Celebrating Legacies, Love, and Jalapeno Pretzels: Anniversary TR (Update 3/12!!!!)

[jenneth79]

Celebrating Legacies, Love, and Jalapeno Pretzels: A Sept ’11 Anniversary TR
Musings and Commentary provided by: Jen aka Evil Red
Where: Disney’s Yacht Club
When: September 17th – 25th

Dear Reader, I am my father’s daughter. :lovestruc

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/1260/thumbs/SCAN0226.JPG (http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/previous-disney-vacations/p64196-1984-3a-in-front-of-the-leapfrog-fountains-2c-epcot.html)

I share his sense of humor (that no one understands) his love for family (which most people agree with) and his unhealthy love of all things spicy.:scared1: And tequila, but that’s neither here nor there. I most importantly share his love of Disney, and I am blessed to have a husband who (we found out on this trip) shares the same.:goodvibes

If you want to hear more about how we got here, head on over to our PTR for the nitty gritty details.Rolex Vacation: Timex Budget (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2681555) For a quick overview about your cast of characters for this trip however, I present to you….us:

http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/data/1269/thumbs/jenmike5.jpg (http://photopost.wdwinfo.com/about-us/p64317-jenmike5.html)
(this is us. just in case you were wondering.)

Me: I’m Jen, 29 years old (+3) and I’m an engineer. With a lower-case “e”. That means my title is Solutions Engineer, but I never got an EE degree. Or any degree, actually. I work in the IT industry for a major hosting provider. I also love Disney. A lot. :cloud9:

My DH: Mike (35) is also in the IT industry. He has a degree in Psychology. This you will understand in the days to come why he married me. He is also a former Army Infantry soldier and National Guardsman. I’m not sure if that has anything to do with why he married me or not. :confused3

Why are we travelling to Disney without kids? Well, my father passed away in January of this year.:sad1: He worked for Kodak while I was a kid, and we went to Disney all the time, almost every other year. He gave me a love of all things Mouse since I was only 3 years old… among many other blessings. A few weeks after the funeral, we decided we would go to celebrate his life along with our 3 Year Wedding anniversary this September. Why wait until we had little ones to share it with? :3dglasses

So here we are!

And here YOU are, welcome! You’re in for some real excitement here… everything from exploding toilets, kung fu fighting with Stitch, tons of pictures, and me repeating “inside the boat!” over and over again after a week in the Parks. Oh yeah, and there’s CAKE too! :cheer2:

Hope you enjoy,

Jen

[jenneth79]

*~*~*~DAY ONE~*~*~*

Chapter One (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42793972&postcount=12)
In which our heroine finds herself without much sleep, any makeup, or an arrival picture of the Yacht Club.

Chapter Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42842269&postcount=34)
In which our heroine finds herself sans room,mais,avec slushies.

Chapter Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42914262&postcount=52)
In which our heroine attempts to blow her whole trip spending budget in one spot, gets the best seat in the house, and finally gets a room with a view!

Chapter Four (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43412939&postcount=67)
In which our heroine gets her room, learns the joys of Photopass, and rides a very fast car.

Chapter Five (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43419911&postcount=72)
In which our heroine cries, wants to go home, and helps our hero drink his Scotch.

*~*~*~DAY TWO~*~*~*

Chapter Six (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43636038&postcount=90)
In which our heroine bores you to death with the morning buildup to actual PICTURES!

Chapter Seven (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43636098&postcount=91)
In which our heroine tries to bring her internet connection down with picture overload...

Chapter Seven and One Half (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43636281&postcount=92)
...because our heroine is lazy and cannot come up with a clever title

Chapter Seven and Three Quarters (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43636281&postcount=93)
....because let's face it, this isn't enough to stand on its own!

Chapter Eight (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43638140&postcount=94)
In which our heroine tests the laws of physics and accepts change.

Chapter Eight(Again) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43639125&postcount=95)
In which our heroine sets us up for Chapter Nine...

Chapter Nine (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43640349&postcount=97)
In which we learn that ninjas just might be cooler than pirates….

Chapter Ten (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43647111&postcount=103)
In which our heroine gets a hat trick before noon, and sees a ghost (or 999).

Chapter Eleven (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43668035&postcount=110)
In which the rain rain rain came down down down….

Chapter Twelve (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43785550&postcount=128)
In which our heroine FINALLY finishes talking about Day 2....


*~*~*~DAY THREE~*~*~*

Chapter Thirteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43887723&postcount=138)
In which our heroine sleeps in. Kinda.

Chapter Fourteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43888251&postcount=139)
In which we get a little queasy, and a little electric!

Chapter Fifteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43897985&postcount=151)
In which you, dear reader, experience animal picture overload.

Chapter Sixteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43898044&postcount=152)
In a place much like this one, a night much like tonight....

*~*~*~DAY FOUR~*~*~*

Chapter Seventeen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43904222&postcount=156)
In which our heroine triumphs over the Yeti.

Chapter Eighteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43911241&postcount=159)
In which we go on safari!

Chapter Nineteen (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44092289&postcount=169)
....Part Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44092380&postcount=170)
....Part Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44094108&postcount=171)
I would say lions and tigers and bears…but all we saw were tigers and flying monkeys….

Chapter Twenty (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44123454&postcount=175)
In which our heroine discovers a new watering hole….

Chapter Twenty-One (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44164637&postcount=181)
In which our heroine gets twisted, and (almost) soaked.

Chapter Twenty-Two (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44206243&postcount=186)
In which our heroine takes a dip, a sip, and a flip.


*~*~*~DAY FIVE~*~*~*

Chapter Twenty-Three (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44299481&postcount=204)
In which our heroine doesn't do anything, rather like a platypus.

[Cinderumbrella]

Hooray! :cool1: I was hoping you were going to do a TR!! I read your mini-review on the YC/BC FAQ and I was so sad for you about your first night :sad1:

But I can't wait to read all the details!! :goodvibes
Kristin

[jenbear123]

party: HERE!!!!!!!! party:
Ok now that I've made a reasonable annoucement of my presence, I shall go back and read :goodvibes

ETA: Great start! You two look GORGEOUS! Can't wait to read all the lovely details of the trip

[natebenma]

I'm SO in!!!

Can't wait to hear all about it!

Dee

[JanetMom]

I'm in! With an intro that includes "tons of pictures" and "CAKE" it seems like a must read trip report to me. :)

I just discovered your PTR yesterday, so I'll be catching up on that while reading this report (and using your report and pictures to help tide me over while I wait for the next several months to pass.)

Looking forward to more!

[swwake]

I'm in!

[jenneth79]

Hooray! :cool1: I was hoping you were going to do a TR!! I read your mini-review on the YC/BC FAQ and I was so sad for you about your first night :sad1:

But I can't wait to read all the details!! :goodvibes
Kristin

Hey Kristin, look at you with the first post!:goodvibes In the end it didn't take away from an amazing trip...but I'll tell you, really don't ever want to experience THAT again.:rotfl2:

party: HERE!!!!!!!! party:
Ok now that I've made a reasonable annoucement of my presence, I shall go back and read :goodvibes

ETA: Great start! You two look GORGEOUS! Can't wait to read all the lovely details of the trip

:lmao: Jen, that's an awesome "reasonable" announcement.... but we can bet you'll bring the party, right?:goodvibes

I'm realizing this morning as I go through the first day's pictures that things are a bit random what I took shots of and what I didn't. I'm going to work extra hard to fill in the blanks... I'm soooo glad I kept a journal while we were there!

I'm SO in!!!

Can't wait to hear all about it!

Dee

Woo hoo! So glad you came over Dee!

I'm in! With an intro that includes "tons of pictures" and "CAKE" it seems like a must read trip report to me. :)

I just discovered your PTR yesterday, so I'll be catching up on that while reading this report (and using your report and pictures to help tide me over while I wait for the next several months to pass.)

Looking forward to more!

Welcome!!!! There is, indeed, cake.... with a rather funny story surrounding it as well. Then again, a trip with us an no funny story... well, that's just not normal.:lmao:

Hope you enjoy! I'm working on at the least the first part of our travel day now, so there should be an update coming soon.

I'm in!

Yay, glad you came over! :hug:

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining!

I got my love of Disney from my dad too (my mom loves it too, but my dad a bit more). We've been going regularly since I was 4 years old. I'm sorry to hear about your loss, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate him.

[TiggerFan3590]

I am joining in.... love your PTR.... can't wait for the TR!!!popcorn::

[jenneth79]

I'm joining!

I got my love of Disney from my dad too (my mom loves it too, but my dad a bit more). We've been going regularly since I was 4 years old. I'm sorry to hear about your loss, and I couldn't think of a better way to celebrate him.

Isn't it great to Grow Up Disney? :goodvibes Thank you for your thoughts, and I agree, it was the best way to celebrate his life. Even if it brought a few tears, it brought more smiles.

Also, welcome to the TR! I hope you enjoy it!:thumbsup2

I am joining in.... love your PTR.... can't wait for the TR!!!popcorn::

Yay! Thanks for coming over, about to update with Chapter One this afternoon so you got here just in time.:laughing:

[jenneth79]

Chapter One(In which our heroine finds herself without much sleep, any makeup, or an arrival picture of the Yacht Club.)


Dear reader, I am not a morning person.:sad2: By which I mean if the sun has not risen, I don’t either. Of course I had not considered this fact when I booked our flights to Orlando, as all I could think about at that time was getting the most out of our first day in Disney as we possibly could. In the end, this meant I had to wake up at the ungodly hour of four in the morning. I don’t even know why they say “in the morning” as we all know it’s not the lark that’s singing out there!

Anyway, my wonderful husband, Mike, woke me up as gently as possible while still making sure I was dressed and out the door by four thirty. This involved two things. One, a fresh cup of coffee between the bed and the bathroom (he makes me get out of bed to have it… smart man:lmao:) and a demon furball (this time is was Zoe) who wanted breakfast….now.

Our luggage had already been packed and was being guarded by our two travelling companions, Chester and Buddha:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0133-1.jpg

Chester is the Otter and Buddha the penquin. These two guys actually sit in the back seat of my car, they were a joke years ago and have been there ever since. We decided to chronicle the adventures of Chester and Buddha at Disney, creating a photobook for my nieces once we got back. That plan kind of fell apart after the first day, but at least we tried.:confused3

Cats fed and bags in the car, we were on our way to Dulles International Airport!:dance3: We decided to forgo a cab this time, as the DC region has a strange “exclusive” agreement with a specific cab company. What does this mean? Well, it cost the same amount to park our car in the daily (read: more expensive) lot right next to the terminal as it would to get a cab to and from the airport. Plus I, being a control freak, knew there was no way we wouldn’t get there on time!

Another benefit is the fact that I only live twenty minutes away from the airport, so it was a short drive with no one on the road. We had checked in online the day before, so all we had to do was drop off our bags at the kiosk (where all the computers were broken… of course….:headache:) then wait in Security. Oh yeah, *this* is why I hate flying. I’m wearing flip flops. They make you take off your shoes.

All together now: EWWWWW!:eek:

I was (literally) bouncing from foot to foot once I went through he scanner, I wanted my shoes back STAT. And yes, I know that the likelihood of picking up germs on your feet wearing flip flops vs. barefoot is about the same… but still… ew. On the other hand, apparently travelling with stuffed animals while over the age of thirty sans children does not automatically send you to the pat down room. (I proved my husband wrong… ha.:rotfl2:)

Anyway, got to our gate, no problem, and had some time to kill….since I knew Starbucks was a no-go on Disney Property, I decided to get my first PSL of the season! Pumpkin Spice Latte… heaven. Even Buddha and Chester loved it!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/IMG_0362.jpg

Oh yeah, Mike did too:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0134.jpg

Our flight was blissfully on time, and we were in the air just as the sun was really rising. I don’t like flying.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0137.jpg
(but, Chester and Buddha LOVE flying!)

I hate taking off. Since we had scored an upgrade (woo hoo!:woohoo:) on our flight down, Mike immediately ordered me a bloody mary. I don’t drink before noon as a rule. Vacations I will accept Bloody Mary and Mimosas, but not before 10. Flights? If you can get me a shot before I get on the plane, no problem.:rolleyes:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0143.jpg
(They were just making sure we got the pours right, I swear….)

Chester and Buddha apparently went on a bender, and since we weren’t sure how to include that in the children’s book, we felt it might be better here.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0146.jpg
(we buckled them up in the seat next to Mike… which was empty in an awesome little bit of pixie dust… poor little guys had too much vodka!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0140.jpg
(me without makeup is not a pretty sight, but at least me without makeup but with adult beverage brings a smile)

Flight was uneventful, and within two hours we were on the ground in Orlando!:goodvibes I love the little “not a monorail” tram that takes you between the gates. Waiting at our luggage carousel was Renata from Tiffany Town Car service, holding a placard with our name on it. This is the first time I ever booked car service from the airport. Let me tell you it will NOT be the last. :thumbsup2 BTW – for those of you who were wondering, there were a TON of people at the ME desk, I was honestly surprised as I felt it was a slow time for Disney. However, there were only two people behind the desk, so that might have had something to do with it.

Renata was excellent and she and Mike fought over who was going to carry my just under the weight limit bags. I stayed out of it. :rotfl:The drive was smooth and the town car was lovely. An older model but really well kept. Renata was a sweetheart and we chatted about all sorts of things, the economy, Disney, the economy affecting Disney, her homeland (Bulgaria) and probably the economy in Bulgaria. I suspect it’s something about driving in a Lincoln that makes people want to talk money. I can actually prove this, as I talk about money all the time while driving mine. Mostly how much gas costs in the sucker!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0148.jpg
(A pic of the back of the Town Car, Mike and I noticed we flew past at least 3 ME busses on the way.)

In what seemed like no time at all, we passed this sign:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0150.jpg

Oh yeah, I was getting excited at this point. There was a sign for Disney that meant we MUST be close! Sure enough, a few minutes later we drove under….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0152.jpg
(I guess this was the moment that made it seem real to me, like we were actually going to Disney! As if I didn’t realize that for the last seven months….)

A few moments later, we pulled up to the Yacht Club. First impressions? Wow. So much so I forgot to take a picture of it. That, and the guy at the guard station was demanding we show him our IDs. Is security always that tight? I have to wonder if there might have been a VIP at the resort or something. Just seemed a bit of overkill when you can just walk right into the resort from the Epcot side.:confused3

Here ends Chapter One, aka “getting the boring travel stuff out of the way”. Stay tuned for more fun and games!:dance3:

[TanzUnited99]

Yay you started!!! :goodvibes Can't wait to read all about your trip - a shame that we missed each other at AKL.

Edit: Just read your flight journey - am glad you made it on time and had a safe flight. Love the little mascots!

[IheartDDuck]

Love Chester and Buddha! I like having mascots on my trips too. Even though people look at me funny sometimes, but I don't care!

I am not a morning person either, which is why I try to avoid early flights too. I normally like to fly out the night before. Works for me. And I agree wholeheartedly that if it's not light outside, it is not yet morning. :thumbsup2

[Cinderumbrella]

:lmao: at your traveling companions! I just know those 2 will be up to more trouble!!

As for getting up early, I ONLY do it for WDW! We live about 90 minutes from the airport, so for a 6 am flight I am up around 2:15 am. :faint: One year I tried just staying up instead of "napping" and it was NOT pretty :rolleyes1

Can't wait for more!!

[redlight]

I'm in!


Chester and Buddha apparently went on a bender, and since we weren’t sure how to include that in the children’s book, we felt it might be better here.

That was so funny!!

[natebenma]

Great start!

Love your traveling companions. I can hear them squeaking and barking (is that how otters and penguins talk?), that it is "Five o' Clock Somewhere". But I think that is supposed to refer to PM not AM!

Thanks for the info on Tiffany Town Car- I have heard good things!

That WDW is most definitely the magical border point!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

[jenneth79]

Yay you started!!! :goodvibes Can't wait to read all about your trip - a shame that we missed each other at AKL.

Edit: Just read your flight journey - am glad you made it on time and had a safe flight. Love the little mascots!

Thanks! I just found your TR so I'm looking forward to hearing about your trip as well!

Perhaps there will be a next time in Disney for us to meet!:thumbsup2

Love Chester and Buddha! I like having mascots on my trips too. Even though people look at me funny sometimes, but I don't care!

I am not a morning person either, which is why I try to avoid early flights too. I normally like to fly out the night before. Works for me. And I agree wholeheartedly that if it's not light outside, it is not yet morning. :thumbsup2

I told Mike we should always travel with suffed animals. When we were waiting to have our IDs checked in security, one of the officers got so excited because she thought Buddha was from the movie Happy Feet, and I guess there is a Happy Feet 2 coming out.... she was so full of energy at 6 in the morning.:rotfl2: It was nice though, they are conversation starters. Even if people think I'm crazy.

:lmao: at your traveling companions! I just know those 2 will be up to more trouble!!

As for getting up early, I ONLY do it for WDW! We live about 90 minutes from the airport, so for a 6 am flight I am up around 2:15 am. :faint: One year I tried just staying up instead of "napping" and it was NOT pretty :rolleyes1

Can't wait for more!!

TWO AM??? Woman, are you crazy? Actually, now that I think of it, you aren't crazy, you're just way braver than I am!

My biggest problem is that I can't sleep on flights, not sure if you have that issue as well? While an Orlando flight for us is only about 2 hours gate to gate, I would still love it if I could catch a few winks. Even transatlantic flights....no sleepies for me.:confused:

[jenneth79]

I'm in!



That was so funny!!

Welcome!!! Funny but true, my friend, funny but true......:rotfl2:

Great start!

Love your traveling companions. I can hear them squeaking and barking (is that how otters and penguins talk?), that it is "Five o' Clock Somewhere". But I think that is supposed to refer to PM not AM!

Thanks for the info on Tiffany Town Car- I have heard good things!

That WDW is most definitely the magical border point!

Can't wait to hear more about your trip!

Oh let me tell you Dee, they were somewhere near 54 bottles of beer on the wall before they passed out..... :lmao:

I would certainly recommend Tiffany Town Car, and plan to use them on our next (potentially surprise for hubby) trip to Disney.:goodvibes

I should have my Photopass CD in the next day or so, then I will continute with the updates. We got some really great shots!

[Cinderumbrella]

TWO AM??? Woman, are you crazy? Actually, now that I think of it, you aren't crazy, you're just way braver than I am!

My biggest problem is that I can't sleep on flights, not sure if you have that issue as well? While an Orlando flight for us is only about 2 hours gate to gate, I would still love it if I could catch a few winks. Even transatlantic flights....no sleepies for me.:confused:

In all the travel I did for business and/or pleasure over the past 15 years, I have slept twice on a plane (and since I won't incriminate myself on a public forum, they may or may not have had something to do with alcohol consumption prior to boarding the plane :rolleyes1)

I tend to fall in the category of "But Mommy, we're too excited to sleep!!" when it comes to WDW trips. So the sooner we can get up and out the door, the better!! :cool1: Last year we had a 7am flight (which required a 3am wake up call) and we still closed MNSSHP down at midnight on our arrival day! We will be attempting this feat again in a few short weeks...

DH, however, is asleep before wheels up any time we fly. :rolleyes: And DS watches out the window, patiently (read: impatiently) waiting for the tone letting us know portable electronics can now be used so he can play his Nintendo DS for the duration.

Anyway, enough about me.... I just read about your first evening's dinner on your dining report. And sadly we know all about the plumbing issues from the YC FAQ. So I am looking forward to Day 2! :thumbsup2

[PixieMama]

I'm here! :goodvibes

I don't like flying, either. I don't like takeoff, the sensation you feel when in the air, turbulence, or landing. So I'm crazy for thinking we should fly down instead of driving the next time my family goes to WDW, right? For all the hassle, a 2 hour flight sure is better than a 10+ hour drive, though. And it would be my DDs' first time ever on a plane, so I think they would enjoy that. Maybe. Unless they take after their mother...

Anyway, great start to your TR and I can't wait to hear more!

[jaceraden]

I'm enjoying the ride so far. Can't wait to continue on the journey.

PS. you and hubs are pretty nice to look at. :yay:

[luvmychaos]

I love your writing style! Read your PTR&have been waiting for your dining review to start and now I have this to keep me entertained until our Dec trip!Looking forward to more!popcorn::

[Shannon84]

Off to a great start, I am very excited to hear all about your trip :goodvibes

[photographymom517]

I'm here, Jen! I haven't started my TR yet but hope to by Monday! :thumbsup2

It must have been a bad week for the BC/YC since we BOTH had issues our very first nights!!! I'm not looking forward to explaining my "room situation" and feel horrible that you went through something too!!! :sad2:

I, personally, have a love/hate relationship with flying. I haven't made up my mind yet. But I'm definitely NOT a morning person anymore! I had to be up by 4am too -- but wait until you hear when I actually got up! You'll laugh! LOL!

So far your trip sounds really great! I never considered the car service but will keep that one in mind for myself & potential clients! :thumbsup2

I can't wait to hear more! I'm hoping to stay up-to-date with ALL of my subs now that I'm home...we shall see! :rolleyes:

[heathsf]

I'm sorry I fell behind on your PTR but I'm 100% in for your TR. I can't wait to read all about your trip! (and see pictures of course ;))

[stitches of laughter]

I started reading your pre-trip report yesterday. My heart goes out to you, I lost my mother in February of this year. She is the only one who shared my love for Disney. I can't wait to read the rest of your trip. I started my own pre-trip report "memories of mom" if you'd like to follow me.

:goodvibes

[archdandy]

Great start to your trip so far! I love driving past the Disney sign, it makes me get butterflies every time :lovestruc

I am also not a morning person, AT ALL. My DH knows there are precautions to be taken when trying to wake me up in the morning :rotfl: But every time we go to Disney we book the earliest flight possible which means waking up at about 2am to get down to the airport for 3:30am for our 6:30am flight. Its worth it to me if it means more time at Disney!

[jenneth79]

In all the travel I did for business and/or pleasure over the past 15 years, I have slept twice on a plane (and since I won't incriminate myself on a public forum, they may or may not have had something to do with alcohol consumption prior to boarding the plane :rolleyes1)

DH, however, is asleep before wheels up any time we fly. :rolleyes: And DS watches out the window, patiently (read: impatiently) waiting for the tone letting us know portable electronics can now be used so he can play his Nintendo DS for the duration.

Anyway, enough about me.... I just read about your first evening's dinner on your dining report. And sadly we know all about the plumbing issues from the YC FAQ. So I am looking forward to Day 2! :thumbsup2

Yeah, my DH can just as easily do the "head hits pillow, two seconds later snoring thing." Makes me so jealous....I might bump him by mistake every now and then... the least he can do is chat with me, right?:rotfl:

As for your DS.... I never understood the agonizing wait for that tone to go off until I got my Nook e-reader. It never bothered me before, now I'm anxiously awaiting the moment when I can continue my reading obession!

I'm here! :goodvibes

I don't like flying, either. I don't like takeoff, the sensation you feel when in the air, turbulence, or landing. So I'm crazy for thinking we should fly down instead of driving the next time my family goes to WDW, right? For all the hassle, a 2 hour flight sure is better than a 10+ hour drive, though. And it would be my DDs' first time ever on a plane, so I think they would enjoy that. Maybe. Unless they take after their mother...

Anyway, great start to your TR and I can't wait to hear more!

Yaaaayyy, welcome, my dear!:goodvibes

It's the same for us, as much as I dislike flying, any drive over 8 hours (basically Charleston, SC or Boston) is just not worth it to me ;)

I'll cross my fingers they don't inherit your adversion to flying.:laughing:

I'm enjoying the ride so far. Can't wait to continue on the journey.

PS. you and hubs are pretty nice to look at. :yay:

Welcome! And how sweet.... I'm glad you think that, since I'm still struggling to not upload a picture that's twice the size of my monitor.:lmao:

[jenneth79]

I love your writing style! Read your PTR&have been waiting for your dining review to start and now I have this to keep me entertained until our Dec trip!Looking forward to more!popcorn::

Awww...:hug: thank you, and :welcome: to the TR! How exciting to plan a trip to WDW when all the holiday lights are out. One of these years I'm going to do it....one of these years....:goodvibes

Off to a great start, I am very excited to hear all about your trip :goodvibes

Thanks Shannon! I finally got my PhotoPass CD in the mail yesterday, so I'm going to be able to reall kick this into gear over the next week... though there's a part of me that wants to drag it out as long as possible, just so I don't go through serious withdrawl. Oh who am I kidding... I already am!:rotfl:

I'm here, Jen! I haven't started my TR yet but hope to by Monday! :thumbsup2

It must have been a bad week for the BC/YC since we BOTH had issues our very first nights!!! I'm not looking forward to explaining my "room situation" and feel horrible that you went through something too!!! :sad2:

I can't wait to hear more! I'm hoping to stay up-to-date with ALL of my subs now that I'm home...we shall see! :rolleyes:

Welcome over here!:hug: I'm so with you on trying to keep up with all the subscriptions.... I'm having a heck of a time right now catching up. Things in general have calmed down though for us, so I should have some extra free time. As long as I can keep out of the kitchen... this cold weather has me in a baking frenzy!

I'm half scared to read about your BC/YC drama, though I will be signing in for your TR as soon as you start! :)

How's the baby bump doing? :cutie:

I'm sorry I fell behind on your PTR but I'm 100% in for your TR. I can't wait to read all about your trip! (and see pictures of course ;))

Welcome welcome welcome! Glad you're over here. I will probably take things at a more leisurely pace here, so you should be fine keeping up with my lazy butt!:rotfl2:

I started reading your pre-trip report yesterday. My heart goes out to you, I lost my mother in February of this year. She is the only one who shared my love for Disney. I can't wait to read the rest of your trip. I started my own pre-trip report "memories of mom" if you'd like to follow me.

:goodvibes

Oh sweetie, I'm so sorry for your loss, and so young... Losing a parent is perhaps the hardest thing I've ever lived through, and I've beat Cancer. I will be sure to come over and lend my support to your PTR... I am sure you will honor her memory beautifully.:hug:

Great start to your trip so far! I love driving past the Disney sign, it makes me get butterflies every time :lovestruc

I am also not a morning person, AT ALL. My DH knows there are precautions to be taken when trying to wake me up in the morning :rotfl: But every time we go to Disney we book the earliest flight possible which means waking up at about 2am to get down to the airport for 3:30am for our 6:30am flight. Its worth it to me if it means more time at Disney!

It may be the ONLY time it's worth it... but soooooo worth it for Disney.:dance3:

Welcome over to the TR, I hope you enjoy!:goodvibes

[Tinkerbellie16]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I lost my dad when I was 13. He was in a coma for 5 years prior to that so I only have a handful of memories of him and one of them is us holding hands in Tomorrowland. Your photo in Adventureland with your dad gave me goosebumps! In a good way!

[NMW]

Subscribing

[shan23877]

Caught up and joining in. You had me at tequila.

[jenneth79]

Chapter Two
In which our heroine finds herself sans room, mais ,avec slushies.

