1 crazy family+2 resorts+5 parks+1 snake+1 surprise=A Mickeystoontown report 4/3x2

[mickeystoontown]

Wow, Lisa, you guys really are hard workers!! Feel free to come to my house! I'd love to change out ALL my woodwork and doors, but that's too big a deal for us. It's not that I hate it, I'd just prefer something else. Our house is rather cookie-cutter and I find it boring.

I hope you get to enjoy a LONG holiday weekend - don't work TOO hard!

I guess that we're gluttons for self inflicted punishment. I didn't know that we were going to change out the moulding and trim until we looked at the old up against the new paint and didn't like it. Like you, I was bored with what was up there.

Wow, you put a short update on FB on what all you were doing, but that is a lot! I'm glad you've already gotten a bunch of the list done and you are liking the results. Good luck getting the rest, and keeping your boss out of the office!!

Yes m'am! It is a lot. But, like I said, once it's done, we'll be proud of our work.

And here I was proud of myself for giving the dog a bath. Wow!!! You have been busy. Glad it turned out how you wanted. I would love to see pictures.

Hilarious! Once I get everything cleaned up and looking spiffy, I'll post pictures!

Agreed!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I didn't quite finish up the installment....duty called. I'll post it very soon after I get the office opened up tomorrow.

 

[maryj11]

Im worn out just reading what all you have been doing

 

[mickeystoontown]

Im worn out just reading what all you have been doing

Me too! I knew that it was going to be quite the task to get it all done but hadn't realized how much we were doing until I had it all typed out.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Up! Up! And Away! Maybe?!?

John woke up while Hunter was still joking around about me looking like a drowned rat after getting stuck in the rainstorm. He had no clue that I had been gone for an hour and wondered why in the world I looked the way I did. I told him what happened and he laughed too. Can you believe that? Crazy man! He’s lucky that he didn’t get a swift kick in the you-know-what. Nah, I wouldn’t have really kicked him. Shoved him or pinned him down to the floor, maybe, but not kicked him in the.....

We had a dinner reservation at the House of Blues and we needed to get a move on if we were going to have time to freshen up (me especially). I knocked on the connecting door to Mama’s room and she was already getting ready. This was the first time that I noticed that the door kind of rubbed on the carpet underneath the connecting doors. There was a bit of a bubble in the carpet. Not a big bump/bubble but it was enough that we noticed it. It looked like it was where the carpets were cut and matched up when it was laid.

Once we were all ready to go, we walked to the Martinique bus stop and one came quickly and we were on our way to Downtown Disney again. We got off a the Pleasure Island stop and walked down to the House of Blues. We were a little early for our ADR but I went ahead and got in line to check us in. There was a line to the left and that’s where I stood for about 10 minutes. When I got to the podium/desk, they told me that if we had a reservation, we were to check in inside the restaurant. Wish I had of known that before wasting that 10 minutes.

Once inside, we could see that there were quite a few others waiting to be seated and there were no chairs/seats for Mama to sit in. We all kept an eye out for one to open up so that she wouldn’t have to stand for a long time because it looked like we would have a pretty long wait. We were standing by a couple and I couldn’t help but overhear the man grumbling about people being seated who came in after them. The lady was trying to tell the man that they probably had reservations but he didn’t want to hear it and went to the podium to “give them a piece of my mind”. Okay, go ahead buddy, let’s see how that works out for ya. Sure enough, he came back and sat down and said “they had reservations”.

There were menus over on a little table near the check-in desk/podium thingie and I got a couple for us to look over while we waited. A name was called and a few people got up and I snagged the seats for Mama and I. John and Hunter would have to just suffer. Hey, they laughed at me for getting caught in the rain. So there!

Not long after, our name was called and we were led to the very back of the restaurant. I didn’t even know that it went back that far. Our table close to the windows but not close enough that we had a good view outside. Our waitress came and took our drink orders while we decided on what we wanted to order for our entrees. Once she came back, we were ready and placed our orders.

