A Magical Place at a Magical Time of Year

[momabaarjo]

Actually it is not just a column in the center...

The Magic Carpets of Aladdin is a fanciful flight for all ages aboard a flying carpet in Adventureland at Magic Kingdom theme park.

Soar around a giant genie bottle on your very own magic carpet! This exotic adventure is geared toward younger kids who love to make their carpet go up and down, or pitch forward and back. Be sure to watch out for the camel facing the ride who occasionally spits water at the carpets passing by. But don't worry. It's very unlikely you'll get even a little wet.

Each flying carpet vehicle accommodates a total of 4 people with 2 in the front seat and 2 in the back seat. Sit in the front seat to control the height of your flying carpet. Sit in the back seat if you want to control the forward and back pitch.

Princess Jasmine and Aladdin are sometimes nearby this attraction, so keep an eye out as you soar above Agrabah on The Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

 

[momabaarjo]

A little something for Chris...

 

[shocky5]

Happy Birthday to your hubby, too! Hope you made it on to Memphis without too much travel issues. And Vegas is next! Enjoy your friends and then enjoy your trip to Vegas! Sounds like great fun!

Can't wait to hear what he thought about the video. Hubbies are so hard to buy for anymore... I think... when they get to this age. When they need something, they just go buy it... and God forbid we try to buy them anything that may have once been a hobby but isn't any longer... clothes beyond their comfort zone... I could go on and on...

HAVE FUN!

 

[annmarieda]

happy birthday to your dh! I hope you have a great time!!!

 

[momabaarjo]

Checking in...hope you are busy planning and doing well!

 

[shocky5]

I'm checking in, too! And I love that Mickey pic, Tammie, that you posted on here! It's getting so close!

 

[swwake]

Hi y'all. I figured I'd better check in, even if I can't catch up on my game and scoring. I will do that one day soon.

I've been crazy busy. I'm one of those people that always bites off more than I can chew.

Not sure if I mentioned in a previous post, but after Chris's birthday trip to Memphis and Vegas, we had Family Weekend at CU Boulder with Katie (late Sept/early Oct). That was a fun time and it was fun to see Katie.

Last week I went on a short cruise with 7 other ladies. I have to tell you, we laughed until we cried all week long. I haven't laughed that hard in ages, and it was good for all of us. Here's just one photo of us in Freeport, Bahamas.

As you can see, we almost didn't make it back to the States.

This week has been "recover-from-overindulgence-in-melting-chocolate-cake-and-vodka" week. And I've been getting back into the swing of work and catching up on bills and home duties.

Also this week, I have had my first stint as hotline responder for Gold Ribbon Rescue, the local golden retriever rescue group, where we got our Harry in 2007. It's been very interesting, heart wrenching at times, and fulfilling. And it has resulted in our first go at fostering. We haven't ever committed to fostering in the past because we travel so much we don't feel we could do it. But this time, we (the group) were short on foster homes, and this dog needed to be out quickly, so we agreed to it for up to a month.

Today, we brought home Lhasa.

He's a pretty wonderful dog and will make one lucky family very happy.

In the middle of all of this, I paid off our Disney trip and the Universal portion this week. And it feels so good! Now, all we have to pay for are our town car/cab and food while on vacation. And all of that money is earmarked in savings, so there's no stress.

Being back from the cruise, Disney is our next big vacation and we're all getting pretty darned excited. I am having a hard time NOT overplanning this. I've started listening to podcasts and I will be watching for photos on November 2nd, when the Magic Kingdom magically transforms from Halloween/harvest to holiday/Christmas decorations. Ooohhhh I can't wait! This will be our first ever visit at Christmas time.

 

[momabaarjo]

WOW...you have been traveling! I think I need a week of overindulgence-in-melting-chocolate-cake-and-vodka! That sounds just about like what the doctor needs to order for me! Your picture is so much fun!!!

Lhasa is beautiful! What a lucky puppy to have you for even just a short while!

Happy over-planning! We want to here what you have planned!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

Can you believe I hadn't found your PTR yet?
I had been wondering how come you didn't have one going, and I remember looking at your signature looking for it, and didn't... mystery!

Now I need to catch up!

