A 2 Week Grand Villa Extravaganza! 2.5 Years Late... FINAL DAY!!

[Pirate Granny]

What a great day...more, more, more

 

[Mamapapa]

Can't wait for more!!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Can't wait for more!!

What a great day...more, more, more

You got it folks! More is on the way...

It seems like Ryan had an awesome birthday!!!! (I mean who wouldn't if they're spending it in Disney) I love the pictures

It was an amazing birthday, just epic. I think it will be hard to top it!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 6: Thursday June 5 – Resort: OKW – Parks: AK and MK

Happy Thanksgiving! Gobble, Gobble… I am very thankful to be spending this day with my family and friends. I am also thankful that Josh of easywdw.com came out with the June 2015 crowd calendar yesterday. Gotta have priorities, right? I just spent a half hour helping my Mom pick parks for her June trip (she and Papa are taking Josh, Eme and Brie). She was getting frustrated, but one has to keep their eye on the prize - in this day and age this planning is critical to a successful trip, right? So we worked through it and have a solid plan… Hmmmm, now where are we in the report? Oh, right! Ry-guy’s birthday. After a lovely afternoon at OKW (gorgeous weather for the birthday boy), we hopped on a bus headed for MK. The brothers were being particularly sweet to each other:



We had an early ADR at the Birthday boy’s pick: Chef Mickey's. We were on the bus by four (our ADR was at 5) but we hit a traffic jam at the entrance of MK. No matter how hard they try, Disney can't prevent the real world from crowding into our vacation altogether. It is so frustrating to see your destination out the window whilst being trapped on the bus! Regardless, we got to CM in just the nick of time after a brisk walk from the MK bus zone. Family shot:



I’m five!



Ok. I’m going to rant (again) about my dislike of character dining, and in particular of buffets. I don’t like them (duh). You try to eat, get good pics of the characters, and enjoy yourself. All of which does not overlap on a character dining venn diagram. Character interaction at CM was sufficient, but did not live up to our 2012 trip’s expectations (see the pre-trip report - Goofy fell in love with Clara and tried to steal her away - she still talks about it to this day). Also, what’s up with the buffet and the line? Is there a line? No. No there is not. I think this is a common misconception at buffets. Oh well… Rant over. Now for cute character pictures:
















Another reason I believe character dining to be subpar is the lack of Photopass photographers. Why can’t they assign a Photopass person to a character? It is almost impossible to get a good picture at these meals, let alone eat. We ordered Ryan a special birthday cake in advance:





Boy oh boy, was that a large cake! We each had a giant slice and although no one finished theirs we got our $ worth out of that bad boy! Overall it was fun and Ryan had a great time, which is what it is really about. On our way out we decided to hop on the monorail instead of walking to the MK. Boy oh boy, do I love the monorail! We got to MK with just enough time to rush over for our first FP+: BTMRR! On our way I noticed that people were already lining Main Street USA in preparation for the MSEP. Wow. It was only 7pm! Onward to the wildest ride in the wilderness...



It was super fun, but I have to say that it was not my finest FP+ planning- all the way to the back of the park then way over to Buzz for our second FP+ of the evening. Oh well, these were Ryan’s wishes, and who can deny such a cute little man?!? Buzz was fun, and once again MM provided super ride pictures (of which I will only post one of the birthday boy since I'm maxing out on my image count):



Buzz has some great picture opportunities:



At this point it was closing in on the time to get in line for our final FP+ of the night: MSEP! So I wandered over to the front of the castle while the kids danced with the Incredibles in Tomorrowland, sorry- no pictures I made some friends while waiting in line, some nice folks from England who actually had a good friend who lives in our town in Colorado. Small world indeed! Brie joined me in line just as they scanned our Magic Bands to get in the secured area. This is where I pulled some seriously bad tourist behavior. Let me apologize in advance, but it had to happen. As we walked in the area I could see that we would have no trouble securing an area right along the front, but to be honest I had my heart set on front AND center. So when the CM told me and Brie to keep moving, I looked at her and said “Sorry, I don’t speak english, I’m not sure what move along means.” Straight faced. She was not impressed, but her male counterpart was doubled over laughing. In the end, we would’ve almost been in the center if we had moved down, so it wasn’t that naughty… Here’s our view:




The rest of the family joined us in a little bit (we secured out spot with the sit and stand) and we settled in for an amazing front row seat…



And this is where “Nina’s got to go” struck again…. Yep, at the five minute warning, just as the lights were dimming, Clara declared that she had to pee. So I scooped her up and ran to the bathroom next to the Tomorrowland Terrace, and then ran back. It’s a good thing I live at 7800 feet above sea level, because that was an amazing run - through the crowds, in the heat, holding a sturdy four year old. We made it there in back in two minutes flat! Again, not the best tourist behavior, but necessary. The parade was delightful and all the effort to secure a great location was worth it:





Ryan was in seventh Heaven, all cozy with his Momma:



We decided to stay put after the parade was over, even though we knew it wouldn’t be the best spot to see all the fireworks. Papa took a well deserved nap (after all he was up and golfing at the break of dawn that morning):



The babies prepared for the fireworks by donning their earmuffs:



And then we enjoyed the Castle show, in particular the Frozen segment. It was just so magical! And then Wishes began!



The kids were enthralled, and the earmuffs worked like a charm once again:



We went out the back way as soon as the fireworks were over. Although we were standing, we were on the first bus to OKW and before we knew it we were “home.” So there you go, the end of day 6! And what a day it was…. Happy Thanksgiving everyone!

 

[Pirate Granny]

Thanks for the R journal which kept this log of our amazing trip. More, more

 

[Lisa29]

What an amazing day. Looks like it was made perfect for ryan

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

I have just joined the party loving your trip report

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 7: Friday June 6 – Resort: OKW – Parks: BB and DHS

I am so, so sorry I haven’t posted in a while! I have been so busy with work, calculus planning and a special Christmas project that I will dedicate a post to in just a few days. Despite all that, I pledge to post at least a handful (four perhaps?) of updates over Christmas break. We are in Michigan visiting family and tragically it is RAINING! I need a white Christmas and it seems unlikely at this point. Oh well.

Time sure flies, as our birthday boy is over five and a half this month! At day seven of a fifteen day trip, we are almost at our halfway point. I really didn’t mind as my hubby, Caz was to arrive in the late hours of day 7. I was up early getting packed for Blizzard Beach, and Eme was up even earlier than I and was happily writing in her trip journal on the balcony with my Mom. The schedule for day seven included a full day at BB followed by an evening at DHS, and the weather was HOT and sunny, but not too sticky. The rest of the kids were out of bed by 9 (if you recall we enjoyed Wishes the night before and were home rather late), and we were on the bus by 10:15, followed by Papa and Brie in the car.

On the way in we grabbed a handful of photopass pics:







We scored a nice home base for the day, just to the side but almost directly under the chair lift. I know we took a picture, but for the life of me I can’t find it. It was a good spot- not on the sand, but near Avalunch, Tykes Peak, the Ski Patrol Training Camp and the wave pool. Not much shade or privacy, but a string of chairs and loungers just for us! To kick off the fun we hopped on the aforementioned ski lift and headed to Teamboat Springs. I always get a kick out of that as we live pretty close to “Steamboat Springs!” It is a small world, afterall…

We hit up the lazy river and some of us were able to find a PP photographer:





A personal favorite of mine:


Eme, Papa, Josh and I hiked to the top of the main hill and Eme and I went on Slush Gusher while Papa and Josh waited for Summit Plummet. The littles, my Mom and Drea were over at Tykes Peak. Josh and Papa were still in line when Eme and I finished our slides, so we went on the Toboggn Racers. That completed, we cut through the wave pool to head back to our chairs, with just enough time to catch Papa and Josh come down Summit Plummet:





Wow! I was super impressed that Josh did it, I know I was too chicken! We had lunch and then a group of us climbed the hill again to ride Teamboat Springs:



I think Brie and Drea lounged while Buszia took Ryan to the lazy river and Papa and Clara went on Teamboat Springs again (a favorite of hers since our 2011 trip). The rest of us headed over to the Ski Patrol area where Eme and Josh took on the icebergs. Only Eme made it all the way across (she was very proud - after a week together she and Josh were getting very competitive, behaving more like brother and sister than cousins), and the PP guy was able to snap a few pictures:





Josh tried again and I so badly wanted pictures, but alas he tumbled before the very, very slow little girl in front of him crossed. That family probably got 15 pictures of their daughter, and sadly we had none of Josh. First world problems, am I right? The kids headed over to the T-bar area, and each took two turns, which was captured for posterity:













It was just around 4 pm which meant it was time to call it a day at BB and make our way to DHS. We had a special dinner planned and it wouldn’t do to be late! I promise to be back soon with the rest of day 7… See you real soon!

 

[THiiNKTiiNKx0]

BB looks like it was so much fun! The boys were braver than I am. Plummet Summit just looks terrifying.

 

[Duffy Lover]

Thanks for the journal which kept this log of our amazing trip. More, more

No kidding Mom. There would be no way to remember any of this without it!

What an amazing day. Looks like it was made perfect for ryan

He had a spectacular day. It was really nice to be able to spend it with him, too!

I have just joined the party loving your trip report

Welcome! Thank you!

BB looks like it was so much fun! The boys were braver than I am. Plummet Summit just looks terrifying.

Seriously brave, right? No way for me. BB was a glorious day no doubt. The next day is also fantastic - yet another water park day. It actually may be even better!

I am trying to upload the photos for the next post to photobucket, but the internet is going S-L-O-W! I better get to it since I promised four posts and half Christmas break is already over....

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 7: Friday June 6 – Resort: OKW – Parks: BB and DHS


Um, I just looked at the date and apparently a week has passed since I pledged FOUR updates in two weeks. Eek. I guess I just need to get to it- Calculus be damned!


When we last were together, the family was leaving BB and heading over to DHS. Papa and Brie were driving over and the rest of us hopped on a bus to the swan and then took the boat over to the park.





Believe it or not, using WDW transportation was quicker than taking a car and we beat Brie and Papa:





We “Mickeyed Up” into the park and then headed down Sunset Blvd. towards RnRC. I got very creative planning FP+ at DHS, so that everyone (including Caz who arrived the next day) got to ride all the headliners, particularly since we were only visiting DHS twice, and both in the evenings. So here’s how I played it: I got a FP+ for RnRC, and then we got a baby swap (both Clara and Ryan are too small). Then the rest of the fam booked it over to TSM (everyone but myself had a FP+), followed by a FP+ at Star Tours. For the final FP+, everyone but my Dad and I had passes to Muppet Vision, and he and I had FP+ for ToT (with a plan to get Baby Swaps). Oh, in in between all this we had dinner at Hollywood and Vine for a character dining with a twist. Whew. This is all between 4 pm (our first FP+) and 7:40 (our last FP+). Did

you catch all that?


So where were we… It was four pm and I had a date with Aerosmith. Super fun! I love not waiting…





Good times. While I was riding the kids hung with Buszia and Drea and Brie shopped:








I was done in no time flat and the whole group headed towards TSM. In the meantime, Brie and Papa made it to the park:





We stopped for a group photo, and apparently Brie was hungry:





The group was in and out of TSM in less than 25 minutes…


















In the mean time I called Caz who was on his way to the airport (squee!) and chatted about the coming week. It was actually quite nice and I didn’t mind that I couldn’t ride TSM. When everyone got out we mosied over towards the Honey I shrunk the kids playground and along the way we enjoyed checking out the people decked out in Star Wars garb, both official and fans. Josh encountered a storm trooper and we had to pause for a photo:





We got to the playground, and the kids had a blast..








