2400 pictures! Beach Club, Universal, and Bay Lake Tower Grand Villa-COMPLETE!

[dr&momto2boys]

Originally Posted by Melissa<3Disney

Can't wait for the next update! We have a big group dinner planned at CRT on our last night of our trip! I'm interested in seeing how you guys liked it! Loving the TR so far!!

I'll see if I can get to it today. I'm trying to get at least my first photobook done by the July 31st when a discount expores at Picaboo. I figure this trip will be two books. Hopefully not more!

[Dug-says-HI-THERE!]

Well, I've gotten caught up on your TR---well done so far!!

That's quite a group of troopers you've got there....still at it after 8 days.....IMPRESSIVE!!

[hstrickland]

Originally Posted by dr&momto2boys

I'll see if I can get to it today. I'm trying to get at least my first photobook done by the July 31st when a discount expores at Picaboo. I figure this trip will be two books. Hopefully not more!

I'm trying to get my Star Wars installment done, but not getting very far! I know what you mean with the photobooks....we have around 1600 pictures! Guess I need to buy several books. It's so hard to choose pics....I just want ALL of them to be in the book. On our last 2 Disney trips, I used the Disney Scrapbook...can't do it now because there are too many pictures.

[dr&momto2boys]

Originally Posted by Dug-says-HI-THERE!

Well, I've gotten caught up on your TR---well done so far!!

That's quite a group of troopers you've got there....still at it after 8 days.....IMPRESSIVE!!

Thank you! We've got our longest ever trip planned in December. I think the more we get of Disney, the more we want! Me, anyway! Some day my children will either love that we did so much Disney, or be all Disney-ed out.

Originally Posted by hstrickland

I'm trying to get my Star Wars installment done, but not getting very far! I know what you mean with the photobooks....we have around 1600 pictures! Guess I need to buy several books. It's so hard to choose pics....I just want ALL of them to be in the book. On our last 2 Disney trips, I used the Disney Scrapbook...can't do it now because there are too many pictures.

I haven't done the Disney books because I always have so many photos and it's cost prohibitive for that. For such a big trip, I can usually get away with two Picaboo books. I love Picaboo because it can be customized so much. They end up looking beautiful. You can use a photo as a background and put pictures on top of any size and at any angle. For instance I use a lot of landscape pictures and just pop a picture or two in that don't block anything important. I took a picture of a sandcastle and used it as my background for our Cape May breakfast pics. I do use almost ALL my pictures (2400!) Some pages I do collages and it's a way to get a lot in. I wish I could show off my books!

It doesn't look like I'll get another installment of my TR in today. I've spent every free moment on my photobook #1!

[dd50]

Great update. Love the hair. All children love FL and they are small for such a short time so enjoy it while you can. I went on the tea cups last week and haven't done that in years.

I am about a year (or more) on scrapbooks so I think that you are doing good. Most I don't even have on the computer yet.

[dr&momto2boys]

Originally Posted by dd50

Great update. Love the hair. All children love FL and they are small for such a short time so enjoy it while you can. I went on the tea cups last week and haven't done that in years.

I am about a year (or more) on scrapbooks so I think that you are doing good. Most I don't even have on the computer yet.

You're back! I hope you had a wonderful trip! Are you going to do a TR?

I haven't done a photobook for a trip to Hawaii we took over 2 years ago! There are other trips/ yearly books I haven't done either, but I'll let DH do those (except Hawaii.) His aren't artistic in any way, but at least he does one once in a while.

[hstrickland]

Originally Posted by dr&momto2boys

I haven't done the Disney books because I always have so many photos and it's cost prohibitive for that. For such a big trip, I can usually get away with two Picaboo books. I love Picaboo because it can be customized so much. They end up looking beautiful. You can use a photo as a background and put pictures on top of any size and at any angle. For instance I use a lot of landscape pictures and ust pop picture or two in that don't block anything important. I took a picture of a sandcastle and used it as my background for our Cape May breakfast pics. I do use almost ALL my pictures (2400!) Some pages I do collages and it's a way to get a lot in. I wish I could show off my books!

What is Picaboo books??? You're right about the cost of the Disney books. On DS9s first trip, I didn't have a great camera....on our adult only trip, I didn't have a great camera....therefore not tons of pictures, so it was fairly easy to use the Disney book. Although I still had to pay for extra pages. They turned out great. But on this last trip DH bought me a new camera so I was using it ALL the time....1600 pics later. There is NO WAY I can use a Disney book now. I will have to Google this Picaboo book and see what I can find. Of course I should have been doing this a month ago....we are getting ready to start school next week, so who knows when I will find time

[dr&momto2boys]

Originally Posted by hstrickland

What is Picaboo books??? You're right about the cost of the Disney books. On DS9s first trip, I didn't have a great camera....on our adult only trip, I didn't have a great camera....therefore not tons of pictures, so it was fairly easy to use the Disney book. Although I still had to pay for extra pages. They turned out great. But on this last trip DH bought me a new camera so I was using it ALL the time....1600 pics later. There is NO WAY I can use a Disney book now. I will have to Google this Picaboo book and see what I can find. Of course I should have been doing this a month ago....we are getting ready to start school next week, so who knows when I will find time

Did you find it? It's just Picaboo dot com. It's similar to all the photo/photobook sites, but I like it because you can work offline and then upload it and the end. Also as I mentioned I like the backgrounds and layouts better. I'm close to finishing book 1 which will be the first 5 days of our trip. I'll let you know what it costs after I order it to give you an idea.

