All I Want For Christmas Is an Okapi, a Dinosaur, a Herd of Elephants and ...

[declansdad]

Home again! Going back to catch up.

 

[MagicShell]

I can't believe that John didn't want to go with you girls and shop some more.
My son goes barefoot ALL the time. We make him put shoes on when we go somewhere, but when he arrives at his destination he pulls them off. He will finally leave them on inside stores, etc but as soon as we are in the vehicle they come off. So, the Grand Floridian is definitely too fancy for us.

 

[marDgreen88]

Aw, blisters are no fun!

I agree, the Grand Floridian is VERY elegant. I have heard though, that a lot of people that stay there are just regular people who have saved their money just to stay there! I'm with you though, I don't think it would ever be a full-stay place. ESPECIALLY in the main building!

You should have said... "Excuse me, you're standing on my Kodak Moment."

 

[xoktenox]

I agree that while the GF is extremely beautiful, it's far too fancy schmancy for me. I'd feel so out of place there!

I love the picture of the girls on the Mickey ears outside of the Contemporary!

 

[sunny_stace]

The GF is so pretty! But I have to admit I'm another one who feels underdressed everytime I'm there! When I know I'm going to be there, I try to step it up a bit!

Poor Bella! Having blisters is no fun at all! She must have had some dirty feet by the end of the night!

 

[vamassey1]

Whew! I'm finally caught back up!

I wasn't able to get on before we left. Of course after we got back I had so much to catch up and then the post-Disney depression set in. To help me get over that I spent a week with my nose in the Hunger Games Trilogy. But now I have come back up for air and ready to get back to Dis Town.

I have really enjoyed getting caught back up, but it has also made me so homesick. Doesn't look like we'll mack it back there until the end of May 2013 after all we have wedding to plan for the next year.

Brooklynn really did take some great pictures. She has learned well from you. Bella does look like Tinker Bell. She's a morning person like me.

How's Jill doing? I would love to see her baby bump. Babies are such joys!

Looking forward to more.

 

[TCKK]

This resort is far too elegant for people like me, and I used to think I wouldn't want to stay there ever for any reason. The more I visit, though, I do think that in our quest to conquer all Disney resorts, I would like to stay here for one night. I would be Granny Clampett in Beverly Hills, no doubt. I would guess this to be one of the last resorts at which we will stay, if we ever do really get to it. It's beautiful to look at, but its style is far and above what this country bumpkin feels comfortable in.

I agree with you too about it being too fancy, but it is still one of my favorites for resort hopping. I love to sit on the couches on the 2nd floor and relax (I usually call home and check on the family when resting here) and then hang over the rail watching the people downstairs and taking pictures (like I believe you did above). I think it's beautiful. But when it comes to where I'm sleeping and swimming, give me POP any day!

I love the above picture...beautiful!

 

[IluvXU]

Not sure the GF is my place either, I doubt we ever stay there. I do remember liking the shops there, but I would much prefer the POLY or Contemporary!

 

[CanadianWDWfan]

Yes it is Easter weekend April 6,7,8th.
That will be a busy weekend for me.
Lexi's birthday is the 7th and I have to work til 5pm and somehow decorate the hotel room on my lunch.
Luckily the hotel is right down the street.
It will have a Monster High theme.
There is a mini waterpark with a wave pool and slide. She will love it.
The location is a surprize.

We will come home in the morning and have Easter brunch...then Easter diner that night.

I look forward to seeing Bella's birthday pics! I always love your parties!

Oh and yes Miss Piggy and Kermit came home with us. She also picked up a Star Wars outfit for Mickey.

GF is such a pretty resort. I love how pretty it looks from a distance across the water.
It is such a nice touch to see all the fresh flower arrangements. There are so many details to seek out.

Maybe one day..... I'll stay there but for now I am happy staying at POP.

 

[Charleston Princess]

The Grand Floridian is so pretty, especially at Christmastime. I would love to stay there some time, and I wouldn't bat an eye at being out of place. After all, nobody can read the labels on my clothes.

 

[oOJulieOo]

I completely agree about the Grand Floridian. Much too classy for this chick. I think one of those flower arrangements costs about the price that I am comfortable paying for a room for a night at a value or moderate resort!

