The Family, Friends, Fun, Food, Five pounds (well 7 really) and....*UPDATED 12/31*

They asked me what resort they should stay at, they wanted to stay Saratoga Springs, I told them they should stay at the Boardwalk area. They said they wanted to stay somewhere where they could walk to some parks because there little one was in a stroller.

They decided on SS.

I wanted to shout out SHUT UP and LISTEN to me...
The only saving grace was on our Kozzina night both of them said we should of listened to you..I thought do you think I hang out on the DIS and make spreadsheets and plan everyday by the hour for nothing.. Justification!!

Sometimes you just have to step back and let make there own decisions. But if they would only listen!!


They ask. You tell or advise. They ignore. They complain later on. ... man oh man, don't we ALL have family members like that? I've personally given up trying to give any kind of advice any more to family members about either WDW or DL. They KNOW that I know more then them, yet they never listen when they ask and I tell or advise only to complain about their own choices of not listening... so I've just stopped now. A few months back my cousin was once again asking questions and I just stopped her and said I'd rather give her some websites to check out instead of answering any of her questions. So I emailed them to her. A couple of weeks ago I was shocked to get an email from her thanking me for the websites as she never knew there was so much to know in advance of going to WDW - and she actually apologized for ignoring me before! Now if only everyone else would realze we Dad's do know of what we speak....
 
So hard to watch others fail to heed quality advice, isn't it? It's like being a dad and letting your kids fail so they'll learn for the next time...



Great picture! I continue to be in awe of the shots you got.

(Well, except for the 3D ones) :lmao:

I remember doing the HDDR when I was a kid. They got my dad, one of the quietest, most introverted men in America, to dress up as an Indian and act on stage. I couldn't pick my jaw up off the floor.

Thanks, like I said, I took about 20 shots and tweeked the settings as I went. The most important thing is to have a very patient wife.;)

We really love HDDR, it is one of those shows that you can truly enjoy with anyone.

I definitely like the Western scene better than the Gangster scene... and tend to end up with the Gangster more than the Western. Everytime I do though get Western, I'm so happy. :) It's the little things sometimes, isn't it?

Those are good bars, yes... but I personally prefer the Itzakadoozies, hands down - or as my DD says, the "oozie kadoozies".

I didn't even know the western scene existed. When we got off we asked a CM about it and they said they use it only when the ride is busy and they have two trams going at the same time or when they are training a new CM.

Matthew has tried an "oozie kadoozie" and liked it. I have not tried one yet but I think I will put it on the list for this trip.

They ask. You tell or advise. They ignore. They complain later on. ... man oh man, don't we ALL have family members like that? I've personally given up trying to give any kind of advice any more to family members about either WDW or DL. They KNOW that I know more then them, yet they never listen when they ask and I tell or advise only to complain about their own choices of not listening... so I've just stopped now. A few months back my cousin was once again asking questions and I just stopped her and said I'd rather give her some websites to check out instead of answering any of her questions. So I emailed them to her. A couple of weeks ago I was shocked to get an email from her thanking me for the websites as she never knew there was so much to know in advance of going to WDW - and she actually apologized for ignoring me before! Now if only everyone else would realze we Dad's do know of what we speak....

I know, it makes me crazy, I try to not let it get to me. I have to remind myself to not overwhelm the people asking with too much info. BUT I can't help it, once someone opens the flood gates I can't stop.
 

I wanted to shout out SHUT UP and LISTEN to me...
The only saving grace was on our Kozzina night both of them said we should of listened to you..I thought do you think I hang out on the DIS and make spreadsheets and plan everyday by the hour for nothing.. Justification!!

I've yet to go with family.. but I think they know what's up. The only thing you can do is make suggestions... they have to make their own decisions


Anyway this was one of the times that we met up. There was 7 of us and we had tickets for the balcony, I'm not sure if they didn't have the space in the balcony for 7 or maybe they had not sold out the floor seats but we were upgraded to floor seats...SCORE!!
UPGRADE!!! Awesome!


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Millie is from SHETLAND? :lmao::lmao::lmao:

Millie is my mother in laws name and also the namesake of our restaurant (Mad Millie's)
How is the restaurant going? I'm sure you are still working like a dog!

If you haven't been to this show, it is really a great show for the entire family. The players get the entire audience involved and makes for a great night . The great thing about this meal is that everything is included in the price of your ticket, including drinks. :thumbsup2
We went last October and we had a blast. The food was great, the show was awesome and such fun, and we walked out singing all the corny songs!
 
I've yet to go with family.. but I think they know what's up. The only thing you can do is make suggestions... they have to make their own decisions



UPGRADE!!! Awesome!


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Millie is from SHETLAND? :lmao::lmao::lmao:


How is the restaurant going? I'm sure you are still working like a dog!


We went last October and we had a blast. The food was great, the show was awesome and such fun, and we walked out singing all the corny songs!

I think they finally realized by the end of the trip that maybe we kinda knew a little more than them but it is better to let them realize on there own.

Ya, the restaurant is great but busy. I wouldn't have it any other way. If you love what you do it makes it easier to work all the crazy hours.

We were doing the same thing on the bus on the way back to the resort. We love that show as well.


BTW...Congrats on the pregnancy. I hope your wife is feeling okay and I'm sure Juliana is very excited!!
 


