"Are you done with that?!" A photo heavy, gluttonous, Jan 2012 Trip Report! NEW PG32 [Archive] - The DIS Discussion Forums

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 02:17 PM

Hello! Hello! My name is Karen, for those of you that have accidentally missed any of my Disney ramblings here, usually in the PRE-trip report section! :rolleyes1

My PTR (or the most recent one!) you can find here: "Reach for the sky!" We're finally getting there in January 2012!!! (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2633704)

Before that, there was the "Neverending PTR" and if you have no life and time to read until your eyes bleed, the link is in my PTR above.

Bottom line is that we went to Disney in 2009 with our IL's and have been trying to get back ever since! It was a roller coaster and at times I thought we would never get there...but we did! We made it to Walt Disney World from January 28th through February 4th! It was as magical as I dreamed, but more on that in a bit! :lovestruc

If you don't like rambling and run-on sentences, you may want to try another TR, as I have a knack for it! :laughing: I am going to try and take my time and savor it, as the last TR I did I went too fast and had it finished within a few days! Not this time, my friends. Have no fear, it will also be VERY picture heavy! I'm a photographer and although I didn't get to spend a ton of time taking photos this trip or rent the lens I wanted, I did get over 2400 shots and will have a VERY difficult time not posting nearly all of them! :thumbsup2

So, without further rambling (at least for the moment!) here is our intro:

Karen- That's me! :p (38 for another month) I'm mother to three amazing kids that I homeschool, I'm a photographer, a runner, own my own petsitting business, and adore Disney. First trip was just my dd and I in 2008, as an adult, and I was hooked! It's the only place I really feel like I can be myself, enjoy, and let everything else go. I'm a planner extraordinaire, which can be not so good when the rest of my family wants to go with the flow, but I did REALLY well! LOVE LOVE LOVE the rides, all of them, but EE, RcRc, PP, and HM are my top fav's. Not many pics of me alone on this trip, I'm usually behind the camera! Here I am with Savannah (my dd) on the left, and her bff, Leslee, that came with us, on the right!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121448.jpg

Rey-The love of my life and person that makes me laugh daily. We're celebrating 20 years and he not only tolerates my Disney obsession, but joins in the fun! He loves Epcot, could skip AK all together, and will ride things but prefers to shop! I know, strange! :laughing: Favorite country would be Germany, since he was born and lived there for the first 3 years of his life. Who else do you know that can pull off a chicken hat?!?!?

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121817.jpg

Dylan-Our 17 year old son. Computer genius and drummer, he goes to Disney for the food. :p He's not a thrill rider, in fact, he doesn't really care for most of the rides, but enjoys watching people and loves all the different TS restaurants. Free dining worked well for him! ;) He got a hat in Japan (which he's studying right now) and drum sticks in the UK, he was pretty happy with those souvenirs!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121923.jpg

Dallas-Our 16 year old son. Dallas is a guitar player and budding chef! He LOVED some of our TS meals, especially the ones where we sat near the chefs and he could watch them. He likes thrill rides and proclaimed that he loved Epcot and the "vibe" there. Here he is poolside at Pop, waiting for our room to be ready. This was the ONLY day he would be wearing a sweatshirt!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012076.jpg

Savannah-Our youngest at 11, Savannah is the spunk of the bunch! She loves Disney, but loves her pets more, so she struggled a few times this trip with missing them. She loves all rides and although Splash used to be her favorite, this trip it was EE and RnRc! Her BFF got to come along, so that made it even more fun!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012181.jpg

Leslee-Savannah's bff and one of my closest friend's daughters. It was Leslee's first trip and I'm lucky to have such a good friend to lend me her daughter for a week! Leslee's favorite ride was Test Track, I lost count of how many times they rode it! Stitch is her favorite character and she got to meet him twice!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012559.jpg

So there you have the Cast of Characters! It was hard to decide on the title, it could have been a number of things about our car troubles, getting lost even with signs to lead the way, and scratch and sniff shirts! ;) You'll hear all about that and more, I even had a classic Disney-meltdown at one point! Good times! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121778-1.jpg

As I mentioned, there will be millions of photos, and TONS of food pics. The family got to the point that when they were served, they would all just sit there and wait for me to pull out the camera and take a pictures of all their dishes! :lmao:

Of course, it was a free-for-all with my eating (I normally eat raw vegan b/c of allergies & health) and hence the name of the TR...my family almost always shared with me, but they may have occasionally gotten tired of me drooling over whatever it was they were eating and asking if they were done yet so I could finish it off! ;)

2009 Trip Report Link: *~*~OFFFFFFFFFFF with their heads!!!!!! Oct. 19-27th 2009 TR~*~* (http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=2324754)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 02:18 PM

Table of Contents:

It was a dark and stormy night... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43955251&postcount=24)
We made it! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43955287&postcount=25)
What's red and yellow and blue and green and purple all over?!?! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43965206&postcount=54)
Rainforest Cafe & Downtown Disney on a Saturday night? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43965292&postcount=56)
Goodnight PoP! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43965336&postcount=57)

Our first park day!! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43976426&postcount=91)
Rope drop...more like NOPE drop! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43976926&postcount=93)
"Hey, STOP!" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43986524&postcount=116)
I thought you were a DIS expert??? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43986537&postcount=117)
How many times can you cross the park in 1 day?!? (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43996136&postcount=139)
Our first day finally comes to an end! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=43996144&postcount=140)

"You can't do that without ME!" Park Day 2-Epcot! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44004692&postcount=167)
Not-so-sunshiney-seasons (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44004699&postcount=168)
Meltdowns and Margaritas! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44004927&postcount=171)
More touring of the World! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44014581&postcount=196)
Via Napoli & "Why does that say Buena Vista?" (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44014594&postcount=197)

Taking it slow at AK (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44024700&postcount=221)
AK Continued (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44024729&postcount=222)
Valentines Day update (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44024963&postcount=223)
Kouzzina dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44033902&postcount=236)

Grumpy's Morning-DHS Day (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44044178&postcount=252)
Rockin' my afternoon! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44054272&postcount=273)
Meltdowns & Magic (part 1) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44063576&postcount=291)
Meltdowns & Magic (part 2) (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44063578&postcount=292)

Our nearly-11-hour-Epcot day! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44071606&postcount=312)
11 hour Epcot day continued (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44071611&postcount=313)
and MORE 11 hour day at Epcot (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44080522&postcount=339)
Chef's of France dinner (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44090444&postcount=350)
Illuminations from Japan (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44090630&postcount=352)

Our last day! Ohana breakfast (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44100764&postcount=380)
The shortest update ever! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44111094&postcount=396)
Wowsacrowds! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44121456&postcount=407)
continued...and my favorite photo of the trip! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44121459&postcount=408)
We interrupt your normal programming... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44131451&postcount=431)
The Wave dinner ADR (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44131561&postcount=432)
Our last night in MK (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44140588&postcount=453)
Farewell Magic Kingdom! We'll meet again! (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44140590&postcount=454)
It was a dark and stormy night... (http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=44150086&postcount=471)

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-06-2012, 02:25 PM

I'm here!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip! :yay:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 02:29 PM

I'm here!! Can't wait to hear more about your trip! :yay:

Whoohooo! You're fast!! :woohoo:

Victoriasmom98

02-06-2012, 03:01 PM

Oh man......I wanted to be first!!!! :scared1:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 03:02 PM

Oh man......I wanted to be first!!!! :scared1:

You were so close Ann! ;)

danimaroo

02-06-2012, 04:04 PM

Of COURSE I'm here! Can't wait to follow along with your TR and hear about how wonderful your trip was! Still bummed we missed you guys just barely by a day though.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 04:10 PM

Of COURSE I'm here! Can't wait to follow along with your TR and hear about how wonderful your trip was! Still bummed we missed you guys just barely by a day though.

I doubt we could have found each other anyway! It was SO much busier than I thought it would be, but more on THAT later too! ;)

okw19

02-06-2012, 04:47 PM

I'm here! We were down 1/21-1/28. :) Can't wait to read all about your trip, it sounds like you are a fun bunch!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 04:49 PM

I'm here! We were down 1/21-1/28. :) Can't wait to read all about your trip, it sounds like you are a fun bunch!

Hi Rachel! Glad you are here! :goodvibes

-Hope-

02-06-2012, 05:00 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 05:02 PM

I'm here! I am still having a hard time caring about pics and your TR because I need my Karenfix! After I see you tomorrow and hear about the highlights first hand I'm sure I'll feel better and ready to read more. ;)

What if I don't tell you anything tomorrow and make you wait like everyone else?!?!? :rolleyes1

:lmao:

BTW, I think our PTR is going to get some action b/c I'm ready to plan again! How many days have I been home? Not even 2? :rolleyes:

KatMark

02-06-2012, 05:17 PM

I was checking my iPhone for responses on my TR (we were there 26th thru 31st, and your title lured me in.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 05:19 PM

I was checking my iPhone for responses on my TR (we were there 26th thru 31st, and your title lured me in.

Ooooh, where is your TR?!?!? I want to read it, I'm very interested in other people's experiences at the same time! :woohoo: (off to search for it!)

KatMark

02-06-2012, 05:23 PM

It is linked in my signature.

AKASnowWhite

02-06-2012, 07:56 PM

Can't wait to read it Karen!

and I love, Love, LOVE the tie dye's! :thumbsup2

jecskc

02-06-2012, 08:15 PM

Joining in !!! Please say there is food porn !!! Looking forward to reading about your trip.

dara00

02-06-2012, 08:24 PM

we were there in Jan too - what were your dates? we were there Jan 16, 17, and 20 (we were in Tampa and not in the parks the other days). I love the tie dye shirts too!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 08:28 PM

Can't wait to read it Karen!

and I love, Love, LOVE the tie dye's! :thumbsup2

Thanks Nancy! We had fun making them! I'm glad one of my Goddesses is reading! ;)

Joining in !!! Please say there is food porn !!! Looking forward to reading about your trip.

Oh yes, there is TONS of food porn! Rey was walking by the computer this afternoon when I was reading another TR and he said "so you aren't the only one that takes pictures of all the food?!?!?" :laughing:

we were there in Jan too - what were your dates? we were there Jan 16, 17, and 20 (we were in Tampa and not in the parks the other days). I love the tie dye shirts too!!

I forgot to put that in my intro, I'll have to go add that! We were there from Jan. 28th to Feb. 4th! :goodvibes

lisaviolet

02-06-2012, 09:02 PM

Following. :love:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 09:24 PM

Following. :love:

Yay! Lisa has arrived! :woohoo:

3DisneyKids

02-06-2012, 09:46 PM

Here. You promised pics. ;)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-06-2012, 09:52 PM

Here. You promised pics. ;)

yes, yes, there will be MANY! I haven't even gotten through a quarter of the editing yet, but promise there will be an update in the morning and you'll regret wanting lots of pics! I even took a shot of the Subway sign on the drive down...I got this! ;)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 04:13 AM

It was a dark and stormy night...

Ok, it wasn't stormy. Fine, it wasn't dark at first, but we did leave at 2:15pm with the intention of driving through the night from Missouri. It mapped about 17 hours and since Rey is a truck driver, we thought we could pull this off.

Rey stayed up the night before and slept part of the day on Friday (Jan. 27th) so that he could drive in the middle of the night. I did all the last minute packing and had some petsitting to do as well before leaving town. Everything actually went pretty smooth.

The girls were pretty excited! Savannah donned her mickey ears!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012007.jpg

We packed up the car and WOW, it was packed! :eek: We were in there like sardines with the top full and seriously very little wiggle room. I kept wondering where all my souvenir's would go on the way back! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012009.jpg

At 2:15pm we were on our way! I brought my trusty journal and books to read, but was too excited at first. We had Subway for dinner, my FIRST Subway in a long time and the beginning of my gluttonous trip! I got a veggie foot long. I think they put crack in their mayo. Seriously, that stuff is good! I didn't take a picture, can you believe it? Ok, I did take a picture of the Subway SIGN, but I thought it would be silly to post it here. :p

That's probably the last restraint I will show in this TR! :laughing:

The sun was pretty going down out in the middle of wherever-we-were...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012013.jpg

but that was the last I saw of ANYTHING for hours upon hours. I really did figure that the drive would be long but that we would be so excited on the way down that it wouldn't be so bad. Wrongo! :sad2:

It really was pitch black and the night went on FOREVER. With nothing to look at and chatting exhausted, some of us tried to sleep. Uh. no. Sleeping wasn't really an option. I dozed for maybe 10 minutes at a time but around Chattanooga, a JERKING woke me up.

The Durango was having trouble shifting for some reason after going through the mountain areas in Chattanooga. I held it together as well as anyone who had been dreaming of this trip for years and didn't have extra money for repairs! :rolleyes1

Actually, what I did was take over driving. We discussed going home, but we were more than halfway there with a trip paid off and free food for a week, we decided to press on and take it to a mechanic once we made it to Orlando...if we made it! Besides, there was nowhere to take it in the middle of the night on a Saturday.

We found that somehow I had a gentler foot than Rey and could drive it without the jerkiness. Let's backtrack here a bit. I have an astigmatism and have issues seeing at night. AND, although my dh is a truck driver, it's well known that I get tired when driving. I once offered to drive on a road trip so Rey could sleep. We woke up in a rest area less than an HOUR from where I had started driving b/c I got too tired after just an hour driving! :laughing:

There I go with the rambling! So, I drove. When Rey tried to sleep, he made Dylan stay up with me to keep me awake, but that didn't stop me from swerving or my eyes going wonky b/c it was so dark. We pulled over multiple times that night and luckily it's like childbirth and I can't remember much of the pain now. :p

Dylan was very helpful, he even planned with me and took the picture that I missed last trip...of the Florida sign! Please note the blurriness (I was probably swerving, LOL) and the absolute dark abyss of a night that it was...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012015.jpg

Ooooh, too much talky between pics that time, huh? Maybe I SHOULD post the Subway pic! ;)

I think I nearly cried for joy when the sun started coming up! Everyone woke when this happened and I continued to drive b/c when Rey would try to drive, it would act up. What can I say, my car loves me. We stopped for caffeine and spirits were high when we finally saw this beauty! Dylan actually took this shot, it turns out he's learning quite a bit just from listening to me (who knew?!?) so every time I needed a shot taken on the trip, I gave him the camera. The one time I let Rey take a picture, it was blurry!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012018.jpg

We came in a different entrance than before, so I was a bit turned around, but we followed the signs
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012024.jpg

and at 10am (17 hours later) we arrived at our home for the week!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012025.jpg

We parked in the check-in lot and the first thing I thought was "I'm finally back!!!" :lovestruc

The second thing I thought... "Uh, what are all these crowds of people?" :scared1:

Stay tuned for more on that! I'll probably do another update here pretty quick as I know the travel/arrival day can be pretty boring to read about!

and PLEASE, someone remind me to never drive again. Seriously, if I start talking about driving in any future PTR's, just knock me upside the head. 17 hours straight (or 21...on the way home...more on THAT later!) is just too much. It's exhausting. Who wants to be tired when they arrive AND when they get home? Taking two days is also not an option b/c it eats up too much vacation time. So, plane or nothin'. Remind me. I will forget! :p

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 04:49 AM

I had finally arrived! It was pretty surreal after all this time planning, but like usual, what you plan for doesn't always end up working! In my case, it was the crowds. Pop was more packed than I had ever seen it. Granted, I had last been there in September of 2008, but I was pretty shocked b/c I had read numerous accounts of how slow the end of January is and that it's a tradeoff for the weather and refurbs. :confused3

Disney handles people well though and I got in line for regular check-in while everyone else checked out Everything Pop!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012061.jpg

I had not done online check-in b/c I was worried I wouldn't get any of my requests, and it paid off! I got everything I requested! 50's lake view! But, the CM told me that the resort had been full the previous night and our room wasn't ready yet. FULL??!? :eek:

I gave them my cell so they could notify us, but I was told we were in building 3, so we decided to go check it out! First us girls did a change of clothes in the bathroom and we got our mugs and all filled up! We enjoyed our walk over to the 50s area, in 2008 I had stayed in the 80s and never even been to this side of the resort! Love the theming! Ready for too many pics?!?

60s on the way to the 50s

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012060.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012059.jpg

This is actually the building we were in, the elevators were right behind Tramp...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012070.jpg

Bowling pin pool, which is so large, you can't really get a full shot of it except from up on the 4th floor!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012072.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012075.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012035.jpg

The family was being resistant to pictures, which is nothing new! When you have a mom for a photographer, I suspect it gets old quick. We sat on a bench and enjoyed the lake. Turns out our room was right behind us, 4 floors up, but we didn't know it yet!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012044.jpg

I was SO relaxed and happy! The weather was gorgeous!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012042.jpg

I took some shots of the new resort, Art of Animation, they are really coming along on it! Part of it looks nearly done!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012051.jpg

We decided that some of us were getting a little hungry (I think it was around 11-11:30?) and so we headed to the food court. Rey refused the whole time to call it a food court, he called it the "commissary". :laughing:

Can anyone guess what I got? I'll give you a hint...none of us used a CS credit, we used snack credits. If YOU were a raw vegan and ate mostly salad every day but decided to let loose on vacation and eat whatever you wanted (minus meat), what would YOU get? This isn't a very hard question... :p

What does everyone think of the picture size? I'm thinking they are a wee bit small, should I make them bigger? Photobucket uploads them smallish, but I can increase the size a bit? I resized a few of them (pool shot, everyone on the bench, and girls walking with AoA in front of them) tell me which size is better!

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-07-2012, 05:20 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 05:23 AM

I'm glad that you were able to finish your drive to Orlando after you took over driving, but how stressful!!! Definitely not the way you planned your trip!

Hopefully the crowds weren't too bad for you! The Art of Animation does look like it's coming along nicely!

Personally for me, the smaller pictures work better, since I mostly use a netbook (one of those smaller computers), but the ones you resized are fine too! :goodvibes

Well, I had PLANNED for things to not go as planned, :lmao: so once I got there, I just let it all wash away! :goodvibes

I think I will only resize the ones that look like they need it, some of them are fine that size, it's only group shots or shots far away that seem small!

ksack

02-07-2012, 05:51 AM

Hello! I just started reading this morning and couldn't put your TR down, like a good book! I can't wait to see where the next chapters take me... :)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 06:03 AM

Hello! I just started reading this morning and couldn't put your TR down, like a good book! I can't wait to see where the next chapters take me... :)

Wow! Thank you and Welcome! That is truly a compliment, I worry that I'm just rambling aimlessly and people will get tired of me! I know I get tired of me sometimes even! :laughing:

jecskc

02-07-2012, 06:14 AM

Enjoying so far !! I imagine it is a huge struggle to decide whether or not to fly or drive. The savings you get from driving is so huge, that I think it takes over your brain and you forget how miserable it is to be in the car for 20+ hours.

Once you decide on a picture size you are happy with, photobucket will let you load all of your photos that size with the bulk uploader. There is a blue "options" link at the bottom of the bulk uploading page that allows you to set all of your photos to a certain size. I use Large and it seems to look fine on both the regular computer and netbook or iPad.

Looking forward to more !!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 06:24 AM

okw19

02-07-2012, 08:15 AM

SeptemberGirl

02-07-2012, 08:15 AM

So what did you get??? I must know!!!! :lmao:

dara00

02-07-2012, 08:24 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 08:26 AM

Wow, and I thought the drive from NC was irritating. You guys are real troopers!
We stayed at Pop on the 20th. We arrived around 7:30 and check-in was so crowded! Everything was packed and I think it was the tour groups. We only stayed there one night before checking into OKW, and I am glad because we had NOISY neighbors upstairs from us. Hope you guys had a better time there! Love your pictures!

Yes, the tour groups were MUCH larger and more frequent than I had expected as well! :eek: They were almost ALL teenage girls and I swear they were following the same park days as us! The good thing is that they were not disruptive or rude like some have said tour groups can be. Once or twice we saw them running, but honestly, nothing horrible, just normal excited-teenage-girl behavior! ;)

So what did you get??? I must know!!!! :lmao:

Oh Liz, you must know how this works...I have to torture you for a bit to keep you coming back for the next update! :lmao:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 08:28 AM

where in MO are you? good job making the drive - you survived!

I'm looking forward to hearing what you ate as a vegan! We do mostly vegetarian, so it's interesting to me to hear what you found to eat on the dining plan!

Well, there will be many vegetarian meals to show you, but not many vegan! :laughing: I did get a couple vegan meals at our TS dinners, but CS is harder and you have to work for it a little more...and I was not in the mood to watch my eating, I just dealt with the itchy ears, occasional headache and scratchy throat! It was totally worth it to have some dairy! :thumbsup2

Oh and we live in St. James, MO, it's right smack in the middle! I grew up in St. Louis, MO though. :)

mousescrapper

02-07-2012, 08:52 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 08:56 AM

Hey Karen I'm here

Reading along and loving the pictures :goodvibes

Looking forward to hearing all the stories even your melt down ;)

Um NEVER drive again lady....:laughing: so sorry that plan backfired on you, but you are here and seems like you are lovin it already YAY!!!!

J

Yay! I'm glad you're here Julie! :)

Nope, no driving me me! Luckily my next trip it isn't even an issue, I'm going with my BFF, Hope, and since it's just a girls trip, I can totally pull off airfare! I'm sure as soon as I'm done with this TR, I will be planning like made for February 2013!! :cool1:

JDailey

02-07-2012, 08:58 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 09:02 AM

I am reading along!!! I am a rookie on here but, not a rookie Disney girl I LOVE THAT PLACE!!!:love: I found your post through Karen and have gone back and sort of caught up. I am so happy this trip finally happened for you all.

Welcome! Thank you so much, I have a lot of relief that we finally made the trip, that might sound funny, but after having to postpone and cancel so much, most of my anxiety was about actually MAKING it and once we did, I just let it all go and had such a great time! :lovestruc

JDailey

02-07-2012, 10:05 AM

I am such a goof....I meant to say I found you through reading Ann's post. That's what I get for typing so early in the morning and trying to hurry up and not get caught at work!!! :rotfl:

Rosiekins

02-07-2012, 10:28 AM

Subbing! I am excited to read about your trip and I am guessing Tyedyed Cheesecake or a Cupcake!

