.

The restrooms right next to Peter Pan usually are gross, but the in 08, quite nice!

Is DH asleep?

[scoot241]

CHH looks yummy. Might be an idea for the next trip (whenever that is).

Might I ask where the NOLA thread is? I know, my location says Texas (and I'm always tempted to add an extra S on the end), but I was born and raised in NOLA. I've only actually lived in Texas for a couple of years.

[Ms Marigny]

Woo hoo! I got a shout out! :cool1: :laughing: I'm so glad you loved CHH! Did you sit upstairs? We love sitting up there overlooking the people coming and going through Liberty Square.

We can't do the DDP every trip either- too much scheduling for our tastes. But it is fun to do every so often to be able to experience so many restaurants that we wouldn't normally go to. We are thinking of going the QS plan next time too.

I'm loving your trip report! Keep it going! popcorn:: It is helping me pass the time until our trip in May, which feels like it will never get here!

[lori1043]

CHH....one of my faves! I LOVE the theming. I LOVE sitting upstairs. That apple crisp looks sooo good.

The restrooms right next to Peter Pan usually are gross, but the in 08, quite nice!

Is DH asleep?

Haha!!!:rotfl:No, he was standing in the que area probably playing on his iPhone!

CHH looks yummy. Might be an idea for the next trip (whenever that is).

Might I ask where the NOLA thread is? I know, my location says Texas (and I'm always tempted to add an extra S on the end), but I was born and raised in NOLA. I've only actually lived in Texas for a couple of years.

I see you have found us on the Nola thread! That thread is my home base on the Dis and there are a bunch of wonderful gals over there. We have now met more than a few times and we even have a transplant from the Bronx who is now a NOLA girl.

I will be adding to my TR very soon- hopefully today.

Lorie- yes, on your advice we sat upstairs by a window that was on the fantasyland side. The back areas were closed off! Paul tried to go over there for me but it was roped off. Paul and the girls LOVED it and we wondered how we have passed it by and never gone before. If i get the QS plan whenever our next time may be, we will go there a couple times. I thought about you while there and was so thankful for the advice-all of us were!

Lori

[zipuzee]

Lorie- yes, on your advice we sat upstairs by a window that was on the fantasyland side. The back areas were closed off! Paul tried to go over there for me but it was roped off. Paul and the girls LOVED it and we wondered how we have passed it by and never gone before. If i get the QS plan whenever our next time may be, we will go there a couple times. I thought about you while there and was so thankful for the advice-all of us were!
Lori

Was this at lunch that the area was roped off? If so, when we did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, we stopped there for lunch and ate in the area upstairs.

[jordanyosh]

Haha!!!:rotfl:No, he was standing in the que area probably playing on his iPhone!

:rotfl2::rotfl2:. I was wondering because it looks like he's standing up.

[lori1043]

Was this at lunch that the area was roped off? If so, when we did the Keys to the Kingdom Tour, we stopped there for lunch and ate in the area upstairs.

Yes, it was. The part that crosses over the street was closed off(where we wanted to sit). We saw that more of it was opened up as lunchtime progressed(the part over the street), but it was roped off in the back part of upstairs. Must have been for that tour!

Interesting!

Jordan- that iPhone was invaluable on the trip. With exception of that app issue, he also had an app with all the park maps, one with wait times of rides(which we still used just for info, but the wait times were not what actually was "real"). It was all pretty much walk on. The best was for checking into our SWA flight so we could all get "A" and sit together. My fear is to be in "C" and not be able to sit with the kids. Haley would NOT deal well with sitting next to a stranger! And I would be a nervous wreck the whole flight knowing that and worrying if a NUT was sitting by her.

Lori

[lori1043]

Okay, so here is the conclusion to day 4........

After the carousel, we rode the teacups. I ahve a GREAT video of Ashton spinning me on this ride. I do not like that ride and no one would go on it with her, not even Haley! So I rode and asked her not to spin to fast.......right............All I can say was focusing on my camera was a good thing!

