ABCs of Trip Reporting, Pt. 2-Life Can Be Crappy and Then You Move On (3/7)

[norybell]

What a nice morning! (Well, aside from Mary not feeling well, and pushy oblivious people butting in front of you for photos...hate that!)

I finally ate at Sunshine Seasons for the first time this April (had some sort of sandwich), and I agree that it was fine, and filling, but nothing really to write home about. Maybe I just ordered wrong -- I think our choices were based on which lines were the shortest!

You may have answered Brook's question somewhere else...where was the Mickey phone? I don't remember them being in the Poly rooms?

 

[Pimama]

Still here and loving your report. DL is the park I know best but I usually read the WDW TR's as I plan my 'someday' trip so I'm loving the mini report!! Our family has been to DL 5 times over the past few years including 2005 during the 50th (sure wish I had bought a few things- especially the CD's). I wasn't quite as obsessed then but I've always loved how "doable" it is to do everything in 5 days. WDW sounds so overwhelming, I can see how so many want to go back right away.

Love your Epcot picture- very fun. Frustrating about the rude family taking pictures, we had a similar experience at the zoo recently. My kids and I were waiting to take a picture but every time we tried to set up a shot other kids would run into the pictures. We finally gave up because the other parents didn't seem interested in controlling their children. Sigh.

 

[PirateKate]

Great updates! It must have been so much fun to have MK all to yourselves that night and then be just a Monorail ride away from the room. I hope the crowds in early October are similar to September.

The Carnation looks like a fun place for lunch, aside from the artificially sweetened tea. I've always found it difficult if I think a drink is one thing and then it's not. Even if I like whatever the drink is, it somehow tastes bad if I'm not expecting it.

 

[shannn]

Am I too late to join in? Determined to catch up!

 

[MEK]

Your T shirts are AWESOME! And your picture holding up spaceship earth is priceless. Yummy breakfast and lunch. I love Kona. It must be great to roll out of bed and be right there. I'm so jealous.

So a cure for mission space over in france? I can't imagine what that might be.

 

[All7OfUs]

Dear Readers,

I hope that you can forgive me for taking a much needed hiatus from writing. Some things here in real life needed some attention, and suddenly the “stuff that makes summer” came on full swing. My yard had been neglected for too long, and here in the Great Pacific Northwest, one must pack in all they can in the few short weeks there are of the warmer months. On top of that, I wanted to put some writing attention to the blog I have going that recounts the stories of our lives while we live in Central Asia. If you’re interested in reading, you can find the link there below in my siggie- that picture of the camel.

I have finally found a few spare moments to get this new chapter up though, so please enjoy!!

With lunch behind us, it was time to start taking in all the attractions we could, given that we had to choose from those that my aunt could either load directly on, or transfer (sort of) easily to. With the help and advice from Guest Services that wasn’t such a difficult endeavor. From the “list” handed to us, and after minimal discussion, it was unanimous that we head to THE TIKI ROOM!! Yes, that crazy bird squawkin’, scary Tiki god rockin’ place where the entertainment is truly fowl. We made our way up the schnazzy elevator and entered in where we hip-hopped our way through the ORIGINAL, very much better version of the TIki,Tiki, Tiki Room. We clapped, we sang; we laughed, we reminisced.

Along the way, here is what we saw:

It didn’t take too long to be on our way again, making headway towards New Orleans Square, where I was really looking forward to seeing again. Some of you know, but imagine most of you don’t, that I was once a CM at the Blue Bayou once upon a time; a very wonderful time, in fact. It would be fun to try and remember where all the “secret” CM entrances are and play seek and find for something tasty and refreshing.

But first, we made our way through Adventure Land

where my mom and aunt encouraged me to have an adventure of my own on the Jungle Cruise. We all would have enjoyed it, but sadly, the handicapped accessible boat was out of commission indefinitely. Sad.

Nevertheless, I did enjoy every moment of my cruise up the Zambezi and Irriwaddy Rivers.

(Hmmm…. I think Mark Davis has been here.)


Take a moment now to enjoy a few (okay, maybe even a few too many) photos from the Jungle Cruise:

The backside of water made me keenly aware that enough time had passed since visiting the facilities yet once again. So before heading here:

we made one more trip to the place that was the ever-present theme of our trip together.

And that brings me to the “end” of this installment of Pee Before Pooh.

 

[Millie12591]

I LOVE HEARING ABOUT YOUR DL TRIP!! Thank you for sharing this trip with us.