I love that photo of the girls sitting in the Mickey ears!

I secretly started my spare-change-Claire's-3rd-birthday-at-Disney-World fund yesterday. Fortunately, in Switzerland, there are 2 and 5 franc coins, so the spare change will quickly add up.

 

[Kgroo]

I love your resort hopping pics. One afternoon every trip while Chloe and DH take a nap I do the monorail loop and go in all the stores at the 3 resorts. So many little nooks to explore and so much fun shopping to do

LOVE the pics of Broolynn and Bella on the Mickey ears outside of the CR - that is one of the best photo ops and works so much better when you have 2 kids to balance out the pic.

Your pics are wonderful!!! I tried to emulate you on our last trip and just take pics of everything that I saw. DH doesn't quite understand why I was taking pics of lights and trashcans, but I know and love them

Great update and thanks for taking me shopping this morning.

 

[ClaireW]

I enjoyed all those resort hopping pictures - and I too love all the details in the floor and the flowers at the GF.
We stayed there for our honeymoon, in one of the outer buildings, and whilst it is fancy it is also so relaxing and pretty that I just love it. One day I think we'll go back but in the meantime we're busy exploring the other resorts.
Hope Bella's blister didn't slow her down at all

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

Your picture of the GF tree is really pretty! I loved going over there and seeing the Christmas decorations. It is such a beautiful place. I think the outside is even prettier than the inside. And I agree with you that it has really grown on me over the years. I wouldn't pay the prices they charge to stay there, but I'd be tickled if I won a free stay!

 

[MHTeacher]

I need to get shirts like this for several of my students.

Go ahead and order several for me to give to some of my middle-schoolers!

This resort is far too elegant for people like me,

I doubt that, MeMom....I have a feeling that you're a pretty, classy person!

 

[disneydreamingdebby]

I think the more I visit the GF, the less out of place I feel.

I have a question for everyone in DIStown. Doesn't just a little part of you feel like you own Disney? I mean that in a good way, not a do-you-know-who-I-am kind of way... I think we all love Disney so much and it feels like home and our "rightful place"...

I am excited about the DVC property at GF, so I can give it a try. Dh is interested only in the experience of trying every property, but the decor is not our style. I don't know that I feel that the GF is welcoming. It doesn't give me the "come in and sit a while" feel of Jambo; that's for sure.

 

[MeMom]

I always feel out of place at the GF too! I am definitely not classy enough to spend more than a meal there! But it is pretty to visit! I love their gift shops too!

We have enjoyed our visits and our meals, and the more we visit, the more comfortable I am with it. It's not really my style, though, so I am satisfied just having pictures of it for now.

LOL! I feel out of place in the Grand Floridian, too. It sure is beautiful, though.

And are you kidding about your pictures not doing anything justice?? Everyone loves your pictures, you take pictures of things that people wouldn't take the time to notice and your attention to detail always blows me away. I love your pictures!

It is beautiful, indeed.

I am glad you enjoy the pictures, but I wish I was smart enough to be able to work a really good camera and have them be the quality I wanted.

Home again! Going back to catch up.

You will have to fill us in on your fun!

I can't believe that John didn't want to go with you girls and shop some more.
My son goes barefoot ALL the time. We make him put shoes on when we go somewhere, but when he arrives at his destination he pulls them off. He will finally leave them on inside stores, etc but as soon as we are in the vehicle they come off. So, the Grand Floridian is definitely too fancy for us.

Hooray for 'barefooters'!

Aw, blisters are no fun!

I agree, the Grand Floridian is VERY elegant. I have heard though, that a lot of people that stay there are just regular people who have saved their money just to stay there! I'm with you though, I don't think it would ever be a full-stay place. ESPECIALLY in the main building!

You should have said... "Excuse me, you're standing on my Kodak Moment."

I want to stay there one night on a girl trip when we only have to have one room.

I'm sure the people probably would have stepped off for me to get a picture if I had asked, but it wasn't really that big. I'll be back for more floor pictures pretty soon.

I agree that while the GF is extremely beautiful, it's far too fancy schmancy for me. I'd feel so out of place there!

