Ace, Me, & the Guy with CP *An update on Bill Pg. 70*

[mrsksomeday]

Hi Tracy! Welcome back. I love your Christmas presents. My mother got me a Cricut last year - I love it. She got me two Disney cartridges this year to go with it! They are expensive so I wouldn't have bought them for myself. Now I can start my scrapbook from our recent trip.

Can't wait for your updates!
Amy

Hi Amy, I am so excited about the Cricut. I think we are going to change the spare bedroom into a scrapbooking/office room. I know what you mean about the cartridges, I saw the prices and was , but I have been looking on Ebay and hinted to Bill that a cartridge might be a good Valentines Day present, so we will see . I would love to see pictures of your scrapbook when you do it.

Welcome back! Glad to hear you had a nice Christmas. Love the pictures of the gifts - especially the doggie picture frames! How cute! When I first saw the picture I thought you had more dogs sitting on your couch!

Hi Michelle, Christmas was crazy, but wonderful. The picture frames were my favorite, they are so cute. The last time they were here she followed Ace around with the camera. I would say she took at least 20 pictures of him and I kept thinking why is she so obsessed with Ace?? Now I know .

DSIL got a Cricut...apparently they make both a Disney font cartridge and a Disney character cartridge.

Hi Hedy, they make a couple different Disney cartridges, I am checking them all out .

 

[Pakey]

Welcome back Tracy. Couldn't post earlier today because I had to work. I'm super-dooper jealous of the Cricut. I have so much $$ invested in my Sizzix that I've been working hard to convince myself NOT to buy a Cricut. Doesn't mean I'm not yearning for one. Let me know when you use it and what your thoughts are on the ease, quality, etc. Then I know for sure I'll be out buying one.

We have recently decided to go on a DCL cruise too. We are going Jan 09, not long after you. Isn't it exciting to have a new adventure on the horizon?

Love love love the picture frames you got. I wish I could find something like that for Chinese cresteds. Forget having pictures of the kids around, give me photos of my babies!!!!

I'll be waiting for the next installment on your trip report.

Faith

 

[mrsksomeday]

Welcome back Tracy. Couldn't post earlier today because I had to work. I'm super-dooper jealous of the Cricut. I have so much $$ invested in my Sizzix that I've been working hard to convince myself NOT to buy a Cricut. Doesn't mean I'm not yearning for one. Let me know when you use it and what your thoughts are on the ease, quality, etc. Then I know for sure I'll be out buying one.

We have recently decided to go on a DCL cruise too. We are going Jan 09, not long after you. Isn't it exciting to have a new adventure on the horizon?

Love love love the picture frames you got. I wish I could find something like that for Chinese cresteds. Forget having pictures of the kids around, give me photos of my babies!!!!

I'll be waiting for the next installment on your trip report.

Faith

Hi Faith, I will let you know how the Cricut works. You are going to be going on the cruise before us, we aren't going until Dec. 2009, but Bill just suggested a short WDW trip in Nov. 2008, LOL so I have no idea what we are doing so far.

I think I might have the boxes those frames came in, I will see if they have a website for you. Thank you for reading, I am in the process of doing an update right now.

 

[mrsksomeday]

(Before I get started on the next installment I wanted to post a pic of Bill and I at Epcot the first day.)

As I left off we were leaving Epcot heading for the monorail.

We found the elevator to go upstairs to the monorail platform, walked in, pressed the button, it started, then we heard some very odd noises. I informed a CM on the platform about it and we took our first monorail ride of the trip. I love the monorails, I wish we went on them more often. We got off the Epcot monorail, took another short uphill hike (boy my chubby legs were getting a work out today) up to the resort monorails. It was there in no time and we made our way to the Polynesian Resort for our dinner reservation at ‘Ohana. This restaurant is Bill’s one and only ADR request for every trip.

We could hear the guests before we even got near the little lounge area. We knew there must be a tv around somewhere. There were so many people watching the game. I could hear cheers, I went to look and it was Patriots fans – OH NO . I didn’t even want to tell Bill, soon the game was over, and we knew the Colts had lost. (The only times they have lost games this season is when Bill didn’t watch the games, I think we jinxed them .)

