Renewed, Reunited and Finding Our Hillbilly Bone- An Oct. TR- UPDATED 4/16

[Pixie Princess]

Hey there good people of the DIS! Welcome to my first trip report to make it off my hard drive. Pretty sad actually… pages and pages of fantastic trip reporting only available to me. Sigh.

Oh well, turning a new leaf and this one is making it off the hard drive and will be complete!

So the cast of characters..such as we are, me cough-cough year old work from home mom. Yes, I get to work in my bunny slippers at home writing training courses and being the woman behind the curtain for my company’s Twitter feed. Some days this is a great thing; other days not so much. I miss being in an office with people. Grass is always greener.

My partner in crime is my DD11. I am very happy to report I have successfully brainwashed this child to be a Disney fanatic. She loves the place almost as much as I do. She is a dancer, and hopefully one day she’ll be dancing at Disney! Mama could use the free admission!

In a guest starring role on this trip is one of my besties from back in the day and her family. And she’s a fellow DISer. I am proud to say I am responsible for her addiction as well, and frankly think Mickey and company should spot me a DVC membership for my efforts. I’m well on my way to converting my BIL and SIL, and even may have my other BIL over his hatred of the place (ugly incident with a CM and my niece). My efforts deserve a DVC membership, right?

I digress though. (which you should all know right now, I totally love going off on a tangent. I come by it honestly. You should hear my dad and my grandma. Those two..wow! Talk about diverting a conversation. I have to carve out a good two hours just to talk to my dad on the phone because I know I’ll spend about an hour talking to him, and another hour trying to hang up. Oh well…hey, look I did again..tangent!) Considering how much both my friend and I (and our families) love Disney you think we’d do the World together, but sadly that is just not the case. Most of our trips we miss each other by days. This trip we were there at the same time for one day. This is what happens when you live in different states and your kids are on different school schedules. Such is life. We’ll miss each other again by a day in November. We’re shooting for meeting up during Spring Break for a few days. So stay tuned and see if that little adventure comes to fruition!

Now that all the players have been introduced, here are the stats for the trip:

Dates: Sept 30 – Oct. 8
Resorts: Pop Century, AKL and Pop Century again!
ADRs- Hoop Dee Doo Revue (ya hoo!), Boma, Chef Mickey
MNSSHP on 10/6 – which wasn’t really decided until 10/2 ,but that is neither here nor there.

Well that’s it. Glad to have you along for the start of our second year as AP holders!

 

[Pixie Princess]

Our journey begins leaving a good two hours late. Which if you read the little bit of the last TR that actually made it from my hard drive it you would just shake your head and laugh. Pretty much par for the course for us. As it turns out though, a client sent some last minute changes to a training program, so this shook up my whole day. We finally shove off around 3:00 with about 8 hours separating us from a room at Pop Century.

We live in NE Georgia, and I have my choice of two routes- one that takes me through the country down to Macon, or I can drive through Atlanta. On a Friday afternoon this is a no-brainer right? Avoid Atlanta at all costs! Well you’d think that, but I’ve made that “mistake” before and creeped and crawled down a state highway just outside of Macon to avoid the afternoon rush in Atlanta and thought I’d never see the interstate. So off I head to Atlanta hoping for the best. I mean it isn’t like it is a holiday weekend or anything. Long story less long, the country route would have been a better choice this day. Good grannies at the traffic. At this point I figure we might as just go straight to MK and sleep in the car in the parking lot because by the time we get to WDW we’ll have to leave for MK any way.

We were able to make good time and minimal stops on the way down, and shortly after 11:00 we finally see this.

And we’re on the way to Pop Century to check in. Let me stop here (tangent alert!) and say how much I love on-line check in. I’m not really picky about my room location. I just don’t want the bottom floor. So other than that I’m pretty much good any where they choose to stick me. Maybe not near the elevators, but even that isn’t too bad- at least it hasn’t been thus far. Even at POR, where I really prefer the Alligator Bayou section, after 8 hours in the car getting in a room is more important to me than where the room is. So for me, on-line check in is a great option. Unfortunately this was not an option I would be enjoying on this trip. The horror! The on-line check in system was down when I attempted, several times, to use it. I was quite apprehensive about what I would find in the Pop Century lobby. Due to school we’ve had a couple of late night check ins and arrived to find a packed lobby. I was full of dread as we approached the parking lot and there sat a ME bus.