Our driver pulled up and our bags were unloaded. My first impressions of the YC were: “wow”. It’s really a gorgeous building, all grey and white and lovely all over.:lovestruc The first thing you see when you walk into the lobby is a gorgeous (and HUGE) globe. Mike snapped a picture of his favorite location (guess where his family is from?) as we walked by.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/IMG_0364.jpg
(on a side note, we learned for sure his family is going to take us to France, England and Scotland next year…..SO excited!)

A CM greeted us at the front door, Mychael, and she told us the check in at CL was busy, did we want to check in downstairs or wait in the lounge upstairs until things quieted down?:confused3 We decided to get the full CL experience, so up the elevator we went to the 5th floor! The CL desks were really busy, but the lounge was super quiet and relaxing. Mychael (who I loved, btw:thumbsup2) pointed out all the features of the lounge, and told us we MUST try the homemade chips and dip.

She left us alone for a few minutes and I had my first impressions of the lounge. I was initially shocked at how small it seemed, though perhaps the number of rooms (or lack thereof) on the 5th floor accurately matched the size of the lounge. The fridge was always stocked with beer and sodas (some really good beer, too) and I will say the chips are amazing, but the dip wasn’t a favorite of ours. It was a chipotle ranch… I am beginning to suspect I don’t care for too much chipotle pepper (unless of course it happens to be in deviled eggs….popcorn::).

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0155.jpg
(it does seem a bit small, but we never lacked a table when we wanted one…)

While Mychael was gone, we chatted about the trip and how excited we were to finally be in Disney! Mike got a coffee and I had a diet coke, I was super happy as I am not a Pepsi girl, and all most all the theme parks I know of carry only Pepsi products. See? I knew I loved Disney for a reason!:woohoo: Then we looked over at the TV and saw this:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0153.jpg
(oh yeah, THIS is why I am on vacation, to escape the 24/7 media on a slow news day….)

This was followed by a story about a 10 year old kid who had an exercise video out. Yeah, slow news day.:rolleyes1 Mychael came in and handed us Happy Anniversary pins with our names on them! How awesome!!!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0196.jpg
(Unfortunately the markers were not sweat proof…. Nor rain proof, so my name didn’t last too long….such cute handwriting though, I had to share!)

Then she told us we could check in. The check in process was painless, but I wouldn’t say it’s any better on CL than in the lobby. Wait, it kind of is, they have chairs you can sit at in CL while you check in.:lmao: They didn’t have a king bed for us and our room was not ready, so we just got our KTTW cards (sing it with me now…. “I got a golden tiiiiicket…”) and decided to head over to Epcot for lunch. They said they would text my phone when the room was ready. We decided a walk would be nice and left the back of the hotel.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0156.jpg
(our room was 5219, If you look at the right hand side of the pic, the third room in with the triangle on top, that was our balcony. Good view, IMHO from our room all the way down to the BC.)

We also passed under the flying jib slide:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0157.jpg
(I will ride this, darn it…. I will!)

I remembered immediately why we got a room at an Epcot resort, the walk was about eight minutes, at a nice leisurely pace, and the entrance at International Gateway was super quiet at 11 on a Saturday:goodvibes. We stood for a moment on the bridge leading over to France and soaked it in… then we made our way over to watch street performers put on a juggling / balancing act that was quite entertaining. There weren’t any mimes. Thank goodness, because Mimes scare me almost as much as clowns. I love you Disney for your mime-free environment.:hug:

I had my first character encounter / acting like a two year old:eek: moment in France as well. I saw Marie from Aristrocats and screamed out “Marie!!!!” Yeah, sorry, internal voice becoming external…. Blah blah blah…..At that moment, btw, my phone went off to let us know our room was ready.:rotfl2: We decided to just stay in Epcot until after our lunch at Tokyo Dining, and as we turned to make our way to the Japanese pavilion I saw it.

Oh yes.:love:

There in front of me was the fabled kiosk that sold Grey Goose Slushies! I squeaked. Did a little dance. I won’t lie, I made a fool out of myself and probably scared the poor French boy who was working there.:rotfl: But, just a swipe of the Room Key later, I had THIS in my hand:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0161.jpg
(trust me to try and make a picture of an alcoholic drink “artsy”…)

Unfortunately my bliss was short lived, for, not two seconds later, Mike had it in HIS hand:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0159.jpg
(my husband is a real man, martini glasses do not scare him. Sadly, neither do those aviator shades…)

Obviously, it might not have been the right idea to share the drink because OMG it’s amazing….as witnessed by my super smiley face when I finally got it back from him:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0160.jpg
(yes, my friends, that is the face of giddy.)

After we argued over the last sip (ironically right in front of the line waiting to take pictures with Bell and Beast…um….yeah, no comparison there….;)) we made our way over to Japan, where our story will continue momentarily….

(Be warned, pretty soon you guys are going to need recaps… “Previously on Jen’s TR….”)

[sstewart]

All caught up....Can't wait to hear the rest!

[Tinkerbellie16]

Love me the slushies! I'm smiling with you :)

[Cinderumbrella]

I have to say I can never stop myself from ordering the Grand Marnier Slushie to even try the Grey Goose one.... :idea:... I will have to get BOTH this trip!!!

Also, I know it is too late, but when the CM's give you the buttons, ask them to stick a piece of clear tape over it to protect the handwriting. A clever CM at the GF turned us on to this a few of years ago when it was our 10th anniversary :thumbsup2

Can't wait for more!

[disneybarbie]

Subscribing! popcorn::

All caught up.. looks like a good travel day, and perfect way to toast a trip with a cocktail in World Showcase! :cloud9:

I loved the lobby at the Yacht Club when we stayed there - I liked the smell.. think it's the wax on the floorboards?! :cutie: Btw I didn't notice that on the globe before.. that it has London, Edinburgh and.. Hull (?) located on the map!


Looking forward to reading more


Emma princess: x

[jenneth79]

I'm in! Can't wait to hear more!

I'm sorry to hear about your dad. I lost my dad when I was 13. He was in a coma for 5 years prior to that so I only have a handful of memories of him and one of them is us holding hands in Tomorrowland. Your photo in Adventureland with your dad gave me goosebumps! In a good way!

:welcome: and thank you! Thank you also for sharing your story... I can't imagine how hard that must have been for you, but isn't it interesting how we still have those wonderful memories?:hug: All throughout this trip, little things I didn't even KNOW I remembered came back to me. It was nice, in a bittersweet way.

Subscribing

:welcome:

Caught up and joining in. You had me at tequila.

Ah, tequila.... :cheer2: Welcome, and I hope you enjoy the rest!

[Shannon84]

Sounds like a great start checking in and checking out the lounge area :thumbsup2

I don't think I would have been as nice as you and shared my slushie :rotfl:

[natebenma]

Fantastic start! What beautiful pictures of a wonderful resort! I like the picture of the British Isles on the globe. A really interesting perspective (and an interesting upcoming destination for you).

You are already having oodles of fun and refreshment in EPCOT and you haven't even left your first country yet!

[natebenma]

I loved the lobby at the Yacht Club when we stayed there - I liked the smell.. think it's the wax on the floorboards?!

Sorry to jack your thread, Jen...

The scent in the Yacht & Beach Club is from a scent generator. I know the BC scent is green clover and aloe, it may be the same at the YC. I believe during the holidays it may be a gingerbread scent.

[TanzUnited99]

Yay on coming to England next year! :cheer2:

Glad you managed to check in okay and love the pics of the yacht club. We also took some pics with that globe during our visit to this resort.

Lol, I was the same as you at meeting characters! :rotfl2:

Yay on starting your time in Epcot with a GGS! :thumbsup2

[IheartDDuck]

Sacrilege! Sharing a GGS! :lmao: I don't think I could share one of mine. Truly. They'd have to pry it out of my hands.....

Oh, previously on Jen's TR entries would be nice. Helps with the continuity of the story. :rotfl:

[DisneyDivaN]

Joining in on this one too. Just finished the PTR and the first couple of dining reviews, cant wait to hear more. And take your time... Its helping get over the fact that I still have 38 more days lol :rotfl2:

[jenneth79]

All caught up....Can't wait to hear the rest!

I'm so glad you're enjoying it! It's so much fun to relive our great trip and be able to share stories with you all!

Love me the slushies! I'm smiling with you :)

:goodvibes Yeah, probably a good thing I can't make them at home.....

I have to say I can never stop myself from ordering the Grand Marnier Slushie to even try the Grey Goose one.... :idea:... I will have to get BOTH this trip!!!

Also, I know it is too late, but when the CM's give you the buttons, ask them to stick a piece of clear tape over it to protect the handwriting. A clever CM at the GF turned us on to this a few of years ago when it was our 10th anniversary :thumbsup2

Can't wait for more!

On our last day, we tried the GM Slushie... not sure if it's because I tried Grey Goose first or not, but I didn't like it as much. I'm also more of a tart than sweet kind of person. (I guess my personality as well as my taste!:rotfl2:) I did thing the GM Slushie was super yummy though, so you really can't go wrong!

And great tip on the pins! :thumbsup2 I hadn't thought of that... perhaps when I convince my DH to go back for another anniversary one of these years....oh I wish.....

Subscribing! popcorn::

All caught up.. looks like a good travel day, and perfect way to toast a trip with a cocktail in World Showcase! :cloud9:

I loved the lobby at the Yacht Club when we stayed there - I liked the smell.. think it's the wax on the floorboards?! :cutie: Btw I didn't notice that on the globe before.. that it has London, Edinburgh and.. Hull (?) located on the map!


Looking forward to reading more


Emma princess: x

Welcome over, Emma, I'm glad you joined in! :goodvibes Mike and I were wondering about Hull as well... was it a big shipbuilding town or something back in the day? Perhaps where the globe was made ( I remember hearing it was custom designed for the YC, but don't know the details...) and yes, the lobby smell is fantastic!

Sounds like a great start checking in and checking out the lounge area :thumbsup2

I don't think I would have been as nice as you and shared my slushie :rotfl:

Well, if I share the slushie, I can steal his food later without guilt. :rotfl: In reality, we just didn't want to drink too much... so we decided to split our treat. I'm glad we did, in the end. :)

[jenneth79]

Fantastic start! What beautiful pictures of a wonderful resort! I like the picture of the British Isles on the globe. A really interesting perspective (and an interesting upcoming destination for you).

You are already having oodles of fun and refreshment in EPCOT and you haven't even left your first country yet!

I know, and just wait until I get to Japan... that's when the trouble starts....:rotfl:

Sorry to jack your thread, Jen...

The scent in the Yacht & Beach Club is from a scent generator. I know the BC scent is green clover and aloe, it may be the same at the YC. I believe during the holidays it may be a gingerbread scent.

Please don't apologize, Dee, you have so much great info, I welcome the opportunity to have you share it.

Aloe sounds about right in terms of the scent... but you just convinced me I have to go back there during the Holidays one year because I loooove the smell of gingerbread. :goodvibes

Yay on coming to England next year! :cheer2:

Glad you managed to check in okay and love the pics of the yacht club. We also took some pics with that globe during our visit to this resort.

Lol, I was the same as you at meeting characters! :rotfl2:

Yay on starting your time in Epcot with a GGS! :thumbsup2

Yes, I am very excited, but know NOTHING about where to go in the London area (outside of the usual tourist areas) so if you have any suggestions, I would love to hear them! The only thing I am begging my MIL to schedule is a trip to the Globe Theater... that would be pure heaven for me!:cloud9:

I'm glad I wasn't alone in my character greets... they get better as the trip goes along, especially for Mike!

Sacrilege! Sharing a GGS! :lmao: I don't think I could share one of mine. Truly. They'd have to pry it out of my hands.....

Oh, previously on Jen's TR entries would be nice. Helps with the continuity of the story. :rotfl:

I might have to put those in, especially with how long it's taking me to update!

Joining in on this one too. Just finished the PTR and the first couple of dining reviews, cant wait to hear more. And take your time... Its helping get over the fact that I still have 38 more days lol :rotfl2:

Welcome!!!! You're going to have an amazing trip... and congrats a bit early on 3 years!!!:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Some of you may have seen this already on my Dining Review, but I will be heading out of town today for the Chincoteague Oyster Festival... so will not get to the next update until next week. I hope everyone has a great weekend, and I look forward to sharing more stories very soon!:goodvibes

[jenbear123]

So apparently, when I made that grand announcement of my presence 4 pages back? You remember that right? How could you forget? ;) Well apparently I forgot to push the "subscribe" button and missed out on your first two updates :rolleyes: So let me play catch up with comments. Glad to hear you had a great experience with the private car. It makes it a much quieter, relaxed experience then being shoved on DME. Not bad mouthing DME or anything but getting the private treatment is a nice treat once in a while. YC looks gorgeous. Any room pics? Woohoo! You finally got a Grey goose slushie! Aren't they delicious?

[redlight]

The slushie looks so good! I want one!

[Stefy]

I'm in and all caught up. Just started catching up on all the new TR's, so bizzarre how they are all starting at the same time :laughing:

Loving all the updates so far, arrival day looked pretty painless and look at that, just an 8min walk to get to Epcot. Oh so close and oh so cool :)

Can't wait for more, hope your weekend was good and yummy :)

[jenneth79]

Chapter 3

In which our heroine attempts to blow her whole trip spending budget in one spot, gets the best seat in the house, and finally gets a room with a view!

(VO from yummy Ian Somerhalder:) Previously on the Vampire Diaries…. Wait… ahem… I mean…when we last left our fearless travellers, they were enjoying the last sips of a Grey Goose slushie, and making their way towards Japan… (wait, wait, can’t I have him narrate the whole thing? It’s gonna cost HOW much?!?!….nevermind.)

Hi everyone! I hope you had an amazing weekend and you’re settling into the work week. I’m going to try to knock out the majority of Day 1 so we can move on to the good (better?) stuff!

After the GGS of Goodness, we walked past Morocco and on to Japan!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0187.jpg

I love Japanese culture, and still believe they get WAY cooler gadgets and toys than we do. I also work for a very large Japanese company here in the US, so many of my coworkers are from Tokyo. I want to go there someday, I’m still trying to figure out a way they will send me. So imagine my smiles when I saw that they had a mini sized Mitsukoshi! I dragged Mike in there before he could remind me our ADRs for lunch at Tokyo Dining were coming up soon!:goodvibes

The minute I walked in, I saw a HUGE display of Hello Kitty products. There is no picture of this, because I was that floored. I did find these little guys kind of funny / cute, though.

First, the funny. This is for anyone who grew up in the 70s/80s, you will appreciate this little guy:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0162.jpg
(I haven’t seen one of these in YEARS!)

Then, I saw these and just thought they were super cute. My SIL’s name is Kim, so I had to take a picture of one of these for her!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0163.jpg
(I bought stuff too, but ironically didn’t take any pictures of that!)

After loading up on origami paper, snacks, and a t-shirt for Mike, I was dragged /walked upstairs for our first Disney meal, Tokyo Dining!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0177.jpg
(Mmmm….eel…)

If you want the full breakdown of our lunch, visit the Dining Review HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42785819&postcount=48).

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0168.jpg
(Mike making a chopstick rest…did I mention he worked for the same Japanese company until just a month or so ago?)

For the brief overview, it was amazing:lovestruc, we were seated at the best table in the place, as far as I’m concerned, looking out over the water and the people walking by. I can imagine it would be a great spot to watch Illuminations from at night! The service was fantastic, and our waitress offered to take a picture of the two of us at our table:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0180.jpg
(a bit dark, but still a nice picture!)

Just one more picture of the food, the rest are all in the Dining Review:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Dining%20Sept%202011/100_0182.jpg
(Lots of food in the Bento Boxes, btw….)

Our waitress brought over the check with a lovely origami heart (made from Hello Kitty paper, no less!:cutie:) and we made our way back out into the sun. I decided we should grab a FP for Test Track before walking back to the hotel to get our room and thought we should grab the boat across the lagoon. Whoops. Wrong choice. We waited ages for the boat to show up, and when it did, it was still on the “stop at every dock around the lagoon” schedule. We did get some good pictures though while we waited. My favorite was this view of the water wheel in front of Morocco:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0190.jpg
(I just love how things look so different when you change your perspective…)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0192.jpg
(Ok, how do people manage to take these “holding your arm out pictures” without getting a double chin… like I do… EVERY time!)

I had some fun ignoring posted signs:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0202.jpg
(oh yeah?!?!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0203.jpg
(Yeah, I know, I’m a rebel….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0193.jpg
(another random picture from the back of the boat)

Finally we made our way across the lake and by that time Mike had to go find the restroom, so I stood over by the water and took in the view. A few seconds later, I noticed something strange in the sky, and realized that there was a skywriter up there!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0206.jpg
(the “wide” shot…)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0207.jpg
(awww… “love”…)


By this time, Mike was back and we both waited a few moments to see what else went along with “love”…. The plane got so far as “GO” before a cloud moved in the way of the words. As we made our way over to Test Track to pick up our FPs we both made our own phrases up! (Love Go Away was a favorite). Soon we had arrived at:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0210.jpg
(Got to love how low the crowds are….)

I was super excited to get my first Fastpass EVER! I may have gotten a strange look or two since the standby line was only 25 minutes or so, but I had plans for these little suckers later in the evening!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0208.jpg
(I felt so cool holding these!!!!)


We decided it was time to head back to the Yacht Club and move into our room before it got too late, so we walked back across the park through Innovations. Coming out the back side I saw the Kodak pavilion and Journey Into Imagination!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0212.jpg
(So many memories from this ride…)


Mike and I decided at the last minute to jump on this ride as it was my favorite as a child. My father worked for Kodak, and for so many years, this was “home base” for us. This was an extremely bittersweet moment for me, because my dad wasn’t there with me, and I had to face once again the fact that he never would be able to experience the magic of Disney with us. I know he was there in spirit though, and I comfort myself with that.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0214.jpg
(I like how they still kept some of the original “looks” from the older rides…really miss the actor Figment, though!)


Figment was my favorite Disney character as a child; he’s still up there even if they tried to erase him from the ride a time or two! I won’t lie, my first impressions of the ride wasn’t a very objective one. Frankly, I cried through the whole thing:sad1:. It was a good cry, though… and it made me realize what an amazingly good idea this trip was for us. I felt as if I was able to let go a little… to just cry and know it was going to be ok.

Thank goodness we were the only people in the car, I don’t know what others would think of seeing a grown adult woman crying in the scent room! The song “One Little Spark” came flowing back into my mind, it was so sweet to hear it again. When we walked out through the play area, we created our own Figment, which I named Mikey, and emailed it to ourselves. Or at least I thought I did, because I can’t find the silly thing now!

I think my exact words were “we are SO coming back to shop here”, as I hugged one of the Figment plush dolls:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/IMG_0365.jpg
(Mike had to pry my fingers away from this little purple monster.)

After that, we left Epcot to walk back over to the YC and check out our room!:thumbsup2

To be continued....

[swwake]

You ARE a rebel with your pretty toes over that yellow line. Home - Love GO Away! That would be interesting.

I don't remember ever taking the WS boats. SO I don't think I've seen that wheel at Morocco.

Lunch looks great. Now I'm craving sushi. Thanks.

[TanzUnited99]

I have to agree in that Japan does have great gadgets and toys! :laughing:

Lol at ignoring the boat signs and trying to guess the skywriting saying.

Yay on getting TT FPs and riding Journey into Imagination.

[JanetMom]

Yeah, you're back! Thanks for another great update.

[Nermel9]

I'm here!!! Love the TR so far! Ugh, I hate flying too, mostly taking off and landing. I actually had a bit of a panic attack on our flight home last Saturday, and pretty much swore off Jet Blue for the rest of my life, but we'll see how that goes...:confused3

Yay you got your Grey Goose slush! :cool1: Aren't they so good??

I love the Japan section of Epcot, and I love Mitsukoshi a lot now, after spending lots of time in there on this recent trip! Those Monchichi's are so cute, I kind of want to buy one next time. And I always have a heart attack whenever I see lots of Hello Kitty stuff, I'm obsessed with Hello Kitty!

Can't wait to read more! :cool1:

[Queenofallthings]

Hey hon....I didn't realize you had this one going....I'm going to go back and read!!!

[IheartDDuck]

The store in Japan is my absolute favorite! I can just spend hours in there. And I am a child of the eighties, so Monchichi is near and dear to my heart. :lmao:

Tokyo Dining is a great restaurant. The sushi picture made me very hungry!

No worries about crying on Imagination. Your dad was an important person in your life and it brought back memories. :hug:

[Shannon84]

Tokyo Dining looks really good!! I am surprised because I never hear anything about it to be honest, but the view is wonderful too :thumbsup2

I am so glad you had a nice experience riding along with Figment and having a moment to remember your dad that is important :goodvibes

[jenneth79]

You ARE a rebel with your pretty toes over that yellow line. Home - Love GO Away! That would be interesting.

I don't remember ever taking the WS boats. SO I don't think I've seen that wheel at Morocco.

Lunch looks great. Now I'm craving sushi. Thanks.

Yeah, as I look at these pictures in large format I realize how badly I needed a mani/pedi at that time....:lmao:

I have to agree in that Japan does have great gadgets and toys! :laughing:

Lol at ignoring the boat signs and trying to guess the skywriting saying.

Yay on getting TT FPs and riding Journey into Imagination.

I managed to go back to the store later in the week... got into WAY more trouble then! :rotfl2:

Yeah, you're back! Thanks for another great update.

Thanks!:goodvibes


I'm here!!! Love the TR so far! Ugh, I hate flying too, mostly taking off and landing. I actually had a bit of a panic attack on our flight home last Saturday, and pretty much swore off Jet Blue for the rest of my life, but we'll see how that goes...:confused3

Yay you got your Grey Goose slush! :cool1: Aren't they so good??

I love the Japan section of Epcot, and I love Mitsukoshi a lot now, after spending lots of time in there on this recent trip! Those Monchichi's are so cute, I kind of want to buy one next time. And I always have a heart attack whenever I see lots of Hello Kitty stuff, I'm obsessed with Hello Kitty!

Can't wait to read more! :cool1:

Oh no! I hope you're ok and the flight wasn't too bad!:eek: I used to fly little planes (turbo prop and small jets) for work all the time between DC and White Plains, NY. Every single problem I have ever had on a plane was on those.... I swore them off and so far I'm doing well. Then again, I haven't had a chance to travel to a tropical island either.... we'll see how THAT goes.:lmao:

GGS was AMAZING!

There was this Chanel meets Hello Kitty bag right when we walked into the store. I walked around with it for a few minutes before my husband told me I'd never use it. (He was right....but still.... soooo cute!:lovestruc)

Hey hon....I didn't realize you had this one going....I'm going to go back and read!!!

Hey you!!! Welcome over here... I need to catch up on your end too....:flower3:

The store in Japan is my absolute favorite! I can just spend hours in there. And I am a child of the eighties, so Monchichi is near and dear to my heart. :lmao:

Tokyo Dining is a great restaurant. The sushi picture made me very hungry!

No worries about crying on Imagination. Your dad was an important person in your life and it brought back memories. :hug:

I was waiting to see a GloWorm or Gizmo doll there too. No such luck. (But apparently Pokemon and Power Rangers are still going strong...:rotfl:)

Tokyo Dining looks really good!! I am surprised because I never hear anything about it to be honest, but the view is wonderful too :thumbsup2

I am so glad you had a nice experience riding along with Figment and having a moment to remember your dad that is important :goodvibes

I think it's a well guarded secret. My guess is that a lot of people just don't like sushi, so it's not one of those places people automatically think will appeal to everyone in their group. I tend to think the other options they have will appeal to more than just sushi lovers, but that's me.

I have no problem if it stays secret.... lord knows I wanna go back there with no wait!:rotfl:

[Stefy]

Ooh Tokyo Dining looks yummy and what an awesome table you got :teeth:

I love the Mitsukoshi Store too, so many cool little things to look at. Did you check out the Sake bar towards the back left hand side?

[natebenma]

Fantastic afternoon so far!

Thanks for sharing your ride on Journey to Imagination with us. Your descriptions really brought all of the emotions you were feeling to life.

Aren't Fast Passes the greatest thing??? Even if the crowds are low and you don't need them, you feel like you scored a little victory whenever you get one!

Now, Test Track is a new ride for you, right? Soarin, too?

[jenneth79]

:goodvibesI swear, I'm still here! My life just got super crazy the past month, lots of travel and family time have taken up all my free time!


Soooo sorry, and look forward to sharing more very soon!

[Stefy]

Hey Jen don't worry about it, we're all still here waiting patiently :)

[heathsf]

No worries. I know I'm guilty of the same thing on my TR. It happens. We'll still be here...

[jenneth79]

Ooh Tokyo Dining looks yummy and what an awesome table you got :teeth:

I love the Mitsukoshi Store too, so many cool little things to look at. Did you check out the Sake bar towards the back left hand side?

We did! Though it was on a different day of our trip.....;)

Fantastic afternoon so far!

Thanks for sharing your ride on Journey to Imagination with us. Your descriptions really brought all of the emotions you were feeling to life.

Aren't Fast Passes the greatest thing??? Even if the crowds are low and you don't need them, you feel like you scored a little victory whenever you get one!

Now, Test Track is a new ride for you, right? Soarin, too?

I am a firm believer in the FP now, both Mike and I swear they are the best things, especially in a park where you can grab a FP, then spend some time wandering around the World Showcase sampling food and beverage until it's time to ride!

Yes, Test Track was new for me and I really loved it. Soarin was... though... well, I'll give my opinions on that a bit later. Or a lot later, at the rate I'm taking this TR!:rotfl:

Hey Jen don't worry about it, we're all still here waiting patiently :)


Thanks! So glad you started your TR, just got caught up this morning!:hug:

No worries. I know I'm guilty of the same thing on my TR. It happens. We'll still be here...

I hope so, as soon as I find the notebook with my daily journal (burried under mounds of holiday decorations at home) I'll continue on with the report!:wizard:

[jenneth79]

Chapter Four

In which our heroine gets her room, learns the joys of Photopass, and rides a very fast car.

Hello Dear Reader :waves:, I hope you haven’t given up on me just yet and are ready for another installment of our TR!:goodvibes

The walk from Epcot back to the Yacht Club was really very nice, and would be something we ended up doing quite a lot during our stay at Disney. I think this easy access alone would recommend the Beach and Yacht Club or Boardwalk Inn hotels to anyone!


We took the elevator back up to the Club Level and walked down the hallway to our room. We had an amazing water view that Buddha and Chester immediately decided to enjoy!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0226.jpg

We also had a little bit of pixie dust!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0218.jpg

Chocolate, balloons, and a lovely little Anniversary Wish! I thought it was a really nice touch, along with a little not-so-hidden Mickey towel animal. I went over and noticed our message light was blinking, and you can tell how happy the message made me.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0217.jpg

It was Mickey and Minnie wishing us a Happy Anniversary! At the end, Mickey sings “….and many more…”. Just too cute. Mike had a little surprise of his own waiting for him….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0220.jpg

A bottle of Macallan 12 (which I set up with the IPO before our trip…they wrapped it up so nice!) and a glass of Macallan 25 as a special treat for my DH. He’s a huge Scotch fan, and while the bottle was overkill and would never be finished in 9 days, it just felt like a nice Anniversary type thing to do!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0215.jpg

As for the room itself, I thought this little detail was super cute!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0225.jpg

Love the idea of Mickey Lamps!