We sat down in the lounge area because we were early and everyone had cleared out. Bill ordered a Tommy’s Bahama Momma:

I got a Long Island Ice Tea, here it is when I first got it:

Here is was a couple of minutes later .

Needless to say, I was feeling mighty fine when I went to go check in for our reservation. They saw the notation about the motorized wheelchair. I swore it was the same man from last year checking me in. I asked him if there was any way we could get a view for the Magic Kingdom fireworks?? He said they were going to place us somewhere where we would not be able to see them, but he asked me to wait, he would go talk to his manager. He came back, smiled, and handed me a pager. I went back to Bill and the pager went off. We followed a lovely lady through the restaurant. She took us to a round table for 6 and smiled. I said “are you sure?” She said ‘yes, enjoy your meal”. We did. We had a great time, listening to the songs, watching the children play games, eating the good food, and then got to see the fireworks. I loved it, we saw Christmas Wishes last year this way.

It was time to leave, so we made our way downstairs. I love the Polynesian Resort with the waterfall in the lobby. It is so beautiful. It was about 10:00pm by this time. We headed to the bus stop and it was really chilly that night. Bill had a coat on and said he was ok. I am hot natured so I thought I would be fine, but it was chillier than I thought it would be, and I was starting to get cold.

We were almost to the bus stop when we heard a baby crying. When we walked up, there was only one couple, both definitely under 25, I would say closer to 20, a stroller, and a baby, an itty bitty baby, less than a month old.

I have never complained about anyone taking their children to WDW, never complained about anyone taking babies, never. As long as you are caring for them, you can do it at WDW just as easily as at home. But the problem was this poor little baby was really crying, not fussy, but crying very hard. The mom said “she never does this at home” to the dad very sarcastically. She handed the baby to the dad saying “I am getting really frustrated”. The dad took her and changed her diaper in the stroller and the mom said “she has been wetter than that before and has not cried like this”. He said “she has never been cold like this and wet”.

By this time more people were at the bus stop. The mom got visibly upset with the dad. The baby continued to cry. She then made a comment about it being time to feed the baby and that was probably the problem, but never attempted to feed her, the baby still continued to cry. Bill and I were shooting looks at one another, I felt so sorry for that baby, the dad was trying his best to calm her. We saw a bus pulling up.

The bus driver stopped about 15 feet before she got to the bus stop and let people out. Why?? I don’t understand that. The mom and dad and the other guests walked to the bus instead of waiting for the bus driver to pull up to where she was supposed to be. We weren’t quite sure what to do. Bill and I started slowly going toward the bus and she said “stop don’t do that I will have to pull up”.

Ok, the bus was standing room only at that point because she had let the other people on the bus, which it would not have been if she had pulled up to where she was supposed to in the first place. Also, the mom and dad with the crying baby were sitting where Bill’s wheelchair would normally go. The bus driver was having trouble with the ramp buttons, Bill looked at me, I looked back at him, and he nodded. I told her to just go we would wait for the next bus. We just wanted that baby to get to where it needed to go as quickly as possible. We made it to DTD finally and back to Pop Century.

We always walked through Everything Pop when coming back from the parks or DTD. There were usually 2 women in wheelchairs working at that time. Bill loved seeing that. I know it made him wish he didn’t have a speech impediment, he would be great with WDW guests.

We were going back to the room and Bill abruptly stopped. I asked him what he was doing, he motioned me over, a cast member had walked by him and he spotted a pin he wanted. “Which cast member?” I asked, he pointed at a blonde with her back to us. I walked up to her and a Paris Hilton clone

turned around to face me. She seriously looked like Paris with the short haircut she has now. I said “could Bill look at your pins?” she said yes. She held out her lanyard and Bill smiled, he said he wanted her Fozzie Bear pin. She said “Ok, I don’t know who that is anyway”. Bill and I stood there stunned . I said “have you ever heard of the Muppet Show”? She said “I think so maybe?” I said “Have you been to Muppets 3D at MGM Studios?” She hadn’t. Fozzie was a "hidden Mickey" CM pin, the I in Fozzie is dotted with a Mickey Head. (Bill is now on a search for all the Muppet pins, we just bought Beaker)

We completed the pin trade and I wondered to myself how we could let things get so bad in this country that the younger people didn’t even know the Muppets anymore ?? It completely bummed me out.

