A MouseEars View of Grand Gatherings - Complete with Over 500 Photos!

[FlightlessDuck]

Unfortunately, we were at the turnstiles _45_ minutes before they opened. So we had a nice view of all the employees walking in past deserted park buildings while everyone got antsy and cranky. Ooops.

I was a bit worried that the members of the party that didn't "get" Disney were getting annoyed that we were waiting this long. But if it was just the 4 of us, it wouldn't have been a problem. Ah, well.

Until Tootsie DuJour rolled up and started the opening show. I had never seen this particular opening show somehow, but it was cute and funny.

I loved this opening show. If nothing else, having a character named "Tootsie DuJour" was just awesome.

Finally, the rope dropped. It really was midway mania. People were shoving and pushing to an extent that I tried to just slow our group up.

I remember it being hurried and crowded, but I don't really remember it being rowdy.

We headed past all the awesome theming...

I was a little dissappointed by the fact that we hurried through the queue. I wanted to look at the theming more. I have the same problem with Star Tours. But, I also don't want to stand in line for an hour...

And finally getting on the ride. It was GREAT!

I hadn't gotten the hang of the pullstring shooter the first time around, but that fixed itself in later ride opportunities. But besides that, I loved this ride. It is one of my favorites in WDW.

I also like the fact that we decided to get in line right away instead of getting the fast passes first.

Next on our agenda was some splitting up. Nick was an absolute NO on Tower of Terror and Rock and Roller Coaster. Faith and Juli were too small. Cyndy wanted to go to Playhouse Disney with Faith and Juli, and though I had wanted to try ToT and RnRC, I decided to stay with her rather than saddle her with Nick and her own two girls. I was a bit bummed, but I'm also a chicken, so I wasn't completely heartbroken.

While the Chicken Brigade watched Playhouse Disney (ugh!), Barry, Hannah, Kairi and I went down Sunset Blvd. to get on Tower of Terror first. Of course, we had to stop at a bathroom first, but finally made our way to the Tower entrance. This is when I saw the wait time posted as 55 minutes. I was at a bit of a panic, because I didn't want to wait that long and leave the Chicken Brigade alone, so I called Jenn. The time didn't seem right to me, so I wanted a second opinion. She agreed that it sounded too long, so we went on the ride. Kairi decided she didn't want to. She was nervous, and didn't have her inhaler, which made her even MORE nervious. I told her to WAIT BY THE ENTRANCE.

There was basically no line at all. We walked right through the queue and into the room where the TV showed the pre-show. Unfortunately, I got to miss a lot of the theming in the ride queue again. A got a little bit antsy as we went through the rest of the queue, through the "boiler room" and got into our row to wait our turn. I am not good with heights, but I figured this was inside. I hadn't been on in either 2002 or 2006, mostly because the kids were too little, but also because I was a bit chicken myself.

Finally, we got in our row and buckled in. There was no turning back now. The elevator went up, opened into a hallway scene were we saw the ghost of the family and elevator operator, which disappeared into a star field. This is really a very impressive effect. The car moved through it's track and finally the window opened up so we could see outside. To be honest, I don't remember what we saw, because we were going down as soon as it registered that I was up high.

The ride was amazing. There was a freedom in being able to enjoy myself free falling and getting shot back up into the air. I had absolutely no fear at this point. I was laughing, grinning like an idiot, and emersing myself in the sensation of being lifted off my seat over and over again. I WAS holding on to my hat, though, so you don't see my face in the picture.

Hannah and Barry decided to look through the gift shop while I went to look for Kairi. I walked out of the gift shop and up to the entrance, only to not be able to see her.

Holy crap, I lost our daughter in Disney World! ​

She either didn't have her cell on, or didn't have it with her. I was getting rather scared at this point, and started walking back to the gift shop to get Barry and Hannah, and I found Kairi in the gift shop. She said she saw it from where she was and assumed she would find us in there. I must have walked right passed her, or something. But, as you can see from above, I told her to stay by the entrance.

OK, so heart attack averted. At least for the time being...

Next was Rock-n-Roller Coaster. This was another first for me. Kairi, once again, chickened out. The posted time for this was 40 minutes, but I was hoping for a shorter line. We did wait in our longest line up to this point. I didn't time it exactly, but it was over 20 minutes, maybe 30. I was getting nervous more from hearing the warning about high blood pressure (which I had) than anything else.

The nervous feeling hadn't subsided when I got on the ride, and when the coaster shot off at 60 mph, I thought I was going to have a heart attack right then and there (see: picture in Jenn's post). However, as soon as the initial g-force of the launch was lifted, I had a blast. Steel looping roller coasters are another ride I can't handle because of my fear of heights. Seeing how these things look when they are outside gets me antsy. The fact that I couldn't see what this ride was going to do, again, gave me the freedom to just love the ride itself. The lit up road signs and rest of the theming were great. I could feel corkscrews and lifts and falls and everything. It was awesome.

Hannah bought her deely boppers in the gift shop, and I met Kairi out by the big guitar. We stopped by the same bathroom, AGAIN (*sigh*) and while walking back up Sunset Blvd., I started getting a tightness in my chest. While I had lost 23lbs since January, I was still rather large, and I was starting to panic. Should I have heeded the warning? Was I actually, really, truly going to have a heart attack?

We met up with the rest of the group and went over to the Great Movie Ride, and the tightness hadn't subsided. We waited in line and watched old trailers, and the tightness still hadn't subsided. Finally, we got into the ride itself and I started to feel better. I think I mentioned to Jenn at some point that I wasn't feeling well, but she didn't seemed that concerned. I ended up chalking the feeling up to indigestion (I hadn't drank a carbonated beverage all trip, which wasn't normal for me).

The Great Movie Ride is started to show it's age. And we had to hide Faith and Juli during the Alien scene. But I do so love the ride. It's cheesy, but in a classic way.

We just saw Mary Poppins on Broadway, so the kids probably remember that more than the movie, but it's a favorite and the closest we got to Mary Poppins on this trip. (Which is a good thing, too. Much like the dancer in Morocco, Scott's not allowed too close to Mary.)

English nannies are hot! Dick Van **** thinks so, too

Even though we had just eaten breakfast, the rest of the group was ready for lunch, and our next chance to eat might conflict with the times for our TSM fastpass and the Indiana Jones stunt show. Not to mention the fact that dinner was slated for 3:50 (thank you Fantasmic package - sigh) So we headed back to Starring Rolls. At this point, the little girls were starting to get a bit thirsty and cranky, and Cyndy was losing patience. It didn't help that as we tried to get into the bakery, the skies opened up in a torrential downpour. Fortunately, Scott snagged us a spot under the umbrellas that kept our food and fronts very dry - although run-off from the umbrella still got our backs wet.

We obviously didn't think this through. Barry, Hannah, Kairi and I didn't have breakfast with everyone else, so we were hungry. We were all able to eat. I think I had the turkey (I don't really remember). It was good, as was the dessert, but not Wolfgang-Puck's-Express-good. Still better than any other counter service in DHS.

After lunch, it was time to go back and rock Toy Story Mania again.

We didn't record scores, but Kairi and I beat Jenn and Nicky pretty well both times. I think Kairi beat everybody, but I am pretty sure I came in second either in the morning or in the afternoon. Maybe both, I forget.

Fortunately, everything was sunny again for the moment with our personal emotional rollercoaster, and while poor Scott hustled to find the stroller, a passing CM offered to take a shot of us that turned out to be one of my favorites.

I think it kind of sucks that I was relegated to stroller duty while everyone else who was there got to be in basically the best picture from the whole trip. Ah, well, that's what happens when there is a 2 year old along.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"I meant what I said and I said what I meant. An elephant's faithful, one-hundred percent" - Horton

The quote for this post refers more to my trip report than to the trip. Sort of completely ignored this trip report for the past few months. (Thanks to the moderators for pulling it out of the trip report graveyard.) We had some major family upheaval and things got crazy. But I want to use this report to help us remember the trip, so I want to finish the whole report before all the memories fade even more! So, once more - with feeling!

We hadn't run into too much in the way of weather yet on the trip and we were overdue for a good Florida soaking. Once we left TSM, we headed toward Muppet Vision 4-D, but on the way it started to pour.

Not just a little drizzle, but a serious downpour. We were soaked, but sought shelter anyway, and ended up under the exit of Muppets rather than at the entrance. We huddled there for a little while, then decided, aw, what the heck, let's just go. So we slogged over to the entrance and watched the show. By the time we left, the rain was more of a nasty drizzle.

We then headed for the next show of Indy. They warned us at the entrance it wouldn't be the full show because of the rain, but Scott had missed this particular attraction every time he's been to Disney and we all love the Indy movies. (Enough that we went out to see Crystal Skull at midnight. And had a very rude surprise when the movie theater messed up and showed the opening five minutes of the second Harold and Kumar movie to a theater full of young kids. Hm... Perhaps that's a bit off topic here. Certainly was off topic at the time!)

Anyway, we headed into the ampitheater, getting a good laugh about the misters along the path. I'm sure they're great for cooling off when you're hot and dry. When you're already wet and clammy... not so much.

So there we sat, bedraggled and damp, waiting for the show to start.

I did a crazy thing, and volunteered, but nowhere near as loudly as I needed to if I actually wanted to be in the show. So Indy had to save Marion without my help.

The show was much abbreviated, but it was still pretty cool and everyone really enjoyed it. Especially the parts with explosions, cause who doesn't like explosions?

Still, I think Scott could see why I kept bumping it to the end of our touring plan. However, the show did earn the lifelong admiration of Nick, so I imagine we'll be seeing it again on our next visit. In fact, Nick finally decided to part with some of his hoarded souvenir money for an "authentic" Indy hat. Which he then proceeded to wear off and on for the rest of the trip. In 90 degree weather. Ah, well - Indy wears his in the desert, right?

Kai also wanted to shop and bought a $10 necklace that broke before we left the park that night. Meanwhile, the rest of us hung around and took pictures of lizards. Cause the line at the cart right after an Indy show with thousands of audience members is pretty nasty. And we were very bored.

We met up with Grandma and Grandpa for dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic Package. Dinner was not bad. I was disappointed in my choice - the pipette pasta was pretty bland. But the mozzarella and tomato I had as an appetizer was great, and the chocolate truffle cake fantastic. The rest of the table was pretty overwhelmed with the choices and felt like the appetizers were enough food all on their own. Barry's Eggplant Napoleon and the Italian sausage pastas looked great, though. The kids mostly got pizza.

After dinner, our server Laurence presented me with a card signed by the staff and a chef's hat. He was from China, and he wrote birthday greetings in Chinese on my hat. It was fun. Running totals: $48 tip, would have been $267.11 if we paid out of pocket but cost us 10TS, brings us to a total of 50TS credits used, $290 in tips, and $1887.31 if we had paid OOP.

We then headed to Star Tours. It started raining and thundering a bit on the way, and Grandma (who is incredibly phobic about thunderstorms) started getting very upset. She and Grandpa went to Tatooine Traders while the rest of us rode. We had picked up fastpasses before dinner, so we breezed right through the queue, pausing only to get a few pictures.

I rode next to Cyndy on this ride, and we were cutting up a bit. We were whining because the ride attendant told us we couldn't use Jedi mind tricks and joking that he was "packing" cause he had a lightsabre strapped at his waist. We giggled hysterically through the whole ride and then said we were going to complain about the unacceptable tour while exiting - none of this to actual CMs, mind you, or very loudly, but just in good, silly fun. I think it was my favorite moment of the trip with my sister.

Unfortunately, Grandma was not as happy. When we got down to Tatooine Traders, she was really upset because we all wanted to walk through the slight drizzle. She hates thunder and lightning, and she thought we were all taking our lives into our hands. But she really wanted to see The Little Mermaid with the girls, so she finally came along with us.

Our immediate family, however, hates The Voyage of the Little Mermaid. Just don't like it. It's boring. It's girly. It's sickeningly sweet. (Yes. We ride on Winnie the Pooh. And like it. One of those paradoxes of life, kay?)

Plus, our FAVORITE attraction at HS was closing shortly. We only had a few more rotations to sneak in a trip to the Animation Academy. So while the rest of the group went to cheer on a whiny fish girl who can't follow rules, we headed to learn to draw characters!

It was our bad luck that we drew a character we had already done on our last trip - Stitch. But at least we got a refresher course!

When we came out of our drawing class, we met up with our family in crisis. Juli was having a full-blown meltdown, Grandma was leaving and NOT staying for Fantasmic! whether we liked it or not, and the rest of the family was at their wits end. Grandma and Grandpa did leave, which bummed me out because I really wanted them to see Fantasmic! Especially since this was our only chance and I had already been terrified all day that the weather would cancel the show. Still, I needed to sort out my priorities and and be happy to see it with the family that was with me. Ice cream to the rescue!!