We decided to freshen up a bit and head back out to enjoy Epcot some more before our ADR at San Angel Inn.

!!!!FORESHADOWING ALERT!!!!

When I was using the bathroom, I noticed that the toilet seemed to flush a bit slow, but didn’t really think much of it since a lot of hotels have those energy saving pluming setups that never seems to quite work the way they should.

!!!!!END FORSHADOWING SEGMENT!!!!!

Oh, and we had been given MORE buttons. Seriously, I think we brought home 6 or 8 Happy Anniversary buttons. I’m going to find something fun to do with them, once of these days.

We walked back down the hallway to the CL Lounge and checked out what “rush hour” was like there. Not too bad, lots of CMs walking around making sure things were cleaned up, everyone got seconds if they wanted them, etc. There was only one thing that I wasn’t 100% thrilled about, which is probably a nitpicking kind of thing, but still. There was no bottled water available.

I think I understand the logic behind this, but it still struck me as a bit odd. The fridge is stacked to the brim with beer, sodas, and juice, but no water. There were very nice large glass bottles of Evian and Perrier, which the CMs said we could certainly take back to our rooms, but nothing in a “grab and go” form.

I grabbed a Diet Coke instead and we made out way back outside and over to the International Gateway entrance to Epcot.

Coming up the bridge to France we noticed a Photopass Photographer set up, with only a single couple in line. I thought it was a good time to give it a shot (I pre-purchased the Photo CD before we left on our trip) and we got in line. I have to say, I’ve been pretty pleased with most of the pictures we got on our trip, with a few glaringly bad exceptions.

This was not one of them; the CM was very friendly and quickly took a few shots of the two of us in front of Paris:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/Photo0002FourBySix.jpg

Dear reader, my PP stalking began at that moment. Walking back over towards Future World and Test Track (which we thought we’d use our Fastpasses on before dinner) we spotted another photographer in front of the “big golf ball”.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0237.jpg

(can you tell how awkward we are in these early photos? It’s like we forgot how to pose or something. “Mike, stop acting like you’re going to strangle me!”…. )

Once I was done playing Celebrity, we stopped by Test Track to see what all the fuss was about.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0239.jpg

(it was around 6:30 that we walked in the FP line, but this is the Standby, which I think was still only 20 min or so wait.)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0240.jpg

(I think I was trying to impersonate a very unhappy Crash Test Dummy. )

Within moments we were on the ride, and WOW, it really was a lot of fun. Both Mike and I love cars (he loves how they work, I love to drive them…)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/Photo0007FourBySix.jpg

Yeah, it was awesome, I especially love the ABS test. (If you haven’t been on this ride yet, I won’t spoil it for you!) Also, they let you download the ride photo to your Photopass card free of charge, bonus!

After the ride, I was unaware that it dumps you out onto a showroom floor. Uh oh. Two car fanatics and a Cadillac CTSV?

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0244.jpg
(I did NOT want to get out of this car….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0246.jpg

(neither did Mike….:laughing:)

Ok, up next Dinner and Drinks to honor my Dad, and a very bad, no good night.

[Shannon84]

An update :cool1: I am so happy I saw this!!

I love your photopass pictures, but I had to laugh at your comment about forgetting how to pose and not looking like you are strangling each other :rotfl:

uh oh I am nervous about that foreshadowing!!

LOVE the surprise in the room, very cool :thumbsup2

[TanzUnited99]

Yay another update! :cool1:

Love the view from your room and am glad Buddha and Chester got to enjoy it as well :rotfl:

Don't you just love the little touches at Disney such as the welcome/anniversary messages? Oh no on the foreshadowing...doesn't sound good.

Great PP pics!

[jenneth79]

An update :cool1: I am so happy I saw this!!

I love your photopass pictures, but I had to laugh at your comment about forgetting how to pose and not looking like you are strangling each other :rotfl:

uh oh I am nervous about that foreshadowing!!

LOVE the surprise in the room, very cool :thumbsup2

We really were, it was just the most silly thing... I guess we haven't taken anything remotely resembling "formal" pictures since our wedding, so we were a bit rusty. I got into it the next day, thankfully, though I still looked like a fool.:lmao:

Yay another update! :cool1:

Love the view from your room and am glad Buddha and Chester got to enjoy it as well :rotfl:

Don't you just love the little touches at Disney such as the welcome/anniversary messages? Oh no on the foreshadowing...doesn't sound good.

Great PP pics!

I do love the little touches, I think that is one of my favorite things about Disney, just the attention to detail that no one else bothers to do. Keeps me coming back year after year!:thumbsup2

[heathsf]

Yay I'm so glad to see an update! You don't look awkward in your pictures and you both look so happy!! (I would be too if my hotel was walking distance from Epcot!!! ;)) I'm looking forward to reading about your thoughts on San Angel Inn since I ate their too on my last trip. Can't wait for more! :goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Chapter 5

In which our heroine cries, wants to go home, and helps our hero drink his Scotch.

Dear reader, this installment of our story might offend you. It will probably disgust you. It will almost certainly make you widen your eyes in horror. I hope it also makes you laugh. For we experienced a night at Disney I wish no one here ever has to experience, and it almost ruined our whole trip.

I’m getting ahead of myself; first let’s go back to where we left off….

Mike and I finally dragged ourselves away from the lovely shiny new cars that we’ll never be able to afford and walked over to Mexico for our ADR at San Angel Inn. You can read my full review of the dinner HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42853118&postcount=89).

Just walking into the Mexico pavilion, and that perpetual twilight, brought tears to my eyes. This is where my father always made sure we sat down for a meal, this place that in so ways never changes, it just brought those moments back to me, with a smile, and made me instantly glad we decided to have our first dinner here to honor him.:lovestruc

We walked over to the Gran Fiesta Tour and there was no wait whatsoever. We had our pins with us, and people were constantly telling us “Happy Anniversary”, it was pretty awesome. It never really got old during the whole trip! The ride itself has changed since I was last there, but I think the new 3 Amigos “storyline” is pretty cute. I’m partial to Donald, what can I say? :goodvibes

Mike pointed out towards the end of advanced the special effects must have been when the ride first opened, and how they were still pretty relevant today.

We went up to the podium to check in for our ADR. Our table was not ready, so we ducked into La Cava del Tequila and discovered what was to become one of our favorite places in Disney. I simply adore this place, almost more for the atmosphere than the drinks! It’s warm, cozy, and everyone in there is super friendly. (You can read my review on our drinks HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=42832917&postcount=69).)

We decided to do a tequila shot in my dad’s name, and the bartender it turns out gave it to us free of charge. The setup is super cool:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Dining%20Sept%202011/100_0249.jpg

I really didn’t want to leave Cava, but we were certain to return at least once more on our trip! After more than an hour wait, our buzzer went off and we were shown to our table.

We had an AMAZING table location, right on the water. The food was really just OK for us, nothing special, but we both really enjoyed checking out the details on the pyramid behind us and the little special effects I hadn’t noticed before.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Dining%20Sept%202011/100_0259.jpg

In fact, if you look to the left (as you are facing the pyramid) in the night sky and you will see one very bright “star”. You know what? That’s the North Star, at least according to my iPhone…..:lmao: there also looked like there were a few shooting stars…which made me feel like my Dad was watching over us.

If I only realized his sense of the absurd was lurking over us as well…..:confused:

We returned to the YC late and quite full, but there was one surprise which awaited us! I had arranged ahead of time with Disney Florists to set up a very romantic “From Mickey and Minnie with Love” package. It really looked AMAZING! Here are some pictures:

An awesome, autographed and matted picture of Mickey and Minnie with simply GORGEOUS roses (and chocolate!):
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0281.jpg


The bed had rose petals in a lovely shape of a heart:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0282.jpg


Tinkerbell speading her pixie dust!:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0286.jpg


Towels with our names embroidered on them:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0288.jpg


And a spa gift basket with all sorts of fun stuff, along with three electronic candles:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0291.jpg


Truly, it was an amazing setup and worth every penny. I took some pictures and walked out on the balcony while Mike used the restroom.

This is where things went south.

Fast.

Not two minutes later, he comes running out onto the balcony, with a panicked look on his face. The toilet is overflowing. It won’t stop. The WATER won’t stop. He runs back over and throws down towels at the doorway to try to stem the flow from coming out onto the carpet. I run to the phone and call maintenance and tell them we have a plumbing emergency. They say they will be right up.

Five minutes pass….:headache:

Mike tries to get the water to stop at least running into the toilet to try and stem the sewage filling up the bathroom and making its way into the carpeted area. He takes the top off the tank and there is black *Stuff* all in there. Looks like ashes or god only knows what. Cigarette butts, maybe?

Five more minutes pass…..:mad:

I call back to maintenance; they assure me someone is on the way. I call downstairs to the front desk (CL is closed) to ask them to get a manager to please help. They say they will take care of it.

Ten more minutes pass. Mike finally manages (HIMSELF) to get the water to stop running, but it has made it over our dam of towels and is saturating the carpet. The place stinks. I’m getting worried about all our stuff on the floor of the closet, so I pull everything out and put it on the chair on the other side of the room.:sad2:

No one has arrived.

I run downstairs to the front desk while Mike waits for someone to show. I talk to a manager; he calls maintenance and tells them to send someone over immediately. I explain the gravity of the situation and ask him if he can get us a different room that isn’t covered in human waste.

He tells me the hotel is full. I explain to him again that our room cannot possibly be sanitary or safe at this point to stay in.

He looks around for a bit. Finds a few rooms. Standard view, non CL. At this point, I’m willing to make the switch, but ask him if they will credit us the difference in our room. He offers to give us access to the CL but not anything else. All of you who know the difference between the cost of a Standard View room and a Lagoon view club level room will realize how ridiculous this is. Mike calls down to say maintenance has arrived, put TOWELS DOWN TO MOP IT UP. And have left.

The manager offers to credit me ½ our night’s stay. That’s it. At this point, it’s almost 1 AM and I’ve been up for almost 20 hours. I gave up and went back upstairs. When I got back to the room, Mike explained to me that maintenance had shown up but not housekeeping. We called, yet again, and housekeeping showed up. I hoped with bleach. Nope. Just more towels.

At this point, I looked around the room and saw our lovely flower petals, slowly being saturated by dirty toilet water. I am not proud to admit it, but I started crying and told Mike I wanted to go home. He brought me out on the balcony of our room, shut the door, and handed me a scotch and ginger ale. He kept it together when I was about to lose it. That’s why I married him. We sat out there and discussed our options, found something to laugh about, eventually just agreeing to call housekeeping one more time to swap out the towels on our soaked floor, and deal with it in the morning. We weren’t going to let one night ruin the next 7…. We were going to make the most of it.

We wore flip flops if we needed to go to the bathroom during that night, which we threw out the next morning, needless to say.

Of course, during all that drama, I had to do SOMETHING, so I redecorated the rose petals:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20One/100_0296.jpg
See? Told you I had a sense of humor buried down deep!

I had hoped the Mousekeeping staff would understand the next morning….sadly, it was not to be.

The next morning, we immediately asked the Concierge Desk what was being done about it, but they hadn’t even heard there was an issue. Perhaps no one thought it warranted attention? They managed to get housekeeping to clean the carpet, but even that took all day to complete. I will admit that the smell of carpet cleaner in our room was overpowering, but still better than the alternative. There was also a healthy dose of bleach in the bathroom, which made me feel a wee bit better. Housekeeping continued to be a disappointment, and it took four days of repeated requests to get the carpet (and old rose petals) vacuumed off the floor. No one in management ever contacted us for the rest of our stay about the issues, but I also was just looking to move forward and enjoy the rest of our time!

That’s the last you’ll hear about that drama though, because we have much better things to focus on, starting with Day Two coming up soon!

(You should all know that this did NOT ruin our trip, and well after the trip I have had multiple calls with Disney Resort Management and I feel that they have made an effort to really understand the problem and make steps to fix it for both Mike and I as well as future guests.)

[natebenma]

Looks like you guys had a fun afternoon and evening at EPCOT and made great advantage of the easy walking distance from the resort.

I think your photopass pictures are fantastic and I LOVE your dress! Beautiful color. Very festive for your dinner.

Here's my story:

My favorite photopass location is that bridge overlooking Paris. I had never seen a photographer there before and I thought it was a beautiful spot to have a family picture taken. Imagine my delight to see a photographer here as we walked by the bridge on the way to dinner. Maybe this will be our Christmas card photo!!!


http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/DIS%20trip%20report/EPCOT%202010/Photo0176.jpg


http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/DIS%20trip%20report/EPCOT%202010/Photo0178.jpg


http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/DIS%20trip%20report/EPCOT%202010/Photo0179.jpg


Maybe not.


Very nice surprises in your room. The anniversary balloons and treats were a nice touch. We had those when we checked into our room at the Beach Club on our first stay. A couple of balloons, some candy bars and a card from Mickey that said "Happy Birthday, Mike!" Unfortunately, nobody in my family is named Mike. So we tried to return them to a CM because we didn't want poor Mike to miss his birthday cheer, but they assured us that we could keep the goodies.

********************************************

I'm sorry that your meal at San Angel was somewhat disappointing and even sorrier about what happened later.

The response from everyone at the resort was just so unacceptable!!! I can't believe that they were not able to accomodate you better. I'm glad that you did not let it spoil your trip and that you followed up and at least feel like someone finally listened to you (even though it was after your trip).

I love what you did with the rose petals!!! VERY FUNNY! :rotfl2:

[jecskc]

Stopping in to say hello !! :wave2:

GGS - also my favorite. If you ever get the chance to go to the Food and Wine festival, get a Parisian Cosmo Slush. Suuuppperr yummy !!

You DO NOT have a double chin !! Whatevs !! You are so pretty !!

Loved all of your gifts.

LOL on what you did with the rose petals.

OMG :scared1: on what happened with your plumbing.

Glad you made the best of it.

Can't wait to read more. Going over to the dining review to read now. :goodvibes

[Nermel9]

Yay updates! :cool1:

Your anniversary things in your room are so cute! :thumbsup2 And your photopass pics are lovely, you guys don't look awkward at all!

Test Track is so much fun! I can't stand the ABS part, though! :scared1:

Love honoring your Dad with dinner and drinks in Mexico! :goodvibes I'm still looking for a way to do something like that in Disney for my Dad, but so far, nothing seems right! :confused3

AHHHH OMG, what a nightmare in YC! :scared1: I can't believe none of the CM's cared, that's awful. They really should have moved you to another CL room, or credited you the difference if they made you move down to a standard room. That's disappointing, how un-Disneylike. I'm glad you managed to find the humor in the night and still have a great trip after! :banana:

[IheartDDuck]

I can't believe that happened to you at the YC and that none of the CM's seemed to care about the issue. I'm glad that you made the best of it (I would have done the same thing), but I would have been furious. Absolutely furious. I feel so horrible for you.

[swwake]

I have to say the room at the YC looks just beautiful and the decorations and romance package were also gorgeous. So sorry to hear you had to deal with the toilet incident. You had me tearing up when you were out on the balcony and your hubby brought you a scotch and ginger ale and talked you through it, making it all better!

I would be a little disappointed that they couldn't have moved me - maybe even to CL at BC or another resort? But I am glad you made the most of it after all!

[heathsf]

Oh my gosh!! That is absolutely horrendous! I can't believe that the manager was *so* unaccommodating! That makes me so upset for you. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and the CMs are usually so great at helping accomplish that. I can't believe that they couldn't find a room for you, even if it was an upgrade! And worse, they were willing to downgrade you and NOT credit you your money! :mad: That is ridiculous! I'm so glad you didn't let it ruin your vacation because that would have been a very difficult thing for me to get over. I'm glad that you feel Disney has done all they can to make it right for you after the fact when you spoke to them when you got home. That is just truly awful. So has it been long enough that you can now look back at this and laugh...or is it still too soon?

[jenneth79]

Yay I'm so glad to see an update! You don't look awkward in your pictures and you both look so happy!! (I would be too if my hotel was walking distance from Epcot!!! ;)) I'm looking forward to reading about your thoughts on San Angel Inn since I ate their too on my last trip. Can't wait for more! :goodvibes

Awww, thanks! I am certainly glad we purchased the Photopass CD in advance, I'll probably do that every trip from here on out, there were a few really great shots!:goodvibes

Looks like you guys had a fun afternoon and evening at EPCOT and made great advantage of the easy walking distance from the resort.

I think your photopass pictures are fantastic and I LOVE your dress! Beautiful color. Very festive for your dinner.

Thanks! I absolutely love Target for stuff like this, lots of easy to pack and frankly I live most of my summer in them. (the part that they cost so little doesn't hurt either!) :thumbsup2



... Imagine my delight to see a photographer here as we walked by the bridge on the way to dinner. Maybe this will be our Christmas card photo!!!


http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/DIS%20trip%20report/EPCOT%202010/Photo0179.jpg


Maybe not.



Oh. My. Goodness! :rotfl2: Don't you just love little boys? :laughing:



Very nice surprises in your room. The anniversary balloons and treats were a nice touch. We had those when we checked into our room at the Beach Club on our first stay. A couple of balloons, some candy bars and a card from Mickey that said "Happy Birthday, Mike!" Unfortunately, nobody in my family is named Mike. So we tried to return them to a CM because we didn't want poor Mike to miss his birthday cheer, but they assured us that we could keep the goodies.

You should have asked for a Happy Birthday pin to go with it, if you were going to be Mike and all for the trip..... the same thing (kind of) happened to us. Our last day, we were delivered our checkout folio....except it was for the wrong person!:scared1: When we dropped it back off with the CMs all I could think was of the poor soul who must have been delivered our folio and nearly had a heart attack from the charges!




I love what you did with the rose petals!!! VERY FUNNY! :rotfl2:

Yeah, that was my little form of rebellion. We were calling it the "mood killer" for a few days as a laugh.

Stopping in to say hello !! :wave2:

GGS - also my favorite. If you ever get the chance to go to the Food and Wine festival, get a Parisian Cosmo Slush. Suuuppperr yummy !!

You DO NOT have a double chin !! Whatevs !! You are so pretty !!

Loved all of your gifts.

LOL on what you did with the rose petals.

OMG :scared1: on what happened with your plumbing.

Glad you made the best of it.

Can't wait to read more. Going over to the dining review to read now. :goodvibes

Welcome welcome welcome!:goodvibes

I saw a picture of that Cosmo Slushie.... F&W is now on my list of times we must visit, it looks sooo good!

[jenneth79]

Yay updates! :cool1:

Your anniversary things in your room are so cute! :thumbsup2 And your photopass pics are lovely, you guys don't look awkward at all!

Test Track is so much fun! I can't stand the ABS part, though! :scared1:

Love honoring your Dad with dinner and drinks in Mexico! :goodvibes I'm still looking for a way to do something like that in Disney for my Dad, but so far, nothing seems right! :confused3

AHHHH OMG, what a nightmare in YC! :scared1: I can't believe none of the CM's cared, that's awful. They really should have moved you to another CL room, or credited you the difference if they made you move down to a standard room. That's disappointing, how un-Disneylike. I'm glad you managed to find the humor in the night and still have a great trip after! :banana:

I think it never really works to "seek out" the right way to honor someone, it just sort of comes to you when its ready. There was another, random moment during our trip which I'll cover later that really made me feel like I was truly honoring my dad, and it wasn't something at all we had planned.:goodvibes

You will know when it's right.

It really was so unlike anything I've ever experienced there.... guess I caught everyone on a bad week?:confused3

I can't believe that happened to you at the YC and that none of the CM's seemed to care about the issue. I'm glad that you made the best of it (I would have done the same thing), but I would have been furious. Absolutely furious. I feel so horrible for you.

Thank you....:hug: It was a really crummy experience, but I have to say (knock on wood) I doubt that would ever happen again. Unless we are cursed, I'll let you know after February's trip.:rotfl2:

I have to say the room at the YC looks just beautiful and the decorations and romance package were also gorgeous. So sorry to hear you had to deal with the toilet incident. You had me tearing up when you were out on the balcony and your hubby brought you a scotch and ginger ale and talked you through it, making it all better!

I would be a little disappointed that they couldn't have moved me - maybe even to CL at BC or another resort? But I am glad you made the most of it after all!

My husband is my Hero. Truly.:lovestruc

I did wonder about that later, especially after speaking to one of the Directors when I got home. I guess the person on duty just royally screwed up, and I was so done with it at that point I didn't press the issue while we were still there. (By that time the room was clean again, so for me it didn't make much sense.)

The only lasting thing has been my fear of hotel bathroom toilets!!! Seriously, I panic when I go to a hotel now. My own version of PTSD!!!!:lmao:


Oh my gosh!! That is absolutely horrendous! I can't believe that the manager was *so* unaccommodating! That makes me so upset for you. Disney is supposed to be the happiest place on earth, and the CMs are usually so great at helping accomplish that. I can't believe that they couldn't find a room for you, even if it was an upgrade! And worse, they were willing to downgrade you and NOT credit you your money! :mad: That is ridiculous! I'm so glad you didn't let it ruin your vacation because that would have been a very difficult thing for me to get over. I'm glad that you feel Disney has done all they can to make it right for you after the fact when you spoke to them when you got home. That is just truly awful. So has it been long enough that you can now look back at this and laugh...or is it still too soon?

So I know we were in the best room you could get non-suite... and I do know there was a VERY large tech conference going on while we were there, but yeah, I wondered that too about the upgrade. My view on it is this:

1. They really WERE completely booked, due to the upgrade.
or
B. (come on, you know you laughed...) Because we still had 7 nights to go, they weren't willing to give up a large suite for that long.

Either way we were really laughing about it by the third day or so. My family has a pretty twisted sense of humor though, so we'll find something to laugh about in just about any situation....eventually.;)

[TanzUnited99]

I'm glad you enjoyed the Mexico pavillion - it sure is a pretty place.

Oh no on the room situation and the fact that not much help was available...that's not the way you want to start a special trip however I'm glad to read you didn't let it ruin the rest of your stay. Thumbs up to DH for keeping it together :thumbsup2

[heathsf]

I think it never really works to "seek out" the right way to honor someone, it just sort of comes to you when its ready. There was another, random moment during our trip which I'll cover later that really made me feel like I was truly honoring my dad, and it wasn't something at all we had planned.:goodvibes

You will know when it's right.

It really was so unlike anything I've ever experienced there.... guess I caught everyone on a bad week?:confused3



Thank you....:hug: It was a really crummy experience, but I have to say (knock on wood) I doubt that would ever happen again. Unless we are cursed, I'll let you know after February's trip.:rotfl2:



My husband is my Hero. Truly.:lovestruc

I did wonder about that later, especially after speaking to one of the Directors when I got home. I guess the person on duty just royally screwed up, and I was so done with it at that point I didn't press the issue while we were still there. (By that time the room was clean again, so for me it didn't make much sense.)

The only lasting thing has been my fear of hotel bathroom toilets!!! Seriously, I panic when I go to a hotel now. My own version of PTSD!!!!:lmao:




So I know we were in the best room you could get non-suite... and I do know there was a VERY large tech conference going on while we were there, but yeah, I wondered that too about the upgrade. My view on it is this:

1. They really WERE completely booked, due to the upgrade.
or
B. (come on, you know you laughed...) Because we still had 7 nights to go, they weren't willing to give up a large suite for that long.

Either way we were really laughing about it by the third day or so. My family has a pretty twisted sense of humor though, so we'll find something to laugh about in just about any situation....eventually.;)

I'm with you about the sense of humor. I try to remind people that when something truly absurd happens, just think that eventually (after enough time passes) you'll be able to look back and laugh!

[sw33t_angel]

Just joining in!! :goodvibes

Love your writing style and loved that you honored your father with a trip to Disney! :hug:

Your resort looks fabulous (minus the toilet incident :() and I love that you can walk to Epcot!! I would love to stay in CL, but we are never in the room hardly ever but to sleep, so not sure if it would be worth it for us! Looks great though! :)

We just got back from our Honeymoon last month, and we are also photopass stalkers... haha we were intense!

Glad you liked CRT, I think we got the same table as you! Loving your TR and can't wait to read more!

[Shannon84]

I LOVE the restaurant and bar in Mexico just for that nice relaxed atmosphere as well, plus it doesnt hurt the drinks are good :thumbsup2

I cannot believe what happened to you guys!! I would have been FURIOUS!! I am glad your DH is so sweet and calmed you down...good thing you brought a whole bottle of scotch :rotfl: And I had to laugh at your re design of the flower petals!!

I am glad that your surprise though came out beautifully!

[jenneth79]

I'm glad you enjoyed the Mexico pavillion - it sure is a pretty place.

Oh no on the room situation and the fact that not much help was available...that's not the way you want to start a special trip however I'm glad to read you didn't let it ruin the rest of your stay. Thumbs up to DH for keeping it together :thumbsup2

I do like all the innovations at WDW, but there will always be a soft spot in my heart for those places that never really "change"... and Mexico is one of them. They also have the crystal shop where we got the most ADORABLE little crystal inlaid Stitch!:goodvibes


I'm with you about the sense of humor. I try to remind people that when something truly absurd happens, just think that eventually (after enough time passes) you'll be able to look back and laugh!

Exactly!!!:thumbsup2

Just joining in!! :goodvibes

Love your writing style and loved that you honored your father with a trip to Disney! :hug:

Your resort looks fabulous (minus the toilet incident :() and I love that you can walk to Epcot!! I would love to stay in CL, but we are never in the room hardly ever but to sleep, so not sure if it would be worth it for us! Looks great though! :)

We just got back from our Honeymoon last month, and we are also photopass stalkers... haha we were intense!

Glad you liked CRT, I think we got the same table as you! Loving your TR and can't wait to read more!

Thank you thank you and :welcome: ! Congrats on your nuptials, what a wonderful place to spend your Honeymoon, isn't it?:bride:

I go back and forth on CL for future trips... mostly because we had never stayed CL before and I'm not really sure if it's worth it... outside of ONE thing: You are almost always on the top floor. Which means no "happy feet" running about above you. That almost makes it worth it for me.

Ok, actually, it does make it worth it for me. When there's a room discount rate.:lmao:

[Stefy]

Oh no, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, esp after a lovely day :( But well done hubby for keeping his cool and comforting you :)

[jenneth79]

I LOVE the restaurant and bar in Mexico just for that nice relaxed atmosphere as well, plus it doesnt hurt the drinks are good :thumbsup2

I cannot believe what happened to you guys!! I would have been FURIOUS!! I am glad your DH is so sweet and calmed you down...good thing you brought a whole bottle of scotch :rotfl: And I had to laugh at your re design of the flower petals!!

I am glad that your surprise though came out beautifully!