And I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you, going in both Universal and WDW at the same period as we will!

Going to get readin now!

 

[AnnieDan_Artlover]

223 days until Disney.

What can be found at the very top of Spaceship Earth?
A A VIP lounge for corporate guests
B A lightning rod
C A hidden camera
D A trap door

I skipped a couple of days of trivia because we were in Vegas for a long weekend. Had a great time at the Hard Rock Hotel and Sam Boyd Stadium for the Supercross world championship. We've already made our plans to go next year.

On the flight out there, we had wi-fi so I did a little bit of planning. I created a spreadsheet for best and worst parks, planned meals, and other events (DTD, resort tour). I'll add the park hours later.

We're all getting pretty excited about the trip, talking about it every time we're together. The countdown seems to be moving amazingly fast!

I hope everyone had a great Mother's Day today. Mine was great, but I'm a bit tired and jetlagged.

Honey, how were you able to do a worst and best parks spreadsheet at 223 days out? Tour Guide Mike and the others get that out at around the 180 days mark!
Unless you simply used the previous year data? (probably doesn't change much...)
I'm dying to do mine, but it's still 391 days...

BTW sorry to bring you back in time, I'm reading as fast as I can!

 

[annmarieda]

You have been a busy gal... looks like fun busy though?

The dog is beautiful. It is so good of you to foster. I get to attached...we end up keeping to many animals...so i am not a good candidate to foster animals. (we tried we kept all of them )

 

[shocky5]

Good to hear from you, Susan!

Love the picture of you and the girls at the police station... story??

 

[FosterA]

Glad you popped in for an update!
Looks like you had a wild time on the cruise!!

Your trip is getting closer. yay

 

[momabaarjo]

 

[swwake]

Ok, I'm going to TRY to do some catch-up here. I can't believe I have to go all the way back to 97 days until Disney to catch up. Today we are at 45 days until Disney!! That makes me a baaaad DISer.

What color is found on the flag of every nation with a pavilion in World Showcase at Epcot?

Answer: Red. All of the nations represented in World Showcase have red in their flags.

Points:
tankgirl - 1
Tammie - 1 for correct answer, 1 for graphic
brandanobash said this:

RED REDD RED RED RED RED RED RED blue

So I'm not sure how to give points for that one, but since you said "red" most often, I'll give you 1
Amy - 1
Ann - 1
Ashley - for your super duper dark PINK, I'll call that red and give you 1

93 days question:
Who or what sits atop the center column of The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride?
a.) the Genie
b.) the Genie's lamp
c.) a Spitting Camel
d.) Apu[/QUOTE]
Answer: b. Located next to The Enchanted Tiki Room - Under New Management and near the Agrabah Bazaar, The Magic Carpets of Aladdin ride is themed after the 1992 Disney animated hit, Aladdin. Much like Fantasyland's Dumbo ride, it features ride cars ("magic carpets") revolving around a vertical central hub, which here resembles the Genie's lamp.

Points:
tankgirl - 1
Ashley - 1
Tammie - 1 plus 1 for photo plus 1 for the detail and the chuckle for "Actually it is not just a column in the center..."

Point tally:
Tammie - 40
Ann - 28
Ashley - 15
tankgirl - 12
Amy - 6
brandanobash - 1 and WELCOME!!

 

[swwake]

Have a great time in Memphis! I hope Chris likes the rest of his presents! He should have at least faked his excitement to a degree about the presents rather than a hrmph oh well kind of attitude!

We did have a great time and Chris really, really appreciated his birthday. I will try to remember to update more about that later, even if it's a little stale.

A little something for Chris...

Aww thanks - so sweet of you to think of the Dude that never DISes. I will share that with him!

Happy Birthday to your hubby, too! Hope you made it on to Memphis without too much travel issues. And Vegas is next! Enjoy your friends and then enjoy your trip to Vegas! Sounds like great fun!

Can't wait to hear what he thought about the video. Hubbies are so hard to buy for anymore... I think... when they get to this age. When they need something, they just go buy it... and God forbid we try to buy them anything that may have once been a hobby but isn't any longer... clothes beyond their comfort zone... I could go on and on...

HAVE FUN!