A break for ice cream fixed Juli and the other kids' moods. Except when Faith's Itzakadoozie broke and she started crying. So I took her back to the stand to blow another snack credit. But they gave her a replacement for free! Very nice!
(Snack Credits Used: 5, If OOP: $13.75, Running Totals: 19 Snack Credits, $1901.06 if we'd been paying cash all this time.)

We headed to the ampitheater to find out how the whole reserved section thing worked. Last time we had done the Fantasmic! package the reserved section had a separate entrance and we were a bit nervy. But it was really easy. We just went to the attendant by the package sign, they checked our ticket and tore it, and let us in. When we needed to leave, we just took the torn ticket with us.

I blew some souvenir money on light up Mickey heads for all the kids, which kept them entertained until the show started.

The place was packed. This crowd shot reminds me why we ate dinner so early - it was worth it to get into the reserved area!

And THIS picture reminds me of why any amount of hassle is worth it when it comes to Fantasmic! My son adores Mickey. The only thing he likes more than Mickey is Sorceror Mickey. The only thing he likes more than Sorceror Mickey is Steamboat Willie. In this show, he gets all three. And fireworks. And dragons. And this is how he looks, through the WHOLE thing:

Speaking of Steamboat Willie, here he is. The show was fabulous, as always.

Now that Nick had seen Steamboat Willie, it was imperative that he find him in souvenir form. So we worked our way with the rest of the crowd back toward the entrance.

And in Mickey's of Hollywood, we DID find Steamboat Willie. But they wouldn't let us buy him, for some reason...

We did find a smaller bobble head version of him, though. So Nicky ended the night happily. Kai also found a cute purse made of vintage Mickey and Minnie comics, so she was happy.

Barry, Cyndy, and the girls did some shopping while we sat in the warm air outside and watched the crowds and the lights. Actually, we were ALL happy. It was a great end to the day.

Up Next...
The Infamous "EPCOT Day"

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We were soaked, but sought shelter anyway, and ended up under the exit of Muppets rather than at the entrance.

As we waited, I got a little concerned. I didn't want us to be in the way of anyone coming out from the show. Fortunately, that worrying was for naught and we moved on before a show let out.

The show was much abbreviated, but it was still pretty cool and everyone really enjoyed it. Especially the parts with explosions, cause who doesn't like explosions?

I liked it a lot, and had no idea what I was missing out on until we ended up going back to DHS on an extra day we had the next week. I contemplated getting an Indy hat of my own, but decided against it when I thought about the fact that I really wouldn't find a way to use it. Still, it looks spiffy on Nick.

We met up with Grandma and Grandpa for dinner at Mama Melrose with the Fantasmic Package. Dinner was not bad. I was disappointed in my choice - the pipette pasta was pretty bland.

I would have to agree, her pasta wasn't that great. I had the Pork Marsala, which I enjoyed. But this restaurant isn't as good as it was the first time we ate there in 2002. At this point, we only eat there to make sure we get the Fantasmic package.

I rode next to Cyndy on this ride, and we were cutting up a bit.

I don't quite remember, but I think I sat next to Nick on the opposite side of the row. It was fun, but the whole "this is my first time, too" line gets silly after you've ridden on the ride ten times. "Really, I'm pretty sure you were my pilot last time."

Plus, our FAVORITE attraction at HS was closing shortly. We only had a few more rotations to sneak in a trip to the Animation Academy.

I'm glad we got a chance to do this. And we got a twofer by avoiding Little Mermaid at the same time. It also got us some private time for just the four of us.

A break for ice cream fixed Juli and the other kids' moods.

I grabbed a chocolate covered frozen banana for my snack. Wasn't my favorite. Certainly not as good as an ice cream Mickey head. But I wanted to try one, and now I know.

Except when Faith's Itzakadoozie broke and she started crying.

This was weird to see from my position. It's like the whole thing was in slow motion. Cyndy was on the phone probably about 50 feet away. Faith was happily eating her popsicle when the top half of it just broke off. I was about to get up when I saw Jenn go over, pick up Faith, and haul back over to the ice cream wagon. I figured we'd just burn another snack credit, but the vendor was very nice and replaced it for free. I don't think anybody else in the group knew anything had happened.

I blew some souvenir money on light up Mickey heads for all the kids, which kept them entertained until the show started.

I contemplated a snack or a beer but decided against it. I didn't want to have to navigate my way back and forth to the bathroom before the show started.

The crowd was really heavy, I think partially because there were so few shows this year. I think all of the kids enjoyed the show, especially Nick (who always does). I remember being very happy but very exhausted as we left and did some shopping so Nick could find his Steamboat Willy item.

The Infamous "EPCOT Day"

Can we just skip this?

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"Good morning, Pooh Bear. If it is a good morning. Which I doubt." -Eeyore

There's one on every trip. The term was coined on our last Disney trip, but it applies to non-Disney trips, too. We call it "The EPCOT Day". It's that day, partway through a great vacation, where the crankies set in full force. Where no one is happy. And no one WANTS to be happy. And why do you care if we're happy anyway??

Lucky for us, the cure is usually pretty simple. Eventually, we figure it out. Oh. It's the EPCOT day. Let's stop what we're doing. Cause, hey, that's not working. And do something we want to do. Cause that's why it's called VACATION.

So, consider yourself warned. This is the EPCOT day. (And once again, it's at EPCOT. Coincidence? I THINK NOT!)

We started the day with an argument at the bus stop. About what, I don't even know. Didn't even write it down in my trip journal.

All it says is "Argument over something silly at bus stop." Basically, everyone was tired, and we were snappy because we were tired. But it carred over to the park. The bag check at EPCOT is particularly inconvenient, and breaks up line-of-sight with non-bag-carrying folks. And we just missed a bus, so we were at least 10-20 minutes late for opening. And... well, point is, by the time we broke up to send Barry and Hannah to Mission: Space and the rest of us to Living with the Land, we all had our pouty faces on.

We're not ride chickens, really. But when it comes to rides that spin us silly in claustrophobic little cages, no one had any interest except Barry and Hannah. Fortunately, most of the family is fond of gardening. So we enjoyed the Living with the Land boat ride very much.

It was a special favorite of Faith's, for reasons no one quite understands. But you can see how happy she was. She wanted to ride again, but we talked her into going to see Nemo.

We were supposed to meet Hannah and Barry at Nemo. While we were waiting, Faith or Juli needed to go to the bathroom. So Cyndy took them and disappeared. That left the rest of us sitting in the very hot sun just outside of Nemo. Disappearing to the bathroom was becoming an eight times a day proposition with this group and it was starting to be frustrating - especially when it was already a cranky day. Imagine how cranky we were to get a call from Barry asking where we were. He thought we were supposed to meet INSIDE the Living Seas and had already ridden Nemo with Hannah. So now we were outside, Barry inside, Cyndy who knows where, and we'd still only ridden on one thing. Finally, we all got together and went through the ride. I really liked it, but Scott hated it, and made his opinion clear.

Things cooled down a bit at Sea Base Alpha, as everyone wandered around looking at all the fish. We especially enjoyed the manatee, but couldn't get any good pictures.

Next, Cyndy's crew wanted to go to Turtle Talk with Crush. This wasn't on our list for the simple reason that we hate it more than Little Mermaid, if possible. Last time we went to this show, Crush kept asking a little girl to point out her dad until her fed-up single mother finally yelled out "She doesn't have a dad!" Sort of put us off on the show. Plus, it's boring. So we didn't want to go, but we told them they were welcome to. Well, that got people even grumpier, but they went to the show. Meanwhile, we watched a dolphin show that was fairly cool. Scott didn't watch so much, though, since the inside of Sea Base Alpha makes him nauseous.

As we left, Faith decided to pitch a fit. She hadn't gotten to ride Living with the Land twice, and now she wasn't getting to stay with Nemo. We managed to talk her out of her sulks, but we were fighting a losing battle. Two Disney trips ago, we had found a solution to a hot and cranky family at Club Cool (it was Ice Station Cool then, but same diff, right?) so we tried that next.

Club Cool did help a bit. We reached a consensus that the drink from China was the best. Only Scott liked Beverly. Even Juli knows better than to try that.

Hannah, however, tried everything, and liked most of it. Then again, this is the same girl who ate a dried grasshopper at the airport on the way home.

Next we headed to Spaceship Earth. We all loved the renovation that had been done since our last trip. Well, all but Barry. He accidentally picked German for his language. Which made the ride a bit hard to follow. Hannah and I rode together and she especially loved the little animation where we went scuba diving.

I'm not particularly proud of my role in the next bit of this report, but there you have it. It was an EPCOT day for sure. As we left Spaceship Earth, more thunder rumbled. The sky looked ominous. And of course, that meant Grandma didn't want to go anywhere. Meanwhile, yet another person needed a bathroom. So I showed everyone to a bathroom indoors near Innoventions. We all waited, and I tried to talk Grandma into at least crossing over to the Land pavillion so we could eat. Meanwhile, we're walking in one of the covered walkways and suddenly she's all "Fine, I'll go to
the Land but we have to go RIGHT NOW." So she's telling me to run and hurry and I'm trying to get everyone together and move quickly to avoid the thunderstorm phobia and meanwhile Scott is in the back and Barry needs to go back and find something and Scott's screaming at me to wait for Barry and then he yells, "JENNIFER" at the top of his lungs like I'm a recalcitrant child, even as Grandma is yelling at me to hurry. So I lost it. I just went to the Land double quick and ignored them all. They all start showing up and no sooner does Scott get there than he starts yelling at me for taking off. So I walked away.

Yeah. Like I said, not particularly proud. But very fed up.

Anyway, my little tantrum more or less ended with me deciding to get lunch at Sunshine Seasons, find tables big enough for everyone, and text them to join me. Or not. As they saw fit. On the plus side, lunch was delicious. On the minus side, when everyone did finally show up and navigate the food court on their own and get their own lunches, the whole group of us were more or less on pins and needles with each other. Eventually, though, everyone laughed about something or another and the crisis was at least temporarily averted.

As I said, everyone loved lunch here. It was all very tasty. I had the rotisserie chicken plate, and the strawberry shortcake dessert. YUMMY. Scott was bummed because without me to navigate the lines with him, he didn't even see the entire dessert case and ended up with a prepackaged sugar free brownie. But other than that, lunch definitely refueled everyone. (Running Totals - 10 CS Credits used instead of $137.74 - total of 40 CS used and total of $2038.80 if we had not been on the dining plan.)

After lunch and some discussion, we decided to not go back for a nap, since we had missed so many rides in the morning. Grandma and Grandpa went off on their own to explore the World Showcase. The rest of us headed over to Journey into Imagination, which the kids loved. (Especially the stinky part.)

Next, we tried to get Test Track Fastpasses, but they were already for late at night. Instead, we waited while, you guessed it, part of the party used the bathroom. Finally, we hit Ellen's Universe of Energy, which was pretty good. Faith giggled through most of it, the movie bits were funny, and we liked the dinosaurs. The one problem was that Juli got a bit wiggly and once you get going, there's no bailing, even with a wiggly 2 year old.

To kill time before our reservation for dinner, we did a bit more shopping. Juli got mouse ears, Hannah and Faith got charm bracelets. I also found a charm bracelet I really wanted - the Chamilia one with a Mickey charm, but I decided to wait until the next day to buy it - since I'd be getting my birthday money from Mickey!

When we arrived at Le Cellier, we couldn't check in because Grandma and Grandpa weren't there. We did find a hidden Mickey while we waited, though.

Le Cellier was our favorite dinner on our last trip, and we were looking forward to sharing it with the rest of the family.

We didn't have to wait too long, and were enjoying the gardens until Grandma and Grandpa arrived. Turns out they had been dashing from shelter to shelter avoiding the rumblings of thunder all afternoon and they were pretty tired and stressed out. So we went inside to wait for our meal.

The food didn't disappoint, and neither did the service. Our waitress Amanda was ridiculously patient with our large group. My sister and mom are very particular about the way their meat is cooked. Basically, if it has a trace of pink, they won't eat it. So they grilled the waitress before ordering and she was a doll about it. We added a few extras at our meal - Scott had a Moosehead Ale, I had an espresso martini. We both added the cheddar cheese soup, as well. Then, we ordered chocolate moose and campfire smores desserts for all of the kids, which they shouldn't get on the dining plan, so we assumed we'd pay OOP for those as well - but they didn't charge us for them.

I had the mushroom filet, which was as divine as I remembered. I also had the maple creme brulee. Perfect! The kids mostly liked dessert, but I think everyone enjoyed Le Cellier.