Next installment… We finally make it to Magic Kingdom and I think I see a DISer.

 

[mrsksomeday]

We went to bed so we would be rested and see the Castle in the morning. We got up, got around, and went to the bus stop. It was about 10 – 10:30am. Again, I know that is late, but with me having to help Bill get up and then get me ready it took a little longer than I wanted it to. When we arrived at the bus stop there was a little line and a woman in a manual chair with her b/f. The bus pulled up, the driver got the ramp down, the lady went in, just then another bus pulled up for MK. The people in line got on that bus and that left Bill and I on a bus with just the lady in the wheelchair and her b/f. They were from New Jersey and were so friendly. We had a VIP bus ride, LOL.

We walked into the park and I started taking pictures.

It was so wonderful being back in Magic Kingdom again. We just walked slowly and took it all in. I love looking at the castle, it is my favorite thing in WDW. It makes me feel like I am about 6 years old again. WDW just makes you feel happy.

Then we decided to go to Tomorrowland. Ok, would you believe this was my 3rd Disney trip and I have never set foot in Tomorrowland? It was great!! We were talking about what to do first and Bill and I were both ready for a snack so we went to The Launching Pad. I got us 2 cream cheese pretzels, a soda, a water, and we grabbed a table. I was watching people get on the elevator to go up to Astro Obiter, I think. We were discussing what we were going to do when I saw a bird on the ground grabbing something someone had dropped it wasn’t to far from Bill’s foot. No big deal. Then I saw another and another and another. There were everywhere. Again no big deal…until they started flying directly over my head over and over. Getting dive bombed at Magic Kingdom was not my idea of fun. We decided to get away from the birds.

Walking around Tomorrowland was wonderful, we were so happy we were in WDW. I know I have said that so many times I just can’t get over how ecstatic we were. I saw the people mover. We decided to try the Carousel of Progress. Yes, I said “try”, as in we had never been there. We had no idea what all the “great big beautiful tomorrow” references on the DIS was all about. Well, now we know and we liked it!!

We left there and decided to do Buzz Lightyear. We walked up and there seemed to be two lines, I went up to a CM to ask where to go. She said, you don’t have a pass? I guess she meant a fast pass? I said no, she handed us two and sent us down the fast pass line . We made our way through the queue and I asked them to stop the ride vehicles so we could get on (this is the only ride we had to take Bill’s tray off for). We had a BLAST!! We were giggling and shooting, I was confused as to where my laser light was, but was having so much fun I didn’t care. We came to the end of the ride and no one was waiting for the wheelchair accessible car so I asked if we could go again, they said sure. So we got to ride twice in a row. We were laughing so much when we got off this ride. It takes a little time to get off the ride with a wheelchair, I could not get us a redneck photo, but we went up to ask if we could see them. They could only find one of them, it was a horrible picture, but we BOUGHT it and NO you are NOT going to see it.

After we paid for our picture and sent it to the resort, we saw there was a small line over by the Carousel of Progress and saw Stitch. I asked Bill if he wanted a picture with him and he said “why not?” It was Bill’s turn in no time and Stitch made a big deal about not knowing what the wheelchair was, it was really funny. Here are some pics:

We then headed for Monsters Inc. Laugh Floor Factory. We were first in the accessible line. It was a cute show, we laughed a lot, the crowd played along well. We looked at the time and decided to head over to Liberty Square. I had to take some pictures of Bill first he was annoyed that I kept wanting to take pictures of him:

When we got by the Castle, they were getting ready for the Family Fun Parade, we ran into Clarabelle:

I had to take one more picture of the Castle and this turned out to be my favorite picture of the trip:

We got to Liberty Square, looked in some of the shops, then we decided to just sit for a couple of minutes and take in everything. The birds there seemed to like me as well, I had them flying over my head again and again. This amused Bill very much. I actually felt some feathers from a ducks wing one time it was so close to me as it flew over. I said “ok enough is enough, lets see if we can check in at Liberty Tree Tavern early”. Bill was in agreement.