Thanks. Memphis travel issues weren't too bad, although our flights were both late, but we had a great time. We had some travel issues later, and if I am reminded, I'll try to share those. It seems so long ago, but let's just say I'll never willingly fly Continental again. It was that bad.

He loved his video. I will post an update to recap. And yes, he's hard to buy for (or gift to).

We had a great time. It's been a great 6 or so weeks!

happy birthday to your dh! I hope you have a great time!!!

Thanks - we did!

Checking in...hope you are busy planning and doing well!

Love that picture! Thanks for sharing it! Doing well, but not much planning. I don't think we have much left to plan, unless I go commando, which isn't gonna happen with this crew.

I'm checking in, too! And I love that Mickey pic, Tammie, that you posted on here! It's getting so close!

Thanks for checking on me! And I can't believe how close we're getting!

WOW...you have been traveling! I think I need a week of overindulgence-in-melting-chocolate-cake-and-vodka! That sounds just about like what the doctor needs to order for me! Your picture is so much fun!!!

Lhasa is beautiful! What a lucky puppy to have you for even just a short while!

Happy over-planning! We want to here what you have planned!

Yeah, maybe you need some overindulgence-in-melting-chocolate-cake-and-vodka! We should just abbreviate that or give it a code. How does OIMCCAV sounds? Too long. I'm open to suggestions, but that needs to be my new mantra. Now, where to find melting chocolate cake and vodka in WDW?

Thanks on Lhasa. He is a real beauty. A great dog too. But I have to say we are a 2-dog house and this is likely to be our first and last fostering experience. We will continue to find other ways to help the rescue group. More on that later (if I can remember to fill y'all in).

Haha I don't really have any more planned than I've shared so far. But I may just be compelled to list out all the stuff we plan to do in one of my entries in the future.

Can you believe I hadn't found your PTR yet?
I had been wondering how come you didn't have one going, and I remember looking at your signature looking for it, and didn't... mystery!

Now I need to catch up!

And I'm sure I'll learn a lot from you, going in both Universal and WDW at the same period as we will!

Going to get readin now!

Oh Welcome! We have been following each other off and on for about 3 years now, I think. Glad to know you're doing well.

Honey, how were you able to do a worst and best parks spreadsheet at 223 days out? Tour Guide Mike and the others get that out at around the 180 days mark!
Unless you simply used the previous year data? (probably doesn't change much...)
I'm dying to do mine, but it's still 391 days...

BTW sorry to bring you back in time, I'm reading as fast as I can!

You guessed it! I used the prior year hours and calendar when I first started. But now all the stuff is out. You reminded me that I need to re-check and revisit. I think maybe my park hours have changed. I read that they change more often the closer you get to the holidays.

 

[swwake]

You have been a busy gal... looks like fun busy though?

The dog is beautiful. It is so good of you to foster. I get to attached...we end up keeping to many animals...so i am not a good candidate to foster animals. (we tried we kept all of them )

Yes, it has been a fun busy! I am pretty blessed. I try to take nothing for granted.

Lhasa is gorgeous as goldens go. I'll have to tell more about our foster story in a later post. I thought we could never foster because we'd get attached, but that hasn't happened with Lhasa, even though he's virtually the perfect dog. We are just a 2-dog family. More later...

Good to hear from you, Susan!

Love the picture of you and the girls at the police station... story??

Oh boy I'll have to share that story soon. I have so many stories over the past 6 weeks!

Glad you popped in for an update!
Looks like you had a wild time on the cruise!!

Your trip is getting closer. yay

Oh we had the BEST time on the cruise! I couldn't have predicted it, and it will probably never happen again (that way), but so.much.fun!

I can't believe how close we are getting. This Disney trip is creeping up on me! But I love how the time flies when I'm focused on other things. I virtually blinked and we were 45 days closer!

Thanks - I hope you had a great Halloween. Not much happens around here, because we live in a neighborhood with lots of gated homes, on large lots. So the kids don't want to go to the trouble of walking so much for so little candy. I can't say I blame them.

 

[swwake]

I am going to rewind a bit and fill you in on some of my exciting real life since I have been gone from the DIS so long (since some of you asked).