Running Totals: Would have cost $376.88 out of pocket, but we used 10 TS credits. Also, we added $25.48 in additional purchases, and spent $67.84 on tip. (Although I think we threw extra tip in cash on the table here - don't remember how much.) So, that means we've spent $25.48 OOP, $357.90 in tips, and $2415.68 is what we would have paid had we not been on the dining plan. Considering that we spent $2190 on the dining plan, and at this point we still have 10 TS credits left, 20 CS credits left, and 51 Snack credits left, I'm thinking we made out on the deal.

Barry was really disappointed that we weren't planning to stay for Illuminations, since he had heard good things about it from the boat captain on our previous EPCOT day. Cyndy wanted to see the Bon Jovi tribute band that was playing that night for the summer concert series. The rest of us really wanted to go back to the hotel and relax - especially the kids, who were dying for some pool time. So we talked Cyndy and Barry into letting us take all the kids for the rest of the night. Grandma and Grandpa went back to bed. And that's when the EPCOT day turned itself around. I think our mistake was trying to keep too many people together too much. We all had things we wanted to do, and we forgot that those things wouldn't always be the same. Grandpa and Grandma really wanted to sleep (Well, after another ride or two on Soarin' - they apparently fit that in three times during this day!). Barry and Cyndy had a blast with the concerts - they stayed for two sets, plus Illuminations, and got to meet the band (Slippery When Wet).

As for Scott and I? We did what we had been missing. We had fun. And relaxed.

We did have one little detour. Juli and I had to hike across the lake to El Centro to get a bathing suit because we searched their hotel room and could not find hers. But it was a scenic detour!

Then it was nothing but splashing and playing in the pool. Faith was very daring, and loved "swimming" with her life vest.

Nick, Kai, and Hannah played like seals and loved the water slide.

Juli just wanted to keep jumping off one of the steps to me, then go back up, then jump off again. She just kept saying "wanna do it 'gain!"

The water was warm and relaxing and we all felt better. We stayed in until 9:00 when the pool was closed for "unscheduled maintenance". (Ew.) By the time we made our way back to the room, it was more than time to close the book on our EPCOT day.

Up Next:
Happy Birthday to Me

 

[mumto2]

So glad you started this back up! I just started planning my own grand gathering for this June. We are debating whether to do the dining plan or not, so having those tallies helps too. Glad to see that you are able to overcome the "emotional rollercoaster" moments. I have to admit that has me a little concerned as well.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

We're not ride chickens, really.

I dunno, I would declare myself a ride chicken, at least until this trip. Before this trip I hadn't gone on any of the thrill rides, but I guess I lightened up by this point. I think if we had more time, I would have wanted to ride Test Track, but I still don't think I'd ride Mission: Space.

So we enjoyed the Living with the Land boat ride very much.

It was quiet and relaxing and educational without being boring. And Faith really liked it, which was a plus. It got me to wonder about the things I had eaten at the Garden Grill a few days earlier, and how much of it was part of the ride a few days before.

Finally, we all got together and went through the ride. I really liked it, but Scott hated it, and made his opinion clear.

I dunno if it was because I was cranky or because I wasn't that impressed with it. I had a hard time hearing the soundtrack and following the story. And honestly, I liked the old theming better (the whole SeaLab thing).

Scott didn't watch so much, though, since the inside of Sea Base Alpha makes him nauseous.

This seems to be an on-and-off problem for me. The aquarium at Baltimore doesn't bother me at all, and half the time I am fine when visiting The Seas, but every other trip or so, I end up getting nauseous. The concave glass and the swirling light caused by the rippling water plays havoc with my sight and I get dizzy and out of balance.

Club Cool did help a bit. We reached a consensus that the drink from China was the best. Only Scott liked Beverly. Even Juli knows better than to try that.

I really liked the Smart Watermelon from China soda as well, and I don't believe I tried last time we made it here (2002). And Mezzo Mix. But Beverly is still my favorite.

Next we headed to Spaceship Earth. We all loved the renovation that had been done since our last trip. Well, all but Barry. He accidentally picked German for his language. Which made the ride a bit hard to follow. Hannah and I rode together and she especially loved the little animation where we went scuba diving.

I really liked the ride before the renovations to begin with, and the updates were great. I rode with Nick, and I think I remember our animation had us going under water as well, but I'm a bit fuzzy.

I'm not particularly proud of my role in the next bit of this report, but there you have it.

Me neither. But let me explain. No, that will take too long -- let me sum up.

I had volunteered at the beginning of our vacation to be in the back of the group whenever we walked together. This was to make sure everybody was together and going the right way. This also got me out of leading, since Jenn was more of an expert at knowing where we were going next. But Barry and/or I always was the one to remember the stroller, so every day there was at least two instance where the rest of the group would start on to the next location while Barry would get the stroller. Honestly, I think it would have been easier if they didn't bring it, or if I was assigned stroller duty as well as caboose duty. By the time Barry and I caught up with the group, I was thoroughly grumpy and made sure everybody knew it. It wasn't my best moment.

I knew I wasn't really being fair once Jenn walked off, and then I panicked when we first got into Sunshine Seasons and didn't see her. She didn't answer the phone, but eventually sent a text saying she was eating. Kairi found her back in the corner near one of the stairs. I helped Nick navigate the food court and got myself the asian food I was hoping to find during the vacation, but somehow missed all of the decent desserts and ended up with a horrendous sugar free brownie (which I didn't know was sugar free at the time).

Finally, we hit Ellen's Universe of Energy, which was pretty good.

I am a big Bill Nye fan, and while I never really watched Ellen's sitcom, I always thought she was a very funny person. This is one of my favorite rides in Epcot.

When we arrived at Le Cellier, we couldn't check in because Grandma and Grandpa weren't there. We did find a hidden Mickey while we waited, though.

This is were Grumpy Scotty almost made another appearance. All I wanted out of this day was a steak and a beer. Fortunately, we found each other and got checked in.

I ended up with the coffee rubbed Kansas City Strip (medium), which you don't hear much about on the DIS. The coffee flavor was just enough to compliment the steak. The cheese soup was divine, as always. I even was able to grab myself a pretzel bread stick. Feeling a little daring, I decided against my traditional Samuel Adams and got a Moosehead Lager instead, which I very much enjoyed. Heck, this was "Canada" after all. But somehow or another I talked myself out of the maple creme brulee again. I had the mont blanc for dessert, which was decent, but I swear next time I will have the maple creme brulee. This has always been my favorite dining experience at Disney, and that was true again this trip (We will see if that stays true next time, since I think we will be going to California Grill).

Cyndy wanted to see the Bon Jovi tribute band that was playing that night for the summer concert series. The rest of us really wanted to go back to the hotel and relax - especially the kids, who were dying for some pool time.

I think under other circumstances I would have liked to see the concert as well. But this gave us some time to decompress and some time to split up the group, which I think we needed at that point.

I had a lot of fun with Faith in the pool while keeping half an eye on Nick, who was the weakest swimmer out of the three older kids. During this vacation, though, he started to show he could swim like a fish, which was great. When Jenn and Juli got back we stuck together and traded off every once in awhile so I could play "catch the Juli".

So while there were some hairy moments, the day ended very nicely.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"A diplomat is a man who always remembers a woman's birthday but never remembers her age." - Robert Frost

I had to go to the Magic Kingdom on my birthday, even though they had morning Extra Magic hours, which I would usually avoid like the plague. We were up and out super early to get to the park. Our first stop was guest services, where I picked up my $75 Birthday Fun Card. Thanks, Mickey!

Everyone was in a pretty good mood as we watched the opening ceremony, but after we got through the train station, Grandma walked the wrong way around the flagpole and got stuck in the area they were roping off for character greetings. The CM wouldn't let her join the rest of the party and had her go around the ropes. By the time she joined us, she was cursing and angry. I guess Scott could see by the look on my face that I just couldn't handle any family drama today, because he took me by the arm and simply walked away. I was bummed, because I knew he was trying to help, but I had really wanted some Photopass pictures in front of the castle with everyone. Still, I wanted to keep my good mood, so I stopped with just the four of us at the next Photopass photographer and we took some shots.

I don't honestly know what Scott said or did, but when our photo was done, the rest of the family joined us with no more grumpy faces in evidence. The next photographer took the group shot I had wanted.

He then went on to take some of my favorite shots of the trip when he put me with Hannah for this great Tinkerbell pose (my first "magic" pic). Hannah is only with us part of the year, so it's a really special memory for us.

Seeing Nick's Indy hat, he worked him into the next picture with a parody of the golden statue scene in Raiders.

Leaving the little ones (and ride chicken Nick) with Grandma and Grandpa in Fantasyland, we headed to one of my all time favorite rides - Splash Mountain!

We rode Splash Mountain, which stopped much more frequently than I remember from previous trips. Kai, who had been looking forward to this ride, did not like it one little bit, and ended up a crying wreck after the drop. Which was a bummer. Still, I would have liked to buy the ride photo, so we stopped to pick it up. No luck - our picture had gotten eaten, along with about 20 others, when a camera malfunctioned. They offered to put us right back on the ride so we could get a picture, but we decided we shouldn't make the others wait that long. (Especially since it was a 20+ minute ride with all the stopping it was doing.)

Cyndy had a quick conversation with Grandma and said that the girls were crying hysterically and that we needed to skip BTMRR, so we fastpassed it for later and headed back to Fantasyland. When we arrived, we found Nick sitting on a bench alone - Grandma and the girls were happily in line for Dumbo, and Grandpa had gone off somewhere. We rode on the Carousel while we waited for the Dumbo riders. Turns out the non-Splash group had ridden on It's a Small World and the Carousel over and over while they waited for us, but since those three rides are way down on Nick's list, he had just waited there.

Once everyone was back together, we rode Snow White. Had to get this picture of Dopey, Cyndy's favorite. Unfortunately, the design of the ride cars is pretty dopey, and Grandpa twisted his knee trying to get into the little mine car. He had a double knee replacement not that long ago, and he definitely had difficulty getting in and out of the rides with small amounts of legroom. At the time, we just thought he gave up on getting into the ride when he got back out and waved us on, but turns out he hurt himself quite badly. He's a tough guy, though, so he didn't let any of us know for some time.

We rode on Winnie the Pooh, and then walked to Liberty Square. On the way, we took some silly pictures in the stocks. I'm glad I wasn't a rule breaker of colonial times - that is one seriously uncomfortable pose!

Mom had been wanting to take Gordi to the Hall of Presidents, one of her favorite attractions. I was surprised by how much I liked it. The Obama animatronic was very new at the time and we thought it was well done.

We stopped in the gift shop for the requisite playing with silly hats...

...and moved on to the Haunted Mansion for another ride with the happy haunts.

It was raining by this time, and only Scott, me, and the kids decided to go on the ride. I love the Haunted Mansion, but I could live forever without getting stuck for 15 minutes by the toasting ghosts in the graveyard. Bummer. I'm guessing it was truly stuck, too, not just loading someone, cause the lights came on briefly and it stopped and started for inches several times before it moved again.

We headed back to meet with the group. By this time, everyone was hungry. I had wanted to eat at El Pirata Y El Perico, cause I like tacos. But it was still drizzly and Columbia Harbor House was RIGHT THERE. So we headed there instead.

The fish and chips weren't half bad. The restaurant wasn't at all crowded, and the staff, on seeing my button, sang a funny short birthday song. The only thing that was disappointing was the apple dumpling which looked pretty, but had a soggy crust. Oh, well! Not like we hadn't eaten enough desserts!

(Running Totals: CHH would have been $113.76 if it were OOP. Since it wasn't, we're up to 60 TS Credits used, 50 CS Credits used, 19 Snack Credits used, $25.48 OOP, $357.88 in tips, and $2529.14 we would have spent not on the dining plan.)

Everyone but Grandma, Grandpa, and the two little girls headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - even Nick. Unfortunately, by the time we got the the front of the queue, he was wigging out. Seriously. I told him we were NOT getting out of line, but that he could step right through the train car and wait for us on the exit platform. The guy ahead of us really sweetly tried to convince Nick that it would be okay, and that it was a great ride, but he was past the point of convincing. It's not that he was screaming or carrying on or anything like that. He just had a terrified look on his face and a constant stream of tears just running down his cheeks. He stepped through, and talked to a CM, just like I told him. They pointed him behind the yellow line by the exit, and the rest of us rode. I blush to say that I never thought this ride was worth the wait, and had never been on it before. I completely ADORE this ride now! It was really, really cool. I love the theming and the twists and turns were exhilarating. It may not be the most intense coaster, but it's fun. Everyone else seemed to really like it as well.

When we got off the ride, we headed to meet up with Grandma and Grandpa. They had been planning to take the girls to Country Bears, but you can see they had a bit of a problem with that. Juli had conked right out in her stroller.