[dd50]

Originally Posted by dr&momto2boys

You're back! I hope you had a wonderful trip! Are you going to do a TR?

I haven't done a photobook for a trip to Hawaii we took over 2 years ago! There are other trips/ yearly books I haven't done either, but I'll let DH do those (except Hawaii.) His aren't artistic in anyway, but at least he does one once in a while.

Yes, we got back on Saturday and my daughter from CA came back with us. They just left about an hour ago. We had a great time but it was so hot and I am living a few hours south. I got a rash on my arms from the sun but they are better now. We went back to the hotel every day for a few hours after lunch which isn't normal for us but I sure did like it. Probably won't do a trip report because I am to much of a procrastinator.

[dr&momto2boys]

Whew! Finally finished my photobook! Well, the first one anyway. It's the first 4 1/2 days which is the Beachclub and Universal parts of our trip. It was 80 pages long and I didn't count the photos but there are probably at least 500 pictures. Sometimes 1 taking up a whole page and sometimes more than ten on a page. As I mentioned previosly, I made it on Picaboo dot com and with the 25% off special this month, it was still $128 including shipping. A little pricey compared to other sites, but worth it for the way it turned out.

[hstrickland]

Originally Posted by dr&momto2boys

Whew! Finally finished my photobook! Well, the first one anyway. It's the first 4 1/2 days which is the Beachclub and Universal parts of our trip. It was 80 pages long and I didn't count the photos but there are probably at least 500 pictures. Sometimes 1 taking up a whole page and sometimes more than ten on a page. As I mentioned previosly, I made it on Picaboo dot com and with the 25% off specil this month, it was still $128 including shipping. A little pricey compared to other sites, but worth it for the way it turned out.

I did find it! Thanks! And have started...only on page 3, though. That price is still cheaper than the Disney book, especially with 80 pages! I need to get busy...lots to do

[dd50]

I don't think that 80 pages for $128 is to bad. I need to start one. I still have last years pics on the memory card.

[dr&momto2boys]

Originally Posted by dd50

I don't think that 80 pages for $128 is to bad. I need to start one. I still have last years pics on the memory card.

With some sites they have occasional specials on their photobooks for unlimited pages for the base price (usually $20!) They're fine, but nothing special. Compared to that, $128 is a lot. But then I think of when I used to have to develop plain film. I'd take ten or so rolls and that would cost a fortune. So overall I think it's a fair price.

[dr&momto2boys]

After lunch, we split up again. MIL and SIL wanted to do a little shopping and return to the hotel early. They took Avery and Max with them. This let the roller coaster riders get over to Space Mountain. We had picked up fast passes earlier.


Jacob has been on Space Mountain with DH at WDW and DL before, so I was excited to take him on this time. We hadn't been since the make-over though, so when we got to the front and saw the seats separated now, I was a little worried that he'd be scared. I tried to keep my hand on his shoulder the whole time which was a stretch for me! He did okay, but I was terrified! (for him.) DH had to stay off the first time to watch Ella and Kyle, so It was his turn to go next. While we were waiting, Grandpa let Kyle and Jacob press some pennies. They did quite a few on the trip. It was kind of Grandpa's thing with the boys.




Next, we went to Buzz Lightyear's Space Ranger Spin. It never crossed my mind that we should do this ride early of get a FP. I was confusing this ride with the one at Disneyland which never had a wait. Here, we definately had a wait, although it goes faster than you think because it's a continously loading ride.


Ella was really hamming it up while we were in line!




As always, this ride was a hit with the whole group. And speaking of hamming it up...




We got a call from SIL telling us that Max had fallen asleep in the stroller, so they couldn't return to the hotel since the stroller was rented. We all decided to go back. DH would have to carry Max back to the hotel. Here are a couple pictures of our return trip.














The view of Bay Lake Tower from the Contemporary just before crossing the skywalk:


We had to skip swimming this afternoon due to the kids special hair.


Next up: dinner at CRT

[dr&momto2boys]

After a little rest, we got ready and left for dinner at Cinderella's Royal Table.

(This was the best place ever to wait for the elevator--look at that view!)

It was pretty hot and we didn't feel like walking over to the Magic Kingdom, so even though it was the long way around, we took the monorail. I can't remember why Max was being grumpy, but the next series of pictures show you what a drama king he is... He couldn't leave his fingers out of his hair either, so it was taking on a funky look.








Upon entering MK, we found ourselves waiting for something/someone, so I took Jacob into the confectionary. He loved seeing the huge rice crispy cakes and watching CMs make chocolate covered apples and candy.









Then we were on to the castle...




The front passage was blocked. (Do they do that when CRT first opens to keep it from getting jammed up?) We walked to the right and came upon a wishing well.





I stood in line to check in and got to admire the lovely mosaics inside the castle.




I didn't get any great shots of the interior of the restaurant. We were looking into the sun.

It was cute how the princesses were introduced. Jacob was psyched that his favorite princess, Snow White, was there! He had to have his picture taken alone with her!


Max and Avery both love Ariel! Avery was so over princesses and didn't want to wear a princess dress this evening, but she was sooo into it by the end! Max didn't want any pictures taken...until Ariel came along, that is.


Notice you don't see Kyle in any of these pictures. He definately wouldn't be caught dead in a picture with a princess. When Belle came by, she asked him if he was "being a Beast."

This is Ella's best picture with a princess. She always managed to get a goofy look on her face everytime she was next to a princess. Maybe for laughs, at the end of my TR, I'll put in the goofy pics.


I've reached maximum picture capacity, so see next post for the completion of our CRT dinner.