How Do You Think We Stay So Happy?*Final Thoughts & Farewells* 10/7 p100

[DisMomAmy]

All caught up again...

Great photopass pictures!! I've always had a lot of luck finding Tigger & Pooh in the UK. There's never a line!

We had a ton of fun at those phone booths in January with the Spectrum Moms!

[Queenofallthings]

I have always wanted to stay at OKW ... so if I were you that's what I would do...I also hate packing up and moving! In 2009 we stayed at SSR, AKL and ASMu....I really do enjoy unpacking and packing only once

[manntra]

Have fun at the wedding today ME!! Ava Maria always makes me cry like a baby...I don't know how you can sing it
ADR's look fabulous.... A lot of my favorites on there.
I have one night at OKW in October so if you have any questions let me know...I will be there for a few hours

Melissa love your pictures with your favorite guy!! Such a cute dress and you are absolutely beaming!! LOVE that!!


Tracy

[MEK]

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Ooh, yum! Your ADRs sound delish. I vote La Hacienda for dinner ( although now that we've been spoiled w/ the view we had in May it is going to be tough to accept another table!) and R&C for lunch (view is still great during the day!)

I am sort of leaning towards La Hacienda for dinner, too. But, first a stop at the ditch to try the avocado margarita. Isn't that the one that Ellen says has the most alcohol?

Yes - it will be tough to accept another table, but I could just try to wait it out.

And I do think that R&C would be fun for lunch, especially in December. It might be perfect weather to sit outside.

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Of AP, Citricos or Yactsman, I've only been to Yachtsman so I won't be much help there. If I were basing it purely on resort to visit I'd say AP so you can get to WL and that resort is at its best in Dec!

I'm definitely leaning in the direction of AP. I do need a visit to the home of my new points, since I am no longer staying there. I'd really like to take the tour again with Ranger Joe, too.

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

No matter what you choose it will be great. I am also really excited about Star Tours!

Can't wait for that. I might actually start loving HS again. I've always loved Star Tours and now that I can ride and have a different ride each time. Can't wait for that.

Originally Posted by 2xcited2sleep

Have fun at the wedding today!

The bride's dress was gorgeous. Looked just like something you would see on "Say Yes to the Dress." It was a really pretty group of people there.

Originally Posted by DisMomAmy

All caught up again...

Great photopass pictures!! I've always had a lot of luck finding Tigger & Pooh in the UK. There's never a line!

Thanks! and I am definitely heading back to England for another character fix. They are my favs!

Originally Posted by DisMomAmy

We had a ton of fun at those phone booths in January with the Spectrum Moms!

I was cracking up when I read about that in your TR. Who was it who was imitating the queen? That is priceless.

Originally Posted by Queenofallthings

I have always wanted to stay at OKW ... so if I were you that's what I would do...I also hate packing up and moving! In 2009 we stayed at SSR, AKL and ASMu....I really do enjoy unpacking and packing only once

Already done! I don't mind packing up after one or two nights at the beginning of a trip when everything is still pretty organized, but doing it at the end of the trip is silly. I know there is a good chance that my wait list would come through, but I didn't feel like worrying about it and I saved a nice number of points to switch. Enough points to spend a night or two in a studio again.

Originally Posted by manntra

Have fun at the wedding today ME!! Ava Maria always makes me cry like a baby...I don't know how you can sing it

The wedding was really nice. It was in our small church/chapel. I always think that's so much more intimate. I love Ave Maria. I think it is one of the most beautiful songs ever written - hands down. I am focused so much on getting the latin right that I don't think about how sad it is. Because, it really is a sad song.

Originally Posted by manntra

Melissa love your pictures with your favorite guy!! Such a cute dress and you are absolutely beaming!! LOVE that!!


Tracy

I agree!

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by KatMark

Cynthia, thanks for sharing the Photopass pictures -- they are awesome. You guys sure look like you were having a blast. I can't believe you've never been to that part of England and didn't know Tigger and Pooh (and sometimes Eeyore) were there. It's my favorite spot to get my pic taken with my favorite characters.

Nope, had never been and just loved it! I'll be back though.

Originally Posted by I Believe In Magic

Cynthia~ Great Photopass pics, I have been debating buying the cd for our upcoming trip and I think I will now. I forgot how great they look! You ladies are really having a great time and it shows in those pictures!

I also did not know Pooh and Tigger were back there!!! I will be visiting them soon!!!

It's tough to know whether to buy it or not sometimes. We had one trip where literally we had 11 pictures on it before adding borders etc. BUT those were almost the only pictures I was actually in so it was kind of with it. If for no other reason than to prove I was there.

Originally Posted by MEK

Well, I don't know about the other ladies, but I did not know about the characters in England. Of course, I can never get Denny or the kids to take character shots with me, so that's not surprising!