If you haven't been to this show, it is really a great show for the entire family. The players get the entire audience involved and makes for a great night . The great thing about this meal is that everything is included in the price of your ticket, including drinks. :thumbsup2

I've heard conflicting reports about this show. It's certainly on our "must-do" list, but we're going to wait until the kids are a bit older.
Maybe it's my Wisconsin background, but I can't recall any thing good coming out of events where they have unlimited free beer. :rotfl2:
The food looks fantastic, though.
 
Ya, the restaurant is great but busy. I wouldn't have it any other way. If you love what you do it makes it easier to work all the crazy hours.
So what do you do with the restaurant while you're gone? Do you have employees that will run it, or do you shut down? I can think of two mom-and-pop type of places around me that put up hand-written "Closed for Vacation" signs in the windows.
 
I've heard conflicting reports about this show. It's certainly on our "must-do" list, but we're going to wait until the kids are a bit older.
Maybe it's my Wisconsin background, but I can't recall any thing good coming out of events where they have unlimited free beer. :rotfl2:
The food looks fantastic, though.

Free wine too....I think I drank 4 or 5 glasses. But I can't remember, things got a little cloudy half way though the show.:lmao:

So what do you do with the restaurant while you're gone? Do you have employees that will run it, or do you shut down? I can think of two mom-and-pop type of places around me that put up hand-written "Closed for Vacation" signs in the windows.

Are you sure you didn't drive by the restaurant? We have that hand-written note staying "We are going on a family vacation"

It's funny we had a few customers say "We will be there before you close to get some food to tie us over until you get back". I love small towns!!

I would never let anyone else run the restaurant for me. I figure it's better too close than have someone screw it up. I think I have a little OCD when it comes to the restaurant.:lmao:
 


So I guess Daddy-O has been down to Disney and back again since the last update here. Do we have him finish this trip report, or start the new one right away? Or maybe combine both experiences into a hybrid Frankenstein vacation? pirate:pirate:pirate:
 
Soooo.......how has everyone been? :rolleyes1

Well I figure I will jump right back in here and see if anyone is still reading this.

This day we decided that it was time to venture over to AK, we like all of the parks but if I had to choose my least favorite it would have to be this one. There a few things that we really like and the rest is just....meh.

Going on the Safari is always our first task of the day when we get to AK. We have noticed that the animals are more active early and the lines are very short.

I only got a few decent shots this time, our driver decided that it was either petal to the metal or nothing...:mad: oh well

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By the time we got to the park and through the Safari ride it was time to get something to eat. We decided to go to....

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and now some food porn...
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All of it was awesome, we really enjoyed everything. We would definately go back, the only thing was that this restaurant was not listed on the Tables in Wonderland card. For those of you who don't know what that is...its a card you buy for $50 as a AP holder $75 regular price and it gives you a 20% discount on most restaurants on Disney property. The table service at Yak and Yeti is included the outside portion is not. Makes no sense to me but whatever...

Next up was something for the kids.
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What should we do next....what else after a stomach full of food and ice-cream. You guessed it

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This has got to be the best cue line in the AK if not in Disney, I tried to get some pics of the cue, but the line was moving very fast, (this is great unless you are trying to get pictures). Try explaining to you kids why we are letting people cut in line, needless to say I only got a couple of pictures here as well.

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Can you tell which one likes rollercoasters.....
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He really is a good sport, he goes on most of the rides. The only one we had to take the "special" exit from was RnR in HS.

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He really is a good sport.:thumbsup2
 
We decided that next up had to be Dinosaur, but first we had to pass this place....
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I just don't get it...so as we quickly passed by this area we made it to here..

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Here is the shot of us on the ride, I know he is coming but he gets me every time.:lmao:
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This is one of those rides we really love, its rough it bounces you around and it scares the heck out of you, my kind of entertainment.

The park was not very busy so we walked around a little and hit a few shops and had something to drink. We waited for our time to come for one of my favorite shows.

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I was determined to get some shots at night in the park because AK usually closes before dark and this was EMH tonight so I sent my wife and kids on some rides and strolled around and took a few hundred pictures...literally.

These are a few of my keepers.
The tree of life at night is pretty awesome.
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Expedition Everest at night is pretty cool too...
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A closer shot with the ride car coming through..
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I met up wife the rest of the family and decided it was time to leave, we went back to our resort and decided we should watch a new good friend named Bob.
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During the week and this day I was sending texts back and forth to another Disdad. We finally had our meet. I told him to look for the guy with the Leafs hat and the root shirt on.

Can you tell me which on of us is the Canadian....

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After meeting each others wives and saying "See honey, I told you he wasn't some weirdo on the internet who is going to murder us" we had a nice chat and took this opportunity to get our picture taken with Bob. Thanks Fed, my kids still talk about the gift you gave us, very cool.:thumbsup2

At this point it was getting late and Bob just finished his first set, we stayed for a little more and realized the kids were running out of steam, it was time for bed.
 
What's this? An update? I thought this place had shut down!

These are a few of my keepers.
The tree of life at night is pretty awesome.
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Expedition Everest at night is pretty cool too...
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A closer shot with the ride car coming through..
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These are great! I don't blame you for hanging around. I've never seen AK at night, either, so I'd definitely want to record the occasion. The lighting looks very cool.

After meeting each others wives and saying "See honey, I told you he wasn't some weirdo on the internet who is going to murder us" we had a nice chat and took this opportunity to get our picture taken with Bob. Thanks Fed, my kids still talk about the gift you gave us, very cool.:thumbsup2

:lmao::rotfl2::rotfl:

Glad you guys got to meet up!
 

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