-Hope-

02-07-2012, 11:56 AM

What if I don't tell you anything tomorrow and make you wait like everyone else?!?!? :rolleyes1

That's just EVIL!!
:lmao:

BTW, I think our PTR is going to get some action b/c I'm ready to plan again! How many days have I been home? Not even 2? :rolleyes:

I'm glad to hear that because I've done all the planning I can for the beach and the UO trip in 2013- I need something to plan!! :rolleyes1

Oh, and since I already know what you ate I won't guess but even if I hadn't already known it would have been an easy guess. ;)

Lovin' the pics so far and the fact that Dylan is picking up the photography bug... sounds like someone needs a new camera so he can start practicing with this one... ;)

ksack

02-07-2012, 12:15 PM

Wow! Thank you and Welcome! That is truly a compliment, I worry that I'm just rambling aimlessly and people will get tired of me! I know I get tired of me sometimes even! :laughing:

Keep on rambling!! We are thinking of driving ourselves - depending on how much airfare costs, so I may need the proverbial 2x4 up side the head come this fall... BTW we are in Central WI so we are talking about a 20 hour drive...

danimaroo

02-07-2012, 12:42 PM

That is not fun walking into a massive crowd upon arrival! Especially at such a slow time of year, it's not what you expect. I can't believe Pop was entirely full though! :scared1: But that is really exciting you got the room you wanted. I can't wait to see photos from it, especially of the fireworks! :)

You guys are definitely troopers doing the drive, but I will be in your next PTR telling you, "NO YOU ARE FLYING!" when you try to bring up driving. Flying is so much nicer, it's worth the extra money and saving where you can for it, that's for sure!

I like the rambling, because I'm totally known for it, too, but it makes the TR that much more personable, in my opinion. :goodvibes

Oh and your photos look good to me! It's hard to know what size works for everyone!

KatMark

02-07-2012, 12:51 PM

Great update, Karen, and great photos.

We used to drive from Chicago to Disney ALL the time. I do not like night driving either, and we now fly every trip (although I must admit...I hate flying!).

I'm sorry you had such a crowd when you checked into the resort; I hope the resort didn't stay crowded your entire stay.

exwdwcm

02-07-2012, 03:26 PM

Hi Karen- welcome home! So glad to see the TR started! I can't wait. :thumbsup2

So sorry you had car issues, but so glad you made it safely. I was worried there for a minute. I can't wait to hear what you ate and why the resort was so crowded/sold out- cheerleaders????:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 08:39 PM

I am such a goof....I meant to say I found you through reading Ann's post. That's what I get for typing so early in the morning and trying to hurry up and not get caught at work!!! :rotfl:

And here I thought there was another Karen! :laughing:

Subbing! I am excited to read about your trip and I am guessing Tyedyed Cheesecake or a Cupcake!

Yay for subbing! AND...you are right about one of those guesses! :thumbsup2

I'm glad to hear that because I've done all the planning I can for the beach and the UO trip in 2013- I need something to plan!! :rolleyes1

Oh, and since I already know what you ate I won't guess but even if I hadn't already known it would have been an easy guess. ;)

Lovin' the pics so far and the fact that Dylan is picking up the photography bug... sounds like someone needs a new camera so he can start practicing with this one... ;)

I think when I'm done with the TR, I will look over our plans and we should tweak and make some changes based on what I learned from my trip. I'm also itching to upgrade to Boardwalk or Beach Club b/c since Rey things they are "hoity-toity" (isn't that what he said today?) then we can stay there without him. Not sure we could pull it off though, depends on the discounts...

Keep on rambling!! We are thinking of driving ourselves - depending on how much airfare costs, so I may need the proverbial 2x4 up side the head come this fall... BTW we are in Central WI so we are talking about a 20 hour drive...

Oh man, it took us 21 to get back, you'll hear about that later, and I had a breakdown. It.just.took.forever. :sad2:

That is not fun walking into a massive crowd upon arrival! Especially at such a slow time of year, it's not what you expect. I can't believe Pop was entirely full though! :scared1: But that is really exciting you got the room you wanted. I can't wait to see photos from it, especially of the fireworks! :)

You guys are definitely troopers doing the drive, but I will be in your next PTR telling you, "NO YOU ARE FLYING!" when you try to bring up driving. Flying is so much nicer, it's worth the extra money and saving where you can for it, that's for sure!

I like the rambling, because I'm totally known for it, too, but it makes the TR that much more personable, in my opinion. :goodvibes

Oh and your photos look good to me! It's hard to know what size works for everyone!

Yep, I think we might have missed the mark by a week or so. From what I've seen so far in your TR, you didn't have much crowds and we did! It didn't ruin anything, but it was way more than expected for the time of year and what I had been told.

Great update, Karen, and great photos.

We used to drive from Chicago to Disney ALL the time. I do not like night driving either, and we now fly every trip (although I must admit...I hate flying!).

I'm sorry you had such a crowd when you checked into the resort; I hope the resort didn't stay crowded your entire stay.

The great thing about Pop is that it's HUGE! Our room placement was perfect and secluded, so the only time it ever felt really crowded was in the mornings and we were not usually eating, just filling our mugs!

Hi Karen- welcome home! So glad to see the TR started! I can't wait. :thumbsup2

So sorry you had car issues, but so glad you made it safely. I was worried there for a minute. I can't wait to hear what you ate and why the resort was so crowded/sold out- cheerleaders????:cheer2::cheer2::cheer2:

Yep, we had some groups of girls, but we thought we overheard them saying Argentina. They were not really any trouble, just a LOT OF BODIES! :eek:

Tink-erin-belle

02-07-2012, 09:09 PM

I'm here! I'm so excited to read your TR and see the pictures! Great start!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-07-2012, 09:13 PM

I'm here! I'm so excited to read your TR and see the pictures! Great start!

Hey Erin! :goodvibes

akayek31

02-08-2012, 01:52 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 04:15 AM

Wow 17 hours :scared1: and I thought the 8 we have to drive were bad. I do the same thing when I drive. I am not sure how we got home this past September after leaving Pop at 1 am. I just remember hitting a lot of those dividers in the road.

It definitely gave me a new found respect for my husband's job! He drives around 8-10 hours a DAY, every day! I don't know how he does it, I would go crazy!

partyof2

02-08-2012, 04:59 AM

Food pics you say?! Count me in :love:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 05:14 AM

What's red and yellow and green and blue and purple all over?!?! That's right, the very first thing I ate at Disney was Pop's tie dye cheesecake!

Now I will admit it, I don't eat the kinds of foods that I ate at Disney very often...ok, really ever. Rey and the kids say that I can't really judge whether something is good b/c I don't ever eat the stuff, so when I do, I think it's great...but I think it was GREAT! ;) I had never had red velvet before, I thought that really made the cheesecake to have that bottom layer. Savannah got one as well and liked it, everyone else stuck their nose up and said they didn't think they could eat something that colorful. I had no problem...trust me! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012065.jpg

Rey and Dylan were not hungry, Dallas got a cherry turnover and Leslee had a massive oreo cupcake. I didn't take pics of those because it was so early on in the trip, I think I must have still felt silly taking pictures of other people's food...have no fear, I lost that inhibition pretty quick! ;)

Oh and each tie dye cheesecake is different, which made it especially difficult for me to pick a piece! In the end, I went with the biggest I could find, naturally! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012063.jpg

After our snack, we moseyed back over to the bowling pin pool and sat in the sun! Ahhhh sun! I have a vitamin D deficiency, especially in the winter, and although I take supplements, there's just nothing like the actual sun. My friends say I'm part plant. ;)

Dallas still had his sweatshirt on, but not for long! It was already in the upper 60s at noon and headed to the 70s. Very warm compared to other January's that I have read about.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012076.jpg

I had to get a shot of Rey with HIS cup. He chose PINK, naturally. My husband is a nut sometimes, precisely why I love him!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012080.jpg

At 12:35 we got the text! Our rooms were ready...or at least we got a text for one room! We walked up the stairs just for fun and up, up, up we went! 4th floor! I thought we might end up having a bunch of trees in front of our door as we were walking, but low and behold, we found the rooms and THIS was the view!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012086.jpg

If you look REALLY close, you can see just a tiny bit of the top of Spaceship Earth out there near the orangish tree closest to the bowling pin! The building on the left is the least finished of the AoA buildings. They were working on it, but we woke up early enough that the noise never was an issue. To the left more was more lake and the more finished part of AoA. Somehow I only have a zoomed shot of that and not one including our balcony.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121611.jpg

Only one of the rooms was ready, our mousekeeper was working on the other, which was fine, we had loads of stuff to bring up!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012090.jpg

The two connecting rooms worked really well for us. Rey & I and Savannah & Leslee shared a room and then the boys had their own room. I had worried there wouldn't be enough space for 6 of us, but there was plenty and we were not in the room that often, so it functioned well!

After dragging up a ton of stuff to the room, and getting situated (both rooms were ready)...I headed to the POOL! duh! :cool1:
The girls came with me most days, but the first day they didn't. They were really tired from no sleep most of the night and they stayed in the room for a bit, walked up to get refills, and then showered for dinner. It was 70 degrees, but perfect for just laying in the sun. Ahhhhh (can you hear my heaving sigh of relief and relaxation?!!)

I went up after about an hour and got ready for dinner. Our first ADR was OOP, I had used mypoints to get rewards and had $125 in gift cards for Rainforest Cafe. Savannah LOVES RFC, I think just for the Volcano dessert, but I digress...

So off we went to one of my favorite places!
(not RFC, but DTD!)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012093.jpg

Uh wow, whose bright idea was it to go to DTD on a Saturday night when the weather was unseasonably warm in Florida?!?! :rolleyes: It was just a TAD busy! Ok, it was really busy. We headed straight to RFC and they seated us immediately! I got a Green Python and sucked that baby down. Probably too fast considering how long it took for the food. Super refreshing!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012102.jpg

Savannah was sad part of the meal, I believe she was even crying a bit, she was really homesick and missing her pets. Luckily she wasn't upset the whole time, she loves the fish at RFC.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012113.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012109.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012147.jpg

I think the limit is 25 images per post, I'm not sure I'll make it to the end of the night at this rate! :laughing:

It took forever for the food, which was surprising since it wasn't busy when we first got in there. The girls were disgusted that they only got red and green "christmas colored" crayons...I think they were more disgusted that they GOT crayons. The nerve! They are nearly teenagers! :p So they scribbled like little kids to prove their point.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012118.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012121.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012104.jpg

Going to have to continue in another post with the food!...

sjs314

02-08-2012, 05:35 AM

Great start to your vacation! Can not wait to read more. RFC has always been one of our favorites too.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 05:45 AM

After nearly an eternity, which really wasn't that bad since we were in Disney and just soaking it all up, our food arrived!

I got the portobello burger. I've had it before (it's really the only thing without meat on the menu other than salad) and it's good! Onion rings were good as well, I had no complaints about my food!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012124.jpg

Rey got the appetizer sampler, which he really liked.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012122.jpg

Dylan got a burger, which I failed to get a pic of, he liked it. Dallas, however, got a shrimp/pasta plate and this was his least favorite meal of the trip. I didn't get a picture, but he ate because hungry but really didn't enjoy it at all. He said there were only a couple pieces of shrimp and the sauce tasted like it was out of a jar.

The girls had mac-n-cheese (.99 meals w/a coupon I had) and they liked it, but what they really wanted was a VOLCANO!!!! Not only did they get one to share, but the boys did as well.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012126.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012129.jpg

I had a couple bites...of course! :laughing: I thought it was just ok. Honestly, it's the size that makes them all excited. It's just brownies, ice cream, and sauce. :confused3

Rey & I ordered this gem to share:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012116.jpg

Uh...YUM! Really cool to taste Margarita AND Corona together. Wasn't sure I would like it, but I did. It was called a Conarita.

Finally stuffed, the bill came and it was $204. :eek: I just didn't think it was worth that much. This was standard chain restaurant food and I thought the bill would be smaller with the girls having .99 meals. The Volcano's and the drinks put us up there, I guess. Oh and Rey had 1 beer too. An 18% tip was included in all our meals, although I always gave them more than what it had on there. So, we spent $75ish out of pocket for the meal, which is ok because I think RFC is more about the experience and the atmosphere, but I hadn't planned on it. Might change our plans further on in the week because of that!...

There's no way to avoid the next stop for us, straight across from RFC...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012151.jpg

We didn't buy anything, but Goofy's is just one of those stores you have to walk around (and drool in).
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012159.jpg

I know a lot of people have talked about how the make-it-yourself stuff isn't a snack credit, but I did notice some stuff that was a snack credit. I thought these looked pretty nice for a snack, although I had other plans for my credits!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012154.jpg

We headed to Once Upon a Toy after that...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012161.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012162.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012166.jpg

Savannah started to get a little upset again and as we were walking out of the store in back, I walked right into a little gem just to cheer her up! A engraving machine with dog tags! She didn't even hesitate to spend $10 a pop to get her dogs each a personalized Disney doggie tag. It really cheered her up.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012173.jpg

that's the back/engraved part of them, here is the front...and the little "shrine" she set up on the dresser in our room with pictures of her dogs (there was also a framed pic of our cats as well, not in the shot)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012222.jpg

We made our way to WoD, but wow it was crazy! Where did STITCH GO?!?!?! They were doing some refurb work at DTD as well, so maybe he's just getting fixed??? Looks pretty empty without him...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012177.jpg

We didn't do a ton of shopping b/c it was just too hard with how many people there were. The girls tried on a few more hats
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012179.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012183.jpg

The sun was going down and we decided to head out.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012184.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012176.jpg

On the way, I had to make one last stop! Babycakes! Babycakes has Gluten free/vegan treats and I could not wait to try them!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012095.jpg

I got a doughnut and a blondie cupcake this night (got more later in the week, I'll post a pic then) and they were amazing. Seriously, I had seen some reviews about them being dry and people not liking them, but for a vegan who can't normally eat gluten, these were such a treat!

Ahhh, I have more pics of the resort at night and I'm worried the updates are too picture heavy for people to even load them! I think I'll make a separate update with nighttime resort pics...

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 05:57 AM

Our last order of the evening was to head back to the resort and get some sleep! We were running on not much and had a big first day tomorrow! I had to get some nighttime shots of the resort first though!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012192.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012201.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012206.jpg

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http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012221.jpg

We were ALL in bed and asleep by 8:30pm! :laughing: It had been a long day and I was so excited that our trip had just begun! Tomorrow...early breakfast at MK!! :woohoo:

WOW...it took me 3 posts to do just one update this morning! I hope no one is having trouble loading the TR b/c of all the pictures!!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 06:03 AM

Food pics you say?! Count me in :love:

Oh yes, many many food pics! I'm starting to wonder how it's going to be possible to post all the pics I have, it took me three posts just to do one update this morning! :laughing:

Great start to your vacation! Can not wait to read more. RFC has always been one of our favorites too.

RFC was the first meal we had on our 2008 trip when it was just Savannah & I with a friend. We had never been to WDW before and Savannah had never been to RFC, so she associates it (and especially that VOLCANO!) with Disney, so she requested it for our first night. :lovestruc

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-08-2012, 06:20 AM

Bonniec

02-08-2012, 06:37 AM

Loving your tr so far :)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 06:41 AM

Gorgeous DTD pics!!! I'm glad to hear you enjoyed Babycakes! I've always been curious to give them a try, but always forget to save pastry room! :laughing: Actually, I've also never tried the tie-dye cheesecake for that reason too! It looks really good though!

They were very good! No one else in the family would try Babycakes and to be honest, I get why...the snacks/cupcakes/etc. are usually HUGE at Disney and Babycakes were just "regular" sized. And, it's Disney, so most people are all about splurging, so who wants something more healthy for you? For me though, it's great to know that there's an option for something that I can eat WITHOUT getting a headache and itchy ears like when I eat other junk. :)

Loving your tr so far :)

Thanks!!!!! LOVE that pic in your signature! :lovestruc

okw19

02-08-2012, 08:16 AM

dara00

02-08-2012, 08:25 AM

great pictures!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:29 AM

First I have to say your photos are great! I love the one of the Mickeys in Once Upon A Toy.
I've never had the tie-dye cheesecake, but those pics make it look amazing! Glad you liked it.
We haven't been back to RFC in a long time. I my sister and I got too old for it and the food wasn't worth a return trip for us. I'm sure my fiance and I will be taking DD there in the future though because she loves animals already. Good to know I can redeem my MyPoints for a GC.

Stitch disappeared around 1/26! He was there every time we went to DTD and then poof! one night he was gone. DTD on a Saturday night sounds way too crowded for me!

Love the nighttime shots around Pop! Almost wish we would've stayed there longer than one night so I could have gotten some more pictures and let DD wander around some.

The updates are loading fine for me, so keep 'em coming! :)

Thanks! I'm actually hopefully going to get a new camera with part of the tax return in a few weeks b/c I was frustrated with my camera and some of my shots aren't as good as I know they could be, so it's nice to know other people are still enjoying them!

Savannah was a little bummed that Stitch was gone, she wanted to show him to Leslee, since that's her favorite character, and she LOVES that he spits! It was all fine the following day though when she got to get spit on by the camel at MK! Can't wait to share those pics! :)

I made an effort to get more resort shots this time, I didn't get many of Pop when we were there in 2008 and didn't spend much time exploring the resort then either and did this time! I didn't ever venture back over to the 80s/90s area though this time!

great pictures!

THANK YOU!!! :goodvibes

Pre

02-08-2012, 08:41 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:46 AM

Joing in!
I :love: your pictures and that there are a lot. I'm able to relive Disney through them :goodvibes .

Your pictures of POP are great! I stayed there two nights and am so sad I didn't get to explore the resort so it is nice to see it!

I was firmly in the camp that baby cakes isn't that good but may have to try it again. :thumbsup2
Now :surfweb: waiting for more

Welcome, welcome!! :goodvibes

I was worried after reading some reviews about Babycakes, but I do think it's all about perspective. For people who cannot have gluten, milk, or eggs, it seems nearly impossible that there could be a treat like this that tastes good. I did specifically get the blondie cupcake b/c I heard that was the best, and donuts because I had seen reviews that the donuts were better than the cupcakes!

-Hope-

02-08-2012, 08:49 AM

I love it! The pics are great, even the ones I've already seen this morning. :laughing:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:52 AM

I love it! The pics are great, even the ones I've already seen this morning. :laughing:

:lmao:

AND, I'm sure you understand the restraint I'm having at this point, right? I have over two THOUSAND photos and I have to choose?!?!? :rolleyes:

Victoriasmom98

02-08-2012, 09:06 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 09:13 AM

I am LOVING everything about your tr --- the words, the pictures! It's all wonderful! Can you tell me about your experiences with the Disney busses from Pop? When you say crowded, what exactly do you mean? Was the food court packed?

Thanks Ann! :lovestruc

We only took the buses a few times for fun, and so not during any busy times. It was usually in the middle of the day, so no issues. We did take it back the last night from MK, which can usually be a MESS...but Wishes was at 8pm and even though it was a madhouse when it was over, the park stayed open until 10pm and when we left, the line was only enough for 1 bus! Yay! Rey did stand on that ride, but it wasn't horrible at all.

The food court was VERY busy and chaotic during meals times, but we didn't eat during regular times. I went up at 6am and it was great, and we had a late lunch once, which was fine...it was the "normal" eating times that we noticed were crazybusy, when going to fill our mugs. This may have been in part to the tour groups, but not totally.

The PARKS were very full though, we saw a LOT of Florida plates, so we were thinking the great weather brought out the locals. Most of the time it was busier than when we went in October 2009. :eek:

BUT, Pop did an amazing job of handling the people....better than the parks, imo! So don't be worried, even with a full resort, once you were away from the food court, it did not feel busy AT.ALL! We loved Pop!

exwdwcm

02-08-2012, 09:28 AM

Victoriasmom98

02-08-2012, 09:28 AM

Thanks Karen. I really want to do POP next year but my family is concerned about the crowds. It would be during August, so maybe it won't be so bad. Looking forward to more updates!!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 09:32 AM

Yeah, so I hear Jan is a popular south american tour group season, so maybe that is why it was so crowded?

Love that shot of characters in flight balloon- amazing!

Yeah for cheesecake! I am hoping we can book a night at POP before our stay at BLT in November. I want to come in a day earlier and try and do POP- i hear how great the food court is and I have never been there. One of the few resorts I haven't visited yet!

Sorry RFC was more than expected, but looked like a great meal! Love the volcanoes! We just ate at our local RFC last weekend and debated getting one. Can't wait to hear what is on the agenda for tomorrow! Loving all the amazing pictures. :thumbsup2

Yep, there were some South American tour groups, but there were just a lot of people in general. I was really pleased with how Pop handled the crowds though, I would have never known they were full the night before we checked in (and likely that night as well) if the CM hadn't told me!

Thanks Karen. I really want to do POP next year but my family is concerned about the crowds. It would be during August, so maybe it won't be so bad. Looking forward to more updates!!!

AND, we really loved the Pop CM's! We had some issues with Savannah getting CS meals on the trip (more on that later) and the CM's in the food court were SO friendly and helpful! :goodvibes

SeptemberGirl

02-08-2012, 06:18 PM

I prefer 100 pictures in every post so I can SEE it! Yay pics!!!

MelMel11

02-08-2012, 06:47 PM

Count me in!! Loving your TR!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:15 PM

I prefer 100 pictures in every post so I can SEE it! Yay pics!!!

I'm glad you prefer 100s Liz b/c I have MANY hundreds! Let's put it this way...I've been editing my shots, I have about a HUNDRED just for our first day to post! Looks like there will be about 10 updates per DAY of the trip! A little much? Nah...not for me! :p

Count me in!! Loving your TR!!

Yay! Thank you!!! :goodvibes

ksack

02-08-2012, 08:38 PM

And here I thought there was another Karen! :laughing:

Oh man, it took us 21 to get back, you'll hear about that later, and I had a breakdown. It.just.took.forever. :sad2:
:

Well to be honest with you the 4 of us - DH, myself a then 11 yr old DD and a then 4 yr old DS made a 17 hour trip from Cental Wisconsin to Albany NY this summer... IN A PRIUS!!! :thumbsup2

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:46 PM

Well to be honest with you the 4 of us - DH, myself a then 11 yr old DD and a then 4 yr old DS made a 17 hour trip from Cental Wisconsin to Albany NY this summer... IN A PRIUS!!! :thumbsup2

My hat is off to you! :worship:

I'm sure I'll look back and think it wasn't that bad...but that's the trap for me...so seriously, someone smack me if I talk about driving again! :laughing:

ksack

02-08-2012, 08:55 PM

My hat is off to you! :worship:

I'm sure I'll look back and think it wasn't that bad...but that's the trap for me...so seriously, someone smack me if I talk about driving again! :laughing:

I'll be honest with you the one thing we did that kept us somewhat sane was that we left at bedtime for the kids. They slept through almost the first 6-8 hours of the trip... After that it was the DVD player, the Ipod's and the DS that kept us sane... Plus we convinced DS at one point he had to look for the sparkly rainbow cow and let us know when he saw it so we would know we were close!!! :rotfl:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 08:57 PM

I'll be honest with you the one thing we did that kept us somewhat sane was that we left at bedtime for the kids. They slept through almost the first 6-8 hours of the trip... After that it was the DVD player, the Ipod's and the DS that kept us sane... Plus we convinced DS at one point he had to look for the sparkly rainbow cow and let us know when he saw it so we would know we were close!!! :rotfl:

Well, that's kind of what we tried! We left at 2pm and drove all night and it was just SO boring! There was nothing to look at. I'm sure the fact that I have two teenage boys that normally stay up half the night didn't help! :lmao:

Dreamsdocometrue9112

02-08-2012, 09:27 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 09:30 PM

I saw lots of pictures in the title and food porn! I love pictures and food porn! I'm in! Excited to read more :)

BTW - great pictures!! I guessed that since you mentioned you are a photographer :lmao:

Oh yes, lots of food porn is on the way! I've been drooling have the day while editing them! :laughing:

LOL, I almost put "amateur photographer" b/c even though I am one, I'm still insecure about my shots sometimes, so it's nice to hear that people like them! :goodvibes

jecskc

02-08-2012, 09:38 PM

I had NO IDEA that I could change the size! Thank you so much, this saves me a lot of time and energy! :worship:

I learned it the hard way, believe me. I am glad I can help.

akayek31

02-08-2012, 09:43 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-08-2012, 09:47 PM

I love mypoints! I was saving up for my $25 GC for RFC but had to settle for $10 at Cracker Barrel and $10 at TGIFridays. I did however buy a GC for RFC at wal mart. No worries about pics they are awesome!