Nope, didn't have a clue! Very fun surprise.

Originally Posted by MEK

Ladies - I know I should do an update tonight. I've had it planned all week, and yet I don't think its gonna happen. We took Brian out to dinner tonight for graduation. We didn't go after the actual graduation because it was over at 9pm and, well, Denny and I ARE working parents. So tonight we went out early. We really wanted to beat the crowds. We went to a local Mexican place that has decent food. I asked for a "real" margarita. I got the rita with the 1800 tequila, grand marnier, and contreau. But then she poured that regular syrupy green mix rita stuff into it. I almost gagged. It is just not the same as the Ditch. Sheesh. I have become a rita snob. Well, at least the alcohol was good.

ok that's just wrong, if they are going to use the good ingredients, the rest should not be a premix!

I Ave Maria. Though it is very a sad song.

My votes below....

Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
California Grill (dinner)
Sci Fi Dine In (lunch) (I'd vote for Brown Derby here lol!)
La Hacienda (dinner for Illuminations viewing)
Yak & Yeti (lunch) I really need to eat here. It never seems to work out.
Artist Point (dinner)
Rose & Crown (lunch)

[MEK]

You Know What's Really Fun When You're a Dork Like Me?

So - when we last left off the first 5 of us lovely ladies were leaving the world showcase (via the world show place). We had a lovely breakfast (Christine had champagne). We took a lovely loop around the WS and we stopped for a rita at the Ditch (Well, some of us did. )

As we headed out C's private entrance, C and Melissa headed to the BC and Jen, Cynthia, and I headed to the Boardwalk . We took a quick AC break in the lobby then headed to the valet parked A/C comfort of Jen's car. Thank goodness we did not have to take the bus back.

Back at the room, Cynthia and I decided that a swim would be in order. It was a perfect afternoon. We spent a decent amount of time in the water. Just chillin and talking. I can't remember - did Jen come to the pool with us for a little while? I loved the quiet pool. It was perfect. Perfect size, perfect temp, perfect depth, and just the right number of people. Sorry I don't have pool pictures. I decided to give my camera a break and I wanted to keep it dry. But why I didn't take any phone pix is beyond me. Oh well.

I tried to sleep for a little bit, but it seemed like every time I was almost asleep I would wake straight back up. Errrrr. Sp annoying! Cynthia was trying desperately to order a mother's day present for her MIL, but she couldn't get the order to go through on her phone. Around 4:30 I headed back to the room to shower and get ready for our first dinner together. I knew that the wait for the boat to DTD was going to be busy. I had seen how long the line was the previous night.

Once we were all buffed and puffed and pretty, we set out to wait for the boat. Of course, a few POR pix would be in order. Oh, wait, this isn't POR!!!! Oh well, I must have taken this when we were leaving Epcot, so I'll post it anyway.



Here we go. Here's POR!

Ah, the dreaded boat line off in the distance:





As we were getting in line Christine or Melissa texted us to tell us they were waiting for the DTD bus.

These people don't look super happy, do they? They all look a little boared, if you ask me. I figure they are all left overs from a long week of spring break. I bet most of these people were leaving in the morning. Bye, Bye spring breakers!



We had to wait for at least four boats to unload and load, but finally we secured seats.



I didn't take too many pix while we were on the boat because I didn't have an outside seat, but here are a few that I did take.







Within minutes we had arrived at POFQ to pick up more guests.





Another long line of people.......



If you are considering POR/FQ, and you are scared away by the lines, don't be. I really do think this is a bit unusual and reflective of it being the last Saturday night of spring break.

I decided to turn my camera off and rest it in the bag. Big mistake. When we finally got to the brush near SSR we were all astounded to see a giant cat. That's right - a big old bob cat taking his time, strolling along the water edge. The only person who seemed undeterred was our captain. He reminded us that Disney is one big nature preserve and seeing wild animals is common place. Ummmmm....OK? Maybe that's just the speal Disney has the CM's say so that guests aren't freaking out.

So with that I picked the camera back up, but old Bob the cat was gone.

Ahh...my home resort...



Why is it that I haven't stayed here in years????? Oh yeah - that's right - I am on a research mission to try all the other DVC resorts before I go back!

Good Ol' Cirque



If you haven't seen this show yet, I really recommend it!

And some day I'm going up in this balloon.



By the time we hit the dock it was already 7pm, so we had to hoof it over to Raglan Rd. There were a ton of people in DTD, so we had to do the zig-zag speed walk once again. But finally we turned a corner to find....





Christine, Tracy, and Melissa had already arrived (big shock there) and were waiting patiently! Hugs all around. It was so great that we were finally all together!