I think that bottle of scotch was the highlight of many people's week. (Esp. considering we left half a bottle at the end of our stay! :lmao:)


Oh no, I'm so sorry that you had to go through that, esp after a lovely day :( But well done hubby for keeping his cool and comforting you :)

He certainly is a keeper!:lovestruc

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

Okay Jen.....now that my TR is over, I JUST found your TR! I'm going to catch up but I just wanted to say hi and subscribe!! :thumbsup2

[jenneth79]

Okay Jen.....now that my TR is over, I JUST found your TR! I'm going to catch up but I just wanted to say hi and subscribe!! :thumbsup2

Welcome over here, Nikki! I've been home sick for a few days so I might actually get a full day's worth of updates loaded, you're just in time. :lmao:

Yeah, I've been a horrible slacker on my TR over the past two months. I blame the holidays.

... and my laziness.

:cutie:

[jenneth79]

HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!:woohoo: I hope you all had a wonderful celebration and wish you nothing but health and happiness in 2012!:wizard:

I have made a resolution to actually finish my Trip and Dining reports before our next trip in February. Therefore, I had better get moving! Without further ado, I bring you:

Chapter Six:
(In which our heroine bores you to death with the morning buildup to actual PICTURES!)

After an eventful night, I woke up fairly early (couldn’t sleep:mad:) and made my way out to the balcony to write in my trip journal and watch the sunrise. This is a major benefit to the Lagoon View rooms at the Yacht Club. The morning sky is AMAZING. All dark blues and purples.:cloud9: I’ll admit I was feeling rather sorry for myself sitting out there writing about the previous night’s disaster when I looked up and saw the most amazing thing: a flock of white birds flying against the dawn sky. That one moment completely changed my outlook for the better. Good Omens are the best, aren’t they? (Yes, a cheap reference to the book. Read it now. Thank me later.:thumbsup2)

The wake up call got Mike out of bed an hour later, which we both decided was probably a bit later than it should be. He was smiling though, said it was a great wake up call and I should have heard it. Though I did not listen to it that morning, after the third day I found myself chastising him constantly: “no sleeping/sleepies”! (Yes, I recorded it on my iPhone, and it is now my alarm clock at home. No, I am not joking. Stitch rules.:stitch:)

We got ready and tossed our flip flops in the bin from the night before , then walked out to the concierge desk and jokingly stated they probably heard about the night before. They looked at us like we were crazy. Apparently no one thought it was a good idea to let them know they’d be dealing with one cranky redhead the next morning. Whoops.:laughing:

We asked them to make sure the room was cleaned / sanitized, and that we’d be back in the afternoon. The CMs were very nice (if a bit confused:confused3) and said they’d have it taken care of.

We had planned an early ADR this day in the MK, so I dragged Mike downstairs to see how difficult it was to find a bus at the YC. Easy peasy. Right outside the front doors and to the left. Even better, there was a bus bound for the Magic Kingdom waiting…wait…no….it was getting ready to pull away!

Please know, dear reader, that I consider myself fairly good at hailing cabs. I worked in New York for a year, I had the system down.

Yet, apparently, all I could manage was a grin that stretched from ear to ear as we walked towards the bus that was starting to pull away.

Grin turned to panic.:scared1:

Bus driver stopped.

We made it on!

He did, however, point out in a very nice way that it would be most helpful in the future to wave and indicate we would like a ride.:rotfl2:

Whoops.

Finally, we were there! This is the best happy morning face on my DH ever:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0304.jpg
(who knows, he might actually LIKE this trip!!!)

The park would open at 9AM, but we had an ADR at 8:30. I was super excited to get in to the park early, but first we needed to figure out how to get in. A tip: if you have an early ADR or are meeting a tour group, go all the way to the left of the gates, a CM will help you get through ahead of the lines.

A swipe of my “golden ticket” and we were inside!:banana:

If you have an opportunity to make an early ADR before the park opens, DO IT. No lie, this was perhaps the best part of our whole trip, to walk through the park when it is virtually devoid of people.

To be continued....with PICTURES!

[jenneth79]

Chapter Seven
(In which our heroine tries to bring her internet connection down with picture overload...)

Thanks for your patience, now we get to the pictures….

Interestingly enough, the Photopass photographers were already out an hour before opening, and they took some pretty good pictures. Please disregard the following items for this day:

1. I am a redhead. Have been since birth. No, do not ask me why I insist on wearing pink.
2. I now realize how unflattering this shirt style truly is.
3. My hair wasn’t dry, thus the lovely “style”. Hey, it’s vacation!
4. Mike didn’t want to put down the Nikon, so it is now officially in the “family” photo.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0011FourBySix.jpg

I think this is where my photopass obsession TRULY began. Mike, bless his heart, didn’t mind and played along. We wandered around Main Street for a bit with two cameras (the Nikon D70 and my Kodak point and shoot) and got some “empty park” shots. I’ll spare you the majority, but here is a sampling:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0308.jpg
(I love the Halloween decorations, they look super cute on the MS buildings)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0311.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0314.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0699.jpg

And we passed a few more photographers along the walk:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0014FourBySix.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0016FourBySix.jpg
(so cute, if you can look past the “argh, pink shirt red hair” drama)

Soon we were right in front of the statue of Mickey and Walt. Oh my, this really got me a bit teary eyed. And to be there with so few other people around? Like I said, do it if you can…. It’s so worth it:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0017FourBySix.jpg
(Stupid crane….grrr….)

Told you this was picture heavy, a few we took around the circle:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0317.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0321.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0322.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0328.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0329.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0735.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0330.jpg

I don’t know why, I just love these bronze statues…. They just evoke such happy feelings!:goodvibes

(more to come shortly.....)

[jenneth79]

Chapter Seven and One Half
(because our heroine is lazy and cannot come up with a clever title)

-------------------------------------------------------------
This picture sums up how I felt that morning…..

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0709.jpg
(Yes, it was awesome, crane and all….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0716.jpg

Like how I stole the nice camera from him but still made him carry the bag? Yeah, I’m evil.;)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0731.jpg

(Exposure was off, but still a fun shot!)

After taking a gazillion pictures, we made our way a bit closer to the castle (and our planned breakfast!) and took, yes, MORE pictures. I warn you, I’m one of those crazy people who like architectural details, so my pictures always look a bit “off”….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0368.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0744.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0758.jpg
(I love this clock..)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0760.jpg
(It’s when you look at shots like this when you realize how much effort Disney puts in to make everything seem so perfect. Love.:lovestruc)

Our peace and quiet was not to last however, for I turned around and spied:


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0754.jpg
(oh no! PEOPLE ARE ACTUALLY COMING IN!:scared1:)

[jenneth79]

Chapter Seven and Three Quarters
(because let's face it, this isn't enough to stand on its own!)

So we ran inside the castle real quick to get a few shots of the Cinderella mural:


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0765.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0767.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0768.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0769.jpg
(whaaaat? I like bunnies, okay?..... ☺ )

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0771.jpg
(Never noticed this detail before!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0772.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0773.jpg

Then, with the camera begging us to stop torturing it, we walked over to check in for our ADR.

If you want to read about our experience at Cinderella’s Royal Table, take a quick trip over to our Dining Report HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43377357&postcount=119).

However, if you want it summed up in a picture:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0359.jpg
(Yeah. Really.)

BTW, why does Belle have to walk around in her plain clothes? I mean how come everyone else gets to dress up? I don’t see Ariel walking around in HER plain clothes…. Grumble….

Up next, “Teacups on the Edge”.....

[jenneth79]

Chapter Eight
(In which our heroine tests the laws of physics and accepts change.)

So after our traumatizing…ahem…. LOVELY breakfast:lmao:, we walked back down and made our way into Fantasyland. As we spent a good portion of breakfast watching people give it a go, Mike walked over to the Sword in the Stone:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0784.jpg
(Not going too well for him….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0786.jpg
(Hmm, perhaps….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0789.jpg
(Oh yeah, that’s my prince. Ever resourceful….princess:)

We walked around for a bit and stopped in front of Pooh. Ok, so I wasn’t convinced I wanted to go on this ride. I love Pooh, and all the Hundred Acre Wood. I also, however, loved Mr. Toad and miss him dearly.:lovestruc

But, there was no line so on we went!:rotfl2:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0364.jpg
(Absolutely! Wait… is that a gopher over there…..)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0365.jpg
(The interactive queuing was really pretty cool…. If alarming to germaphobes….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0368.jpg
(I love how the pages of the storybooks are woven into the ride, yeah….I’m converted now….love Pooh)

I had read on the DIS about how they put in a few little nods to the previous ride, and I was super lucky to get a shot of this:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0791.jpg

I guess if Mr. Toad was OK with it, I am too.

All in all, the ride was great, and it brought back so many good memories of the stories and cartoons I loved as a kid. Thumbs up for Pooh, and we’d visit it again on a future trip.:thumbsup2

Next, on our way back towards Space Mountain, we encountered the Teacups. I loved this ride as a child.

But I had just eaten breakfast….:teacher:

….but there was NO LINE.:woohoo:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0371.jpg
(So sweet and innocent…. This will be important in a few moments….)

Ok, first off, I seem to recall these teacups being MUCH LARGER when I was young. Squeezing the two of us in was a challenge in itself, much less securing camera bags and purses. But, we managed and Mike snapped a few pics while we waited for everyone else to load:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0372.jpg

Then the ride started.

Dear Reader, I think my husband tried to kill me.:sad2:

I started, in my typically innocent (:laughing:) way, spinning us around. Then, Mike got in on the action. I kid you not, I thought the cup was going to spin right off its foundation and throw us into the teapot! (poor mouse:rolleyes1). After I realized physics were probably on my side, I relaxed and enjoyed the somehow-non-nausea-inducing ride.

God, I love the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party.:lovestruc

Up Next... MOUNTAINS!

[jenneth79]

Chapter Eight (still)
(In which our heroine sets us up for Chapter Nine...)

So, while I’m frankly shocked it took us this long to get to it, we finally made it over to Space Mountain! This is really my favorite ride in the Magic Kingdom, for so many reasons. What’s not to love about it? 1. It’s in the dark. 2. It has awesome queue music. 3. It….. wait…. WHAT? The queue music is GONE?

Oh that is sooooo not cool, man.:snooty:

So I loved the sound of those Moody Blues-esque pings and trills as you waited in the lines for the ride. While I understand the reasoning behind the new little interactive games, (but really, space trash? :confused3) I wish they hadn’t jettisoned the music.

Rant over.pirate:

On the way in, we grabbed a set of FPs for later….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0370.jpg

As you might notice, the return time is for 11… it was 10:45. Yeah, there were no lines at all! So we walked on to the ride, and I even got to sit in the front seat! I think they hadn’t turned all the lights on yet or something, because it was SUPER dark in there on that run. Literally, I could not see in front of me.

Yeah. It was awesome.:goodvibes

Too soon it was over, but I dragged Mike on a second time (remember, still have our FP!) and we sat in the back car.

Don’t know why, but I prefer the front. Just feels like there’s nothing between you and void in front of you that way.

I proceeded to act like a complete giddy fool ( I hear Disney does that to a person…) on the way out and agreed we would not ride it a third time but come back later. Good thing too, for what to my wondering eyes should appear but…..

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0800.jpg

Stitch!!! :cool1:

Which, dear readers (you are still there, I hope!) is my favorite little troublemaker, and perhaps my favorite Disney character in general.

Needless to say, we got in line…. But what was to come none of us expected……

(stay turned, this one gets its own chapter!!!!)

[natebenma]

Great updates!!!

I'm so glad the morning is turning out muchly better than the evening before.

Great pictures on Main Street. The one of you, and only you, dancing in front of the castle, is AWESOME! We have never done a pre-park opening breakfast, but I would love to try it sometime.

So many fantastic pictures! The bronze mini-characters are super cute! Love the ones of the murals. Great picture of Toad handing over the deed to Owl.

And the Sword in the Stone!!! :rotfl2:

I laughed at your comment about germophobes and the pooh-interactive area. Here is what I wrote in my TR:

There is a wall where you can paint with “honey”. As you touch the screen, the honey reacts. All I can think of is little kids trying to lick the wall, after everyone has had their hands all over it. ICK!!!

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/Magic%20Kingdom%202011/IMG_5965.jpg


Glad the Tea Cups did not have dire consequences for you. Just looking at your pictures of them did me in. I can't handle "spinny".

I can't wait to hear about your encounter with Stitch!

[jenneth79]

Chapter Nine
In which we learn that ninjas just might be cooler than pirates….

So while we were waiting in line for Stitch, perhaps 5 families back, the Photopass Photographer decided to take a potty break. Totally don’t blame the guy, but I’m now getting bummed that we won’t have any pictures taken of both of us with Stitch!:guilty:

I took the one shot from the last update (apologies to the cute little girl’s family who must have thought I was a stalker or something…. Sheesh, I wanted a picture of STITCH, not your little mop haired moppet! Hmm, that wasn’t much of an apology was it? Well, they were giving me dirty looks. Boo on them.pirate:)

An-y-way….Mike said we could always try and find him later, but I was determined (and perhaps a bit too giddy from our two Space Mountain rides….) and decided to ask the Character handler if he would take a picture.

First off, if you’re out there, sir, you ROCK. :thumbsup2 He asked if we wanted him to take the pictures with the “big” camera (Nikon) and I figured, hey, why not. Mike got the Nikon out and handed it to him while I made a beeline for Stitch.

It started innocently enough, I walked up, gave the poor person in the Stitch costume a hug and (of course) said “you are my favorite…. It must be so much fun being evil!” Stitch laughed and nodded emphatically. Then our friendly little blue alien turned to Mike as he walked up (and this is where the pictures from the CM start….) I thought to get in a group photo:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0801.jpg

BTW, and a bit off topic. If you do plan on dining at CRT, make sure you have a bag big enough to carry the photo around in. I was stuck holding/sitting on/ trying to carry this thing all…darn…day.

So anyway, Stitch goes in for a hi-five. Mike does the same……


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0802.jpg


This being Stitch, however, there was a “down low / too slow” moment, and he whipped his hand away. These moments are not in the pictures, perhaps because we were all laughing. Mike stood back, looked affronted, and Stitch did his whole laugh thing.


Then Mike went all Matrix on him. Seriously, he did the pose and the little “hand flip” thing, you know, “Bring It:” and all that….I about dropped my CRT photo (come to think of it, that probably wouldn’t have been a loss). Sure enough, Stitch decided it was “Challenge Accepted” and we learned that they BOTH knew Kung Fu. :eek:


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0803.jpg


This battle lasted a good 3 minutes or so… everyone around us was cracking up… I am pretty sure I was just standing there with my jaw hanging open. Thank goodness, once again, for the CM with the camera!


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0804.jpg


Eventually they called a truce! (I don’t want to say anything, but I’m pretty sure Mike was losing….) Once they both picked themselves up off the ground from fits of laughter…


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0805.jpg

..and….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0806.jpg

We settled in for a few pictures with my two favorite crazies!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0808.jpg

..and…

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0809.jpg


We thanked both Stitch and the CM and were on our way. We were laughing and in such a hurry to make it over to the other mountains, I didn’t check the photos until later in the day. I had NO IDEA that it all was captured on film so wonderfully! Truly a bit of Disney Magic, and one of my favorite memories from the whole trip. :lovestruc


(I know I'm update happy today, but I figured I might as well take advantage of the time while I still have it... feast or famine here!)

[TanzUnited99]

Happy New Year Jen! :goodvibes I hope you have an amazing 2012.

I'm glad you had a moment that changed your outlook for the rest of your trip and lol on including a reference to the book! :laughing:

Yay on making it to MK and getting on the waiting bus. I still have to experience getting to a park before the crowds...will have to make sure it happens one day ;)

Great pictures of the Halloween decorations, the two of you and the bronze statues which are so pretty.

Lol for one minute I thought Mike had actually pulled the sword out of the stone! Love his idea.

Great updates and am looking forward to reading all about your M&G with Stitch!

Okay...so I was just about to post when I saw your next update...you sure are on a roll today! :rotfl2: I loved how hilarious your M&G actually was especially the Matrix fight between Stitch and DH - am glad they called a truce in the end :thumbsup2

[jenneth79]

Great updates!!!

I'm so glad the morning is turning out muchly better than the evening before.

Great pictures on Main Street. The one of you, and only you, dancing in front of the castle, is AWESOME! We have never done a pre-park opening breakfast, but I would love to try it sometime.

So many fantastic pictures! The bronze mini-characters are super cute! Love the ones of the murals. Great picture of Toad handing over the deed to Owl.

And the Sword in the Stone!!! :rotfl2:

I laughed at your comment about germophobes and the pooh-interactive area. Here is what I wrote in my TR:

There is a wall where you can paint with “honey”. As you touch the screen, the honey reacts. All I can think of is little kids trying to lick the wall, after everyone has had their hands all over it. ICK!!!

http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/Magic%20Kingdom%202011/IMG_5965.jpg


Glad the Tea Cups did not have dire consequences for you. Just looking at your pictures of them did me in. I can't handle "spinny".

I can't wait to hear about your encounter with Stitch!

We loved the pre-park opening so much we're doing it again on our (used to be a) Secret Valentines getaway. I was doing soooo well too... made it all the way until Christmas day. It's not even like I can say I did it on purpose, I just blurted it out "oh, we can take this to Disney in Feb!"

Um. Oops.

It really seems to work better on off-season times. That way an 8:30 breakfast is reasonable, when the park opens at 9.

You were RIGHT in your TR... there were people all over that thing. I'm not squeamish, but for some reason all those kids...thinking it was honey.... yeah, wasn't touching it.:sick:

It turns out the only ride at Disney I couldn't handle was Mission Space. No bueno. But it was only AFTER we got off the ride that I had issues. Shame, since it was one of Mike's favorites!

Glad you're still reading along, I'm rather worried I lost everyone with my extended delays!:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Happy New Year Jen! :goodvibes I hope you have an amazing 2012.

I'm glad you had a moment that changed your outlook for the rest of your trip and lol on including a reference to the book! :laughing:

Yay on making it to MK and getting on the waiting bus. I still have to experience getting to a park before the crowds...will have to make sure it happens one day ;)

Great pictures of the Halloween decorations, the two of you and the bronze statues which are so pretty.

Lol for one minute I thought Mike had actually pulled the sword out of the stone! Love his idea.

Great updates and am looking forward to reading all about your M&G with Stitch!

Okay...so I was just about to post when I saw your next update...you sure are on a roll today! :rotfl2: I loved how hilarious your M&G actually was especially the Matrix fight between Stitch and DH - am glad they called a truce in the end :thumbsup2

Happy New Year to you as well, dear!:hug:

I swear that is one of my favorite books of all time. It's a classic, but hard to describe to people. Thus my "sneaky" ways of trying to force them to read it.:lmao:

Like I was saying to Dee, it really seems to work out better in the off season, when the park itself opens later. That way it doesn't feel like you're getting up all THAT early. I'm looking forward to our CP breakfast like that in Feb! (made even better, I hope, for us being able to walk there from the Contemporary!)

Mike did find a use for the little plastic sword they gave him at CRT, didn't he? :rotfl2:

I really was just standing there slack jawed watching the two of them.

Best. Day. Ever.

(which is always nice following the Worst. Night. Ever. Things in balance, right?)

[Nermel9]

Yay, so many updates! :cool1:

Happy New Year! You're going back to Disney in February? Jealous. :rolleyes1

Your hair is so pretty, I don't think it looks bad with the pink! I used to dye my hair that color in high school, I got so many compliments on it! :thumbsup2

I love all of your empty park pics, I love that you are allowed to go into MK before it's open just to eat breakfast! :lovestruc Your castle pics are amazing, I wish I knew how to use a real camera!

OMG I love your Stitch moment! Ugh, too bad that family gave you dirty looks, but I'm glad you got to meet your favorite AND have such a great experience with him! I love that the characters interact with adults like that! :cool1:

Can't wait to read more!

[jenneth79]

Yay, so many updates! :cool1:

Happy New Year! You're going back to Disney in February? Jealous. :rolleyes1

Your hair is so pretty, I don't think it looks bad with the pink! I used to dye my hair that color in high school, I got so many compliments on it! :thumbsup2

I love all of your empty park pics, I love that you are allowed to go into MK before it's open just to eat breakfast! :lovestruc Your castle pics are amazing, I wish I knew how to use a real camera!

OMG I love your Stitch moment! Ugh, too bad that family gave you dirty looks, but I'm glad you got to meet your favorite AND have such a great experience with him! I love that the characters interact with adults like that! :cool1:

Can't wait to read more!

Yay! You're still here too!:hug: I love you guys... I really feel like I've lost almost all of my readers, but I'm still going to finish this report, dagnabit!:lmao:

We are going back from the 10-13th. A short long weekend away. It was supposed to be a surprise for my hubby, but of course I blew it on Christmas Day. Shocking I made it that far, actually! The plan is to just relax in EPCOT (since this is his favorite park and the trip IS for him) and give the Contemporary a shot, which he really liked when we went for dinner at Cali Grill.

That's part of the reason why I made early ADRs at CP again for this trip, so we get hopefully another great bit of time in the park before the masses, and so we have a head start on what will be an abbreviated trip! I still somehow want to manage a visit to all three parks, but in 4 days (two of which being travel days) that might be a stretch. We shall see. :goodvibes

I think you can get great pictures with ANY camera. One of my favorite mediums to shoot with is Polaroid (well, Impossible Project film, but Polaroid cameras) and my iPhone! Some of the better pictures of the castle were actually from my little Kodak easyshare. The best thing I ever did was take a class on taking photos in general, regardless of the type of camera. I still have to learn all the bells and whistles on our two Nikons!:cutie:

As for the hair, THANK YOU! While I probably should have pointed out that my natural red is not quite that...ah....vibrant...ever since I started growing grey (at 22, no less!) but I still love experimenting. I'm back to a more natural auburn now, which I almost find boring! Ha.:rotfl2:

CMs that play Stitch really have the best job. They kind of get to do whatever they want, and never really break character!:worship:

[jenneth79]

Chapter Ten
In which our heroine gets a hat trick before noon, and sees a ghost (or 999).

So after we left his Stitchyness, we walked over through Frontierland to ride what had become our new (and by new I mean we made it up on the way over:goodvibes) mission: ride all three mountains by 12! It was a little after 11 at that time, but we had faith in the lines (the crowd was still very light at this point…love September crowds!)

We started with BTMR! This was a favorite ride of mine as a kid, at least until the day we got stuck on it (I think that was back when they had rain sensors or something odd like that) going UP the steepest incline. As a six year old, all you can think about is falling backwards to a fiery death. (What, not all six year olds think that? Huh. Odd.:rolleyes: ) Either way, I still love it, but never forget that day. Thankfully my dad was there to calm me down and point out it was probably because of the thunder storm rolling in. Yeah, that was my dad. Miss him so much.:cloud9:

Anyway, before I get too emotional, we walked RIGHT ON the ride, no wait at all AND we got the back car. I was super giddy and got the camera out snapping shots all over the place. Another (bad) attempt at a “hold your arm out and smile together” shot:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0376.jpg
(kids, don’t try this at home)


However, I also got THIS totally awesome coolness shot (even if most of it is out of focus!)
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0379.jpg
(wheeeeeee!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0383.jpg
(You know, there didn’t seem to be quite so many clouds earlier….FORSHADOWING ALERT!!!)

My thoughts on BTMR remain the same. Every time I want it to be a faster ride, every time it isn’t, but I also remember how much I love it. Kind of a strange relationship with it, I guess. I mean, this was always, and really still is, a good coaster. But with the advent of hydraulic launch coasters and those that drop five stories, well…it’s hard to compete.

(Still my favorite coaster to ride at night, though!:thumbsup2)

After that we walked over to Splash Mountain, expecting a wait. It was maybe 10 minutes. Maybe.:woohoo: As we sat on the boat Mike was telling me all the things he remembered about it as a kid, and I argued that there was so way he could have remembered it, it wasn’t THERE the last time he was in Disney. (Turns out we were both right. It wasn’t there when he last visited Disney WORLD (86) but it was the last time he was in DisneyLAND (90). Tomato, tomahto.

The ride was great, and I kinda-sorta tried to get a picture of the screen of our photo.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0371.jpg

I share this with you not because it’s a great picture of us (second row) but for the guy in the back row. Best. Reaction. Ever.:rotfl2:

When we got off Splash we looked at the clock, it was 11:52! We had actually managed to ride all three mountains in an hour and a half’s time, and all before 12! :dance3:

We had decided to give Columbia Harbor House a try for a quick lunch (thanks Dee!!!) so we walked back around towards Liberty Square and got into a little more Photopass fun!

First, I simply HAD to tell this guy what a great hat he had!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0020FourBySix.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0022FourBySix.jpg
(Yeah, he’s totally my friend now…)

Then, when we passed the stocks and saw yet another PP, well, duh….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0023FourBySix.jpg
(Prisoner 664 ladies and gentlemen, currently serving a sentence for poor wardrobe choice.)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0025FourBySix.jpg
(Prisoner 666, a chandelier in piec…ahem… I mean guilty by association. Also: Yeah, I totally went there. Yes, that also makes me the Monkey.Bonus points for anyone who knows what I’m talking about….)

Next we were off to my second favorite Disney ride, The Haunted Mansion! (Yes, I know we didn’t tour very well from a walking perspective… but we figured we had some leeway with the crowds being pretty low) I haven’t been to Disney since the interactive queue was introduced, so we walked through that line… I was really pleased that they incorporated both the old tombstones with the new interactive ones. We had fun with it, though it certainly made the line a bit longer.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0386.jpg
(A Scottish man and bagpipes. Yeah. Shocker, I know….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0390.jpg
(Again, it’s the details like this that I absolutely love !)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0391.jpg
(Say it with me now, BUBBLES!!!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0392.jpg
(This was perhaps my favorite part of the queue… it’s like whack a mole, but BETTER.)

Finally we made it onto the ride and I can safely say I still love it, all the bad puns and Doombuggies and ghosts popping out at you on hydraulic pistons. I LOVE it. Haunted Mansion 4 EVA!:lovestruc

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0398.jpg

Now, get in line for the picture of the unassuming couple in front of the haunted house…..

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0028FourBySix.jpg

Ok, so then we tried the “oh look it’s a ghost” shot. Photopass FAIL. (the CM with the ghost was learning the ropes, and had us looking in a completely different direction.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0029FourBySix.jpg

Oh yeah, you might THINK the coachman is scary, but just be glad you didn’t see what was OUTSIDE THE FRAME. :eek:

Two words.

Justin.

Bieber.

........

What?:rolleyes1

Before I upset too many people, I’ll end this chapter here, dear reader…..mainly so I can go write my dining review of CHH!

Happy Friday!

[MiaBella05]

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

[jenneth79]

popcorn:: joining in popcorn::

Welcome welcome welcome! :goodvibes

I hope you enjoy the report, so glad to see people are reading!

Saw you are doing the Princess Marathon, best of luck!!

[natebenma]

I'm all caught up!!! :cool1:

Hey Jen's Dear Readers! Are the pings and trills really gone from the Space Mountain line? I remember hearing them vividly, and I think it has been since the rehab. I didn't ride SM for a long time until 2010 (it was under rehab and then the kids didn't want to ride), so I don't think I am remembering way back from the early nineties. Maybe you weren't in line long enough? Or am I just thinking of the exit music???

