Thanksgiving AND New Year's?! Whew! - Update 3/12 Pg. 17

[IheartDDuck]

I think I'm finally all caught up! I really enjoyed reading your dessert party post. I'm considering it for our disneymoon in June (if they're offering it then) so I'm trying to read up on it as much as I can.

I can't believe you have another trip coming up so soon!

I really recommend the dessert party. It was well worth the money that I spent on it. But then, I'm a huge dessert fan, so how could I go wrong?! I hope they are still offering it in June for you.

Oh wow, look at the new queue for Winnie the Pooh! I had no idea it was going to be so elaborate. I wonder if they're going to do that for a bunch of the rides especially with the expansion. Hmmm...In a way it kind of reminds me of the one at Disneyland.

Ugh, that is annoying about the cheerleaders! I know I never acted like that as a teenager either. I do have to agree that it does seem like kids are getting worse. That's not to say they all are but as a teacher I've seen a few obnoxious ones (why I do NOT want to teach middle school!). I don't know where some kids get off acting like that.

haha, nice Buzz scores. Your mom's score is pretty typical of my sister. She gets so mad if we get a high score.

You're right, the queue is kind of like the one in Disneyland. I knew it seemed familiar......

I ride Buzz with one goal in mind.....get 999,999 points. Anything less then that is not a success.

 

[Nermel9]

I can't keep up with all of your updates! I loved the Wishes Dessert party, it does look like we had pretty much the same table! Your pics of the fireworks and parade are great! We didn't even bother watching the Electrical parade, I was excited for it's return at first, but the music is annoying!

Can't believe there were no Mickey crocs in MK! I could swear I saw them everywhere!

I love the new Pooh queue...except I didn't get to see it when I was there. The ride reopened on my trip, but the queue was still hidden. Annoying!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I can't keep up with all of your updates! I loved the Wishes Dessert party, it does look like we had pretty much the same table! Your pics of the fireworks and parade are great! We didn't even bother watching the Electrical parade, I was excited for it's return at first, but the music is annoying!

Can't believe there were no Mickey crocs in MK! I could swear I saw them everywhere!

I love the new Pooh queue...except I didn't get to see it when I was there. The ride reopened on my trip, but the queue was still hidden. Annoying!

Ha ha, I know now one can keep up with the updates! I'm trying to hammer them out, because I have the other trip coming up.

The Crocs thing was a mystery. Really. We just wanted plain old Mickey Crocs, and.....nothing.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I too am a sentimental fool for both Wishes and Carousel of Progress. Both make me tear up.

I love the outfit you wore in your evening MK PP pictures. That vest is super cute!

Great updates!!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I too am a sentimental fool for both Wishes and Carousel of Progress. Both make me tear up.

I love the outfit you wore in your evening MK PP pictures. That vest is super cute!

Great updates!!!

Oh good, I'm glad I'm not the only one!

Thanks! It was a little vest/jacket thingy I found at Charlotte Russe.

 

[Sooze]

Well, Danielle... I just spent a good 20 minutes getting caught up!!

#1 So sorry about the loss of your furbaby

#2 ANOTHER trip.. and so SOON!? I'm insanely jealous!!

#3 Loving this TR. I'd love to take a trip with just my mom and me. How fun that sounds! It's also fun to think about what my family and I were doing at the same time you were doing your own thing, since we were there at the same time!

Ready for more!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Well, Danielle... I just spent a good 20 minutes getting caught up!!

#1 So sorry about the loss of your furbaby

#2 ANOTHER trip.. and so SOON!? I'm insanely jealous!!

#3 Loving this TR. I'd love to take a trip with just my mom and me. How fun that sounds! It's also fun to think about what my family and I were doing at the same time you were doing your own thing, since we were there at the same time!

Ready for more!

Welcome aboard the crazy train!

I love reading other peoples reports that happen at the same time as I go too, because like you said, you're always thinking about what you were doing at the same time others were there.

 

[DisneyDreamerMom]

Caught up now! I love the pics of Wishes and the parade. How do you do that? Mine always end up so blurry! I hate your mom's feet hurt. That always makes for a long morning.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Caught up now! I love the pics of Wishes and the parade. How do you do that? Mine always end up so blurry! I hate your mom's feet hurt. That always makes for a long morning.