I love the picture of the girls on the Mickey ears outside of the Contemporary!

The first picture we took in those ears, Jill had to prop Bella up and I snapped the shot quickly before she could fall out.

The GF is so pretty! But I have to admit I'm another one who feels underdressed everytime I'm there! When I know I'm going to be there, I try to step it up a bit!

Poor Bella! Having blisters is no fun at all! She must have had some dirty feet by the end of the night!

I don't step it up, I have to admit. I just go in wearing the same old cheap stuff I always wear.

I'm sure her feet were black on the bottoms. She was in the stroller most of the time, but we let her run around a little.

Whew! I'm finally caught back up!

I wasn't able to get on before we left. Of course after we got back I had so much to catch up and then the post-Disney depression set in. To help me get over that I spent a week with my nose in the Hunger Games Trilogy. But now I have come back up for air and ready to get back to Dis Town.

I have really enjoyed getting caught back up, but it has also made me so homesick. Doesn't look like we'll mack it back there until the end of May 2013 after all we have wedding to plan for the next year.

Brooklynn really did take some great pictures. She has learned well from you. Bella does look like Tinker Bell. She's a morning person like me.

How's Jill doing? I would love to see her baby bump. Babies are such joys!

Looking forward to more.

Jill is doing fine. She does pregnancy very well.

We'd love to hear about wedding plans.

Sorry you had Disney depression. I think we've all been there and can relate.

I agree with you too about it being too fancy, but it is still one of my favorites for resort hopping. I love to sit on the couches on the 2nd floor and relax (I usually call home and check on the family when resting here) and then hang over the rail watching the people downstairs and taking pictures (like I believe you did above). I think it's beautiful. But when it comes to where I'm sleeping and swimming, give me POP any day!

I love the above picture...beautiful!

I think my favorite part of the resort is the pretty flowers. Sitting out on the beach is nice, too.

I like the definitely love the nicer resorts, but Poly, AKL, WL, Beach Club, or OKW would be more my style.

Not sure the GF is my place either, I doubt we ever stay there. I do remember liking the shops there, but I would much prefer the POLY or Contemporary!

I hope I get to stay at all of them eventually.

Yes it is Easter weekend April 6,7,8th.
That will be a busy weekend for me.
Lexi's birthday is the 7th and I have to work til 5pm and somehow decorate the hotel room on my lunch.
Luckily the hotel is right down the street.
It will have a Monster High theme.
There is a mini waterpark with a wave pool and slide. She will love it.
The location is a surprize.

We will come home in the morning and have Easter brunch...then Easter diner that night.

I look forward to seeing Bella's birthday pics! I always love your parties!

Oh and yes Miss Piggy and Kermit came home with us. She also picked up a Star Wars outfit for Mickey.

GF is such a pretty resort. I love how pretty it looks from a distance across the water.
It is such a nice touch to see all the fresh flower arrangements. There are so many details to seek out.

Maybe one day..... I'll stay there but for now I am happy staying at POP.

I wonder how much all of us Pop fans will like AoA. GF is lovely to see across the water.

I'm sure Miss Piggy and Kermit are cute.

A mini waterpark - very cool!

The Grand Floridian is so pretty, especially at Christmastime. I would love to stay there some time, and I wouldn't bat an eye at being out of place. After all, nobody can read the labels on my clothes.

I don't think much about it now, but we first started visiting GF, I felt out of place.

I completely agree about the Grand Floridian. Much too classy for this chick. I think one of those flower arrangements costs about the price that I am comfortable paying for a room for a night at a value or moderate resort!

I love that photo of the girls sitting in the Mickey ears!

I secretly started my spare-change-Claire's-3rd-birthday-at-Disney-World fund yesterday. Fortunately, in Switzerland, there are 2 and 5 franc coins, so the spare change will quickly add up.

A couple of Trent's school friends were fairly well off, and I felt the same way when I would drop him off at places before he was old enough to drive. One had a beautiful foyer with a grand piano and a flower arrangement that was huge and so pretty. We were pretty poor then, and I remember thinking that the leftovers from their dinners would be a big time feast for us!