I'm happy to hear your enjoying your summer as much as you can, I don't think anyone here can blame you for that.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Can you BELIEVE we’re already on Day 4?!


And all good stories begin with breakfast, even if you’re not a hobbit. Yes, I know some people around here think I resemble one, but that’s beside the point. We decided to sleep in a bit, stalling off Mickey until 8:00.

I don't know who would say you resemble a hobbit, unless they saw your toes on a hairy day!

Love the Mickey phone!

All of you know that by Disney wake up standards that is late! But by 8:30 we were ready to roll,

One time I called for a wake up, and the desk clerk said, "Why so early? You're on vacation! My response: There's no sleeping in DISNEY!

and it was not too late to make our 8:40 ressie for:



OH, WAIT!! I remember now; I got the Macadamia Nut pancakes,and HOLY COW were those ever good!! The pink puke sauce that Cherie so lovingly refers to the strawberry stuff as was mighty fine eatin'! We split those up too.

We hailed the joys of Kona blend, toasting her royal goodness, while planning our day and looking back to a splendid evening before. The trip was only beginning for all of us together, and it couldn’t have gotten off to a better start- well, if you don’t count any of the prior travel nightmarishness.

Those pancakes are TDF!!! so is the coffee. You girls look so cute! - love the shirts!




(my picture stamp says 11:09, and my notes say that we waited a LONG time for one), so we must have dinked around quite a while in the room reorganizing our stuffages and getting the laundry to dry. Apparently, from various TRs I’ve read recently, the dryer issue is a common one. I believe at this point I showed my blisters to the ladies, and they agreed that they were pretty large and nasty. So I put on my “missionary”. To help support that last sentence, I’ll just say that missionaries tend to be “fix your problems on they fly sort of folk”. So I grabbed my “I’m celebrating” button off my shirt and stabbed those suckers like a hungry man at a steak. They exploded something akin to Mt. Vesuvius and immediately felt so much better. Why I hadn’t done that before I have no idea!

They have Mole Skin in the gift shop at the poly! Best DIS tip ever! Never leave home without it!




I had my first GRRRRRRRRRRRR moment. Why IS it that people can’t SEE that there may be others Jones’in for the same photo?? We must have waited until at least 4 other families (all whose children were very cute, mind you, but not cute enough to cut in front of us while we were trying to get our photos!) tromped around in the landscaping taking 400 photos of Little Johny. We stood there for what seemed like an hour in the baking hot sun- and I admit, I was getting pretty hot under the collar. Ok, moving on… although, you have no idea how therapeutic writing this out really is…

So true! It's that "Yes, we are the only people on the planet" syndrome - or the fact that you don't have kids with you entitles them to shove theirs in front of you.




and now it was time to nosh. On this day, I had hoped to hit up one of the WS joints, but I could see that being that we’d only knocked up a small fraction of FW so far, we’d best stick with a closer place. And besides, Mary had raved about Sunshine Seasons for months.

I love Sunshine Seasons! I guess the food isn't that great, but I love the open, light feel of it all!



Just about the time lunch was done, our FiPs were up for Soarin’. But first I had to show LeeAnn Figment!

What, praytell is a FiP? I must have missed something.


Tate called ahead to make sure Figment gave us an extra potent fart bomb.

That Tate - can't take him anywhere! You never know when he'll dump water in your lap or produce a fart bomb!
.



You know what’s so hilarious about that picture??!!

I’m NOT EVEN IN IT!!! Yep, I rednecked me a photo that I’m not even in.

That's funny!

Then took an entirely different kind of spin on Mission: Space, where she only got slightly ill.

Looks Dangerous!

I told her I had just the cure, but she had to wait until we got to France for it…. Good thing we were headed there next!





**** I know I"m forever behind on replies, but was slammed with weekend company that was only slightly announced. So, at my earliest convenience, I'll get right on those!

You "done" good! I was MIA most of the week anyway. I'm so exhausted from teaching VBS, working and a funeral for a 14 yr old who died of cancer - so hard to see , yet such a testimony of Faith and victory! Very draining, though.

I am hoping Mary's nap helped her to be able to have a nice evening.

 

[MAGICFOR2]

I am so enjoying your Pee before Pooh installments! I think it is because of the special time with your aunt and mom, and also because of your fresh look at DLR after not being there in a long time! Thank you for sharing this special time with us.

