60 Candles, 30 Million Lights, Best Friends&Family at Disney--Priceless (New 5/23)

[disneyfan61]

Had a few updates to catch up on.

Love the matching shirts & the writing on the back. So cute!!

Cannot wait to eat at BOG in Oct.

Leave it to Mark to pose with the "purse".

Love the hat pics!! Makes me smile every time I see them.

The plates you bought Des are really cute!! Anxious to check out that gift shop also.

The invitations for the wedding are very pretty! Not too much longer.

I do like Cape May but I agree with you. We love CP & make an early ADR there every trip. Also ate at Tusker House & enjoyed it there also.

Congrats on the airfare. It is always a great feeling buying those tickets & at a good price!

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I *think* I am all caught up. Comments in random order...

Hurrah for August airfare being booked!! Nothing like having the next trip(s) set to help with those Disney blues.

Such beautiful invitations! So excited for you!!

Love your matching t-shirts for your last day. So cute!!

Sorry you didn't love Cape May. I'm a die hard Beach Club lover but have never actually eaten there. Totally agree that walking to Epcot is awesome!!!

I can't wait to try Be Our Guest. Would have hated to be one of those whose reservations was lost and was without my confirmation number. So glad you had yours with you!!

Des is going to love those dishes! Everytime they use them they will think of you and your magical trip. So cool!!

 

[ronnmel]

Oh how I would love to pay so little for airfare! Then we would definitely go back more often!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

That airfare is incredible! Good for you that it finally went thru.

I saw you talking about Mark's trip in March in Mel's TR. I think you said you don't know what dates yet, but do you know what time of the month it will be? Just curious as there is a slight chance (maybe 10% right now) that I'll be going at the end of March for a quick trip for my birthday and thought it would be great if you were there at the same time!

 

[KatMark]

It seems to be that the majority of most here on the DIS think the food at Cape May is very good. I share your opinion of this place for breakfast and am not impressed (not crazy about the dinner buffet either). Cape May, IMHO, screams Golden Corral breakfast buffet. Yes, Goofy and crew are excellent but the food I found to be rather average at best and subpar at worst. One thing I would have liked was the option of having a fresh omelette station (even Golden Corral offers this). Paying this kind of $$$ and having pre-made eggs was a very big turnoff. I did ask the server for a fresh omelette and she was somewhat taken back by the request. 20 minutes later a luke-warm omelette was delivered to my table. Cape May and I will not have a reunion anytime soon.

The first two times we ate there we thought it was very good and there were so many options. We definitely won't be going back for a long time.

I do hope you enjoy your upcoming stay at Beach Club. I stayed at Yacht Club a few years ago and absolutely loved the location and the easy acccessibility to Epcot and it's many great dining options. The only thing I really did not like was the bus situation. It was "goofy" (pun intended) that the YC/BC/BW/Dolphin/Swan all shared the same bus. It was always packed to what I believed to be very unsafe levels. Often we would wait for the next bus only to find it the same way. And this was during the last week of January-first week of February. Perhaps it was the slow season why it shared with five resorts, but if this is true in peak season that would be absolutely insane. Would it keep me from going back to YC or BC? Not at all. In spite of the bus situation the resorts are amazing, I loved the Boardwalk area, and that walk to Epcot is just so convenient.

I am really looking forward to the Beach Club. It is one of the few deluxes that I still had a desire to stay at and, thanks to Mary, I'll get that chance. I've heard that about the buses sharing with all of the other resorts. I'm thinking our better option since they aren't morning people is to walk to Epcot and then to the monorail when we want to go to the MK? Or I suppose if the buses are really bad we could always cab it.

I missed this when I read through just chapter links. How amazing that Dominic is recovering. God is good.

We are all blown away by it. He was supposed to go to the Rehab Institute on Friday, but his blood pressure is elevated and they won't let him go until that is normal. But everything else improves day by day.

so funny, now that you wrote it out, I can hear it in my head and I get it too!

You know when the movie is playing we can sing along, but if you aren't hearing the music, it's a little forgotten.

so funny!!! But Andy is wearing tan pants too!

Yes, yes he is.

LOVE your PP photos with the matching shirts. The back of the shirt is awesome too.

Thanks.

Beautiful! I love how the designs above and below their names looks like a tiara above Alisha's name.