After playing for what seemed for forever, it was time to use our FP+ for Star Tours. On our way we met some great foes (I’m going to post ALL the great PP photos we got at this gem of a spot):


























Whew. What an hour and a half! So I’ll stop here, but I promise I’ll be back soon with the rest of day 7. Happy New Year!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 7: Friday June 6 – Resort: OKW – Parks: BB and DHS

Let’s pick up where we left off yesterday… We just finished dueling with the dark side of the Force and it was time to check out Star Tours. In the queue, at each spot where there was a height stick, the CMs did their jobs and measured Clara. Thanks to her growth spurt, she was in the clear!





Ever since I had Clara, I have suffered from motion sickness. Go figure. To combat this problem, I took a Dramamine earlier in the day (it also helped on RnRC, but I really had a hard time tolerating motion simulators). Any who, it worked like a charm. I loved Star Tours, and there was no motion sickness! All the kids loved it too, so much so that we decided to ride it again. Who could resist with no wait time (and during Star Wars Weekend)? On this journey, Eme was the rebel spy! It was super cool, but despite the number of permutations (order matters) of possible show segments we somehow had two out of three that were the same as the first trip. Regardless, everyone loved it and I have to say it was one of the most fun family rides we went on during the whole trip.


Then the time had come for one of my least favorite activities at WDW. A character dining buffet. Ug. At least this buffet offered some pretty neat alternative character outfits. The Fab Five were dressed as Star Wars characters! Unfortunately that did not mean they were any better at interacting with the kids. More rushed, uninspired character interactions were the name of the game. Tragically, Papa had also forgot his camera and as such we have a bevy of crappy pictures from smart phones (not too different than usual). On the upside for a five dollar up charge per person, we did get the Fantasmic package. Without further ado, pictures:






























After dinner, we all headed over to ToT so that we could get a baby swap. The original plan was to have everyone go with us and then head over to Muppet vision, but my Mom ended up hanging out with the kids because we were concerned about seating for Fantasmic later that evening. Sadly in the end we did not get to the Muppets. Which is a bummer since we didn’t get there on our second day at DHS either. To be honest, I feel that we missed a good deal of the attractions at DHS, but more on that in a later post. Along the way to ToT, we stopped for some silly photos:







In the end we ended up with six total baby “fastpasses.” My Dad and one group presented Ryan, and then I presented Clara with Andrea. In the end, I don’t really remember how many times we rode ToT (I want to say twice, and I think the on ride photos back that up).





I just love ToT! It is probably my favorite ride at WDW. After Papa and I rode ToT; he, Brie and Drea went on RnRC:





In the meantime, Buszia and the kids had made their way over to the Fantasmic theater and had secured us seats:





The girls spent some of their gift card money from Buszia on light up toys, and when the show began, Clara was pretty frightened. It was pretty intimidating… When the show ended we hustled out to the park entrance to view the Star Wars fireworks:








They were amazing! Even though we were not front and center and some of the fireworks were obscured by the buildings, the music, the atmosphere and the energy was great. Little Ry-guy was conducting the music with his hands, and all the kids were in awe. Two enthusiastic thumbs up! As soon as the show was over we hustled to the bus stop and crammed into the first bus that arrived. For the second night in a row people gave up their seats so that Clara, Eme and I could sit (I was holding Clara as she was exhausted). It was unexpected and very generous.


When we got home the kids passed right out and Drea and I looked at all our PP pics. We realized that we had some silly pictures (like the one in front of ToT) that really had us laughing our ***** off. Caz’s plane was late, and he finally arrived off the DME at around 1 am. Woo Hoo!!! It was just wonderful to wander back to our villa while enjoying the delightful ambiance of OKW hand in hand with my hubby. <3


On a more downer note, I had realized that somewhere along the way at DHS, I had lost the special gift card my mom had made me. Even more special was that is was loaded with $200, but it was now gone! I emailed the customer service number for gift cards since it was too late to call and crossed my fingers. I had yet to even use it, so hopefully it was just lost and not stolen, though I can’t imagine how it got lost anyways. Grrr… That wraps up day seven of our amazing trip. Half done! Whoa...