I took a quick look in the gift shop, but that quickly our buzzer went off.



If you have ever been to Raglan Rd you know that there are several large booths near the entrance across from the bar. This is where we were seated. We had much preferred to be seated in the big room with the entertainment, but whatcha going to do?

This pretty stain glass was along the all of our booth.



I'm not sure what the other ladies thought, but I found the booth to be pretty uncomfortable. It wasn't horrible, just awkward. There wasn't enough elbow room and certainly no room to even rest my camera bag. But we made do and ordered our drinks.


I figured it was pretty safe to order alcohol by now, so I went with a beer. I think this was mine. I liked the name.



This was Cynthia's (I think. If I got them backwards, she'll let me know)




Continued........

[MEK]

We had a pretty nice CM wait on us and she even offered to take a pix....

Group Shot! Yeah! We really don't have too many of them!



It was really hard to get pictures in here because of the awkwardness of the booth, so I really didn't take that many. At some point before dinner we were all chatting a mile a minute when Cynthia suddenly blurted out, "You know what's really fun when you're a dork like me????" Well, we all just busted out laughing when she said that. I'm quite sure she was trying to be serious, but we never gave her a chance.

In two seconds flat Christine had her blackberry out and was making a list of possible trip report titles and that was number two. Salt on the b**b, obviously being number one.

To be quite honest, I don't think we ever gave Cynthia a chance to tell us exactly what was SO funny. In stead we laughed until our appetizers showed up. Mine was the calamari and I have no pictures to prove it.

Calamari City - Salt 'n' Pepper calamari and mixed tempora vegetables served with a spicy remoulade $11

It was just OK. I had recently had some superb calamari at the restaurant near my workplace, so I think I may b a little biased in my judgment.

So, ladies, please chime in with the rest of your apps.

And with that, I'm moving on to dinner.

I had the special that evening which was a swordfish steak obviously on a bed of salad.



It was quite good and was just light enough. Tasty, but no overly filling.

OK - here's where things get tough.

Burger and Fries - OK, I can handle that...

I think it's Melissa's, but I'm not positive.

Don't know what this is and I don't know who ate it. But, darn, it sure looks good.



Wait - here we go:

Serious Steak - 10 oz sirloin topped with Irish whiskey marmalade glaze, with fresh basil oil, mashed potatoes, and topped with crispy fried onion strings $27

Thank you allearsnet.com!

Now I know this was Cynthia's because I remember how impressed I was with the appearance.


Let's see if I can find it on allears



Alright, my best guess is ....

Keen Eye for the Shepherds Pie - We give the traditional shepherd's pie a little makeover with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish $18

Cynthia will either confirm or deny that.

Sorry folks. That's all the pix I took of food. I do remember we passed on dessert, although I almost instantly regretted that I hadn't gotten a cup of coffee. As soon as the bill was presented I started noting a bit of a headache (remember, I had been getting them every morning). That was a sure sign I would wake up with one, so a little night time caffeine may have been a good thing.

After dinner I finally got up from "the booth" to take a couple pix. I did get this threesome shot:



I also managed a quick pix of the musicians. They were quite good.



The guy on the right played the penny whistle (I think thats what its called). Great sound. Very authentic.



And last but not least I got pix of the Irish dancer who doubles as a hostess.





All in all a great first meal together, except that I think we were all a bit tired. Tracy and C both looked beat from their early morning departures. Surprisingly Cynthia seemed to have more energy than anyone. By the end of the evening I really forgot that she had been up flying all night.

After dinner we took a look-see in the World of Disney store. I was pretty tired by then, so I did not take a single picture. We each went our separate ways, but met back up at the front of the store. At that point the BC girls went back to their home and Jen, Cynthia and I took a quick trip to the pin store and Trend-e. Then it was time to catch the boat home. And this time we only had to wait for one boat.

It was a beautiful evening , but once we reached dry land I was noticing that my headache was getting worse. I was anxious to get back to the room and take some Motrin. If I had more energy I would have loved to go see Hee-haw Bob, but it just wasn't going to happen.

Despite my ever worsening headache, I managed to drift off to sleep. Unfortunately, I woke up about 45 mins later with a really severe headache. As I glanced as the clock I remembered the time I had a terrible headache in the hospital (caffeine withdraw) and how a small dose of Dilaudid took it completely away.

Up Next - Did my headache ever go away or was I destined for a trip to the Emergency Room??????

[MEK]

I almost forgot.

Cynthia gave us each a really cool gift while we were at dinner at Raglan Road. First she gave us each a cool glass to be used exclusively for Beach Club Lemonade:



(I took this at home later)

And she gave each one of us a personalized note book:



I'm sorry - that is a terrible picture, but you can see that Cynthia has my name on the front and a picture of my favorite character - Eeyore! It is so adorable and so creative and so thoughtful. Thank You Again Cynthia! I love it and promise to post a better picture soon!