I didn't notice that..but you are absolutely right. I'll have to point that out to Alisha when I talk to her next.

I don't recall seeing a photo of you with Stitch, I'm going to have to look back again for that one!!!

You'd have to go back to the September TR...that's where you'd find my picture with Stitch.

Invitations are soooooo pretty !!

Thanks...I think so too.

Those invitations are beautiful!!! It may just be me, but I think they have a whole Cinderella feel to them... after all, if there is only 1 day in our lives we should feel like a princess, it is our wedding day!

I totally agree with you Tam and I will be sure that Alisha's day is Princess Perfect.

Kathy, I'm loving all of the photo's! You all were able to capture some fantastic PP's. I say there's never too many photo's to look at, especially when everyone in them are obviously having a fantastic day. Not even a less than par breakfast or a crabby photographer could ruin the day for the six of you.

As always, looking forward to reading (seeing) more.

Hi, Lisa. We did get some great ones and I'm so happy since it was such a special trip. No one was ruining our last day together...I would not allow it.

Thanks.

 

[KatMark]

Somebody forgot to tell him Disney World is just for little kids.

Seriously, why does a 60 year old man think he can be a kid?

Love the shirts!

Thank you.

Funny how different days, times, and experiences add up to different likes and dislikes. We loved our Cape May breakfast. At Tusker House, we have had one that was so-so and one that was better. You know it was the same food, in essence, but I guess it was the way our serving of eggs was cooked or the freshness of the fruit or the crispness of the bacon or the thickness of the gravy or whatever factors that made one a little better than the other. Crystal Palace has been good every time, but we seem to have issues with seeing all the characters there sometimes. They have to stop doing their greets to go march in the parade, and then they pick up at a different place. There was a time a couple of characters had been around three times, and one (I think Pooh) had not made it to us once. Not a deal at all for just grown-ups, but for the little girls, it is, so we had to wait and wait and wait, and finally we just saw him on the way out. Glad you tried Cape May once, anyway, and got the character pictures in their beach attire.

I was really surprised becasue Mark and I really loved it our first two visits.

I loved the update Kathy! I am so glad you are feeling better!

Thanks, D. I am too.

My favorite photopass photo is the one of the BACK of your shirts facing Spaceship Earth! I love it! Did you get lots of people asking you to stop so they could read? Also, do you have another photo where I can read what it says? LOL I think I missed that (or I don't remember - which is most likely).

No, but he got a lot of birthday wishes and congrats and "what a great way to spend a trip" ...so I'm assuming they read it well enough as they were behind us walking.

And the invites are gorgeous!!! Love them!

D~

Thanks...me too.

I love the matching shirts you guys are wearing! I've asked Brandon if he would wear matching shirts with me and I got a very serious "NO" so I'm guessing that's out for me!

Thanks, Jen. Some men won't do it and I've never figured out why. Mark and I have done them a few times now.

You got such great photopass pics this trip! That's too bad about the grumpy Minnie PP photographer, I'm glad you said something on the way out!

We did get some great ones. And no one was spoilng my day and I was sure he knew about it.

Love the wedding invitations, the colors are beautiful!

Thank you.

The invitations are beautiful! And I LOVE LOVE LOVE the group pics

Thanks; she went simple but elegant and didn't spend a fortune and I think they turned out great. Glad you like the group pics.

I saw that silver top too or something very simialr. I wanted it, but if I remember right, it was priced soemthing like 5 zillion dollars!

Des is looking for it for me (she's there now) and I told her NOT to get it if it was over $40.

Loving the PP pictures - such huge smiles on everyone's faces

The matching Tees look great and really makes the photos extra special

Thank you, Linda. We were aoo so happy and we just couldn't stop smiling.

I'm so glad we decided to do the t-shirts.

Good to see that Mark has such a positive influence on Andy with the hat thing! He's definitely sporting some very nice head gear with the Grumpy one especially since he was really getting into character there! Love it!

He is definitely his father's son (and you should see the other son if he's ever with us...he's worse than his father if you can believe it). Yes, he does look very Grumpy in that picture, doesn't he?

You can never share too many PP photos of your lovely group so no warning required! Love the shirts and the message is priceless. For my next milestone birthday I'll have to start hinting at my DH to make a move to get a trip lined up. (Who am I kidding, I would completely take over any planning anyway. ) And that not so magical PP photog shame on them.