Three out of four updates done, and I still have four and a half days left of vacation. What -What!?! And a ton of calculus lessons to plan… Happy new year!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Howdy folks! I hope you had a nice New Year's day. I know I really enjoyed MSU's amazing comeback in the Cotton Bowl. As you may recall, I didn't post updates the four weeks between Thanksgiving and Christmas. This was because I was working on a special project for my Mom, Pirate Granny. I am not a scrapbooker, but for years she has been asking for scrapbook from us girls that represents all the trips we've taken over the years. So my sister Drea started it, and we split up some of the trips. She enjoys scrapbooking here and there and tackled trips that spanned all the way back to my parent's honeymoon at DL back in 1972. I did trips that she did not go on, which included Eme's first trip in 2007, the trip where I was pregnant with Clara in 2009, our Surprise 2012 trip and then the recent trip I went on with my Mom this past September. So without delay here are the 11 pages I contributed to the book:























I'm going to still try to get one more post done by the end of the day on Sunday. We fly back to Colorado tomorrow night (late!) but we'll be able to enjoy a day at home Sunday before the daily grind begins for 2015... See you real soon!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Well, update #4 is not going to happen tonight. We flew from Detroit to Denver last night and there was a security breach at the Denver airport's baggage area. Apparently someone broke into the secure area to retrieve something they put in their luggage "that they shouldn't have put there" (Southwest agent's words). Two hours after we landed they finally told us that our luggage could still be four hours away from "dropping" on the terminal. In the end we got a hotel room in Denver instead of heading home and waking up in our own beds.


So long story short, we got to bed at 1:30 MST (3:30am EST) at a hotel (which was not planned) and my children did not sleep in, so I am exhausted. We got to our house late this afternoon and with every thing we had to do... Well... Sorry I let you down, but what can you do? Oh, I know - email Southwest and let them know how much time and money the security breach cost my family.

See ya real soon!

 

[Mrs Doubtfire]

The scrapbook pages look great, it must have taken some time to do them

A pain about your luggage, at least you're home now!

 

[Duffy Lover]

The scrapbook pages look great, it must have taken some time to do them

A pain about your luggage, at least you're home now!

Thank you for the compliment on the scrapbook pages! I worked my butt off on those things. It was fun, too, but I wish I had like 30 hours in a day, then I'd be able to do everything and scrapbook!

I'm drafting my letter to Southwest today. I'm hoping they will add some points to our frequent flyer accounts at the very least. Afterall, we lost a day at home AND had to pay for a hotel room.

I'm going to update at least once this weekend. I am pretty stoked about a weekend at home, and I get to play hockey THREE times! WooHoo! This is especially important as I am starting Weight Watchers again on Friday and hockey gives you TONS of points... So it will ease my way back into dieting. Good times.

See you real soon!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 8: Saturday June 7 – Resort: OKW – Park: EPCOT

I obviously need to find more time for Disney, as it seems like all my posts begin with an apology about how long it has been since I’ve posted. What can you do when you are a mom, teacher, administrator, hockey player, wife… I could go on and on. Hey - whatever! I scored a nice goal last night, my team lost, but it was a valiant effort none the less. On to more important issues, like what is going on for Day 8 in this epic trip report. If you didn’t read my pre-trip report, you will be surprised to hear that this morning and early afternoon was time to just chill at the resort. And what a beginning to the day it was…

Caz and I were up late the night before (not as late for him as 2 am EST is midnight on MST) and my Mom (Papa was golfing) was a gem and made sure the kids didn’t bother us in the morning. Thanks again Pirate Granny! In the end we didn’t get out of bed until 9am. It was heavenly. We rolled out to the pool around mid morning and were once again rewarded with spectacular weather. I don’t think it had rained since day 4, which was four days earlier. The kids loved the down time in the morning and enjoyed the pool at the HH area even more:





The kids love the sand...







It was pretty much a perfect day at OKW:





Ahhhh…. I feel better even looking at those pictures. After we had our fun in the sun, we headed back to the villa for some lunch and then we were on the bus to Epcot. We had quite an evening planned, and our first FP+ was scheduled from 2:15-3:15. What was it you ask? You’ll have to check in tomorrow when I finish Day 8’s updates. Until then here are some bus photos to wrap up the post:

Waiting (it's artsy because it's tilted)...