Now that we've cruised down the Irriwaddy, I'm looking forward to cruising into priate territory.

 

[marvali]

As usual another excellent installment. Haven't done Jungle Cruise in a while. Maybe this trip. And I so miss the original Tiki Room; don't like it since the New Management took over. Can't wait to see the original again!

Nice job on the "end" of the installment!!!

 

[Pimama]

that's awful about the wheelchair jungle boat! I saw it when we were there last September and thought it was cool how they got such a great view seat. I am surprised to hear it's out of commission indefinitely. Hopefully it gets fixed soon, I think the jungle cruise is such a perfect ride for someone wheelchair-bound.

Also love the tiki room. We missed it the first two times we were in DL because we thought it was just a music performance. Now I know that even if it was music performers it still would have been worth seeing. I have yet to be disappointed by a performance of any kind at Disney.

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update Liesa !!!

 

[ladylyons]

Wow, that's a long day. Have a great time at the Happiest Place on Earth!

Thanks!! We had an awesome time at our happy place!!! We did get to ride the new Little Mermaid ride a few times with no wait and the new Star Tours a few times too with little wait times due to using fast pass/rider swap!! Glad to be home though and let things get back to normal but I have a feeling I'll be back in Oregon in the next week or so cuz I found out yesterday that my 3rd or 4th cousin (I can't remember which) passed away on Friday so once we know when the arrangements are we'll be heading up to Eugene, OR (I think that's where he lived). So another trip will be coming up soon.

Have a wonderful, wonderful, refreshing and fun trip!!

Thanks!! We had an awesome time and are already planning our next trip for Halloween time!! I can't wait to see the parks decked out for Halloween.

What a nightmare trip home! Hope you are going to have time to both recover AND pack!!

I managed to have us packed and ready to go by 10 pm Saturday night. We ended up skipping my DH Union picnic just because it was way too hot and I just had way to much to do!!


Finally I'm all caught up. I hadn't been on the Dis since the 8th so lots to catch up on. Glad to see how happy you all are at both Disneyland and WDW. Now I'll hopefully stay caught up and can't wait read more!!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Liesa - don't worry about us! I've taken SEVERAL month-long hiatuses from my TR - DISers are forgiving (and patient) and kind. Take your time. Focus on what you need to, we'll be here!

THE TIKI ROOM!! Yes, that crazy bird squawkin’, scary Tiki god rockin’ place where the entertainment is truly fowl. We made our way up the schnazzy elevator and entered in where we hip-hopped our way through the ORIGINAL, very much better version of the TIki,Tiki, Tiki Room. We clapped, we sang; we laughed, we reminisced.

"where the entertainment is truly fowl."

And you have heard WDW's is being restored to the original, correct? (minus one song-just like Disneyland's) It is scheduled to open August 15! The one crazy bird, Iago, I believe caught on fire a while back, so they have taken the opportunity to change the show. Apparently the tiki gods were not pleased with him.

Aw, was the zebra sleeping?


Love, love, love your DL pics!

 

[Flossbolna]

Liesa, thanks for the wonderful DL update - convinces me more on more that I will forego building walls at WDW in 2012 for some fun in California (am thinking that once I am on the West Coast, I might have to visit the North West as well...). But then I am also thinking about Japan, meant to go there for ages... Sorry for the rambling...

The AL pics looks so wonderful, so sunny and bright and New Orleans Square has always been my favourite land in any Disney park. Katharina and I thought in 1995 that DLP was a bit of a failure for not having it...

 

[jenb1023]

I can't wait to see the Tiki Room in its original version! I did as a kid but I don't remember. Too bad about your aunt not being able to go on the jungle cruise. You would think they would have more than one wheelchair accessible boat. Though I have to say, I am not a fan of the jungle cruise and usually skip it! Can't wait to hear how the visit to your old stomping grounds, the Blue Bayou, went!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

And all good stories begin with breakfast, even if you’re not a hobbit.

What about second breakfast? Elevensies?

Soon we all met up at “Coffee Paradise” and settled in for a luscious breakfast that looked something like this:

Mmmm...Breakfast paradise and Kona Coffee...you know it's coming, right?


I mean, you're practically begging for it:

I believe at this point I showed my blisters to the ladies, and they agreed that they were pretty large and nasty. So I put on my “missionary”. To help support that last sentence, I’ll just say that missionaries tend to be “fix your problems on they fly sort of folk”. So I grabbed my “I’m celebrating” button off my shirt and stabbed those suckers like a hungry man at a steak. They exploded something akin to Mt. Vesuvius and immediately felt so much better.