Your meet with Stitch was so fun!!! I bet it made all 3 of your days. And the CM capturing it, too!

Thanks for pointing out the guy on the Splash photo. Someday I want to do something fun on one of the ride photos, like YMCA on TT or fake sleeping on Dinosaur. Did you notice that the parks (Disney and Universal, too) are trying to prevent Red Neck Ride Photos by quickly putting words up over the picture. Either they didn't do this here or you were very quick.

Big Thunder is one of our family's favorites. We rode it 4 times on our MK day last summer. The ride totally makes me smile.

Congrats on your Triple Mountain Whammy by noon. You may not know what that is. Did you "meet" Stacey during your trip? The Must-Do Disney/Top 7 attractions chick? Triple Mountain Whammy was one of her catch phrases. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. Wham! Wham! Wham! It's all wham!

I didn't know you could get the Haunted Mansion ghost during the day! I thought it was only during MNSSHP. Cool!

Now checking to see if you have done your CHH review. Sounds like you liked it.

[eyeslikeanocean]

4 words
Phantom of the Opera
One of my favorite movies of all time!!!!!

Oh, by the way, I am a lurker. I've read all your PTR, Dining review, and now this one. Love your writing style. We went to the world in October. Can't wait to go back, even though it's not in our foreseeable future. Ya'll have fun in Feb!

[laura74]

Love the trip report AND your fun dining reviews. Can't wait for more!

[jenneth79]

Thanks for pointing out the guy on the Splash photo. Someday I want to do something fun on one of the ride photos, like YMCA on TT or fake sleeping on Dinosaur. Did you notice that the parks (Disney and Universal, too) are trying to prevent Red Neck Ride Photos by quickly putting words up over the picture. Either they didn't do this here or you were very quick.

Congrats on your Triple Mountain Whammy by noon. You may not know what that is. Did you "meet" Stacey during your trip? The Must-Do Disney/Top 7 attractions chick? Triple Mountain Whammy was one of her catch phrases. Space Mountain, Splash Mountain, Big Thunder Mountain. Wham! Wham! Wham! It's all wham!

I didn't know you could get the Haunted Mansion ghost during the day! I thought it was only during MNSSHP. Cool!

Now checking to see if you have done your CHH review. Sounds like you liked it.

We did a cute Splash Mountain "pose" later on... but yeah, I've seen so many cute gags, signs, etc.... we have been brainstorming on what to do on our next trips.

I don't remember seeing the words over the pictures at SM, but while I was snapping the pic I did get a nasty look from the CM watching over the area. Ah well... Rednecks Revenge!:goodvibes

So, about Stacey. We had something along the lines of a "speed date". As in, we turned to her channel, gave her about 60 seconds of squealing, then quickly changed the station again.

We just weren't meant to be.:lmao:

The ironic thing about HM ghost pictures was that they didn't have it during the night!!! :confused3

4 words
Phantom of the Opera
One of my favorite movies of all time!!!!!

Oh, by the way, I am a lurker. I've read all your PTR, Dining review, and now this one. Love your writing style. We went to the world in October. Can't wait to go back, even though it's not in our foreseeable future. Ya'll have fun in Feb!

<3 Phantom. Good pull on the reference!:flower3:

Thank you so much for de-lurking to let me know you're out there!!! I really do hope my reviews are helpful and entertaining, and it's great to know people are enjoying it! Makes me want to keep writing:goodvibes

How was October? We will be heading back this year for F&W mid-October. Were the crowds manageable?

Love the trip report AND your fun dining reviews. Can't wait for more!

Thank you!!!! Glad to hear you are reading along!:)

[jenneth79]

Chapter 11
In which the rain rain rain came down down down….

So, after the Haunted Mansion I ran back over to the fence to get a picture of our slightly hidden Toad friend:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/DSC_0797.jpg

Yeah. Still miss him.

We walked around the corner and got a quick lunch at Columbia Harbor House. You can read all about our meal experience HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43647557&postcount=139), but I have to say it was a great experience for Quick Service. Highly recommended.

After lunch, we debated heading over to Tom Sawyer Island, or taking in a few more of our favorite rides. (Namely, POTC) Yeah, Pirates won.pirate:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0402.jpg

Before we went in, though, Mike decided to say hello to his dear friend:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0403.jpg

Ah. Rum. I have missed you so…..:worship:

Dear reader, I should warn you, there are no more pictures from this afternoon. However, I have a perfectly good reason.

We met the Florida Afternoon Storm.

Having lived in Florida for a few years, I learned that the FAS hits between 2 and 3 in the afternoon, lasts roughly 30 minutes, then goes the way it came, leaving a beautiful rainbow in its place.

But not to worry, I bought ponchos before we even left on our trip! I’m TOTALLY prepared.

You know what? Ponchos are super useful… WHEN YOU BRING THEM WITH YOU TO THE PARKS.

Yeah, I forgot them. Didn’t check the weather. I blame the bathroom incident from the night before.:headache:

We waited a few minutes in the store and then decided we’d just have to make a run for it. Tiki Room was close; we’d sprint for that and wait out the rest of the storm. We were lucky, and caught the whole pre show, and were ushered into the main stage area for the show.

I had not experienced the “Under New Management” version of this attraction, and they had recently switched it back to the original cast for our visit. I have fond memories of the Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Tiki Room, mostly because the song is so darn catchy. Mike thought it was cute, I loved it… and half the audience sang and danced along.

I know that the Tiki Room is not a favorite of many who visit Disney. If you haven’t given it a shot, check it out. Yes, it’s cheesy as all get out, and yes, it’s sometimes hard to tell what they are saying. But it’s cute. It’s Classic Disney. Just give it a shot and make up your own opinions. Let me know what you think when you do ☺

Expecting the storm to have been long gone by that time, we were shocked to see it wasn’t just still going, it was absolutely POURING.

We played secret agents and spies and tried to hug all the building lines around Adventureland on our way back to Main Street and hopefully ponchos. Finally we walked through Casey’s and found a golf shop beyond. Whoops.

Mike proceeded to shop for all manner of Mickey Golf Gear, while I asked other bedraggled shoppers if they had found ponchos. Once I dragged him away from the golf shirts and made sure we were both wearing our ponchos we walked back out of the store….

…..into the sunshine.:lmao:

Yes, dear readers, Disney Law: If you buy a poncho, it will immediately cease to rain.

We went back to Space Mountain real quick and got in one more ride before heading back to the Yacht Club for some pool time (hopefully.)

(Did we make it to the pool? Stay tuned....)

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

I love that hidden Toad in the Haunted Mansion graveyard. I miss it too. I was young but I remember the "Save Mr. Toad" campaign. I think that was my first experience with the disney purist mentality. Unfortunately, it has hit me MANY times since then for things such as the Living Seas, World of Motion, Horizons (of course), Adventurer's Club, etc.........

So funny about the ponchos!

[natebenma]

Chapter 11
In which the rain rain rain came down down down….

I know that the Tiki Room is not a favorite of many who visit Disney. If you haven’t given it a shot, check it out. Yes, it’s cheesy as all get out, and yes, it’s sometimes hard to tell what they are saying. But it’s cute. It’s Classic Disney. Just give it a shot and make up your own opinions. Let me know what you think when you do ☺



I love that hidden Toad in the Haunted Mansion graveyard. I miss it too. I was young but I remember the "Save Mr. Toad" campaign. I think that was my first experience with the disney purist mentality. Unfortunately, it has hit me MANY times since then for things such as the Living Seas, World of Motion, Horizons (of course), Adventurer's Club, etc.........

So funny about the ponchos!

A very nostalgic post and response.

My Disney history includes my first trip as a HS Senior (with my future DH) in 1983, and several trips in the 80's and early nineties. Then a bit of a break (as we enjoyed exploring the Caribbean) until we started back at Disney with the kids in 2004 and 2009-2011.

The changes that bother me the most are the abominations to Figment and the Mexico ride, the loss of the Living with the Land song and the disappearance of the Kitchen Kabaret (but I suppose I will accept Soarin' as a consolation prize...)

I did see the Tiki (under new management) once, in 2004, but we haven't been back since then. I love the song, so I will have to give it a try again.

Never experienced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, so I don't really feel your pain on that one.

:rotfl: about the ponchos!!!

[eyeslikeanocean]

We did a cute Splash Mountain "pose" later on... but yeah, I've seen so many cute gags, signs, etc.... we have been brainstorming on what to do on our next trips.

I don't remember seeing the words over the pictures at SM, but while I was snapping the pic I did get a nasty look from the CM watching over the area. Ah well... Rednecks Revenge!:goodvibes

So, about Stacey. We had something along the lines of a "speed date". As in, we turned to her channel, gave her about 60 seconds of squealing, then quickly changed the station again.

We just weren't meant to be.:lmao:

The ironic thing about HM ghost pictures was that they didn't have it during the night!!! :confused3



<3 Phantom. Good pull on the reference!:flower3:

Thank you so much for de-lurking to let me know you're out there!!! I really do hope my reviews are helpful and entertaining, and it's great to know people are enjoying it! Makes me want to keep writing:goodvibes

How was October? We will be heading back this year for F&W mid-October. Were the crowds manageable?



Thank you!!!! Glad to hear you are reading along!:)



the crowds were managable and the F& W was Awesome! I loved it! If you are doing the DDP be sure to save ALL your snack credits for Epcot! The crowds were not that bad, and when I get the chance to go back to Disney, I am def. going to try to do the F&W again, as well as MNSSHP!

[mkandjpsmom]

I am really enjoying your trip report! I started at the food review and ended up here! Your pictures are wonderful. :love:

[jenneth79]

I love that hidden Toad in the Haunted Mansion graveyard. I miss it too. I was young but I remember the "Save Mr. Toad" campaign. I think that was my first experience with the disney purist mentality. Unfortunately, it has hit me MANY times since then for things such as the Living Seas, World of Motion, Horizons (of course), Adventurer's Club, etc.........

So funny about the ponchos!

I was never lucky enough to check out the Adventurer's Club, but everyone I have heard from about it thought it was so entertaining. Shame I missed that....We actually didn't check out the "new" Living Seas on our last trip....I guess I'll have to bite the bullet in February.

A very nostalgic post and response.

My Disney history includes my first trip as a HS Senior (with my future DH) in 1983, and several trips in the 80's and early nineties. Then a bit of a break (as we enjoyed exploring the Caribbean) until we started back at Disney with the kids in 2004 and 2009-2011.

The changes that bother me the most are the abominations to Figment and the Mexico ride, the loss of the Living with the Land song and the disappearance of the Kitchen Kabaret (but I suppose I will accept Soarin' as a consolation prize...)

I did see the Tiki (under new management) once, in 2004, but we haven't been back since then. I love the song, so I will have to give it a try again.

Never experienced Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, so I don't really feel your pain on that one.

:rotfl: about the ponchos!!!

I had forgotten about the Kitchen Kabaret....my brain just conjured up a signing onion now.... (might be the codeine, unsure...:lmao:)

I am just glad I didn't have to deal with Figment when there was no Figment... though Dreamfinder is still a huge loss. Mexico actually didn't bother me so much... they still had the little skeleton mariachi band, so I was appeased.

I just love that your first trip to Disney was with your (eventually to be) DH.... that's an awesome story!

Mike and I found out we were there at the same time back in 83 as well....interesting to think we may have passed each other so long ago (though, admittedly, not sure how observant a 3 and 7 year old would be for remembering faces....:rotfl2:)

I do hope you get to check out the Tiki Room on your next trip. It's still cheesy, but in the best possible way.:goodvibes

the crowds were managable and the F& W was Awesome! I loved it! If you are doing the DDP be sure to save ALL your snack credits for Epcot! The crowds were not that bad, and when I get the chance to go back to Disney, I am def. going to try to do the F&W again, as well as MNSSHP!

Ooh! I didn't know you could use snack credits for F&W!!! We were planning on skipping the plan for that trip, but it seems like a bit more research is in order on my part!:thumbsup2

We haven't talked about MNSSHP yet, but it's on my list of "try to talk the DH into for next trip".

I am really enjoying your trip report! I started at the food review and ended up here! Your pictures are wonderful. :love:

Yay, :welcome: and thank you!! I'm glad you are enjoying the pictures, it's something I certainly inherited from my dad! Well, the love of taking them at least, not the talent... he took AMAZING pictures.:lovestruc

[natebenma]

I was never lucky enough to check out the Adventurer's Club, but everyone I have heard from about it thought it was so entertaining. Shame I missed that....



My only memory of the Adventurer's Club is that a waitress spilled a drink on my husband. He was wet and sticky the rest of the evening.

Mike and I found out we were there at the same time back in 83 as well....interesting to think we may have passed each other so long ago (though, admittedly, not sure how observant a 3 and 7 year old would be for remembering faces....:rotfl2:)



When in 1983? We were there in April.

Do you remember the story from about a year ago of a couple who had just married? They were looking at some of her old family photos of a trip to Disney, and they spotted husband in one of the photos from the trip! So both of them were in the same photo, as children. Or something like that.

I just love that your first trip to Disney was with your (eventually to be) DH.... that's an awesome story!



Thanks!

Trip announcement (haven't even done this on the BC board, I need to tell Teena first before I come out of the closet)-

Mark and I have been married for 25 years (July 1986)- we travelled a lot before Nate was born, but we have not been away, alone, together for 13 years, not one single night!

There have been a few times when the boys have been gone for a night, but I can count the number on one hand and still have my thumb left over.

My DH has been jonesing for a trip to Disney without the kids and we priced it out. The main drawbacks of this plan is that Ben would pitch a fit (rightly so since he would be the only family member not going to Disney this year) and that it wouldn’t be the most relaxing of trips. It COULD be, but knowing us, it wouldn’t be…

So, we priced out a trip to Puerto Rico and booked it for Sunday March 4/5 (we have a midnight flight!) to Thursday March 8- VERY EXCITED!!!

We have only been to PR once for a port day in San Juan with the boys, but we found a really nice resort (Las Casitas) on the east coast with amazing views, a beautiful private island (which unfortunately means that the resort is not beach-front), a funicular and the rooms have butlers! I’m not sure if all of the rooms have a butler or what they do and I’m even less sure I like the idea of that, but we will see.

[heathsf]

Hey! Sorry I've been behind but I'm still here and just finished catching up. First of all, I loved your encounter with Stitch. Secondly, I loved your Phantom of the Opera reference. Thirdly, I'm loving everything else about your TR too! Looking forward to more :goodvibes

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi Jen,
Not sure if you remember me from your PTR...
I'm late, late, late for the party! so sorry :guilty:

Going back to catch-up...can't wait to hear all about your trip!
Christine

[jenneth79]

Hi Jen,
Not sure if you remember me from your PTR...
I'm late, late, late for the party! so sorry :guilty:

Going back to catch-up...can't wait to hear all about your trip!
Christine

I do remember you, :welcome: over!!! I'd like to hear all about your trip, was it a great way to celebrate a milestone?:goodvibes

Hey! Sorry I've been behind but I'm still here and just finished catching up. First of all, I loved your encounter with Stitch. Secondly, I loved your Phantom of the Opera reference. Thirdly, I'm loving everything else about your TR too! Looking forward to more :goodvibes

Thanks, thanks, and THANKS!:goodvibes I've been spending a lot of time on Pinterest lately, so when I saw the Phantom posters, it brought back all the songs!

My only memory of the Adventurer's Club is that a waitress spilled a drink on my husband. He was wet and sticky the rest of the evening.

Ew. Not the best memory to have!



When in 1983? We were there in April.

Do you remember the story from about a year ago of a couple who had just married? They were looking at some of her old family photos of a trip to Disney, and they spotted husband in one of the photos from the trip! So both of them were in the same photo, as children. Or something like that.



We were there in September. And I hadn't heard that story, I'm going to go look it up now... sounds so magical! (and random, yes, but I like the pixie dust aspect...)




Trip announcement (haven't even done this on the BC board, I need to tell Teena first before I come out of the closet)-

Mark and I have been married for 25 years (July 1986)- we travelled a lot before Nate was born, but we have not been away, alone, together for 13 years, not one single night!

There have been a few times when the boys have been gone for a night, but I can count the number on one hand and still have my thumb left over.

My DH has been jonesing for a trip to Disney without the kids and we priced it out. The main drawbacks of this plan is that Ben would pitch a fit (rightly so since he would be the only family member not going to Disney this year) and that it wouldn’t be the most relaxing of trips. It COULD be, but knowing us, it wouldn’t be…

So, we priced out a trip to Puerto Rico and booked it for Sunday March 4/5 (we have a midnight flight!) to Thursday March 8- VERY EXCITED!!!

We have only been to PR once for a port day in San Juan with the boys, but we found a really nice resort (Las Casitas) on the east coast with amazing views, a beautiful private island (which unfortunately means that the resort is not beach-front), a funicular and the rooms have butlers! I’m not sure if all of the rooms have a butler or what they do and I’m even less sure I like the idea of that, but we will see.

I think you are going to LOVE it!!! The butlers are pretty nice, actually, and as hands off as you want them. It's mostly like having a personal concierge available to you 24/7. They oversee whatever you want, whenever you want. And yes, you can get spoiled VERY easily. ;)

[jenneth79]

So I should have been working on my TR and Dining Review today, but then I realized we have 23 days left until our February trip and I haven't planned out anything except meals!:scared1:

I had to remedy that IMMEDIATELY, and since I've been working on it all day (got some work in there somewhere....kinda...:laughing:) I thought I'd share it with you all as a little mini-PTR.:goodvibes

First off, this is a super short trip. Only 2 full days really with travel on Friday and Monday. Secondly, this trip is for my DH. He loves Epcot. He wants to eat and drink around the world again, so we're doing this as a very Epcot heavy trip. The original plan was to ONLY go to Epcot...but...um...yeah, I just couldn't have that. :lmao: So we will, in fact, be visiting ALL 4 PARKS over 4 days. My challenge was to hit the highlights, and still manage to spend most of our time in the World Showcase.:teacher:

I've been on the Touringplans/Lines site figuring out where and when... and here is what I've come up with (let me know what you think!)

Friday, February 10th
Arrive at Contemporary Resort (my DH requested we give this one a try) around 11-12is. Check in, and head out to.... ANIMAL KINGDOM.
Priorities at AK: Expedition Everest, Festival of the Lion King, Dawa Bar, and JALAPENO PRETZELS.
After AK closes, go back to CR, settle into our room, and have dinner over at GF (Citricos). Try to get to bed early.

Saturday, February 11th
EMH at DHS (Trying to ride TSM, ToT, RnR, One Man's Dream)
Rest of the day in EPCOT
(Planning on France, Mexico, Canada, UK, Norway)
Lunch at Chef de France, Dinner at Le Cellier
Also riding TT, MS(Orange), and Figment!
Hoping to actually play Kim Possible game this time.
Visiting La Cava de Tequila (Visit 1 of 3...:lmao:)

Sunday, February 12th
Early morning ADR at CP in MK (Which means Early Entry! Yay!)
Mad Tea Party
Cinderella's Castle, Wishing Well (My favorite spot in the park)
Back to Epcot (Are you dizzy yet? I am!)
China, American Adventure, Italy, Germany, Morocco
....and la Cava visit #2
Dinner at California Grill (Get to watch the FW from the roof! :love:)
Off to MK for EMH...looks like it will be open until 2AM, so we'll have plenty of time to hit all our favorites!
Crash.

Monday, February 13th
Sleep In:rotfl2:
Checkout, Check our bags into the airline, and yes.....
....head back to Epcot.
Spend the rest of the afternoon there (Lunch at Tokyo Dining) then catch our car back to the airport and home.


So, have I lost it?:confused3

[swwake]

Yes, that's a whirlwind trip! No you're not crazy. I'd do it!
I have a friend who will be there at the same time for (fair warning!) a national cheerleading competition!

I can't believe you're doing an Epcot-centric trip with no plans for Soarin!

[TanzUnited99]

Great plans! Hope you both are not too tired by the end of the trip though I can understand wanting to fit everything into the time you have available! :rotfl:

I have to agree with trying to fit Soarin into your plans as it is an amazing ride.

[407-W-DISNEY]

Your plans are great!! So jealous!!!

Turning 40 at Disney was sooo cool~ and we were there for Disney's 40th on 10/1, my bday is 9/30! That was really special!

[natebenma]

Love it! Great ideas to get everything in. I think going to AK on day one is an excellent idea, and doing the other 3 parks on other days. Since you are concentrating on EPCOT, and it is really easy to move between MK and EP and HS and EP, your plans should totally work!

Now back to me. You talk about the butlers. Have you stayed at this specific resort (Las Casitas) or have you experienced them at other locations.

[Nermel9]

Great plans for your Feb. trip! I love the idea of an "Epcot heavy" trip...actually, all of my trips are pretty Epcot heavy! :thumbsup2 Everywhere you're eating sounds amazing, sounds like it will be a really fun, tiring trip! :rotfl:

[IheartDDuck]

Okay, I'm all caught up. :)

Love the fact that you accomplished riding all three mountains before 12pm. That's the best part about going in September. It's so light on crowds.

LOVE the Phantom reference! I used to listen to the original Broadway recording religiously. I caught your reference immediately. It may also be because I know that entire sequence by heart! :lovestruc

[jenneth79]

Yes, that's a whirlwind trip! No you're not crazy. I'd do it!
I have a friend who will be there at the same time for (fair warning!) a national cheerleading competition!

I can't believe you're doing an Epcot-centric trip with no plans for Soarin!

Yeah, we found out about the Cheering competition a month ago, :cheer2: and while I admit I'm not keen on lots of cheers in line I have heard that most of the time the kids are actually competing, and hanging out at their respective hotels (thankfully NOT the Contemporary.:rotfl2:)

The funny thing is I really didn't like Soarin... *ducks*..... I mean, it was a nice ride, but it didn't quite live up to the hype. We've decided if we have time we'll give it a go, but it's not a priority for us on this trip. Perhaps when we go back in October for a bit longer we'll have a chance.

Great plans! Hope you both are not too tired by the end of the trip though I can understand wanting to fit everything into the time you have available! :rotfl:

I have to agree with trying to fit Soarin into your plans as it is an amazing ride.

I'm starting to think I should take the day off after the trip from work to recover!:goodvibes

Your plans are great!! So jealous!!!

Turning 40 at Disney was sooo cool~ and we were there for Disney's 40th on 10/1, my bday is 9/30! That was really special!

Yay! That's so cool you both got to celebrate there! I heard the 40th Celebration was crazy, but outside of the not-so-different Fireworks, it was a really magical experience. I'm just not sure I could have handled the crowds....:eek:

Love it! Great ideas to get everything in. I think going to AK on day one is an excellent idea, and doing the other 3 parks on other days. Since you are concentrating on EPCOT, and it is really easy to move between MK and EP and HS and EP, your plans should totally work!

Now back to me. You talk about the butlers. Have you stayed at this specific resort (Las Casitas) or have you experienced them at other locations.

Hahahaha... I love that! "Back to me...":rotfl2:

We have not stayed there at Las Casitas (though I have to look it up now, sounds amazing) but we did have Butler service at a few domestic hotels, notably MGM Grand in Vegas.

They. Are. Awesome.

Basically a personal concierge. Need tea? A drink? Someone to (I kid you not) run the bath for you then leave? (and no, didn't take advantage of that)

For us, we were unpacked before we even got to our room, Joel made sure we had all dinner reservations we needed (and offered to call over to other Hotels to get tables for clubs, etc.) and made sure our favorite drinks/coffee were stocked.

The thing I know a lot of people love butler service for is shopping. You can literally give them a list and say "please get these" and it will all be waiting for you when you get back, with a receipt.

Now, the kicker is, this is WAY more for high-rollers (which I am decidedly NOT) than normal people. But...if they come with the room, take advantage! Get that ressie you wanted but couldn't stand waiting for, have the beach area chairs set up for you, ask for the coffee to be made at 9am..... etc.

Great plans for your Feb. trip! I love the idea of an "Epcot heavy" trip...actually, all of my trips are pretty Epcot heavy! :thumbsup2 Everywhere you're eating sounds amazing, sounds like it will be a really fun, tiring trip! :rotfl:

Thanks!:goodvibes I'm getting super excited! Now the only thing I have to worry about is the weather here!

Okay, I'm all caught up. :)

Love the fact that you accomplished riding all three mountains before 12pm. That's the best part about going in September. It's so light on crowds.

LOVE the Phantom reference! I used to listen to the original Broadway recording religiously. I caught your reference immediately. It may also be because I know that entire sequence by heart! :lovestruc

I seemed to think when I was younger I'd be on stage playing the role of Christine one day. That was before I understood how expensive it was to put on a production of an ALW show. Closest I got was Eliza in My Fair Lady. I was always more of a guttersnipe anyway ;)

[jenneth79]

Chapter Twelve
In which our heroine FINALLY finishes talking about Day 2....

To start, dear readers, I have been remiss! I forgot to mention our experience on the Stitch’s Great Escape! We decided since Mike had never had a chance to ride it before, we’d give it a go.

Yes. It’s still terrible.:headache:

Moving on…..

We traveled back to the Yacht Club, to find an industrial fan in our room. The positive? The carpets had been well and truly cleaned. (Our room simply reeked of cleaner). The negative? The floors were damp and it was a very loud fan.:rolleyes: We decided to grab quick showers and just head back to Epcot for the rest of the day.

We also had this little gem, a super cute towel animal hanging out with Buddha and Chester!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0373.jpg
I thought this was a cute way to incorporate our “friends” into a little bit of pixie dust!

On our way out, we stopped by the CL lounge and had a quick snack along with a beer. The room was crowded, but not painfully so, and we found a nice table on the balcony and chatted about our trip so far. I took a few pictures of the offerings in the Lounge:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0375.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/IMG_0374.jpg

The Egg Rolls were pretty good, but I learned very quickly if something comes in a triangle of pastry dough EAT IT!:lmao: These red pepper goat cheese lovelies were so good. I ate 5. I’m not ashamed to admit that. Not one bit.

We finally just walked over to Epcot and wandered through the UK and Canada shops, then sat down for a while to listen to Off Kilter play. I managed to take a video, which is fun just for the choice of song, but the quality sounded a lot better in person. I would highly recommend checking these guys out, especially when they go Nova Scotia / Scotland style with the bagpipes and the fiddle!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/th_100_0407.jpg (http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/?action=view&current=100_0407.mp4)

(Hopefully this works, I haven’t attached a video before…let me know if it doesn’t and I’ll troubleshoot the link)

Soon it was time for our dinner at Le Cellier. To read all about it, check out our dining review HERE.

It was a great dinner, and we were quite full afterward! The park had pretty much shut down for the evening once we had left the restaurant, as we missed Illuminations. (Felt it at least, the whole place shook once or twice!)
We found out that morning that the Magic Kingdom was running EMH in the evening and we thought it would be a great idea to wander around the park at night, something Mike had never done and I only once in the past. We had to run quickly though to catch the monorail (that whole one hour after park closing thing) and got on one of the last trains to TTC.