My pictures for the parade just turned out pretty good. I think it was because I was so close. For some I opted to not use a flash, but I used one for the others.

I have a fireworks setting on both of my cameras. I tried them out for the fireworks. You just have to hold really still, because it automatically exposes the picture for a longer period of time. Some didn't turn out so well though, because I moved.

 

[IheartDDuck]

For some fun, I thought I would post some old school pictures!

Mom on her wedding day. She was so young!

Mom and Dad. Will be forty years next August!

Mom and my uncle Vic. Love the face!

Mom and I

Carousel!

First trip to Disney!

My first Donald! It's a Donald Weeble.

You're under arrest!

Future World Chip and Dale!

 

[IheartDDuck]

So when we left off, we were looking for a place to eat. So we decided on one of my favorites....Columbia Harbour House!

We ordered and headed upstairs. I really love the fact that not many people realize that there is an upstairs in this restaurant. It makes it much easier to actually feel like you are relaxing and enjoying yourself.

We both ordered the fish and chicken combo with sweet tea. I got chocolate cake for dessert, and mom got the apple crisp.

It was all very good, and is still one of my favorites. It's basic, but it's good.

Here was our view

I picked a seat right next to the window, and it was nice to be able to look out into Fantasyland while we ate. Here was one of my pet peeves though. As we're eating, I take this picture.

You see that cluster of people on the left? They just stopped right there, in the middle. Now, this is over narrowed walkway. Why do people insist on just stopping in the middle of a walkway and just standing there? And I kid you not, they were standing there for a good 15 minutes, and everyone had to walk around them. No courtesy. I always make an effort that if I know I have to stop somewhere, I at least step off to the side.

Anyway, rant is over now. We enjoyed our meal and talked about what we were going to do. We were going back and forth about it. Mom is stubborn (as am I), and on top of that, she hates to disappoint people. I think that she really thought I would be disappointed if we had to go back to the hotel to get her shoes. I told her that what was more important to me was that her feet be okay, and I didn't want to push her too far. I think we've all done that before when we knew the prudent thing to do was to stop. And I think we all know what the result of that is in the end. She said what she wanted to do was go on the Haunted Mansion, and then to check the shops on Main Street, because they've always had Crocs there.

We headed to the Haunted Mansion

The line was short, and it was enjoyable as always. I think it will always be my favorite.

After that it was off to Main Street. Again, we looked up and down, and there were no Crocs! The only Crocs they had were flip flops, and my mom hates those (truth be told, so do I. They rub your feet the wrong way). So, I made an executive decision. I told her we were going back to the room for her to put her feet up for a little while and for her to change her shoes. Since it was only about 1pm at this time, I figured it would be the best time to do this. We shopped quickly in the shops on Main Street, because I wanted to get a few things, and we both wanted to get the castle throw they have during the holidays. We made quick work of it, and were off to the bus stop. A bus came in no time and we were able to make it back to the resort by about 1:30pm.

Mom put her feet up right away and I went to the food court to fill our mugs. Once I was back, I first took pictures of my purchases.

I love this throw. I want another!

For my niece

For me (love Sally!)

For me

I worked on typing up the trip report while mom relaxed. After having her feet up for about 1 1/2 hours, she said she was feeling much better. She told me that coming back was a really good idea and that she was glad we did it. I told her that I knew her really well, and that I can always tell when she needs to do something. We are both very much the same, and we will push ourselves so far sometimes because we don't want to disappoint someone. I'm just glad that she listened to me in the end.

We wanted to head back to the Magic Kingdom, so we changed our clothes. I gave mom my running shoes, because I told her this would be the best option for her. Oddly enough, just as we were going to head our of the door, it was raining pretty hard. Fortunately, mom brought the ponchos, so we waited a few minutes for the rain to let up. It did, so we headed out.

We had been having a debate earlier in the day regarding what we were going to do about meeting our family. Remember that they wanted us to meet them at Epcot, and we had always planned on the Magic Kingdom. Now that our schedule was off because of the shoe incident (and this is a non-issue, because my mom will always come first), I really didn't want to meet our family at Epcot and neither did I. We wanted to go back to the Magic Kingdom so we could do the rest of our must do's. Granted, our list wasn't long, but still. And, we wanted to try to turn in early that night, because I didn't want to push my mom's feet too far. So, our decision was made, and off to the Magic Kingdom it was.