Happily, there was not a packed lobby though. We went to the line for check-in and there were four groups ahead of us. We didn’t wait too long before were able to approach the desk. The lovely CM, we’ll call him Dave, looks up my name and says something about there being two guests in the room and the he needs to see my ID. I hand over my DL at which point my DD, a bit silly from so long in the car, says to Dave she doesn’t have a DL to show him. She’s only 11. Deciding to play along, Dave looks at her, extends his arm and points her in the direction of the exit. Not to be out done, my DD turns around and walks out of the line. Stone faced as you please she walks back towards the exit of the main building. All along Dave is say, okay she’s coming back now. Nope, Dave she isn’t. I try and tell him she’s just playing along, but he isn’t convinced. He then looks at me and said, “She really left.”
“No,” I said, “she’s just hiding around the corner.”
“No, he said, “I watched her through that window (he points to a door at the other end of the desk area with a small window in it). I saw her go outside.”
“Well she won’t get too far,” I said, “I have the car keys. However, you could make her night and put us in the 60s section.”

Dave gives me a half-hearted smile. For one thing, we weren’t in a preferred room, and for another he is genuinely concerned that he has upset her. I tell him not to worry about it. She’s just messing around. He explains where our room is, and as he is pointing out the building, I tell him I know exactly where the building is. We’ve stayed in this same building in the 50s section on the same floor and on that same “leg” of the building multiples times. We’ve even been assigned twice to the same room. Weird how that works, huh? Dave is unimpressed, so I take my leave of him.

I find my DD hiding around the corner near the exit doors. She thinks she is pretty funny, and I let her know that poor guy thought he had upset her. This she finds even more funny. It is getting late, and I’m ready to hit the hay. We find a close-ish parking space and haul up as much junk as we can. We take a ridiculous amount of stuff. But because we drive, we take all sorts of goodies…just in case. We get everything but the cooler and head off to our room for the next three days.

When we arrive it is a sauna, and I immediately blast on the A/C. I start getting our stuff we’ll need for the next day out of the Disney bag (yes, we have a bag of lanyards, autograph books etc. that stays packed and ready to go at all times). DD has discovered the western feed of the Disney Channel and is all excited she is not missing the new shows. You can understand her excitement since Disney Channel rarely repeats shows after they have aired. I remind her we have an early morning, and if she wants to eat b’fast in the foodcourt it means a real early morning!

By this time we are past midnight and it is Oct. 1. Happy 40th Magic Kingdom! We’ll see you in just a little while.

 

[jecskc]

Yay !! You started !! I can't wait to read !! Your DD is funny to pull one over on "Dave" I can't wait to see all of your photos !!

 

[Pixie Princess]

Rise and shine! It’s the Magic Kingdom’s birthday! Yeah, I’d like to say I was that chipper and excited, but no. I slept later than I would have liked, and spent the morning in a panic that I’d have to drive over to MK. Well, we moved pretty quickly and were able to get out and grab some breakfast over at Everything Pop.

The true test lay before us as we headed to the bus stop. It was past 7:00, and I had wanted to be in line at 6:30.

I know what you’re thinking.” Sheesh lady, why all the fuss and hurry to get to MK. The place didn’t even open until 9:00 that day.” Here’s the thing. Last Oct. we had an 8:05 ADR at CP. I had stalked the bus stop in the days leading up to the ADR and figured if we were at the stop slightly before 7:00 we would be in good shape. Well, slightly before 7:00 we arrive at the bus stop, and wait. And wait. And wait. And wait. We waited to the point that I couldn’t make a break for the car. Finally the bus showed up around 7:30. Us and most of the line were heading to early ADRs. The others were kind enough to let my DD and I and the others with 8:00 ADRs off first. So, therein was the source of my panic.