You can't take strollers into the show, so Grandpa took Faith while Grandma waited with Juli. At this point, we were supposed to go back to the hotel. I pleaded the excuse of shopping with my Fun Card, and everyone left without us. SCORE!! Finally, it was just the four of us, in the Magic Kingdom.

I know, that seems like a HORRIBLE attitude. But the fact of the matter is, I was discovering that I was wrong, and the DIS was right. The thing about Grand Gatherings that I just didn't want to accept was that you don't have to stay with your whole group all the time. It was a relief to have four people with similar walking paces to keep together!

We started strolling around, just hanging out. We headed to Pirates, and rode with no wait at all. Actually, all of our wait times had been minimal on this trip - knowing when to hit attractions still works with a big group - you just hit less of them! We goofed in the Pirates gift shop for awhile, but didn't find anything we wanted to buy.

We saw Jack Sparrow from afar again. Earlier in the week, they were still performing off to the side of the plaza near Pirates - but now the stage that had been under construction earlier in the week was open. It was pretty cool to see changes happening right in front of our eyes.

Next, we headed to Aloha Isle, so Scott could try the Dole Whip he's heard so much about. (I know full well I hate pineapple juice, so nothing doing!) I'll let him give you his opinion in his post.

We were definitely taking time to smell the roses as we meandered back toward Main Street and the buses. Or maybe I should say taking time to look at the butterflies. This is one of my favorite pictures from the trip, and not a Disney thing in sight. Weird.

Quick, take a picture with something Disney! Whew. By the way - still no crowds. It's July 4th week at Disney. Where are all the people?

Next stop was the Main Street Jewelers, where I got my present from Mickey - a Chamilia bracelet and my first charm - a spiral Mickey.

We headed back to the resort, where I was accosted by my family, who had been anxiously awaiting my arrival to give me birthday gifts. They had agreed to leave ahead of us so they could get ready to surprise me with presents, and then we didn't show up for a good hour or more. Ooops.

After presents, we headed to the pool. This was another favorite part of mine, as I plopped down in a deck chair with a nice big strawberry daquiri. (With a REALLY big umbrella.... wait.....)

Grandma joined me later and drank a pina colada, while Scott had a mojito. Relaxing by the pool, frosty drinks - now THIS is vacation! Plus, again with the birthday - the lifeguards had the whole pool sing Happy Birthday to me and two other Birthday celebrants.

Meanwhile, the older kids swam like crazy little fish. Where DO they get their energy? Kai loves any chance to swim with goggles.

Jumping into the water was another fun pastime. Especially for Nick, who learned the whole cannonball thing. Which is so weird, since he was afraid to swim last year.

And who knew ride chicken boy would LOVE the water slide so much?? I swear, he went down it 50 times if he went down once!

But we did find all those crowds missing from the Magic Kingdom. I think they were all in the Dig Site pool. Especially the obnoxious teenagers who were trying to slide down the water slide standing up. Oh, well! Lifeguard's job - no teacher hat today!

Up Next...
I Wish I May, I Wish I Might

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I guess Scott could see by the look on my face that I just couldn't handle any family drama today, because he took me by the arm and simply walked away.

Having been the cause of some, if not most, of the stress the previous day, I was determined to keep Jenn away from any bruhaha that may go down on her birthday. I don't actually recall saying anything to the rest of the grumpy gusses, but if I did, it was probably something like "Jenn wants a picture in front of the castle, and it's her birthday."

Leaving the little ones (and ride chicken Nick) with Grandma and Grandpa in Fantasyland, we headed to one of my all time favorite rides - Splash Mountain!

The last time I went on this, I didn't really like it at all. I was quite freaked out by the whole thing. Because I was afraid of the final drop, I didn't really enjoy the rest of the ride. But my "ride chicken" self had melted away this trip, thanks, in part, to the fact that Rock'n'Roller Coaster was inside.

I was surprised when Kai freaked out on it. It wasn't really like her. I think she will do better next time, and Nick says he will try it, too.

we found Nick sitting on a bench alone... Turns out the non-Splash group had ridden on It's a Small World and the Carousel over and over while they waited for us

I'm surprised he was still lucid after listening to those evil dolls sing over and over again.

Mom had been wanting to take Gordi to the Hall of Presidents, one of her favorite attractions. I was surprised by how much I liked it. The Obama animatronic was very new at the time and we thought it was well done.

I think it just opened the week before. It was very good, but probably not something we will bother going back to until there is another new president.

We headed back to meet with the group. By this time, everyone was hungry. I had wanted to eat at El Pirata Y El Perico, cause I like tacos. But it was still drizzly and Columbia Harbor House was RIGHT THERE. So we headed there instead.

I wanted to go to El Pirata Y El Perico as well, since we didn't get any Mexican on this trip. I remember liking Columbia Harbor House, but I don't remember what I had. Jenn says I had the Fish and Chips, too, so I guess I did. I do remember having the apple dumpling, which wasn't my favorite dessert either, but was still better than that stupid sugar free brownie from Epcot.

Everyone but Grandma, Grandpa, and the two little girls headed to Big Thunder Mountain Railroad - even Nick. Unfortunately, by the time we got the the front of the queue, he was wigging out.

Unlike Kairi's episode earlier, this did not surprise me. I was a little worried about him waiting by himself, but those thoughts got jostled out of my head when the ride started. This was my first time on BTMRR as well. It wasn't as good as Expedition Everest (of course), but I liked it and will ride it again next time.

waited with Juli. At this point, we were supposed to go back to the hotel. I pleaded the excuse of shopping with my Fun Card, and everyone left without us. SCORE!! Finally, it was just the four of us, in the Magic Kingdom.

I felt the same was as Jenn did about this. In fact, even a few months before we left, I had the sinking suspicion this whole "let's all go together!" idea wasn't going to work out. But it was too late by that point to change anything. Don't get me wrong, we did have fun together, but it was nice to have this time to ourselves.

We saw Jack Sparrow from afar again. Earlier in the week, they were still performing off to the side of the plaza near Pirates - but now the stage that had been under construction earlier in the week was open.

I think I mentioned this earlier, but I didn't notice AT ALL that there was a new stage being built, let alone the fact that Jack moved from one to the other over the course of the week.

Next, we headed to Aloha Isle, so Scott could try the Dole Whip he's heard so much about. (I know full well I hate pineapple juice, so nothing doing!) I'll let him give you his opinion in his post.

It tasted like frozen, liquid death. Well, no, not really. But I don't at all understand why people like it so much. It was much too sour. I was thinking the pineapple ice cream would be sweeter to counterbalance the juice, but it wasn't. Next time, vanilla and coke!

By the way - still no crowds. It's July 4th week at Disney. Where are all the people?

I wasn't complaining. Although we ended up finding them the next day.

Next stop was the Main Street Jewelers, where I got my present from Mickey - a Chamilia bracelet and my first charm - a spiral Mickey.

As a husband, I would like to say whoever invented these things is Man's new best friend. It makes shopping for special occasions so much easier.

After presents, we headed to the pool. This was another favorite part of mine, as I plopped down in a deck chair with a nice big strawberry daquiri. (With a REALLY big umbrella.... wait.....)

One of my favorite pictures of the trip. It's just funny. I wasn't too impressed with my mojito. I really didn't get much mint flavor out of it. In fact, it tasted like the bartender used basil or grass instead or something. But then, it was my first mojito ever, so maybe I just don't like it.

And who knew ride chicken boy would LOVE the water slide so much?? I swear, he went down it 50 times if he went down once!

This surprised me, too. Although he started to like water slides last summer, and I went down this one earlier in the week and thought it was fun, so that might have helped.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"We'll make a wish, and do as dreamers do, and all our wishes, will come true."

When I planned this trip, I knew I wanted my birthday at the Magic Kingdom. MK is my favorite park (by a smaller margin than it used to be, but still...) and nothing compares to Spectro and Wishes to end a day right. I had also never gotten to eat with Winnie-the-Pooh and friends, so I figured Crystal Palace would be the perfect dinner.

The wait wasn't too bad, but we were seated at two different tables, and there was no way to combine them, unlike at Chef Mickey's. I had known this was a possibility, but it hadn't happened all week, so I was a bit bummed that I wouldn't get to see the little girls reacting to the characters. But, not enough bummed that I didn't want to sit with my own kids! The restaurant was also completely frigid, leading Grandma to dub it the Ice Crystal Palace. It was so genuinely cold that I left twice during dinner to go outside and warm up for a minute.

The characters were fabulous, and started arriving the second we sat down. I just love Eeyore.

Piglet and Pooh showed up in quick succession. By this time, we saw the order that the characters were following around the tables, and knew that Tigger was on his way.

Unfortunately, he passed right by us. Tigger is Kairi's favorite, and she had never gotten to meet him. She spent the whole week looking for Tigger merchandise, which is surprisingly hard to find for girls. The closest we could find was a shirt with a real tiger and Pooh asking if it was Tigger. So she was really bummed when he walked right by our table. But a quick word to a passing character wrangler had him coming right back. And was he ever funny!!

He goofed around with everyone, even grabbing me for a big hug when I walked to the other table to get a few more pictures.

Unfortunately, the great characters were the ONLY great thing about Crystal Palace. The waitress took our drink orders and disappeared completely. She brought the drinks 15 minutes later, and then never refilled them once, or removed any dirty plates at all. This was the only time all trip I was annoyed to leave a $50+ tip. The 18% is mandatory for groups our size, and I had no issues with it - sometimes even leaving extra in cash. But if you're going to plop down 10 drink glasses and NEVER walk by again, do you really deserve a $53.26 tip??? Meanwhile, the food was really just okay. It was about the quality of the food you would get at an Old Country Buffet or Ponderosa - maybe a church potluck. Which isn't awful, but it was disappointing compared to the delicious food we had everywhere else. I love the Pooh characters, but I don't see me coming back here. Maybe I would think about breakfast, but that's wasting good morning touring time, so I doubt it.

I have to say that the waitress did reappear finally to bring our bill, and with it she brought a frozen cupcake and a card signed by the characters, which was nice. (Well, the card. The cupcake was pretty much inedible, but it was pretty!)

Running Totals: I forgot to mention that Scott's Dole Whip earlier had cost $3.99, but really 1 snack credit. So that's included in this total, too. Also, I have no earthly idea what we paid for our poolside drinks, but I know Mom got hers free because she gave the bartender a ten and he gave her change for a twenty and when she tried to explain he just waved her off. Anyway, Crystal Palace used up our last 10 TS credits, would have cost $295.88 out of pocket (which is a good reason to have better food than OCB...) and we paid a $53.26 tip. That brings our totals to: 70 TS Credits 50 CS Credits 20 Snack Credits, $25.48 OOP, $411.14 in tips, and $2829.01 if we weren't on the dining plan. Of course, since we only paid 2K for the plan to begin with, I suppose Crystal Palace was free at that point, and it wasn't half bad for a free dinner.

While we were in Crystal Palace, Grandpa finally confessed that his hip and knee were paining him so badly that he couldn't possibly stay for the rest of the evening. (Remember, he had twisted his knee trying to get into the mine cars at Snow White.) Grandma didn't want to send him back to the hotel alone, so she said she would take him back and then meet up with us later. This made me really nervous because I know she's always wanted to watch the "Electrical Parade" (as she still calls it from the days when that was the title). But I knew I wouldn't have wanted Scott to go back by himself in a similar situation, so I just crossed my fingers that she would get back in time.

The rest of us decided to grab some candy before we staked out our parade watching spots. We went to the Main Street Confectionary, but got stopped by the Move It! Shake It! Celebrate It! Street Party. It's a really cute parade - the only problem was that it turns around and goes back along the same route, so when the last float passes and you think you can cross the street, you can't, cause here it comes again!

Also, does anyone but me think that Jessie in character form is kind of creepy?

We saw lollipops bigger than Faith's head, but got a rice krispy treat with a snack credit instead.

We also snagged pure sugar for my son, like he needed it. Later, near our spot in Frontierland, I would pick up some Jelly Bellys, which are my favorite candy. The sugar and jellybeans added $9.96 to our OOP cost, and the krispy treat cost a snack credit - I'll add them to the totals the next time we eat.

The first time Scott and I saw Fantasmic! a vendor was selling the Skyliner toys that spell out messages when you spin them. He had programmed his to say "My Feet Hurt!" and we thought that was hysterical. So, after we staked out our Spectro spot (the elevated wooden sidewalk near Pecos Bill's - shhh... don't tell anyone) I saw a cart selling the Skyliners and had to have one. It was my birthday, so I got spoiled, and Scott snagged me one. I spent the next 10-15 minutes programming it (it only has two buttons and you have to count through all the letters to write a message) and then I started spinning it. I swear, I singlehandedly sold out that cart's Skyliners that night. The guy selling them loved the "My Feet Hurt" message and I fielded nearly constant questions about where I got it. I pointed to the vendor, and pretty soon he was sending people to other carts because he was all out.