Clara doing the “Force” (long story short, when she was little she used the “Force” against anything that scared her - this went back to when she was about two years old)...


Adorable Ryan...


A happy wife with her husband…


See you real soon!

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 8: Saturday June 7 – Resort: OKW – Park: EPCOT

Howdy pals! I hope you are having a lovely Sunday. It is sunny and warm here in NW Colorado (if you call 36 degrees warm). Football is on the tv, despite the fact that our team was robbed two weeks ago (Really?!?! You pick up the flag?!?) And chili is about to be concocted. It all adds up to a wonderful weekend.

I ended yesterday with our bus ride to Epcot. It was a spectacular morning lounging at the pool and enjoying OKW. We arrived at Epcot and took what turned out to be one of the best family pics of the trip:



We just didn’t have luck with PP, and having everyone in the pic. I actually got my Mom a really cool cut out for Christmas. It has this picture merged with another trip’s image of the castle. I’ll have Pirate Granny take a pic of it. It is pretty cool.

Now it was time to get serious. We had a FP+ engagement at 2:15 for the newly designed TT. I have to say that the kids really, really loved making the cars. It was a highlight. It was pure entertainment, but I really appreciate the engineering aspect of the attraction….



The ride was fun and Caz’s first attraction of the trip. A good time was had by all:



You can’t see the littles but Clara was next to me and Ryan was next to her. Too cute. Our big group allowed some single riders to join us in the second car...



The kids really enjoyed the post attraction area, including Auntie Brie-Brie:





This was a convenient feature of FP+. We knew we had this ride secured and were able to maximize our time at the resort. The downside comes with very few options at Epcot… This really needs addressed, and removing Maelstrom and adding Frozen won’t fix it. I digress. We mosied our way over towards Mission Space, where everyone but Clara and Buszia took a ride (we had a FP+ for this, but it was completely unnecessary as it was the most recommended park by the only crowd calendar that matters). I’ll be honest, I know some of us rode on the orange side, and some on the green, but I’m at a loss for who did what.



This didn’t take too long, and it was time to do what suited us. At first we thought we could do Soarin’ as it only had a posted 20 minute wait on the Wait Time Board. So we headed over to the land where we were disappointed to see that the wait time was actually 40 minutes. Nope, too long for us… So we journeyed over to the Land and enjoyed the cruise. The kids really love this ride, and so did Caz. I slept. I loved that.

After our boat ride through agriculture, we took a spin on Figgy (which was a walk on). Apparently Papa disregarded the no flash photography rule and caught Josh and Clara being disgusted by the skunk portion of the ride. Clara still talks about how much she hates that part!:



As we walked into the post ride area, I lamented at how big my girls and nephews had grown. In previous trips this is where children danced and played, in particular in the area with the musical instruments linked to the floor tiles. On this trip, we were barely able to catch a few photos before the kids lost interest and moved on:







I really feel that this is an area that needs some umph. Come on Disney! Bring back the original, or do something fantastic with this space! It really is a waste. On the flip side, the children loved the jumping fountains…









After this we somewhat split up for a spell, as we all shopped in Mouse Gears. The girls used their Disney bucks from Papa and Buszia to buy some jewelry (scouted out from earlier in the trip) but the boys debated long and hard (as they should, purchases at Disney should be carefully considered). Since we had some time we got some bonus PP pics:










This was another spot where we got some great pics, but also some strange ones. The photographer told us to cup our hands as Tinker Bell would be inserted into the photo. No dice. In the end it wasn’t worth it to me to contact PP reps, and honestly the pics are kind of funny…





We regrouped and then headed toward dinner… Where you ask? Time will tell… See you real soon?