We now have exploding pus! Have we covered all of the bodily fluids in this TR?

Tate called ahead to make sure Figment gave us an extra potent fart bomb.

In the lingo, this is also known as "Giving 'em the Taco Bell treatment."

Patrick Warburton is still hot. That is all.

If I had a dollar for every time a woman wrote that about me...

Well, actually I do.

You know what’s so hilarious about that picture??!!

I’m NOT EVEN IN IT!!! Yep, I rednecked me a photo that I’m not even in.

I looked at the picture anyway, figuring Patrick Warburton had to be in there somewhere.

Poor Mary. Hope she was able to recover.

 

[All7OfUs]

Wait a sec. The Poly rooms have a Mickey phone?! Seriously? That's amazing! I was so confused for a second and thought you were back at Pop, but it looked small and wasn't a rotary...

Ok, I threw that in as something to really trip you all up! I confess.



No, the Poly does NOT have MIckey phones. I had taken then while toodling around FW when I needed to stop in Guest Services (once again- I spared you that drama this time around.) I had actually taken that for TinkGurl, who requested that when I asked folks if there was anything I could do/buy/see for them. I should PM her and tell her it's there.

Love the shirts! Did you find those here on the DIS? Very cute pic of you and LeAnne cheersing your coffee. And I'm now looking at my August plans seeing if we can fit in Kona.

I had read a ladies' TR a LONG time ago, and decided the minute I saw them, that we HAD to have them too. So I PMd the DISigner of them,, and she sent the file to Mary. I really love the way they turned out!

Kona was definitely worth it- espcially since we were already AT the Poly. The pancakes truly are one of the better breakfast offerings at the resort.

Great shot in front of SSE too!

I like that one too!

on the redneck TT picture! That's HILARIOUS!!!

Good night, what a doofus!!

I hope Maroo starts to feel better....

Me too....

No worries on the replies - take your time! I hope life is slower for you this weekend!

It wasn't... church, graduation party all afternoon Sunday, cousins/inlaws ALL day Saturday, etc.... busy, busy, busy...; fun, but busy.

Well, all caught up again.......not that there was a whole lot new to read!!! J/K you Liesa.....I know you have been busy!

haha! Yeah, but at least I"m still consistently putting something up every so often

Nice Move! Do you also Mash Potato.........and Do The Twist???

I could, but the results might be tragic.

I'm sure he would appreciate the analogy......

Ok, maybe not.

Honestly, no.



Ewwww!



Huh?



I completely understand, and feel your pain. That is very annoying.



Tate always goes the extra mile.



Yes, I noticed.

I hope Maroo feels better in time for dinner.

I have not a clue anymore what these comments are in reference to, but I'm sure they are all very witty and funny. Completely unlike the material they originally stemmed from.

Love the shirts!!! So cute!

Mary gets the credit for making them, and I can't even honestly remember who to give the credit for in DISigning them. cute, indeed!

Kona looks great! Eating there is on my must-do-next-trip list.

It's one worth adding, for sure!

You guys got some super fun photos! I agree - it is so hard to get a photo at the seas without other people hopping in front or taking a hundred years. I think last time I just grabbed a side shot.

I guess our patience (?) paid off. Some of those took far longer to get than should have been neccessary!

Another Tate appearance! He is so clever and helpful!

Always clever and helpful!

Looks like you got in pretty many rides/attractions even with the late start.

We did. I think the ONLY attraction we didn't hit up was Ellen's. But I don't aim for that one usually anyways. OH, yeah, and Honey.

Hope Mary feels better for dinner!

We'll see...


Enjoy your company this weekend! [/QUOTE]

I did, I DID!!

Liesa, a great update as always (comments in red above)

Thanks for chiming in,Kathy!! Someday, I'll be able to get back on, and hang out on your thread too again!

Loved your update! Looks like a good day was had by all!! I bet you loved getting a good cup of joe to start your day!

Have you read any of the TR's by Lurkyloo?

I think I actually started out with my cup 'o joe in the room, where it was FREE. I think LeeAnn and I made a pot every morning where we had a coffee maker!

Nope, I"ve lurked, but not read faithfully.

I did know that "secret" because well.....


