A Semi-Solo Weekend Escape - Sept 11 - Finished 2/7

[onelilspark]

I hope your plan works out Kelly! But aren't you afraid you'll miss snow?

I have no idea who/what that multi-colored bear thing is either!

Haha...no. And if I do miss snow, his parents are in Vermont, so we'll just visit! We got an inch last night instead of the predicted 8-14". I'm still cranky

You got some great pictures! I love the ones of the view from the boat (such a fun view) and the one of the castle from the train station.

LOL, almost 800,000 isn't your best score? I have never come close to a score like that.

Your sundae looked pretty good too.

I feel like I've seen that yellow bear somewhere but also have no clue who/what he is. But you've got me curious now.

Thanks for the complement on the pictures!

I've maxed out a few times on Buzz, so now I'm disappointed when I don't

The sundae was excellent, but it was just way too much for 1!

Really enjoying your report!

The yellow Bear is Special Agent Oso. He's a Disney Jr. cartoon with his own show for toddlers. Sadly, I see a lot of him on my tv. He is not my favorite but my little boy got very excited when he saw the picture you took.

Mystery solved!

I'm glad it made your little boy excited!!

I will be keeping my fingers crossed that all works out with the possible move to Melbourne. We've been to Melbourne...and it is very nice.

Love the update. I'm with you, IASW once in a trip is enough. But I could do the People Mover over and over again.

I'll be flying down in 10 days...I can't wait!!

And I love the Peoplemover! My Mom and I used to ride it in loops when my Dad took my brother on Space Mountain for the second...third...fourth time in a trip. Some great memories with my Mom on the Peoplemover!

 

[onelilspark]

Sorry I've been MIA. I went down to Florida this past weekend. I found a few neighborhoods I really like in Melbourne, now we just need to make the transfer happen!!

We stopped at Portobello on the way back to Tampa. Here's the review:
http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?p=43795577#post43795577

Spoiler: it was awful

 

[onelilspark]

The problem with quick trips? They end entirely too soon!

I woke up on Sunday morning (quick note: this was 9/11/11, the 10th anniversary of 9/11 and 1 year prior, Geoff proposed...he didn't realize the date until later...) and decided that while I loved my Room Service breakfast the day before, I really didn't need to spend the money on it two days in a row So I walked myself down to Contempo Cafe and brought back some waffles:

And still ate them on my balcony My parents called that they were pulling into the Contemporary, so I made my way downstairs with my bag When they came the night before, they left their car at BLT (I asked for a parking pass when I checked in) and just took a cab back after dinner and again when they came in that morning. It worked out great! No worries about how much wine was consumed...

So we made a stop at the car to drop off everyone's bags. And I said good bye to BLT

I think one of the best things about BLT is how close it is to the MK. We decided we'd walk over and then take the Monorail back (because my Dad wanted to...even though they live there so they take it every time they go to the MK! )

We arrived at the bag check right as the show was starting! Great timing! They were a little more thorough that day and they did have some dogs with security guards out.

Once through, we caught the rest of the show!

It was pretty hot and humid that day, so I knew my jersey wasn't going to last too long, so I quick grabbed a picture with it on!

My two favorite things: Disney and the Philadelphia Eagles

Our first stop was Tomorrowland. We rode Buzz...twice. And for the first time ever, my Mom was the winner! She didn't let us forget it either...

Next up we hit the TTA. It's my Mom's favorite, and really we were doing a tour of the MK's greatest hits...

After the TTA, we decided we'd stroll back through Fantasyland....to do Small World. Because when you're at the MK on a really low crowd day at 9:30 in the morning, obviously Small World is the best thing to do

On the way there, we got distracted by Pooh.

My parents hadn't seen the interactive queue before, so we stopped and did the ride so they could see it.

We did eventually make it to Small World...which is my Dad's favorite. The day before I knew he would want to ride it, so I purposely didn't

Up Next: Continuing our tour of the MK's Greatest Hits!

 

[glennbo123]

I'm glad IASW is somebody's favorite! I'd rather move along to other, more adventurous attractions, but I'm glad it has its fans.

 

[KatMark]

Nice update, Kelly. What an empty park you were in and you did some of our favorites. Unfortunately, IASW, is NOT one of them (as Mary called it and is now my new favorite saying: A Slow Boat to China!).

 

[onelilspark]

I'm glad IASW is somebody's favorite! I'd rather move along to other, more adventurous attractions, but I'm glad it has its fans.

He has pretzels or coffee when we do the more adventurous attractions

Nice update, Kelly. What an empty park you were in and you did some of our favorites. Unfortunately, IASW, is NOT one of them (as Mary called it and is now my new favorite saying: A Slow Boat to China!).