In the meantime, Hunter went outside to take pictures of this neat arch that was just outside the doorway:





He also took a picture of the Characters In Flight balloon:



and one looking the other direction:



Let’s pretend that there’s a time lapse here and our food came out looking like this:








I know that Hunter passed up dessert and I don’t have pictures of what Mama ordered, if anything. I’m thinking that she skipped dessert too. I know that John and I agreed to split the bread pudding:



There was sooooo much food and it was sooooo good! It was all that we had remembered it to be from the year before and then some. House of Blues remains on the list of “need to go there” restaurants, that’s for sure.

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

A few weeks before we were to leave for Disney, a Dis friend, aprilisis, sent me a message asking if we would like a voucher for two people to go on Characters in Flight. Heck yeah, I did! Well, I didn’t exactly want it since I’m terrified of heights but I knew that some of the others in our group would love to go up. She emailed the voucher to me and I printed it out and kept it with our Disney paperwork. The first night that we were in Disney (the French Quarter night), I had forgotten to take it to DTD with us. Tonight, I remembered. Hunter and Mama decided that they would be the two who went up while John and I waited below. Since the rain had already moved through the area, it looked like a pretty night for a balloon ride.

We settled our bill since we didn’t use the dining plan for this meal and made our way outside where another picture was taken of the arch thingamabob:



As we made our way out to the main walkway, we looked back at the Cirque building lit up:



Mama and Hunter got in the line to board Characters in Flight and, while it wasn’t super long, it didn’t move at all. Not even at a snail’s pace. Everybody was just standing still and we couldn’t figure out why. The balloon was up in the air when we got there and had come back down so we had no clue what was going on. We decided to wait and see if anybody else was allowed on the balloon before just giving up.

Right beside the Characters in Flight area was a guy playing a didgeridoo and guitar and he was great. He had everybody dancing and interacted with the audience well. I didn’t take a picture but did find one on google images:

If you see him while at Downtown Disney, I highly recommend stopping for a minute and listening to his music. He’s quite good.

After standing still for at least 20 minutes, it was decided that Mama and Hunter would give up waiting on the balloon ride since they were still standing in the exact same spot as when they got in line. The voucher was good for several more days so we’d try to catch it again another time.

We window shopped on our way to the Pleasure Island bus stop, peeking in here and looking in there. I believe that Mama stopped in one of the jewelry stores and bought a beaded ring but I could be wrong. She may have bought that on our French Quarter day. I do know that she bought one at some point and even went back and got another later in the trip.

When we got to the Pleasure Island bus stop, there were hardly any people there. It seemed a bit unusual since Downtown Disney was busy that night. We waited about 15 minutes before a bus came and when it did, it was standing room only. John, Hunter and I don’t mind standing but I didn’t want Mama to have to stand. She can get around pretty good but standing still sometimes gets to her. Also, several years ago, she had an artery blockage and, for some reason, every since, she’s been a little...a little...I guess the word would be wobbly. Anyway, we let that bus pass and then wondered if it would be best to walk down to the Marketplace bus stop and catch a bus there since it’s the first stop. Yep, we’d do that.

As we walked through the rest of the Pleasure Island, we came upon this neat “statue”. He would be standing perfectly still and then make the slightest move whenever someone came over to have their picture taken. He did an awesome job!



Hunter was his last picture of the night and he disappeared into the crowd with his helper. There were benches nearby so we sat down to let Mama rest a minute before continuing our walk. We people watched for quite some time and took pictures too. These pictures are a bit blurry but the other ones had our eyes closed in them.





After a while, Mama said that she was ready and we made our way through the Marketplace crowds. It was much more crowded than the other side of Downtown Disney so we had to weave in and out of the people. We finally made it to the Christmas store and I took a picture or two before we went to the bus stop.