Let's start with Chris's 40th birthday weekend. We flew to Memphis Friday the 16th. Because Southwest doesn't fly to Memphis and I had a round-trip credit on Continental I'll probably never use, we decided to fly Continental through Houston for this trip. I was able to use AmEx points for one of our round trips and the Continental credit for the other. We actually had 6 legs since we flew Austin->Memphis, Memphis->Vegas, Vegas->Austin on that trip.

So when we boarded our first leg AUS->IAH, the flight attendant very abruptly (but I wouldn't say meanly) asked everyone to hurry up and get on the plane and be seated "so we can maintain our ontime departure record." This little tidbit will become important later in the story.

Well, AUS->IAH was a little late. But not to worry because when we got to Houston, that flight was delayed a couple of hours. I can't remember if it was maintenance or weather. Doesn't matter.

So we got to Memphis and Chris's parents had plans to pick us up and take us and Chris's brother to dinner at a very special place. All we knew was they had a reservation and "it's a place you've been to before, but under a different name". Well, when we pulled up in front of our old favorite Memphis Steak & Ale, it had been magically transformed to Sharky's.

We enjoyed a cocktail before dinner, and I would say dinner was "ok". But it was fun to chat with the 'rents.

Then they loaned us their truck and we went to our friends' Troy and Jen's house. Unpacked a little and unwinded some more, then I decided I wanted Chris to see his video because 1) it was his real birthday day and 2) I was a little worried that he might get emotional when he first saw it and I didn't want that to happen in front of all his friends the next night.

So Jen and I said we wanted to watch some DVD with a HOT actor in it (I can't remember what movie we referenced) and snickered a little too much as we popped Chris's birthday video in. He laughed at us and we all had a great time watching for the next 40 minutes. He really liked the video and the effort that had gone into it. He knew I had been working on something having to do with photos, but was surprised when he saw the clips of various friends and family leaving birthday greetings for him. Bottom line, he LOVED it and didn't get emotional, so I was happy.

The next day was a bit crazy, as Troy was tasked with keeping Chris away from the house in the afternoon and bringing him home around 7pm. Everyone was to arrive at 6pm and we had Corky's (famous) Barbecue catered in.

Well, Troy and Chris left at 7:30am to go to a local festival, where Troy as a fire inspector had to do an inspection before it opened at 8:30ish. And when he had finished the inspection, what do you know? They had another 10 hours to kill (unbeknownst to Chris). So Troy had Chris join him on some "pretend" errands around town, and they went to visit one of their mutual friends, Bryan (who, incidentally, introduced Chris and me, along with his wife Melissa). They hung out at Bryan's shop (BMW/Mercedes maintenance) for way too long (especially considering that Bryan would be at the party later that night, but couldn't tell Chris), then more errands.

All day, Chris kept telling Troy "all I want is some good pulled pork barbecue" and trying to convince him to stop for lunch or a snack at any of the various GREAT barbecue joints they passed along the way of their travels and errands. Troy always had some excuse for not stopping (knowing we were having BBQ that night). So eventually they stopped at Back Yard Burger (another of Chris's favorites, which we don't have in Austin). And Chris found it a little odd that Troy whipped out a newspaper and spent about 30 minutes reading it at BYB. That is SO unlike Troy. And Chris was just ready to get back to Troy's house and maybe have a work-out or something.

Meanwhile, Jen and I were making preparations for the big event that night. I'll fill you in on the evening in my next post.

Here's your trivia:
45 Days until Disney! (44 until vacation!) What was the empty stone building next to Germany in Epcot's World Showcase built to house?
a.) A boat ride planned for Germany
b.) An Israel pavilion
c.) The control center for the IlluminiNations fireworks show
d.) Lounges and a restaurant for VIP

 

[momabaarjo]

A...It was supposed to house th Rhine River Cruise, which was to be built AFTER the park opened in 1982...the project date was 1983 but because epcot opened in such debt it was put on hold and there it sits now for almost 30 years!

 

[tankgirl427]

Augh! I'm loving hearing about Chris's birthday, but you left us on such a cliffhanger! Do you get everything done? Does Chris come back early? What's going to happen!!! I can't wait to read more and its nice to have you back!