Meanwhile, the kids were getting a bit antsy. Faith, who is always brutally honest, even when it's rude, said, "Aunt Jenn. I waited a REALLY long time, but I didn't see ANYTHING. I want to go on the rides." Finally, Grandma showed back up, and shortly after, the parade started. It was amazing, as always - I was ridiculously happy.

I loved every minute, and everyone else really liked it too. As soon as the parade was over, Grandma hightailed it out of the park. Her hatred for thunderstorms carries over to fireworks. The rest of us hustled around the back of the castle to find the perfect viewing spot on the bridge between Tomorrowland and the hub. Alas - I got turned around in the dark and took us across the WRONG bridge! We were on the closer bridge near Cosmic Rays and the teacups.

We couldn't seen any of the fireworks from our too close, too angled perspective. With the rest of the crowd, we ended up moving into the hub, and being late to realize our mistake, ended up with a partially obstructed view thanks to a water stand, but who cares?

It didn't matter. I hugged everyone in the family. I was really happy. It was my birthday. I was at Wishes. The Wishes song was playing. I was crying like a little baby.

It was, quite possibly, the best birthday I ever had.

Even the long lines at the buses after the last fireworks exploded into darkness couldn't dampen my mood.

I just spun my "My Feet Hurt" Skyliner some more and watched all the tired faces grin as they read it.

Up Next:
Do We HAVE To Go To Animal Kingdom?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Unfortunately, the great characters were the ONLY great thing about Crystal Palace.

For me, it was a tie between this and Garden Grill as to what my worst dining experience was during the Disney part of the trip. I liked the food at Garden Grill, thought the service was OK, and loathed the atmosphere. Here, I liked the atmosphere, though the food was OK, and loathed the service. I didn't mind the temperature too much, but it was definitely chilly.

Looking back on it, I vaguely remember eating here on my first Disney trip.

Also, does anyone but me think that Jessie in character form is kind of creepy?

Oh, yes. Doesn't really look like her. Very creepy.

We saw lollipops bigger than Faith's head, but got a rice krispy treat with a snack credit instead.

I don't think I ever ate mine (actually, I think I got mine two days later, not today...). Not all of it at least. I'm beginning to think next time, I'm going to end up spending most of my snack credits on water just because I won't be able to eat as much as this trip.

The first time Scott and I saw Fantasmic! a vendor was selling the Skyliner toys that spell out messages when you spin them.

Man, having one of these was great! And it was funny watching people come up to Jenn asking where she got it, only to see them go over to the cart, and eventually see the cart seller just shrug. We should have gotten a kickback or something.

Meanwhile, the kids were getting a bit antsy.

Honestly, so was I. We waited a LONG time for the parade. But it was worth it. Outside of Fantasmic!, Spectro and Wishes are my favorite nighttime shows.

Alas - I got turned around in the dark and took us across the WRONG bridge! We were on the closer bridge near Cosmic Rays and the teacups.

I felt a little bad because I thought were were in the right spot. But it all turned out OK in the end. And besides, we'll get it right next time.

I'm glad Jenn had some a great time on her birthday.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"I can't understand why men make all this fuss about Everest--it's only a mountain" -Junko Tabei

When we woke up on Friday, nobody REALLY wanted to go to Animal Kingdom. We were all tired, and frankly, it’s our least favorite park. Grandpa had already decided he was staying in his room for the day after his injury the day before. The rest of us got up and headed to the bus stop – just in time to see the Animal Kingdom bus pull away. We had to wait 30 minutes for the next bus (by far the longest bus wait time we had) and by the time we had arrived, we had missed the opening show. Grandma really loves that show, so she was a bit bummed. The plan called for me to hike across the park and get Everest fastpasses for everyone, but Nick, who was getting pretty tired of being surrounded by girls, begged to come with me. (Apparently, I don’t count as a girl. Or something.) We took off for Asia, but stopped for a quick photopass picture.

I love all the details Disney includes in their theming. As we hustled across the bridge, I noticed this great little peddler ship tied up in the water. Who creates and maintains an elaborate set piece like that just to leave it floating where only a few people will notice? That’s just awesome.

We arrived at Everest, and picked up the fast passes. On the way, we passed the Royal Anandpur Tea Company. I wanted to stop because I am a big fan of chai and I had heard about their frozen chai drink. But my job was Fastpasses, and I didn’t want the rest of the group getting bored in Chester and Hester’s Dinorama, which is where they were headed.

Problem is, when we arrived at Dinorama, our party was nowhere in sight. Actually, NO one was in sight, except a few CMs. There was no line at Primeval Whirl, no one on Triceratop Spin, and definitely no rest of our group.
Turns out, they had also stopped for Photopass pictures.

And then they wandered into several gift shops. Scott was getting really frustrated trying to get them to meet us. (This was his personal “EPCOT day” – he will continue to be pretty miserable all day long, poor guy.) Nick and I didn’t know this, though, so we called Scott, who said everyone was in the bathroom and that they would get there shortly.

We decided to play some carnival games while we waited. We quickly found out that we needed vouchers to play. We bought a few and Nick started playing, and winning, much to our delight.

It probably helped that most of the games worked on the “one winner per round” philosophy and we were the only two playing.

I beat him once, at Whack-A-Mole.

It was silly, but we were having a really great time. I think it was one of Nick’s favorite parts of the whole trip. He loves carnival games, he loves winning, and he loves having Mom all to himself, so I guess that makes sense.

After Nick won the one game of skill that didn’t guarantee a win, the rest of the party finally caught up with us.

Scott was upset and angry and wanted to move on to the next thing on our itinerary, but most of the party had already gotten in the line for Triceratop Spin. It looked like fun, in a Dumbo sort of way.

When they got off, Kairi wanted to ride on Primeval Whirl. There had been NO one there just 20 minutes earlier when Nick and I showed up, but now there was a REALLY long line. The posted standby wait said 15 minutes, so Barry, Hannah, and Kai jumped in line. At the last minute, I decided I wanted to ride too, which apparently annoyed the heck out of Scott. I’ll let him tell his side of the story, though. I left Nick to show the little girls, Cyndy and Grandma around the carnival games (they won quite a lot, too – I think Grandma bought them vouchers). Then the PW group spent the next 25 minutes in line. *sigh* The ride itself was really quite fun, but it wasn’t worth the line. I had not planned to ride this because I thought it would be too spinny. It only spins in selected parts of the track, though, so it wasn’t bad at all. I would definitely ride again – but not if I had to wait for it!

We got off the ride and met the rest of the party at the Boneyard play area, where they had headed after playing games. Apparently, things weren’t going well. Scott was still in a temper. Faith was scared witless because some of the play areas had dinosaurs roaring, which terrified her. And Cyndy was really angry with Hannah because the CM at the top of one of the slides had told Hannah that she couldn’t slide down with her little sister Juli, and then Hannah had lost Juli once she got down the slide.

Grandma, Cyndy, and the girls took off with the intention of heading to the train and going to Rafiki’s Conservation Station or whatever it’s called. The rest of us headed to Dinosaur. I really liked the ride in terms of the animatronics and the theming. Unfortunately, the whiplash inducing turns kept me from enjoying the animatronics and theming. No one else seemed particularly impressed.

We headed to meet up with the rest of the group, but they had still not even gotten on the train. They were annoyed to have wasted all that time waiting, but decided to meet back up with us anyway so that Cyndy could go on Everest with the rest of us, and Grandma could take Nicky. We grabbed safari fastpasses when we went to meet up with them. Grandma took Nick and the two little girls to the Flights of Wonder show. The rest of us headed to Everest.

Once again passing by the tea company, we jumped in the Fastpass line. Scott looked a bit nervous, but Kai and I (who had been on Everest on our last trip) told him he would love it.

We were right. It was everyone’s FAVORITE ride. Everything about it was absolutely loved by the whole group. (However, Scott and Kairi didn’t even SEE the Yeti. Well, they saw the shadow one, of course, but not the big one. And I’m pretty sure it was in the not-moving mode, but with the strobe lights, it still looked like it was moving. But I’ve seen the full arm swipe before, and this wasn’t it.)

We stopped for a few souvenirs, including the ride photo. They accidentally printed too many copies, so we ended up with four instead of two and gave them to us because they were just going to throw them away anyway, which was nice.

Once we met the rest of the group, we headed to lunch, stopping for a Photopass pic.

We also passed by the Tea Company AGAIN. I sighed about it this time, and a few minutes later I noticed that Scott had disappeared. Yup. As we were walking to Flame Tree, Scott ran all the way back, snagged me a frozen chai, and brought it back to me so fast he beat us to Flame Tree. How could you not adore a guy like that? Even if he was a smidgen grumpy that morning.

It was SO hot by this point. For some reason, our Animal Kingdom day is always the hottest day of our trip. So the frozen chai was the perfect refreshment. I think I could wax poetic about that chai the way other DISers do about dole whips. I would make a trip to AK just to get one. Seriously. It was DELICIOUS. Beyond delicious. Anyway, I sipped my frozen chai and cooled down as we waited in the long lunch line.

Lunch was pretty good. I got the BBQ sandwich this time, because I had been disappointed in the ribs the last time we went here. This time, the ribs everyone else got were better than my barbecue. Ah, well! The pre-packaged key lime pie was inedibly bad, but I’d had dessert before I ate anyway. As usual, the pavilion was overrun with ducks.

Running Totals (including last night’s candy, the OOP chai, lunch, a whole bunch of bottled waters we kept snagging at carts because of the heat and so forth…) 70 TS, 60 CS, 25 Snack, $40.70 OOP, $411.10 Tips, $2966.66 if we had not been on the dining plan.

After lunch, we stopped in yet more souvenir shops (this time to get a bag to hold all the prizes from Dinoland) and to get a hat for Faith, who had forgotten hers in the room. She’s sensitive to heat because of her medical condition, so Cyndy was concerned about letting her get any warmer. Kai also decided on her Disney hat – this adorable pair of leopard ears.

Kilamanjaro Safaris was next on our list. Our tour guide was great, and gave lots of extra information compared to drivers we’ve had in the past. We got pretty lucky with seeing animals, too. Especially the adorable baby giraffe!

Up Next: Detour to Ireland

 

[FlightlessDuck]

I didn’t want the rest of the group getting bored in Chester and Hester’s Dinorama, which is where they were headed.

My day started with a trip to the bathroom. Yes, I had to stop (and Barry, Hannah, and Faith). Remember all of those times when we would sit there and wait for the girls? Guess what. Nobody waited for me.

Come out of the bathroom only to be called on my phone and told that Cyndy, Grandma, Kairi, and Juli were already started to Dinoland and Barry, Faith and Hannah were trying to catch up. Having been in this park only twice, for a total of 1 1/4 days, I wasn't really sure I could find my way around, let alone catch up with them.

I found Barry and Hannah outside one of the shops and was told everybody else was inside, so I sat down to wait. After what seemed like an eternity, I tried calling Cyndy's and Grandma's phone, but neither answered. I found Cyndy and the girls and asked where Grandma was and said we should be going because Jenn and Nick were going to beat us to Dinoland (I didn't mention that the only reason were were heading their to begin with was to give them something to do until Jenn got the FastPasses). Cyndy said Grandma was outside, but I couldn't find her. After another 10 minutes I went back in, only to find Grandma but not anyone else.

At this point, I wanted to just go away.

Instead, we all got ourselves together and went over to Dinoland. Jenn and Nick had their arms full of stuffed animals and asked where we had been.

Various people went on Dino-Dumbo, which should have happened 20 minutes earlier while we waited for Jenn. After that ride was over, Barry and Hannah wanted to go on Primeval Whirl. Jenn and I had looked at this ride online when we were originally planning and both decided it wasn't interesting. Too much spinning (which she didn't like on the Tea Cups), and I don't really like wild mouse type rides. But, at the last minute, Jenn decided she wanted to go on. Now, if I knew this, I would have gone as well. She said she was going to get in line and asked me to stay with Nick. Before I had time to protest ("please don't leave me alone with these people again", or, better yet "wait, I'll go on too", she was already in line and their were people lining up behind her.

Nick then wanted to play carnival games with me. I don't like carnival games. I'm not any good at them. I didn't have a lot of cash on me, didn't know how to get the tickets or whatever, and he had already played all the games several times. I wanted to be on a ride, or watching animals, or at least in the same general space as Jenn. Instead, I waited around the stupid Dinocarnival and eventually took my aggression out on a bunch of moles with Grandma.