Thanks! So this was the GREAT thing about postponing the trip and planning for so long! Here's what I had in gift cards from mypoints for the trip!!!:
125$ for RFC
20$ for Burger King
35$ for Subway
20$ for Cracker Barrel (didn't even use!)

It was SO helpful with the drive there and back! I love mypoints, just wish Amazon were on the list b/c I buy nearly everything on Amazon and I won't buy it somewhere else through mypoints unless it's cheaper (which is unusual) but every bit helps!

akayek31

02-08-2012, 10:57 PM

Thanks! So this was the GREAT thing about postponing the trip and planning for so long! Here's what I had in gift cards from mypoints for the trip!!!:
125$ for RFC
20$ for Burger King
35$ for Subway
20$ for Cracker Barrel (didn't even use!)

It was SO helpful with the drive there and back! I love mypoints, just wish Amazon were on the list b/c I buy nearly everything on Amazon and I won't buy it somewhere else through mypoints unless it's cheaper (which is unusual) but every bit helps!

I usually buy whatever GC I want to use if I don't have them. I want to try Movie and Dine at DTD so I got $50 for DS and I. plus I got him McDonalds cards for his trip to and from Daytona for the race. I will however be using the GC that I got from the Disney store to put on the room when I get there and will be eating at The Brown Derby that day...he gets to meet Jeff Gordan (who he hates but is doing it for his mom lol) and I get that wonderful cobb salad (which is all I usually get there). I love GC's and as an added bonus I work at Cracker Barrel and have a 35% off employee discount which DD (who doesnt want to go :scared1:) would love for me to use to bring home a car load of University of Florida stuff (she is obsessed with going there one day and has been obsessed with Tim Tebow for about 4 years lol) Can't wait to read more!

ksack

02-09-2012, 05:41 AM

I love mypoints! I was saving up for my $25 GC for RFC but had to settle for $10 at Cracker Barrel and $10 at TGIFridays. I did however buy a GC for RFC at wal mart. No worries about pics they are awesome!

Okay, it is a bit early for me and I might have missed it, but what is the mypoints thing? I saw on a different board about the survey thing you can do and was thinking of that... are they related? :confused3

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 05:52 AM

Okay, it is a bit early for me and I might have missed it, but what is the mypoints thing? I saw on a different board about the survey thing you can do and was thinking of that... are they related? :confused3

Mypoints is a site that links you to other sites (major ones like Lowe's, Target, Walmart...just about any store!) and if you click through them to make purchases, you get points for it. Obviously they get paid by the companies and then you can cash in your points for gift cards to a number of places. They are totally legit, I've had no problems getting my points cashed in and I go through them when I'm ordering anything from a site online that I already would order from. I just go to mypoints and click through to whatever store, and then purchase. Easy peasy!

WORD OF WISDOM: Make a new gmail for mypoints. They send tons of emails (you can click to check out sites and get 5 points just for checking out the site) and spam sometimes if you sign up for things. I have a separate email for my mypoints and it works really well! Also, if you think you are going to do it, will you PM me with the email you want to use? If I send you an invite, I can actually get points for someone signing up! :)

Oliquig

02-09-2012, 05:54 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 05:56 AM

Hi I'm back! Boo. Now I can read your TR! Yea!

Looks like you had a great time. RFC can be so expensive, we have one 20 minutes from our house, so no temptation, but my niece was very intrigued by T-Rex.:rolleyes: Great.

:woohoo:

Yep, I'm really over RFC, so if we ever go again (I mean, I'm going, but with Savannah) I think we'll just make a reservation for drinks and dessert...she really only wants that Volcano anyway! :lmao:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 06:33 AM

Our first park day had arrived!! :lovestruc

I love the first day. Everyone is ready to get up, in fact, they were all up and standing there talking with me when the wakeup call came! We decided to drive since we were headed to Crystal Palace for an 8:05am ADR. As I was driving up to the entrance, I told Rey to get out the camera and take the entrance picture for me. What I got was 100 pictures of this Ferrari? that was entering the park.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012224.jpg

The guys were more excited than Christmas day, especially when they realized that it was one of the Exotic Driving Experience cars, going to the track. They had ooohed and ahhhhed and drooled over the driving experience, but we couldn't find a way to pull it off financially this time. 200-300$ just for one person to drive 6 laps?!? Maybe if Rey & I go back alone.

After they wiped the drool off their chins, we got parked. We were in nearly the same spot as the 2009 trip when using a diamond parking pass. Love early morning arrivals! Everyone was wearing their tie dye this morning and apparently Rey was in not only good spirits, but evil-rock-star-Kiss-face-mood as well!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012231.jpg

That cracks me up!
Hopped on the monorail
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012237.jpg

and were soon at my favorite place ever! :lovestruc
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012249.jpg

I love the park when it's empty! This was really the only time I saw it this way, so I'm glad we had our early morning ADR.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012256-1.jpg

I took some pics of the scrims that are up since people ask about them all the time on the DIS. I really do think they are ingenious. Yes, the bakery one was obtrusive and I couldn't get the mainstreet shot I wanted, but the scrims really do blend in when you are there and the alternative would be some huge brown thing, so I was ok with it.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012258.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012265.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012260.jpg

I would briefly regret what happened next. We walked down Mainstreet and passed a couple photopass photographers, but I was wanting to get PAST the Bakery scrim so it wouldn't be in the shot. Since we all had our matching shirts on, I wanted a castle pic, but when we got down near the bridge, there were no photopass photographers! No idea why, but we looked over and saw a line at CP, so we just ditched that idea and thought we would get pics later. I KNOW that this never works, once the sun comes out and there are tons of people it makes for a squinty-eye-crowded shot, but I was trying to go with the flow. So, never got that shot! I did get one of everyone walking down mainstreet though. I haven't edited out the crane yet so that you can see what it looked like. It also takes some time in photoshop and I don't feel like messing with it now!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012273.jpg

We said hello to some ducks on our way over to CP (yes, I took pics, but really, I have to pick and choose my battles here...there are more duck pics later in the TR too! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012289.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012291.jpg

Rey, still in a perky mood...and my boys, who are quite used to it, tolerating him. :p
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012285g.jpg

It didn't take long and we were called in! First group of the morning, so none of the characters were out yet and we could get our food and get situated before they started coming around! GREAT seat, with a view of the castle! This was a theme throughout the trip, we had the most amazing seats at all our ADRs.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012311.jpg

Hmmmm...food porn or characters first? I'm thinking with this crowd, food porn is top of the list!
Oh how I stuffed myself silly!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012295.jpg
that vegetable-egg frittata (sp?) was really good, the potatoes were as well! The chocolate waffle was good, although would have been better had I used syrup (I found that out at Ohana later in the week...yum!)
I had a plate with fruit, a muffin, and a chocolate croissant too, not sure where that went to. Rey's plate... he liked that meat/hash stuff, but it looked so nasty to me, maybe that's just b/c I don't eat meat. LOL.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012298.jpg

THEN, when I was really actually full, Rey brought this baby over and after tasting it...I had to go get some of my own!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012309.jpg
I had passed it up b/c it didn't look terribly appetizing, it was called Pooh's fruit lasagna or something? Bread pudding with fruit...and although it didn't look that great in the pan, it was SO good. I ran over, got some, and ate it before Rey was even finished with his! :lmao:

Tigger came right away, but then somehow we had to wait forever for the rest of the characters.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012299.jpg
In the end, we were just waiting on Eeyore, and had finished, so I asked the guys if they would go get FPs for Space Mountain and we would head to Peter Pan after meeting Eeyore. I didn't give it a lot of thought, but I was sending the guys out to ROPE DROP for Space Mountain. Rey has never really experienced RD since we were always about 15 minutes late on his first trip (but don't let me start rambling about THAT!) :p

So, Eeyore came, and Savannah was so pleased, he's her favorite.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012316a.jpg

We were off after that and headed out and through the castle for our non-dumbo-dash! I guess we can call it the Peter-Pan-Dash now.

(I'm at my 25 image limit!)
Up next...my guys don't like Rope Drop... :rolleyes:

BTW- I can't fit the word "UPDATE" in the title, but I will put NEW and the Pg# when I update. There will usually be more than 1 post though as it doesn't seem like enough to just post one each morning. Two seems like a good amount!

okw19

02-09-2012, 07:40 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 07:47 AM

Danimaroo!!Thanks for the idea for the title of this update! :lmao:

Magic Kingdom, day 1, continued! (this was Sunday, Jan. 28th, 2012)

So we left off with the girls headed to Peter Pan and the guys headed for FP's at SM...

I have to admit, this was the first time I felt a little relieved to have just me and the girls? I think just less people helped, but more on that later.

We stopped for a quick shot heading through the castle.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012319.jpg

and headed right to Peter Pan! I think the sign said 10 minutes, too lazy to go look at that pic. :p Anyway, it was really nearly walk on. I advised the girls to get in the boat quickly and look at me so I could take a picture, but when you try to take a picture standing on a moving walkway really fast, it tends to be slightly blurry. Still a memory for me since it was our first ride of the trip, so it's a keeper for me. :lovestruc
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012324.jpg

I cried. Yep. I was back and it was magical and just so happy. I think I hummed the PP song the rest of the trip...ok, I'm STILL humming it! I think I need to get a PP ringtone. :)

BTW, when the DIS limits me to 25 images, that includes smilies, and as you can tell, I love them, so it limits my pics even more! :eek:

Came off of PP feeling wonderful and walked right up to the grumpy looking guys waiting for us. :sad2: Apparently they were disgusted with the behavior of people at rope drop. I can't say I blame them, I never have understood the pushing and running. If you are at RD, you are good to go, there's just no reason to run and rush! Anyway, Rey said Dallas needed to go on something that would cheer him up b/c he was just annoyed with people in general...so I had the perfect response to that!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012335.jpg

Even though Savannah & I have been to WDW twice, we had never been on Philharmagic! It was top on my list after PP, so we headed right over and walked in. Ah...love rope drop! It was just a short wait with our 3D glasses.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012327.jpg

Uh...LOVE LOVE LOVED it! In fact, I loved it so much, I think I don't like Muppets as much now b/c I liked the 3D better in Philharmagic! Had to get the quintessential Philharmagic shot when we came out.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012334.jpg

When we came out, I had promised Savannah that they could hop on the carousel, so that's what they did! It was funny, I overheard someone behind me when we were waiting say "Oh look at her hair!" I couldn't tell without a facial expression whether it was a positive or negative comment, but thought it was funny b/c I had forgotten my hair was pink! :p
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012337.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012342.jpg

We walked by Pooh, they didn't feel like it at the time b/c they were headed right to one of our favorites...(I think maybe all the rides are our favorites!) ;)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012350.jpg

So we do the same thing each time...those that want to spin until they are sick go with Savannah(Leslee), those that might want to spin a bit (Rey & Dallas) went together and that normally leaves Dylan and I! :laughing: I'm always consumed with getting "the shot" so no spinning for me, thank-you-very-much! Still not sure I got the shot, but I got some fun ones!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012354.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012372.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012367.jpg

Good times! When we got off, we spotted someone furry and headed right over to the very short line!

too cute that he squatted down to sign the autograph books!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012386.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012393.jpg

Next update, a favorite not-so-speedy-speedway and my first time on Space Mountain! :woohoo:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 07:49 AM

I absolutely love the pics of Rey and Savannah from this morning. So sweet to see love between a father and daughter like that.

Crystal Palace looks amazing, and it's making me totally regret my choice of an Eggo waffle for breakfast this morning.

You're making me nervous for the next chapter! Hopefully the guys make it out of the Space Mountain dash okay!

Thanks! I have another I didn't post that I worked on that will probably end up framed on the wall. Wanna see?!?!...

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012254.jpg

dara00

02-09-2012, 08:19 AM

love the pictures, looks like a great morning so far!

giantstoindy

02-09-2012, 08:20 AM

I'm in! Looks like a great trip report!!! :cool1:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 08:22 AM

love the pictures, looks like a great morning so far!

Thanks! It was a GREAT morning! :goodvibes

I'm in! Looks like a great trip report!!! :cool1:

Welcome!!! :welcome: Hope you like pictures and rambling! :rotfl:

SeptemberGirl

02-09-2012, 08:32 AM

So I keep thinking how great these picutres are, like even the kids being "eh mom" are awesome...then I remember you do this for a living! :lmao: you should be paid to follow families around WDW!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 08:36 AM

So I keep thinking how great these picutres are, like even the kids being "eh mom" are awesome...then I remember you do this for a living! :lmao: you should be paid to follow families around WDW!

OMG, how cool would THAT be?!?! I want that job! :laughing: I won't add any fuel to Rey's plight though...all he can talk about it MOVING to Orlando! I cannot leave my friends and business, but he's even got the boys saying they would move to Florida. :eek:

JDailey

02-09-2012, 09:09 AM

exwdwcm

02-09-2012, 09:19 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 09:21 AM

I am amazed at your photos. They are wonderful!!! I need a new camera but, I am clueless when it comes to that kind of thing. Think you could help me out with that?? I love the photos that are close up and everything behind it is blured!! I really loved the photo or Rey and Savannah too!! I have a photo similar to that with my husband and son holding hands. It was his 5th birthday and I had a shirt made that said on the back I am 5 today it was so sweet!! I can't wait to hear more!!! popcorn::

The question you will need to ask yourself is if you are wanting to LEARN photography. I have a DSLR, not a point-and-shoot, and there is a big learning curve basically. With a DSLR, you cannot really get great shots right out of the box, I had to learn how to use the camera, which takes time and effort. This is a big downfall if you just want a camera that takes good photos!

I think I would first look into "bridge cameras" where you don't have to change/purchase additional lenses, etc. You can't go wrong with Canon or Nikon usually, but as far as bridge or point and shoot cameras, I don't have any suggestions b/c I've been using my DSLR for so long! :)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 09:22 AM

What a great first morning. That first ride on PP gets me everytime too. I can't tell you how many people I see almost trip and fall trying to get a pic of someone just on the boat ahead of them in line on PP. :lmao: Looked like a gorgeous day! I just love those early morning hours at the MK, my favorite time and place, ever!

I know, I felt like such a rule breaker, trying to get a shot instead of getting right in, but I was pretty fast about it and the CM didn't say anything! The weather was PERFECT on the trip, we really couldn't have asked for better weather!

-Hope-

02-09-2012, 10:46 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 10:50 AM

Love the update- that pic of Rey and the boys is priceless. They're facial expressions really show each of their individual personalities. :lmao:

So glad you finally got to do Philharmagic. I think it's my favorite attraction aside from Soarin'.

That chocolate Mickey waffle had me drooling! Oh, my!

We all really liked it, even the boys, who were less-than-enthusiastic about most attractions. They weren't clamoring to go again, but I could tell they enjoyed it. :)

See you in an hour or so! ;)

danimaroo

02-09-2012, 12:03 PM

LOVED the updates! And also loved that chapter title! Thanks for the shout out, haha. :rotfl:

Going to CP before the park opens is the best! I love strolling down Main Street when it's quiet and with no crowds. It's so peaceful! :cloud9:

Your photos are beautiful! Seriously in love with them; it doesn't look like you had to rent that lens anyway because of how great everything is!

It's funny how when you go on your first attraction it just hits you how happy you are to finally be there again! I've had the song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" from Splash stuck in my head all day, but that's because I was working on my TR last night (I like to write a TON at once, then break it up into chapters so I'm always ahead of the game), and it was about our experience of getting stuck on Splash Mountain. :laughing:

I love the food at CP, it's so tasty. The breakfast there is delightful, and even better when Pooh and friends stop by! :cloud9:

Totally get the nope to rope.. drop. :lmao: People are so insane to be running/shoving people for a stupid FP. Like you said, you are at RD, you will get an early FP! :headache: People can be really rude/ridiculous sometimes.

Anyway, can't wait to continue reading and seeing your beautiful photos! :goodvibes

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-09-2012, 12:19 PM

I agree, the tarps over the construction really don't look THAT awful. The one in front of the Bakery was a bit large though!

Glad you guys enjoyed your breakfast at CP!! You got some great pics that morning! The rope drop crowds really are aggressive, the guys didn't know what they were walking into! :laughing: Glad Philharmagic cheered everyone up! :thumbsup2

KatMark

02-09-2012, 12:54 PM

Okay, after spending most of last night just doing responses on my TR, I finally got back here to catch up on yours.

Love the photo of the tye-dyed cake. We've never been to Pop and I've only seen some really crummy pictures of it; yours is the best pic I've ever seen.

We have never done RFC at Disney (did the one in Chicago and Vegas and that was enough); like you said, it is a chain and not very good at that and their prices are a little steep.

Love your nighttime shots at Pop...you take great pictures.

LOVE LOVE LOVE CP...it is my favorite character meal at Disney and Tigger and Eeyore are favorites.

Sorry Samantha was feeling sad and missing her pets. :hug:

Love the empty Main Street photos.

Can't wait for the next update.

katt789

02-09-2012, 01:28 PM

Alright, considering I’m coming into the TR late, I’m going to jumble all my comments into one big comment!!

-Those are some great shots of AoA, I was in Disney in Jan (actually right along the same time you were there!) and usually stay at Pop, but splurged for the Poly this time so I never saw the construction over there up close! I’m super excited for it to open! (then again, what 90’s kid wouldn’t be?! I can’t wait to the LM rooms! Eeek!)

-Heck ya tye dye cheesecake!! It’s so delic! I love it!! You got a great pic of it too!!

-Hooly! The resort really is coming along!! That looks awesome!!

-I’ve been to RFC once, and I’m just not the biggest fan of it, yet I love TRex…weird I know, I just found that RFC was a little too loud for me, while TRex was just right (and I found the food options better at Trex…I know..I’m weird!)

-That volcano is something I’ve always wanted to try, in Sept Amy & I almost got it, but knew we couldn’t finish it ourselves & the boys refused to help, so it’s on my “to do” list!

-Ahh!! Bulldogs!! (that’s what we call the corona margarita’s!) so yummy!! I didn’t even know they had them there!!

-Every time I’m at DTD I wander through Goofy’s and never buy anything! I always want so much, but just can’t justify it! Even on vacation! Haha

-Oh my goodness, cutest dogs ever!!

-That’s a great shot of the girls back at Pop, love it!!

-Gah! Love the sign picture (even with the Ferrari) looks awesome, I love the sky behind it!

-Awesome shots of Rey & Savannah, gotta love it!! Also, the park, what a beautiful sight an empty park is!

-That stupid crane!! Ugh! I did the same thing when I was there “oh, I’ll get castle shots later, I’ve got places to be now!” and then when I did get them, the crane was out (and I mean out, off to the side, completely in the picture, rather than kind of camouflaged in the top of the castle. Booourns)

-Yum…crystal palace breakfast is one of my top picks! I love the chocolate mickey waffles (can you even get them anywhere else?!)

-I know what you mean about RD, it’s just not cool, some of the things we saw while we were down there were just down right scary (some parents pick up their kids and just BOOK IT with them, like, what if you trip & fall, you’re going down…on top of your kid…on cement…is Dumbo really going to be worth it then?)

-Phillharmagic is by far one of my favorite things in all of Disney World, just so awesome. You know, I’ve never managed to ride the carousel, I guess it’s not really on the to-do list when you’re with a group of 20 somethings…:rotfl:

-Yay! I’m finally caught up!! I’m excited to read more about your trip!! (and to find out if our paths ever crossed!)

Tink-erin-belle

02-09-2012, 03:38 PM

What a great view from your room! Pop looks so cool! I really want a tie dye cheesecake! I also want to try Babycakes! I'm glad you enjoyed your treats from there. I can't wait to see the pics of your desserts. Oh, and thanks to your pic of a Conarita, I had to make an ADR for RFC and make a few other changes too! Actually, you saved me from a BIG mistake, but I wrote all about that on my PTR. Back to your trip, in sorry Savannah was having such a hard time leaving her animals. What a sweetie she is! That was a good idea to make the dog tags! Oh, and before I forget, IMO a TR can never be too picture heavy! I'm loving your pictures! Two of my favorites are Rey in the evil-rock-star-Kiss-face-mood and the one where your sons are "tolerating" their dad's perkiness :lmao: Too funny!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 04:59 PM

I just want to say how excited I am to have so many readers and responders! :lovestruc My last TR was my first and I did it so fast (got a little compulsion there to finish things that sometimes makes me go too fast! LOL) and I didn't realize that when I finished the TR, they would CLOSE it! I was so bummed b/c I didn't want it to end and I had people come to my PTR and tell me that they had read it but couldn't respond b/c it was closed...so anyway, just really pleased that everyone is enjoying and reading! :goodvibes

LOVED the updates! And also loved that chapter title! Thanks for the shout out, haha. :rotfl:

Going to CP before the park opens is the best! I love strolling down Main Street when it's quiet and with no crowds. It's so peaceful! :cloud9:

Your photos are beautiful! Seriously in love with them; it doesn't look like you had to rent that lens anyway because of how great everything is!

It's funny how when you go on your first attraction it just hits you how happy you are to finally be there again! I've had the song "Everybody's Got a Laughing Place" from Splash stuck in my head all day, but that's because I was working on my TR last night (I like to write a TON at once, then break it up into chapters so I'm always ahead of the game), and it was about our experience of getting stuck on Splash Mountain. :laughing:

I love the food at CP, it's so tasty. The breakfast there is delightful, and even better when Pooh and friends stop by! :cloud9:

Totally get the nope to rope.. drop. :lmao: People are so insane to be running/shoving people for a stupid FP. Like you said, you are at RD, you will get an early FP! :headache: People can be really rude/ridiculous sometimes.