We got there at about 4pm. We had discussed what we were planning on doing for dinner that night, and we wanted to go back to POP and eat later on. So, I wanted to stop at Sleepy Hollow Refreshments to get an ice cream cookie sandwich. Mmmmm. Then I saw that it's not a snack credit. Well, that kind of ruined it for me. So I got....

We got that and water, and sat down on a bench. Mom wanted to call dad to see what he was doing. He said that he was just relaxing at that point, and that my dog was being a brave watchdog (i.e. she was laying there on the couch asleep!). After our chat, we moved on. In Frontierland, they had a street performance that I had never seen before. They danced and did the hokey pokey with cast members. It was really cute!

Continued in next post

 

[IheartDDuck]

After the hoedown, it was off to....

The Country Bear Jamboree! I love this show. It just makes me laugh.

Then, we wanted to visit Captain Jack

Nope, we weren't allowed to join their crew. Oh well. I guess the only thing to do after that is to get a dole whip!

This is where we had a small snafu. I guess the cast member didn't hear me correctly, and though that I wanted three dole whips. I only wanted one pineapple and one swirl. He rang me up for three credits, and I didn't notice it until it was rung through and I got the receipt. I told him what I had wanted, and he said it would be very difficult to reverse it, and that they can't refund it. In order to reverse it, he would have to get a manager, and he said that would probably take them a while. He offered to replace it with something else, and I took a water. I'm not a difficult person, and it was really no skin off my back because we had too many snacks to burn through anyway. However, I wonder what would happen if he got someone that was less then accommodating. Disney should really make more provisions for minor errors like that. The area was loud, so I can understand that he misheard me. He also gave me two pineapple's instead of one of each, but I didn't notice until we started eating because it was dark. Oh well. It was still good.

We just took the bottled water and stuck it on our bag. After that, our next stop was Fantasyland. I couldn't leave without doing Philharmagic. So, off we went.

I love this show, but this was the worst experience we had all week. There was a family in front of us, mom, dad, grandpa, little boy around 6, and little boy less then a year. The little one was not having a good time, and you could tell it was because he was tired. He was having none of the show. My curiosity is always this. If you know he's throwing a fit (and before the show started too), why not leave the theater? Nope, she didn't. She just stood up with him at the end of the row, right where we were sitting, and he fussed the entire time. Not the most pleasant experience.

I took a few close up shots of the castle

And we decided that it was time to call it a night. We were hungry at this point, and I knew mom's feet were done. Her back had been hurting too (probably associated with her feet), so the mountains weren't going to happen. That's okay with me though. I just like being there.

We got a bus quickly again (POP bus service really does seem to be more efficient), and we were back by around 7:30pm. It was good for me too, because I was starting to get really bad cramps (go figure).

On a side note, something I forgot to mention. We had texted our family earlier to let them know we were going back to the hotel because of my stomach and mom's feet. So while we are waiting for the bus, we get a text back that they were already back at their condo because they got rained out. Wow, would they have even told us if we didn't text them first? What if we had already started heading over the Epcot?

Once back to the resort, mom wanted to explore because this was her first visit to POP. After our exploration, we figured we would head to dinner.

The year I was born

The year my brother Jason was born

The year my brother Chris was born

The year my parents got married

The year my mom immigrated to the U.S.

The year my mom was born

After exploring, it was off to the food court for dinner.

Mom got - Chicken Penne Alfredo, with tie-dyed cheesecake

I got - Philly Cheesesteak wrap with worms and dirt (like I'm five, I know!)

Dinner was really good, especially mom's alfredo. I think I'm going to have to try that next time I'm there.

We got back to the room around 8:45pm, and we were pretty much done for the night. I was finishing up my report, and was in bed by 10pm. Pansy!

Up next: Epcot!

 

[IheartDDuck]

My favorite!

 

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

I hate when people stop in the middle of the sidewalk, too! Especially when it's a big group like that - makes it even worse.

Lunch at CHH looks yummy! It's been a few trip since we've eaten there. I'd love to go back. Your MK PP pictures are great! I love the one of Donald and Daisy!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I hate when people stop in the middle of the sidewalk, too! Especially when it's a big group like that - makes it even worse.

