I Know There's A Hanna-Barbera Land Around Here Somewhere! **New and Completed 7/11**

[mickeystoontown]

I love reading about your drive to Disney because we pass by so many of the same things. Is taking the turnpike lots better than going on down to Hwy. 192? We've gotten on the turnpike once and go so lost.

 

[princess_momma]

I am here! Better late than never!!

For some reason, I just can't keep sunglasses for very long. The one time I let my DH buy me some "real" ones from the Sunglasses Hut, they lasted about a year, which is a long time for me. They ended up in the ocean, though...I'm sure there is a shark out there somewhere loving his sunglasses!

At one point I had nearly a million pairs of sunglasses and lost them all at once. Then the sunglasses gods smiled on me and I found a forgotten pair of someone's...no one ever claimed them. They say Dolce & Gabbana but could be knock-offs, who knows? I like to pretend they aren't!

Anywho....yay for your start! I love all your random pictures of stuff that is probably significant but you don't remember! I do that all that time! And then my memory card fills up and I'm confused and I go through and I'm like "why do I have pictures of gas stations and about 25 of Tim Tebow doing the exact same thing?"

The stop lights really are better in Disney World! Even their fire station is awesome! I love it so much there!! Why aren't we there right now? Why doesn't our phones say we're 2.something miles away!!

I can't wait for more! I love Disney! The BW entrance already looks so amazing!! Show me more, show me more!

 

[denise4disney]

joining in

 

[Bridora]

I love reading about your drive to Disney because we pass by so many of the same things. Is taking the turnpike lots better than going on down to Hwy. 192? We've gotten on the turnpike once and go so lost.

We've always taken the turnpike, so I have no idea about 192!

I am here! Better late than never!!



At one point I had nearly a million pairs of sunglasses and lost them all at once. Then the sunglasses gods smiled on me and I found a forgotten pair of someone's...no one ever claimed them. They say Dolce & Gabbana but could be knock-offs, who knows? I like to pretend they aren't!

Anywho....yay for your start! I love all your random pictures of stuff that is probably significant but you don't remember! I do that all that time! And then my memory card fills up and I'm confused and I go through and I'm like "why do I have pictures of gas stations and about 25 of Tim Tebow doing the exact same thing?"

The stop lights really are better in Disney World! Even their fire station is awesome! I love it so much there!! Why aren't we there right now? Why doesn't our phones say we're 2.something miles away!!

I can't wait for more! I love Disney! The BW entrance already looks so amazing!! Show me more, show me more!

I'm sure your sunglasses are the real deal! They don't say Dolce & Banana...or Cabana, right?

Sometimes it's too exciting to not take a picture...even if you're not sure why you did later on!

joining in

Yay! Glad to have you on board!

 

[Bridora]

Downtown (Disney) everything's waiting for you : Thursday, May 26

Before walking into that beautiful lobby, Davis drove us right up to the doors. I think we were going to just run in and check-in, but those Bellmen/Valet men were not having it. They insisted on unloading our car and holding our luggage. I can’t remember the exact time, but I know it was no later than 10:00 am. We were not really expecting our room to be ready before check-out time, but were secretly hoping it would be. We went through check-in with no problems! Our folder was already waiting for us, since we had already checked in online. Sadly, our room was not yet ready. We gave both our cell numbers so that they could send us a text message when our room was ready. Even though we didn’t get the text in 2009 or 2010...but might as well try again!

As we were checking in, the line at the Concierge desk was growing. We had not purchased our park tickets yet, so that line would be our next stop. Davis & Luke left to go move the car since they really didn’t want us parked out there for too long. Allison & I make a quick trip to the ladies’ room before hopping into line for our park tickets. After waiting what seemed like forever, and being rejoined by the boys, we stepped up to the desk and added our park tickets to our room keys.

Next on our agenda: Downtown Disney. It’s our tradition to go to Downtown Disney on our check in day and have lunch at Earl of Sandwich. It wasn’t quite lunch time, but thankfully, there is plenty to do at Downtown Disney besides eat! On the way out the door, I made the kids stop for a picture on the big couch.

We saw this little guy in the parking lot:

A look back at one of the Boardwalk buildings from the parking lot. I think this is the building we stayed one night in last year.

Our first stop at Downtown Disney was Basin. Can you believe I’d never been there before? The boys didn’t mind too much.

I thought those shampoo and conditioner bars were neat. I ended up purchasing an oatmeal one. Allison & I have both used it and like it.