My first trip back on the Monorail! How exciting! I know it’s old and run down and in desperate need of renovation, but the monorail IS Disney to me. There was the most adorable kid on there as well, she was about 4 and constantly chanted the New Orleans Saints’ cheer or led a rousing rendition of “Yo ho Yo Ho a pirates life…” Four years old. And, for 10 at night, not falling apart, that’s a bonus!:lmao:

We reached TTC and I rushed to the MK platform….to find it closed.:scared1:

Oh yeah. An hour after NORMAL park closing. Whoops. At first I was bummed, then I realized this meant we got to ride on the Ferry boat to MK. I have never done this before, a new experience! It was a whole new perspective riding across the lagoon in the dark, and offered up a very unique picture of the Magic Kingdom. I would highly recommend this to anyone who hasn’t tried it before. Who knew Space Mountain was quite so large!

I took some great (ha!) pictures….ok not at all, but this one does look pretty cool:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0413.jpg
(that line in the front is another ferry boat……)

We made it over and through the turnstiles, right into a complete mass of people leaving! As we made our way through the tunnels, Mike quipped “And now you see the salmon, swimming upstream as they do each September.” That’s what it felt like. Total nightmare. I think next time we do EMH we’ll make sure to arrive a bit before or well after normal park closing hours. Once we emerged onto Main Street, things were much less hectic, and I flagged down a Photopass photographer or two. Or three. I also learned that it is absolutely impossible for me to stand still for night shots, and had one photographer yell at me about it (rightly so!).

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0034FourBySix-1.jpg
(My favorite of the pictures… not the best castle color…but look, once again NO PEOPLE! Woo hoo!)

We walked over to Liberty Square, snapping this shot on the way:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Two/100_0417.jpg

First off was the Haunted Mansion, which is so much fun at night, but I was very bummed there were no Photopass Photographers there at the time. I would think night time shots there are much more popular. Oh well, perhaps another time! We also rode BTMR, which is perhaps my favorite night ride in MK. As you climb the main hill and look up, the sky is a mass of stars and you feel as if you’re in an Arizona desert. Then you turn your head and see Cinderella Castle. Surreal.:love:

After that we walked over to Splash Mountain. The standby time was posted as 20 minutes. We figured why not and walked in. That number must have been old, because we (in my case quite literally:woohoo:) danced right onto the ride! I love how happy the music is in there. That’s my excuse. The cocktail had NOTHING to do with it….:rolleyes1

We sat down and I had a small moment of panic, our lap bar locked into place, but not all the way. Immediately I decided against putting my hands up due to a quite irrational fear that I’d fall out, and when it came time for the big “drop” into the brier patch, Mike just leaned in and kissed me to shut me up. :lovestruc

When we got off the ride, we saw this at the photopass booth:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0036FourBySix-1.jpg

Needless to say Disney got a little bit more of my money that night.

We made a quick trip over to POTC afterward and when the CM saw our Anniversary buttons he gave us the “Love seat” in the back. Too cute! If you have a button, WEAR IT, you never know what little perk you might get!:thumbsup2

Eventually we realized how tired we were and made our way back to the MK Entrance. I really felt the magic walking down Main Street at night, what a wonderful way to end our second day!

Coming soon, a day OTHER than day 2!!!

[natebenma]

Fantastic update.

And my first photo theft!!! I don't have any YC Concierge photos up on thread, so with your permission, I would like to add the ones you have posted. Let me know if you have any objections.

That's cool that you headed over to MK after your dinner. Even with the travel hiccups. GREAT photo of you two in front of the castle with no other peeps!

The Splash Mountain photo was also worthy for purchase. So cute!

[swwake]

The funny thing is I really didn't like Soarin... *ducks*..... I mean, it was a nice ride, but it didn't quite live up to the hype. We've decided if we have time we'll give it a go, but it's not a priority for us on this trip. Perhaps when we go back in October for a bit longer we'll have a chance.
I have to agree with you. I like it, but I don't think it lives up to they hype and isn't worth a wait more than 30 mins. My DH doesn't care for it. It disappoints me that they left it so California-centric.

[swwake]

Loving the report! You make me want to try YC CL.

I love Off Kilter and make my family stop to hear them every time we go.

Best. Splash picture. Ever!

[All About The Mouse]

Great trip report so far! you two are a cute couple!:thumbsup2

So sorry about your room drama but glad to hear after your trip you spoke with someone who cared.

Can't wait to read more!

[jenneth79]

Great trip report so far! you two are a cute couple!:thumbsup2

So sorry about your room drama but glad to hear after your trip you spoke with someone who cared.

Can't wait to read more!

Awww, THANK YOU!:hug: My overweight self really appreciates kind comments like that :goodvibes

Loving the report! You make me want to try YC CL.

I love Off Kilter and make my family stop to hear them every time we go.

Best. Splash picture. Ever!

I'm looking forward to heading back to YC CL in October...we'll see how we like CR first, but I suspect it will eventually become our home base. :)

We worked Off Kilter into our plan for next month, they are just so fun. We never got a chance to check out the British cover band, have you heard them? Any good?:confused3

I have to agree with you. I like it, but I don't think it lives up to they hype and isn't worth a wait more than 30 mins. My DH doesn't care for it. It disappoints me that they left it so California-centric.

Yeah, that and for some reason, even dangling so far up in the air, I never really got the flying sensation. Maybe something wrong with my eyes!:3dglasses We went to see Beauty and the Beast in 3D last night and loved it, but I find sometimes my eyes don't focus quick enough for the film.

Fantastic update.

And my first photo theft!!! I don't have any YC Concierge photos up on thread, so with your permission, I would like to add the ones you have posted. Let me know if you have any objections.

That's cool that you headed over to MK after your dinner. Even with the travel hiccups. GREAT photo of you two in front of the castle with no other peeps!

The Splash Mountain photo was also worthy for purchase. So cute!

Steal away my dear! :goodvibes I'm only sorry I didn't get more pictures for you!:guilty:

We'll see how it goes on our next trip, but I'm starting to think Evening EMH in MK are a perfect way for adults to get all the rides in with lower crowds! The kids we ran into we all super well behaved as well. I was expecting the meltdowns to be everywhere, but nope...just smiling happy faces!:wizard:

[NikkiLovesWDW!]

That Splash Mountain pictures is AMAZING!! I can't believe that was spontaneous. I don't think it could've looked better if you had planned it. BTW, the lap bar is totally new! For years, everyone riding Splash was just fine with no lap bar! You wouldn't have flown out! :lmao:

[swwake]

We worked Off Kilter into our plan for next month, they are just so fun. We never got a chance to check out the British cover band, have you heard them? Any good?:confused3I did get to hear the new British cover band when we were there in December. My niece and I were doing a UK KimPossible mission while they were playing. I thought they were good, but I didn't like the music as well as I liked the previous Beatles cover band that was there in Sept 2010. I kinda hate that their contract was up. :(

[princessbride6205]

Hi there! I just found your TR this weekend and I'm loving it. Looking forward to the next update.

[jenneth79]

That Splash Mountain pictures is AMAZING!! I can't believe that was spontaneous. I don't think it could've looked better if you had planned it. BTW, the lap bar is totally new! For years, everyone riding Splash was just fine with no lap bar! You wouldn't have flown out! :lmao:

I'm glad to know that for future rides. Having been on ToT back when it was just a lap bar and sitting by a larger individual, I have a bit of fear on those rides.:goodvibes

It probably wouldn't have happened if we planned it! We tried and tried and tried on other rides (notably Test Track, since you can add it to your photopass "free" of charge) and failed every time. To make it more amusing, though, here was how our conversation went on Splash:

"We're going to fall out."

"It's fine."

"No, look, I'll slip through the bar!"

"Shush"

"Miiiikkeeee"

"Shaddup!"

"Look the FSU bunny!"

*pause*

"OMG WERE GOING TO DIE!"

...and then he kissed me.

:rotfl2:

I did get to hear the new British cover band when we were there in December. My niece and I were doing a UK KimPossible mission while they were playing. I thought they were good, but I didn't like the music as well as I liked the previous Beatles cover band that was there in Sept 2010. I kinda hate that their contract was up. :(

Yeah, I was really looking forward to seeing them, then realized things had changed. I'll let you know what we think of the new band after this trip!:thumbsup2

Hi there! I just found your TR this weekend and I'm loving it. Looking forward to the next update.

Yay, and :welcome: So glad you found the TR! We'll see if I can update 7 more days worth of stuff before our next trip.... hahah. Yeah, that's so not going to happen.:goodvibes

On a real life note, we spent most of the snowy / icy weekend redecorating our loft into usable space and I didn't have a chance to upload more pictures. Going to take care of that tonight so....Next update should come tomorrow!:thumbsup2

[jenneth79]

Chapter Thirteen

In which our heroine sleeps in. Kinda.

After such a jam packed Sunday we decided to go ahead and sleep in today. I still woke up fairly early (7!:laughing:), and took some time out on the balcony to write up the previous day. It was quite muggy out, a real change from the two days before and a sign I was sure of things to come. Not a lot of sun in the sky either, so my plan of sunrise pictures didn’t manifest itself quite yet.

I haven’t mentioned the construction going on at YC at the time of our visit, though it was a very hot topic on the boards leading up to our stay. Here was my opinion of it: No big deal. Granted, that’s because I didn’t have THIS on my balcony:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0527.jpg

I suspect if that was the case, I would have asked for a different room. The construction crew didn’t really get started on things until after we were up and about (around 9-10 am) and were typically done before 5, for those who wanted a late afternoon nap before dinner. Again, it was pretty much a non-issue for us, and as long as we looked straight forward, we never even saw it!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0528.jpg
(looking down from our balcony…granted, it’s not like the roof would have been any nicer without the construction stuff…..)

Our plan for this day pretty much involved wandering around Epcot, though we had learned the day before that friends of ours were also at Disney the same weekend and wanted to meet up. We tentatively planned to meet them after dinner in DTD, and to check out the DHS EMH in the evening if things fell through.

Another trip to the CL lounge provided me with a lovely croissant and Mike with… wait… what? He got a hard-boiled egg for our walk to Epcot?:rotfl2: I can only imagine the site we made, each walking with a coffee and a napkin, him eating his egg on the go. I don’t know, it made me giggle somehow.

BTW, for those of you who are wondering what the walk from YC/BC is like to the International Gateway entrance? It’s lovely and not strenuous at all. There is even a little path under the bridge that keeps you off any “hills”! (Also a nice little romantic walk complete with friendly lizards.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0423.jpg
(Forgive the camera fog; unfortunately the lens hadn’t regulated let temperature and humidity wise.)

Epcot seemed much busier today than it had previously, though the crowds were still fairly low and comfortable. We started by wandering through an empty UK taking some silly pictures on the way and just enjoying the morning. Some pictures for your viewing pleasure:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0426.jpg
(Again, I love the details here… so pretty and quaint!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0428.jpg
(Mike, recreating/making fun of my Cinderella Castle pose.)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0433.jpg
(He did look a bit like a bodyguard with those Oakleys on….though it would have been hilarious if a CM came through the door as he was standing there!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0440.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0446.jpg
(The Dr. Who references are….well…there. Ha.)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0447.jpg
(The little coffee stand, “Espresso Coffee and Pastries”, between UK and Canada, apparently there were some alcoholic choices for your morning cuppa. We declined this time…. But I must say the coffee here in general is rather good, considering.)

We started off by walking over to Soarin’ and getting FPs for later in the day. I was really excited to give this ride a try, as it was yet another that had been added to Epcot since my last visit.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0453.jpg
(Wow, the FPs must go FAST here… no pun intended. I think we picked these up around 10 AM)

Since we were there, we decided to ride Living with the Land. This is actually one of those “educational” rides that I rather loved as a kid. I was interested to see how it had been updated, and how much stayed the same.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0456.jpg
(From the queue, I adore this quote!)

I think I forgot to take pictures, but the ride was just as nice as I remembered, and I love how the growing techniques that were so “new” back in the 80s have taken off on a lot of levels and still used today. The fact that they provide a large amount of food for the parks itself is a nice touch!

After that we quite frankly wandered through Innoventions and made our way to the Big Golf Ball™ where both I and the Photopass photographer took a few pictures!

My picture:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0460.jpg

His “picture”….
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/th_100_0463.jpg (http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/?action=view&current=100_0463.mp4)

Apparently he turned it to the video setting. Thankfully he also used his camera:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0038FourBySix.jpg
(I just love how bright and blue the sky was getting!)

We went up and got in line for Spaceship Earth, the other ride I was furious about the changes made to!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0464.jpg

This is only because I adore Jeremy Irons’ voice. Adore. Madame Dench is a wonderful actress, but I am still protesting the change.:mad:

Probably enough for one post… up next, Mission trynottopukewhileinspace. Orange. :sick:

[jenneth79]

Chapter Fourteen
In which we get a little queasy, and a little electric!

Our trip continued with a stop to see what Coca Cola had to offer:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0470.jpg

Whatever you do, do not drink Beverly. It is the bad flavored Bertie Bot Bean. It is evil. It will not leave anything but a nasty taste in your mouth.

I shiver just remembering it….

Escaping from that we walked over to the last of the “new” rides we were going to try at Epcot, Mission Space!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0471.jpg
(got to love the low crowds!)

The question, of course, is which ride to choose?: Orange or Green?

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0473.jpg

Mike had the answer!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0474.jpg

I was a bit nervous, mostly because of the CONSTANT warnings the queuing area gives you. Seriously, they warn you left and right not to ride Orange if you pretty much breathe! My thoughts on the ride itself, AWESOME! My thoughts on getting off the ride (and subsequently becoming extremely nauseous) not-so-awesome. I felt fine during the ride (if a bit confined… claustrophobia and all…) but for some reason my illness kicked in while we were walking back into the sun. This happened each time we rode during our stay (about 3 times I think…) and while I didn’t get ill, I didn’t really feel 100% for a while either. :sick:

On the way out we grabbed a FP for Test Track and walked back into the World Showcase. We stopped over at the China Tea Cart to try something I spied on the DIS before our trip. The Mango Gingerita.

Here is a picture of the lovely drink in all its gingery goodness:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0477.jpg
(insert heavenly voices singing here.)

This thing is amazing, if you love ginger. There are little bits of chewy goodness in each sip. That may sound gross but trust me, super yummy! I’m honestly torn between this and the Grey Goose Slushie as my favorite Epcot drink. :lovestruc

We wandered a bit through Germany, and Mike bought a new pair of trainers for the trip. (He was having issues with his sandals) Found a decent pair of Adidas (on sale!) and I picked up a little mini-stein for a souvenir.

On next to Italy, and a quick stop to the perfume shop where we found new “Stink” for Mike, WAY cheaper than at home. I wonder if shopping in some of these Epcot shops is akin to duty free? It’s strange, because the bottle of Prada cologne we bought for him was easily 30 dollars cheaper than the same bottle back here in Virginia. They also gave me enough samples to fill up two antique perfume bottles back home!

We were about ready for our lunch at Tutto Italia (Read our review HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43843761&postcount=155)), but we caught a performance from these lovely funny ladies just before that. (Forgive me I forget the group’s name!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0479.jpg

I think Italy is a lovely pavilion, though it may not have an “attraction”, per se. Just a few pictures:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0483.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0505.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0506.jpg

We walked back around towards Mexico where we did some window shopping and Mike found a fun Donald hat that neither of us would ever consider wearing, but for some strange reason deserved a picture:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0507.jpg

Quick ride on Test Track then walked back across to use our Soarin’ FPs. I have already gone through my thoughts on this ride, but again, I’ll say it was OK, but not something I’d really wait in a long line for and not something I’d put on my must see list. Just a personal preference I guess. :confused3

Then over to the Imagination Pavilion and took some pictures of the fountains:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0510.jpg

While doing this, we took a picture of THIS as well:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0512.jpg
(Uh oh….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0513.jpg
(Yes, I know if I had actually stopped taking pictures of the clouds I might have had time to put my poncho on and seek shelter.)

I swear this thing rolled up before anyone had a chance to even notice it. NASTY storm. Lightning all over the place. Got our ponchos out of the bag and on just in time to avoid a major soaking and made our way back over to the Yacht Club. Even WITH the ponchos we were pretty much sopping wet and of course, it stopped raining just as we were getting ready to walk inside. Typical.

We dripped our way back up to our room to find our dear Buddha and Chester in an interesting setup:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0514.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0515.jpg

I think we had the first penguin/otter wedding ever staged at Disney.

The swans were really lovely though!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0517.jpg


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0519.jpg


Then, walking out onto the balcony, we caught THIS!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0520.jpg
(yay, rainbows!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0523.jpg

It was already fading but such a pretty sky, all the same!

While I’m at it, I’ll share a few views from our room (#5219):

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0524.jpg


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0526.jpg


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0531.jpg

I walked down to the CL Lounge and picked up a plate of snacks and a few drinks for the room where we just lounged about for a few hours and read, then we got ready for what was going to be another busy night!

[BurleyGirl]

Great update! I had no idea you could buy sneakers at Epcot! I love the navy coverlet on your beds. I don't think we had those when we stayed at the YC...perhaps it's a CL thing? (But it's been a few years and maybe they've changed things...)

[jenneth79]

Great update! I had no idea you could buy sneakers at Epcot! I love the navy coverlet on your beds. I don't think we had those when we stayed at the YC...perhaps it's a CL thing? (But it's been a few years and maybe they've changed things...)

Yep! I want to say it was at Der Teddybar, but I am sure it was Germany :)

I heard they recently changed the bedding at YC, perhaps that was it?

[IheartDDuck]

Hahahaha, I noticed the SAME thing when we were in line for Mission: Space Orange. My friend kept looking at me saying "wow, they really want to make sure you're ready for this ride".

[jecskc]

I am enjoying your report and I haven't read in a while because your links aren't in your second page or your dinig review links throughout the report. I thought you had gotten to chapter seven and stopped. But it just turns out you just went all stealth on us. Can't wait to read more.

[natebenma]

Chapter Fourteen
In which we get a little queasy, and a little electric!

While doing this, we took a picture of THIS as well:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0512.jpg
(Uh oh….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0513.jpg
(Yes, I know if I had actually stopped taking pictures of the clouds I might have had time to put my poncho on and seek shelter.)



I know those clouds!!! At least once per trip, we have to race back to the BC from EPCOT when we see them. So far, we are two for two avoiding getting drenched, but only because we used the super secret entrance.

I love your pictures in the empty World Showcase countries. It is such a pretty walk over.

Good for you for braving M:S Orange. I won't be trying that any time soon. Ever.

Do you remember the folksy old "Living with the Land" song? That is what I miss most of all of the Disney changes from my visits in the 80s. Still a great ride though.

Do you like the Spaceship Earth finale? I think that is a great addition.

Thanks for the heads up on the Mango Gingerita. Sounds wonderful!

[Queenofallthings]

Mango Gingerita you say:rolleyes1Ok, twist my arm, I'll try one next time!:rotfl2: I figure if I pick up a GGS in France by the time I make it to China I'll need a refill:thumbsup2

Is there anything more beautiful than a rainbow? Ok, a rainbow at Disney is perfection! Just beautiful!

The views from your room are amazing! You stayed at one of dream resorts!

[jenneth79]

Hahahaha, I noticed the SAME thing when we were in line for Mission: Space Orange. My friend kept looking at me saying "wow, they really want to make sure you're ready for this ride".

Nothing compares to the two girls who were in our pod with us, however. They really didn't speak English, so all they were looking at were these big red flashing lights and all sorts of "Warning, Warning" things going on and they were FREAKING OUT. I really wish I spoke Portuguese because when they got into the pod and saw the air sickness bags... the rush of words that came out (and the facial expressions) were priceless!:lmao: They both seemed to enjoy the ride though and were much less icky than I was!

I am enjoying your report and I haven't read in a while because your links aren't in your second page or your dinig review links throughout the report. I thought you had gotten to chapter seven and stopped. But it just turns out you just went all stealth on us. Can't wait to read more.

OMG, I'm so glad you told me that, I zonked and completely forgot to update the TOC! Thanks, it's all up to date now!:thumbsup2

Though I just realized I didn't link my dining review for Tutto in here either.... back to work!:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Enjoying your report!!

:welcome: and thank you so much for your kind words! I hope you continue to enjoy the updates... more picture heavy posts to come, I promise!:thumbsup2

[midwest2wdw]

Enjoying your report!!

[jenneth79]

I know those clouds!!! At least once per trip, we have to race back to the BC from EPCOT when we see them. So far, we are two for two avoiding getting drenched, but only because we used the super secret entrance.

I love your pictures in the empty World Showcase countries. It is such a pretty walk over.

Good for you for braving M:S Orange. I won't be trying that any time soon. Ever.

Do you remember the folksy old "Living with the Land" song? That is what I miss most of all of the Disney changes from my visits in the 80s. Still a great ride though.

Do you like the Spaceship Earth finale? I think that is a great addition.

Thanks for the heads up on the Mango Gingerita. Sounds wonderful!

I do remember the song! And I have to say you're right, the finale at Spaceship earth is nice...and I like that they made the "descent" a bit more interactive as well.

Mike wants to try the Cantoloopy next trip... so I should have a report on that in my NEXT TR...lol. I fear I'm going to have TR and DRs in duplicate a month from now if I don't finish this one!:lmao:

Mango Gingerita you say:rolleyes1Ok, twist my arm, I'll try one next time!:rotfl2: I figure if I pick up a GGS in France by the time I make it to China I'll need a refill:thumbsup2

Is there anything more beautiful than a rainbow? Ok, a rainbow at Disney is perfection! Just beautiful!

The views from your room are amazing! You stayed at one of dream resorts!

I was super excited about the rainbow. It was one of my favorite things about living in Florida when I was younger... we got a lot more of them there than we do up here.

I think the China / France split is a PERFECT distance for frozen drinks. Equivalent would be Mexico / Germany as well. ;)

[jenneth79]

Ok, now the DIS is wacky. It's posting my replies before the OP!:scared1:

[jenneth79]

Chapter Fifteen
In which you, dear reader, experience animal picture overload.

After a fairly relaxing afternoon, Mike and I showered and got ready for our dinner at AKL. As I mentioned earlier we had planned on meeting some friends of ours in DTD later that night.

Then we got this text message:

“Stuck in Fairy Line. Want drink bad. Kids want chicken nuggets then sleep. Not going to make it tonight.”

I realize there are benefits to traveling without three kids. :lmao:

So, we took another look at the park schedules and decided we would give DHS a try if we felt up to it after dinner as they had EMH going on. I don’t think I’ve mentioned quite yet how efficient the cab system is at Disney, at least in regards to the Deluxe resorts. We never had a wait of more than 5 minutes after asking for a cab at the valet stand, and the cab drivers (with one very noticeable exception which you will hear all about on day five’s report….) got us where we needed to go quickly and efficiently.

My first impression of AKL….WOW. :worship: It doesn’t seem so impressive until you walk into the main lobby and then I have to say it’s probably one of the most stunning hotels I’ve ever seen. The wall to ceiling windows overlooking the savanna and all the artifacts from different areas of Africa are so cool. We spent a bit of time in the gift shop then walked outside to see the animals. We had arrived just before dusk, so I think they were probably more active than usual, so we got to see some of the “wildlife”. There was also a safari tour guide (or he used to be back in Kenya) sharing all sorts of information about the animals out in the paddocks who was super nice and knowledgeable.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0532.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0534.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0536.jpg

The attention to detail is apparent in the exterior of the hotel as well:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0537.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0539.jpg
(it really was just a perfect day….)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0542.jpg
(the giraffe refused to turn around, so I focused in on the zebras!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0545.jpg
(“stop staring at me!!!”)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0549.jpg
(I would so want to stay on this guy’s GOOD side…)

There was another rare species out that day…. The coach pin purse of madness!!!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0556.jpg

This is a great picture for perspective… look how massive these windows are!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0558.jpg

Probably enough pictures for this post….. Continued shortly….

[jenneth79]

Chapter Sixteen
In a place much like this one, a night much like tonight....

We made our way back inside and took the elevator to Jiko (one small issue with AKL is finding the restaurants… they aren’t easily spotted!) Where we enjoyed one of our favorite meals during our whole trip! (Read all about it HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43897124&postcount=160).)

The staff had a nice card for us to wish us a happy anniversary, which was a really sweet touch. Also, I said this in my DR and I’ll say it again: if you love wine, you will LOVE this place. So many to choose from!

Our waiter took a few pictures of us after dinner, which gives you a pretty good idea of the layout in the lounge/bar area:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0563.jpg

It ALSO reminds me to tell you about something I learned this night which annoyed me, and I had no idea about. When you shop in any of the Disney parks, they will hold your packages for you and either delivers them to your hotel (room if staying CL) or to the front of the park when you leave. This makes things super convenient and encourages people to spend more money! Win-win for everyone, right?:confused3

This, dear reader, does NOT extend to the resorts.:sad2:

After buying a bunch of stuff at the AKL gift shop, I asked them to send it over to YC. The woman at the cash register was very apologetic but said that they no longer sent packages from resort to resort. Seeing as I had already bought everything I couldn’t do anything but carry the bag around for the rest of the night. This is why I wanted to share, because it was a shock to me, and perhaps an assumption others would make as well.

Anyway, we had decided to head over to DHS after dinner and saved some money by getting on the bus to do so!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0564.jpg

I loved AKL, the theming, the people, the animals, and the food. But, I hate the fact that the only option you have for any park is to take a bus. I would rather have a walk option (Like the Epcot resorts) or a walk/monorail/boat option like the MK resorts. I don’t dislike the bus system, I just like to have options.

Anyway, after about a 10 minute wait we were on our way to DHS! I would say we entered about 25 minutes before closing, so it was another “salmon upstream” moment walking in. Mike had never been to DHS before, and the last time I was there it was still MGM, though I have to say not a whole lot has changed since 1998. I knew he would absolutely love Tower of Terror though, and what better way to first experience it than at night?

We walked up and noticed the standby time was about 30 minutes, but discussed at least riding this then heading back to the hotel if we were tired. The line wasn’t nearly that long, but we had enough time to at least appreciate all the details.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/IMG_0410.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/IMG_0411.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/IMG_0413.jpg

Pixie dust experience #1 for the evening: They ran the FULL CYCLE to the ride for Mike’s first time. I believe there were two short drops, and three full drops. Then, when you get to the part at the end where the black and white hypnotist wheel comes in? They pulled us up again AFTER THAT CAME ON. Then dropped us. I wonder if it was the last cycle of the (normal hours) night, but it was simply amazing.:yay:

The look on my husband’s face after that ride made the whole cost of the trip worth it. :goodvibes

Pixie dust experience #2 came right after. As we were walking through the gift shop, each of us reverting to our inner 10 year-old selves talking about how “awesome” and “cool” that was, a man walked up to us and asked us if we were planning on riding again. Laughing we said “Yes, immediately!”

Then he handed us FPs and said his family was heading out and he wasn’t going to use them. When we walked up to the entry line, they were checking resort keys, but ushered us into the FP line once we proved we were guests staying on property.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0569.jpg
(Super awesome!!!)

