An Unforgettable Finish- Oct 2011 TR **Happily Ever After (Completed 5/3)

[PirateKate]

Great update, Kate. I loved those Halloween cups...the characters looked great at villians. I keep forgetting that street is always empty when we need a rest and will have to try to remember it for next time.

The condo looks great and a lot of room for the boys to run around in, and the pool looks great also.

Thanks! I thought the Halloween cups were really cool. It was pretty funny to see all the good guys dressed up like villains. Jeremy and I are very good at taking it easy in the parks. I'm always watching for new good resting spots.

There was a ton of room there, especially when I compared it to how much room we would have had at Pop Century. The boys couldn't wait to go swimming.

How awesome that you met there! Unfortunately I didn't meet my husband there, but that's ok. I actually started in the fall of 2007 so I'm pretty fresh off the campus. What a cute picture! Aww, I know, the campus is beautiful, and it's growing SO much! What did you think of that science and math complex? It's massive.
YES back to Disney haha. I might have to look into Vinylmations! They look like fun!

OK so your LAST update...
Those are such cute cups! Pluto as Scar, that's so clever. I love how creative Disney is with even something as simple as a cup. I know I got excited last year when they gave me a Christmas cup... I actually thought about keeping it. (I didn't... it was a paper cup... hahaha but it was just so cute.) That vacation home looks nice! And LESS money than Pop Century? How is that even possible? That's amazing!

I'm sure there's nothing inherently better about meeting at Lee, that's just how it happened for us. You started at Lee the semester after I graduated...just barely missed you. I loved that new science and math complex! It was incredible, especially compared to the old Beach building, which had that very peculiar smell. It's always hard to switch gears from Lee to Disney...

Pluto and Scar really look kind of similar, when you think about it. Disney always handles even the smallest details so perfectly. I love the Christmas cups, too! If only paper were more durable! It was a really nice vacation home. We were lucky to find it at such a good price. Everyone was a lot more comfortable than we could have been at Pop Century.

Although I love (love love love) staying on property, when traveling with kidlets, more space is a sanity saver. Until they start offering two bedroom suites at GF for the price of a moderate , Windsor Hills looks like a great alternative!

Wouldn't it be awesome if they did offer two bedroom suites at GF for the price of a moderate? I'd love that! Until then, I agree, staying off site does have its good points, especially traveling with the kids. It'll be a hard decision for the next trip.

What a nice little spot you found to enjoy some quiet time! I'll have to keep that in mind next trip

That condo looks gorgeous! I don't blame you on the grocery shopping thing, I wouldn't have wanted to go alone either!

That little street is so peaceful! Sometimes it's hard to find a quiet place in the MK but we couldn't have asked for a better spot.

It was a very nice place to stay. I was happy with it. I figured there wasn't any reason why I couldn't handle it alone, but I was really glad I didn't have to.

We stayed off site in a Windsor Hills home this last trip too! We did it because it made the most sense for this trip- we needed at least 3-4 bedrooms. I thought I would hate being off site, and I did miss it- but it ended up working out perfectly for this trip and I wouldn't have changed it!

Glad the boys did well in their room with the beds!

I did miss being onsite, too, but just like you said, it really did make the most sense for this trip. Sometimes, those extra bedrooms are a really big deal. I'm glad we picked Windsor Hills this time. It was really perfect, except for the small detail of being offsite.

I was so glad the boys went to sleep in those beds! It would have been a long trip if they hadn't slept well every night.

 

[Missyrose]

Yeesh, I fell three posts behind! I realized that I never saw Tiki "Under New Management" and we didn't see the "back to basics" version on this last trip either! Maybe March?

Glad to see you guys were so happy with all the space in the Windsor Hills house! I hadn't even thought to bring outlet covers when we stay in a townhouse in March! Thanks for the tip.

Okay, I have never understood the vinylmation thing. Do you just collect them and trade them like you do pins? Do you have them displayed somewhere in your house?

I just started pin trading on my October trip and it got pretty addictive pretty quickly. I may have even just gotten a new set that arrived from mousepinsonline this week.

Can't wait to hear about the race...even if you couldn't run like you wanted to!

 

[marDgreen88]

I'm sure there's nothing inherently better about meeting at Lee, that's just how it happened for us. You started at Lee the semester after I graduated...just barely missed you. I loved that new science and math complex! It was incredible, especially compared to the old Beach building, which had that very peculiar smell. It's always hard to switch gears from Lee to Disney...

Pluto and Scar really look kind of similar, when you think about it. Disney always handles even the smallest details so perfectly. I love the Christmas cups, too! If only paper were more durable! It was a really nice vacation home. We were lucky to find it at such a good price. Everyone was a lot more comfortable than we could have been at Pop Century.

I know! I went to Lee Day during spring of 07 (it was my first time visiting the campus ever) and I was hooked. Yeah... that Beach Building... it was great. Haha but the new building is amazing, I even heard they put a Dunkin Donuts in there. Now I'm jealous!

I know, I love those cups! I was really tempted to buy one of those holiday souvenir cups because they were just so cute, but I decided against it because I already had my resort refillable mug, and that's pretty much what they were, besides the fact that you couldn't refill them. Maybe this year...
Yeah I bet yall were way more comfortable! Especially since you had your car there, it definitely made a ton of sense for yall to stay there! Great find.