We were most interested in those two soaps in the middle of the above picture. “Kiss the Cook” and “Fluffy Pet Soap”. The first is a soap that promises to take garlic, onion, and fish smells off your hands. I can’t remember exactly what is in the second, but it was for your dog. I ended up taking “Kiss the Cook” home and leaving that “Fluffy Pet” in the store. I don’t know how well the soap works, though, because I have not used it yet! It’s sitting on the kitchen sink, still pretty in it’s wrapper!

Soap in a loofah gourd!


We went inside Arrrbas Brothers to look around a bit. Allison found some pretty things she wanted to buy, but we encouraged her not to spend any money just yet, in case she saw something else somewhere else that she liked better.

Everyone was getting hungry by then, which meant:

Time for Earl of Sandwich!

Menu Board

Davis & I waiting patiently for our food!

My Hawaiian BBQ! (I think...)

I decided not to go overboard taking pictures of everyones’ food this year. I’m enjoy looking at food pictures on other Trip Reports, but it’s not my thing. First of all, I just fell a little too silly taking at least four pictures of food. And I say at least four because usually they don’t turn out all that well (see above).The kids are embarrassed by it, and after a while people start to give you funny looks, which embarrasses me! I don’t mind taking a quick picture of my own food, though!

After lunch, we wandered around lots of places. I think we stopped by Ghirardelli for some chocolate. It was caramel. Do they hand out any kind other than caramel? I don’t mind one bit because the kids don’t like it, so I get theirs too! We may or may not have gone by here more than once this year and they always were handing out caramel, which is why I asked.

A stop at the Lego Store was a must! They’ve opened up a new one since last May. There were lots of new Lego structures out and much more room inside the store!

Inside, there is also a Lego Woody. A cast member who was chatting with us asked if we were Toy Story fans. When Luke said we were, he asked if we knew what was on the bottom of Woody’s foot , pointed over to their Lego version, and told us it was on there too! He said we could see Andy's name by sticking the camera under his foot and taking a picture. We tried, but it didn’t turn out so well!

One more try:

You can kind of tell something is there!

After that, we just wandered all around the place. Some pictures of our wanderings:

Notice that I still have my sunglasses in this picture!

More of those flowers!

I think that one may be out of sequence!


****Continued in next post****

 

[Bridora]

***Wanderings, continued***

I knew I wanted to go by Planet Hollywood where they have “Jenny”. I didn’t even know this was here until reading Mickeystoontown’s Trip Report from last year. After seeing her picture of it, I wanted to see it for myself!

Mission accomplished.

They kids were itching for some new Vinylmation figures. We’d heard of a great little shop in Downtown Disney that sold just that. D-Street here we come!

 

[Bridora]

Embarrassing the Kids: Thursday, May 26, 2011


Since the kids wanted to purchase some Vinylmations we headed over to D Street. I had heard that was THE place to go; boy, was it ever!

They also had lots of other merchandise for sale inside the store. That’s also the place where one tiny screw fell out of my sunglasses, rendering them unable to stay on my face. Boo. But the kids each got one Vinylmation! Luke got a pretty cool rubber bracelet, too.

Look at it closely. Do you see Mickey or a skull and crossbones?



The kids could hardly wait to get outside and open their boxes!

And it was………………………….

Is that Quasimodo?


I don’t remember what Luke’s was and I don’t have a picture of it. Hmmmmmm.


After that, we went to RideMakerz so Luke could look around. Last November he built a car at the RideMarkerz in Branson, MO, and he wanted to purchase something to add to it. I’m pretty sure he ended up with some kind of hood exhaust thing or some new wheels or something else equally cool and chrome! They had a couple of real cars on display in the huge building. This one was Luke’s favorite:

We still had not received a text from the Boardwalk with our room number, but decided to head back over there and ask at the front desk, just in case.

Here is one way you can embarrass your kids: Take pictures inside the restroom!

It was so pretty in there, and I loved how they put out washcloths for hand drying. That’s enough to justify a picture for my Trip Report!


Our room was not ready yet, either.


No problem though, that meant there would be time to do something I’d been wanting to do for several years: rent a Surrey Bike!


Hooray!


I first saw them at Caribbean Beach and thought it would be so much fun to do, but we just never had done it.


Today was the day!


We went out to the Boardwalk and over to the bike rental area. The Cast Member working there had to measure Luke’s height. It turns out that he was just shy of being tall enough to sit in one of the outside seats and pedal. Boo. He was very upset, but we tried to brush it off and cheer him up. He can be a bit like his Momma, though because sometimes it takes him a while to get over things. Davis & I sat up front with the kids behind us. Luke had to sit in the middle of the darn thing, right close to Allison. After being instructed on bike operation and demonstrating we could work the brakes, we were off!