Then we headed over to one of our family favorites: Tomorrowland Speedway! It has only been a family favorite since our last trip in 2/08. We rode it for the 1st time and the kids drove and even though those darned cars go 5MPH we had more fun trying to beat each other or taking pics, pretending we were speeding faster:rotfl:...the kids got thier licenses;
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2265.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2267.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2268.jpg
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2271.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2273.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2272.jpg

After speeding through the MK, we headed to the WEDway people mover(yea, I still call it that) or Tomorrowland Transit Authority, or whatever it is called these days.......we needed a break from heat and sun. On the site it said it was closed right now, but it wasnt.....we got some COOL pics of SM getting overhauled-well part of it. The lights were on inside and the spot where you normally see the glow in the dark cars of the SM cars going up the hill into the dark, was all lit...I took pics as fast as possible, but missed some of it.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2276.jpg

Here are some of demo from the outside......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2277.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2278.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2280.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2281.jpg

My personal hope, and I have stated it before, is that they update it to be a version similar to DL's Space Mountain. Paul and I LOVED thier version!!

Then we headed over to Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin!!
Another family fave:
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2282.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2283.jpg

We also did Mikes Laugh Floor, Stitches great Escape, then headed for a snack- to our most favorite snack in all of Disney!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2288.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2289.jpg

TA DA!!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2290.jpg and http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2291.jpg

So, after a little Aloha Isle cafe, and a water(HOT that day)
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2292.jpg
We knre MNSSHP was gearing up cuz those cups were being served now and there were more costumed people running amok!

Speaking of Aloha Isle Cafe, I was starting to get miffed in that line....I got in the shortest one, but of course, it wound up being the LONGEST one. The couple in frongt of me ordered a Dole Whip, the someone ran up to them and gave them money for another, then another person ran up and gave them money for ANOTHER one. I thought this charade was done, when the girl of the couple took off and then she came back with another order. The poor CM serving kept giving me an apologizing look. After these rude people finally finished getting everyone in thier party a dole whip-one by one- I finally was up. I swear I thought abotu giving them money for ours too!!:laughing:
Anyway the CM was very apologetic, as he was in a tough spot, and made ours quickly and we chatted about MNSSHP(he was in the garb already as they were also switching shifts). You could feel the electricity in the air as it was twilight and we had about 2 hours left in the park(7pm closing).

We rode POC-gosh I LOVE that ride!!! I also love the store at the end of that one. Last 2/08 trip I bought a t that said, "The bearings(beatings?) will continue until moreal improves"- which I thought was a hilarious saying.

Then we headed to MY personal all time Disney favorite, Splash Mountain......don't believe me about wait times? Check this out!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2293.jpg

Before fall;
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2295.jpg

at the top, mosying part.i thought it was cool seeing the castle in the clouds, or fog or mist or whatever......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2297.jpg

After fall;
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2298.jpg



cont'd due to # of pics!

[lori1043]

After riding 2x, Paul rode BTM with Ashton, and Haley and I headed to HM....walking right on both!

The time was closing in on us so we started our trek to the exit, taking our time, of course.....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2301.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2302.jpg

I love Halloween!

We had a 8:55 ressie at WL at WCC, where we were celebrating my brithday-since this was the birthday trip(I turn 40 on 2/2/10)- our gifts to one another.

BUT we hurried over the Ohana, to see if we could get in. Once again. This time,the computers were up and working and they quoted us 2 hours... well we tried 2x and we decided against it and got on the monorail back to MK to get the boat to WL.

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2304.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2307.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2308.jpg

One of our best meals. Our second time here. The last time had a BIT more meaning, being Ashton's 5 years off treatment celebration. This time was fun too, and my hubby got me a treat....
waiting in WL(1 of 2 of my dream places to stay)....
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2309.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2311.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2312.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2315.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2317.jpg

We were BEAT after this long day, but was looking forward to Blizzard beach in the morning, as well as a Character Bfast at my other dream hotel to stay in!

Lori

[jordanyosh]

I like how you have the pix grouped. very original I think.

5 minutes on Splash....unheard of, especially since it was hot.....

it really must've been quiet crowd wise even with Free Dining.

You got a ton done.

WCC food looks great...mmm....BBQ

[Stefy]

Wow 5mins for SM and walk on for HM, that is awesome!