You are very sweet. But if Michael made it a surprise trip, you wouldn't be able to take over. I hate when you get that one person who just want to ask "why are you working here?"

Thanks for sharing the lovely wedding invitations. They are very elegant and certainly make you excited to see the important event formalized in an invitation.

You are welcome; I'm so excited...just 130 days until the wedding. I can't wait to start writing out the envelopes.

I hope you have an awesome (superbowl) Sunday!

Thanks; so far it's going well...I just won $150 in a pool.

Invitations make it so much more real !! They are great Love them !!!! Getting close now !!!

Thanks, Rosie...yes it is...only 130 days until I'll have a daughter.

 

[KatMark]

Love all of the PP photos, too cute. Some people just really shouldn't work with the public!!

Beautiful wedding invitations, it will be here before you know it. How exciting!!

Totally agree; at least not at the happiest place on earth!

Thank you; it is getting here a lot quicker than I thought it would.

Yay!! Congratulations on the great airfare and wow!! You will be in FL for 2 weeks?! We did that for our October 2011 trip and it was wonderful, only thing I would change would have been not changing resorts as much as we did...that was not fun!!

We usually end up in Florida for two weeks now...it is usually around 11 or 12 days (last year it was 14 days exactly); this trip with Labor Day weekend being the end of our trip we made it 17 days. I am so excited. We've done one split stay but I would never do more than two resorts...one was bad enough.

Wow!!!!! I am finally all caught up. Didn't realize how far behind I had fallen. That darn work sure does get in the way of my DIS time!

Darn work!

You really had some lovely photopass pictures done! And I loved the matching shirts for Mark's birthday (and most definitely the HAT!!) So awesome that he loves to enjoy life like a kid at Disney!

Thanks...I am very pleased with them. He truly is in his happy place at Disney; although he acts like that at home too.

Sorry your breakfast at Cape May was not enjoyable. We ate there in 2008 when we were staying at Beach Club. We thought it was pretty good for typical breakfast food. They were nice enough to let both the kids have the kids menu prices (even though DD technically was full price that year-she was 10, but no bigger than a bird and ate like one as well).

It was rally good the first two times, I don't know what happened this time. That was nice of them to let DD get the kids menu!

Favorite photo so far has to be Mark and the purse!! Between the purse and the hat, not sure what made it better!
Great updates!

The man is nuts!

You did an awesome job on airfare. Wish I wasn't stuck waiting for my job to OK our vacation request slips so I know when I can get away. I'll be sweating it out again like I did last year!

Why don't they let you know right away? Our firm (over 200 secretaries) all got to submit the same day and I knew within three days.

the kids wedding invites are really nice! So many exciting things coming up for your family this year!

Thank you...it's going to be an awesome summer that's for sure.

Okay, I am green with envy as of your airfare! I cannot even dream about such a reasonable fare, not even to DLRP (and I think that is an even shorter distance. )
But I am VERY happy for you! Doesn't it feel so much more real, once you have your airfare down?

I can't even imagine what you must pay in airfare.

And you know what made me even more? It looks like you are flying out of Orlando. Now that would have been the perfect way to meet - BUT, we will get back on the 2nd!

With that great fare, it was cheaper to fly out of Orlando and we don't have to get up at 4:30 a.m.

Will we ever meet?

It's a shame; and this will hurt...I almost booked us home on the 2nd.

Had a few updates to catch up on.

Love the matching shirts & the writing on the back. So cute!!

Mark was very excited when he saw them.

Cannot wait to eat at BOG in Oct.

I hope you love it as much as we did.

Leave it to Mark to pose with the "purse".

The man will do just about anything.

Love the hat pics!! Makes me smile every time I see them.

Thank you....I'll tell him.

The plates you bought Des are really cute!! Anxious to check out that gift shop also.

She has them in her hope chese if she decides not to get an apartment this year.

The invitations for the wedding are very pretty! Not too much longer.

130 days and it just seems to be moving quicker and quicker.

I do like Cape May but I agree with you. We love CP & make an early ADR there every trip. Also ate at Tusker House & enjoyed it there also.

Love those characters at CP.

Congrats on the airfare. It is always a great feeling buying those tickets & at a good price!