I love your resort hopping pics. One afternoon every trip while Chloe and DH take a nap I do the monorail loop and go in all the stores at the 3 resorts. So many little nooks to explore and so much fun shopping to do

LOVE the pics of Broolynn and Bella on the Mickey ears outside of the CR - that is one of the best photo ops and works so much better when you have 2 kids to balance out the pic.

Your pics are wonderful!!! I tried to emulate you on our last trip and just take pics of everything that I saw. DH doesn't quite understand why I was taking pics of lights and trashcans, but I know and love them

Great update and thanks for taking me shopping this morning.

Lights and trashcans and doorknobs and chairs - it's all fair game in the wacky world of a Disney geek.

I enjoyed all those resort hopping pictures - and I too love all the details in the floor and the flowers at the GF.
We stayed there for our honeymoon, in one of the outer buildings, and whilst it is fancy it is also so relaxing and pretty that I just love it. One day I think we'll go back but in the meantime we're busy exploring the other resorts.
Hope Bella's blister didn't slow her down at all

It would be an excellent honeymoon resort. It is very pretty, and we have relaxed out on the beach several times. It is gorgeous.

Your picture of the GF tree is really pretty! I loved going over there and seeing the Christmas decorations. It is such a beautiful place. I think the outside is even prettier than the inside. And I agree with you that it has really grown on me over the years. I wouldn't pay the prices they charge to stay there, but I'd be tickled if I won a free stay!

A free stay - absolutely I would take it!
I don't even know the cost of a GF room. I looked up a Poly room once and did this -

Go ahead and order several for me to give to some of my middle-schoolers!

I doubt that, MeMom....I have a feeling that you're a pretty, classy person!

Well, if by classy you mean I am in a class a lot, then yeah, I am classy!

I worked on pronouns with eight year olds today. They did not want to know about pronouns. They wanted to know how much longer until they could go out and play in this beautiful weather. We need those shirts!

I think the more I visit the GF, the less out of place I feel.

I have a question for everyone in DIStown. Doesn't just a little part of you feel like you own Disney? I mean that in a good way, not a do-you-know-who-I-am kind of way... I think we all love Disney so much and it feels like home and our "rightful place"...

I am excited about the DVC property at GF, so I can give it a try. Dh is interested only in the experience of trying every property, but the decor is not our style. I don't know that I feel that the GF is welcoming. It doesn't give me the "come in and sit a while" feel of Jambo; that's for sure.

I agree with you - the more we visit, the more we like it and feel more at ease there.

Yes, we feel some ownership in WDW. When someone is going, we want them to have a great time, and we feel disappointed if something goes wrong.

 

[LookinUp]

GF looks so beautiful all decked out for the holidays! But count me in on Team Not-My-Style, too. I much prefer WL, AKL or Poly for hanging out where we don't sleep.

Counting down to spring-break-tripping through TN soon. We'll wave as we zip from Graceland to Dollywood!

 

[MeMom]

GF looks so beautiful all decked out for the holidays! But count me in on Team Not-My-Style, too. I much prefer WL, AKL or Poly for hanging out where we don't sleep.

Counting down to spring-break-tripping through TN soon. We'll wave as we zip from Graceland to Dollywood!

Maybe you could share some pictures when you get back. You are going the length of the state. That's a good little journey!

 

[MeMom]

The time had come for us to hop back to our own resort, so we monorailed to Magic Kingdom to catch a bus.

Back at Pop, there were things to be seen
and photographed.

Such as -

and

and

Ask me no questions and I'll give you no unintelligent answers about what all of those are.

To our great surprise, Brooklynn had found sugar on a stick.

Yummy things to take home for others or to hoard for yourself for when you are having a Disney craving.

Aaah, Walt Disney World! Home of the kooky pen!

Music - a personal favorite souvenir of mine.

If you have a rainy day in WDW, you can buy a movie and just enjoy some down time in the room.

2012 pins.

I was eyeing some new pink Crocs for Bella.

I thought about getting them, but she had two pairs of tennis shoes with her, too, so there was really no need for them. If I had not been on such a tight budget, I would have gotten them anyway.

Flip flops and other little girl stuff.

More shoe browsing.

Pertinent information.