aspen37
Changes In Latitudes, Changes In Attitudes.
- Joined
- Dec 28, 2006
So do you think our group can slow down enough to hang at the pool for an afternoon?
The most I saw of AKL in December is when we ate at Boma for breakfast.
Jaimie, you will love Samawati Springs... just watch out for the drinks at Maji!!
Kathy
I got to see Samawati Springs in May. It was really cool.
Chapter Nine:We’re Gonna Party Like it’s 999 (Happy Haunts!)
(Tiggerbell, do the rings look familiar?)
Back down Main Street we all went. But it was a good opportunity to see some of the things we missed the first time!
See all the Jack 'o Lanterns?
All of a sudden, Billy grabbed my hand and said, “Mom, I’m hungry!” Ed chimed in and said that he was feeling hungry, too. I realized that it would be a good idea to grab dinner before the main dinner rush started, and since hot dogs are one of the few foods Billy will eat, we conveniently ducked right into Casey’s. (Pardon the pun…you know how Disney birds just love to hang out there!)
Now I had read in several trip reports that the hot dogs at Casey’s had been changed, but at the time I had completely forgotten. (Somehow I think that in my state of euphoria only half my brain cells were firing that evening!) Ed took Billy to find seats while the girls and I procured the food. There were about a half-dozen people in front of us and the line was moving slowly. Thankfully, no issues arose with our dining plan and we were soon carrying our trays and looking for the boys. They had camped out at a little table next to the bleachers in the back so that Billy could watch cartoons. Good call! I was not looking forward to being stalked by dozens of hungry birds…
We all squeezed in around the tiny table and I made some room by laying out napkins, putting the food down, and sending Tricia to get rid of the trays. Then I passed out the wet wipes and had everyone wash their hands. I must bring about ten packages of these to Disney!Then I opened Billy’s hot dog and realized the change. I held my breath. Would Billy eat it? His autism makes him extremely picky about what he will eat. I covered his white shirt with a bunch of napkins while Ed put ketchup on the hot dog. Our eyes met and I could tell he was thinking the same thing. He gave the hot dog to Billy and told him to “dig in, boy!”
Billy held the hot dog up to his nose and sniffed it suspiciously. He frowned and looked at it closely. He turned it over in the bun and sniffed it again. Then he put it down and began to eat his French fries. The girls had already begun to eat their hot dogs and Tricia started saying, “This bun is weird…” but immediately held herself in check when Ed sent her a look, nodded toward her brother and mouthed, “Shut up!” Then he turned to Billy and told him that he had to eat his hot dog and not just his fries.
“No hot dog!” he answered emphatically.
“Yes, hot dog!” his father replied firmly. Ed is a zealous member of the You-Must-Clean-Your-Plate Club.
“No hot dog!” Billy said again, loudly.
“YES, HOT DOG!”
Seeing that he was outmatched, Billy took a little nibble of the hot dog, followed by another. Soon he was eating it normally, but we all had fallen quiet since Ed had become a bit irritated during this altercation. We really needed a tension-breaker and at that very moment, in walked two people dressed up as a bottle of mustard and a bottle of ketchup! They looked around and, seeing that all the tables were taken, sat themselves down on the bleachers and began to eat their hot dogs.
Well.
Tricia and Catie thought it was hysterical and began to laugh…hard. Then, who should come along to join them but a giant hot dog and an order of fries!
“That’s a little creepy if you think about it,” said Catie.
“Yeah, it’s like they’re cannibals or something,” replied Tricia.
I wonder what they all thought about the new buns at Casey’s. Personally, I was sorry that I hadn’t listened to Brook and ordered the corn dog nuggets. Ah well, there’s always next time! We got ourselves cleaned up, left Casey’s and set out to visit our brother pirates’ underground lair…
Kathy
Kathy, did your ring light up? Jaime's doorknob light up.
You guys looked Awesome!
I love the Halloween store displays. At night when they were light up they looks really great.
Were the buns at Casey's anything like the cardboard they use for hamburger buns? I hate that you can't choose which buns you want. I'm glad Ed got Billy to eat his Hotdog. I have a feeling I won't be trying the hotdogs anytime soon. It is a shame that they are changing the food, and not for the better in some cases.
I was cracking about the Mustard and Ketchup costumes.
The rings were, most assuredly, the adjustable-turn-your-finger-green kind!!
And thank you for the compliment, but it is undeserved.I actually gained back the weight I had lost a few months back. I'm gearing myself up for another go at it...
Kathy
I think your face looks thinner than in some of the older pictures. You look great.
Thanks, Brook!
(And thank you to everyone who took the time to post advice!)
I will admit that I had a tough time falling asleep last night because I could not get my brain to shut off!
And all for a trip that is two years away!!
Oh, I've got it bad...
Let me tell you what I'm thinking so far:
First, although August is so very tempting because of the extra days we could have with our DVC points, I must be completely honest with myself: Unlike many people who say they can handle it with rest, water, etc., I really do not do well in very hot, humid weather.
And (unfortunately) DVC Members do not qualify for Free Dining, so that possible perk is o-u-t, out. But we would still have to do battle with the FD crowds for our ADRs.
I have a little experience with the Florida heat. Our first WDW trip was in early September of '03, so I think I've got a good idea of what to expect. It was rough. Our second trip was in late January of '05 and I recall saying over and over, "Wow! Disney is so much better at 70 degrees than it is at 95!! Plus there was a hurricane threat during our September visit that caused us a good deal of concern.
So I'm thinking that August would really not be best.
Ditto the heat and humidity issue for the last week of June... plus we have absolutely no wiggle room because Billy starts his summer program July 1st.
Meh.
I went back to the original plan of Presidents' Week. The weather in February would be sooo much nicer. BUT. Everyone keeps telling me that the crowds are pretty brutal.
Okay, I thought, I could probably work around crowds better than I could handle the heat. We would pay for it by reducing our number of days to the usual seven because of the increase in DVC points needed per night.
Still... I wasn't quite happy.
Sure, there was a better chance of good weather, but there was nothing going on that week. No Food & Wine, no Flower & Garden, no Halloween Party.... Just a whole lot of people in the parks.Not that WDW isn't absolutely wonderful "AS IS".... it's just that it would be fun to have something extra. But, I would deal.
Then I began to think about how much older the kids would be by the time we got back to Disney. Billy will be thirteen and Tricia will be a month shy of sixteen!!And Eddie (DStepson) will be.... OMG... twenty-two, and a senior in college!!
We barely get to see that much of him now that he is away at school and he has not been able to join us on our last few trips. And once he graduates....
Well, of course, he will be a grown man with a job, etc.
I realized in that moment that this next Disney trip will most likely be the very last vacation that we would take together for a long, long time.
I decided that we had to plan our trip with Eddie, which means that I have to keep Eddie's school and work schedule in mind.
And that leaves me....
No other choice but....
To plan our next Disney Vacation for......
Christmas of 2011!!!
Do you think I am completely insane???
Kathy
Yes and no on Christmas. I would love to go at Christmas, but the crowds are crazy. I was thinking maybe in a few year a Christmas thru New Year's trip would be fun and nuts.
Kathy, I signed up for the Wine and Dine 1/2 marathon relay with a friend. I will have to let you know how it goes. This will be my first race. It should be a great time.
I can't wait for your next update.
And like you said...you are an experienced DISer...you have the knowledge and experience to know how to navigate the parks in a crowd and the sense to know when to just hang at the resort! 
for Christmas with Mickey!
I think that sounds like a wonderful plan! 
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