I tell my DD we may just have to suck it up and drive over (I don’t like driving to MK when I plan to be there all day) depending on the bus situation. See we also had to exchange our AP vouchers and purchase a TiW card. With large number expected at the park, I wanted to be there early so as to avoid any potential crowds at Guest Services. Well, there was no need for worry. As we walked out the doors and headed to the bus stop, we see a MK bus pulling up. The line was longish, but we made it on the bus. It was the beginning of wonderful “bus luck” for the trip.

We cruise on over to MK. As we approach the CR there is a huge line of traffic waiting to get in. What the heck? Is there convention or something going on. Some special event. No, as we would find out from a lady we stood next to at the Castle presentation, it was people waiting to get in and park there rather than the MK parking lot. She had tried the same thing, saw the mess and parked at the Poly. Umm…okay.

So we get to Guest Services and there is no line. No more than 10 minutes later we are armed with new passes and a new TiW card. Woo hoo! We are "renewed"...let year 2 with passes begin!

We go get in line at the turnstiles. A few minutes later CMs show up handing out some 40th Anniversary buttons.

Eventually they start letting people in through the turnstiles, and we go get a front and center spot for what I like to call the Magic Morning Show. I believe Disney insists on calling it a Welcome show. I like my name better. While we are there we see the crew from the WDW Radio podcast. They are handing out stickers that look like an old WDW ticket. Seems they are doing a 40 hour live podcast. Pretty cool.

Since we have some time to kill, it is photo op time.

And while I’m at it, I take a moment to grab a shot of the waiting crowd.

There were lots of great t-shirts people had made, but the best thing I saw (both this day and at MNSSHP) was a girl around 10 who was wearing a Mad Hatter costume. She had on an Alice style dress, but it was orange, an amazing hat and mis-matched socks that some how still worked with her outfit. She was carrying a Mad Hatter pook-a-loo as well. It was really impressive.

The magic morning show commences,

and at 9:00 they let the masses into the park.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Yahoo! The park is open! We grab a the special park map that was printed for the day, and pile on to Main Street with everyone else.

If it weren’t for that big castle, I’d swear this was a shot of the TSM stampede.

As we make our way up Main St. we see people grabbing spots along the sidewalk, in the hub and in front of the castle for the presentation which will be at 10:00. We decide we’ll head over to Tomorrowland and grab some Space Mountain FPs and then head back to steak out a spot. Well, we get back to Space and the place is dead. Seriously the place is a ghost town. We see Chip and Dale over at Club 626 dancing with one little girl. You know that kid was having the time of her life.

We decide to take a spin on Buzz since the place is vacant before heading back to the hub. On the way out we ran in to Stitch..just hanging out. It was great.

We head on back toward the castle to stake out a spot for the shindig at 10:00 at the castle.


Now, as all of this has been going on, I’ve been texting my friend. They are trying to get in to park, and as we find us a spot in the hub for the festivities, they have finally made their way into the park. I text my friend our 20, and finally they find us! Woo hoo! Reunited and it feels so crowded. Everyone sing along! Big hugs for my friend, and the kids reacquaint themselves. My friend’s DH volunteers to take the kids over to Tomorrowland to ride Space Mountain and whatnot as we are the only ones with any real interest in the show that is about to happen at the castle. Fine, be off with you then. None of you are true Disney fans! Kidding of course. I’m sure if either my friend or I were clairvoyant, we would have bailed too. However we stayed behind, excited about what was to come.

As the hub steadily packed in, we chatted about the day’s plans, how their week had been, and what they thought of Sara-topia. Sara-topia?! What the heck is that you’re asking, right? Well to find out, you’ll have to check out my BFF’s TR here.

 

[mrtoffee]

Im in

 

[Pixie Princess]

Yay !! You started !! I can't wait to read !! Your DD is funny to pull one over on "Dave" I can't wait to see all of your photos !!

Girl, you are on it. I just posted the link on your FB. More photos to come.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Im in

Glad to have you along mrtoffee!

 

[jecskc]

Love the most recent post. And it is fun looking at the photos with my head turned sideways And thanks for the shameless plug of my TR !!