Then we had to wander over to the prehistoric McDonald's playland. I don't quite remember who did what because by this time I was just too pissed off with the entire idea of being here and sat on a rock by myself.

Sometime later, I believe it was the following Tuesday, Barry, Hannah, Kairi, and Jenn finally got through the line and rode their ride. By this point we had been in the part over an hour and a total of two rides were ridden, and we hadn't seen a single animal, which is funny since it's called Animal Kingdom.

We got ourselves over to Dinosaur, which was the other reason we were in this part of the park. I wasn't overly impressed with the ride. It shook around a lot, and at the time I remember this really big plot hole in the story, but I can't remember what it was.

Jenn forgot to mention that Hannah had hurt her toe while playing in the Boneyard, so we headed over to First Aid on the way to pick up Cyndy. Almost 11AM. Three rides ridden, still hadn't seen any animals. Hannah ended up being OK (I think maybe she got a Band Aid? I dunno) and we went to Everest.

By far this was my favorite ride in all of Disney, and one of only three bright spots this entire day (the others being the frozen chai and Raglan Road).

Scott and Kairi didn’t even SEE the Yeti. Well, they saw the shadow one, of course, but not the big one.

You lie! There was no Yeti!

As we were walking to Flame Tree, Scott ran all the way back, snagged me a frozen chai, and brought it back to me so fast he beat us to Flame Tree.

Actually, I didn't really need to backtrack. I just stopped all together and contemplated. I was in a bad mood. I wanted to be spending time with Jenn, which hadn't really happened today, and I needed sugar.

I waited in line quite a while. There was only one person in front of me, she and was an employee. She was talking to the guy behind the counter while her order was being made. She was actually complaining about work, which completely shocked me. I mean, I know I do that with people at my work, but not in front of customers. And I never saw it happen in a Disney park before.

Anyway, I grabbed two chais and hightailed it to Flame Tree because I didn't want to keep everybody else waiting. I never figured out how exactly I got their first, seeing as I stopped, waited in that line, and then never actually passed everybody else.

I had the ribs, I think. I don't really remember. I think next time I want to go somewhere else for counter service. We contemplated Yak and Yeti originally when we were planning this out but decided against it. Maybe because we were afraid that some members of our party wouldn't like it. I dunno.

So, now it's lunch time, it's the most crowded of any park we've been to this vacation, the hottest day of the vacation far, I had ridden on a total of two rides, and saw one animal if you count the ducks. But I was temporarily out of my grumpy mood because I was sitting next to my wife and having a lovely frozen chai.

Kilamanjaro Safaris was next on our list. Our tour guide was great, and gave lots of extra information compared to drivers we’ve had in the past. We got pretty lucky with seeing animals, too. Especially the adorable baby giraffe!

ANIMALS! Finally! The CM was very good, but this ride seems to get bumpier every time I ride it. I was actually lifted off my seat at least once this time. And I was worried about Juli falling out, who was sitting on Cyndy's lap at one end of the truck. I didn't really get to hear that much of the Big Red/Little Red plotline going on, but I didn't really miss it.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"When she gets a lad of her own, she won't tell her ma when she comes home." -Traditional

At some point, Grandma left us at Animal Kingdom to go back and check on Grandpa. I don’t honestly remember if it was before or after the safari, but by the time we started walking to Kali River Rapids, she had definitely gone back to the hotel. Which is probably a good thing. Cause we walked all the way over to the ride, decided the 60 minute standby wait was too long, and walked all the way back to Festival of the Lion King. Again, this was the HOTTEST day of the trip. Temps were insane, the humidity was killer, and we had already hiked around the park repeatedly. Thunder was starting to rumble, so it was going to storm soon and cool down, but for now, we were all feeling it.

Once in a great while, a life-changing event occurs that you don’t realize is a life-changer at the time. We were about to have one of those moments. As we walked, Scott suddenly turned a horrible shade of red with grey undertones. He sat down on the curb in Camp Minnie-Mickey, breathing heavily. He had chest pains. I was genuinely terrified.

I handed Kai a room key and told her to run and get Daddy a water while I sat down and tried to check his pulse. Cyndy ran off in the other direction looking for water. Everyone stopped. Thank the Lord, Scott’s color started to ease back once he stopped walking. He drank some water and started feeling much better. The pains stopped, or at least eased back. He insisted he was fine.

I thought we should go back, but Scott insisted we stick to the plan, because Barry and Cyndy really really wanted to see FoTLK more than any other show – they had seen it once on a previous visit and remembered it as their favorite thing. He was trying to convince me he was fine. I finally said, “Fine. We’ll stay. But we are NOT coming back to Disney until you lose 50 lbs, Mister!”

From our trip report photos, you can probably tell that Scott and I were both very overweight during the trip. In fact, we were both obese. We always had an excuse to put off making lifestyle changes in diet and exercise – we’ll start after the holidays, we’ll start after the school year, we can’t do this right now, we have too much stress, blah, blah, blah. We had both lost a little weight since about May because we were trying to get in slightly better shape to handle all the walking. But we still had a long, long way to go.

Well, since that scary, scary moment in Animal Kingdom, Scott and I have lost 155 lbs. from our highest weights. We are both out of the obese range in BMI. Scott has personally lost 92 of those pounds. I like to tease Scott that it’s because he knew I wouldn’t let him come back to Disney, but in reality, it was just one of those wake-up moments.

Anyway, we went ahead to FoTLK. The sky opened up and it started pouring just before we got in, but we didn’t get too wet before we took our places and the show started.

I really, really liked the show. I was glad Cyndy and Barry had insisted we include it in the day. The acrobatics and music and pyrotechnics were great. Scott didn’t like it as much, but we were seated kind of far back, and he obviously wasn’t feeling his best.

Cyndy and Barry were in a hurry to get back to the hotel after the show, so we sent them back without us so Scott wouldn’t have to stress about keeping us all together. The four of us dawdled our way out of the park, stopping to laugh at the logo that represented Animal Kingdom for the “What Will You Celebrate?” promotion. To us, it looked like a big piece of broccoli.

We met up with everyone else at El Centro, where we had planned to eat at Pepper Market. I can see why the whole process confuses people on the dining plan. There’s really no clear signage as to what you can include on the plan. But we all sorted it out, and placed our orders. Nick was really unhappy with his choices on the kids menu, and was craving hot wings, his favorite food on the planet. So we bought him some out of pocket. Cyndy liked the dessert here best out of all the ones she’d eaten this week – it was some kind of gigantic oreo cake. Scott and I didn’t eat much. This was not because we were already changing our bad food habits – we didn’t start that until after vacation. It was actually because we were planning on eating more that night at Raglan Road. I ate some of a fajita platter, and it was tasty. People on the dining plan don’t have to pay the 10% tip for drink service, but we weren’t sure whether that meant the server just didn’t get a tip, so we left him $20.

Running Totals: 70 TS, 70 CS, 25 Snack, $52.37 OOP, $431.10 Tips, $3149.39 if we hadn’t been on the dining plan.

After freshening up a bit, we headed out to Raglan Road. While we were out, Grandma took the kids to use the arcade cards that came with our packages. They enjoyed the arcade, but were happier when she let them use the quiet pool near Ranchos while her laundry was running. Since we had three rooms, each of the three oldest kids got their own cards, which was a pretty nice little bonus.

Meanwhile, Scott and I were having an absolutely fabulous time in Downtown Disney. We stopped to order some custom t-shirts at the Design-A-Tee shop – Grandma loves Rafiki and Kai loves Tigger. Neither of them had found shirts at the other shops with their favorite characters, so we ordered both of them a shirt. They told us the shirts wouldn’t be ready for two hours, but since we were planning on staying at least that long anyway, it wasn’t a big deal.

Raglan Road was, hands down, our favorite evening of the trip. We loved the pub’s atmosphere. The drinks were amazing. I had an Iced Irish and a Dubliner, and Scott had a Guinness, a Murphy’s Irish Red, and Aran Island Iced Tea. The band played a great set, and we and the audience sang along with popular numbers like “Tell Me Ma”, “Dirty Old Town”, “Leaving of Liverpool” and especially “Wild Rover”. The step dancer was fairly cool as well.

We spilt the Appetiser D’Lirrah for Two, which was flat out amazing. The beer battered sausages were tasty and crisp and the Guinness glazed ribs were to die for. It also came with greens, scallops, and chicken skewers, and we devoured it all, along with really tasty soda bread and Guinness reduction dipping oil.

The highlight, though, was definitely Ger’s Bread and Butter Pudding. It was amazingly delicious – even better than the frozen chai from Animal Kingdom. And I thought I didn’t even like bread pudding before this trip! The whole thing set us back about $100, including tip - this is the one sit-down receipt I lost. But it was OOP anyway, so it doesn't really matter for the purposes of the running totals. It was about a $25 tip, $25 for the appetizer sampler, $8 for the dessert, and the rest was in drinks. So that would bring OOP to $122.37 if we guess about $70 and Tips to $456.10.

After we relaxed at Raglan Road until the end of a set, we stopped in the gift shop so Scott could get a shirt, and then walked back through Downtown Disney. (Consider all the mushy, hand-holding giggly stuff omitted for space.) I am not a drinker, generally speaking, and if I have one drink a month, that’ll do me. So, two relatively potent drinks in one night had me pretty relaxed and silly. When we stopped in Arribas Bros. so Scott could pick me out a belated birthday present, I fumbled just a tiny bit with the clasp on a necklace I was trying on. I joked to the salesman, “I had a little too much fun at Raglan Road” and he said “story of my life” which struck me as really funny at the time. I got a pretty silver necklace, picked up the custom t-shirts, and spent a bit more time browsing before we headed back for the night.

Up Next:
Even MORE Magic Kingdom

 

[FlightlessDuck]

Once in a great while, a life-changing event occurs that you don’t realize is a life-changer at the time. We were about to have one of those moments. As we walked, Scott suddenly turned a horrible shade of red with grey undertones. He sat down on the curb in Camp Minnie-Mickey, breathing heavily. He had chest pains. I was genuinely terrified.

This was actually the third time this trip I ended up with chest pains. The previous two were not nearly as bad, but this one was scary. I think part of it was the heat, too, since sitting in the cool theatre helped a lot.

“Fine. We’ll stay. But we are NOT coming back to Disney until you lose 50 lbs, Mister!”

And, as you can see from what Jenn said later on, I took her word for it.

I really, really liked the show. I was glad Cyndy and Barry had insisted we include it in the day. The acrobatics and music and pyrotechnics were great. Scott didn’t like it as much, but we were seated kind of far back, and he obviously wasn’t feeling his best.

I didn't really like the show. I can't say why for sure. I didn't like the whole concept of having a theatre-in-the-round for this show (one of the princes stood right in our line of sight during the Circle of Life bird dance), I didn't think the costumes looked sufficiently like the animals they were supposed to be, I was already in a bad mood, it was raining, and I had almost dropped dead.

I am willing to try it again next time we go if everybody else wants to, but I'd try to get different seats next time.

I ate some of a fajita platter, and it was tasty.

I had the fajitas, too. They were good. I was thinking of getting the steak originally, but was a bit fuzzy on whether it would be pre-cooked or cooked to order with me standing right there, so I went with Mexican. Besides, I got cheated out of my tacos the day before. Once again, I don't remember my dessert.

Meanwhile, Scott and I were having an absolutely fabulous time in Downtown Disney.

This night was probably my favorite part of the whole trip. The appetizer plate was simply amazing. If anything, the chicken was the weak link. I was surprised how well the Guinness honey reduction worked with the soda bread. And I got to try two new drinks, plus my requisite Guinness. I do like bread pudding, and have harassed Jenn in the past about how she never actually tried any before. I'm glad she liked the Ger's Bread and Butter pudding, and I can say it is my favorite as well, along with being the best dessert in Disney.

The band was great, but loud, which didn't bother either of us. I wouldn't recommend the place if you have small children. Otherwise, it's a great place to have some fun.

We were both a bit buzzed, but not incapacitated by any means. We had a nice, relaxing stroll and browsed around the shops before getting her necklace and picking up the shirts and heading back to the hotel. We decided next trip that we will have a full dinner at Raglan Road, with the kids.

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"That’s the real trouble with the world, too many people grow up." -Walt Disney

After packing up our belongings into our vehicles, we headed over to the Magic Kingdom for our last Disney day. We split up almost immediately. Kairi, Cyndy, Hannah and Barry headed for Big Thunder Mountain Railroad.

Grandma and Grandpa went to Liberty Square to try and ride the riverboat, and then wandered around to various favorites. Somewhere along their way that morning, they ran into Pioneer Donald.

And Scott and I took Juli, Faith and Nick to Dumbo, after waiting in a really long line at Guest Services for Scott to replace his missing KTTW card.