Thanks Kathy! I was amazed all of that weekend how quiet the parks were. It's like someone was keeping September a secret from me!!

A Slow Boat to China makes me think of Jimmy Buffett

 

[onelilspark]

I left off as we were finishing my Dad's favorite: Small World.

Next up was my favorite, the Haunted Mansion. My Dad hadn't gotten a chance to check out the new queue yet, so we took the scenic route.

He thought it was neat, but could skip it in the future.

One ride I managed not to do the previous day was Pirates. I don't know how I missed it, but I did. Luckily, I had two days in the Magic Kingdom, so we hopped in "line." Which was non-existent and we were able to get right on!

When we finished, we hopped over to the Tiki Room. We used to do the Tiki Room a lot when I was growing up, it was a great escape from the heat! But after they changed it, we found ourselves visiting the Tiki Birds less and less. Of course, since it was now under the new old management, we knew we had to check it out again!

It was just as good as I remembered My Mom made the comment as we were leaving that for being 40 years old, even the younger kids were dancing and singing along with smiles on their faces. I'm glad they brought back the original.

We had time for one more ride before our lunch reservations, so we hopped on the Jungle Cruise. I've got a weakness for corny jokes, so Jungle Cruise is always fun!

We had a great skipper, we're always amazed at how people don't laugh. Do they not get the jokes? Oh well.

Before heading over to lunch we stopped for our traditional photo on the Adventureland Bridge.

My Mom and Nana took this photo on their very first trip and we've continued it on every trip since! I even made Geoff take one with me when we went out to Disneyland!

We had lunch reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern, which was really good! It was good for a lunch stop.

After lunch we made our way out of the Magic Kingdom, stopping to window shop a bit!

We made the decision to take the monorail over to the Contemporary...my Dad really wanted to use the monorail for some reason. So we hopped on. Out of the window we saw that there was a bus fire at the bus stop! With it being 9/11, we were obviously concerned, but I found out after I got home that it was just a fire, nothing to be alarmed about. My Dad was disappointed that we only went one leg, so we decided to ride it around again. After that go-round I snuck some pictures of the bus, but by that time they had pulled another bus in front of it to conceal it. All bus traffic to the MK was diverted to the TTC.

We had left ample time to get me back to the airport because we didn't know what security would be like. Turns out it took me a total of 5 minutes to get through security. I have never gotten through Orlando's security faster!! I was shocked.

My plane took off and my connection went without a hitch. 'Til next time Orlando:

Thanks everyone for reading along even though I got majorly distracted during my TR! Unfortunately we don't have any trips planned right now, but it's because we're planning on moving an hour away from Disney...so don't feel too bad Geoff has a call with one of the managers down in Florida this week (it was supposed to be yesterday, but something came up and the call couldn't happen) and after talking to his secretary, it sounds promising. Please send some pixie dust our way! We're meeting with a Realtor tonight to find out what we need to do in order to get our place here in Rochester on the market. We won't actually list it until Geoff has a job offer to transfer, but things are starting to line up! I'm so excited

 

[wdwgirl03]

We haven't done the Tiki room a lot either but now that it's back to the original I want to see it again! I love the picture of the birds outside.

I hope everything works out with the job/moving. One hour from Disney would be pretty awesome.

 

[glennbo123]

Thanks for sharing this trip with us Kelly!

The new (old) Tiki Room (ie. back to original) is one of the things I want to hit at MK this summer.

I hope everything works out for you to move to Florida soon.

 

[onelilspark]

We haven't done the Tiki room a lot either but now that it's back to the original I want to see it again! I love the picture of the birds outside.

I hope everything works out with the job/moving. One hour from Disney would be pretty awesome.

It was so great to see how everyone was enjoying it even if it's the older version!

Thanks for sharing this trip with us Kelly!

The new (old) Tiki Room (ie. back to original) is one of the things I want to hit at MK this summer.

I hope everything works out for you to move to Florida soon.

Thanks for reading along!

So....I have news on the Florida front. Geoff got a formal offer for a transfer today. And my company recently had someone resign who was in my same position, so there's a possibility I could take over his role (it looks pretty likely, but I haven't gotten a formal offer for it yet.)

SO we'll be moving down the first full week of April. Just before Easter.

 

[KatMark]

that is so exciting, Kelly. I'm so happy for you and Geoff.

 

[onelilspark]

that is so exciting, Kelly. I'm so happy for you and Geoff.

Thanks Kathy! I'm super excited

 

[glennbo123]

How exciting!

 

[onelilspark]

How exciting!

Thanks Glenn!

And for the record, I will be getting a Disney Annual Pass at the end of April...after the Spring Break crowds have left!