 

[Pixie Princess]

About 15 minutes or so before the “festivities” the Main St. Philharmonic was brought out to entertain the masses.

Normally, this is right up my alley as a former band geek. However, the band was playing from castle stage and wasn’t amplified, so they were really hard to hear over the rather large crowd that had assembled by that time.

Finally the big moment, the “parade” approaches. Now when we picked this spot we asked a nice lady on an ECV if she minded if we stood behind her. She was was perfectly fine with it, and we chatted with her a bit before the parade. She told us that a CM said this was good spot as the parade would be passing down that side of the hub.

As the moment drew near, people stood in front of her, blocking her view and ours. At least we could maneuver to see, but she couldn’t. I tried to get some pictures, but mostly I got shots of people’s heads.

My friend on the other hand, just held her camera up and started snapping pictures, hoping for the best. This turned out to be a good technique as she got some really nice shots. Check it out here.

The parade goes by, characters emerge from the castle, the fairy godmother appears on the balcony…awesome!

Sadly, this is where the awesomeness would end. The Disney ambassadors were introduced. You couldn’t understand a word that was said. Underwhelming. My friend and I decide this has taken an unfortunate, lame turn, and decide to go find the rest of our group over in Tomorrowland.

As we cross the hub and make our way over some VP is introduced, and I think, hey this may be turning around. We pause for a moment, and no, still lame. We move along. The kids have ridden an number of things, one of which is Astro Orbiter. I really want to ride this again, and I can’t believe my kid has ridden this without me! She has been steadfastly refusing to get on it again for some unknown reason. Grrr.. Well we ride Buzz again,

and grab some snacks. We decide to head over to the Liberty Square area by way of the tea cups. My friend and her hubs are not the tea cup riding sort, so the kids and I ride while my friend goes to return an item she purchased earlier in the week and her DH waits.

The line is pretty small. When we get up to the CM asking how many is in the party, the kids say “three”. THREE! What am I? Chopped liver?! No, I’m the parent, and not to be regarded as a person. LOL! I look at the CM, and say, “I guess I’m on my own on this one.” My DD tries to make up for this slap in the face, by saying, “Um we mean four. We forgot she was riding.” Please, whatever. We move all the way to the end of the holding area, filling in all the available space, and getting dirty looks from the folks lined up along the rail of holding area.

Let me just say, this is one of my favorite parts of going to WDW. After a couple of attractions you think folks would understand when the CM tells you to move down and fill in all the available space, you should do just that. There ceases to be a line for the attraction at that point. But no. I assume it is the need we westerners feel to line up for things that overrides the instructions being given. Inevitably, when I fill in the available space, people who have maintained the line will give me ugly looks. And for some reason the Mad Hatter’s Tea Party, is the king of the dirty looks ride. I’m not sure why that is, but it is. I guess it is the drive to get an “insert color here” cup. Anyway, this always cracks me up, and 9 times out of 10, as I feel the anger rolling off of whomever is offended that I have moved “past” them, the CM working the pen will shout at people to move down and fill in all the space because they are now having trouble getting the pen filled.

The previous spin ends and door to the holding pen is opened, and the herd rushes to the cups. I follow the kids as they load in a cup….and then shut the door leaving me standing there. What?! Oh no they di’nt! I quickly grab a nearby cup, as my daughter tries apologize. “We didn’t know you wanted to ride with us.” Well, why would I when I’m clearly not wanted around! LOL! It is just as well because other wise I wouldn’t have gotten these pictures,

or this video which is short because I didn’t do a great job of keeping the camera on their cup as mine spun around.

We get off the teacups, find the friend’s DH and then meet up with my friend over close to Mickey’s Philharmagic. We decide to visit the Haunted Mansion and then head over to Frontierland. Since we’ve all been through the “new” interactive queue, we bypass it this go around.