We checked in and they said it would only be a couple of minutes and to just sit down. Everyone was so nice there. Our name was called and we headed to the outside of the restaurant because that is where you go to the accessible entrance. We followed the hostess and a nice gentleman scooted his chair in so Bill could pass. I didn’t really look at their family I was keeping up with Bill. We were seated, me by the wall and Bill toward the aisle so he could see the characters better. I didn’t get a hug or anything, but boy did Bill get character interaction:

I was looking around at everyone like I normally do, I am a people watcher and someone caught my eye. Hmmm, that lady sure does look familiar. I kept glancing over there and OMG it is Jiminy’sGirl (Heather), this woman is even more beautiful in person. I thought it was her, then well maybe it wasn’t. I kept going back and forth. Bill said “just go over there”. I couldn’t bring myself to do it, I didn’t want to interrupt her, she was talking to her kids, looking like she was having a good time, and I didn’t want to bother her.

This pic with Chip was from his second time to our table, I had already taken 3 pictures of him with Bill, but he would not leave until I took one last one, he kept pointing at my camera like he wanted more pictures, LOL.

It came to the end of our meal and Bill told me again to go talk to Heather. I thought it was now or never. We stopped at their table and I said something like “are you Jiminy’sGirl on the DISboards?” She said she was and that I should have talked to her earlier. We talked for a minute and Bill and I left.

Spectromagic was starting at 7pm and we decided to stake out a spot. There is a great accessible spot very close to LTT. There was a wonderful family with a son and daughter there. I talked to the mom for a bit, her son was in a stroller/wheelchair. We talked about the accessibility of the parks and how rude some people can be, but neither she nor I would let other people’s nastiness get to us. We were just happy to be there.

This was my first time seeing Spectromagic. I LOVED it. Here are some pictures of Bill and the parade.

After the parade was over, we decided to leave the park. We got back to Pop and grabbed some tie- dyed cheesecakes. Mickey approved of them:

Next installment… Animal Kingdom and can you believe a DISer is kissing my man?

 

[DisMomAmy]

Great update Tracy! I feel sorry for that baby too...

I'll post some of my scrapbook pics when I finally get to them. Still recovering from the 30+ pages I made for various calendars that I gave as Christmas gifts.

Amy

 

[DisMomAmy]

Hi again! Another great update! (We must have crossed paths - I posted before I saw your second update.) Looks like a gorgeous day at MK. I love your pictures. I have memories of ALWAYS being attacked by birds in Tomorrowland! Luckily it didn't happen this year (Alex would have FREAKED ) - probably because we didn't eat there this time around - but I have had that problem more than once before!
Amy

 

[jkCT]

Yay Tracy and Bill!! Looks like you had fun! We're heading to POP in April...I need to get me some of that cheesecake!! Love the Mickey/flag t-shirts!

 

[jordanyosh]

Did you feel like Tippi Hedren in the Birds?

Buzz is one of my favorite rides as is COP....and it IS a great big beautiful tomorrow......

YOU MET HEATHER? Lucky you. I hope to meet up w/ her in February...that is if she ever comes back to the DIS.

 

[coles1mom]

Tracy, You sure do take some great pictures! Glad you got to do a bunch of new things.

 

[LeeLee2U]

Wonderfull Wonderfull updates Tracey!

I can't imagine having a baby that tiny out in the cold like that. Maybe she was nursing and didn't want to nurse in front of everyone! Not that that is an excuse because you can nurse modestly even in public. I did it and had people come up to me wanting to see the baby. One lady even tried to pull the blanket off one time. I was in the lounge area of a rest room Tyler was @ 3 weeks old and it was one of my first times out with him. My parents had taken us out to eat after a Drs app. So this is my first child and I'm still getting the hang of this and was very nervous about feeding him with people coming in and out, well i guess I shouldn't have been because obvoiusly no one knew!!!!
for ya'll letting them go on ahead!!!