OMG I would have been miffed as well if someone in front of me kept going back and forth one at a time for DW orders, I mean what is up with that? You should have given them money for yours too LOL. Least the CM tried to make it up to you by being friendly and chatty.

[lori1043]

Wow 5mins for SM and walk on for HM, that is awesome!

OMG I would have been miffed as well if someone in front of me kept going back and forth one at a time for DW orders, I mean what is up with that? You should have given them money for yours too LOL. Least the CM tried to make it up to you by being friendly and chatty.

It was sooo annoying... the one guy stayed there the whole time while his family/friends/whoever were running up one at a time with money. They were speaking another language so I really didn't know what was happening until I noticed money exchanging hands and more dole whips going out!

I noticed you are recently engaged, congrats! And on Walts Birthday!!

I like how you have the pix grouped. very original I think.

5 minutes on Splash....unheard of, especially since it was hot.....

it really must've been quiet crowd wise even with Free Dining.

You got a ton done.

WCC food looks great...mmm....BBQ

I know, it was like that EVERYWHERE-Soarin said 20 minutes but when we went in you basically just walked into the queue area and listened to "Putty" well at least that is what we call him!
The only thing in MK we waited on was Peter pans flight- and that was about 10-15 minutes.

Lori

[lori1043]

here are some video links to the Mad tea party(me and Ashton- I , obviously, am taking the video......and i really do NOT like that ride!

Just CLICK on them to watch.....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/th_disneyworld2009-2264.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/?action=view&current=disneyworld2009-2264.flv)

This is me and Ashton's future!
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/th_disneyworld2009-2194.jpg (http://s15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/?action=view&current=disneyworld2009-2194.flv)

and that is the only 2 GOOD video segments i downloaded last night that were any good! It too hours-ugh!

I gotta do more tonight.....

Lori

[scoot241]

I know, it was like that EVERYWHERE-Soarin said 20 minutes but when we went in you basically just walked into the queue area and listened to "Putty" well at least that is what we call him!
The only thing in MK we waited on was Peter pans flight- and that was about 10-15 minutes.

Lori

We had a similar experience with wait times, especially after Labor Day ended (and Labor Day didn't affect the crowds that much).

Sure, it's hot in September, but I'm used to it. Free dining and short lines made it a wonderful trip.

[Terry36]

Lori it looks like you guys really had a blast. :)

[TigerKat]

Lori it looks like you guys really had a blast. :)


What she said!!!!!:thumbsup2

[Stefy]

It was sooo annoying... the one guy stayed there the whole time while his family/friends/whoever were running up one at a time with money. They were speaking another language so I really didn't know what was happening until I noticed money exchanging hands and more dole whips going out!

I noticed you are recently engaged, congrats! And on Walts Birthday!!


Some people I tell you :sad2:

Thank you. I didn't know it was Walts birthday on that day, thats really cool thanx for telling me, made me smile :goodvibes

More updates please :cutie:

[Ms Marigny]

Oh Lori, I feel sick just looking at the Teacups video! :rotfl: I've been on it once, and that was enough.... I spent 30 minutes afterwards laying on a nearby bench watching Fantasyland spin! :rotfl2:

The lack of crowds looks fantastic- gotta love September! :thumbsup2 I'm keeping your dates in mind for a next possible trip...:rolleyes1

[mymainmouse]

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2290.jpg


Oooo! That looks yummy!:love:

We ate at WCC for the first time this trip. We liked it as well. It was a lot of fun. It's a definite "do again" for us.:thumbsup2

Great pics and update!

[lori1043]

Some people I tell you :sad2:

Thank you. I didn't know it was Walts birthday on that day, thats really cool thanx for telling me, made me smile :goodvibes

More updates please :cutie:

His birthday has stuck in my mind since I was prego with Ashton-b/c she was DUE on that date! But she came in the 1st.

Lori it looks like you guys really had a blast. :)

What she said!!!!!:thumbsup2

We did!!

Oh Lori, I feel sick just looking at the Teacups video! :rotfl: I've been on it once, and that was enough.... I spent 30 minutes afterwards laying on a nearby bench watching Fantasyland spin! :rotfl2:

The lack of crowds looks fantastic- gotta love September! :thumbsup2 I'm keeping your dates in mind for a next possible trip...:rolleyes1

We will SOOOO go again at this time- it was suprising how fast we got through each park.