We make it out of the mansion alive, although those pesky ghosts switched my friend’s and my head around. I’m sure she was relieved when she go hers back. We get off and head over to Frontierland. The line at BTMRR is a trifle long for me and DD, as we unfortunately have to take our leave of our friends and head over to Epcot for a Mom’s Panel Meet and Greet. We all say good-bye, and my friend invites us to come visit them at Sara-topia after we’re done. My daughter seems quite folorn. She has no desire to go to the Mom’s Panel thing, and I secretly think she was trying to figure out how to get invited to spend the next few hours with them.

We head out passing through Adventureland. As we pass the Tiki Room, my daughter notices that the next show starts in 2 minutes so we decide to pop in and see the new-old show. We have only seen the show when it was “Under New Management”, so I really want to see the “new” version. Well, the show starting in two minutes is full, and for some reason, we decide to wait around for the next show.

By far the biggest crowd I’ve ever seen waiting on the Tiki Room.

We thoroughly enjoyed the "new" version, but now we are pretty darn late for the Mom’s Panel Meet and Greet. We make a mad dash for the monorail and head to Epcot.

 

[Pixie Princess]

We arrive at Epcot and check in just inside the gates for the event. We’ve arrived so late, that I’m afraid we may be turned away, but no and it appeared there were quite a few no-shows or late arrivals, so I didn’t feel too bad. The super sweet lady who checked us in tells us there will be another table outside the Odyssey (where the event was held) where we will receive wristbands to enter the event. We haul it back to the Odyssey, get our wrist bands and enter the Odyssey. The place is bathed in pink, and the party is in full swing.

At this point we are pretty darn hungry, so we grab some eats from the buffet and sit down. Whew! It felt good to sit.

After we relax we join in the fun by meeting Donald and Daisy.

And my DD visited the balloon artists and got painted while I chatted with some of the folks at the event.

I was able to speak to several of the past and current moms and a dad. They were all very nice, and very encouraging. At the time I was full of hope that this would be the year I would make it on the panel, or at least to one of the next rounds. However, yet again, I wasn’t chosen. *sigh* Oh well, there’s always next year to try again, and in the mean time, I am my own personal “mom’s panel” to anyone who will listen. LOL!

The M&G wraps up and we head out with all our balloon animals and hats in tow. (I had a spectacular pink and silver crown with a baloon heart on top. However, the picture did not turn out, so you'll have to use your imaginations.) As we are leaving DD tells me how much fun she had, and was glad we went. I have to concur. This was a really great event. Even if you have no desire to join the Mom’s Panel, it is as fun family event with loads of people who share your fondness for Disney.

At this point you’d think we’d had a full day, and it time to pack it in and relax. Nope! There is a special fireworks display for the 40th to attend, and the big event for the evening, the Hoop Dee Doo Revue!! Unfortunately it is gotten too late for us to go visit Sara-topia and make our ADR, but we did make a pit stop at SE and Project Tomorrow on the way out of Epcot.

Rather than take the monorail back to MK and board the boat for FW, we opt to take a bus to FW and then use the internal transportation there to get to
Pioneer Hall. The good bus luck continued as a FW bus pulled up within minutes of us arriving at the stop, and we had the bus all to ourselves.

Next stop…Hoop Hop Hooray!

 

[jecskc]

I still feel bad about not inviting her to stay with us. Next time we will. The kids so enjoy her company. OR we will stick the kids with DH and go off without them !!

I loved the tea cup photos !! I will pinch them for myself. And thanks for rotating those photos. My neck was getting sore I know, I'm a riot.

Loving your TR so far !! Can't wait to read about Hoop De Do !!

 

[jecskc]

And we have never done the Tiki Room, so we need to on our next trip. And your new camera takes amazing photos. We are getting a new one before we go since ours crapped out on us.

 

[Pixie Princess]

I still feel bad about not inviting her to stay with us. Next time we will. The kids so enjoy her company. OR we will stick the kids with DH and go off without them !!

I loved the tea cup photos !! I will pinch them for myself. And thanks for rotating those photos. My neck was getting sore I know, I'm a riot.

Loving your TR so far !! Can't wait to read about Hoop De Do !!

Oh, so the pics were rotated sideways when you first saw them? ( I couldn't figure out what you were talking about!) Weird. I rotated and cropped everything before I posted it. I wonder why you saw them posted all whackadoodle? I'm sure some obnoxious glitch with Photobucket. I'm pretty darn close to trying a different photosharing site. Lots o' problems iwth that thing.