Anyway, can't wait to continue reading and seeing your beautiful photos! :goodvibes

OMG, I cannot wait to hear about you guys getting stuck on Splash! :laughing: If I don't have a new lens by my girls trip next year, I will be renting one. The biggest issue I had was that I didn't have a walk-around lens, I had to keep changing lenses for whatever type of thing I was shooting and that got old fast! I also HAVE to bring my tripod...but more on that later. :rolleyes1

I agree, the tarps over the construction really don't look THAT awful. The one in front of the Bakery was a bit large though!

Glad you guys enjoyed your breakfast at CP!! You got some great pics that morning! The rope drop crowds really are aggressive, the guys didn't know what they were walking into! :laughing: Glad Philharmagic cheered everyone up! :thumbsup2

I totally didn't even think about how the guys were not experienced with RD or how they would react to it! In fact, I kind of didn't realize it wasn't RD yet, I think I thought it was after 9am at that point! We had some other RD issues later on in the week as well! :rolleyes:

Okay, after spending most of last night just doing responses on my TR, I finally got back here to catch up on yours.

Love the photo of the tye-dyed cake. We've never been to Pop and I've only seen some really crummy pictures of it; yours is the best pic I've ever seen.

We have never done RFC at Disney (did the one in Chicago and Vegas and that was enough); like you said, it is a chain and not very good at that and their prices are a little steep.

Love your nighttime shots at Pop...you take great pictures.

LOVE LOVE LOVE CP...it is my favorite character meal at Disney and Tigger and Eeyore are favorites.

Sorry Samantha was feeling sad and missing her pets. :hug:

Love the empty Main Street photos.

Can't wait for the next update.

Thank you, thank you! :goodvibes

Alright, considering I’m coming into the TR late, I’m going to jumble all my comments into one big comment!!

-Those are some great shots of AoA, I was in Disney in Jan (actually right along the same time you were there!) and usually stay at Pop, but splurged for the Poly this time so I never saw the construction over there up close! I’m super excited for it to open! (then again, what 90’s kid wouldn’t be?! I can’t wait to the LM rooms! Eeek!)

-Heck ya tye dye cheesecake!! It’s so delic! I love it!! You got a great pic of it too!!

-Hooly! The resort really is coming along!! That looks awesome!!

-I’ve been to RFC once, and I’m just not the biggest fan of it, yet I love TRex…weird I know, I just found that RFC was a little too loud for me, while TRex was just right (and I found the food options better at Trex…I know..I’m weird!)

-That volcano is something I’ve always wanted to try, in Sept Amy & I almost got it, but knew we couldn’t finish it ourselves & the boys refused to help, so it’s on my “to do” list!

-Ahh!! Bulldogs!! (that’s what we call the corona margarita’s!) so yummy!! I didn’t even know they had them there!!

-Every time I’m at DTD I wander through Goofy’s and never buy anything! I always want so much, but just can’t justify it! Even on vacation! Haha

-Oh my goodness, cutest dogs ever!!

-That’s a great shot of the girls back at Pop, love it!!

-Gah! Love the sign picture (even with the Ferrari) looks awesome, I love the sky behind it!

-Awesome shots of Rey & Savannah, gotta love it!! Also, the park, what a beautiful sight an empty park is!

-That stupid crane!! Ugh! I did the same thing when I was there “oh, I’ll get castle shots later, I’ve got places to be now!” and then when I did get them, the crane was out (and I mean out, off to the side, completely in the picture, rather than kind of camouflaged in the top of the castle. Booourns)

-Yum…crystal palace breakfast is one of my top picks! I love the chocolate mickey waffles (can you even get them anywhere else?!)

-I know what you mean about RD, it’s just not cool, some of the things we saw while we were down there were just down right scary (some parents pick up their kids and just BOOK IT with them, like, what if you trip & fall, you’re going down…on top of your kid…on cement…is Dumbo really going to be worth it then?)

-Phillharmagic is by far one of my favorite things in all of Disney World, just so awesome. You know, I’ve never managed to ride the carousel, I guess it’s not really on the to-do list when you’re with a group of 20 somethings…:rotfl:

-Yay! I’m finally caught up!! I’m excited to read more about your trip!! (and to find out if our paths ever crossed!)

Now that I think of it, I didn't see chocolate mickey waffles anywhere else either?!? Wonder if that's something special for just CP! We have done it every time and I think it's kind of tradition now to get the 8am ADR and enjoy a breakfast in the park before opening!

What a great view from your room! Pop looks so cool! I really want a tie dye cheesecake! I also want to try Babycakes! I'm glad you enjoyed your treats from there. I can't wait to see the pics of your desserts. Oh, and thanks to your pic of a Conarita, I had to make an ADR for RFC and make a few other changes too! Actually, you saved me from a BIG mistake, but I wrote all about that on my PTR. Back to your trip, in sorry Savannah was having such a hard time leaving her animals. What a sweetie she is! That was a good idea to make the dog tags! Oh, and before I forget, IMO a TR can never be too picture heavy! I'm loving your pictures! Two of my favorites are Rey in the evil-rock-star-Kiss-face-mood and the one where your sons are "tolerating" their dad's perkiness :lmao: Too funny!

Ooooh, I'm off to read your PTR and see what changes have been made! :goodvibes ...uh...after I make dinner for my family...the DIS could possibly suck me in and they won't get fed at all! :p

Oliquig

02-09-2012, 05:45 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-09-2012, 05:52 PM

Okay, CP is going on my list for the next trip, without a doubt.

I could not get over the people actually "running" towards the rides at rope drop. Like there were $100 bills tucked in the seats of the first ride.

I love Phillharmagic too!!! Donald rocks!

Yep, I don't think I could do our first morning at MK without CP now, I just love it! :lovestruc

Donald is quickly becoming my favorite character, I got the cutest pic of him in the parade, can't wait to share it! :goodvibes

akayek31

02-09-2012, 09:28 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 04:14 AM

We have a CP lunch ADR that I am trying to decide on. DS and I are not early risers so I don't want to get charged for that missed ressie. After seeing your pictures I think I may have to make an exception.

I think you should go for it! I've never been there for lunch or dinner, but they do a great job with breakfast! :thumbsup2

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 04:21 AM

"Hey, STOP!" Day 1-Magic Kingdom (continued)

Where was I...(I really had to go look!) :laughing: Ok, we had just visited with the White Rabbit and Savannah spotted the Speedway and started squealing... I think Dallas made a derogatory remark about that slow car ride, which didn't surprise me, he did it in 2009 and when we got off he was extremely annoyed, I think he thought the Speedway was actually going to be SPEEDY. :p Dylan wasn't interested either, but that was the theme of the trip for him, which I had prepared myself for. He just doesn't care for rides and would prefer to sit, take pics, and watch people...oh and EAT! ;)

So, Rey went with Leslee and I went with Savannah. I have no pictures because Dylan had my camera! I take that back, Dylan took this picture of Dallas while we were on the Speedway. No idea how he got him to smile to big for the camera!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012398.jpg

Ok, he took one of me as well walking towards him, but it was a hideous picture, so you don't get to see it! Neener.

It was time!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012400.jpg

I was so so so excited! On our first trip in 2008, it was closed for refurb and in 2009 with the ILs, we never got to it...that was a theme as well, but that's another TR! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012403.jpg

So we head over (all 5 of us, Dylan sat with the camera, no rollercoasters for him) and enter the FP lane. Right ahead of us we could see the two lines, standby & fastpass, side by side, divided by just a rail as it entered the building. We were headed that direction when I saw to teenage girls starting to climb over the railing into the FP lane. I didn't even THINK and yelled out "HEY, STOP!" kind of in the same tone I would if my kids were doing something? I have no idea why I even opened my mouth, I was actually a little embarrassed b/c I hadn't thought, just reacted! :confused3 When I yelled, a CM close to them noticed and told them to get back over. They acted all confused like they didn't know what was going on and then continued down the standby lane. It was funny and embarrassing at the same time...apparently I'm the Disney police! :rotfl:

We rode in no time at all with our FP's and I LOVED IT! :woohoo: The rest of the reviews were mixed. Savannah was a little shaken up, she's had some ear issues lately, so I was thinking that had to do with it. Leslee didn't like it much b/c she couldn't see, Rey said it was ok but wouldn't wait in a line for it, and Dallas liked it!

We grabbed FP's for Buzz and headed towards HM, but as we got to the hub it was time for the parade (morning parade). So, the girls used a snack credit for ice cream and everyone got a soda. I paid cash b/c my family didn't want to use snack credits for drinks. They wanted to save them. :rolleyes: Can you believe I forgot to get pics of the mickey bar/mickey ice cream sandwich? I was too busy with that parade.

Fun vantage point too, with the castle in the background!!!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012411.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012415.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012417.jpg

heehee, he's so cute!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012435.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012444.jpg

After the parade, we headed towards Haunted Mansion, Dylan took a few pics of Rey & I on the bridge heading over there.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012454.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012459.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012455.jpg

Wait said 20 and it wasn't, although I wanted to check out the new que and there was a line for that. Everyone was sort of griping at me a bit when we realized that if you didn't go in the que, you could just walk straight through and we were standing in a line for an interactive que that no one really wanted to interact with. :rolleyes:

It allowed me to get pictures though, and THAT is always a good thing!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012463.jpg

Only got a couple inside, it's a hard ride to get good shots on and I wanted to enjoy it, I LOVE HM!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012474.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012481.jpg

I nearly bought a HM LIFE game, I kind of wish I had now! Up next...how many times should we crisscross the park? I thought you were a DIS expert?!?!? :rolleyes:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 04:31 AM

Day 1-Magic Kingdom (Continued...part 653) :p

After Haunted Mansion, we sat down for a bit on a bench and tried to decide what was next. Savannah didn't feel up to Splash (her favorite ride!) so we decided that was unacceptable and punished the girls.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012486.jpg

:rotfl:

It was getting pretty busy, so we decided to go get either a FP for Laughing Floor or Stitch...anyone see a problem with this plan? Anyone? Anyone? Bueller? :confused3

That's right, all of you are laughing now b/c neither of those rides have fastpasses!!!! I think I must have gone into some sort of Disney-overload at this point. Not only was I considering crossing the park yet again, but forgot that there were no FPs for either of those. The boys decided to stay in Liberty Square and let us go for the "fastpasses". It kind of felt like fighting the crowds to get over there. WAIT. Stop the press. Isn't it late January? Everyone on the DIS told me this was low season and it was dead and low crowds??? I shrugged it off b/c I knew I had picked a Sunday with PM EMH and I usually pick non-EMH days and follow tourguide Mike or Easywdw. And in hindsight, it was slower than our 2nd MK day!

You will notice as I keep rambling that I have no photos to share. That's right folks, I had fallen into some Bermuda triangle at this point. I was wiped of all my Disney knowledge and now not taking pictures as I walked back across the park to my non-existing FPs. :laughing:

We got there and I wasn't sure what bizarre world I had fallen into, but this was our first day and there are no Disney meltdowns on the first day! I actually laughed at my mistake, so it wasn't as if any of this was upsetting me at the time, just funny to look back on! Stitch was marked as 10 minutes, so I just decided to take the girls on it. See? Definitely in some poor-choice-mode! In my defense, I did know that I probably wouldn't like Stitch, but it's Leslee's favorite character and Savannah wanted to go on it to see what she was missing.

Still...no pictures...

*choice words*

Let's not do details here. We didn't like it. It hurt Leslee's back and Savannah's shoulders, even when I told them to sit up REALLY straight when the harness came down. And really? A harness just to sit in a chair? I dunno. It wasn't the worst thing ever, but it did take forever. Rey thought we had fallen in!

BACK across the park we went...see how boring my TR's would be if I didn't take pictures?? :p

It was time for lunch so we headed right where I had planned to go... Columbia Harbor House! Just what we needed, to sit and enjoy lunch. Right?

It was busy, but I assured everyone that not as many people go upstairs (clearly thinking I had all my DIS knowledge restored at this point) :rolleyes1

We separated into 3's (by our room, it was kind of annoying but how we had to order 3 meals on each card b/c we had two different rooms) I had no issues ordering for Leslee but Rey apparently had a CM giving him an attitude about Savannah ordering a kids meal b/c she was a vegetarian? I don't remember all the details and wasn't standing with them, but they did give her the meal and then an adult drink and adult dessert so it was fine. I think it was that Rey said she was a veggie and the CM was trying to get him to order an adult meal just b/c she could. Either way, I had headed upstairs and was shocked that my DIS knowledge failed yet again...it was PACKED. TOTALLY. :eek:

There wasn't a seat in the place. Ok, I lied. There was a table for TWO, so I grabbed it and figured we would just stand. At this point I was a little annoyed that we had thought the end of Jan. was slow and I've never seen a CS place full like this in September or October.

Rey came up looking annoyed, but there was some pixiedust in the air b/c just when I was about to scarf down my food while standing, a table of 6 got up and said they were leaving! WOOT!

I got seated and BAM...DIS knowledge was restored, all was right in the world, and the camera came out to get those food porn pics!

I think this was Dylan's? Or Rey's? I think Leslee had it too... (ok, maybe not ALL my DISbrain was back!)

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012489.jpg

Dallas had the lobster roll, he really liked it! I think Rey had the same, but I just can't remember if he had the same as Dylan or Dallas. (Savannah had mac-n-cheese nearly every meal, that's why I don't mention her very often)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012492.jpg

and I saved the BEST for last! MINE! This was SO good. This is the lighthouse sandwich, a vegetarian sandwich (that can be made vegan without the sauce, but I wanted it on there) and it was SO good. Brownie was good as well, and rich.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012491.jpg

Of course all was right in the world again. Bellies full of food, the whole place cleared out naturally! We all really enjoyed the food at CHH and I thought it was a great CS meal.

We headed back out and towards Adventureland!

This pic is from the refurb in Frontierland. This is why they were not having MSEP. I thought it looked better than I imagined, only because they just had areas sectioned off. When I heard they were redoing the road in Frontierland, I imagined the whole thing blocked off.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012498.jpg

We headed towards Alladin and Jungle Cruise. I grabbed REAL FP's for Jungle Cruise...since they actually HAVE them! :lmao:

Savannah was super happy because she found someone to spit on her! LOL. The girls had fun getting a little wet!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012503.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012511.jpg

There's that spitting culprit!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012512.jpg

The girls got in line for Alladin, it took about 15 minutes. The rest of us had a GRAND time watching people walk by, get spit on by the camel and look confused! :laughing: It doesn't take much to amuse me.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012520.jpg

I was pleased to catch the girls enjoying the ride!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012532.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012536.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012538.jpg

After the girls rode, we had quite a bit of time before our FP's for Jungle Cruise, so naturally, what did I suggest?!?! Let's go all the way across the park again! Clearly I've lost my mind all together. :lmao:

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-10-2012, 05:49 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 06:07 AM

:laughing: I hate when we fall into the "lets cross the park back and forth and back and forth" and you just can't stop! That ALWAYS happens to us at DHS!

Ugh. Stitch. Love him, not his ride.

We were surprised by the crowd levels during our trip too! Like, this is January, people! You aren't supposed to be here!!!

Yep, I think trying to "go with the flow" and not stress Rey out with my overplanning, I went a little overboard. That is what happens when you are a planner and you don't plan! :laughing:

I'm glad you noticed the crowds too, I'm reading a couple other TR's and starting to think I am either spoiled by Sept/Oct trips or I picked the wrong days for the parks. It was definitely busier than we planned for, BUT, the waits were still short, which is what really matters! :thumbsup2

-Hope-

02-10-2012, 07:15 AM

Oh, I :lovestruc: your parade pics with the castle in the background!

No wonder your PF flared up with all that park crossing. :rolleyes: No worries, when we go there won't be any non-planners or people insisting to go with the flow and we can do things RIGHT! :laughing:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 07:18 AM

giantstoindy

02-10-2012, 07:24 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 07:27 AM

Nice update! I had no clue Frontierland was being renovated. :laughing: about crossing the park! I've always wanted to try CHH (I'm a vegetarian) but I hate hummus-I usually do Peco's or Cosmic's instead.

The last two times I was at MK, I just did Cosmic b/c it was the closest, and had the veggie wrap (which I believe they have replaced now) but I was tired of it and it wasn't all THAT good, so CHH sounded like a good choice. I guess it does have hummus (which I LOVE) but I didn't really realize that until you said it, so maybe it's not too strong? I wonder if you could get it without the hummus? :confused3

3DisneyKids

02-10-2012, 07:48 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 09:14 AM

If you are criss-crossing the park then you ARE doing it the Dis way! :rotfl2: No true Dis fan goes around the park in order! You must criss cross to avoid crowds.

Um, Stitch? Just sayin. Actually, that IS a FP ride, it's just that you never need them (the kiosks are usually closed) because it is such a suckfest of an attraction.

Oh wait! So the FPs were just closed and I wasn't totally wrong about Stitch having them?!?!? That's a slight relief, I thought I was losing my Disney-edge! :laughing:

exwdwcm

02-10-2012, 09:20 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 09:24 AM

another great update! I can't believe the upstairs was that packed in January- crazy!!

LOVE your HM pics. Those are just amazing! It is my son's favorite ride, so he would love those. I have to show him. You guys did get a lot done today though.

I'm glad you liked them! I had fun giving them a haunted look! It was challenging since those were taken late morning and the sun was shining!

Oh yes, we got SO much done (I'm not done with that day either!), in fact, we got nearly everything we wanted to do done on our first MK day, which left our 2nd to do very few things, which was a good thing...more on THAT later! ;)

SeptemberGirl

02-10-2012, 09:50 AM

Karen!!! You have PF and you were wearing flip flops????? Oh my word! I about fell over when I saw your feet! No wonder they hurt.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 10:11 AM

Karen!!! You have PF and you were wearing flip flops????? Oh my word! I about fell over when I saw your feet! No wonder they hurt.

I know, I know! :eek: In my defense, these are my Teva MUSH and I have worn them at Disney before with no problems! :rolleyes1 No worries, by day 3 I had my running shoes on, even though it made me hotter. :rolleyes:

I am in the market for new shoes though, I've had mine a year and I think the PF is partially b/c it's time to get new shoes! I'm looking for shoes specifically that help PF!

danimaroo

02-10-2012, 12:03 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 12:25 PM

WOW. After reading your update, I'm seriously shocked at how busy it was! I'm not going to lie, this makes me nervous for our January trip (which should be happening next year, still working on some details). I wouldn't be nervous but next year the dates are really weird. MLK weekend (which we always avoid and visit starting the Thursday after) is the 21st in January 2013, which is REALLY late. On top of that, we have to use DVC points before February 1st, so we're basically pretty much stuck between two options. Either suck it up and deal with MLK Jr. crowds, and go from Jan. 17th-27th, OR see if we can find out from DVC about the points and go from Jan. 24th-February 3rd. BUT NOW seeing how busy it was for you guys, I'm nervous at that second choice! :headache:

Oooh, that is hard! I just thought I was going crazy, and that I had picked the wrong day (at least on our MK day) but by the end of the week when they EXTENDED HOURS at MK on Friday, I thought maybe everyone else had just realized that this was a good week to go. I do think there were just lots of bodies, tour groups were abundant, so that made it seem fuller as well. I don't think it was horrible though, at least the waits were good, we really didn't wait much for anything! It also might be perspective (but you can judge when I post my crowd pics!) b/c I've only been in September and later October, both of which were less busy (body count wise) than this trip.

Basically we have some figuring out to do, because next January is looking like a weird month. I guess all we can do is prepare for it being a bit busier. :confused3

Anyway, sorry I ranted about that. It's something that's been on my mind and I'm sure when I start my next PTR for that trip, I'll be needing advice. :laughing:

I'll be ready to give it, you know it's my favorite thing to do...tell people what I think! :laughing:

I also cannot believe the UPSTAIRS was that full! We went to CHH twice during our trip and both times there was maybe one other family upstairs. Otherwise, it was just us! And that was even on the day we experienced terrible crowds at MK (I just talked about it in my latest update).. But we also ate at around 11:30 or so, so maybe we just missed the swarms?

Nope, it was 11:30-12 when we went as well. I was SHOCKED b/c I was acting all smug and telling the family that there was a little DIS secret upstairs and then we got up there and I was just eating crow! :p

Crowds aside, it looks like your day was still fun! I love how much fun the girls were having with the Spitting Camel. :laughing: And I'm sorry, but I definitely laughed at the whole FP for Stitch and Laughing Floor. Stitch is definitely an interesting attraction. We LOVE Stitch (especially Matt), so we actually kind of like this attraction, but I know we are definitely in the minority! :lmao: I did find it kind of nice that they got rid of the chili cheese dog burp smell though!

I was waiting for the horrible stinky burp, no wonder it wasn't so bad! I'm glad I did it once, I would like to eventually do everything just at least once!

I agree, the Frontierland paving wasn't as bad as I pictured it.

Can't believe Savannah didn't want to do Splash! Though I can kind of understand why, you DO get wet and if you're not in the mood for some thrills, it's probably best to skip it.

Space Mountain is intense! It always makes me scream the most ridiculous screams ever. And it is pretty jerky because you can't prepare yourself for the sudden turns! Though on our trip, by our 3rd or 4th ride, I kind of knew where the most intense turns were, so that helped! :thumbsup2

I was prepared for it to be jerky, so it didn't seem that bad, although when we went on RnRc later in the week, it seemed so SMOOTH compared to SM!

Can't wait for more. :).

akayek31

02-10-2012, 01:29 PM

I think DD and I are some of the few that love stitch's ride :( But DS does not like dark rides so I have to ride alone this time since DD is not going AGAIN! This will be the second trip she has missed. I took your advice and called Disney today and changed my CP ressie to breakfast. DS better get up! I will go without him! I have never met Piglet so I am excited about this meal.

mommytominnie

02-10-2012, 03:09 PM

I'm in!! I read your last TR, the one with the in-laws and enjoyed it very much. Can't wait to read how the rest of your trip turned out :-)

204charity

02-10-2012, 05:07 PM

Subbing!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-10-2012, 05:15 PM

I'm in!! I read your last TR, the one with the in-laws and enjoyed it very much. Can't wait to read how the rest of your trip turned out :-)

Wow! I can't believe you read my last TR too! You deserve a special acknowledgment for tolerating two rambling TR's! :thumbsup2

Subbing!

Yay!!! :welcome:

204charity

02-10-2012, 09:25 PM

Marssiful

02-10-2012, 09:31 PM

Hey Karen, I just caught up with your TR. I really enjoyed following along with your families trip. Thanks for sharing!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 04:36 AM

Hey Karen, just wanted to tell you that I just finished reading your TR from the trip you took with the in-laws. It was wonderful. I loved your DH's shirt in the first intro shot! Very original! I also loved the pic of your SIL with Mickey Mouse at Breakfast. I have a cousin who was born with Downs Syndrome, and although he is an adult now, he is still a child at heart, he loves Disney Characters so much, and this picture reminded me of him. I actually teared up a bit looking at it. That Mickey hey? He sure knows how to connect with everyone and make them feel special and important.