I really do hate that ride. I just was making my baby happy b/c the other 2 wouldn't!! I do believe she enjoyed torturing me!

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2290.jpg


Oooo! That looks yummy!:love:

We ate at WCC for the first time this trip. We liked it as well. It was a lot of fun. It's a definite "do again" for us.:thumbsup2

Great pics and update!

It IS yummy- both the Dole whip and WCC!

Lori

[Stefy]

His birthday has stuck in my mind since I was prego with Ashton-b/c she was DUE on that date! But she came in the 1st.

That would have been cool to be born on Walts birthday. Wonder if the CM's say anything to people whose birthday it is on that day.

[jordanyosh]

Lori it looks like you guys really had a blast. :)

What she said!!!!!:thumbsup2

what they said

[lori1043]

That would have been cool to be born on Walts birthday. Wonder if the CM's say anything to people whose birthday it is on that day.

If the majority of CM's are anything like a girl I work with who was in the Disney college program, they wouldn't even KNOW when his birthday is!!

I am sure, however, that most actually have SOME or a LOT of Disney knowledge!

Lori

[portocall]

Wow Lori! You sure got a lot done. That teacup video has me spinning... I do ride it, but I do everything in my power to not spin. Tomorrowland Speedway is one of our faves too! Did you ever get to eat at Ohana's?

[Where'sPiglet?]

Oooh...I LOVED the teacups video!! I totally bookmarked it! :rotfl: I LOVE that ride and Ashton does what I do on it...she is such a trip! The video made me feel like I was there...I'm literally dizzy!!


My hubby says we'd never pay for DDP- it was just too much food. Please remember that we have girls and they are finicky and so we felt a lot had been wasted, and we are not the type people who can casually throw food away very easily. We had to learn to on this trip, or skip a desert at a TS. The second to last day of the trip we still had 8 snack and 8 CS, and 1 TS left to use! I'll tell you about the 1 TS leftover also on the last day. Paul DID say, however, that the CS Dining Plan may work for us in the future. We just don't like quite how scheduled it made us each day.

Lori

I've considered doing the DDP before, but never do it, for the reasons you mentioned. I don't like to be that scheduled, I don't like taking that much park time to eat, and I spend less on food each day than the cost of the DDP.

Yay!! My friends are here:rotfl:. I didn't say that to MAKE you comment, I REALLY am going to finish this for ME!!!;) But I AM glad you stopped by!


I have a nasty habit of forgetting to keep up with trip reports, even if I'm subscribed to them. If I disappear for awhile over here, just remind me!


I see you have found us on the Nola thread! That thread is my home base on the Dis and there are a bunch of wonderful gals over there. We have now met more than a few times and we even have a transplant from the Bronx who is now a NOLA girl.


I LOVE the NOLA thread! :goodvibes

No kidding?!? :rolleyes1 :lmao:

:rotfl2::rotfl2:. I was wondering because it looks like he's standing up.

I've slept standing up before. It's a special skill of mine. :rotfl2:

Then we headed over to one of our family favorites: Tomorrowland Speedway! It has only been a family favorite since our last trip in 2/08. We rode it for the 1st time and the kids drove and even though those darned cars go 5MPH we had more fun trying to beat each other or taking pics, pretending we were speeding faster:rotfl:

My personal hope, and I have stated it before, is that they update it to be a version similar to DL's Space Mountain. Paul and I LOVED thier version!!


I LOVED Disneyland's Space Mountain also!

I have a story about the Tomorrowland Speedway that your story reminded me of. Back in 96, I was turning 15 on the trip - so a few months shy of getting my driving permit. My brother had just turned 10; I think he was in the 4th grade.

We were doing kind of like you, driving and laughing at each other. I was with my dad and laughing sooooo hard that I couldn't drive straight. I would bump the left then the right, basically driving zig zag the ENTIRE course. BAM BAM BAM BAM! :rotfl2: My dad just kept making me laugh harder, talking about how I was about to start driving and all that.