 

[Duffy Lover]

Day 8: Saturday June 7 – Resort: OKW – Park: EPCOT

I hope everyone had a good weekend… I know I did. The girls are in bed (not asleep) and the hour is getting late… But it was still early evening on Day 8 of our trip. We were in Epcot and the weather was amazing and barely humid. We were heading over to Mexico for dinner inside the pavillion at our last meeting. Brie’s dining request was at the San Angel Inn, and both Caz and I were very excited, as we loved mexican cuisine. I also just love the Mexican Pavillion… It is so romantic and it smells amazing. Am I crazy? Hmmm…

We all were in good spirits, and the kids enjoyed the atmosphere…



We waited in the entrance of the restaurant,





and I scoped the available seats. I know Brie had been looking forward to this meal for years, and I was very hopeful we’d be seated in the main part of the facility. Alas, that was not to be, and we were seated in the corner by the bathrooms.





One of my hockey teammates recently spent her holidays with her family at WDW. We were talking about her dining experiences and she mentioned this restaurant. I told her how we loved the meal, but were sadly shoved in this corner, and then she described our table as the exact table where her family was placed as well. Go figure. You gotta love finding those people who know WDW as intimately as you do. Anyways, dinner was amazing - although the jalapeno margarita was really a cucumber margarita (we tried to go to the Cava before our meal - Caz and I have good memories of this place from our 2008 trip - but it was really crowded this time), and the salsa with the chips was more a smoky dip than a salsa. Otherwise it was spectacular.

As dinner was winding down, I decided to head to guest relations to try and resolve my gift card loss. In the mean time the family rode the Donald ride (its true name escapes me) in the pavillion. The CM I dealt with at GR was amazing. She had to call some folks to figure it out, but in the end the full amount for my lost gift card was placed on a different gift card I had gotten for another gift from my parents. Just amazing. By the time this was resolved, it took about an hour, my family was slightly cranky and tired. We had FP+ reservations for Spaceship Earth, and after that ride most of our party was done for the day.

Caz, Drea, Brie and I were supposed to go to the After Hours dining experience at Spice Road Table, but Drea and Brie were both exhausted and they decided to go home. Alone, Caz and I wandered the World Showcase, along with some adult beverages, and then settled down in the grass by Morocco to enjoy Illuminations. I didn’t mind being away from the crowds, and I got to see the higher fireworks I missed earlier in the trip while snug in my hubby’s arms. After the show, we milled about waiting for our ADR for the After Hours event. I was pretty excited for it and assumed we’d be seated outside (which is why we selected it over Rose and Crown and the Italy options). Alas, that was not to be and we were seated in the small interior dining area. It was lovely, and the decor was spot on and quite romantic. Then there was the fluorescent lights. They were horrible, and made the whole place look garish and stark. I don’t have any pictures, I think I was too disgusted to bother. I did take some pics of our wine and my “meal.”







The drinks and food were very well prepared and paired. I was still pretty full from dinner, so it was hard to finish. I was also not too happy to have been seated right next to a couple about our age and their 3 year old, exhausted son. I just couldn’t believe it… I understand that sometimes you really want to try something and you ignore the fact that you’re a parent to make it happen, but come on. It was 10pm when the family was seated and the child was just wrecked and made the meal miserable for both his parents and for Caz and I. Sigh.

Needless to say, we didn’t linger in Morocco that night, which to be honest is a shame. Leaving Epcot, the plan was to head over to Jelly Rolls with my sisters, but with those lovely ladies long asleep, my enthusiasm for going out waned. Looking back, I really wish I had sucked it up, grabbed a coke and headed out for dueling piano fun. In the end we just walked over to BCV, where I enjoyed showing Caz the sights (he has yet to stay there), and taking some late night pics.





I wonder how this lobby will look after the supposed remodel it is supposed to receive this coming year….



Whew, I’m rather tired just thinking about this day. It was really spectacular, but in the end instead of going out on the town, Caz and I took a cab to OKW and finished the day watching hockey in our spectacular living room. Typical.

I’m sure you’re all keen to hear what excitements await us on day 9, but you’ll have to be patient. Goodness knows when I’ll have the time to do three updates in one weekend again… See you real soon!

 

[Pirate Granny]

Good work..three TR in one weekend. Looking at the family pictures at dinner, I think the morning pool time probably added to everyone being tired that night.