A CM didn't know who the muppets were????? Isn't that against Disney law or something????

Cheers on the VIP bus!!

Love all the pics you do such a good job!!!! I love that one of you and Bill at EPCOT and the ones with the matching flag shirts!!!
And I spy Pal Mickey!!! He's looks like he's enjoying his ride on Bills tray!!

Also what neat character experiences Bill had. That was just too cute about stitch and isn't Chip a big Ham!!

We also had to run from the birds one time! I thought it was a riot!

So So glad ya'll had a great time!! Can't wait for MORE!!!

 

[Hedy]

We completed the pin trade and I wondered to myself how we could let things get so bad in this country that the younger people didn’t even know the Muppets anymore ?? It completely bummed me out.

Can't wait to see who you meet next!

 

[MRYPPNS]

Hi Tracey,
How did you like LTT? I'm thinking of adding to my next trip. Did you enjoy the food? I don't know if we should go for lunch (no characters) or dinner. Did it take you a long time to have your meal.

I'm green with envy of your Cricut. I saw the demo commerical on tv and the disney character stuff is soooooo cute!

Looking forward to your next installment.

Heidi

 

[Poohtigeey]

Hi Tracy! Great updates! I think we'll try LTT next time. The character interaction seems great! Love your pics. Bill always seems to be having a great time! I couldn't believe all of the TINY babies we saw on our trip. We also saw one about 2-3 weeks old! Start em early I guess!

BTW, I also got a Cricut for Christmas! From my hubbie! With a Disney cartridge! I'm so proud of him! Now I just need to figure out how to use it!

Can't wait to hear about AK!

 

[Pakey]

Great update Tracy. I'm glad you and Bill got to try out Buzz Lightyear. It's one of my DH and I's favs and we are in our 50's. I have the cheezy pic from that ride framed and in our entryway. I'm terrible at the game, I get very few points, but I love the ride anyway. And how great to meet Stitch. That is DS31's favorite character but we've yet to encounter him when we've been there with our kids. All except for my youngest son, DS26, the rest of us love taking pics with the characters.

I loved the pic of your empty long-island. Since I'm a scrapbooker too, I will have to remember to take those "after" pics for some great humor for this next book. I'm on a diet so I'm only having 2 drinks while I'm there in two weeks and I've already planned out which two those are. Now we'll see if I can stick to the plan.

I'll be waiting for the next installment.

 

[scottny]

just found your report and it is great. love the pics.

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Thanks for the double updates Tracy!

I can't believe this was your first time to Tomorrowland! Glad you got to ride CoP - one of my favorites. Buzz Lightyear is fun too - who got more points??

Love your picture of the castle.

LTT sounds great - I have never eaten there but have always wanted to try it.

Great pictures - love the matching shirts!

 

[TinkAsh2001]

Thank you for the 2 NEW installments! Seems like forever! I am so glad you guys had a GREAT Christmas! My sister got a crict like you too! She was excited! Well, we have 2 months and 3 weeks and 6 days until we go! Im excited!

 

[SeptemberGirl]

You two are SO cute together! I love the shots of you!

And God Bless you for thinking of that baby. I always say a little prayer for those tiny ones and their moms and dads - it's hard parenting a newborn no matter how old you are. And on a trip, too!

Great updates and nice Christmas presents!

 

[Linnie The Pooh]

Wow! Excellent update!!! Your pictures are incredible!!

That poor baby. Geez.

We love Ohana's too. I ate so much there, I got a belly ache. I just couldn't stop. That meat was soooo good.

How can someone not know who Fozzie Bear is?? Yesterday, I almost bought Season 2 of the Muppet Show, but at the last minute, I put it back. I couldn't find a price on it and didn't want to spend a fortune (trying to recover from Christmas now!).

Even my kids know who Fozzie Bear is and they're only 6 and 8 years old!! He's actually my favorite Muppet-I think he's so funny. I have a stuffed one my brother bought me for Christmas around 1980 and I still have it only his little hat is kind of cracked now so he's tucked safely away in a box.