We get to the end and can't find my brother and mom. Turns out, as bad as I was driving, he was worse! He had somehow managed to get the car to jump the little metal thing and he had one wheel on the wrong side and they had to take the car out of service to fix it. :lmao::rotfl::rotfl2:

[lori1043]

Oooh...I LOVED the teacups video!! I totally bookmarked it! :rotfl: I LOVE that ride and Ashton does what I do on it...she is such a trip! The video made me feel like I was there...I'm literally dizzy!!

She was killing me!!!!:laughing:

I've considered doing the DDP before, but never do it, for the reasons you mentioned. I don't like to be that scheduled, I don't like taking that much park time to eat, and I spend less on food each day than the cost of the DDP.

amen sista-us too!

I have a nasty habit of forgetting to keep up with trip reports, even if I'm subscribed to them. If I disappear for awhile over here, just remind me!

I do too- I was really just kidding about teasing that no one was reading. I am HAPPY my friends are following along, but really it is kinda cool to have an online journey of our family vacation online! I have trouble just keeping up with what I DO keep up with!

I LOVE the NOLA thread! :goodvibes

No kidding?!? :rolleyes1 :lmao:

:hug::rolleyes1;)

I've slept standing up before. It's a special skill of mine. :rotfl2:

My DAD could probably do this! he sleeps anywhere



I LOVED Disneyland's Space Mountain also!

It ROCKS!

I have a story about the Tomorrowland Speedway that your story reminded me of. Back in 96, I was turning 15 on the trip - so a few months shy of getting my driving permit. My brother had just turned 10; I think he was in the 4th grade.

We were doing kind of like you, driving and laughing at each other. I was with my dad and laughing sooooo hard that I couldn't drive straight. I would bump the left then the right, basically driving zig zag the ENTIRE course. BAM BAM BAM BAM! :rotfl2: My dad just kept making me laugh harder, talking about how I was about to start driving and all that.

We get to the end and can't find my brother and mom. Turns out, as bad as I was driving, he was worse! He had somehow managed to get the car to jump the little metal thing and he had one wheel on the wrong side and they had to take the car out of service to fix it. :lmao::rotfl::rotfl2:
CUTE story!!:rotfl: Thank you for sharing your family memory with me:hug:


I have more video, but it takes freaking forever to upload.

Lori

[lori1043]

Wow Lori! You sure got a lot done. That teacup video has me spinning... I do ride it, but I do everything in my power to not spin. Tomorrowland Speedway is one of our faves too! Did you ever get to eat at Ohana's?

I haven't ridden it in years. Usually both my girls do, but Haley was NOT doing it this time. She musta had a bad experience last time:confused:

I asked Ashton not to spin, but KNEW she would. So I made sure i could focus on ONE stable thing-my camera. It worked pretty well actually- only seconds of not walking straight instead of being out of commision for about 15-30 minutes. I usually REALLY have to sit after that ride for a bit.

Yes we did OHana's but not dinner-more for the next day which i will be unable to get to right now- I still have yet to bake the cake.

Went and got Gabbi(DN7) for the night!

Lori

[jordanyosh]

I've slept standing up before. It's a special skill of mine. :rotfl2:


wow.:thumbsup2:rotfl2:

[jwhtewolfd]

Just finished catching up. Love your pics and the teacup video is PRICELESS. Feel lucky that she was spinning you and not Tony. When we went on he spun us one way, then switched directions. And he was working that wheel for all it was worth. I swear we had at least half the g-forces of Mission: Space on the teacups!

[Charleston Princess]

Lovely end to your Magic Kingdom day! Cool pics from the inside of Space Mountain -- I am looking forward to seeing what they end up doing with the ride. It should be interesting.

I :lovestruc Dole Whips! I would like one right now, please. :laughing:

[lori1043]

Just finished catching up. Love your pics and the teacup video is PRICELESS. Feel lucky that she was spinning you and not Tony. When we went on he spun us one way, then switched directions. And he was working that wheel for all it was worth. I swear we had at least half the g-forces of Mission: Space on the teacups!

:rotfl:thanks!