Lunch at CHH looks yummy! It's been a few trip since we've eaten there. I'd love to go back. Your MK PP pictures are great! I love the one of Donald and Daisy!

Thanks! The Donald and Daisy photos are totally stock photos they gave us on the CD, but I had to use them! He's my favorite!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Man, time is slipping by me so quickly. I need to get this itinerary done!

Day Three - Sunday January 2nd

Park - Magic Kingdom by 9am (open until 1am)

Breakfast - Main Street Bakery
Lunch/Dinner - Columbia Harbour House
Lunch/Dinner - Cosmic Rays

I list the restaurants as lunch/dinner because they are obviously interchangeable. I don't have a preference for one at any time, I just like to make sure we eat at odd hours.

The park is open until 1am, but I'm not sure what our plan will be. The options are to just stay at the park until we're done for the day, or to go back in the afternoon, rest, and come back to the park. It depends on my dad.

My dad has a plastic knee from surgery and a replacement that resulted from an injury in the Vietnam War, and further aggravation of the injury during the rest of his 10 years in the military. He is normally capable of going for the whole day, but he also can have trouble if he pushes himself too far, so our resting in the middle of the day often depends upon his knee.


We preordered our Photopass CD this weekend! Mom talked dad into it, because at first he wasn't going to order it. We had to explain to him the value of it during our trip. Since I'm always the photographer, we rarely get any pictures with me in them, let alone with all individuals on the trip. I'm not the kind of person that asks people to take pictures. I know people would do it, but I guess it's just a little idiosyncrasy. That's why photopass works, because that's their job!

If we decide to stay at the Magic Kingdom until we're done, maybe we'll go Downtown. I'm crossing my fingers on this one, because Dad doesn't like to shop. But I can try to talk him into eating Downtown instead......

 

[wdwgirl03]

Yikes, I am really behind! Loved all the updates. I have to say in the old school pictures, I like the one of you in that Mickey t-shirt because I got one of the shirts now that has that same style Mickey on it. I love the retro stuff.

Huh, I am probably one of the ones who never realized there was an upstairs at CHH. Maybe I did but I know on our last two trips we stayed downstairs. haha

Nice pics from Country Bear Jamboree. I can't even remember the last time I saw that show.

 

[IheartDDuck]

Yikes, I am really behind! Loved all the updates. I have to say in the old school pictures, I like the one of you in that Mickey t-shirt because I got one of the shirts now that has that same style Mickey on it. I love the retro stuff.

Huh, I am probably one of the ones who never realized there was an upstairs at CHH. Maybe I did but I know on our last two trips we stayed downstairs. haha

Nice pics from Country Bear Jamboree. I can't even remember the last time I saw that show.

I love the retro stuff too! I wish there was more of the old school stuff.

That's okay about CHH, I just found out about it recently too. You'll have to check it out next time. Blink or you'll miss it though!

 

[DVCWDWMEMBER]

Man, time is slipping by me so quickly. I need to get this itinerary done!

Day Three - Sunday January 2

My dad has a plastic knee from surgery and a replacement that resulted from an injury in the Vietnam War, and further aggravation of the injury during the rest of his 10 years in the military. He is normally capable of going for the whole day, but he also can have trouble if he pushes himself too far, so our resting in the middle of the day often depends upon his knee.


If we decide to stay at the Magic Kingdom until we're done, maybe we'll go Downtown. I'm crossing my fingers on this one, because Dad doesn't like to shop. But I can try to talk him into eating Downtown instead......

Have dad pack his knee brace to put on he can keep going longer with it on.

 

[Nermel9]

I can't believe you're going back already!!! I wish I could go, I don't have any New Year's eve plans, Disney sounds perfect!

Love the update! I bought that throw of the castle last year, I use it all the time, it's so pretty! And I have the same Mickey shirt, just in pink! And that cheshire cat thing you got your niece is SO cute!

I hate when people stand in the middle of anything where there is a large group of people, Disney World or not, just move to the side!!!!

Sorry you didn't have fun at Philharmagic. That would have annoyed me too!

Pop looks like so much fun! I'm considering doing a split stay for our next trip (whenever THAT is going to be! ) and if I do, Pop is going to be one of the places I stay!