This is actually work!

Overlooking the water/walkway to Epcot!

There were two hills on our path, the one we climbed to get to that point in the above picture and the other over by the Swan and Dolphin. Oh my goodness, was that second hill steep! I mean, we really had to work to get up the thing!


Another way to embarrass the kids is by dinging the little bell on your surrey bike! (You can also embarrass your husband this way)! When we would come up on someone from behind, I thought we should ding the bell so that they would know we were coming. No one agreed with me. The bikes really were pretty quiet, and sometimes the people walking did not know we were there. That’s what the bell is for, right? But, no! Apparently, dinging the bell can cause embarrassment! Who knew?

We rented the bike for 30 minutes. We made it around the whole area twice during that time. I think we would have been able to make it around another time, but Davis thought we were on vacation and not in the Tour de France (even though we could see France from the route). We returned the bike and went down the Boardwalk in search of water.



That's when Davis checked his phone and noticed that he had received a text with our room number!

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I'm like Davis. I don't really like continental breakfast. I guess that's because I know I need to have protein to be able to function.

I love your loot bag! How cute to have an everyday thing be something from Disney!

I finally went into Basin this past trip too, but I didn't buy the one thing I wanted. I kind of regret it. I think it'd be fun to have! I'll keep that in mind for next time! Let us know how the "Kiss the Cook" soap works! I know that stainless steel is supposed to help, so I'll rub my hands on the side of the sink, but then I smell like stainless steel. Haha.

Where do they hand out the Ghiradelli chocolate? Inside the store? I keep saying, "They give out free chocolate here" when we pass by, but we've still never gone inside!

How cool that Andy's name is on the bottom of Woody! I must check that out next time!

I've been on a surrey bike once in my life, and after seeing that they're available at Disney, I have ALWAYS wanted to do it! That's what I thought we'd be able to do on one of our rest days this past trip since we were with 3 other "younger" people (as in not my parents because my dad wouldn't understand renting a bike~). Alas, we didn't do it!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Mmmm, Earl of Sandwich. So good!! I hear ya on taking pictures of food. I always feel sort of strange doing it which is why I hardly ever have any food pictures! I'm glad you only had one because otherwise I would be craving EOS even more than I am from the one.

That picture of opening the vinylmation is hilarious. That's kind of how I reacted when I got that same one. LOL.

 

[Shell & Ted]

Just found your report. We love Earl of Sandwich. I swear it's the best deal on property. Oh and I think the flowers are Oleanders.

 

[Bridora]

Haha, I'm like Davis. I don't really like continental breakfast. I guess that's because I know I need to have protein to be able to function.

I love your loot bag! How cute to have an everyday thing be something from Disney!

I finally went into Basin this past trip too, but I didn't buy the one thing I wanted. I kind of regret it. I think it'd be fun to have! I'll keep that in mind for next time! Let us know how the "Kiss the Cook" soap works! I know that stainless steel is supposed to help, so I'll rub my hands on the side of the sink, but then I smell like stainless steel. Haha.

Where do they hand out the Ghiradelli chocolate? Inside the store? I keep saying, "They give out free chocolate here" when we pass by, but we've still never gone inside!

How cool that Andy's name is on the bottom of Woody! I must check that out next time!

I've been on a surrey bike once in my life, and after seeing that they're available at Disney, I have ALWAYS wanted to do it! That's what I thought we'd be able to do on one of our rest days this past trip since we were with 3 other "younger" people (as in not my parents because my dad wouldn't understand renting a bike~). Alas, we didn't do it!

I never knew that about stainless steel! It seems a little strange, but if it works...right?! I wonder how that came to be known...

Yes, they hand out the chocolates just inside the store...the side of the store closest to World of Disney, not the soda fountain side. When you walk in there is someone standing with a whole basket-full of beautiful delicious chocolate squares ready to be enjoyed! Yum! You need to go in next time!

And that's the great thing about Disney, no matter how much you go, you can't do it all in one trip...there's always something to try next time!

Mmmm, Earl of Sandwich. So good!! I hear ya on taking pictures of food. I always feel sort of strange doing it which is why I hardly ever have any food pictures! I'm glad you only had one because otherwise I would be craving EOS even more than I am from the one.

That picture of opening the vinylmation is hilarious. That's kind of how I reacted when I got that same one. LOL.