I had forgotten about that moment, it was so special! :lovestruc

Also, you should know that everyone seems so much smilier and happier this time around! Your boys seem more relaxed and your daughter has grown up so much! Our Dd is 9, almost 10. It's scary to me that she could change also so much in 2 short years! Your husband too, he seems more relaxed and happy in this vacations photos. Anyways, thanks for sharing your memories with us all. Looking forward to hearing more in the days to come! (oh, and feel free to check out my PTR if you'd like!) :)

Oh yes, I think part of that is because it was just us, we love my ILs, but it was definitely a different trip. My boys have grown up a lot as well and Dallas has gotten out of that early teen funk he was in a few years ago. I'm glad we did our 2009 trip, but this one was just a lot more relaxed and fun and that's exactly why I wanted to do it so badly! :goodvibes

Thank you so much for reading!

Hey Karen, I just caught up with your TR. I really enjoyed following along with your families trip. Thanks for sharing!

Thank you!! :goodvibes

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 04:46 AM

Magic Kingdom day 1 STILL! :laughing:

I forgot to mention (until I looked in my journal and saw my notes) that Rey got mad at one point during the day. Actually, my notes said that "Rey just reminded me..." so I guess I even forgot that day that he got gotten mad! I couldn't tell you when, honestly, but it was b/c he thought everyone was wanting to leave the park and he wanted to stay ALL.DAY.LONG. He is so funny, he doesn't seem like it, but once you get him to a park, he does NOT want to leave...ever! :lol

So, we left off heading from Alladin back over to Tomorrowland. OH BOY was it more crowded than I had expected for January! :eek:

heading into Tomorrowland:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012545.jpg

looking to the left toward the bridge that goes to Cosmic Rays:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012546.jpg

Ok, I've seen summer crowds and I understand that you wouldn't even see a SPACE between people with some of those crowds, but I was told that crowds were non-existent in January and similar to September, so I was a little confused...but it was our first day at Disney and we were having so much fun! So, we ignored the crowds and headed to Buzz Lightyear to use our FPs we had grabbed earlier!

Dallas blew everyone away, you could tell he was taking it seriously! :laughing:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012551.jpg

Rey got 6000 points. No, seriously! I didn't think it was possible to get that low of a score! :laughing: He had a chance to redeem himself our last night though, so you'll have to wait to hear about that!

When we came out, we headed to the bathrooms, and then noticed Stitch! Yay! Leslee's favorite character!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012555.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012558.jpg

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http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012563.jpg

We went to Laugh Floor after that, it was funny and everyone enjoyed it!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012568.jpg

You know how they focus on people in the audience? They got to this one guy and he made a face and put his arms up to kind of show off and realized that his armpit hair was showing...so he just pulled his sleeve down more exposing his whole hairy armpit! It was hilarious, you probably had to be there! :laughing:

Ok, I'll give you ONE GUESS of where we went next. Really, if you can't figure out what we did next, you haven't been paying attention! :lmao:

...

That's right folks, we went BACK across the park!!!!! :laughing: Is anyone keeping count? I wouldn't have been able to if I hadn't written this down as soon as we got back to the resort!

It was time for our Jungle Cruise FP's and we were pretty beat (ya think?!?!?). While we were in line, Rey actually asked if I chose attractions with lots of sitting (Laughing Floor, Jungle Cruise) at the end of the day b/c we would be tired! Yeah, sure honey, just like I planned to walk back and forth across the park a hundred times too! :lmao:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012576.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012579.jpg

The guys liked Jungle Cruise, I thought it was funny, but awkwardly so! My family actually got called out by the skipper b/c they weren't ducking down when she told them too..."C'mon TIE DYE FAMILY, GET DOWN!" OMG...I would have pretended not to be with them but I somehow thought matching shirts was a good idea! :rotfl:

Finally we decided enough walking back and forth and it was time to head out for the day. It was 3pm and I know this b/c it was a MADHOUSE trying to get out while the 3pm parade was going on. Savannah wanted to watch, but it was packed and we were sort of stuck in the WALK area behind the people watching and the storefronts, so we just headed out and I promised that we would watch it on Friday, our 2nd MK day.

The day is not over, oh no! More to come!...

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 04:53 AM

This Day isn't over yet! MK-DAY 1 Continued one last time!

When we got back to the room, we just RESTED. All of us were tired and our feet hurt, I have Plantar Fasciitis (running injury) so my heels were really hurting, but I knew they were going to, so I was just popping Ibuprofen. I wrote in my journal and the girls & I tried to figure out how to decorate the window without any ribbon! I had printed out stuff to decorate, but forgotten the ribbon to staple/hang it! Rey suggested I just staple the printouts together and use the suction cups I had brought to hang each stapled group. Worked pretty well on the fly!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012591.jpg

After about an hour rest, we all headed out. The plan was to head to Walgreens and get some Motrin for Savannah and Epsom salts for me. We found Walgreens easily, we remembered where it was from staying offsite in 2009. Then I suggested taking Sherberth road shortcutt to get to Animal Kingdom Lodge for dinner! We found it easily enough, but for some reason when I got to the intersection where we had to turn right or left, I turned right! We were headed right back towards Pop. If I had just taken a moment to look to the left I probably would have seen AKL right there, but I didn't, so we drove in circles a bit and finally got to AKL just to go the wrong way and end up at Kindani instead of Jambo! (ok, I kind of didn't remember which part of Boma was at either!) :laughing:

This wasn't the last of our getting lost adventures, but I digress...

We parked and headed into the lobby and they LOVED it right away. I knew they would! :lovestruc
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012593.jpg

Dylan immediately remarked that he could tell the difference between the values and the deluxes. Ya think? ;) I had wanted to go here in 2009 as well b/c I KNEW Rey would love it, but we never made it! I do believe that if we ever go just the two of us, he'll want to stay here. He said he liked the "vibe" of AKL and The Poly.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012594.jpg
We headed downstairs to Boma for our dinner, and they handed us a buzzer and I sat long enough to turn around and take this picture before it went off.

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012598.jpg

We were seated and the waitress looked at our ticket and noticed that I had put I have an allergy on the reservation. I explained that I have a dairy allergy, but it doesn't really make me too sick and that I had been eating things already on the trip and had been ok, I just get itchy ears and a sore throat. She insisted that the chef come out and talk to me, that he could fix me up and make me anything so I didn't have to eat anything with dairy. The chef did walk me around and tell me what I could have, and then said that I couldn't have the pitas b/c they had dairy and he would bring me chips. He brought me a bowl of potato chips. :rolleyes:

Needless to say, I would prefer dealing with the dairy issue than eat potato chips when I could have all sorts of other goodies, so I just ate what I wanted. I did this most of the trip, but there were some really great TS places that made me vegan meals! Anywho, some food porn! My plate which had rice, a couple different hummus', roasted root veggies, and a bean salad.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012609.jpg

It was all yummy!!! The best thing of the night, however, was this little bowl of goodness...we ALL had some and were in total agreement...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012613.jpg

It was the squash soup and it tasted JUST like LIQUID PUMPKIN PIE. It was out of this world! Rey is still talking about it, he says he's going to find a way to recreate it.

Dessert was a plethora of decadent goodies with zebra domes, naturally!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012616.jpg

We had a great server as well. I had gotten a wine flight and didn't like any of the wines, so she took it away and brought me some Riesling! :goodvibes

After dinner I told everyone to follow me and we headed out to the back of the resort to the viewing area of the Savanna.

Sigh...I love the feel of AKL!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012630.jpg

There were some animals out and about, but it was hard to get photos. I got one of these Giraffes!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012626.jpg

We meandered out of the resort and enjoyed the gorgeous grounds and the amazing weather!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012632.jpg

It was SO nice, even after the sun had gone down. We may have had crowds on this trip, but the weather was PERFECT the whole time!

When we got back, the girls posed for a pic in our decorated window, we had some battery operated lights on the sill as well.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012640.jpg

This day was not over yet, oh no! It was neverending, just the way I like my Disney days! ;)

What is the best way to finish off a day at Disney? Swimming!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012651.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012658.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012665.jpg

After swimming, the girls RAN to their towels and RAN upstairs! It was a bit brisk being wet with the sun down! Low and behold, what did we find upstairs? Rey standing outside of the room, watching this!!!...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012710.jpg

He said that he thought he saw Wishes as well, but it was farther off (he was right), but this was Epcot fireworks and much closer! The girls grabbed some clothes and we finished off our night watching Illuminations from right outside our door!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012715.jpg

Dylan, doing his "I'm cool" look. :p
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012716.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012720.jpg

What a magical way to finish a magical day! And a long day it had been! It was just as fun as I dreamed it would be and we all crashed pretty easily that night!

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-11-2012, 05:52 AM

204charity

02-11-2012, 07:46 AM

What an awesome day Karen! You are a fantastic "tour guide" (Wish I could bring you along on our trip in April - I think I know what I'm doing, but I guess we shall see when it all is said and done!) I can not even believe that you can see "Illuminations" from your Balcony! That is unbelievably awesome! We are staying at the Poly and can not WAIT to watch "Wishes" from the beach at our hotel. I can feel the magic already!

-Hope-

02-11-2012, 08:13 AM

Love, love, love the update! I think those Jungle Cruise guides just zone in on people who don't appear to be into it enough- ours kept trying to pull Robbie in. :laughing:

Boma looks delicious! Your first plate had me drooling! And I think getting lost and going the wrong way is part of traveling- if you don't want to get lost then you better just stay home. :thumbsup2

Swimming is always the perfect way to end the day at Disney- but then to get fireworks on top of it is just magical! pixiedust:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 09:02 AM

I think anyone's feet would have been sore after crossing the MK that many times!! :laughing: You guys definitely got a lot done though, despite the crowds!

Your dinner at Boma looks awesome! I love it there! :lovestruc

How cool that you were able to see fireworks from your door! :yay:

We got TONS done, so much that I wasn't concerned at all with what we had left to do on our 2nd MK day. It made it more relaxing that way too! It was the 2nd time I had been to Boma and I loved it just as much as the first time! :thumbsup2

What an awesome day Karen! You are a fantastic "tour guide" (Wish I could bring you along on our trip in April - I think I know what I'm doing, but I guess we shall see when it all is said and done!) I can not even believe that you can see "Illuminations" from your Balcony! That is unbelievably awesome! We are staying at the Poly and can not WAIT to watch "Wishes" from the beach at our hotel. I can feel the magic already!

Thanks! I'm sure you will do great and have a magical time! Wishes from the beach is spectacular from what I've heard! I couldn't fit it in this trip, but that's just more reason for more trips! ;)

Love, love, love the update! I think those Jungle Cruise guides just zone in on people who don't appear to be into it enough- ours kept trying to pull Robbie in. :laughing:

Boma looks delicious! Your first plate had me drooling! And I think getting lost and going the wrong way is part of traveling- if you don't want to get lost then you better just stay home. :thumbsup2

Swimming is always the perfect way to end the day at Disney- but then to get fireworks on top of it is just magical! pixiedust:

I was surprised by the confusion we had driving around! It seemed really easy in 2009 when we were offsite, but somehow Pop seems hard to get to, like too many turns in my head or something, to remember. It was fun though, there was almost another name for the trip report b/c of a turn around on our 2nd day!

Zdog

02-11-2012, 09:18 AM

Love the trip report, and the pics, especially the food! :thumbsup2 We're getting ready for our family trip this summer, and reports like these serve as a great way to whet one's appetite!:cool1:

SeptemberGirl

02-11-2012, 09:21 AM

That was a really good first day!!! It is hecka crowded there!!! WOW. I would never ever have guessed that, it is supposed to be dead. I adore crowd shots, I love how everyone is in such casual clothes, when I am about to pack and stress out - good to remember that no one else cares what they wear!!!

I get lost driving around WDW, too - ask the girls. I tend to pull very creative but safe moves to rearrange the car!

It's so cool that your daughter could bring her best friend - what an amazing experience for the both of them.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 09:28 AM

Love the trip report, and the pics, especially the food! :thumbsup2 We're getting ready for our family trip this summer, and reports like these serve as a great way to whet one's appetite!:cool1:

I'm SO glad I took pics of the food. I know it's "just" food, but it was a huge part of the experience for us...me b/c I normally don't eat most of the stuff I ate as I eat salad most of the time, and the kids b/c we live out in a really rural area with not many "exotic" or unique foods. We had a really good time trying new things and splurging! :thumbsup2

That was a really good first day!!! It is hecka crowded there!!! WOW. I would never ever have guessed that, it is supposed to be dead. I adore crowd shots, I love how everyone is in such casual clothes, when I am about to pack and stress out - good to remember that no one else cares what they wear!!!

I get lost driving around WDW, too - ask the girls. I tend to pull very creative but safe moves to rearrange the car!

It's so cool that your daughter could bring her best friend - what an amazing experience for the both of them.

I know, right Liz?!?! It was really special for the girls and I think Savannah would have been even more home/petsick without Leslee there. :)

So, do those crowds look like Princess crowds? I'm trying to get an idea of what it will be like next february when we go during the Princess! I don't think crowds will bug me as much b/c I will be there with just my BFF and not the whole family. We have a much shorter list of must-do's and so hopefully even if it is crowded, it won't matter!

SeptemberGirl

02-11-2012, 09:33 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 09:40 AM

No. Princess crowds are lighter, I think. The girls might correct me, but seriously, that looks like way more people than the Princess. However, this years it's the end of President's Day so that is heavy crown season...by Friday most are gone, though and the weekend and Monday and Tuesday aren't bad. We are barely in the parks pre-race though, because we have to rest and sleep and STAY OFF OUT PRECIOUS FEET. :lmao:

I'll just sic Hope on you. ;) REST Friday and Saturday, party post race and on!

OMG, I'm never going to live it down! My damn feet! :laughing: I'm going to go adorn them in jewels now. :rolleyes:

Seriously though, I already had that all planned out. We were going to arrive on Saturday morning (which I know will mean a busier Expo) and not do much other than the Expo on Saturday...ok, I was going to go ride EE, but that was it! :p

and eat. I was going to eat. ;) but not drink...I think I can control myself until after the race...will someone have beer in the car for me tho? :lmao:

I will have a million other questions, btw, after this year's race...although you probably already know the answers already. The biggest one will be WHAT ARE THE DATES for 2013?!?! I'm thinking Feb 24th, but you won't know until they give you that info this year, right? :confused3

SeptemberGirl

02-11-2012, 09:44 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 09:48 AM

Don't waste a park day. Arrive, Expo, MEET US, SLEEP. That's it. No major meals no parks no nothing. Just Expo, MEET US, and chill.

It will be the same weekend - they often tell us on our check in packets. We will tell you!

Yes, there will be beer in the parking lot and a post-race brunch! And then we tour Epcot before we hot tub. Ask me questions, I can do my best!

Are the same resorts always the "host resorts"? Is BWI a host resort? Is it a pain to stay there if it is not? Will I need to take a cab at 3am? Where is post run brunch at? How much beer? Can I bring vodka too? :lmao:

LOL...oh yeah, you have to deal with me asking a million questions for the next year! ;)

Meetmeinmontauk

02-11-2012, 09:53 AM

I'm loving your TR! I took my first trip last May & took a pic of EVERYTHING we ate... so your TR title had me hooked :P

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 09:55 AM

I'm loving your TR! I took my first trip last May & took a pic of EVERYTHING we ate... so your TR title had me hooked :P

Everyone thought I was a bit nuts, but they got used to it pretty quickly! My family is so used to tolerating strangeness from me, this wasn't too far of a stretch! :laughing:

I'll have to go check out your May PTR, I like your little savings thing, that's a good way to stay on top of saving! I may do that...when I actually can start saving! ;)

Meetmeinmontauk

02-11-2012, 09:58 AM

I'll have to go check out your May PTR, I like your little savings thing, that's a good way to stay on top of saving! I may do that...when I actually can start saving! ;)

Our Winn Dixie is running a special this week. $5 off any $50 gift card. I took $225 out of my Disney Savings & got $250 worth of Disney gift cards out it! Free $25 :cool1:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 10:13 AM

Our Winn Dixie is running a special this week. $5 off any $50 gift card. I took $225 out of my Disney Savings & got $250 worth of Disney gift cards out it! Free $25 :cool1:

That ROCKS!! :thumbsup2

DrMomof3

02-11-2012, 02:48 PM

I can't believe it took me so many pages to get to your trip report!
I'm laughing about your comment regarding driving to Disney. I've tried to convince my DH that it would be ok for us to drive and he thinks I'm absolutely nuts. After reading your experience I tend to agree with him! :lmao:
My kids LOVED T-Rex which is similar to RFC. I agree that it's overpriced and underwhelming. But it's their vacation, too....
Love your 1st day!!!! You managed to do SO MUCH!
I'd love to run the Princess in 2013. I might take Jessica down with me and just get a babysitter during the race...

Amanda

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 03:03 PM

giantstoindy

02-11-2012, 03:04 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 03:11 PM

Great update! I was actually waiting to modify my Boma ressie until I read your review! Truthfully, I'm going there for the POG juice and for the atmosphere but I like rice and pasta dishes. But would it really be worth it for a vegan? (I might change my ressie to a breakfast just so I can for sure get the Frunch juice :confused3 and so I don't have to cut my time short at TL to get to my late dinner ressie.)

:)

Yes, I think it's still totally a good meal for a vegan, but I didn't feel as "accommodated" as I did our first trip. Our first trip the chef brought me a salad with no dairy on it and somehow just getting some potato chips didn't do it for me. Also, I was surprised after he told me there were not any desserts I could have and then didn't offer anything? Toffuti? Something? I'm unsure about breakfast because I'm not sure if their pastries have dairy and if they do, what's left? :confused3

jpmom97

02-11-2012, 04:27 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 04:41 PM

Love, Love, LOVE your trip report! My son and I have read all the posts, we are having such a good time reading it. I am a vegan and plan to go vegetarian on our trip so I am totally enjoying all your thoughts on the food. Can't wait for the next installment. Oh, and your pictures are great!

Thank you and welcome! How fun that your son is reading with you! How old is he? When are you going?!?! It is DEFINITELY easier to eat vegetarian than vegan at WDW, although many of the veggie options can be made vegan...but to me it wasn't worth the loss in taste!...ok, and dessert options! :laughing: I know it's not the norm to think that way, but I've been a vegan for 7 years and I do the best I can, but I'm not perfect and if I eat some cheese or milk on vacation for a week, I don't beat myself up about it! :)

jpmom97

02-11-2012, 07:06 PM

Thank you and welcome! How fun that your son is reading with you! How old is he? When are you going?!?! It is DEFINITELY easier to eat vegetarian than vegan at WDW, although many of the veggie options can be made vegan...but to me it wasn't worth the loss in taste!...ok, and dessert options! :laughing: I know it's not the norm to think that way, but I've been a vegan for 7 years and I do the best I can, but I'm not perfect and if I eat some cheese or milk on vacation for a week, I don't beat myself up about it! :)

My son is 14, he loves Disney just as much as I do. He is my trip planning assistant:goodvibes We will be going January 13-24 2013. I have been vegan for a year but I am not perfect either. Around the holidays I did eat some cookies w/ eggs in them. I don't mind cheating once and a while. I am a vegan for health, helping animals is a plus. I can't wait to read more of your trip report.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-11-2012, 07:17 PM

My son is 14, he loves Disney just as much as I do. He is my trip planning assistant:goodvibes We will be going January 13-24 2013. I have been vegan for a year but I am not perfect either. Around the holidays I did eat some cookies w/ eggs in them. I don't mind cheating once and a while. I am a vegan for health, helping animals is a plus. I can't wait to read more of your trip report.

That's a lot like me! :thumbsup2 How cool that he's your helper! I'm going back in Feb. 2013, we'll have to keep each other company in our PTR's until then! ;)

3DisneyKids

02-11-2012, 08:26 PM

akayek31

02-12-2012, 01:45 AM

I really need to get some of those zebra domes. I say it every trip but never make it to AKL.

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 05:14 AM

All of us hardcore Disney types need to get used to the sad fact that the truly DOWN/empty times are gone. Sure, September and January are still way better the the holidays and the summer. But not how they used to be. We can thanks sites like the DIS for that. :good vibes Seriously, all of the fan sites and tips that are out there have driven people who do a bit of homework to the parks during what are supposed to be the better times to go. So now there is much less discrepancy between what is considered "low" season and "high" season. *sigh* I miss those truly truly empty days. I'll see if I can dig out my old pics from a September trip like 10+ years ago. You want empty MK??? OMG. All day long we could get pics in front of the castle without mobs of people in it.

Keep the pics coming, Karen. Sounds like an awesome first day! And a good variety, too. Not all day park commando. Lots of good park time, but time to tour AK and of course time for a swim. That's a great Disney day in my book!

We ADORE staying at Kidani! It is one my kids' favorite resorts. Like true DISers, they don't have a single favorite...they prefer different resorts based on the type of trip we are doing. If we are doing a trip with lots of down time/resort time/pool time and minimal park time...AKV-Kidani is the top of the list. :thumbsup2

E! :goodvibes I agree, I think WDW is also becoming more and more busy b/c the population (and population of people able to go) is growing but Disney can't keep up. There are just more people in general. I did notice that Disney is struggling to keep afloat with these crowds as well, keeping trash picked up, gum off the ground, paint chipping. NOTHING that would bother my trip at all, but just something I noticed b/c they used to be known for these meticulous things and I think just the sheer number of people coming to Disney is making it harder for them to keep that standard.

I'm going to have to crunch some numbers, I really would like a long weekend (or 3 nights, looks like weekdays would be better anyway!) with Rey at WDW, but not sure when we will plan for it. I'm almost positive that AKL will be top on the list of resorts! :lovestruc

I really need to get some of those zebra domes. I say it every trip but never make it to AKL.

They are good! I liked the little pumpkin tasting cheesecake as well though, and I think you could eat that soup for dessert, it was so good! So there are lots of yummy dessert options at Boma! :thumbsup2

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 05:27 AM

Park day 2! Epcot!! Monday, January 30th

Oh my aching feet! :eek: (I know Liz, I know!) Woke up with my PF really hurting, but once I walked around a bit I was good. This morning I headed down to get my coffee early, this was my little routine in the morning since I wake up before everyone else! I had one of my babycakes donuts...OMG, it was good! I can't believe there is no gluten and it's vegan. It was called crunch doughnut or something (yep, attention to detail Karen!)