So we got RIGHT BACK ON!:dance3:

Second time was fun as well, but nothing could compare to the experience earlier, so we decided to skip the third trip. We were about ready to walk down to take the boat back to YC (we really just wanted to ride ToT at night, then go to bed…ha….) but just about that time Fantasmic let out, and we decided we’d probably be better off waiting a bit. So we walked over to RRC (is that the proper abbreviation? RnR? RnRC?) and waited in line….and waited….and waited…. Ouch.

On the positive side, I was able to take a pretty cool picture of the ToT from the queue:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Three/100_0571.jpg

My impressions of this ride? LOUD. Too loud. I didn’t like it at all it was so loud. I also have super sensitive ears. It also jostles you around a lot. I’d say of all the coasters at Disney, it’s the once that bounces you around the most.

By the time we (finally) escaped the Dude that Looks Like a Lady Ride, we made our way out of the park, stopping for a few Photopass pictures along the way:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0042FourBySix.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0045FourBySix.jpg

Then it was off to bed, for there is a park we haven’t visited yet……

[annnewjerz]

Sunday, February 12th
Early morning ADR at CP in MK (Which means Early Entry! Yay!)
Mad Tea Party
Cinderella's Castle, Wishing Well (My favorite spot in the park)
Back to Epcot (Are you dizzy yet? I am!)
China, American Adventure, Italy, Germany, Morocco
....and la Cava visit #2
Dinner at California Grill (Get to watch the FW from the roof! :love:)
Off to MK for EMH...looks like it will be open until 2AM, so we'll have plenty of time to hit all our favorites!
Crash.

Lurker here! I was just finishing up the last few pages of your TR (I had hopped over after lurking on your dining review) and realized we'll be in the MK the same morning for a pre-park opening breakfast at CP! :woohoo:

Keep an eye out for a late 20s couple sans children at a breakfast filled with Winnie the Pooh and friends...:rotfl: Only in Disney! :goodvibes

Hope you have a great trip. We're from NJ, flying in on 2/10 also. We've been down for a trip from Friday-Sunday before, so a four-day trip should be a walk in the park. :thumbsup2

Good luck and keep your fingers crossed for nice weather in the Tri-State/DelMarVa area on departure day!

Ann

[natebenma]

Glad you were able to change plans on the fly when your friends had to pass on your meeting.

Have to go over and check out your Jiko report!

Very cool rides on ToT!!! Sorry to hear you didn't enjoy RnR more. It's not my favorite either. It is very jarring. Love the music though. Aerosmith was my first concert, when I was in 8th grade. Steven Tyler passed out during the second song. Concert over. Good times!

I agree with you about AKL. That used to be the resort I really wnated to stay at. Beautiful, Beautiful resort. And Look! A giraffe from our balcony!But not being able to walk to a park is a deal breaker.


I DID NOT KNOW THAT ABOUT RESORT TO RESORT PACKAGE NON-DELIVERY!!!

Thanks for the heads up.

Now here's a tidbit to share with you- a little too late, but maybe it would come in handy on a future trip.

At HS, there are luggage lockers in between the bus stop and the park entrance. They are HUGE and they are $1!!! (one use only). We have used them on our AK-BB-Boma-HS days.

From my 3rd Annual "Never" going to Disney in the summer again TR:


Earlier in my report, I wrote about how we discovered the luggage lockers outside of Hollywood Studios. I am going to repeat this part of my report, since this is actually when we found them.

As we exited the bus and headed towards the HS entrance, we passed a small green-colored building.

Thanks kldmom2000 for taking this photo during your trip in August!


http://i657.photobucket.com/albums/uu294/natebenma/DIS%20trip%20report/Hollywood%20Studios%202009/LuggageLockers.jpg


I looked over and noticed that there were luggage lockers at this building, with a rental fee of $1 (4 quarters). Although I don’t often carry around a lot of cash at WDW, and usually no change, I did have a supply of quarters and pennies to use for pressed penny souvenirs. So we stashed our backpack and Ziploc of wet BB clothes in a GINORMOUS* INEXPENSIVE locker. How awesome is this??? Huge locker, we didn’t have anything that needed to be searched at bag check, and it was a huge savings from the $7 plus $5 deposit for a locker inside the park! About the only disadvantage of these lockers are that they are single use. You can’t keep coming back to get stuff, plus it would be inconvenient since it is outside of the park. But it was perfect for our needs.

* FYI: The dimensions are: 23"H x 16"W x 29" Deep. I looked it up.


I have since read that there are similar lockers at EPCOT (front of the park) and at the TTC, but I haven’t confirmed that there are any at Animal Kingdom.

************************************************** **

[jenneth79]

Lurker here! I was just finishing up the last few pages of your TR (I had hopped over after lurking on your dining review) and realized we'll be in the MK the same morning for a pre-park opening breakfast at CP! :woohoo:

Keep an eye out for a late 20s couple sans children at a breakfast filled with Winnie the Pooh and friends...:rotfl: Only in Disney! :goodvibes

Hope you have a great trip. We're from NJ, flying in on 2/10 also. We've been down for a trip from Friday-Sunday before, so a four-day trip should be a walk in the park. :thumbsup2

Good luck and keep your fingers crossed for nice weather in the Tri-State/DelMarVa area on departure day!

Ann

:welcome: Ann! I'm super excited to get another pre-opening entrance in at MK, we'll be yet another non-kid table so come on over and say hi! I'll probably be the one holding on to Tigger. Love Tigger.:lovestruc I already feel sorry for the poor CM who gets to play him that day.

Dear Future CM, whomever you are, I apologize in advance....:rotfl2:

I just checked the weather again, and I swear I'm not going to do it until at least the middle of next week. I saw "Showers" today and panicked.

I hope you also have a safe and fun trip! It's funny now every time I hear "Tri State Area" I think of Phineas and Ferb :goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Chapter Seventeen
In which our heroine triumphs over the Yeti.

The fourth day of our trip was an extra special one for my DH and me. It happened to be our third wedding anniversary! Mike gave me my present, a simply amazing ring from Tiffany and Co:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/RING.jpg

(Picture taken at my desk once we got back…. Since I had to return the ring. He got the wrong size. But the REASON he got the wrong size is adorable. He bought the size of my ring finger (5) when my right hand is a bit bigger (6). So sweet!) I felt bad not being able to give him a gift, so I wrote him a letter and he read that. We chatted a bit about how it feels like the time has just flown by, then we got ready for an early trip over to Animal Kingdom.

The CL lounge provided us with new breakfast options. I opted for a type of breakfast nut bread that was very good and Mike grabbed a chocolate éclair. It was our first disappointment with the breakfast offerings, but just because there was way too much chocolate in it. If you’re a chocolate lover and see one of these in a CL lounge, go for it, you’ll probably love it!

Downstairs we went and made our way over to the bus stop. Our plan was to try to get there just as the park opened, but we weren’t sure if we were going to make it!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0574.jpg

Not sure if this is helpful to anyone, but it shows the bus service from the front of the YC:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0575.jpg

So we got on the bus, and lo and behold, guess when we pulled up to AK?

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0576.jpg

Yay! Made it for “rope drop”!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0578.jpg

As soon as we walked inside, we spent a few minutes wandering through the Oasis, but our main goal was to make it over to EE as fast as possible! After coffee. And photopass. With coffee.:lmao:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0053FourBySix.jpg
(Priorities!)

Then it was off to Expedition Everest and what we expected to be a super long line. Except it wasn’t. The wait time was 5 minutes! We walked right on!

I loved it! Yes, the Yeti was definitely in “disco” mode, but it was still a super fun coaster! The whole concept of going backwards, wow! Needless to say as soon as we got off, we ran around and got right back on. This time we went for the front car!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0158.jpg

I was going to film a video of the ride, but realized halfway through I was on the wrong setting. So I snapped a few photos nonetheless:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0166.jpg
(view from top of EE)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0168.jpg
(oh no!)

We got on a third time (again, STILL NO WAIT!) and decided to sit in the back car. EE is pretty interesting in the fact that the front and back cars have a faster ride either in the beginning (going forward) or the second half of the ride (going backwards). The middle is also just a quick but smoother ride no matter what. I loved them all. :dance3:

We decided we really should head over to the Safari but I still grabbed a set of EE FPs for later.:rotfl2:

Up next, the super picture heavy obligatory Safari post!

[natebenma]

Pretty ring!!! So did he pick that out with your input?

Nice smooth morning so far. We did not encounter those chocolate eclairs. They sound wonderful!!!

Woo-hoo on super fantastic rides on Everest!

Looking forward to seeing your animal pictures.

[jenneth79]

Pretty ring!!! So did he pick that out with your input?

Nice smooth morning so far. We did not encounter those chocolate eclairs. They sound wonderful!!!

Woo-hoo on super fantastic rides on Everest!

Looking forward to seeing your animal pictures.


He came up with it totally on his own! I'll admit my DH is better at dressing than I am, for certain! He picks out a lot of my clothes. :) He also picked out my engagement ring as a complete surprise with no input from me, yet it's exactly the ring I'd have picked if I could. Maybe that's a sign we were meant to be. Or he has better taste.:rotfl2:

He bought me a matching necklace this past Christmas which I can't wait to wear on our trip next weekend w/ my tunic I bought in Morocco. (Epcot) I thought it would make a nice outfit for dinner at CG!

Safari pics coming soon!:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Chapter Eighteen
In which we go on safari!

We really only had two priorities on this day, ride EE and check out the Safari in the morning before things got too hot. Expedition Everest was out of the way so we made our way over and got in line for the safari. It was about a 30 minute wait, but we decided to stand in line vs. getting FPs. There are some nice videos that play as you wait, and the decorations are pretty cool as well:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0586.jpg

Finally we were loaded into our vehicle, and we waited a bit longer because the tram in front of us was taking a bit longer than expected to get going. We had the Best. Driver. Ever. I think his name was Jim. I wish I had written it down because he was so funny, but here’s a picture at least!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0588.jpg

I loved the fact that he broke from “character” every once in a while because the ride itself was undergoing repairs. The bridge (the ones that shake, rattle, and roll?) didn’t do any of those. They were just bridges. He hilariously told us he was going to make us all THINK the car was going to tip over when the time came, and went through this whole “oh no, the bridge is going to collapse!” bit which had those of us who had been on the ride before rolling with laughter.

Here is a selection of shots we took with both the Kodak Easyshare as well as the D70 (they are probably not in order, but both Photobucket and iPhoto were giving me a headache last night trying to load these up and I just gave up trying to order them properly:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0589.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0597.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0612.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0615.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0616.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0931-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0933-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0935-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0940-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0945-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0954.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0969.jpg

(Side note: We did get to see the most adorable 1 year old baby elephant…. You can see him center rear of this picture: )
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0969.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0974.jpg
(didn’t frame this intentionally, but it still looks kinda cool.)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0977.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0987.jpg

The only bummer for us was the fact that we missed the lions.:confused3

Ok, up next more wandering around AK, and one of my new favorite watering holes!:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

We interrupt this report to allow Jen to go on her mini Disney vacation!:banana: We're heading out Friday morning and I'm not sure I'll have time to update between now and when our flight leaves. Weather looks to be typical Florida confusion, so we'll see what we get.

Coming back on Wednesday, and will pick up the report from there!

Hope everyone is doing well!:goodvibes

Jen

[natebenma]

Have a fantastic trip and a magical Valentine's Day! :love:

[annnewjerz]

We interrupt this report to allow Jen to go on her mini Disney vacation!:banana: We're heading out Friday morning and I'm not sure I'll have time to update between now and when our flight leaves. Weather looks to be typical Florida confusion, so we'll see what we get.

Coming back on Wednesday, and will pick up the report from there!

Hope everyone is doing well!:goodvibes

Jen

I hear ya on the weather! :headache: I keep checking and Saturday/Sunday it'll be 61, then two hours later it'll be 71, then it's back down to like 68. Who knows! All I know is 68 and overcast in Disney is better than the 40s here in NJ at work. :goodvibes

It looks like a couple of our days will be spent at the same parks, so I'll keep an eye peeled.

Have a great trip, looking forward to hearing all about it when you/we get back!

Ann

[IheartDDuck]

Have a great trip!

[mkandjpsmom]

Have a Great trip!

[jenneth79]

Hello everyone! We're back from a whirlwind (in more ways than one!) mini-vacation to the World! :goodvibes Sad and Happy to be home at the same time.

Hope everyone had a great weekend, a magical Valentine's Day, and you're staying warm this week!

Updates to come soon. Debating if I'm going to do my Feb TR separate. Probably will because there were some funny happenings, even if it was for a short time! (and because I have the BEST title ever for it.....:lmao:)

More on THIS TR soon....better hurry up, my next ticker is coming up shortly!

Phew. Disney overload. Is that even possible?:confused3

Cheers!

Jen

[407-W-DISNEY]

Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

[MissDisney121]

Hi Jen.
I just found your tr this weekend and I love it so far. Your attention to detail and your pictures are great. Can't wait to hear more about the rest of your trip.
-Sara

[jenneth79]

First off, I cannot believe THIS IS MY 1000th post!!! Wow, I've been chatty over the past year!:lmao: Couldn't think of being chatty with a better group of people though, the DIS, truly, Rocks!:woohoo:

Anyway, I have some catching up to do!

Have a fantastic trip and a magical Valentine's Day! :love:

Thanks! Hope you had a great Valentine's day as well!

I hear ya on the weather! :headache: I keep checking and Saturday/Sunday it'll be 61, then two hours later it'll be 71, then it's back down to like 68. Who knows! All I know is 68 and overcast in Disney is better than the 40s here in NJ at work. :goodvibes

It looks like a couple of our days will be spent at the same parks, so I'll keep an eye peeled.

Have a great trip, looking forward to hearing all about it when you/we get back!

Ann

Hi Ann! I hope you had a great time is Dinsey as well... I think the weather got better for you all after we left and took the cold back to VA!

Have a great trip!

Thanks!

Have a Great trip!

Thank you!!!

Welcome back! Can't wait to hear all about your trip!

Thanks!

I started a little TR for it, figured it had enough info to warrant splitting it off onto its own thread, but to just combine dining and TR into one. I'm going to have way too many reports going at once otherwise!:goodvibes

Hi Jen.
I just found your tr this weekend and I love it so far. Your attention to detail and your pictures are great. Can't wait to hear more about the rest of your trip.
-Sara

Thank you thank you, and :welcome: !!!

[jenneth79]

Chapter Nineteen
I would say lions and tigers and bears…but all we saw were tigers and flying monkeys….

After our two “must see” attractions in AK, we decided to just walk around and enjoy the other sights and attractions. I’ll admit that without a plan we were probably a bit less efficient in our touring but we weren’t really trying to do too much this day. I’ll share a few random pictures we took here, in both Africa and Asia.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0174.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0811.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0823.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0998.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0999.jpg

…and I just came across these two from our Safari pictures… (told you, completely out of order….ha!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0995.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0996.jpg
(Wild squirrel!!!!!)

Ahem…ok, back to this post…..

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1002.jpg

After wandering about Africa for a bit, we debated heading back over to DinoLand or wandering through the Jungle Trek. We decided to take a look at the Maharajah Jungle Trek and headed over that way….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0830.jpg

I really like how they give you laminated maps to walk through with. I thought it was a nice touch and helped you know what to look out for without a guide.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0831.jpg

We spotted some really interesting wildlife… including this dragon:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0832.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0837.jpg
Just a fun theme that ran throughout the attraction. You kind of got the feeling after a while you’d be eaten by a tiger!

One of my favorite sections though had to be the bat house. There was a guide standing by the exhibit with all sorts of stories about bats and how they feed, move, and live. Really fascinating stuff, take a few minutes to chat with them (the guide, not the bats, though I’m not judging or anything if you DO want to talk to the bats….ahem…) Anyway, they were awesome and well worth the walk:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0841.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0843.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0844.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0847.jpg

And perhaps the coolest bat of all:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0850.jpg

(If you’re searching for hidden Mickeys look down when you leave the bat house…. You just might catch the picture we did!:thumbsup2)

-------
Cont...

[jenneth79]

(Chapter Nineteen Cont....)

As much as this picture looks bad due to the netting, it shows just how lovely some of the areas on the Jungle Trek are (and why it’s worth the walk!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0851.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0853.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0854.jpg
(I think we’re getting close!!!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0861.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0864.jpg

Once we took a hundred pictures of the tigers (I did actually take 20 or so!) We wandered on, enjoying the murals and architecture once more….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0870.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0871.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0873.jpg
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0875.jpg

The end of the Jungle Trek takes you through a bird exhibit, which is awesome and scary at the same time. It’s really cool to me because you are right there WITH the birds… no cages, no plexiglass, etc. However, you are WITH the birds. Double edged sword really….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0885.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0886.jpg

--------
(Cont....)

[jenneth79]

Chapter 19 (3 of 3)

(I’m not sure if you’ve noticed, but we took an awful lot of pictures in Animal Kingdom. Pretty funny considering we were in the park for a shorter timeframe than most other parks! It’s truly such a beautiful place though; it begs to be wandered through!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0890.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0895.jpg

There was one bird that was SUPER loud in this area, and he was hiding up in the stonework on the top of the ruins. Might have been a peacock of some sort… he was certainly not happy people were walking through his domain, however, so we high tailed it out of there!

We then made our way back towards Dino Land, USA snapping a few more pictures along the way….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0899-1.jpg

Since the lines were short, we decided to go in and give Dinosaur a shot. Mike had never experienced it, and it had been over ten years for me, so perhaps it wasn’t quite as lame as I remembered it.

Ok, it was just as lame as I remembered it.

Please do not shoot me for that statement if Dinosaur is your favorite AK ride. I actually love the queuing, the large rotunda is amazing! The ride just feels old to me. I wish they’d amp it up a bit!

We ended up heading over to Flame Tree for some lunch, check out the review in Margaritas should be a Snack Credit: HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44058891&postcount=166).

I think that’s the end of Chapter Nineteen… up next, the happiest pretzel on earth and Dawa bar!:drinking1

[natebenma]

What a nice update describing relaxed leisurely touring in AK. As commando as my family is, we actually enjoy the walking trails in Asia and Africa.

I can't look at Komodo Dragons without thinking about the Matthew Broderick/Marlon Brando movie "The Freshman" Have you seen it???

Tigers are beautiful animals!!!

The giant bats are really cool!!!

[MissDisney121]

Nice update. You really take lovely pictures.

[jenneth79]

What a nice update describing relaxed leisurely touring in AK. As commando as my family is, we actually enjoy the walking trails in Asia and Africa.

I can't look at Komodo Dragons without thinking about the Matthew Broderick/Marlon Brando movie "The Freshman" Have you seen it???

Tigers are beautiful animals!!!

The giant bats are really cool!!!

Jimmy the Toucan! :lmao:

I loved that Brando was able to not only be serious, but to make fun of himself and the movie industry as well. :goodvibes

Nice update. You really take lovely pictures.

Thank you so very much! My husband and I both enjoy photography, and it's often hard to tell our shots apart. Except when I get in my "odd" mood. Which means if you see a picture taken at a strange angle, it's probably mine.:goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Chapter Twenty
In which our heroine discovers a new watering hole….

After lunch, we walked around the back of the Tree of Life and took a few more PP pictures; my favorite (of course) is where we pointed out some “interesting” wildlife….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0058FourBySix.jpg
(Mike’s face is priceless)

The PP photographers were really good that day in AK, and they all offered up the extra bits of “magic” in the shots. I only wish it wasn’t quite so humid so I didn’t look like a sweaty shiny red ball! Ha.
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0062FourBySix.jpg

We got to meet a fairy!
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0064FourBySix.jpg

And here is where a running joke started on our trip…. Every time we did this the photographer would then say… “ok, now look at your hand/arms/the ground and look surprised!”

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0065FourBySix.jpg

We learned our version of “surprised” varied greatly between Mike and myself. I think I look like I’m going to EAT Tinkerbelle in this one!

Mike and I also took a few pictures of the Tree of Life ourselves:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0901.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0903.jpg
(this one I will have to mess with in Adobe, because I think if the light levels are fixed it will look awesome!)
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0905.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0907.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0908.jpg

And for a different perspective….

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_0910.jpg

We had discussed checking out Dawa bar earlier in the day, so we wandered back over to Africa!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1004.jpg

The bar area was pretty empty, so we were able to walk right up and make our selection:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1017.jpg

Some cute seating as well:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1008.jpg

I was in the mood for a fruity drink, so I ordered a Lost on Safari. Mike opted for a Tusker Lager.

It should be noted the whole area was covered, so if you’re trying to escape the hot sun, this is a great place to do so! We also were lucky enough to catch some awesome drums and dancing:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1011.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1012.jpg

They also got the crowd involved:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1021.jpg

The kids had a blast, but soon it was time for the parents to get their dancing on:
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1026.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1030.jpg

We stayed for perhaps an hour, but there was more fun to be had, so we moved on!

[407-W-DISNEY]

hi!
You took some beautiful pics of AK. We love that park more and more each time we go.

[photographymom517]

Finally caught up on your report!!! All of your pictures are amazing, as always!!! :thumbsup2

I will say that I HATE bats! I really hate them! Animals don't bother me, the smell of animals don't bother me (my grandparents had a farm that I stayed at every weekend growing up!) BUT I hate the smell of bats! And the look of them & just everything about them!

THAT being said, I LOVE your pictures of the bats!!! And I actually love photographing them myself! :confused3 :lmao:

I keep looking at all of your pictures & wondering if I can see myself or Stefy in the background! I can't remember her exact schedule & without my notes, can't remember which park we went to each day either! (Especially since we changed things around a bit!) Hopefully if our trips ever cross again, we can meet up!

We love wandering around Animal Kingdom & just taking in all of the scenery! We usually go to the other three parks two days, but only to AK one day -- but this trip, we decided to head over to AK twice! I'm so glad we made the switch! We enjoy the paths & taking a break from all the commando touring! You really had beautiful weather on your AK day! Unfortunately this trip, we had rain BOTH AK days and they actually cancelled the parade due to lightning! :eek:

Can't wait to read more!

[TanzUnited99]

Hi Jen! Sorry I've been missing for a bit but am back now! :laughing:

I love your AK pics - they are great and I love that park in general as it was the first park on our visit!

The pics of the two of you in chapter 20 are awesome - you both look great together :lovestruc

[natebenma]

Sounds like a really nice respite at the Dawa bar. Some adult refreshment, cool shade and a show. :thumbsup2

[jenneth79]

hi!
You took some beautiful pics of AK. We love that park more and more each time we go.

Thank you!!!:goodvibes

Finally caught up on your report!!! All of your pictures are amazing, as always!!! :thumbsup2

I will say that I HATE bats! I really hate them! Animals don't bother me, the smell of animals don't bother me (my grandparents had a farm that I stayed at every weekend growing up!) BUT I hate the smell of bats! And the look of them & just everything about them!

THAT being said, I LOVE your pictures of the bats!!! And I actually love photographing them myself! :confused3 :lmao:

I keep looking at all of your pictures & wondering if I can see myself or Stefy in the background! I can't remember her exact schedule & without my notes, can't remember which park we went to each day either! (Especially since we changed things around a bit!) Hopefully if our trips ever cross again, we can meet up!

We love wandering around Animal Kingdom & just taking in all of the scenery! We usually go to the other three parks two days, but only to AK one day -- but this trip, we decided to head over to AK twice! I'm so glad we made the switch! We enjoy the paths & taking a break from all the commando touring! You really had beautiful weather on your AK day! Unfortunately this trip, we had rain BOTH AK days and they actually cancelled the parade due to lightning! :eek:

Can't wait to read more!

On the subject of bats, I'm kind of growing to like them more. As a kid I hated them, because they had a nest in my grandparents attic, and it would be quite scary in the evening when they all came flying out!!!:scared1: Plus my cousins insisting they would rip my hair out, etc....

Now we see them every so often in my neighborhood, flying about in the evening, and I kind of like to sit there and watch them....as long as they don't get too close!:laughing:

I would certainly love to meet up in the future! If you're going back this year for F&W, we'll be there.:goodvibes

So as for the rain.... yeah...take a look at some of the clouds in the pictures... that was what was coming...and it was a doozy!

Hi Jen! Sorry I've been missing for a bit but am back now! :laughing:

I love your AK pics - they are great and I love that park in general as it was the first park on our visit!

The pics of the two of you in chapter 20 are awesome - you both look great together :lovestruc

Hey sweetie! Welcome back! I completely hear you on catching up, I'm, having a hard time updating my TRs and keeping up to date with everyone else's as well. Ugh. Hopefully soon I'll get ONE of these suckers knocked out.... then again, they really are so much fun to write! I can admit to myself that I'm dragging it out a bit just to savor the enjoyment of Disney when I'm NOT in the parks.:rotfl:

Thanks so much for the comments about the pictures, as well. :hug:

Sounds like a really nice respite at the Dawa bar. Some adult refreshment, cool shade and a show. :thumbsup2

Thanks! I find that I like the place a lot, I just kind of wish they offered non-alcoholic drinks too, though I get why they don't. :confused3

[jenneth79]

Chapter Twenty-One
In which our heroine gets twisted, and (almost) soaked.

So, after finishing our drinks, we still had something to accomplish:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1041.jpg

That’s right, we still had one more EE ride left in us! Mike and I discussed potentially heading back to Camp Minnie Mickey to see if perhaps a certain fuzzy little raccoon was around. You see, dear reader, I have a bit of a crush on Meeko.

Ok, not really a crush, but there IS a story here. Back in the early- mid 90s, I went on a trip with my family to Disney, in which I was playing the role of babysitter to my three younger cousins. (all boys). It was around the time that Pocahontas came out, and Meeko was just about everywhere in the parks. One day I was in MK with the oldest of the three, it was our “big kid fun” day. So, did we go on Alien Encounter and Haunted Mansion? Did we ride Space Mountain? Well, yeah….but, because I was an evil little girl I ALSO dragged him about trying to get a picture of the elusive Meeko. Poor kid.

We decided to hold off on the Meeko Experience, and instead walked back over towards our dear Yeti. Yes, this means more pictures:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1054.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1059.jpg

And, a bit of shopping:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1061.jpg
(For the record, no, I didn’t buy these, but I really wish I had!!!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1072.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1081.jpg

Passing over towards the bridge into Asia, we spotted this little pretzel stand, and decided a snack might be nice. Looking at the menu, we thought a jalapeno pretzel would be just the thing:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1082.jpg

So it’s no surprise (I mean, look at the title of my TR!:rotfl2:) but, dear reader, this is perhaps my favorite Disney snack ever. EVER.:cloud9: Chewy twisted spicy cheesy goodness. Yum. It was hard to tear myself away from the cart (I wanted to order another one, but somehow forced myself to walk on…) and make our way back over to EE. As we snapped some shots, I noticed the clouds were looking less white, and a bit more grey…

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1087.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1092.jpg

Last ride with the Disco Yeti (Making 4 for the day!!!) And we decided we were probably done with out AK experience.

We decided to take just a few more PP photos before we left, and end up with my favorite from the whole day!
http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0075FourBySix.jpg
(I am going to frame this.)