Poor Quasimodo...

Just found your report. We love Earl of Sandwich. I swear it's the best deal on property. Oh and I think the flowers are Oleanders.

Yay! Welcome! Thanks for the tip on those flowers...I still hadn't looked them up yet.

 

[Bridora]

Our room is ready! Let’s go swim. Thursday, May 26, 2011


Because we all know that’s what every kid wants most on vacation. To swim. That’s why we’re here, right?


But, first….let’s find our room!


We had a Studio room with a Boardwalk View.


It seems I didn’t take many pictures of the inside of the room. What? That’s strange because that’s usually one of the first things I do. I guess after waiting all day for our room (the room was not ready late, it just wasn’t ready early) and having just gone for a bike ride, we were all ready to swim.



I did get several shots looking out our balcony doors, though. It was such a gorgeous view, that must be the reason I walked straight through the room without taking any pictures of it.

The bear was just excited to be out of the car!

On our balcony, looking to the right. That's the bike rental area!

Still to the right.

Across the way and a little to the left was the Yacht & Beach Club boat dock.

This is one of the boats used for transportation from the Boardwalk to Yacht & Beach Club, Swan & Dolphin, Epcot or Hollywood Studios. There are two lines at the boat dock you can choose from, depending on where you are going.

Again, across the way. Beautiful sight at night!

While I was taking those pictures, the kids were getting ready to swim. Davis was not going swimming, instead he was going to have the luggage brought up, make a trip to the grocery store for water, and make sure we had everything out of the car. We decided not to do a Garden Grocer order this year because our first three nights would be in a Studio and it was just as easy to bring the snack foods with us and worry about getting other things like milk, oj, etc. later when we had a full kitchen.

I had my brand new water-proof Olympus camera to try out, too! I took it to the pool, but I was still so nervous about using it under water. It just seemed so wrong to have the camera in the pool! I even found myself holding it up out of the water when I walked around! But it was fun taking underwater pictures:

Allison

Me

Luke

The slide at the Boardwalk is called the Keister Coaster and is themed like a wooden roller coaster. I think it’s a really cute name. I took the camera up for a trip down the slide.

Here’s what the exit of the slide looks like:

Allison did not think the clown was cute.


Allison & I attempted to take pictures of each other going down the slide.

It’s just as well. I probably don’t want to know what I look like going down a water slide!


After our swim, we headed back up to the room to clean up for our dinner reservation at ‘Ohana! That was a meal requested by the kids. I love it when there is somewhere that they love and want to go back to. We all love ‘Ohana and were glad to be going back.

 

[RachelNinja]

Haha, I used to always want to go to the pool on vacation. Now not so much! Maybe because when I was a kid, I didn't care much about wearing a bathing suit, haha.

Ooo, I love the picture you took of Spaceship Earth through your railing!

Those underwater pictures are amazing! So clear! So different from the disposable ones.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I did not like this update only because it makes me want to stay at the Boardwalk even more! LOL. What an awesome view. I like the picture of SSE taken through the railing. That's pretty cool. I'd probably be the same way with a waterproof camera but the underwater pictures turned out great!

 

[tinkgurl]

Oh wow, you had some great views from your room! I bet you watched Illuminations from there didn't you?!

A camera that can go in the water is so neat, but seems so wrong-just like you said!

I agree with Allison, I don't like that clown! He's creepy!

 

[IheartDDuck]

It’s just as well. I probably don’t want to know what I look like going down a water slide!

Hilarious. If you ever want to know what you look like going down a slide, go to Typhoon Lagoon on the Crush n Gusher. Oh yeah, you'll get an embarrassing one there.

I love the underwater pics. I've been looking at an underwater camera, because I always want to have a camera at the water park. On my last trip I took a waterproof disposable, and the stupid thing cracked and the pictures got ruined.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my goodness.....your view was fantastic! It seems like every way you turned, there was something gorgeous to look at.

I am thinking about buying a waterproof camera and your's seems to take great pictures. What model is it?

 

[Deemarch]

Enjoying your trip report!

 

[Bridora]

Haha, I used to always want to go to the pool on vacation. Now not so much! Maybe because when I was a kid, I didn't care much about wearing a bathing suit, haha.

Ooo, I love the picture you took of Spaceship Earth through your railing!

Those underwater pictures are amazing! So clear! So different from the disposable ones.

I don't mind going to the pool...as long as it's not too crowded, but the kids love it anytime, lol!

Thanks! I hoped it would turn out to be a cool picture.

I was very pleased with those underwater pictures! And yes, they are much better than the disposable cameras!