I finished writing in my journal about the previous day and started getting everyone up. Everyone was pretty good about getting up, the girls were dragging a little. They ate in the room (poptarts, cereal) and we got on our way around 8am. I realized we were going to be early...GOOD! This is my forte, I like being early. Uhm, but my family does not. :rolleyes:

We arrived at 8:20 and I told them they had not been doing traditional rope drop anymore and sometimes had been letting people in at 8:30 or 8:45. This is the face I got from nearly everyone:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012734.jpg

Seriously people? We are at Disney World! I would stand in RD line for hours if it meant I was in sunny Florida at Disney. I guess that's just me. I didn't do so well not taking on their feelings about it, but they finally started letting people in at 8:50 and once we were in, they were good. I passed on getting a photo at that time b/c I figured everyone would look grumpy. :rolleyes:

We saw Daisy Duck and Leslee wanted her autograph, so Rey took the girls to meet her and the boys and I headed to Soarin for FPs. We were going to meet at Mission Space after that. Letting people in slowly, instead of RD, helped a bit to thin the mass of people going to Soarin. We took our time and enjoyed but I saw people running still. :confused3

We came out of The Land and headed toward Mission Space.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012736.jpg

When we arrived, Rey & the girls were not there. :confused3
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012781.jpg

We waited, and waited...and called...no answer. :confused3 Finally Rey calls Dylan and Dylan turns toward the path to Test Track and I see them...running from TT with big grins on their faces.

WHAT?!?!? :eek: After seeing Daisy, they had gone to Mission Space and could see there was no wait for TT, so they had just walked on. AND, when they got finished, there was NO line at all, so the CM's told them to just stay seated and they rode again! WOOT! Well, woot for them, I was completely jealous and annoyed that I didn't get to go! You can't do that without ME! :lmao:

So after griping at Rey that it was no fair, (and him reminding me that I did the very same thing for EE in 2009) I grinned and took off towards TT! They followed, naturally.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012786.jpg

It only took about 5-10 for TT, came out and grabbed FP's for later. This ended up being Leslee's favorite ride, I think. The girls couldn't get enough of it!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012788.jpg

We headed back over to Mission Space where Dylan was waiting and I told them to go ahead in, I was worried about the virtual stuff, I always get sick with virtual/video stuff for some reason? Savannah didn't seem to want to go without me, but she did...only to change her mind while in there, so they all came back out? Never did ride it, I'm not sure what happened there. I think just fear of the unknown, I guess I should have gone, she would have felt more secure.

We moseyed over to a stand and the girls got a soda, I think. Dallas was REALLY enjoying Epcot, he said he really liked the relaxed feel...and we were laughing b/c he kept meandering off, just strolling along watching people and taking it all in...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012792.jpg

There were no crowds either! I thought maybe our previous day was just a fluke since I had gone on a not-the-best-recommended day. But this was a Monday at Epcot, what could be better, right? Let's wait and see about that...

We headed towards the Seas and stopped into Innovations. My kids didn't want to do any of it?!?!? :confused3 Maybe a little too young for them or too much like the Science center, but I didn't dwell on it, if you aren't interested, there are many more things to see! We did stop to enjoy the Jamminators (sp?) on the way, we love them!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012798.jpg

Nemo was walk on
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012812.jpg

I had never been on it and it was fine, the girls liked it and liked looking around afterwards and in the gift shop. Leslee did buy a Dory fish, but not then, I think she got it later at DTD. We headed towards The LAND, the guys never got to go on Living with The Land last time and I hadn't been on it since our first trip, so I was excited to ride again.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012846.jpg

Cute moment for me...so we are riding and we come along the "country farm house" scene below and at the EXACT same time, Dylan and I say "LOOK, we're HOME." It was hilarious! :laughing: (you would find this funnier if you realize that we do NOT, in fact, live in a farm house, but in a rural area...and it's a matter of contention sometimes that we live out in the middle of nowhere)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012859.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012861.jpg

One of my favorite things!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012868.jpg

I love how Disney is working to find ways to grow things more sustainably and without depleting soil, etc. I find it fascinating! Savannah wasn't super pleased with the fish farming section, ooops...I guess she was young enough last time she didn't notice.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012877.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012879.jpg

It was time for some lunch! Up next, a not-so-magical lunch at Sunshine Seasons. :sad2:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 05:34 AM

Epcot-Day 2 continued

Ok, I'm going to make this as brief as possible b/c I'm actually dreading typing it out. It was the most un-magical experience of the trip and I don't want to dwell on it....

We headed to lunch at Sunshine Seasons, I had eaten here in 2008 and they have good veggie options. As we walked around the stations trying to find something for Savannah, we realized that there really wasn't anything on the adult menu that she wanted. I went up to the section that had mac-n-cheese for kids meals and asked if she could have an "adult portion" of mac-n-cheese since she was on the adult plan (which includes an adult dessert and drink) The answer was NO, but they could give her a kids size. Ok, whatever.

The previous day they had given her the kids meal but then let her get the dessert and drink adult size (b/c the kid meal only has a tiny drink and a cookie...no dessert choice). So, we gather everything, including an adult size drink and dessert and head to check out. Nope. Not gonna happen. I spend the next 10 minutes trying to explain to the CM that she had an ADULT CREDIT to spend but wanted mac-n-cheese and she would not give. Rey ended up having to use two of his snack credits to cover her dessert and drink. :sad2: It may not sound like a big deal, really, by the story, but to stand and argue with a CM for 10 minutes is really not my idea of magical, I felt "icky" after that, if that makes sense. I also didn't want to be one of THOSE people, you know, the ones that think they are entitled and yell at CM's about how much money they spent, etc.

As a follow up, the next morning, bright and early, I went to the PoP desk and talked to a CM that told me that the CM was wrong and that next time I should ask for a manager. BUT, she didn't offer to refund our snack credits or anything. :confused3

So...Rey was pretty upset, but I took my pictures and we ate. The food was great, I just wish we could have resolved the situation differently. This unfortunately wasn't the end of issues with Savannah eating, but it was the worst of it.
My veggie lunch-
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012881.jpg

my cupcake was really good, even if it was kind of falling over! ;)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012882.jpg
Dallas had a sandwich, which he said was good-
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012883.jpg

Dylan, Rey, and Leslee had Chinese of some sort, but Rey was annoyed enough that I didn't ask to photograph his food. :rolleyes:

after eating, I focused on getting a shot I've been wanting to get for a while. I just love these balloons in The Land.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012888.jpg

We needed a perk-me-up, so after we finished, we headed straight to Soarin!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012897.jpg

We all loved it, naturally! We were on the bottom row, which I've never been on, but I think it was just as good!

After Soarin' we headed out to World Showcase! I pretty much figured that Rey's favorite place in all of WDW would un-grump him, and I was right.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012901.jpg

We headed towards Mexico, but not without a little Duffy-fun first. Backstory: Savannah doesn't like Duffy, she thinks it's strange that he came out of nowhere, so it was kind of a joke the whole trip whenever we saw him, signs for him, stuffed animals for him, merchandise...it went on and on and the more Duffy stuff, the more she (jokingly) freaked out. She was super annoyed that ALL the country stamps in the kidcot stations all have DUFFY on them now! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012910.jpg

So, on our way to Mexico, we spotted Duffy with a very short line. The girls decided that REY needed to have his picture taken with Duffy! They decided to DRAG him over to meet Duffy! :lmao:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012911.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012913.jpg

He agreed and they headed to the line and Duffy walked away! Break time! Rey narrowly escaped that one! I will HAVE to get my picture taken with Duffy when I go for the Princess 1/2 next year, just b/c it's now something we do just b/c she dislikes him so much. :p

With Duffy heading off for his break, we moved on to Mexico. We never got to go IN any of the countries on the trip with the IL's, so Rey really wanted to explore each country thoroughly. Mexico is my favorite, I wonder why? :lovestruc
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012915.jpg

I just LOVE it in here...
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012917.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012919.jpg

we contemplated purchasing another one of these (we have one that I bought for Rey in 2008)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012920.jpg

you can't go in Mexico without trying on sombreros!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012925.jpg

I think the guys were doing there best to look authentic here. :laughing:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012933.jpg

We shopped and shopped, Savannah bought a really cool bracelet, totally her. I'll have to take a pic of it when I get to the souvenir pics! Finally we were ready to take the boat ride, there was no wait.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012943.jpg

We were finally ready to leave Mexico, no idea how long we spent in there, but it was so enjoyable...

Next update: melt-downs and margaritas! They go hand-in-hand. (I would put a laughing smiley here, but I've hit my 25 image limit and it won't let me! LOL)

Victoriasmom98

02-12-2012, 06:20 AM

MORE, MORE!!! I WANT MORE!!!!!! :cool1:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 06:41 AM

MORE, MORE!!! I WANT MORE!!!!!! :cool1:

Maybe I'll post a little bonus update in a bit Ann! ;)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 07:00 AM

Park Day 2- Epcot (continued)

After Mexico, Savannah started getting whiny (again). She had been off and on having issues with being homesick, but I should have suspected that it would get worse in World Showcase b/c there were not a ton of rides for her and she always claimed she didn't like Epcot. I had suggested Kim Possible a number of times, Rey said I was pushing the issue, so we sat down on a bench (in the smoking area...why does it seem there are no benches in non-smoking areas???) and tried to work this out.

She was ready to leave! WHAT?!?!? :eek: It was barely after lunch on our 2nd day, I had waited forever for this trip and she's done? First off, anyone that knows me knows that I cater to my kids. From the outside, even "spoil" them would be a word most people use, so I don't want anyone to think I was being mean when I say that there was no way I was leaving. :eek:

I gave her choices. I told her she could go with Leslee to the front of Epcot and ride TT again or she could leave with Dylan and go back to the resort if she wanted. She didn't want to go without ME...and although I gave her choices, I let her know I wasn't leaving. I just wasn't! Rey mentioned later in the trip that whenever she wasn't doing something she deemed fun, she wanted to go, but would be fine if we found something she liked.

During this period of resting/arguing/whining on the benches in the smoking area (we don't smoke for those wondering!) :laughing: there were quite a few pictures taken!
Our nice view:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012952.jpg

a very cute squirrel that Dylan took a MILLION pictures of:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012960.jpg

the monorail:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012954.jpg

and last, but never least when in the middle of a meltdown! My margarita that I sat drinking (think I finished the whole thing while we sat there!) :laughing: BTW, this is not the FIRST time I have had this meltdown/margarita theme, I think I have had one both of the other trips we have taken, they must go hand in hand!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012956.jpg

Something clicked and Savannah was able to make the decision to stay and continue around WS. So off we went! As soon as we were up and walking, it was like it never happened...or maybe that was the margarita! :rolleyes1

We headed to Norway! :thumbsup2

We went in the little museum, which I hadn't realized was there, and I SWEAR the music was Lord of the Rings music. Can anyone verify this for me? I was humming it exactly, but my family told me I was nuts and it just sounded like LOTR. Whatever! :p
Maelstrom was next, Dylan wasn't interested in any drops, so he sat out...took this pic too:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012969.jpg

When the ride was over, we watched the movie. :rolleyes: Rey is totally not the kind of person that would walk through and not watch it, so I got to see it as well and never had. It wasn't too bad, kind of like a commercial for Norway...luckily not too long! When we came out, we looked around the gift shop and the girls had their passports stamped and signed. Oh I got a picture with my phone of them with the troll. Sorry about the quality!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012970.jpg

We came out of the shop and Dylan took this pic as we were walking towards him:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012972.jpg

We were off to China next!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012974.jpg

Leslee bought a little panda ring and we spent some time just exploring. The girls had their passports stamped and the guys (including Leslee) admired the swords.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012987.jpg

Dylan kept asking me to buy him a sword. Sure...I'll just whip out hundreds of dollars on the spot and buy you a sword! :rolleyes:

Loved the Buddha!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012981.jpg

We went in the museum/movie waiting area next:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012995.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney2012990.jpg

We really liked the movie! I would have rather sat though, my poor aching feet! When we came out of China, we found the boys who had not watched the movie, following a duck around. :p

We continued our trek around the World and stopped for a photopass pic! He took one with my camera as well. Lots of squinting b/c the sun was shining on us, but at least we were all in good spirits and willing to take a picture...which didn't happen that often! :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121003.jpg

That concludes your bonus update for the day! ;)

Up next: Rey's favorite country (in the real world), more touring, and dinner at Via Napoli!!

giantstoindy

02-12-2012, 07:19 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 07:22 AM

I was so excited to see 3 updates today! Ridiculous about Savannah's meal:confused3 but glad you had fun the rest of the day! I think TT will be closed when we go in June and we've never gone on it. Glad your family liked it. :thumbsup2 CanNOT wait for your Via Napoli update! popcorn::

I heard about the TT refurb they are doing and it sounds like a pretty long one! I cannot wait to see what changes they make, we love it! :thumbsup2 The Via Napoli update may get a whole update for itself, I took lots of pics!! :goodvibes

-Hope-

02-12-2012, 08:04 AM

Native NYer

02-12-2012, 08:55 AM

Loving your tr!

Victoriasmom98

02-12-2012, 09:15 AM

Hee Hee.....I got another update out of her......I'm evil!!!! :lmao:

204charity

02-12-2012, 09:24 AM

Great updates Karen! That's a beautiful pic of you all at Epcot (squinting and all!)

Toria

02-12-2012, 09:56 AM

Really enjoyed your TR! Glad that your family made it down, even with vehicle issues. I am hungry from looking at all that food, so I am going to find me something to eat.:rotfl:

Oliquig

02-12-2012, 09:56 AM

Wow! Holy update batman! Gotta love 11, if they aren't entertained they are soooo bored, and tired and tired and hey where's the gift shop.

Sounds like she got over it though so yea! I too have a shot of the budda, and the chinese soldiers!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 10:41 AM

So funny how similar our kids are in the "real world" and how different their tastes are at WDW. My kids LOVE Innoventions and WS and would NEVER ride TT. :laughing:

Mexico is my favorite (of the countries I've actually explored) too- I love the night feel of it. :goodvibes

Meltdowns and margaritas definitely go hand in hand- I had a similar moment as well. :rolleyes:

I :love: the pic of you and Dallas! It made me smile. :)

I love it too, it's one of my favorites! :lovestruc Are WE going to have a meltdown when it's just us? That's what I want to know! :laughing:

Loving your tr!

Thank you! :goodvibes

Hee Hee.....I got another update out of her......I'm evil!!!! :lmao:

You are so bad! ;)

Great updates Karen! That's a beautiful pic of you all at Epcot (squinting and all!)

Thank you! The more I look at it, the more I like it. The photopass one looks identical, but I put a border on that one.

Really enjoyed your TR! Glad that your family made it down, even with vehicle issues. I am hungry from looking at all that food, so I am going to find me something to eat.:rotfl:

I get hungry looking at it too! I'm back to eating the way I normally do, but it's making me crave junk just looking at them! ;)

Wow! Holy update batman! Gotta love 11, if they aren't entertained they are soooo bored, and tired and tired and hey where's the gift shop.

Sounds like she got over it though so yea! I too have a shot of the budda, and the chinese soldiers!

Oooh, can't wait to see yours! Yep, she did have issues on the trip, but they were over pretty quickly, so I'm glad for that! :thumbsup2

-Hope-

02-12-2012, 11:03 AM

I love it too, it's one of my favorites! :lovestruc Are WE going to have a meltdown when it's just us? That's what I want to know! :laughing:

About what?

Oh no, we BOTH want to stop to take pictures!

Oh no, we BOTH want to arrive before RD!

Oh no, we BOTH want to beat the crowds to the headliners and come back to look around later!

Oh no, we BOTH want to stop and have a margarita!

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 11:42 AM

About what?

Oh no, we BOTH want to stop to take pictures!

Oh no, we BOTH want to arrive before RD!

Oh no, we BOTH want to beat the crowds to the headliners and come back to look around later!

Oh no, we BOTH want to stop and have a margarita!

:lmao::lmao::lmao::lmao:

We're the perfect match for Disney! :laughing: It's ok though, even if we have a meltdown, we will probably have it together! More margaritas all around! ;)

jecskc

02-12-2012, 12:58 PM

Looking forward to your Via Napoli update. We have a Ressie there in April. Loving your TR

Victoriasmom98

02-12-2012, 01:04 PM

I've never had a marguerita meldown......I should try that!

jpmom97

02-12-2012, 01:17 PM

Yay, so excited to see an update! Finally remembered how to subscribe!

katt789

02-12-2012, 03:07 PM

Yay updates!! I have yet to eat at Sunshine Seasons, I always think I should, but then end up eating through WS instead. That sucks about the meal plan stuff not working out. I find that sometimes, the dining plan is just more of a hassle than anything else. haha. I love the shots around WS, you guys got some great ones! Oh magaritas! I love me some tequila, and margaritas, but HOLY, those margaritas sure are STRONG, I couldn't finish mine in Sept!
Looking fwd to another update!

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-12-2012, 03:58 PM

That's awesome that they were able to ride TT first thing with no wait! It sounds like you guys did a lot in Future World that morning!

That stinks about the difficulties with Savannah's meal at Sunshine Seasons! I guess it just depends on the CM you get sometimes, the substitutions you're able to make!

I'm glad you guys were able to keep making your lap around World Showcase! I know it's not the most thrilling area, but it is still fun in its own way! :goodvibes

Rozz

02-12-2012, 05:10 PM

Enjoying your trip report! I laughed about your experience in Columbia Harbor House. We have to go to WDW when everyone else does and one thing we count on is being able to go upstairs and find a table since it's rarely crowded up there. This worked out for us in 2011. We had a quiet lunch upstairs with a great view from a window table. Here you were in January when it's "low crowd level" and it's packed! You experienced some pretty high crowd levels! I'll have to remember this for when we get to go off-season. I don't want to have my expectations be too high about low crowds and then have so many higher crowd level situations.:scared1: Sounds like you still had a fantastic trip!:goodvibes

Dreamsdocometrue9112

02-12-2012, 06:22 PM

Great update! But, AHH, a meltdown?! How can anyone have a homesick meltdown in DISNEY?! I wish it was my home!:confused3 I would definitely grab myself a margarita to ease that situation, too! :cool1:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 07:20 PM

Looking forward to your Via Napoli update. We have a Ressie there in April. Loving your TR

Oh I think you'll like it! I took quite a few pics, can't wait to write up my report on it!

I've never had a marguerita meldown......I should try that!

Oh they are totally worth it Ann! All you have to do is have a meltdown (or have someone else in your party have one) and then just head to Mexico, get a Margarita, and suck it down! If the alcohol doesn't get to you and calm those nerves, the brain freeze will! :p

Yay, so excited to see an update! Finally remembered how to subscribe!

I'm glad you figured out how to sub! I just figured out how to multiple quote without doing it by hand. I used to cut and paste and then go back and quote again...over and over! Then I realized all I had to do was click the multiquote button! :laughing:

Yay updates!! I have yet to eat at Sunshine Seasons, I always think I should, but then end up eating through WS instead. That sucks about the meal plan stuff not working out. I find that sometimes, the dining plan is just more of a hassle than anything else. haha. I love the shots around WS, you guys got some great ones! Oh magaritas! I love me some tequila, and margaritas, but HOLY, those margaritas sure are STRONG, I couldn't finish mine in Sept!
Looking fwd to another update!

I purposefully went there because of Savannah. It's hard to find her anything to eat in WS, if you can believe that, but it's b/c not only is she vegetarian, but not really willing to try new things, so I went to SS thinking at least they had mac-n-cheese!

That's awesome that they were able to ride TT first thing with no wait! It sounds like you guys did a lot in Future World that morning!

That stinks about the difficulties with Savannah's meal at Sunshine Seasons! I guess it just depends on the CM you get sometimes, the substitutions you're able to make!

I'm glad you guys were able to keep making your lap around World Showcase! I know it's not the most thrilling area, but it is still fun in its own way! :goodvibes

Yep, the last couple times I missed some things not only at FW, but WS too, so I had two full days set aside for Epcot to make sure we didn't miss anything! I wish Savannah would have done Kim Possible b/c I think she would have enjoyed it more. Rey and I LOVE WS, so I wasn't about to miss it!

Enjoying your trip report! I laughed about your experience in Columbia Harbor House. We have to go to WDW when everyone else does and one thing we count on is being able to go upstairs and find a table since it's rarely crowded up there. This worked out for us in 2011. We had a quiet lunch upstairs with a great view from a window table. Here you were in January when it's "low crowd level" and it's packed! You experienced some pretty high crowd levels! I'll have to remember this for when we get to go off-season. I don't want to have my expectations be too high about low crowds and then have so many higher crowd level situations.:scared1: Sounds like you still had a fantastic trip!:goodvibes

I cannot believe it's been empty during BUSY times! Yep, I definitely think my EXPECTATIONS about low crowds added to my unhappiness with them. Now that I'm looking back it doesn't seem that bad, but there were a few times just the masses were uncomfortable. I don't know how people do it during peek times!

Great update! But, AHH, a meltdown?! How can anyone have a homesick meltdown in DISNEY?! I wish it was my home!:confused3 I would definitely grab myself a margarita to ease that situation, too! :cool1:

I know, right?!?! I feel AT HOME when I'm at WDW, but there was no convincing Savannah, she missed her pets and she's just a homebody, I guess. She did have fun, but she is pretty pleased to be home now. :rolleyes:

DrMomof3

02-12-2012, 07:28 PM

My eldest had quite a few Savannah-style melt-downs on our August trip. :scared1: totally with you on that!
We love TT. One of my family's favs.
Margaritas make everything better!!!

Amanda

Twoboysnmygirl

02-12-2012, 07:33 PM

My eldest had quite a few Savannah-style melt-downs on our August trip. :scared1: totally with you on that!
We love TT. One of my family's favs.
Margaritas make everything better!!!