Love having it taken care of...and at a great price too. What is even better is the entire trip is now paid for except for meals.

 

[KatMark]

I *think* I am all caught up. Comments in random order...

Hurrah for August airfare being booked!! Nothing like having the next trip(s) set to help with those Disney blues.

Absolutely; and now that I have airfare for June and August, I only have to worry about December.

Such beautiful invitations! So excited for you!!

Thank you; we are really excited too. We are so happy for the two kids.

Love your matching t-shirts for your last day. So cute!!

Weren't they adorable?

Sorry you didn't love Cape May. I'm a die hard Beach Club lover but have never actually eaten there. Totally agree that walking to Epcot is awesome!!!

I wish Cape May was as good as it had been in the past. That walking to Epcot may spoil us for future trips.

I can't wait to try Be Our Guest. Would have hated to be one of those whose reservations was lost and was without my confirmation number. So glad you had yours with you!!

BOG was absolutely wonderful; it would have been a BIG disappointment if we'd not had our confirmation number as this was the place Des was most excited about.

Des is going to love those dishes! Everytime they use them they will think of you and your magical trip. So cool!!

Yes she will. She said she was going to see if there is anything new now that she is there this week.

Oh how I would love to pay so little for airfare! Then we would definitely go back more often!

We really got lucky with the airfare, Mel.

That airfare is incredible! Good for you that it finally went thru.

I saw you talking about Mark's trip in March in Mel's TR. I think you said you don't know what dates yet, but do you know what time of the month it will be? Just curious as there is a slight chance (maybe 10% right now) that I'll be going at the end of March for a quick trip for my birthday and thought it would be great if you were there at the same time!

I was so happy to snag the airfare. I really didn't want to pay $400 or more per person with another trip in December and the fact I had to pay for my June trip. If we go in April for Mark's business trip I have to pay my own airfare so that's another couple hundred at least.

IF we go on the trip (business is bad and we aren't sure that he'll have enough customers to make it worth the trip), we would probably arrive in Orlando the afternoon of Sunday, April 7 and leave on Tuesday, April 9.




And for anyone DISsing tonight, I just won $150 for my square in the Super Bowl pool.

 

[WDisneyMom]

Hope Des is able to find that shirt for you, it's really cute.

Yay for winning money...that's always a good thing

 

[mickeystoontown]

The pictures of you guys with your backs turned to the photopass photographer reminds of me those Hunter takes but he doesn't have a cute saying on the back of his shirt. He's just goofy like that.

I know that I've said it over and over again but you can really tell how much fun ya'll are having together. It shows all over your faces.

 

[annmarieda]

How exciting to have your airfare booked!!!

 

[KatMark]

Hope Des is able to find that shirt for you, it's really cute.

Yay for winning money...that's always a good thing

I hope so too. She's at the MK today; the little snot sent me a photo and said "guess where I am?" She was headed to Adventureland and the Jungle Cruise; tomorrow is Epcot day.

I would have won the last quarter too if those idiot Ravens hadn't taken the safety.

The pictures of you guys with your backs turned to the photopass photographer reminds of me those Hunter takes but he doesn't have a cute saying on the back of his shirt. He's just goofy like that.

I know that I've said it over and over again but you can really tell how much fun ya'll are having together. It shows all over your faces.

Hunter is a goofy kid, but such a sweetie too.

Thanks...we really had the best trip ever.

How exciting to have your airfare booked!!!

Two trips with airlines booked and two more to go (April business trip if we go and our December trip).

 

[KatMark]

After our experience with the crabby Photopass Photographer working with Minnie Mouse, we started to head to The Land. But before we could go there, we had to stop at Club Cool.

I was so hoping to get Des to try the Beverly, but she absolutely refused (I think she has been reading the DIS!). Of course, my weird husband had a cup of it and it didn't phase him yet again. He is truly an odd bird!

Then we finally made it over to

Let's now Listen to the Land, shall we?

After we visited The Land, we decided to head to World Showcase and hit some of the countries we had missed earlier. But on the way it was decided we needed a snack as we all hadn't eaten a whole lot at breakfast and still had a little time before lunch:

First stop, Mexico:

We decided to go see the Three Calabreros:

We looked around the Mexican Pavilion for awhile and, of course, had to get hat pictures:

Continued in next post

 

[KatMark]

We left Mexico and stopped in Norway.