I did not like this update only because it makes me want to stay at the Boardwalk even more! LOL. What an awesome view. I like the picture of SSE taken through the railing. That's pretty cool. I'd probably be the same way with a waterproof camera but the underwater pictures turned out great!

Sorry Sarah! It was an awesome view...we loved going out on the balcony. It seems like there was always something going on below.

Glad you liked the SSE picture, too!

I'm so glad the pictures were so good AND that the waterproof camera wasn't harmed by the water, lol!

Oh wow, you had some great views from your room! I bet you watched Illuminations from there didn't you?!

A camera that can go in the water is so neat, but seems so wrong-just like you said!

I agree with Allison, I don't like that clown! He's creepy!

You could see Illuminations from the room for sure. We never quite found ourselves there at the same time, though, but we almost did once...I think that part is coming up soon...

I'm still not used to having a camera that's ok to go under water,

Hilarious. If you ever want to know what you look like going down a slide, go to Typhoon Lagoon on the Crush n Gusher. Oh yeah, you'll get an embarrassing one there.

I love the underwater pics. I've been looking at an underwater camera, because I always want to have a camera at the water park. On my last trip I took a waterproof disposable, and the stupid thing cracked and the pictures got ruined.

Ha Ha! I'll bet they do get some good ones on that!

Thanks! I loved having the camera for that. It's nice to have a camera that doesn't mind the water. How awful that the disposable camera cracked. I would have been so mad!

Oh my goodness.....your view was fantastic! It seems like every way you turned, there was something gorgeous to look at.

I am thinking about buying a waterproof camera and your's seems to take great pictures. What model is it?

There was no shortage of great view from that room, that's for sure! You are right, something gorgeous to look at all around! I would gladly go back right now, lol!

I'll have to look at the camera when I get home and see what the numbers are. It's an Olympus Stylus Tough, but I'm not sure which model. I've really liked it so far. The only thing that bugs me it that it seems to take too long to turn on. So that if you had to turn it on real quick to get a shot, you might miss it before the camera is ready...

Enjoying your trip report!

Yay! I'm glad you're here...I'm going to get another installment posted soon. (I hope)

 

[Bridora]

Thursday, May 26: More Balcony Shots


I found time to take a few more pictures while we were getting ready to go to the Polynesian for some great food at ‘Ohana.

The bed.

Looking to the left from the balcony.

Looking down from the balcony. If I remember right, we were on the 4th floor.

Artwork hanging over the couch which pulled out for a bed for the kids. (The couch, not the picture, lol!)


And just because I couldn’t resist taking pictures every time I was on the balcony:

The Wedding Pavilion is on the right, Beach Club on the left.

When it was time, we drove over to the Polynesian. I took a Monorail picture on the way over. It may have even been the first Monorail we’d seen on this trip!

‘Ohana was wonderful, as it always is! We didn’t wait long for our table. And then, it wasn’t long before we were enjoying the yummy food!

This plate looks a little bare. I'm pretty sure it's one of everything on the appetizer plate.


Here is Luke waiting to participate in the coconut race!

They invited all the kids up to participate. They each get a coconut and a broom. You must get the coconut around to the finish line using only the broom. Quite interesting to watch! Luke took a while deciding to go up, so he was pretty much the end of the line.

After dinner, we walked out to the beach and then took our time wandering through the grounds out to the parking lot. The kids kept running ahead and then waiting for us to catch up. We had a really great time just strolling around. The Polynesian is so relaxing. Even Luke felt that way:

When we returned to the Boardwalk and walked in the main lobby doors, this carousel kind of magically started playing music and rotating. I don’t know if it’s on a timer or what, but we didn’t remember seeing it come on before. It was very neat!

A pretty light fixture in the lobby area.


We were watching the carousel and looking at everything in the lobby when we heard some booming sounds. Turns out it was Illuminations!

Neat chairs we sat in sometime that night (I think, judging from the lei Julie is wearing down there in the left corner) Pretty sure these were on the big balcony off the lobby.


We watched for just a minute on the big balcony off the lobby and decided to high tail it to our room to watch off our own balcony. Do you know how long it takes to get anywhere in the Boardwalk? A long time! It seems like the hallways are never-ending! They zig zag so much inside! It’s really crazy, really. And…we missed Illuminations, it was over by the time we got to our room. Boo.

Even though, Illuminations was over, it was still so beautiful on the Boardwalk at night. It was equally hard to resist taking pictures from the balcony then, too.

More pictures below!