The line for the bus wasn’t long when we got there and we knew that we’d get a seat. While standing there, the line continued to grow and I knew that we’d have a packed bus ride home. For what I believe is the first time ever, we didn’t have a changing of the driver at the Pleasure Island stop. Usually, every time we go to DTD, the drivers make a change at the Pleasure Island stop. Maybe since it was later in the evening, they weren’t switching out. Who knows? Anyway, we picked up a few guests at that stop and were on our way back to the resort.

Martinique was the first bus stop that evening and we were in our room in no time at all. We talked about what time we would get up in the morning for our “new” adventure and came up with a plan.

**Up next: Ooooh! It feels like a booger! Touch it Mamaw!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

The food at House of Blues definitely looks yummy!

Characters in Flight is down often, but that is for safety reasons. They can't go up if the wind at the top level is above a certain mph. Even if you don't feel so much as a breeze at ground level there can be a wind up higher and they have to wait for it to go down before they can go up again.

I always use the Marketplace bus stop for that exact reason, it's packed when it gets to Pleasure Island! And I have NEVER had the bus not stop at PI for a shift change. It's crazy.

 

[Mommy Poppins]

Great update! Can't wait to see pictures of your remodel!!!!

 

[MissLiz]

Great update!

We've seen the didgeridoo guy before! We were walking at DTD one night and we were so surprised to see it that we had to stop. He is very good! I remember us saying something about the fact that we couldn't believe how weird it was that we were standing there, listening to a guy play didgeridoo, but it was good weird, not weird weird.

There is no way that you would get me up in that balloon. I love to see it at night, but no stinking way.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[cmaee]

Your dinners looked yummy. We might have to try House of Blues next trip. We don't spend a lot of time at DD, maybe once (or sometimes, none at all) each trip. I forget that there are a lot of cool places there.

 

[shan23877]

HoB looks and sounds great! We'll have to put that one on the list of places to try!

 

[ukool]

Characters in flight is one thing i WILL do this trip, they have it in Disneyland Paris and everytime were thier i say i want to do it but never do. This florida trip i will be in that balloon. lol.

 

[eandesmom]

We had a really nice lunch and HOB once, I would like to go there again. I'd also like to go to their Sunday Gospel Brunch, I think that would be fun.

Sounds like a bit more standing and waiting that you might have liked but a very nice evening.

Very odd though that they didn't tell folks what was up with the balloon so people weren't just waiting forever.

I got tired just reading all that work on your house, yowza. I feel like a total bum.

 

[jedijill]

We had a really nice lunch and HOB once, I would like to go there again. I'd also like to go to their Sunday Gospel Brunch, I think that would be fun.

Sounds like a bit more standing and waiting that you might have liked but a very nice evening.

Very odd though that they didn't tell folks what was up with the balloon so people weren't just waiting forever.

I got tired just reading all that work on your house, yowza. I feel like a total bum.

The gospel brunch is good and fun. I do like the old version better than the new Kirk Franklin branded version but the food is yummy and the music is great. We were at the first KF brunch this year so hope they work some kinks out.

Holy mackerel! Want to come work on my house?

Jill in CO

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Going back to read and catch up, but wanted to say CONGRATS!!! You are #8 on the most popular threads on the Podcast!!

 

[blessedmom4]

You know I LOVE HOB!!! I just found out this week that the VooDoo Shrimp is back, although it does look as if it is a bit different...
I might even get a chance to find out for myself!

Judy, Pete, Christian, David, Rachel and Lisa
​

 

[reelmom]

I have two boys and I am scared of the next installment title.

Happy 4th of July.

 

[natebenma]

HAPPY INDEPENDENCE DAY, !!!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Happy Independence Day!!

​

 

[teekathepony]

Your House of Blues dinner looks really yummy! I've never been there, maybe I should put it on my list.
How odd that they wouldn't update the balloon line up on what's going on. Hope you get another chance!
That "Statue" is so cool! I love those performers!