Lovely end to your Magic Kingdom day! Cool pics from the inside of Space Mountain -- I am looking forward to seeing what they end up doing with the ride. It should be interesting.

I :lovestruc Dole Whips! I would like one right now, please. :laughing:

Me too!! I am very tempted to buy the mix and make it in my tiny little ice cream maker! It makes a soft serve like consistency ice cream, so why not, huh?? I'd have to split it with someone though b/c I hear the bag is a hefty amount!

Lori

[lori1043]

I'll be continuing soon....

I have a sick baby girl(Haley9) and Ash is showing signs,ugh.
I have a class to teach today(Louisiana History) to which my kids are NOT going , obviously and Ash has her bible study tonight, health pending....

Plus I am not at 100% either.

Lori

[Charleston Princess]

Hope everyone feels better soon, Lori! :hug:

[portocall]

Lori, take your time and take care of your family. :hug:

[Stefy]

Hope everyone feels better soon :)

[GSD4ME]

Hope you all feel better soon! I seem to have caught whatever is going around, so I can totally sympathize! :sick:

[lori1043]

I THINK we are all better so more updating tomorrow at some point....hmmmmm........


or maybe tonight!

Lori


FEEL BETTER MY FRIENDS!:hug:

[lori1043]

sorry I haven't updated! Haley has been fighting not only some crazy virus but it turned into an ear infection overnight a few nights back. It has been a rough 2 weeks. Worked this past week, sick kid, me not feeling well(sinus drip, coughing my head off) showing the house a bunch of times too.

Okay well i AM downloading pics as I type, so I will get to it today.........

Lori

[Charleston Princess]

Hope Hayley feels better soon! We'll be here when you are ready to update! :goodvibes

[lori1043]

from our previous day.........

Wilderness Lodge, one of 2 of my dream places to stay.

We came across some wildlife(heehee) on the way out to the boat to MK and a bus back to AS sports.......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2318-1.jpghttp://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2319-1.jpg

And of course, the infamous geyser....

http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2320-1.jpg

And a little suprise on the way back to MK-the electrical water parade, which we caught by accident many times on this trip. We have never watched the whole thing, but the boat captain said it has not missed but 4 nights since the park opened.
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2324-1.jpg

The MK had a sppoky appearance with the fog/mist.......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2327-1.jpg

here's our Canyon Skillet that 3 of us ordered........
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2312-1.jpg
yummmmmmmmmmmmmm...........

here is Beary Bear all ready for bed......
http://i15.photobucket.com/albums/a381/laph93/disneyworld2009-2329-1.jpg

This night was MNSSHP and the park looked pretty empty-sorta wish we had gone! We were tired and I have no recollection of an eventful ride home. I am sure it was a more quiet one. We had lots of peaceful moments there this trip.

Next up is breakfast at Ohana(FINALLY made it there, but not for dinner!) and Disney Hollywood Studios, my hubbys all time favorite.

Lori



Thanks for all the well wishes. While the antibiotic kicked in for Haley's ear infection, we both still are hanging on to a sinus drip and cough-grrrr. We've done extra C, multi vits, etc...... and we are just waiting for this to subside. Ashton and Paul have fared well keeping up with mounds of work and school. Haley and I have been dragging our you know whats.......

Our family is going through a rotten rickety old roller coaster ride with selling the house and knowing we have a move in the near future and it is wearing on us. My job has been cutting my hours slowly and it is hurting. I am wondering what our future will bring. I also have complete faith that God has a plan for us and we are not forgotten. I will admit this wait is getting old and as much as I do NOT want to leave home, I am also looking forward to some settling down. I know it means less Disney vacations for us, but it may have been that way anyway. It's all kinda bittersweet though as we go through life, enjoying as much of our kids as we can. Paul and I feel very strongly about homeschooling and that won't change, but I feel this nagging about my cut hours. Maybe I am just used to it, maybe I know that this is where our Christmas/vacations/extras come from and it makes me nervous not to have that. Living more simply is an aspiration of ours, but also not very practical for Paul and I who LOVE the extras we have been able to have.

Venting, sorry, more later after reading MORE science to my Haley. I read a page, she reads a page, and so on......... gotta go!

Lori

[jordanyosh]

popcorn::