Don't feel bad! I'm not sure I could have left her any way. I didn't drive that day, and with a 5;00 ADR it probably wouldn't have worked out too well. I'm sure she would have enjoyed hanging with y'all too. She enjoys spending time with your kids.

 

[Pixie Princess]

And we have never done the Tiki Room, so we need to on our next trip. And your new camera takes amazing photos. We are getting a new one before we go since ours crapped out on us.

Defninitely add the Tiki Room to your checklist.

I'm digging my new camera. I'm still playing around with it. The night time photos I got were sooo much better than what I was getting with my last camera. I can't wait to get pics of the Osbourne Family lights!!!!

 

[jecskc]

Defninitely add the Tiki Room to your checklist.

I'm digging my new camera. I'm still playing around with it. The night time photos I got were sooo much better than what I was getting with my last camera. I can't wait to get pics of the Osbourne Family lights!!!!

I can't wait just to SEE the Osborne Lights !! And we want a camera that takes better night shots as well. And one that doesn't just turn off randomly when you try to take a photo.

 

[Pixie Princess]

Yah Hoo! Hoop De Doo! We LOVE the Hoop De Doo Revue! If you haven’t experienced the HDDR, you must, must, must put this on your Disney ‘bucket list.” (How this one doesn’t make Stacey’s list I’ll never know!)

We made our way down to Pioneer Hall about 30 min. before our 5:00 reservation. We pick up our tickets and just hang out. DD sees some hula hoops that have been set up outside the Trail’s End Buffet and gets to hula hooping. This girl loves to hula hoop! In May of 2010 we went to what was the family dance party at DTD. They had a hula hoop contest, and she was one of the last two in the contest. She lost when her pin lanyard caught the hoop while doing some sort of trick. She was devastated. She came home, bought a hula hoop and practiced at home so she’d be prepared for when we returned to the World the following Oct. Well, sadly, when we returned no hula hoop contest. However, fear not her efforts did not go unrewarded. In March we were at Epcot and they had a hula hoop “station” set up by this awesome sand sculpture for the African Cats movie. They were timing people, and she hula hooped until she broke the record for the day. Yea! Accomplishment.

So DD is hula hooping and I have a lovely conversation with one of the hostesses at Trails End. Ma then has us all called to dinner with the ringing of a big ol’ triangle. We hadn’t had much to eat for lunch, and were both starved. We made our way over to Pioneer Hall, where the CM nearly seated us in the balcony (Actually not a bad spot to sit, however, when you pay $10 extra dollars for Category 1 seating…), until I pointed out we had category 1 seating. I had made the mistake of not following up after my online booking, and at least asking if I could request a section to sit in. We love the HDDR, and go most trips. On the May 2010 trip, we were seated in what many would consider the best seats in the house…right next to the stage. By this I mean our table is practically touching the stage.

True you aren’t having to look around someone’s head, but it is entirely too close for my tastes. You will generally see parties of two seated here, but I had noticed when were seated there the first time that the row of tables behind us did have a couple of parties of two. I meant to call and request not to be seated right there on the stage, but neglected to do so. Sure enough we were seated right there on top of the stage. “Best seats in the house,” the hostess told us. However, our table location was the least of our “worries” as we were toting an impressive collection of balloon hats and animals as you recall. The challenge was definitely the 3 ft. tall hat my DD was sporting. It wouldn’t fit under the table, so we had to wedge it between the table and the stage. We were secretly hoping the Two Bits would see it at some point during the show, and either say something about it or wear it. I managed to squeeze my crown under the table, and the dueling Squirts enjoyed a table top view of the show.

We gave our drink order, munched on salad and cornbread, (which is not real cornbread if you ask me. It is corn muffin bread..too sweet!) and listened to the musical stylings of Smilin' Jack and the piano dude whose handle I have forgotten until the show kicked off.