Amanda

I'm glad I'm not alone Amanda! You would think it would be the teenagers that do it, but nope, not in my family! :laughing:

JDailey

02-12-2012, 08:43 PM

Still reading along and enjoying everything!! :rotfl2:

akayek31

02-13-2012, 01:19 AM

I love Mexico too! They have my fiesta margaritas. That's why we are going to Epcot three times this trip :)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 05:13 AM

Still reading along and enjoying everything!! :rotfl2:

I'm glad you are enjoying it!!! ;)

I love Mexico too! They have my fiesta margaritas. That's why we are going to Epcot three times this trip :)
I had one of those our 2nd Epcot day! I did not, however, get to go into the Tequila bar...next trip for sure! :thumbsup2

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 06:09 AM

Onward we went! After our group shot, we spent some time in Germany!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121007.jpg

Rey got his favorite October-something-or-the-other-beer and I'm a horrible wife and didn't take a picture! :rolleyes: The girls found the kitcot station in the back of one of the stores and had their passports signed.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121010.jpg

As we were walking out, we noticed a whole SHELF full of Duffy bears! Rey comforted Savannah in her HORROR. :lmao:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121011.jpg

The girls decided they needed a snack and what better place to use a snack credit than the caramel shop! I resisted b/c I wanted to save most of my snack credits on Babycakes. It was hard though, the place SMELLS out of this world! Goodies everywhere!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121012.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121015.jpg

The girls both decided on the rice crispy treats. These things were MASSIVE. They cut them up for them b/c they were so large.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121016.jpg

We all found a bench and rested our feet for a bit while the girls enjoyed their snack and Rey his beer...yet again...I cannot believe I didn't get a single shot of Rey and his beer?!?!? WAIT! If you look back at the bottom of the Duffy pic with Rey and Savannah, you can just barely see it! :p
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121020.jpg

While sitting there, they made friends with a duck. Savannah was in love and told me to take pictures. What can I say, she's a sucker for animals. ;)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121023.jpg

We finally got up and we passed up Italy since we planned on spending more time there later when we had an ADR at Via Napoli for dinner. As we came up on America, we saw a BUNCH of characters! What luck! Uh...kind of. Turns out they were all finishing up, this seemed to be a theme for us, we would come upon a character and they would be leaving! We did have time for Leslee to see Chip & Dale.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121033.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121036.jpg

Savannah didn't get her pic with them or autographs, she just let Leslee go. Most of the time she wasn't getting autographs b/c she already has most of them, she would just get them if it was someone she didn't have already. We didn't spend any time in America, we really wanted to explore all the other countries and well, we kinda live here. ;) It was starting to get a little busy! Enough that I took a crowd picture b/c I thought it was busier than when we came the 3rd week in October during F&W 2009. This was Monday, January 30th, 2012:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121039-1.jpg

Onward to Japan and we sped up b/c we heard the drums! We had missed them last time and Rey really wanted to see them this time! Luckily, they had just started!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121042.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121053.jpg

We spent a LOT of time in the Japan store! Dylan has been studying Japan for the last year or so and everyone really enjoyed looking around at all the unique stuff they had. Savannah found some Totoro stuff that she really wanted, it was expensive! She decided to wait until our last Epcot day to decide if she wanted to get anything.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121060.jpg

I came out to have a seat and saw Miyuku (sp?) working her candy creations and sent Dallas in to tell them to come out and watch! It was just amazing, she is an incredibly talented artist!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121067.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121069.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121071.jpg

It was getting later and we were tired and thinking maybe we could get dinner earlier than our 6pm ADR. So, we headed back to Italy to see if Via Napoli would take us early...an hour early! Up next...authentic Italian pizza!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 06:13 AM

When we got back to Via Napoli, it seemed like it was already getting busy, or at least a lot of people were at the podium! The family waited outside and I checked in, nearly an hour early! The entry/waiting area wasn't big, but it was gorgeous. It was a big wall of windows into the restaurant with a beautiful chandelier.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121079.jpg

They didn't have any trouble with us being early, just told me it would be 10 minutes or so. It wasn't even that long before they called me and I waved the family in! I was worried that we wouldn't enjoy sitting smack dab in the middle of the room at one of the huge tables, but I had no need to worry, they led us around to a quiet corner with a view of the chef's! This was just the beginning of our TS seating luck and we had it the whole trip! Here's the quiet corner/window table we had:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121082.jpg

I made sure Dallas had the best view, he's got a real culinary interest AND the thing he makes most is homemade pizza! If you look at where he's sitting above, this was his view straight ahead of him:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121081.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121086.jpg

Perfect!
Rey trying to decide, you can see the entry/podium area in this shot:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121084.jpg

Here's a pic of the wood fire ovens, the chefs were moving so fast they were blurry in all my pics!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121098-1.jpg

I told you I took lots of pictures! :p
Our waiter was great...why are Italian accents so hot? He was cute too! ;) Of course I didn't mention this to my family.
We ordered and our pizza didn't take terribly long. Here they are:
Dallas got the Prosciutto e Melone, definitely the most daring of all of us. It has fontina (greens?), mozzarella, prosciutto, and cantelope! No sauce.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121087.jpg

He LOVED it. He has not been able to recreate this (I can't even find prosciutto in this town!) but he really enjoyed it and it gave him some other ideas for making his pizzas. He said the cantelope wasn't overpowering at all and he finished the whole thing!

Dylan had pepperoni...I didn't even take a picture? It looked good, but like a pepperoni pizza folks.
But then I did take a picture of Savannah's? Savannah & Leslee both had the Quattro Formaggi (cheese) pizza.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121088.jpg
Neither of them really liked it. So here's the thing, this is wood fired pizza and I think it's a unique taste. They are kids and like pizza hut. They also didn't care for the cheese, but they ate enough that they weren't hungry.
Rey and I both had the Ortolano, which had veggies on it! Uh...YUM!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121091.jpg
We loved it! The freshness of the pizza was out of this world and I really liked the flavor that the wood firing brought to it. I can see how some people might not like that "burned" taste, but we did! The verdict was 4 to 2 at Via Napoli...but wait, there was still dessert! ;)

Anybody who knows Rey knows that he loves Tiramisu. It's not very easy to find, my mom tried to get some for Christmas one year and bring it out and it was more like cake, not Tiramisu. So, Rey was super excited to have some! The waiter laughed as he went around the table and EVERY SINGLE ONE of them ordered it! Not me! I wanted to try something different so I orderd the Zeppole di Ricotta (yet, I'm reading all these things off my WDW menu app! LOL) which were ricotta cheese fritters.
So they all had theirs:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121095.jpg
which I thought tasted pretty good! You notice I had some, right? This is where the whole TR title came from! Dylan remarked that he thought it was funny that I would order something different and then still get some of what everyone else ordered b/c I kept asking to taste everyone's as well! :laughing:
and my dessert:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121096.jpg
Oooh, these were good, especially with the fresh whipped cream they came with. It had chocolate sauce as well, but I didn't like it as much.

We were properly stuff and really pleased with Via Napoli! When we came out, the sun was going down but the boats were still running, so we grabbed the Germany boat and I snapped this picture and thought of my BBF Hope and her dd, Kya, who loves France and anything to do with it!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121113.jpg

We headed over to TT to use our FPs from earlier in the day (too bad this policy is going away, it was nice to save them for later!) Dylan chasing Dallas, I'm not sure why he was chasing him, but there's no catching Dallas, he runs around 9-10 miles a week and Dylan doesn't run at all. He never did catch him.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121118.jpg

We rode TT, I think that was Savannah & Leslee's 4th time for the day! I kept trying to get a shot that I had in my head of the ride, but this wasn't it. Good enough I guess!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121120.jpg

At this point it was 7pm! Is anyone keeping track? Nearly 11 hours at Epcot! EEK! I was having a LOT of pain, I wrote down it was like walking on daggers.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121124.jpg

So out we headed, stopping for a picture! Not the best, but most of the photopass photographers didn't know how to use my camera. I had a prime lens on it, which means no zooming in and out and every time I handed off my camera to a photopass photographer, they would get confused. But, the PP pics came out pretty good, I should get those in a couple weeks here!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121128.jpg

I hobbled back to the car and Rey wanted to go to Walgreens again. WHAT?!?! But, but...I'm tired and my feet hurt! Sigh...so off to Walgreens we went for milk. I think we were delirious at this point, we were laughing at the silliest things. Dylan kept saying "Mother...Dallas likes me." and we were rolling. We made it to Walgreens and Rey came out with not only milk, but Mike's hard lemonade margaritas for me. Good man! :thumbsup2

Then we headed back...or tried to! We made it on property:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121130.jpg

but after that, I have no idea what we were doing. I think going in circles following signs! At one point Rey looked up at the street sign and said "Why does that say Buena Vista?" and we were all hysterical laughing at this statement. Apparently Rey can READ street signs, but not understand what they mean! :laughing: It was going to be the TR name, and for the remainder of the trip, every time we were driving and we would come upon Buena Vista Dr, someone would say "Why does that say Buena Vista?" :lmao:

40 minutes later, we finally made it back to the room and I was in some major pain. I took some Ibuprofen and watched Illuminations from the bed. Then crashed. I do think I got up and tried to soak my feet in epsom salts at some point, but that didn't help. I was wondering if a wheel chair was in my future park touring! :eek:

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-13-2012, 06:30 AM

WOW an 11 hour day at Epcot!! That's awesome! (And exhausting!)

Your table at VN looks great! How cool to get to watch the chefs at work!

giantstoindy

02-13-2012, 07:00 AM

What a great day! It's funny you mentioned about the hours you spent. Before I make hotel ressies, I need to know how many nights to book. So I make a list of all the parks and how many hours I want to spend in each. I think I'm averaging about 16 hours a day! Let's just say when in Disney, I don't sleep. :laughing: Via Napoli looks delish! Tiramisu is absolutely my favorite dessert so I'm going to try to make it for a birthday this year but vegan. :rotfl2: Yes, this will involve a Whole Foods visit for soy whipped cream. :guilty:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 08:10 AM

WOW an 11 hour day at Epcot!! That's awesome! (And exhausting!)

Your table at VN looks great! How cool to get to watch the chefs at work!

We really enjoyed it! It was especially fun since Dallas loves making pizza. I need to see if I can find a better crust recipe for him or an "authentic" Italian crust recipe!

What a great day! It's funny you mentioned about the hours you spent. Before I make hotel ressies, I need to know how many nights to book. So I make a list of all the parks and how many hours I want to spend in each. I think I'm averaging about 16 hours a day! Let's just say when in Disney, I don't sleep. :laughing: Via Napoli looks delish! Tiramisu is absolutely my favorite dessert so I'm going to try to make it for a birthday this year but vegan. :rotfl2: Yes, this will involve a Whole Foods visit for soy whipped cream. :guilty:

That will be an interesting undertaking! Let me know what you come up with! I have lots of raw vegan recipes, but usually only make them around holidays b/c they are almost always made with tons of nuts and end up being REALLY heavy and just not something I want to eat all the time.

-Hope-

02-13-2012, 08:17 AM

I had one of those our 2nd Epcot day! I did not, however, get to go into the Tequila bar...next trip for sure! :thumbsup2

I wonder if they'll let us set up camp? :rotfl:

I :love: the pic across the lagoon of France- especially since it made you think of Kya and I!

11 hours is a long time! We did that at MK and we were EXHAUSTED- but it was also one of our best days. :thumbsup2

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 08:21 AM

I wonder if they'll let us set up camp? :rotfl:

I :love: the pic across the lagoon of France- especially since it made you think of Kya and I!

11 hours is a long time! We did that at MK and we were EXHAUSTED- but it was also one of our best days. :thumbsup2

Yes, we will be spending some time there! Promise! :laughing:

We were so tired and you'll see in the next update that some people didn't make it the next day! :rolleyes:

NLD

02-13-2012, 08:43 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 09:08 AM

Hi Karen,

Enjoying your TR. We were there the exact same dates.... left one day earlier though... January 28-February 3.

We were also at Magic Kingdom on Sunday the 29th and wow, was it crowded! Totally took me by surprise, thought January was supposed to be slow?

You have some great shots so far!

Hi Nicole! I'm glad you were surprised as well, for a bit I thought I might be going crazy and the only person that thought it was busier than it should be! The weather was amazing though, wasn't it?!?! We didn't get to use the hats I had made or really the sweatshirts much either, except for early in the morning and late at night! :thumbsup2

exwdwcm

02-13-2012, 10:28 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 10:32 AM

Wow, what a great first day, you guys did so much! It does look crowded for January!!! So glad you enjoyed Boma. I just love the atmosphere of AKL too. So calming. Nothing like a late night swim to cap the day. So cool you had views of the fireworks too. PERFECT!!!! :wizard:

We did get tons done the first and second day, but the boys started to fizzle a bit after that, which I figured they would do. It's one of the reasons we stayed onsite, so they could go back to the resort whenever they wanted! :)

exwdwcm

02-13-2012, 10:39 AM

Fluffy626

02-13-2012, 11:48 AM

Finally caught up....yay!!!! I am loving your trip report! It's keeping me going since I am getting crazy with 3 weeks to go until our trip! I need more pictures!!!!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 12:06 PM

Yes, that is LOTR music in Norway. I listen to live365 park music all day and that is one track they play and it shows it plays in Norway! I love it. That museum is so cool- my DH loves it.

Sorry you had a meltdown issue, but glad it was fixed and Savannah continued to enjoy the Epcot day. So sorry on the CM fighting you on the credits for the mac and cheese too. ugh- i hate that.

I KNEW IT! Ha! I'll have to tell them I was right and gloat a bunch. :p

Finally caught up....yay!!!! I am loving your trip report! It's keeping me going since I am getting crazy with 3 weeks to go until our trip! I need more pictures!!!!!

Glad you are caught up, am I going too fast?!??! 3 weeks until your trip! Congrats! My next trip is 377 days away! :laughing:

204charity

02-13-2012, 12:43 PM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 01:33 PM

Awesome updates Karen! I love the photos. As always you all seem happy and easy-going! I gotta say though, I feel a slight pang of jealousy when I hear that TT was ridden 4 times that day! My 9yo DD and I were SOO excited for TT, being that we are not coaster fans this seemed like a great alternative for us - it's going to be down when we are there!!! WAHHHH!!!!! :(

Awww, well, here's what you can do...ride Big Thunder four times for us! We were so bummed that it was down, it's one of my favorites, as well as Savannah's, so Test Track just helped make up for it! So many refurbs this year! I know they have to do it, but it's hard when favorites get shut down!

danimaroo

02-13-2012, 01:35 PM

Okay I'm caught up and I am SO SORRY I have been lacking in the comments. But I'm here now, so that counts for something. :goodvibes

Your EPcot day was EPic! :rotfl: I crack myself up. No but really, it looks like you guys ended up having a blast! I was really excited to see your review of Via Napoli, to see what you guys ended up ordering, etc. because it is my faaaavorite restaurant!

That's too bad that Leslee and Savannah didn't like the Quatro Formaggi because I wanted to marry that pizza when I ate it. IT WAS SO GOOD. But at the same time, I get how kids are with the crusts and trying new stuff, so it's totally understandable that they felt like it was "burnt". I had thought about getting the one Dallas got but the cantelope turned me off to it! :laughing: It looks so good though; prosciutto is one of my favorite pizza toppings ever. So weird that you can't find it anywhere near you though! Here it's in with the good cheeses and special meats neat the deli, and it's not too expensive either.

Also, I'm guessing Rey had the Oktoberfest beer? It's a very light beer and is so good. That's what Matt had and I had some.. Really loved it! Also, I want something from the Karamel Kuche right now. Ohhh my.

I love having those times where you are SO tired you laugh at everything and get beyond silly. Matt and I have definitely had those moments after a long time driving in the car and being stuck in traffic. ANYTHING will make you laugh... but I LOVE those moments because they're things you never forget... Laughing til you cry. :goodvibes

Glad I'm caught up and I can't wait to read your next update!

Meetmeinmontauk

02-13-2012, 02:39 PM

We headed towards Mexico, but not without a little Duffy-fun first. Backstory: Savannah doesn't like Duffy, she thinks it's strange that he came out of nowhere, so it was kind of a joke the whole trip whenever we saw him, signs for him, stuffed animals for him, merchandise...it went on and on and the more Duffy stuff, the more she (jokingly) freaked out. She was super annoyed that ALL the country stamps in the kidcot stations all have DUFFY on them now! :laughing:

DBF & I did the same thing on our trip last year. We were like.. who in the world is Duffy?! Then we began seeing Duffy stuff EVERYWHERE! Lol :lmao:

danimaroo

02-13-2012, 02:54 PM

DBF & I did the same thing on our trip last year. We were like.. who in the world is Duffy?! Then we began seeing Duffy stuff EVERYWHERE! Lol :lmao:

Sorry to totally creep on this comment, but I just have to say I LOVE your DISname! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favorite movies, assuming your name is a reference, of course! Thouuuugh I just realized this is also a song name, so maybe not, hahaha... Well either way, I like it. :goodvibes

Meetmeinmontauk

02-13-2012, 02:59 PM

Sorry to totally creep on this comment, but I just have to say I LOVE your DISname! Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind is one of my favorite movies, assuming your name is a reference, of course! Thouuuugh I just realized this is also a song name, so maybe not, hahaha... Well either way, I like it. :goodvibes

It is indeed from Eternal Sunshine! That has been my favorite movie since it came out :goodvibes

katt789

02-13-2012, 03:30 PM

Everytime I read a review of Via Napoli, I want to eat there more & more! It looks amazing!! I love that shot of paris you got on the way out, awesome!!:thumbsup2

204charity

02-13-2012, 05:34 PM

Awww, well, here's what you can do...ride Big Thunder four times for us! We were so bummed that it was down, it's one of my favorites, as well as Savannah's, so Test Track just helped make up for it! So many refurbs this year! I know they have to do it, but it's hard when favorites get shut down!

That'd be nice - but BTMRR is closed too!!! :eek: I don't know which Disney-Doofus thought it would be a good idea to close those 2 rides at the same time - but he/she should be FIRED!!!

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl2:

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 06:08 PM

Okay I'm caught up and I am SO SORRY I have been lacking in the comments. But I'm here now, so that counts for something. :goodvibes

Hey, I know how much work it is to write a trip report, I'm glad you had time to come over here at all! ;)

Your EPcot day was EPic! :rotfl: I crack myself up. No but really, it looks like you guys ended up having a blast! I was really excited to see your review of Via Napoli, to see what you guys ended up ordering, etc. because it is my faaaavorite restaurant!

We really enjoyed it and I wasn't sure I would...I thought "it's only pizza, right?" :confused3 Wrong!

That's too bad that Leslee and Savannah didn't like the Quatro Formaggi because I wanted to marry that pizza when I ate it. IT WAS SO GOOD. But at the same time, I get how kids are with the crusts and trying new stuff, so it's totally understandable that they felt like it was "burnt". I had thought about getting the one Dallas got but the cantelope turned me off to it! :laughing: It looks so good though; prosciutto is one of my favorite pizza toppings ever. So weird that you can't find it anywhere near you though! Here it's in with the good cheeses and special meats neat the deli, and it's not too expensive either.

I looked in our deli area but it was at the local store. There's a Kroger in the bigger town over that I might be able to find it at! As for the pizza, after thinking on it, I'm not sure it was actually the Quattro Form...it may have just been a "cheese pizza" b/c that's what we asked him to bring them.

Also, I'm guessing Rey had the Oktoberfest beer? It's a very light beer and is so good. That's what Matt had and I had some.. Really loved it! Also, I want something from the Karamel Kuche right now. Ohhh my.

yes, yes! the Octoberfest. He got TWO glasses of it on our last Epcot day as well, he really likes it!

I love having those times where you are SO tired you laugh at everything and get beyond silly. Matt and I have definitely had those moments after a long time driving in the car and being stuck in traffic. ANYTHING will make you laugh... but I LOVE those moments because they're things you never forget... Laughing til you cry. :goodvibes

Yep, slap-happy-times! They make the best memories.

Glad I'm caught up and I can't wait to read your next update!

DBF & I did the same thing on our trip last year. We were like.. who in the world is Duffy?! Then we began seeing Duffy stuff EVERYWHERE! Lol :lmao:

I had no idea who he was previously and then read about him on the DIS. It's a huge joke now, Savannah loaths him, so we like to joke about him. She says he's creepy. ;)

Everytime I read a review of Via Napoli, I want to eat there more & more! It looks amazing!! I love that shot of paris you got on the way out, awesome!!:thumbsup2

Thanks! I really wasn't sure if it was just going to be pizza like any other, but it was really unique and I would go there again in a heartbeat! Good stuff!

That'd be nice - but BTMRR is closed too!!! :eek: I don't know which Disney-Doofus thought it would be a good idea to close those 2 rides at the same time - but he/she should be FIRED!!!

OFF WITH THEIR HEADS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! :rotfl2:

:rotfl: :rotfl2: :lmao: :rotfl: :rotfl2:

OMG, let me catch my breath! Thanks for the laugh! Seriously though, that sucks! I cannot believe they will both be closed! I was worried about all the refurbs but luckily once you get there, there's so many things to do that you forget about the things you miss...and hope it just means another trip in the future to see those things!! :thumbsup2

jpmom97

02-13-2012, 06:11 PM

I thought I already posted this but I can't find it so if I did, sorry! Did you get the 35mm prime lens?

Twoboysnmygirl

02-13-2012, 06:15 PM

I thought I already posted this but I can't find it so if I did, sorry! Did you get the 35mm prime lens?

My newest lens is the Nikon 35mm prime lens. I've had it about a year and a half and I rarely ever take it off my camera! It's just such a sharp lens compared to my other two and since I didn't have the extra to rent a lens this trip I used it most of the time. Occasionally I would put my zoom on, Dylan was my lens-changing-helper the whole trip, it was really sweet. He would hold the bag and get the lens out and then we would switch them superfast so I didn't get dust in my camera or on the sensor! :lovestruc

Twoboysnmygirl

02-14-2012, 06:45 AM

Park Day 3! Animal Kingdom- Tuesday, January 31st

Tuesday we woke up and the boys decided to take a rest day and not go with us to Animal Kingdom. It was their least favorite park last time and the only reason I was bummed was because I wanted to ride EE with Dallas. I had stayed onsite for just this occasion, so we let them rest and headed off with just the girls to rope drop.

We didn't have big plans for AK this day and were pretty tired, so we decided to just take it slow. Good idea! I wore my running shoes and my feet thanked me (DUH!!).

Ooooh! I just remembered a little mishap when parking! They were showing us where to park and I pulled in and started to open my door and someone was pulling in at the same time! Luckily they just barely hit the door and there was no damage! :eek:

The girls look worn out already, but I think these are just their morning faces.
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We really took our time. I didn't know actually what time it was or if RD had happened yet (they do that up near the tree of life) but it didn't matter. I was super relaxed. I love the focus on conservation at AK. We stopped to see a tarantula and learn a little about them. That lady next to Savannah looks shocked! :laughing:
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We walked the paths heading towards the Tree of Life and stopped to see some barking deer and other animals. I did once think about taking off running for my precious EE fastpasses, but reminded myself that we didn't have a huge list to do this day and there was NO.HURRY.

Finally we came up over the bridge and to my surprise rope drop hadn't happened yet. I was actually a little disappointed, it would have given the illusion of less people if it had. But, I know how to tilt the camera and make it look like there were no people!
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You would think (well, anyone that knows much about me) that AK would be my favorite b/c of the TREE, the greenery, the conservation, the focus on animals...but it's not. I don't dislike it, it's just there's not enough rides for this ride-junkie! My favorite ride resides here, so I will never skip it!

It was time! We headed to EE. As we were walking, a LARGE tour group came up behind us and Rey didn't even object to me booking it to the FP machine! He sped up too and was egging me on "you're not going to make it!" :rolleyes:

I grabbed FP's so quick that they had just caught up with me and we got in the standby line RIGHT as those girls were all getting ready to jump on! Rey mentioned that the tour groups seemed to be following my best-park-days! :eek: It wasn't that they were rude at all, they were just massive and everywhere! I had read to just "go the other way" when you see them, but this wasn't just one or two groups, they filled the parks and were everywhere you looked, but I digress...

So we walked right on, maybe 5 minute standby and it was time for Leslee's first ride on EE! See the fear in her eyes? ;)
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121151.jpg

I was poised to take a million shots, I love trying to get unique shots while on rides. So, we're heading up, and I'm shooting...
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We get to the top, I take this shot, and the memory card tells me it's full! WHAT?!?!? So, here I am at the top of EE, desperately trying to delete shots in a period of about 2 seconds before we start our backward descent! :laughing: I think I ended up getting one or two more shots out of it.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121153.jpg

more reason to ride it later then!

Ah, I love EE! (I'm sure you can't tell since I spent almost a whole update on it!) Leslee wasn't sure, but she went on it again later, so I figured she didn't hate it. Savannah told me just yesterday that she didn't like EE...but Leslee never let on...

We headed towards the safari and I think I spent most of my time walking and deleting. I shoot in RAW, so I just hadn't realized that I was going to fill an 8G memory card that fast, it was only day 3! I had two more, but they were back at the room, so I wanted to at least delete any duplicates or shots that might be blurry so I could get a few more shots of our day at AK. Girls posed for me with the ToL behind them.
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Safari was nearly walk on, didn't take long at all! I got a couple shots, even trying to conserve my memory card!
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Rhinobutts!
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When we came off of the Safari, we headed to Flights of Wonder. I had seen it in 2008 and really enjoyed it but Rey and Leslee had never watched it. On the way, we ran into my soul sister! I think some days I feel like DeVine, I seen sunshine like a plant!
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Twoboysnmygirl

02-14-2012, 06:49 AM

AK Day (continued)

It was time for Flights of Wonder!
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The girls were getting a little hungry, so we told them we would get a snack as soon as the show was over. We got a great seat up front, 2nd row. I love this show b/c although they have thrown in HUMAN comedy in the form of the "tour guide" who is afraid of birds, they are serious about the birds and there's no treating the birds like a circus act. It's focused on conservation and information about birds and things they naturally do in the wild, no riding bikes (they even talk about this).

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It was a great show, we all enjoyed it. When we came out, we got the girls ice cream (can you believe I didn't get a single shot of a mickeybar or mickeysandwich?!?!? I must have been out of my mind!) :confused3

The stand was right there outside of FoW, and WOW it was getting busy. A Tuesday in January at Animal Kingdom?!?!? :confused: This area is usually not busy at all, but I took a shot (this is standing by FoW, looking towards Africa/Safari area:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121206.jpg

The girls were happily eating their ice cream and Rey & I decided we should grab a CS. I had done my research and the only place for me to get a veggie option was at Restaurantsaurus, but I knew Rey would prefer Flame Tree bbque, so I left the girls with him, getting his food and headed over into Dinoland to see if I could get mine to go. As I walked up, there was another HUGE group of girls (tour group) standing outside, getting ready to go. They were being given directions, so I JUST barely made it in before they came in behind me! I got a grilled veggie wrap/sandwich and headed back over to find Rey and the girls.

How was my lunch? I would say pretty good since I had already devoured my sandwich before even taking a picture! :laughing: Here are my sweet potato fries and my cheesecake cup dessert though!
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Rey had some sort of bbque sandwich, which I also forgot to take a picture of! Then he gave his key lime dessert to the girls, they also ate some of my sweet potato fries!
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We had already decided that we were going to make it a short day and head back to do some laundry and swim, but we had a few more things on the list! Savannah really wanted to do Dinosaur, it was totally walk on! I believe this was at 11:45 or so. This was the great thing, even though the crowds were large, the lines were not!

After Dinosaur, the girls wanted to ride Triceratop! It was really nice to just go with the flow and do whatever at this point. I guess that's the good thing about a park that doesn't have THAT much that we feel like we HAVE to do.
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When they came off, we realized that Pluto & Goofy were right across the way and the line wasn't too long!
This is Pluto making a big deal out of Savannah's black finger nails. This happened a few times with the characters noticing her pink hair as well! :p
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It was gettting really busy at this point and we decided to take the normally quiet path back by Nemo, over to EE to use our FPs. Wow. I was really shocked at how many people there were! We were glad to have the FPs, but I don't think the standby was more than 30, so still the crowds didn't seem to have too much affect on the wait times!

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Rey ended up not going! It turned out that I LOST one of the FPs! He didn't seem to mind at all, I think once is enough for him, so the girls and I headed in line. They sat together and I sat behind them with a boy from the single-rider line.

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A few more shots this time since I had made room on the memory card! Sigh...just love EE!
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When we came out, Rey was waiting, and he looked ready to go. The crowds seem to just be building and he seemed aggravated by them. So, we headed out, but I took some photos and we stopped for a couple photopass shots on the way out.
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We left around 1pm, or we got back around 1pm...not sure which, but it didn't take long once we found the Durango in the AK parking lot! We even know the area, but an empty parking lot looks a little different full!

We went straight to the food court when we got back to Pop (1pm my notes say) and got the girls some lunch. I LOVED the CM's at Pop! I told one of the women about my issues with the CS meals for Savannah and she piled a huge adult size of mac-n-cheese onto a plate with a breadstick and told me which CM to go to so they could just charge like a regular adult CS meal! She couldn't even finish all of it, they gave her so much!
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Leslee got a massive burrito that she also could not finish!
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With full bellies, back we went to the room to get our suits on and grab the laundry! It's super convenient that the laundry area is next to the pool! I got to lay in the sun and relax, it was perfect! Ah...vacation! Well, except for the fact that my dd was crabby and homesick...again! :eek:

Up next...after a relaxing afternoon at the pool, we head to Kouzinna for dinner on the Boardwalk!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-14-2012, 07:23 AM

Valentine's Day update

I just wanted to share something Disney related this morning for Valentines Day! Rey and I rarely EVER do anything for Valentines day. It's just not our thing, I'm not big into cut flowers and let's face it, we don't like doing what everyone else does, so we always say that we don't want to just celebrate our love one day a year.

BUT, this morning, I look on my facebook and this is what I find: (remember, he's on the road, not home)

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So, he bought a dozen cupcakes JUST for the little plastic mickey/minnie rings on them so that he could take these pictures for me. :lovestruc The first one, if you cannot tell, is his wedding band with one of the plastic rings sitting in it. The other is all 12 rings (he said one for each day of our vacation/time he was home) in a heart on the ground.

Am I not the luckiest girl around?!? He just gets me and the gesture is just perfect, means more to me than a pile of diamonds or flowers! :lovestruc

-Hope-

02-14-2012, 08:55 AM

Your AK day sounds great! I love the shot of the rhinos walking away and the one of the girls faces framed by the seat on EE. (Well, I love them all but especially those two!)

Victoriasmom98

02-14-2012, 09:13 AM

aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeee.........how sweet is Rey???!!!!!

oh, and your Animal Kingdom day looks like fun, too!!! :love:

giantstoindy

02-14-2012, 09:59 AM

Great update! I"m like you-Animal Kingdom is basically my least favorite park. I figure if I'm spending thousands of dollars for a vacation, I want some attractions and good food!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-14-2012, 10:05 AM

Your AK day sounds great! I love the shot of the rhinos walking away and the one of the girls faces framed by the seat on EE. (Well, I love them all but especially those two!)

I really enjoyed it, especially going at a slower pace...although this required giving up the idea that we had to do everything in the park (FOTFK, character meets, etc). I think going just to take some pics and ride EE a few times is going to be perfect for our trip!

aaaaaaaaawwwwwwwwwwweeeeeeeeeeeee.........how sweet is Rey???!!!!!

oh, and your Animal Kingdom day looks like fun, too!!! :love:

Thanks! He is too sweet and we had a lot of fun on our AK day. My feet hurt less that night as well b/c we took it slower.

Great update! I"m like you-Animal Kingdom is basically my least favorite park. I figure if I'm spending thousands of dollars for a vacation, I want some attractions and good food!

The funniest thing to me is the food at AK! You would think that this would be the park for vegetarians and vegans, right? Nope! Hardest place for us to find food...I guess they give all the green stuffs to the animals! :lmao:

katt789

02-14-2012, 12:39 PM

JDailey

02-14-2012, 01:01 PM

AWWWW that was soooo sweet of Rey!!! :lovestruc You are a very lucky girl!

The A.K. day looked good too!

Dreamsdocometrue9112

02-14-2012, 01:05 PM

Great update! AK sounded like a great day. It's my least favorite park, too, though :-/ I move towards the thrill rides as well. I love EE!! :yay: Such a great ride :)

exwdwcm

02-14-2012, 06:08 PM

Oh how sweet of him to do that on V-Day! It is the thoughtful gestures like that, that mean more than all the roses or chocolate in the world.

another great update. Sorry it was so crowded. Sounds like the ride lines weren't long, but i HATE when the pathways are so packed like that. it drives me nuts. DH too. And the tour groups......they get so annoying, i feel your pain there. Once again, you got some amazing shots- love some of those EE shots!

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-14-2012, 06:15 PM

Awww how sweet of Rey!! :goodvibes

Looks like you guys had a great time at AK! Too bad about all the crowds though! How annoying!

Tink-erin-belle

02-14-2012, 09:59 PM

Oh my goodness! Your Valentines Day post just made me tear up! I completely forgot about what I was going to comment about your other posts! Rey is such a sweet guy to do something not only thoughtful but also Disney related! :lovestruc Well, I do remember that I was going to say that I love the food pics and I'm hungry now even though I already had dinner. Thanks for nothing! :lmao: Just kidding! The kids and I will have to try Via Napoli on a future trip. They both love pizza. My sisters and I, not so much - but I think I could go for that four cheese pizza. Your other pics are gorgeous, as usual. I'm looking forward to reading more!

KatMark

02-14-2012, 10:02 PM

I have not forgotten you. My DH and I worked a wrestling tournament at the high school on Friday night and Saturday all day and evening and I'm still recovering. You've done quite a few updates, so I'll catch up tomorrow (with the long weekend I only made one minor update to my own TR).

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 05:12 AM

Another awesome update! I adore the pics of EE, I always wish that I had my camera out when I get to the top, the view where you can see Epcot, the Ep resorts, and ToT, gah! Beautiful! One of my favorite rides in all of WDW!! Also, I'm pretty sure we encountered some of the same tour groups, I was there the 29-1st, and there always seemed to be a sea of purple no matter where I was (although I park hopped a lot). I'm glad that you were a jump ahead of most of them!

I underestimated the tour groups, for sure! I thought there would be maybe one or two in a park, but there were way more than that! Luckily, they all seemed to be normal teenage girls, I saw some running, but nothing rude, no pushing or doing any of the things I have read about on the DIS.

AWWWW that was soooo sweet of Rey!!! :lovestruc You are a very lucky girl!

The A.K. day looked good too!

Thanks! He did good, we usually don't celebrate Valentines day much, so it really surprised me.

Great update! AK sounded like a great day. It's my least favorite park, too, though :-/ I move towards the thrill rides as well. I love EE!! :yay: Such a great ride :)

It's funny that I'm a ride junkie b/c I didn't used to be when I was younger! I love them and they terrify me, I was so scared to do RnRc again this year...but you'll read about that coming up!

Oh how sweet of him to do that on V-Day! It is the thoughtful gestures like that, that mean more than all the roses or chocolate in the world.

another great update. Sorry it was so crowded. Sounds like the ride lines weren't long, but i HATE when the pathways are so packed like that. it drives me nuts. DH too. And the tour groups......they get so annoying, i feel your pain there. Once again, you got some amazing shots- love some of those EE shots!

Oh yes, I'm really happy that the lines didn't reflect the crowds! We really didn't wait much for anything the whole trip using FPs and hitting RD, and we did almost everything we wanted to do!

Awww how sweet of Rey!! :goodvibes

Looks like you guys had a great time at AK! Too bad about all the crowds though! How annoying!

Thanks! It was a nicer, more relaxing day, and that helped. I think if I had a list of must-do's for AK, I might have been frustrated, but since we didn't, it ended up being a really nice day! I actually think my favorite part was laying by the pool! ;)

Oh my goodness! Your Valentines Day post just made me tear up! I completely forgot about what I was going to comment about your other posts! Rey is such a sweet guy to do something not only thoughtful but also Disney related! :lovestruc Well, I do remember that I was going to say that I love the food pics and I'm hungry now even though I already had dinner. Thanks for nothing! :lmao: Just kidding! The kids and I will have to try Via Napoli on a future trip. They both love pizza. My sisters and I, not so much - but I think I could go for that four cheese pizza. Your other pics are gorgeous, as usual. I'm looking forward to reading more!

Erin, I have no idea if your kids will like it, but Savannah & Leslee didn't, so I wouldn't go just for them if the rest of you don't like pizza...although, they do have pasta and other items, I just remembered that!

I have not forgotten you. My DH and I worked a wrestling tournament at the high school on Friday night and Saturday all day and evening and I'm still recovering. You've done quite a few updates, so I'll catch up tomorrow (with the long weekend I only made one minor update to my own TR).

I was hoping I wasn't going too fast for anyone! There will only be one update today, I think, so that should help!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 06:02 AM

Tuesday, Jan. 31st- Dinner at Kouzzina

I'm only doing this one update this morning, for a few reasons. The main reason is that as I get closer to the end of the trip, the slower I am getting b/c I don't want the TR to end! The other reason is that I'm feeling a bit down, I don't think it's really "Disney blues" but I cannot really get totally back to normal here b/c this Plantar Fasciitis I have. My feet are hurting and I can't get back to my running, which is frustrating me and I can't really do anything other than sit around and wait for my feet to feel better. Well, I don't do well with sitting around. :p

On to Kouzzina! After coming up from the pool and getting showered and ready, we headed to the Boardwalk! I have in my notes that Savannah was complaining she was sick and acting crabby and that I had to practically drag her out of the room. I don't remember this, but I think that's b/c she was fine when we got to the Boardwalk. I don't want anyone thinking I was dragging a sick child around, she has some allergy issues with food, we think, so she'll complain about headache and earache stuff often...and especially when she's crabby or in a bad mood.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121252.jpg

I LOVE the Boardwalk area!

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121253.jpg

We checked into Kouzzina and they gave us a buzzer. I was happy to go back out and try to take some pictures but only took maybe two before the buzzer went off!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121255.jpg

We headed in and were led to yet another great round table in a corner with a view of the kitchen. We had some serious tablemojo this trip!
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The chef came out and talked to me about vegan options, which sounded GREAT! He said they even had vegan pita's for me with the appetizer we were wanting to order, so the rest of the family got the normal kind and I had a bunch just for me!

They brought out bread, which I didn't try, but Rey said the olives were really good that came with the dipping oil.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121268.jpg

We ordered an appetizer off of the dining plan just b/c we wanted the Kouzzina Spreads with the pita's I mentioned. These were out of this world!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121269.jpg

I'm not going to be able to remember them all, but there was a good hummus, olive tempanade, some sort of feta cheese kind that the guys liked, I didn't try that one, and my favorite was on the far left, it was a cold potato/garlic spread. OHMYGOSH. So good! We all had fun sampling these and picking our favorites.

I'll go around the table with what we got:

We talked to the chef about Savannah's food as well, he offered to make her a pasta with red sauce and we ordered her some sweet potato fries on the side, but she ended up not liking the red sauce...so they made her mac-n-cheese! (which she really liked) I think she almost turned into mac-n-cheese. :laughing:

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121275.jpg

Leslee got the steak! This thing was HUGE and she didn't finish it, but she liked it and also proclaimed that she could tell her mom she had "green stuff" when she got home since there was broccoli on top! ;)

Dylan had the same steak...of course he called it the 35$ steak. I wonder if he picked it b/c it was one of the most expensive things on the menu? :rolleyes: He finished off that whole plate and probably would have licked it clean if he had been at home!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121277.jpg

Dallas & Rey had the sampler. It had chicken/orzo of some kind (I think Parmesan?) a Greek lasagna, and lamb burger.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121274.jpg

I was surprised that the chicken was both of their favorites! They said it was just so good. They both liked the lasagna and the lamb burger as well but said the onion overpowered the burger. When I asked why they didn't just take it off, they said b/c the chef intended it that way and that wouldn't make sense? :confused3

Ah...the best for last! I had the oven roasted vegetables. It normally has the Orzo (pasta) with it, so the chef said he would put some little baby potatoes instead. It was SO good! I ate every last bite of it and wanted more. The flavors were just perfect, loved the veggies, and those little gold potatoes were great! It was one of my favorite dishes of the trip!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121273.jpg

After dinner, it was time to order dessert. Rey and Dallas wanted the waitress to choose for them and give them something that would be considered authentic Greek. She took that all in stride, she was really great! So, we ended up with the girls & Dylan getting the Loukoumades, which are little greek doughnuts. They liked them, and of course I asked for a taste! :laughing: I have no clue where the pic went, but they just look like little glazed doughnut holes. I can't fit another image in this post, so you'll have to take my word for it!

I got the no-sugar cheesecake. It was good, but nothing spectacular.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121280.jpg

Rey ended up with the Baklava and pistachio gelato and Dallas had the Galaktoboureko (yes, I'm copying this from allears, do you think I would know how to spell this stuff?!?!) They both really enjoyed their desserts (I thought they tasted good too!) :lmao:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121279.jpg

http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121281.jpg

We really enjoyed this meal, I think it was a favorite for a few of us! I had heard things about Kouzzina being overly salty or bad reviews, but I kept this to myself and no one in the family had any complaints and I certainly didn't either! Thank goodness for the dining plan b/c this meal was over $300, and we did still have to pay quite a bit for the appetizer, side of fries, my sangria, and the tip! Totally worth it though!

When we came out, the sun had gone down and we sort of moseyed out off the Boardwalk and back to the car.
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121288.jpg

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We headed back to Pop and I noted in my journal that my feet didn't hurt as much this evening! Guess it's running shoes for me from here on out! I took a shot of Illuminations sitting on the bed...just b/c I could!
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Disney20121336.jpg

I wrote in my journal that we were halfway through our 6 park day trip and I never wanted it to end! :goodvibes

Stringbean&Wingnut

02-15-2012, 06:26 AM

Your meal at Kouzzina looks great! The chefs sound like they were so accomodating, that's wonderful!

That's seriously the coolest thing ever that you could see Illuminations from your bed!!!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 06:33 AM

Your meal at Kouzzina looks great! The chefs sound like they were so accomodating, that's wonderful!

That's seriously the coolest thing ever that you could see Illuminations from your bed!!!

It really was a great meal and I felt like the chef really went out of his way to make sure I had something I could eat. I had to convince the waitress it was ok for me to have the cheesecake for dinner...I said my ears would getting itchy and I would get a headache, but I wouldn't die or anything! I think she didn't want me dying on her watch! ;)

giantstoindy

02-15-2012, 06:49 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 06:55 AM

Kouzzina looks great! That appetizer (with hummus :scared1:!) looks very good. For our trip, our Boardwalk day was the toughest to plan but I decided on Flying Fish with us just having salads and soups :laughing: because there is no way we are paying $40 for a steak or chicken for my mom. The atmosphere looks really neat, though, so we picked it over Kouzzina but it's definitely on the list for next time. Did the servers do traditional Greek restaurant performances, etc?

Not really any performances, but now that you mention it, I think I remember every once and a while hearing "Opa!" from the chef's & waiters. I had forgotten about that! Thanks for reminding me! :laughing:

-Hope-

02-15-2012, 08:02 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 08:04 AM

That meal looks amazing- and I am not the least bit surprised that Dallas and Rey wanted their food to be authentically as the chef prepared it. ;) (And is that tzaziki sauce on the burger- YUM! I love tzaziki sauce.)

And don't just sit around- come see me! :)

sent you an email...can't come see you b/c the car won't start without jumping it and the Durango is still at the shop. :sad2:

exwdwcm

02-15-2012, 08:45 AM

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 08:48 AM

another great update. I am going to have to add Kouzzina to my "to try" list now! DH loves greek food. Everything looks really good- that sampler might be up my alley. I love that you see Illuminations almost every night from your room! :thumbsup2

I have also heard great things about their breakfast menu, so next trip we will definitely go back, most likely for breakfast! :thumbsup2

LuckyMouse

02-15-2012, 09:24 AM

I love reading trip reports! Yours is amazing!

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 09:26 AM

I love reading trip reports! Yours is amazing!

Thank you so much!! :goodvibes

lojo

02-15-2012, 09:53 AM

Coming out of lurkdom to let you know I'm really enjoying your trip report.

I'm mainly vegetarian, so loving the food porn from a completely different perspective than normal.

I also have plantar fasciitis - although I don't run, just enjoy hiking, so it's probably nowhere near as debilitating for me.

Two things that have helped, although not cured completely, are insets in the heels of my shoes to raise my heels up a bit when walking, and a pediroller, which I use every morning and evening to massage the muscle (it's also great for rolling out the pain after a long walk). My chiropodist also told me never to wear shoes or sandals (especially flipflops) that cause me to clench my toes even a little to keep them in place.

Hope you get it sorted soon, but on the bright side we get updates more often!

danimaroo

02-15-2012, 11:14 AM

ksack

02-15-2012, 12:54 PM

Loving this TR so far!!! Awesome!!!

Love what Rey did for Vday... He's a good guy for keeping the Disney alive!!

Answer a few questions for me please... The shirt he wore to AK... Where did you get it/Was it bought? If so where and please what exactly is the design on it... I've turned my head sideways trying to read it... :)

Twoboysnmygirl

02-15-2012, 01:06 PM

Wow soooo Kouzzina looks really great! We've thought about going there and seeing your food, we might have to give it a shot next time, especially if we're staying at Beach Club again! All of the food looks AMAZING. Isn't it funny how you can miss Disney food so much once you're home? :rotfl:

I'm sorry you're feeling down; we had a little case of the post-Disney blues, which turned into something else crappy for me due to work drama... The only thing that kept me combating it has been writing my TR, seriously. Well that and making sure to enjoy nights after work and our weekends and try to get used to real life again... OH and hopefully think about planning our next trip!

:hug: though, it's never fun feeling down.

Oh yes, planning another trip always helps! We're having a hard time figuring out when and who would go on our next trip though, Rey and I are considering a 3 night trip to AKL, but we're not sure when we would be able to pull it off!

Loving this TR so far!!! Awesome!!!

Love what Rey did for Vday... He's a good guy for keeping the Disney alive!!

Answer a few questions for me please... The shirt he wore to AK... Where did you get it/Was it bought? If so where and please what exactly is the design on it... I've turned my head sideways trying to read it... :)

I made most of our shirts, his AK shirt was a mickeyhead with Animal on it (I call him that sometimes and he loves Animal) with his name and the year. Here's a closer pic:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Disney%202012/Photo1111FourBySix.jpg

I got the DISign from the DISign boards, here it is blank if you want to use it. I just added text for Rey's name/year:
http://i72.photobucket.com/albums/i161/twoboysnmygirl/Animal_Muppet_Bubble_blank.jpg