And we rode

The young couple:

The two older guys:

I think someone decided to help someone with his nose

Noticed the long line for the Princess lunch

Miscellaneous decorations on our way to China:

Another silly hat shot:

Des' picture:

We added coins for luck:

Storyteller:

Watching a man work in the "Africa" section:

Mark got a beer (Andy may have too) but I have no idea where. Japan maybe?

Up next, our last meal together as a group of six

 

[mickeystoontown]

Call me a geek but I love the greenhouse section of Living with the Land. Seeing all of the various plants that they grow is so neat to me.

Okay, so after seeing the sculpture in Norway, I now know that I'm not part Irish after all. I've got to have some Norwegian blood in me. Just look at the flat chest.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Great airfare! And good job winning $$. Tonight is my Bingo night so wish me luck. Whatever I win goes in My Disney Pot.

I am so jealous you get to go to Disney 3 or maybe 4 times in one year! Now I am reetired so my trips will be few and far between I fear. But at least i know I will be ther 11/30-12/7 this year.Yeah!!!!!!

 

[KatMark]

So it was time for our last meal together. Although I was looking forward to trying a new restaurant for us at Epcot, I wasn't looking forward to this being our last meal together.

We were dining here:

Our table wasn't ready, so Des and I headed here:

Waiting:

We were called with the rest of our group to our table and pursued the menu:

I really didn't want them to leave...can't you just stay?????

At one point before we ordered, I really thought Nicki was going to get up and leave. The table next to us had a screaming child who didn't only scream, but screeched. It was truthfully worse than the screeching at our pool...probably because of the closeness. The parents made very little effort to get him to stop and, in fact, I swear the Mother was encouraging him. After several glares from our party and one of the other parties at our table, it finally subsided.

Our drink orders taken, and our chef for the afternoon appeared:

Waiting for our food:

Nicki hasn't gotten to this meal in her Dining Review as of yet. She has been slammed at work...she is so busy that she goes home at night and continues to work on emails, etc. This is a good thing for her commission wise. But I will say that despite the little one screeching, we really enjoyed this meal and will probably go back at some time. It's not as good as the place we go to in Naples, but it wasn't bad at all.

Mark, because it was his birthday, got two special surprises:

(this hat came home with us in the suitcase and held up pretty good)

As we left the restaurant, I had to get a picture of the fish in the pond:

The time had come and our friends were leaving. We walked with them towards the back door entrance so they could go get their car at The Dolphin.

Des insisted on buying me a Slush in France (I think she wanted to taste it):

It was then time to say goodbye. Hugs and kisses were given all around and, of course, Nicki and I had our cryfest. Sorry...no pictures. I told them it wasn't allowed.

After we said our goodbyes, the kids wanted to go into the United Kingdom (two more beers may have been consumed but I have no pictures so I cannot prove it). We did, however, get an opportunity to say hi to these guys:

We decided at this point that we were done with what we wanted to do at Epcot and took a bus back to the Coronado. The kids went swimming for a bit and I did some packing and organizing of the room and then Mark and I just relaxed for a little bit. And why would be relaxing you might ask? Because we had a party to go to in a couple of hours.

Up next, our first ever MVMCP. Would we love it?

 

[mommy2mrb]

yay on winning some $$ last night! and getting a good price on airfare

looks like you all enjoyed epcot and the beverages great hat shots with the boys!
we are planning to have lunch there with some of my scrap DIS friends...bummer about the screaming kid, funny the CM didn't step in

know you were sad to say good-bye to Nicki and Todd

looking forward to seeing your photos from MVMCP

 

[Pluto0809]

I've tasted the Beverly but never at Epcot. Living in Atlanta with World of Coke here, I've never had the urge to stop in the one in Epcot.

That's the second time today I've seen that "naked" statue from Norway in a TR. I don't think I've ever seen it in person.

I think the China hat picture is the best one yet. The guys look so serious with their bowing.

Bummer for the last meal with friends. And yuck to the screaming baby. But at least he calmed down and you had a good meal.

Great pictures with Pooh and Tigger. I don't think a lot of people even know that Meet & Greet is there. I've never seen a line.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Somehow, I knew that there would be tears in that last update. I know that it's hard saying goodbye but you made some great memories.