Nick didn't want to ride, as usual, so we took the girls on by ourselves. Cyndy and Kai were back before we got off the ride. Hannah and Barry had headed to Adventureland in the hopes of finding Jasmine. Our new group went to Mickey's Philharmagic, which was much more fun the second time around now that we weren't worried that Grandma had broken a toe. We then headed over to meet Hannah and Barry in Adventureland. They had been meeting characters and riding on the Magic Carpets of Aladdin.

We rode on Pirates one more time, cause we loves it.

Finally, Hannah's big moment came. She was the only girl who hadn't met her "matching" princess at Akershus when they all wore their costumes. She wanted to meet Jasmine in the worst way. Later on, we saw her in EPCOT but her line wasn't taking any more families. So this time, when the line was full, we waited the 20 minutes for the next time she came out. Finally, Hannah got her wish.

My two wouldn't even get their pictures taken, which surprised me. But when I thought about it, it kind of made sense. All of our character pictures have always been taken when we've bumped into characters with no line at all (like in the Animation building at HS before everyone found out it was a character meet and greet) or at meals. We're not really wait-in-line to see a character types. And I guess they are getting a bit older.

At this point, our group broke off again. Grandma and Grandpa were still off somewhere, and Cyndy and Barry wanted to take the girls on Magic Carpets since only Hannah had ridden. My two would rather have their eyes poked out with pointy sticks, so we headed to Tomorrowland. We rode Buzz with no line twice in a row. The first time Kai won, the next time Nick won, much to my chagrin. Then we bumped into Barry and Cyndy's group and rode Carousel of Progress together. We texted Grandma to find out where she was - turns out, on the CoP! So we all got back together.

At this point, I need to explain what our family was wearing. Grandma runs a quilting business, and she gave us all shirts that say "Custom Quilts By Marybeth". Now, honestly, we really don't like the shirts too much. They're not flattering, and especially for Scott, they're a bit girly. But Grandma said we'd ALL be wearing them one day, and we wanted to humor her, especially after she watched the kids so we could go to Raglan Road. But when we got the group together that morning, turns out we were the only ones who followed Grandma's directions. Scott was really upset by this. He didn't want to be in any pictures wearing the awful shirt. Plus, he hates the whole "matchy matchy" shirt thing, even if they had been great shirts. But this was our LAST day at Disney, and the sky was FINALLY blue, and we kept running into Photopass photographers.

This picture gives a pretty big clue what was going on by this point of the trip. Grandma was trying to get everyone to be in pictures - see how she's trying to shoo Juli to the right pose? Barry was distracted and already thinking about his half of the vacation. Scott was annoyed and ignoring all of us. Cyndy was off in her own world, probably on her cell.

Nevertheless, everyone was cajoled into cooperation, and the photographer (who was really lacking for customers at that moment) took a whole bunch of shots.

Our next stop was Main Street to blow all of our remaining snack credits. We had used some for breakfast on our way into the park (orange juice, croissants, cinnamon rolls, etc - all very delicious), and now we bought mountains of candy and treats to take with us. We really did have more snack credits than we needed. I don't have receipts for this last flurry of spending, but by the time we were done, everyone had used up all their snack credits. Some may have been used for drinks they didn't report earlier in the week, too, but I know I had all of my snack credits at this point. Mine went mostly toward buying candy for the kids and picking up some chocolate croissants to take with us for the second half of the trip.

While we were in Main Street, the parade went by again. So we stepped outside to watch.

The kids used some snack credits on ice cream, and I think Scott got a frozen cappucino, which he didn't like.

I think next time, instead of waiting for the "perfect" snack to buy with our snack credits, I will use them for more breakfasts and drinks. Not that we bought those things out of pocket, but we just ended up spending snack credits like crazy on this last day. Anyway, assuming that our remaining credits were spent on at least a $2.50 bottle of water (and many were more expensive) we would have spent about $112.50 on whatever we bought with the credits.

FINAL DINING PLAN TOTALS:

This brings us, (drumroll please) to our final totals for food for the week. We used all 70 of our TS, CS, and Snack Credits.

We spent $122.37 out of pocket, mostly on alcoholic drinks and appetizers.

We spent $456.10 on tips.

We spent $2190 on the dining plan. If we hadn't been on the dining plan, we would have spent $3261.89. Now, it could be argued that we wouldn't have gotten desserts everywhere if they weren't included. It could definitely be argued that we wouldn't have gone on that last $100 snack shopping spree. But saving $1071.89 still feels like a big deal to me!

At this point, we were content to sit on the curb on Main Street and soak up atmosphere. But Barry really wanted a picture of the family by the Partners statue.

Scott was already more than done with photographers, and didn't see why we needed to go back for yet another picture. Cyndy said this was the ONLY thing Barry wanted all week, and couldn't we just get the picture so she could "get the hell out of here". I have to confess, at this point, I was really, really hurt. I had planned this vacation for months. I had tried to include everything that everyone wanted to do. I had been tour guide, concierge, maitre d', and general dogsbody, all on my vacation. And here we were, in my personal happy place, with balloons and barbershop quartets and blue skies and DISNEY everywhere you looked, and she wanted to "get the hell out of here"?? But we went down for the picture, and they left to go to their timeshare. Grandma and Gordi also left to head to our hotel, where our Florida friends were going to meet them and pick them up for their second week.

Up Next:
Just a Few More Minutes, Please

 

[FlightlessDuck]

And Scott and I took Juli, Faith and Nick to Dumbo, after waiting in a really long line at Guest Services for Scott to replace his missing KTTW card.

When we first arrived at Coronado Springs, there was a martial arts competition going on and we had to park our cars no where near our building, so this morning Cyndy and I moved the cars closer to our building. It turns out my KTTW card fell out of my pocket and slid between the driver's seat and door. At this point, though, I had no idea what I did with it.

We rode on Pirates one more time, cause we loves it.

Also, when we were in WDW in 2006, Pirates was closed for the refurb, so we were making up for lost time

We rode Buzz with no line twice in a row. The first time Kai won, the next time Nick won, much to my chagrin. Then we bumped into Barry and Cyndy's group and rode Carousel of Progress together. We texted Grandma to find out where she was - turns out, on the CoP! So we all got back together.

Tomorrowland is my favorite area of Magic Kingdom, but it sucks Space Mountain and TTA weren't open. Still, I liked being able to get on Buzz twice with no wait. I think it lost some of its hoopla now that Midway Mania is open.

At this point, I need to explain what our family was wearing.

I really didn't like the shirt.

Our next stop was Main Street to blow all of our remaining snack credits.

The kids used some snack credits on ice cream, and I think Scott got a frozen cappucino, which he didn't like.

At this point, it was relaxing to be able to just "hang out". We got on all the rides we wanted to for the day. I didn't remember when I got the cappuccino though. It might have been that morning, or on another day entirely. I do remember not liking it. I also remember having gotten it last time, and not liking it then, either. When the kids got their ice cream, though, I got a coke float.

I think next time, instead of waiting for the "perfect" snack to buy with our snack credits, I will use them for more breakfasts and drinks.

I have been thinking about that too, if we do the dining plan next time (probably, although Nick will also be considered an adult by then). I know I'll want a ice cream Mickey head at some point, but besides that, I'd probably just use credits on water or soda.

We spent $2190 on the dining plan. If we hadn't been on the dining plan, we would have spent $3261.89.

Having paid for the dining plan up front was a stress reliever. We didn't have to worry about what we spent when we went out to eat, especially with 11 people. I am pretty sure we will get the dining plan next time, too, but you never can tell.

I have to confess, at this point, I was really, really hurt. I had planned this vacation for months. I had tried to include everything that everyone wanted to do. I had been tour guide, concierge, maitre d', and general dogsbody, all on my vacation.

Not to mention the fact that we paid for the rooms, tickets, and dining plan. It was the most money we ever spent on a vacation (duh, there were 11 of us!). In the end, I think we should have given ourselves more "split up" time.

Just a Few More Minutes, Please

Do we really have to LEAVE???

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss

We didn't want to leave. We really, really didn't want to leave. We were supposed to meet Grandma and Grandpa and our Florida friends Phil and Janel at Cyndy and Barry's timeshare. But we really, really didn't want to leave.

We headed dutifully toward the exit, but ended up climbing the stairs to the train station instead.

We dawdled. Watched more parade. Dawdled. Played with the old school stereoscopes. Dawdled. And decided to ride the train around.

It's probably a good thing we had no idea Disney was going to completely refurb the Magic Kingdom before we came back. We never would have left, and we definitely would have gotten off the train in Toontown to see things we'd always skipped.

Finally, we steeled ourselves and walked under the station and to the bus, since the kids wanted one more dip in the Dig Site at CSR.

We seriously contemplated adding the no expire option to our passes, sticking on two more days, and booking a bounce-back rate for October sometime. Still not exactly sure why we didn't - it seemed too impulsive, I guess. On the bus, I took a picture of this road sign that had amused the adults all week because we're perverts.

We headed to our car, dropped off all the snacks we had bought, and grabbed the beach bags we had packed to take to the pool. Grandma and Grandpa were still there waiting for their ride, so we hung out with them awhile and swam and ate some nachos for lunch. Then the kids tried out the playground, but it was so hot they didn't play for long.

Goodbye pool...

Goodbye CSR...

Goodbye amazing Disney landscaping...

Goodbye Ranchos...

Adios Amigos... We drove out of CSR.

And to our very great chagrin, goodbye Disney. (If you are thinking of bailing on our trip report now that we're moving on to Orlando and Universal, be aware that we sneak back to Disney later. But we didn't know that at the time.)

We drove to Barry and Cyndy's timeshare in the Westgate Vacation Villas, getting lost on the way. It's a nice enough place, and we were grateful for the extra week of vacation, but it's not Disney. There was a nice, reassuring rainbow over the roof when we arrived, though.

The timeshare room was spacious. The decor was really kind of early eighties, and it was covered in mirrors everywhere you looked. But it did have two bedrooms, a kitchen, a dining room, a living room, and a screen porch that looked out over a little pool. The kids seemed to like it.

We spent the rest of the evening visiting with Phil and Janel before they took Grandma and Grandpa to their house for the week. Then we had some pizza and the girls ate their Disney lollipops.

We headed to bed with the intention of getting up early to visit Universal Studios.

Up Next:
Why Are We In Florida, And Not At Disney World?

 

[FlightlessDuck]

"Don't cry because it's over. Smile because it happened." - Dr. Seuss

It's my party, and I'll cry if I want to!

We dawdled. Watched more parade. Dawdled. Played with the old school stereoscopes. Dawdled. And decided to ride the train around.

I don't have that much to add at this point. I liked riding the train and seeing everything. Like Jenn says, I think we would have spent time in Toontown if we knew it wasn't going to be there the next time.

I decided to turn my shirt inside out when we got to the Dig Site. The nachos were good. In the end, I think we decided against coming back in October because it would have been rude to everybody else (basically saying "you suck, we are going back by ourselves").

I took a picture of this road sign that had amused the adults all week because we're perverts.

I think this was originally at Pleasure Island.

We drove to Barry and Cyndy's timeshare in the Westgate Vacation Villas, getting lost on the way.

It was off 192, but when we got from Disney property to the highway we turned East instead of West. But we figured it out eventually.

The timeshare room was spacious. The decor was really kind of early eighties, and it was covered in mirrors everywhere you looked.

It was comfortable enough, but a little cheesy. It was definitely not modern. Barry said there were newer buildings with refurbished rooms, but obviously we didn't get one of those.

We spent the rest of the evening visiting with Phil and Janel before they took Grandma and Grandpa to their house for the week. Then we had some pizza and the girls ate their Disney lollipops.

It was nice to see Phil and Janel. This was the first time we got to spend time with them since our 2002 trip. I think they were actually out of the state in 2006 when we were down for our second trip together. It was nice to just hang out with no major plans for the rest of the day.

Why Are We In Florida, And Not At Disney World?

That's what I want to know

 

[MouseEarsJenny]

"When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, ‘But why do you want to build an amusement park? They’re so dirty.’ I told her that was just the point–mine wouldn’t be." - Walt Disney

Yes. I admit it. I had a negative attitude about going to Universal on Sunday morning. I think it might have been better to take a week at Universal and then go to Disney afterward. But that would have meant spending my birthday and the Fourth of July at Universal, and that just wasn't happening. Still, I had never been to Universal, and negative attitude or no, I was planning on giving it a fair trial. Unfortunately, the most negative aspects of Universal started hitting me in the face the moment we arrived.

We got up and I ate a leftover croissant from Disney, which I would later refer to as the best part of the day.

Our first experience with Universal was their filthy, nasty, disgusting parking garage. There were cigarette butts and moldy looking articles of clothing and grease and dirt and FILTH everywhere we looked. Plus, it looked confusing as heck. So I took a picture of our parking section so I'd remember where we were.