Finally we hear the stagecoach arriving! Enter the Pioneer Hall Players. Woo Hoo! The music starts up for the opening number, and it is wrong! The opening number is completely different! What up with that?! I have to assume they changed it because of the lawsuit which currently embroils them over the use of the Hoop Dee Doo polka. If not, it really should be changed back. The new one is not nearly as good.

Oh well, the show goes on, and despite the new opening number, it is a delightful show. This time much of the cast was new to us. The actor playing Two Bits Slocum and the actress playing Claire de Lune were the only ones we’d seen previously. Having seen it several times now, we usually see the same group of actors. If there is someone new, it has been in the role of Johnny (Claire’s dance partner).

At the Hoop, they do several audience participation numbers. One of them is to go around and ask where people are from, and then make up a little song. Judging by the audience reaction, I’d say there was a large contingent from Louisiana at the World that day. Also they go around to ask for people celebrating their birthdays and anniversaries the day of the show. There was young girl from Australia celebrating her birthday, and two marriages of over 40 years. Impressive.

Some yummy food (you just can’t go wrong with chicken and ribs), and a lot of laughter later we exit Pioneer Hall and board a boat for the Magic Kingdom to cap of the 40th celebration with a special presentation of Wishes. I have to say it was definitely the most memorable Wishes we’ve ever experienced.

 

[jecskc]

Loved you Hoop de doo revue !! Shame on you for not taking food porn. This is something we are meaning to do someday. It is definitely on our Disney "bucket" list. Did you get any cool fireworks photos with your new camera ?? It takes great photos by the way. Or wait, maybe it is that you are this awesome photog ???

What day are leaving for your Thanksgiving trip ?? I've been watching the weather and it changes every day. One day it 60 and rainy and another day, the same forecast has sunny and 79. I guess we will just see when we get there.

I'm off to bundle up and chase and fuzzy yellow ball with the girls for a couple of hours. Tennis with the ladies !! YAY !! Talk to you soon !! Smootch !!

 

[archdandy]

I'm subbing in! It looks like you had a great first day! I can't even imagine stuffing all that stuff into one day. I would be exhausted!

 

[Pixie Princess]

Loved you Hoop de doo revue !! Shame on you for not taking food porn. This is something we are meaning to do someday. It is definitely on our Disney "bucket" list. Did you get any cool fireworks photos with your new camera ?? It takes great photos by the way. Or wait, maybe it is that you are this awesome photog ???

What day are leaving for your Thanksgiving trip ?? I've been watching the weather and it changes every day. One day it 60 and rainy and another day, the same forecast has sunny and 79. I guess we will just see when we get there.

I'm off to bundle up and chase and fuzzy yellow ball with the girls for a couple of hours. Tennis with the ladies !! YAY !! Talk to you soon !! Smootch !!

Sorry, I don't believe in objectifying my food in that way. Actually, I just never think of it. I did take a picture of DD's impressive dessert plate at Boma, but that was as much food porn as I bothered to shoot. I wish I had been more thoughtful about it esp. at F&W. We did a good bit of sampling there, and had some really good stuff.

So we will arrive Thanksgiving, or at least that is the plan for now. DD wants to do the family thing, so I guess that's what we'll do and then head on down around 1:00 or 2:00. It will be a quicker trip than I'd like, but that's okay since there will be more Christmas stuff out to see than there would have been if we had gone eariler in the week.

I did not get fireworks shots. I think I was too afraid I'd miss something in the special presentation. I did get some MSEP pictures that turned out pretty good (they'll be in my next update). I wish I was super photog, but I'm not. I just point at the action and take a bunch of pictures, and if I'm lucky I'll get a good one or two. I really struggle with the whole photography thing. One the one hand I feel like a schlub when I see that there are people who take 1000+ pictures, and I average 250 a trip. On the other hand, I feel like I am missing out on the action when I'm taking the 250 pictures. I actually would like to get better about shooting video. My camera shoots 1080p which is nice, it just doesn't balance the light the way a camcorder will. I shot some video at HDDR, but it is so dark that I didn't bother putting trying to put it on here.

Hope you had fun at tennis, and hopefully we'll have some sunny days at WDW!