Up bright and early the next morning, Jason and I started packing the car while the kids got showered and dressed. I also had a little business I had to attend to that had to be done in secret. Jason and I had talked about it over the last few days and had decided to book the bounce back offer, which was free dining, for next August. Not only did we want to come back, but some friends of ours from home would be in Orlando the week of August 20th. Karyn, our friend would be there for a convention for work. Her husband Bill and oldest daughter, Indy, would be coming down for the weekend to do Disney. They had mentioned this to us before we left saying "We can't think of better people to do Disney with than the K-G family!" So, we thought about that and since the bounce back fit into those dates, we figured we at least had to book it. We could always decide later if we needed to cancel.
As of right now, the trip is on! ADRs are made! Our friends will be there with us the first 2 days and we'll do Magic Kingdom and Epcot with them, and then be on our own for the last 3 days. Their daughter Indy will be almost 4 and it will be fun to do "newbie" stuff with them and show them all our favorites. Our girls have absolutely NO idea and we can't wait to surprise them. We think we will wait until right before. They talk about going back every day, so it will be a very joyful surprise! I'll fill in some of the details at the end of this TR.
SO, while we were packing up, I made the reso for the bounce back. We got things all set and packed, sadly said goodbye to our beloved CBR and pirate room. We know we'll be back! We headed off to our 9:05 ADR at a must-do for the girls, O'hana. Stitch is a huge family favorite and we were all excited to see him again, and his other friends. Jason was of course excited to eat.
We arrived a tad late due to a line at the gate for MK, but when we explained that, it was no problem. We got our buzzer and sat down. It wasn't a long wait, but the girls were being silly so I took a few pictures.
After only about 5 minutes we were seated and very quickly our food started arriving. It's served family style here, so you get a little bit of everything. We started with the POG juice which is so incredibly good. Then we got this platter of goodness.
Sausage, bacon, potatoes, and scrambled eggs. They also come around with trays of little Mickey waffles. The girls were happily eating, and as you can see, the parade was about to start because they have their maracas in hand!
They do a little parade with the characters every 45 minutes or so, and my kids made sure to get right behind a character!
The parade ended, and right away the characters started coming around. Mickey was first, and even though this was like time #5 or so for the week, Lucy and Maura were still just as excited to see him!
While waiting for Lilo to get to our table, we were doing party tricks with the little magnetic Stitch we had gotten a few days earlier. I was surprised he stuck to the silverware, but he sure did!
We love this little Stitch. You never know where he'll end up at our house. He's currently residing on a metal candle holder that is hanging close to the ceiling. I have no idea who put him there. He pops up all over the place!
Lilo was next. The girls were very excited to see her and show her their stuffed Stitches.
They had to get Stitch and Angel in there (Angel is from a sequel), and you can see Stitch's face in the background!
Before Stitch came over, they brought the girls ANOTHER birthday cupcake. They of course loved it. Again.
Finally Stitch made his way to our table. He was treated to major celebrity status by the girls. They adore him. Jason and I both dig him too. I know some folks aren't fans, but he's just so funny and always "on." We hold a soft spot for him especially, as he was the first character meet Lucy ever had and he was so great then and continues to up the ante every time we see him. He's also so darn cute.
Well, he immediately went for the stuffed animals and tried to walk off with them. The girls love this and were so looking forward to it again, hoping for a repeat performance. They got it.
You can just see the joy in their faces, even though you can't see them from the front.
He's eating my kid!!!!
(continued in next post)
I couldn't believe how long you stayed in the hub at the beginning of the party, but it sure paid off in the end, what luck with rides you had in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. 
If there is ever a good reason to be off the boards planning another WDW vacation is definitely it! Especially if said vacation is with good friends!
I hope you do a TR too! .