All of the running engines in a confined space gave Nick a coughing fit. He couldn't stop coughing and wheezing and hacking as we made our way to our second Universal experience - the pushy salespeople trying to sell us the food plan, stays at the hotels, and front of the line passes. Along with kiosks and carts selling merchandise. And this was all in the parking garage complex, before we even set foot into a park or CityWalk.

It felt like we were hiking from Outer Mongolia as we made our way through the tacky Vegas-like City Walk. I know, you're probably thinking that I didn't want to like Universal. That's not true. I DID want to like Universal. After all, my ticket had been a free gift from Universal (I scored one of the Super Bowl freebies). And my favorite book series is getting installed at Universal, so I know I'll make my way back here in the future. I wanted to find fun and the adventure of doing something totally new. But when my first three experiences were filth, money-grubbing, and tacky, it really didn't start me off on the right foot. And again, doing it AFTER Disney set the whole thing up to be a comparison.

Still, I tried to get into the right frame of mind by taking pictures of the iconic logo and entranceway.

Next, we got through the turnstiles, a complicated process involving too few employees, poorly functioning machines, and too many steps (scan this, sign this, poke this, do it again, poke this other thing, let me SHOVE your hand where it needs to go, no I've never heard of a smile...). Nick was still coughing up a storm. We stood around for about 15 minutes discussing where we should go. We finally decided to head toward the Mummy.

The decor at Universal Studios is interesting. I think what they are going for is a movie backlot, so that you'll have a tiny really dressed area and then huge blank concrete walls with billboards and posters interspersed with palm trees. I'm sure it's more authentic than the 40's art deco inspired Hollywood Studios, but it feels like a cop out - if we make it look like a real movie lot, we don't actually have to decorate as much. Not to mention, all that concrete is brutally hot.

At any rate, we got to the Mummy. Going through the queue, every single child but Hannah either chickened out or didn't want to ride anyway. So I volunteered to stay with the kids so that we didn't have to bother with child swap. I didn't really want to ride anyway, because I'm not much of a roller coaster in the dark fan. (Heck, I don't even ride Space Mountain.) Plus, Nick was STILL coughing and wheezing, and I was worried about him. But Cyndy decided that I had a bad attitude and was determined to ruin her half of the vacation. (Um... and her "I want to get the hell out of here" yesterday wasn't at all a bad attitude. *sigh*) I tried to explain that I just didn't want everyone else to have to wait while I went back to do the Child Swap thing, but she didn't want to hear it. I waited with the kids in a dingy little room where they were showing the Mummy cartoon and soon enough, we were all back together. I insisted on a quick stop at a gift shop for some cough drops for Nick. They didn't have any, but directed me very nicely to another shop that did. (Points for Universal.) After another 10 minutes of "what are we going to do next", we went to Shrek. The queue was brutally hot. This would become a recurring theme over the next few days. Many Universal queues are outdoors, with just a fan or two to cool off the mob. I hadn't even realized how many Disney queues were air conditioned until we experienced the opposite. Our two kids started reading the posters while they waited. Unfortunately, Universal's sense of humor seems to revolve mostly around insulting Disney. All of the posters were insulting toward Disney rides and characters. Our two raised-on-Disney kids started getting their own negative attitude.

Unfortunately, the impression created by the queue was not improved by the ride itself. The pre-show revolved around being insulted and yelled at by employees dressed in Shrek clothes. The actual movie, after all that, was the biggest rip off. The theater was dingy and filthy, the chairs were ripped, and you could hear all the machinery grinding and squeaking as the various effects were implemented. Worst, the movie was the same 3-D movie that came as a bonus with the first Shrek DVD, so we had all seen it before!

When we left, Shrek was doing a meet and greet. But after their experience in the ride, the kids were not even a LITTLE interested in meeting Shrek. So we leaned against a concrete wall and waited while the little girls had their turn.

After a bathroom break, we went to ET. I remember Cyndy and Barry were arguing over where to go next, and having a hard time remembering which rides and areas were in the Studios and which were in Islands of Adventure. We spent an awful lot of time backtracking and trying to find our bearings. But once we got to ET, we all enjoyed it very much. The queue was long, but it was indoors and beautifully themed. The ride itself was sweet and well designed, although some of the human animatronics were a bit plastic-y. When Steven Spielberg was talking on the monitors in the lobby about creating the ride, we knew we were in good hands, and we were right. This was easily the best ride of the day.

After ET, we headed to MIB. The line was long and hot. When we finally got inside, the "pre-show" had the same problem as the one at Shrek. Maybe it DOES go with the theme to have the employees yelling at you and calling you names (since you're supposed to be new recruits) but I don't come on vacation to have people be rude to me. The ride itself was pretty fun, although it was hard to tell whether you were hitting targets, and the spinning was a bit vomit inducing. Still, I listened to the directions and managed to beat everyone else's score by quite a lot. It had something to do with the last alien and a certain color of light or some such thing - anyway, I got a 100,000 point bonus that annoyed everyone else because I had been losing badly up to that point. The storyline was hard to follow, though, so I have no idea what I did.

After leaving MIB, Barry decided we should go see an Animal Actors show. By now, I was completely dying of the heat. I wanted to stop and get a drink, but the show was already starting. Once we got there, I found out that in order to get into the ampitheater, we had to climb what felt like about 800 stairs. So we sat very close to the back of the theater while I tried not to die. I was dizzy, hot, and very tired after a week of constant on-the-go. Again, this was interpreted as a negative attitude, and I do understand why they felt that way, but I really didn't intend to be negative. The animal show was cute, but it was hard to see what the animals were doing from the top of the auditorium. Plus, they pulled a kid on stage who didn't speak English and the show started really dragging as they tried to get him to give commands to the animals, who didn't speak Ukrainian.

Next we went to the Jaws ride. I had really wanted to ride this, but when we got in the line, the sign said that we would get wet. I hadn't realized that you could actually get wet on the ride, and I was wearing a white shirt. So I left the line, which annoyed Cyndy and Barry even more. The ride seemed short. I waited in line until it was time for them to board and then got out. I only had time to get a cup of ice water before they were back off the boat.

We started heading back to the timeshare for lunch. On our way, we were stopped by someone who was showing a pilot for a new show. We would have loved to stay, but the kids weren't invited, and we didn't have time, since we were already having a very late lunch. We were also stopped by someone selling timeshares, which REALLY annoyed us because how rude is it that Universal lets salespeople in to accost you when you've already paid to be in the park?

We walked back to Outer Mongolia to find our car. The sign we saw on the way out sums up the morning.

When we got back to Westgate, we made some lunch and I crashed for a nap. I had a wicked headache. The kids and Scott went to one of the timeshare pools - not the one right out the door but an "Endless" pool that Barry is fond of somewhere else on the property.

After my nap, Cyndy, Barry, and their girls went to the Westgate theater to see Finding Nemo. I was feeling better at this point, but apparently I was still a bit snarky because I wrote in my trip journal: "I know where he is - eight miles from here." Scott read, I wrote, and the kids watched TV. When the rest of the crew returned, we cooked dinner and went out to a Wal-mart to grab a new book for me and a few sundries.

Up Next:
Oh. That's Why People Like This Place.

 

[FlightlessDuck]

"When I started on Disneyland, my wife used to say, ‘But why do you want to build an amusement park? They’re so dirty.’ I told her that was just the point–mine wouldn’t be." - Walt Disney

Oh, snap!

Our first experience with Universal was their filthy, nasty, disgusting parking garage.

It didn't seem that bad compared to most parking garages, but it wasn't Disney quality. Then again, Disney wouldn't use a parking garage for parking, at least not in Florida. But I guess Universal had limited space.

the pushy salespeople trying to sell us the food plan, stays at the hotels, and front of the line passes. Along with kiosks and carts selling merchandise. And this was all in the parking garage complex, before we even set foot into a park or CityWalk.

I found this really irritating. It reminded me of going to an NFL training camp or walking through a carnival. Once again, we couldn't help but comparing it with Disney, who doesn't allow such things in their parking lots.

It felt like we were hiking from Outer Mongolia as we made our way through the tacky Vegas-like City Walk.

City Walk didn't bother me. I didn't enjoy it or anything, but I didn't hate it, either. If anything, it just felt like it was in the way.

Next, we got through the turnstiles, a complicated process involving too few employees, poorly functioning machines, and too many steps.

This was really irritating. It took several times for most of the cards to work correctly. The whole process seemed really incompetent. You'd think they'd have gotten at least this working well.

The decor at Universal Studios is interesting.

I didn't really like it at all. It seemed too hodgepodge and you could see one area from the next. Again, I'm comparing to Disney. So sue.

I didn't really want to ride anyway, because I'm not much of a roller coaster in the dark fan.

I did ride it, and probably would have had more fun if I went with Jenn. Cyndy had said something about keeping a hold of my glasses, and in my stupidity, I took them off. So for me it really felt like a roller-coaster in dark. I would like to describe it, but I couldn't see ANYTHING.

I did like it, though. At least, I think I did.

After another 10 minutes of "what are we going to do next", we went to Shrek.

This irked me. Maybe Jenn and I overplan, but this felt like underplanning. We were in a theme park in Florida in July wasting time trying to figure out where to go next. Why didn't we follow the Unofficial Guide or something?

I hated Shrek. I hated the ride line. I hated the pre-show. I know the employee was trying to play a part, but I hated that too. And worst of all, we saw the show once already, sans shaky seat. And the entire ride felt like it was falling apart.

After a bathroom break, we went to ET.

My favorite ride of the day, also. I probably would have said I liked the Mummy better, but again, I couldn't see. Although it did feel a little like Peter Pan on bikes.

After ET, we headed to MIB. Still, I listened to the directions and managed to beat everyone else's score by quite a lot.

I was having fun in this ride, mostly, up to the end. Again, I couldn't tell if I was actually hitting stuff or not, but I racked up a score over 100,000. Will Smith's face showed up on a big screen and said something about "you know what to do" and I was thinking "shoot the alien?". I look at Jenn and saw her score all of a sudden higher than mine and I was really confused. What did she do? Push a button? When were we supposed to do that? Turns out when Will Smith told us to. Well, that sucked.

After leaving MIB, Barry decided we should go see an Animal Actors show.

Boring. And a lot of stairs. Plus, this was right next to what USED to be the Back to the Future ride.

When I went to Disney World as a kid, I wanted to come to Universal just to ride on the Back to the Future ride, but we never made it over. When I found out we were going to visit this time, I was excited because I was finally going to get on this ride. Only.it.isn't.there.

They closed Back to the Future and replaced it with the Simpsons, a show that nobody in our group have watched since the late 90's. Plus we didn't think it was an appropriate show for the kids, so we skipped it.

Next we went to the Jaws ride.

I wanted to like this ride. I like the movie. The ride seemed run down and cheap. And lame. And only a little water came up in the boat, getting my shoes a little wet, so Jenn could have gone anyway.

We started heading back to the timeshare for lunch. On our way, we were stopped by someone who was showing a pilot for a new show.

This would have been fun, but we couldn't stay and watch it.

We were also stopped by someone selling timeshares, which REALLY annoyed us because how rude is it that Universal lets salespeople in to accost you when you've already paid to be in the park?

I believe these were people from Hilton. I don't know if they had a deal with Universal or snuck in or what, but once again we couldn't help comparing to Disney. I know Disney has kiosks for DVC, but I haven't had an experience where I was stopped by someone and given a sales pitch.

When we got back to Westgate, we made some lunch and I crashed for a nap. I had a wicked headache. The kids and Scott went to one of the timeshare pools - not the one right out the door but an "Endless" pool that Barry is fond of somewhere else on the property.

The pool was by one of the new towers in the complex. I felt weird about getting in the car and driving to a different section to go in another pool. It seemed cheating to me, especially when we had our own pool right out our back door. One of the edges didn't have a lip on it, and you could see a man made lake with swan boats in it, so the pool seemed like it could continue right into the lake. I wasn't that impressed. It was a much bigger pool than ours, so that was nice. And I was able to relax and swim, so it all worked out.

When the rest of the crew returned, we cooked dinner and went out to a Wal-mart to grab a new book for me and a few sundries.

After dinner, Barry wanted to talk about a plan for the next day. I had been reading the Universal section of the Unofficial Guide, so I was able to push that a little ("maybe we should go to Spider-Man first, and then...blah blah blah"). We decided to walk clockwise around the park. Cyndy didn't want to be part of the conversation, but wanted to make sure the two little girls got something fun to do early. There was a kid's play area in the Lost World section, so the rest of us thought that it would work. Unfortunately, we forgot about Faith's incident with the Boneyard a few days before. More on that later...