[MAGICFOR2]

Oh NO! I hope your headache is better in the morning.

Nice to see you all together. I am surprised at how long the boat line at POR was - I don't think I've heard about that before.

MMM, your RR dinner looks wonderful. I can see why the booth was awkward - the table doesn't really fit the size of the benches, it looks like.

Looking forward to more!

[MEK]

Originally Posted by eandesmom

ok that's just wrong, if they are going to use the good ingredients, the rest should not be a premix!

Tell me about it. I told Denny I am just going to have to buy all the good ingredients and start learning to make my own!

Originally Posted by eandesmom

I Ave Maria. Though it is very a sad song.

My favorite. I have a hard time practicing it though, because I can't use the soprano instrumental versions. They are just too high. I wish I could find the right recording to practice with.

Originally Posted by eandesmom

My votes below....

Liberty Tree Tavern (lunch)
California Grill (dinner)
Sci Fi Dine In (lunch) (I'd vote for Brown Derby here lol!)
La Hacienda (dinner for Illuminations viewing)
Yak & Yeti (lunch) I really need to eat here. It never seems to work out.
Artist Point (dinner)
Rose & Crown (lunch)

Yep - I think this is going to be the final line-up. We are going to eat CS one evening at the MK when we go in to watch the parade and see the fireworks. I guess we could always do the dessert party that night. Hmmmmm......I'll have to look into that!

And I hear ya on Brown Derby, but we won't have enough credits for that. I haven't eaten at Sci Fi in forever and I've heard they have great burgers and shakes, so I think its time. I have eaten at all the other TS at HS multiple times and much more recently.

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by MEK

I loved the quiet pool. It was perfect. Perfect size, perfect temp, perfect depth, and just the right number of people.
I tried to sleep for a little bit, but it seemed like every time I was almost asleep I would wake straight back up. Errrrr. Sp annoying! Cynthia was trying desperately to order a mother's day present for her MIL, but she couldn't get the order to go through on her phone.

I forgot about the ordering fiasco, it was making me very crabby. I needed a pool drink for that! The pool was perfect. One weird thing was that it was OUT of towels. A very nice couple had offered me 2 of theirs that they weren't using while Mary Ellen went to fill up her mug so we were all set but everyone else had to trek to the main pool to get one.

Originally Posted by MEK

We had to wait for at least four boats to unload and load, but finally we secured seats.

It did feel like we waited forever.

Originally Posted by MEK

I'm not sure what the other ladies thought, but I found the booth to be pretty uncomfortable. It wasn't horrible, just awkward. There wasn't enough elbow room and certainly no room to even rest my camera bag. But we made do and ordered our drinks.

It would have been fine for 4 but was really awkward for 6. The weird part is the table was significantly larger than the benches. Had they matched, it would have been fine.

Yep, you got the beers right (I sound like the correction police) Though what I actually said was "You know what's fun if you're a dork like me (not nerd lol)" but I have no idea what I was talking about either!

Originally Posted by MEK

Now I know this was Cynthia's because I remember how impressed I was with the appearance.


Let's see if I can find it on allears



Alright, my best guess is ....

Keen Eye for the Shepherds Pie - We give the traditional shepherd's pie a little makeover with our contemporary twist to this favorite dish $18

Cynthia will either confirm or deny that. deny.

Beef Murray

Beef curry pie with spinach, potatoes, mushrooms & apple chutney.

And it was DELISH! loved loved loved it. The apple chutney was just ok but the curry pie was the bomb.

Originally Posted by MEK

Despite my ever worsening headache, I managed to drift off to sleep. Unfortunately, I woke up about 45 mins later with a really severe headache. As I glanced as the clock I remembered the time I had a terrible headache in the hospital (caffeine withdraw) and how a small dose of Dilaudid took it completely away.

And your TOTALLY lame roommate slept through the whole thing. I felt SO bad when I heard.

[MEK]

I corrected the Dork / Nerd thing. I Meant Dork All Along. I guess in my mind they are synonyms.

[glennbo123]

Looked like a very nice evening ladies. I haven't made it to Raglan Road yet, but some of those dishes looked really good.

[eandesmom]

Originally Posted by MEK

I corrected the Dork / Nerd thing. I Meant Dork All Along. I guess in my mind they are synonyms.

apparently dork, nerd and geek are all vastly different

not that I can recall how or why

[podsnel]

UGH...I really hope you didn't go to the hospital. ARe they migraines you get? How awful- I'm glad you liked RR...did anyone get the bread pudding? And I am positively ecstatic you have a group pic posted!!