Then we did the “baby Simba” shot. The surprised shot looked like Mike was going to eat the baby lion, and I looked like I was wondering how the heck it got there. But the other shot made me think:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Photopass%20Pictures/Photo0076FourBySix.jpg

Wouldn’t that be an awesome way to announce you’re expecting? (Not that we are, nor do I plan to be!) But it would be sooo cute to send those out as cards/announcements. Just a thought out there people, if you want to break it to your family, do it with a cute baby lion!

Yes, I also know Mike looks WAY too happy about the baby. Eep.

We looked up at the sky and noticed the dark clouds were taking up more and more of the blue sky. Probably time to leave, right? Well…. Remember that earlier comment about Meeko? Yeah, I decided I just HAD to see if we could find him over by Camp Minnie Mickey. So we started to walk over that way. I say started because as soon as we saw the lines, I got cranky and changed my mind, forcing Mike to walk all the way back…thereby making HIM grouchy.

It must have been obvious on his face, for as we were walking through the turnstiles, the CM looked at Mike and said “Have a good day, Grumpy!” We both looked at each other and laughed, deciding that we were probably experiencing TPO (Theme Park Overload) and needed to relax.

We made it to the bus JUST in time to beat the rain, and were soon on our way back to the Yacht Club.

[407-W-DISNEY]

Beautiful pictures of you both, especially the one your going to frame!:cutie:

[natebenma]

Mmmm- the pretzel looks great! I haven't tried one, but putting it on my list of snacks to try.

I'm glad you were able to get out of there before the heavens opened up.

Based on what we have seen so far, looks like you have gotten your money's worth out of your photopass.

[disneyloverforchrist]

So stumbled upon your Feb.:cool1: TR and followed the link back to this one!!! LOVE all the pictures and stories!:love:

And can I tell you, we lost my dad in January of 09'. Reading your trip report brings me to tears...ok at one point donkey sobbing...because it reminds me so much of my relationship with my father. He LOVED Disney World and we were blessed enough to take a final trip with him 6 weeks before he passed away. That first trip back after loosing him was so difficult but I was determined, like you, to let his legacy live on through me and my little growing family. So happy to see someone else who is celebrating life the way we do in our family!!!:hug: Through the tears beautiful memories can be made.:littleangel:

Can't wait to read more!!! :goodvibes

[jenneth79]

Beautiful pictures of you both, especially the one your going to frame!:cutie:

Thanks so much! I wish I could get rid of the shiny, but let's face it, Disney does that to you in September!:rotfl2:

Mmmm- the pretzel looks great! I haven't tried one, but putting it on my list of snacks to try.

I'm glad you were able to get out of there before the heavens opened up.

Based on what we have seen so far, looks like you have gotten your money's worth out of your photopass.

You should add it! It's "allegedly" in the Fife and Drum at Epcot... but, as we found out on our last trip...that has yet to be proven.:mad:

I think some of the Photopass stalking might have been overkill, but yeah, we totally got our money's worth! Now I just have to DO something with them!:dance3:

So stumbled upon your Feb.:cool1: TR and followed the link back to this one!!! LOVE all the pictures and stories!:love:

And can I tell you, we lost my dad in January of 09'. Reading your trip report brings me to tears...ok at one point donkey sobbing...because it reminds me so much of my relationship with my father. He LOVED Disney World and we were blessed enough to take a final trip with him 6 weeks before he passed away. That first trip back after loosing him was so difficult but I was determined, like you, to let his legacy live on through me and my little growing family. So happy to see someone else who is celebrating life the way we do in our family!!!:hug: Through the tears beautiful memories can be made.:littleangel:

Can't wait to read more!!! :goodvibes

:welcome: These TRs have been so much fun to do, I'm meeting so many wonderful people on the DIS who share my "obsession".:goodvibes

Thank you so much for your kind words, and sharing your story! I'm so sorry for your loss (now you've brought ME to tears..) but it does help to know what a blessing they gave us, with all our memories? :angel:

I do regret not going on that trip with my dad, for all the times we spoke of doing it... but I know he was still there with us, smiling.

[jenneth79]

Chapter Twenty-Two
In which our heroine takes a dip, a sip, and a flip!

The rain came down down down on our ride from AK back to the Yacht Club, but once we arrived, the skies had cleared and the sun began to dry everything out. Great timing! Mike and I had decided we were going to check out the fabled Stormalong Bay if it was the last thing we did, so we threw on some suits and ran downstairs. Ok, so we walked quickly....:rotfl2:

We found chairs without much trouble, though it was still pretty crowded down there, and immediately went for a swim! I had purchased a Kodak Easyshare Sport camera for this trip, so I was eager to take it for a spin!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0180.jpg

We did the obligatory “underwater” pictures:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0187-1.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0195.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0200.jpg

Then we were off to the Flying Jib, one of the best water slides outside of a water park! Perhaps better than some slides INSIDE a water park, for that matter! We had to get a little silly for the camera:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0197.jpg
(...he’s so serious....)

You know those memes that do the “what I think I look like / what I actually look like”... here is my version of that meme:

What I think I look like steering the pirate ship:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0199.jpg

What I actually look like:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0198.jpg

So, yeah.

Then, it was off to the slide! I decided I wanted to give the video feature a go and record what it’s like to go down the slide! I kind of got it...but unfortunately I messed up and hit the stop button early. Perhaps next time, but at least you can get a bit of an idea how awesome the FJ is!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/th_100_0206.jpg (http://s1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/?action=view&current=100_0206.mp4)

I also managed to let go of the camera as soon as I splashed down. Um. Whoops. Blue camera in blue water. I’m investing in a floaty strap for our next trip, for sure! Once the camera was located, we took a bit of time to relax and sip a drink by the water!

I ordered a Banana Cabana for us to share:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0209.jpg

Yum.

Of course, our peace was only an hour and a half before the storms rolled right back in.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0212.jpg

Ah well, that’s ok... we have a very special dinner to get ready for!!!

We headed back to the room and I took a few pictures while Mike hogged the shower...ahem... I mean when he took a leisurely.....yeah, no, he hogged the shower.

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1112.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1114.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1117.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1119.jpg

Then while *I* was getting ready (and hogging the entire bathroom area) Mike got ready and took a few pictures. I absolutely LOVE this picture:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1130.jpg

Then, I guess I started following him around with the camera... here’s what he thought of it:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1133.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1135-1.jpg

That’s my handsome hubby!

And, the dress I got from RTR:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/DSC_1138.jpg

We walked over to the lobby to catch the elevator downstairs and starting talking to a gentleman waiting with us, who said we must be heading to Victoria and Alberts dressed like that! We laughed and said yes, it was our anniversary dinner and we were going to be trying the Queen Victoria room!

We chatted some more and when we got to the bellhop and asked for a cab, he demanded he drive us.

Ok, so I’m going through the whole ‘serial killer’ routine in my head, but then all the bellhops are talking to him like they know him, and Mike, after talking to him a bit thanked him. I had the phone out, was memorizing license plates, etc... ok, so I’m a bit paranoid.:rolleyes:

Turns out, he was an event producer who does a lot of stuff at Disney.... ALSO turns out he knows someone in my family in the entertainment industry. It truly is a small world, and it was such a kind gesture on his part, a great bit of pixie dust as well.

He was heading to the Contemporary, but dropped us off at the Grand Floridian (the guys at the gate THERE knew him as well...) and we thanked him profusely. Truly, I think magic is just more likely to happen at Disney.

We had a bit of time to kill, so we wandered around the Grand Floridian lobby and I just loved it. Didn’t feel a bit stuffy, and so beautiful. Heck, it even smelled nice! We wandered around and found some time outside to check out the beach and take a few pictures:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0640.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0643.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0644.jpg
(look, I think that’s a person in front of the Poly!)

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0645.jpg

It was windy, but gorgeous out!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Four/100_0646.jpg

Soon it was time for our reservation... if you’d like to read all about our Victoria and Albert’s experience, you can see it HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44200422&postcount=181).

It was the end of a great night...and we were looking forward to the next day, when we were going to avoid the parks altogether and check into a spa for some R&R.

[disneybarbie]

Hi!

Sorry I've been reading along with all your updates but barely commenting.. it looks like a great trip overall :goodvibes .. love your dress for V&As! And that sounded fantastic about the CM offering to take you.. like you said, only at Disney! :wizard:



Emma princess: x

[jenneth79]

Hi!

Sorry I've been reading along with all your updates but barely commenting.. it looks like a great trip overall :goodvibes .. love your dress for V&As! And that sounded fantastic about the CM offering to take you.. like you said, only at Disney! :wizard:



Emma princess: x

I'm so glad you posted, Emma.... I didn't know you had started a PTR for a new trip...and what fun, both a vacation to Disney and a cruise! I'm desperately trying not to start my PTR just yet....but with the DR done....eek!

It's just so much fun to plan, isn't it?;)

[Nermel9]

OMG your pictures of SAB make me SO happy that we are staying at the Beach Club! :banana: I plan on spending a lot of time there on this trip, when we stayed there on our Disneymoon, we only went in the pool ONCE! And the slide was closed! :eek: It looks awesome! Is it weird going on it, being an adult? When I went down the slide at the WL, I was seriously the only adult going down the slide, and there were all these parents waiting for their kids at the bottom...it was really awkward...:rolleyes1

I love your V&A dress! :thumbsup2

[PixieMama]

All. Caught. Up.


Whew.


Love love love all your pics. Well... not the ones of the giant fruit bats. {shudder}

[TanzUnited99]

Sounds like you had a nice relaxing day followed by a great meal! Love the dinner outfits :goodvibes

[jenneth79]

OMG your pictures of SAB make me SO happy that we are staying at the Beach Club! :banana: I plan on spending a lot of time there on this trip, when we stayed there on our Disneymoon, we only went in the pool ONCE! And the slide was closed! :eek: It looks awesome! Is it weird going on it, being an adult? When I went down the slide at the WL, I was seriously the only adult going down the slide, and there were all these parents waiting for their kids at the bottom...it was really awkward...:rolleyes1

I love your V&A dress! :thumbsup2

You're going to love SAB! We did the same thing though, on our Sept trip we only made it to the pool txice, but when we did it was amazing!:goodvibes

As for the slide, I can't honestly say it even crossed my mind! :confused3 We were just having fun and I think I remember seeing other adults around. Dunno. I start to think I'm a 15 year old when I'm there, so those things kind of skip my notice.

Except the Carrousel. Which is odd, but true. I feel like I'm way too old to get on it. My DH told me I was insane the other night when I mentioned it to him. I guess he thought I was scared by the horses.:lmao:

Thanks for the dress comment! I loved it, but it was WAY too short for me!

All. Caught. Up.


Whew.


Love love love all your pics. Well... not the ones of the giant fruit bats. {shudder}

:rotfl:

You know, I thought about you when I was posting that section. Shannon doesn't like bats too much, does she?:eek:

Sounds like you had a nice relaxing day followed by a great meal! Love the dinner outfits :goodvibes

Thanks so much! We had a lot of fun getting dressed up, though it was a bit stressful for me after 4 days of no makeup and no worry!:laughing:

[jenneth79]

Just a quick heads up, I've gone and started my October 2012 PTR if you wanted to join in!:

I could get used to a view like this....Guys I want a castle!" (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2889224)

I'm still updating both this and the February trip...but I just couldn't keep all our plans to myself!:goodvibes

[purplepixiedust]

I am really enjoying your trip report and photos. I just started the dining review as well. You & your husband are so cute!!! Looks like you had a great time. Your idea for the baby announcemnet is definitely a cute idea. Gonna have to subscribe to the PTR too.

[photographymom517]

Great updates!!! :thumbsup2

Your dress for V&A's is absolutely stunning!!! I'll have to go back & read your review of the restaurant!

What a difference in the weather that day!! The sky at GF looks beautiful in the background of your photos!!! I am completely in love with the GF and the Poly! I really, really hope to stay there someday!

Good job making it out of AK right in time! I wish we had! As I already told you, both of our AK days were rainy! :sad2:

The weather in FL changes so quickly! The day we went to Stormalong Bay, it was later in the evening and the entire day had been gorgeous up to that point! Then about five minutes after we got there, the skies turned really dark & cloudy. The lifeguards even came around & said they might close the pool for awhile if they saw lightning but luckily they didn't have to! Sadly, that was our ONLY experience at SAB! If we ever stay at the BC again, I definitely want to spend more time just relaxing!

I forgot to mention this in my last reply! Your AKL photos of the animals are gorgeous! You captured so much detail! LOVE them!!!

I seriously wish I could just ship my DSLR to you so you could fix the settings for me! I have quite a bit to learn before our next Disney trip -- in September I just used "auto" for most photos. I want to learn more about Manual mode & how to take good fireworks photos. Last year, my pics of fireworks were so-so but I cheated! At the time I had my old Canon S3 IS and the guy who previously owned the camera was a photographer! So all the settings were perfect when I purchased it from him!

Slight spoiler (only two of my friends know this right now!) we're attending MVMCP next trip -- so I want to make sure my settings are right! I may have to ask you for some tips about photographing at night! :thumbsup2

I can't wait to hear about your mini-trip! And I just subscribed to your PTR so going to read what you have there so far!!!

[PixieMama]

You know, I thought about you when I was posting that section. Shannon doesn't like bats too much, does she?:eek:


No. No she does not.

Bats. Birds. Moths. Anything with wings, really.

[photographymom517]

Oops! I accidentally posted the info here regarding check in/check out. I'll go post it on your PTR where its supposed to be now! Sorry about that! It's been a very long day! LOL!

[jenneth79]

I seriously wish I could just ship my DSLR to you so you could fix the settings for me! I have quite a bit to learn before our next Disney trip -- in September I just used "auto" for most photos. I want to learn more about Manual mode & how to take good fireworks photos. Last year, my pics of fireworks were so-so but I cheated! At the time I had my old Canon S3 IS and the guy who previously owned the camera was a photographer! So all the settings were perfect when I purchased it from him!

Slight spoiler (only two of my friends know this right now!) we're attending MVMCP next trip -- so I want to make sure my settings are right! I may have to ask you for some tips about photographing at night! :thumbsup2

I can't wait to hear about your mini-trip! And I just subscribed to your PTR so going to read what you have there so far!!!

First off, I'm so happy that you are going back again, and for the Holidays....:cloud9:

I also realize that when I dropped off the face of the earth I completely MISSED THE FACT THAT YOU HAVE A NEW ADDITION TO THE HOUSE NOW! So... let me be the last to wish you congratulations. :rotfl2:

As for the camera, I'm really not the expert, in fact I have a tendency to "Skim" the manuals.... however...if you have a local camera shop, you can always take the camera in and ask them about certain settings. I've done that in the past even when I didn't buy the camera there, and they have always been really willing to help.

Do you have a Canon or Nikon? There are also "cheat cards" you can purchase that give you a quick rundown of all the settings, and they fold up to go with your camera bag, so no lugging a heavy book around with you!:thumbsup2

No. No she does not.

Bats. Birds. Moths. Anything with wings, really.

:eek:

sowwy:headache: I will put warnings on future posts for you....:lmao:

Oops! I accidentally posted the info here regarding check in/check out. I'll go post it on your PTR where its supposed to be now! Sorry about that! It's been a very long day! LOL!

Oh hon, you didn't have to do that! They were GREAT instructions, no matter where they are. I haven't had a chance to catch up on DIS in the past 48 hours as I was so busy with work and had no sleep. (Calls with Hong Kong at 11:30 at night are no fun at all!) I'm going to go comment on it wherever the info is now.:goodvibes Thanks again, you ROCK!

[Shannon84]

LOVE all of the awesome AK pictures, you guys look like you had a blast!!
DF is way better at the surprised look than myself, though sometimes he looks like he is seriously scared :rotfl:

Sounds like V and A was an amazing anniversary celebration and a ton of food!!

[natebenma]

Dear Jen- please excuse Dee for being behind on your trip reports. She was away with her husband celebrating 25 wonderful years of marriage in Puerto Rico. Without the boys.

OMG- it was awesome!

PS- please also excuse Dee for bragging.

[natebenma]

YAY for some fun at SAB!!! :woohoo:

About the only downside to the pool is that it is hard to spend all the time you want there- should I go to the pool for a few minutes? Or EPCOT?

Wow, your dress is gorgeous! I love the color.

@ Nermel9- no it is absolutely not weird to be an adult on the slide. One of the posters to the BC board told a story about her husband (who is a big guy) going down one of the slides (I don't totally remember, I don't think it was BC but another Disney pool) and a parent down at the bottom "caught" him, thinking it was his child's turn! :lmao:

Now, as long as that doesn't happen to you, I think you will be ok.

[jenneth79]

LOVE all of the awesome AK pictures, you guys look like you had a blast!!
DF is way better at the surprised look than myself, though sometimes he looks like he is seriously scared :rotfl:

Sounds like V and A was an amazing anniversary celebration and a ton of food!!

Thanks! :thumbsup2

I noticed the same thing w/ Mike. I think sometimes he translates "surprised" as "oh-my-god-zombie-attack!"

Maybe it's a guy thing.:rotfl2:

Dear Jen- please excuse Dee for being behind on your trip reports. She was away with her husband celebrating 25 wonderful years of marriage in Puerto Rico. Without the boys.

OMG- it was awesome!

PS- please also excuse Dee for bragging.

PPS - I hereby give Dee full thread hijacking authority because I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT HER AMAZING TRIP!!!

Happy Anniversary, BTW... I missed you before you left!:goodvibes

Now, give me the deets, Dee!;)

YAY for some fun at SAB!!! :woohoo:

About the only downside to the pool is that it is hard to spend all the time you want there- should I go to the pool for a few minutes? Or EPCOT?

Wow, your dress is gorgeous! I love the color.

@ Nermel9- no it is absolutely not weird to be an adult on the slide. One of the posters to the BC board told a story about her husband (who is a big guy) going down one of the slides (I don't totally remember, I don't think it was BC but another Disney pool) and a parent down at the bottom "caught" him, thinking it was his child's turn! :lmao:

Now, as long as that doesn't happen to you, I think you will be ok.

I know, I am soooo determined to spend more time at SAB on our next trip...but...I kind of know if I get one afternoon in I'm lucky. :goodvibes

[natebenma]

PPS - I hereby give Dee full thread hijacking authority because I WANT TO HEAR ALL ABOUT HER AMAZING TRIP!!!

Happy Anniversary, BTW... I missed you before you left!:goodvibes

Now, give me the deets, Dee!;)



Thanks, Jen! I am going to do a little mini trip report, hopefully starting sometime this week. I'll give you a sneak peak at some photos, I'll PM a link to you.

I think I posted on the BC board that my camera died on the first day. It is/was an underwater camera and it is a fate that has befallen many of the other underwater cameras I have had in the past. The good news is I had purchased a backup camera before we left. The bad news is that I am still learning some of the features (and it is just a point and shoot) and the zoom is only 3x as opposed to the 12x on my Canon. I really missed the zoom, especially in the rainforest! :sad1:

[jenneth79]

Chapter Twenty-Three
In which our heroine doesn’t do anything, rather like a platypus.

Today marked the day our trip was already half over. Time really seemed to be flying by! :confused3

We decided to make this day a park-free outing, and the plan was to sleep in. However, I must have been on Disney time, because I was up and wide awake at 7AM. I sat out on the balcony and watched the sunrise, catching up in my journal from the day before. It was already starting to feel humid, so I was glad to think we wouldn’t be trekking back and forth in the parks.

We grabbed breakfast from the lounge and pretty much just relaxed all morning. What a nice change of pace from rushing through the parks! Around 9, we went downstairs to catch a cab to Saratoga Springs. As you may recall, we had originally booked a spa day at the Grand Floridian, but they closed down literally the day before our appointment. I was certainly bummed, but still, a day at the spa beats missing out altogether!

The one sour note on our morning was our cab driver. :headache: He had no idea where Saratoga Springs was, took us the long way around from what I saw, then dropped us off somewhere in the middle of the complex, not even by the main building / spa! Super frustrating and I about refused to pay him when he didn’t know where to drop us off. Thankfully that was the only bad cab experience our whole trip.

Something else I noted as we wandered around trying to find our way to the spa, was how very empty Saratoga Springs seemed. No one was out. I mean no one. Ghost town. The villas looked very pretty from outside but I was almost turned off by the lack of habitation. I didn’t want my vacation to feel like I may have stumbled onto an episode of The Walking Dead!:eek:

We finally found the spa and were soon ushered back into the lounge area. Main thoughts on the spa here...it’s very nice, but doesn’t feel much like a spa...more like a community center building, if that makes any sense. The technicians we had working on us though were simply amazing...most had come over from the spa at the Grand Floridian, and they were certainly sad to have to leave there, but I can see why Disney made sure to find places for them until the refurbishment is complete!

We went for a couples massage, which was nice, though again, the rooms did not scream “spa”. After a bit of confusion, they brought us lunch in the “solarium”....which was a bit like a waiting area for a doctors office, which was just a sandwich from the quick service place on site. I think since we were one of the first few appointments from the GF over there, things were a bit confusing for all involved.

I also got a mani/pedi, and I thought it was nice they included a small bottle of the color you picked to take home...for touchups if needed. :thumbsup2

All in all, we had a very relaxing time at Saratoga Springs Spa, but I am certainly looking froward to 2013 when the Grand Floridian returns!

After our spa day ended (which was pretty long, until 2:30pm!) we found out from a map that there were boats heading to DTD. Mike and I figured it would be easier to get a cab back to the Yacht Club from there, so we hopped onboard!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0648.jpg


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0649.jpg

What a gorgeous day it was turning out to be!!!

Mike and I had a running joke by this time, so when our captain told us to keep our arms and legs...we chimed in “Inside the Boat!” Thankfully, he found it funny. When you hear it over and over again on every ride.... well.....:rotfl2:

I had really wanted to check out D Street but the whole block it was on had experienced a major power outage, and all the shops were closed! Instead we ducked into Raglan Road for a quick drink and a snack. (You can read about that here (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44200810&postcount=183)). I’m really looking forward to a future trip where we get to come back here at night. It really looks like it would be a lot of fun!

After that we wandered through the Lego store, which is fantastic:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0654.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0656.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0657.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0658.jpg

So much fun! We bought a small Star Wars set for Mike (he collects them, I can’t imagine how crowded his desk at work is now!

We also walked through the World of Disney and picked up a few little things, though it was almost too crowded in there! After that we were able to find a cab to take us back to the Yacht Club. I don’t know if it’s just the fact that so many places were closed or what, but it seems like a lot of hassle to get there and back from most resorts, we’ll probably skip DTD (though not Raglan Road!) on future trips.


When we returned to the hotel, the clouds were rolling in once more, so we decided to forgo SAB and instead just lounged around our room, reading. I also took a few more pictures of our view:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1148.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1158.jpg

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1168.jpg

I maybe was a little bored after awhile....

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1176.jpg

But, look how happy Remy is!!!:woohoo:

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1179.jpg


Then it was almost time to eat, so we got dressed and we were soon off to the Yachtsman Steakhouse!

http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/DSC_1183-1.jpg

I’m mostly posting this because I miss those shoes so much.... they are literally the most comfortable pair of shoes I have ever owned....I wore these in the park when we went to DHS at night!....but on our last trip in February I somehow managed to snag the heel, so the snakeskin pulled away and I’m afraid I won’t be able to fix them.

A moment of silence please.

........

:angel:

........

Ok, thank you.:lmao:

If you want to read all about our meal, check it out on my Dining Review thread HERE (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44201301&postcount=184).

We were exhausted by the end of dinner:


http://i1124.photobucket.com/albums/l562/jenneth79/Disney%20World%20Sept%202011/Day%20Five/100_0688.jpg

Not to mention, Mike was getting a bit sniffly and stuffy that day. We both hoped he wasn’t coming down with something:sick:, so went to bed early.

I was started to get bummed on this day knowing we were half way done, but I was looking forward to all the other fun things we had planned. Both of us agreed that we were eating way too much food, though, and started to think about perhaps canceling a few ADRs in the coming days. The main plan for Thursday would be some time in the Magic Kingdom, then some serious SAB fun, if it was the last thing we did!

[PixieMama]

I think I'd like to try dinner at Raglan Road sometime, too.

And such sad news about your shoes. May they rest in peace. :angel:

[natebenma]

Sounds like a nice down-day that really wasn't so quiet after all.

I have done my time at that Lego store!

Cute dress!!! And shoes.

Glad you enjoyed your meals at Raglan and Yachtsman (after all)

[photographymom517]

Sometimes a day away from the parks is definitely needed at Disney!!!

The spa experience sounds amazing! Glad to know GF is even better -- I'll keep that in mind for the future!

I can tell you from personal experience, we NEVER have issues with the buses...except on our DTD day! We constantly saw buses coming & going while waiting at the bus stop...but NO Beach Club/Yacht Club bus! I thought they'd have more than one running back/forth from BC/YC since we shared with the Boardwalk & Swan/Dolphin too -- BUT you have such a long wait :eek: It was seriously ridiculous! There was a part of me that almost wanted to walk back to the resort!

I haven't tried Raglan Road, but I def might try it this next trip! Thanks for the review!!!

Oh -- and I had to laugh when you said you're 48 hours behind on the DIS -- I think I'm 48 DAYS behind!!! :lmao:

[natebenma]

I can tell you from personal experience, we NEVER have issues with the buses...except on our DTD day! We constantly saw buses coming & going while waiting at the bus stop...but NO Beach Club/Yacht Club bus! I thought they'd have more than one running back/forth from BC/YC since we shared with the Boardwalk & Swan/Dolphin too -- BUT you have such a long wait :eek: It was seriously ridiculous! There was a part of me that almost wanted to walk back to the resort!



We dislike the bus from DTD to the BC so much that what we do is take one of the resort boats (POR, Saratoga Springs or OKW) and then get a bus to EPCOT from there, enjoy a little time at the park before heading to our room. This has totally made our trips to DTD so much better!

[TanzUnited99]

Sounds like a great day! Love the DTD pics and you look really nice in your dress and shoes...moment of silence being observed at present ;)

[jenneth79]

Hey Everyone!

I don't want you to think I've fallen off the face of the Earth... as I'm holding on very tightly to the edge!!! Work and life have been insane lately, but I'm getting a small reprieve, as I'm switching to a schedule where I work from home a few days a week. That should start in the next month or so and I'll have WAY more time to spend on here then.:goodvibes

For now, I promise the next update will be coming this Friday.

Stay warm, stay cool, or stay dry....depending on where you are!:lmao:

[natebenma]

Hey Everyone!

I don't want you to think I've fallen off the face of the Earth... as I'm holding on very tightly to the edge!!! Work and life have been insane lately, but I'm getting a small reprieve, as I'm switching to a schedule where I work from home a few days a week. That should start in the next month or so and I'll have WAY more time to spend on here then.:goodvibes

For now, I promise the next update will be coming this Friday.

Stay warm, stay cool, or stay dry....depending on where you are!:lmao:

Thanks for letting us know. Hope life and work start calming down for you. :hug: