Two Sisters finally get to go to WDW together! - TR has started!

[RachelTori]

We really are looking forward to the tour a lot! There aren't a lot of reviews about it to be found, but whatever I read sounded really good!

Are you sure, the buses go to BB? In 2007 when we stayed at AKL, we never stopped there I think, but perhaps I just forgot about it... It's the DHS bus that stops there, isn't it?

Katharina and I are still looking forward to meeting you! I was thinking maybe for a drink at Victoria Falls? Well, we still have more than three months to come up with some ideas!

I'm not 100% sure, but I do remember stopping at BB several times and wondering why!! I just posted that question on the Transportation Board so we'll see if that gets any responses. I guess we could post that question to the Moms Panel too.

Victoria Falls sounds like a great idea! We'll discuss as the date gets closer!

I love the picture of the Tea! Was your father texting?!!!!
(I had to giggle because my DD is always texting at the table!)

 

[Lady Lallie]

I love the Disney memories. I think it's so much fun to hear what inspired the Disney love. It's always so different for everyone.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I love this kind of thing.......


Family History and photos and travel and Disney...all good...

You know I'm on board for this trip down memory lane...

I don't remember if I've seen a photo of your father before...he looks like a really nice man...something very comforting about him...

I agree-I love when Nodnol comments...it is really cute and a bit funny-shows your sisterly relationship......love it...




BTW-I'm going to PM you-I would love your take on what we need to do with just one perfect day at DLP...Nodnol can comment too... Only one day so we have to be really selective...

 

[nodnol]

Here in Europe you get so used to not needing a passport anymore for travelling abroad. We have identity cards here in Germany and they are good for nearly everywhere in Europe, so life without a passport is possible. But I really like knowing that I have a passport for any surprise trips! I think nodnol's just had run out recently...

I actually have a passport, valid through 2014. The lady at the office was quite astonished why a wanted a new one, I then hinted on the "wrong name"... When I got married I decided - after nights without sleep - to change my name and carry my DH's, as I hadn't planned any trips outside europe at that time and didn't have a lot of money, I decided to postpone the passport until I would need it - which is NOW!

By the way, changing my name had a very interesting effect - it happend to me for the first time about three months after I was married: I sometimes think my parents and Flossbolna should have the same family name as I have - they are my family - aren't they? So they should have the same family name as I have - the "new" one. So I get a little bit confused, for example when I call them and they say the "old" name...

This is one of the pages of the photoalbum I did for Katharina for Christmas one year from all the materials we collected during our trip. The cover is blue and the pages are red and white... I have scanned it all in (thanks to Katharina's DH brining me his scanner! ) and will do a bit of a trip report of our 1992 trip... I hope nodnol will jump in with any additional stories she can share! It will be followed by pictures and stories from our Disneyland Paris trips. I hope you will enjoy this!

My DH was laughing a lot, when he saw some of the pictures for the first time - I do hope Flossbolna will post a fine selection!

 

[nodnol]

I'm not 100% sure, but I do remember stopping at BB several times and wondering why!! I just posted that question on the Transportation Board so we'll see if that gets any responses. I guess we could post that question to the Moms Panel too.

Victoria Falls sounds like a great idea! We'll discuss as the date gets closer!

I love the picture of the Tea! Was your father texting?!!!!
(I had to giggle because my DD is always texting at the table!)

Hi, Looking forward to meet you!

No, he wasn't texting, he's checking something on his GPS - how many kilometers so far, how many still to go, or the altitude difference so far. He really likes his GPS. When he bought a new one two years ago, my DH got the old one, so we usually hike with two GPS, at least one map - and a compass (we might get lost in a fog and all the satellites might crash... )

I love this kind of thing.......


Family History and photos and travel and Disney...all good...

You know I'm on board for this trip down memory lane...

I don't remember if I've seen a photo of your father before...he looks like a really nice man...something very comforting about him...

I agree-I love when Nodnol comments...it is really cute and a bit funny-shows your sisterly relationship......love it...




BTW-I'm going to PM you-I would love your take on what we need to do with just one perfect day at DLP...Nodnol can comment too... Only one day so we have to be really selective...

Our DF is a really nice man and we love him a lot - but don't worry, we are normal daughters, we do get annoyed with him as well!!

And FYI - roll allocation between Flossbolna and me is and was always: she is the responsible older sister who takes care of everything, makes plans and makes a mess of the kitchen when cooking. I'm the moody, terrorizing little sister that can't stand a messy kitchen and keeps cleaning up while Flossbolna is cooking. But we are both great cooks

What a pity I couldn't convince DH to go to DLP with me, I'm sure it would have been perfect to think of some ideas for your trip... But I'll think about it anyway and talk to Flossbolna. I'm sure you and your kids will enjoy Paris and think it is a very wise decision to spend only one day at DLP. I can only compare it to the 1992 trip to DL, but I always found it lacks a little bit of spirit...

 

[Flossbolna]

Looking forward to more of memory lane!

another installment is about to be posted!

Your ADR's look great and I love your memories of the US and Disneyland!! Can't wait to read more!!

It really is fun to write down all these old memories!

Ah, Disney memories, I love it!! It's like a mini TR within a PTR. :

Well, I had so many plans for mini TRs, we still need to write about our excursion the the Heide Park and I wanted to write about Copenhagen and Nuremberg...

I'm not 100% sure, but I do remember stopping at BB several times and wondering why!! I just posted that question on the Transportation Board so we'll see if that gets any responses. I guess we could post that question to the Moms Panel too.

Victoria Falls sounds like a great idea! We'll discuss as the date gets closer!

I love the picture of the Tea! Was your father texting?!!!!
(I had to giggle because my DD is always texting at the table!)

Thanks for posting on the Transportation Board, I saw the thread there! The Moms Panel is an interesting idea, I might do that and will report back.

Looking forward to VF meet, we still have plenty of time to discuss details closer to the trip!

I love the Disney memories. I think it's so much fun to hear what inspired the Disney love. It's always so different for everyone.

I love the Disney history parts of other TRs and PTRs a lot as well, that's why I wanted to include it in ours!

I love this kind of thing.......


Family History and photos and travel and Disney...all good...

You know I'm on board for this trip down memory lane...

I don't remember if I've seen a photo of your father before...he looks like a really nice man...something very comforting about him...

I agree-I love when Nodnol comments...it is really cute and a bit funny-shows your sisterly relationship......love it...




BTW-I'm going to PM you-I would love your take on what we need to do with just one perfect day at DLP...Nodnol can comment too... Only one day so we have to be really selective...

We got oyur PM and will try to discuss DLP some time soon and will come back with ideas! I you have a full day, you will be able to accomplish a lot. Fastpass is a great help!

nodnol and I just talked on the phone and she asked for another update being posted tonight...

 

[Flossbolna]

My DH was laughing a lot, when he saw some of the pictures for the first time - I do hope Flossbolna will post a fine selection!

Well, the good thing is that I am mainly the photographer on our trips... so the DLP pictures mainly only show one person

No, he wasn't texting, he's checking something on his GPS - how many kilometers so far, how many still to go, or the altitude difference so far. He really likes his GPS. When he bought a new one two years ago, my DH got the old one, so we usually hike with two GPS, at least one map - and a compass (we might get lost in a fog and all the satellites might crash... )

Oh and we also would have at least two description of the hiking path which have to be read the evening before in order to be alerted when we should not follow the marked path (and the path we follow in England is generally extremely well marked) in order to get a better view or so. Last year this lead us into some barbed wire... But I guess you now have an idea where nodnol and I got the planning gene from...

Our DF is a really nice man and we love him a lot - but don't worry, we are normal daughters, we do get annoyed with him as well!!

Like when he and our DM decide to buy the most hideous sofa IKEA offers...

And FYI - roll allocation between Flossbolna and me is and was always: she is the responsible older sister who takes care of everything, makes plans and makes a mess of the kitchen when cooking. I'm the moody, terrorizing little sister that can't stand a messy kitchen and keeps cleaning up while Flossbolna is cooking. But we are both great cooks

Oh, and nodnol taught me not stop in the middle of the road. She is extremely considerate of others and takes care that I improve in this regard as well. For example, If you want to find out where you want to go, don't stop just where you are, but look for a corner to hide into so that nobody has to walk around you!

 

[Flossbolna]

The first DL page of our photo album is rather boring:

I am sure that the left side of the page originally wasn't empty, something must have fallen out, but I have no idea what it was!

The page features our boarding passes, a tiny picture cut out from the travel brochure of our hotel and a button from Goofy's Kitchen.

My aunt was able to book a discounted package through her employer and this included four nights at a hotel, two-day-tickets to DL and a bonus feature, we chose a day trip to the Unversal Studios (tickets plus transfer). We had no plans for our arrival and departure day, we wanted to make sure to make the most of our tickets to DL and used them only for the full days we were there.

Flying down was quite exciting for us. We were so amazed that in the US everyone could walk all the way to the gate. We had flown a few times within Europe before that trip and even the 80's in Europe only persons with boarding passes could go through security to the gates...

Arriving at our hotel was the next interesting thing: We never had seen a motel before, only in movies. External hallways were a foreign concept for us and even though our hotel was rather simple (the swimming pool was tiny and mainly just a hole with a fence around in the middle of the parking lot, but that did not deter us from trying it out!) we were excited. Also, by the fact that there were two double beds in one hotel room. Here in Germany you either get one bed (most likely king sized) or two twins. Often the one big bed is made out of two twins just next to each other...

I think we arrived at some time in the afternoon and just took our time settling in. The package my aunt got included also a copy of the Birnbaum's Offical Guide to Disneyland. I think I nearly read this cover to cover on that first day and would then lecture nodnol and my aunt with all my new wisdom. I guess nodnol, will be in for a treat in WDW, my knowledge of Disney trivia has improved wastly since then, so I will be able to entertain her well!

One of the things the Birnbaum guide mentioned was the level of detail, including the trash cans. We therefore went a bit on a picture hunt of themed trash cans:

(That's me with one of those trash cans. Nodnol had the same shirt as me in red. We got those specifically for that trip to the US and thought they looked so smart! )

In the evening we went to the Disneyland Hotel. My aunt was a bit sad that this had become so expensive, she used to stay there on previous trips. I remember not being overwhelmed with it, it just looked like boring old concrete (and I still think so...). My aunt thought it would be fun for us to meet some characters and took us to dinner at Goofy's Kitchen, which was then (and I think still is) a character buffet – think DL version of Chef Mickey's.

Character dining came to us as quite a bit of a shock. We were rather confused by the concept of eating and characters running around as well. Also, I think we were confused by the whole concept of characters... And then Goofy came around and it was obviously that he had set his eyes on nodnol and tried to court her. That did not go down well with my little sister – I think she became a bit scared of Goofy. My aunt and I thought it was hysterical. But nodnol has had since then a bit of a strained relationship with Goofy. I hope she will get over it for out character breakfast at Tusker House!

The concept of a buffet restaurant was another thing that was new to us. The only other warm buffet we had been to was at the US Army training area in Grafenwoehr, a small town close to where we grew up. One year we had signed up for one of their “good neighbor programs” where you could offer to host an American soldier over Christmas. We had a really nice guy staying with us who couldn't travel home to celebrate with his wife and little daughter. For the first meeting all the hosting families were invited to a meeting within the training area where we were served a buffet meal with roast turkey and corn – and we got American sodas to drink! So walking up to that buffet and getting slices of meat carved from a huge roast was strange. But this buffet had corn as well and I love corn - which is not commonly available as a vegetable in restaurants in Germany! Sorry, that's about all I can tell you about that meal 17 years later...

Looking back now another thing that amazes me is that we just walked up to Goofy's Kitchen without a wait and I think it was not even full! That must have changed now! But what hasn't changed: even then I thought it was really pricey!!

After dinner we went see the fountain show. There was a fountain that had a light and music show in the evening. It was rather nice, but I remember that my aunt got all excited about a song that she claimed everyone knew, but we didn't and she was rather surprised. With all I know now, I think it must be the Mickey Mouse Club March. (link provided mainly for nodnol, I expect everyone else to know the song...)

The next update will really get us into the parks, I promise!

 

[Flossbolna]

So, there are a few tiny things to report on the planning side of our trip:

1) AKL pool refurbishment in January I see the point of refurbishments, but they really should not happen when I am there! Well, I guess that's everyone's take on this. But really, January makes sense for a pool refurbishment. The Jambo house pool will be closed 1/3-1/29. So it will reopen on our third day at the world. Nodnol and I talked briefly about it and we are ok with it. If we want to go swimming on our first days, we just need to go to the Kidani pool. That's fine with us. We don't mind the walk, we do a lot of walking at home anyway.

2) ADR day coming up on Tuesday and we are already discussing an adjustment... The Disney Parks blog recently posted about Remy at Chefs des France in Epcot and Remy will stay there at least until March. So do we want to meet him there for lunch?? Have any of you met Remy? Was it fun? Nodnol is a huge Remy fan (see pic on first page! ) and I think he is very cute, too.

3) Splash Mountain refurbishment... I might have posted about that before. It will be down during all of our stay, so no visit to the briar patch for us... I am really sad about that due to reasons that will be explained in the next DL update. I will start working on that now...

 

[lovesdumbo]

So, there are a few tiny things to report on the planning side of our trip:

1) AKL pool refurbishment in January I see the point of refurbishments, but they really should not happen when I am there! Well, I guess that's everyone's take on this. But really, January makes sense for a pool refurbishment. The Jambo house pool will be closed 1/3-1/29. So it will reopen on our third day at the world. Nodnol and I talked briefly about it and we are ok with it. If we want to go swimming on our first days, we just need to go to the Kidani pool. That's fine with us. We don't mind the walk, we do a lot of walking at home anyway.

2) ADR day coming up on Tuesday and we are already discussing an adjustment... The Disney Parks blog recently posted about Remy at Chefs des France in Epcot and Remy will stay there at least until March. So do we want to meet him there for lunch?? Have any of you met Remy? Was it fun? Nodnol is a huge Remy fan (see pic on first page! ) and I think he is very cute, too.

3) Splash Mountain refurbishment... I might have posted about that before. It will be down during all of our stay, so no visit to the briar patch for us... I am really sad about that due to reasons that will be explained in the next DL update. I will start working on that now...

1) I completely agree-why do they have to do it while we are there? I'll be there celebrating DD's 7th bday 1/20 to 1/27. I guess we'll have to walk over to Kidani if we want to swim. I guess I could hope for weather warm enough to swim. I did walk over to look at the Kidani pool when I was at AKL last May-the week Kidani opened. The pool at Kidani is very cool and I think my DD will enjoy it more than the Jambo pool so this will just force me to bring her over there. I'm hoping they will finish up a few days early so my DD can try out the Jambo pool.

2) I saw Remy last May with my DS. He is adorable! I do have an ADR for my DD & I in January. I'm sure you guys will find him very entertaining but the experience is a quick one.

3) My DD won't do Splash Mountain so it doesn't impact me too much but I'm sorry you will miss it. I am more upset about CP being closed. I love the walk up an empty Main St with an early breakfast. We are booked for LTT instead which will be easier for me than a buffet so I guess we'll be OK. I am taking my oldest DD(10) the first week of December. I am hoping that Space Mountain will be open on time for that trip. My younger DD hasn't been on it yet so I was hoping to ride it to see if I thought she would enjoy it. She did do Everest at 5 but hated it. Not sure what she'd think of Space Mountain at 7.

 

[Flossbolna]

1) I completely agree-why do they have to do it while we are there? I'll be there celebrating DD's 7th bday 1/20 to 1/27. I guess we'll have to walk over to Kidani if we want to swim. I guess I could hope for weather warm enough to swim. I did walk over to look at the Kidani pool when I was at AKL last May-the week Kidani opened. The pool at Kidani is very cool and I think my DD will enjoy it more than the Jambo pool so this will just force me to bring her over there. I'm hoping they will finish up a few days early so my DD can try out the Jambo pool.

2) I saw Remy last May with my DS. He is adorable! I do have an ADR for my DD & I in January. I'm sure you guys will find him very entertaining but the experience is a quick one.

3) My DD won't do Splash Mountain so it doesn't impact me too much but I'm sorry you will miss it. I am more upset about CP being closed. I love the walk up an empty Main St with an early breakfast. We are booked for LTT instead which will be easier for me than a buffet so I guess we'll be OK. I am taking my oldest DD(10) the first week of December. I am hoping that Space Mountain will be open on time for that trip. My younger DD hasn't been on it yet so I was hoping to ride it to see if I thought she would enjoy it. She did do Everest at 5 but hated it. Not sure what she'd think of Space Mountain at 7.

I guess all those refurbishments are the downside of the advantages of off season touring... But I rather have less crowded parks and manageable temperatures.

Your dates are even worse for the pool refurb. At least we will be able to enjoy the Jambo pool. But as you said, I am thinking that this is actually a nice way to make us go over to Kidani!

I can understand your dissappointment with CP, but I think LTT for breakfast sounds like a great substitution! Will they have the colonial characters or the Pooh gang from CP? And thanks for the Remy feedback!

Space Mountain is a bit scary in my opinion, especially if you are a kid and have to sit in your own seat with no one next to you..

 

[lovesdumbo]

I guess all those refurbishments are the downside of the advantages of off season touring... But I rather have less crowded parks and manageable temperatures.

Your dates are even worse for the pool refurb. At least we will be able to enjoy the Jambo pool. But as you said, I am thinking that this is actually a nice way to make us go over to Kidani!

I can understand your dissappointment with CP, but I think LTT for breakfast sounds like a great substitution! Will they have the colonial characters or the Pooh gang from CP? And thanks for the Remy feedback!

Space Mountain is a bit scary in my opinion, especially if you are a kid and have to sit in your own seat with no one next to you..

I have been told by AKL Club Level staff that it will be the standard LTT colonial characters. We never did dinner there when they had characters so it will be fun to see them and we can find Pooh characters elsewhere. My DD is such a picky eater that I'm not sure she'll each much at LTT-she would have eaten waffles, pancakes, muffins at CP but the menu looks really good to me. She used to eat well-I'm hoping it is just a phase. I showed her a photo of herself at 21 months at CP dinner eating broccoli and she said "Mommy, my taste buds weren't grown yet."

Here are a couple of photos of Remy from May. He is a cutie!!!

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Ahh, yes I got a letter in the mail the other day that the pool at Jambo House will be closed during our stay.

I didn't know that Splash was going to be closed though I wonder what their doing to it, it was closed last January too!

 

[brookelizabeth]

I love your walk down memory lane! And the page full of garbage can pics is funny!!! I'm sure I would have done something similar considering I took a picture of the themed soda machine this past trip.

Bummer to hear about the pool and Splash! But, at least there is another pool close by that you don't have to bus to - and it's only for those first three days, not too bad!

I'm so far behind on Disney news and the DIS, I didn't hear that about Remy. I would love to see him, he looks so cute and everyone says the person that goes around with him is just hilarious. I think you two would really enjoy it, such a unique experience!

 

[Flossbolna]

I have been told by AKL Club Level staff that it will be the standard LTT colonial characters. We never did dinner there when they had characters so it will be fun to see them and we can find Pooh characters elsewhere. My DD is such a picky eater that I'm not sure she'll each much at LTT-she would have eaten waffles, pancakes, muffins at CP but the menu looks really good to me. She used to eat well-I'm hoping it is just a phase. I showed her a photo of herself at 21 months at CP dinner eating broccoli and she said "Mommy, my taste buds weren't grown yet."

Here are a couple of photos of Remy from May. He is a cutie!!!

Thanks for the Remy pictures, he really is very cute! How funny about your daughter and the broccoli. I was really picky as a kid as well and my mother always claimed that you cannot start disliking food if you had eaten it before. She claimed that taste can only change in the way that you like more things, not less...

Ahh, yes I got a letter in the mail the other day that the pool at Jambo House will be closed during our stay.

I didn't know that Splash was going to be closed though I wonder what their doing to it, it was closed last January too!

Splash regularly goes down once a year for cleaning, but usually it is only about three weeks or so in January. But this time it will be down for nearly two months, so there is some discussion that this might be a more intensive refurbishment of the ride system. There appears to be an ongoing rumor that they will install lap bars in the ride vehicles.

I love your walk down memory lane! And the page full of garbage can pics is funny!!! I'm sure I would have done something similar considering I took a picture of the themed soda machine this past trip.

Bummer to hear about the pool and Splash! But, at least there is another pool close by that you don't have to bus to - and it's only for those first three days, not too bad!

I'm so far behind on Disney news and the DIS, I didn't hear that about Remy. I would love to see him, he looks so cute and everyone says the person that goes around with him is just hilarious. I think you two would really enjoy it, such a unique experience!

The themed soda machines are a nice touch, too! I hava picture of the one at the AKL bus stop.

A really nice addition for Disney news is the Disney Parks blog, they have really cute videos on there as well! http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/ My favourite is this entry: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2009/10/making-of-magic-kingdom-park-tilt-shift-video/

 

[RachelTori]

A really nice addition for Disney news is the Disney Parks blog, they have really cute videos on there as well! http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/ My favourite is this entry: http://disneyparks.disney.go.com/blog/2009/10/making-of-magic-kingdom-park-tilt-shift-video/

What an awesome video - I love it!!!

Remy is adorable! He made a visit to our table in June!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Jen & I LOVED our lunch with Remy. It was so awesome. The food is great too.

I love your Disneyland memories. The pictures are great.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I have to agree with you on the Disneyland Hotel-I was sort of underwhelmed by it...but I had already seen many of the DWD hotels in Florida...so I guess I was a bit spoiled...(The Grand Californian of the other hand...I think is gorgeous...)

I would have loved to see a photo of you and nodnol in the matching shirts......Isn't it fun when you look back at photos to see what was fashionable at different times?

Sorry about the refurbishments while you're there...I know you love Splash......the pool issue though gives you an opportunity to check out Kidani if you decide to swim...

Hmm...Remy...first let me say that I love Ratatouille and thought it was a great premise and really cute film...the night we went to Chefs de France...Emily and I went to the ladies room and I had forgotten he was there-and basically I saw a "rat" out of the corner of my eye and nearly jumped out of my skin...

Saying that-once you expect him-he is kind of cute although I thought that film Remy had more charisma... If you were already planning on eating at Chefs-he is a fun added bonus...but he does come and go quickly...

 

[tarak]

I love your trip report from 1992! The first time I went to Disneyland was in 1979 or so. Somewhere there is a picture of me in bell bottoms at DL. If I can find it, I'll scan it. My mother is wearing a positively terrifying polyester pantsuit, if I recall correctly. Back then, you bought tickets based on the rides you wanted to go on - Space Mountain had just opened and my nose bled afterwards - it was several years before I was willing to go on it again.

I think the refurb of Space Mountain is supposed to be done in November, but I could be wrong about that. I thought the Uzima pool refurb might mess with your plans. The hot tubs should be in fine working order, though.

 

[TyRy]

Hi Floss - Finally all caught up here. I love the mini TR from Disneyland. I'm trying to figure out how to squeeze in just a short trip there next year (yes, I know I'd have to be on a plane for 4 hours! )

And I think even with the pool being closed for a couple of days you made the right decision with your view. We walked the halls a couple of times and if you have a Savannah view and are waaaaaaaaay out in one of the wings, it can be very tiresome. With the PV, you know you'll be close to everything.

Here's hoping you get all your ADR's tomorrow!