Hanging in there and starting to pull myself back up on the ledge and in the window. Now just to catch up and between life and work trying to get all to settle down.

Yes, I get it, Pat. Hanging on, and trying to climb back out. It's a deep hole to get out of.

As soon as I saw your shirt I thought it would be cute to take a pic of the thre of you doing the "evil" pose. Lo and behold I scrolled down and there it was!

Hope Mary felt better in time for dinner.

Yep, there it was!! That was definitely one of the BEST pix we got of the three of us! I think I'm going to get that one framed someday.

to think someone would take almost or OVER a year to write a report.

the nerve



okay i know that FP is fast pass, but you keep writing FiP's what does the i stand for?

Yeah, it's a pretty pathetic pace we're clipping at! Oh well... live with it.

Adding that "i" in there simply makes it easier to say. Try it. Go on, try it. "Fip". See how easy that was. WAY better than "Eff. Pee" or "Fast Pass"

 

[All7OfUs]

What a nice morning! (Well, aside from Mary not feeling well, and pushy oblivious people butting in front of you for photos...hate that!)

I finally ate at Sunshine Seasons for the first time this April (had some sort of sandwich), and I agree that it was fine, and filling, but nothing really to write home about. Maybe I just ordered wrong -- I think our choices were based on which lines were the shortest!

You may have answered Brook's question somewhere else...where was the Mickey phone? I don't remember them being in the Poly rooms?

HI Nory!! It was a great morning- our first morning all together!

I can't even remember WHY we ate "Asian" instead of say a sandwich?? Who knows. I can say that splitting the meal was FAR more economical, and actually what we ended up doing fairly often!

The Mickey phone was in GS near the FW Entrance. I needed to go there to work out some ticket issues (which I left out because it seemed rather mundane and boring- but stemmed from my room lockout episode from 3 days prior...)

Still here and loving your report. DL is the park I know best but I usually read the WDW TR's as I plan my 'someday' trip so I'm loving the mini report!! Our family has been to DL 5 times over the past few years including 2005 during the 50th (sure wish I had bought a few things- especially the CD's). I wasn't quite as obsessed then but I've always loved how "doable" it is to do everything in 5 days. WDW sounds so overwhelming, I can see how so many want to go back right away.

Love your Epcot picture- very fun. Frustrating about the rude family taking pictures, we had a similar experience at the zoo recently. My kids and I were waiting to take a picture but every time we tried to set up a shot other kids would run into the pictures. We finally gave up because the other parents didn't seem interested in controlling their children. Sigh.

There's nothing wrong with a "someday dream"- and now you can have both resorts featured in ONE TR!! Hooray!! DLR is very doable, I think in even 3 days. Maybe not a relaxing slow-paced tour than includes DTD, but doable. I like it too!

Unfortunately common courtesy and manners are far too uncommon these days. To look around oneself and see what's going on is a very good skill.

Great updates! It must have been so much fun to have MK all to yourselves that night and then be just a Monorail ride away from the room. I hope the crowds in early October are similar to September.

The Carnation looks like a fun place for lunch, aside from the artificially sweetened tea. I've always found it difficult if I think a drink is one thing and then it's not. Even if I like whatever the drink is, it somehow tastes bad if I'm not expecting it.

I'd imagine they will be even better! October would definitely be my choice of month to go! I can't even tell you how nice it was to know we'd be "home" in about 10 minutes- or less!

I imagine then, then Beverly may be a bit hard for you to swallow...???

Am I too late to join in? Determined to catch up!

you know you are NEVER too late to join, Shannon!! I've missed you terribly, and wondered MANY times if you were ok. I know that you have gone through some tough things of late- and now, I"m off to find your PTR!!

Your T shirts are AWESOME! And your picture holding up spaceship earth is priceless. Yummy breakfast and lunch. I love Kona. It must be great to roll out of bed and be right there. I'm so jealous.

So a cure for mission space over in france? I can't imagine what that might be.

Thanks, Mary Ellen!! The shirts were fun- and went perfectly for our day at EPCOT! Yeah, it pretty much was awesome to get to walk down the sidewalk to Kona.

Oh, I'm sure you could NEVER imagine how slushy that cure could possibly be...

 

[chloe770]

Hi I have been seriously missing lately too, so no worries on the lack of updates. That's all the less I have to catch up on

Love your TT pic. Totally something I would do.

Thanks for the Tiki Room pics. Know that is the Tiki Room I remember and loved as a kid.