 

[PirateKate]

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[Lifelong_Dreamer]

Oh no, sounds like you were having a rough morning. I am not so good with getting up while it is still dark out either so I sympathize.

 

[CandleontheWater]

Personally I think you deserve major props for just getting up and getting out the door that early with two toddlers. I think there should be metals for surviving motherhood, it is certainly harder than running a 5K or even a whole marathon for that matter!

I am sorry that you had such a tough morning, I hope that it got better and that you had a wonderful race and a great day at Disney!

 

[BerrysGirl]

I'm here and all caught up!

I totally hear ya on the whole morning thing -- I am NOT a morning person! I really hope the race improves for you. I can't wait to hear about it... I've always wanted to do a Disney Marathon.

 

[jc040404]

Yikes. That DJ does sound obnoxious! Wild that he actually said that. This morning doesn't seem to be starting out all that well. Hope it gets better fast!

 

[daisylove]

Just found your report. We were there that weekend too and did the 5 k. (me, dd12, ds3) That traffic getting in was crazy and I heard the DJ say that too. I thought I was hearing things until now. lol
Your boys are adorable!

 

[shan23877]

The sun is mocking you? Too funny. I am not a morning person at all! I think you already ran the race by getting you DH and 2 little boys ready and there so early!

Hope your day improved!

 

[amazingact21]

Ooh, I'm sorry that the race morning didn't go so well. I think one of the reasons I loved the Expedition Everest 5k was at night. I couldn't imagine how hectic it must have been to get two toddlers plus yourself and Jeremy ready for the race.
I can't believe the DJ said that! That was completely rude and it wasn't the kind of experience people expect from Disney. However, knowing how big customer service is at WDW, I can only imagine what that guy had to deal with from the company when they got ahold of him.

I hope the actual race turned out all right.

 

[PirateKate]

Yeesh, I fell three posts behind! I realized that I never saw Tiki "Under New Management" and we didn't see the "back to basics" version on this last trip either! Maybe March?

Glad to see you guys were so happy with all the space in the Windsor Hills house! I hadn't even thought to bring outlet covers when we stay in a townhouse in March! Thanks for the tip.

Okay, I have never understood the vinylmation thing. Do you just collect them and trade them like you do pins? Do you have them displayed somewhere in your house?

I just started pin trading on my October trip and it got pretty addictive pretty quickly. I may have even just gotten a new set that arrived from mousepinsonline this week.

Can't wait to hear about the race...even if you couldn't run like you wanted to!

I like the Tiki Room the best on days when its crowded and hot. There's never a long wait for the Tiki Room. I hope you get to see it in March. The room is kind of cool, even if the show isn't the best. Maybe someday they'll restore it to the New Management show again.

The extra space at Windsor Hills was wonderful! I forgot outlet covers on our first Disney trip with the boys and ended up blocking all the outlets in our room with suitcases.

For me, the biggest part of Vinylmation collecting is the trading aspect. I love trading my Vinylmation in the parks and at the Disney store here. And I love buying new ones and seeing which one I got. When I'm not trading them, I will admit to lining them all up on my dresser. Carter and Landon love to play with them, so I will sometimes bring some Vinylmation with me to amuse them on outings they would otherwise not enjoy.

Pin trading is fun, too. I planned on doing some pin trading this trip as well, but I couldn't find any pins that I liked better than the ones I already have. Probably I need to buy more...mousepinsonline, I'll look into that.

I know! I went to Lee Day during spring of 07 (it was my first time visiting the campus ever) and I was hooked. Yeah... that Beach Building... it was great. Haha but the new building is amazing, I even heard they put a Dunkin Donuts in there. Now I'm jealous!

I know, I love those cups! I was really tempted to buy one of those holiday souvenir cups because they were just so cute, but I decided against it because I already had my resort refillable mug, and that's pretty much what they were, besides the fact that you couldn't refill them. Maybe this year...
Yeah I bet yall were way more comfortable! Especially since you had your car there, it definitely made a ton of sense for yall to stay there! Great find.

Lee Day was always fun. It was the Summer Honors program that hooked me. I loved that new humanities building, too. I was a history major, so I spent a lot of time there. The new science building looks even nicer, though. It'll be fun to see what they build next.

Wouldn't it be cool if they had seasonal refillable mugs? We accumulate quite a few refillable mugs, so it would be fun to have Halloween and Christmas mugs, too. Disney at Christmas is the best, isn't it?
I love having my own car at Disney, especially with the boys. It'd be so hard to rely only on Disney transportation with the two of them. Windsor Hills was perfect for this trip.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I am finally here! Your townhome looks really nice-I'm curious to find out if you regretted it over Pop.

And that DJ! What a HORRIBLE and very non-Disney thing to say.

 

[PirateKate]

Oh no, sounds like you were having a rough morning. I am not so good with getting up while it is still dark out either so I sympathize.

I don't get up very often while it is still dark out and I can't say I enjoyed it that day, either. At least we were able to make the race and didn't get up for nothing.

Personally I think you deserve major props for just getting up and getting out the door that early with two toddlers. I think there should be metals for surviving motherhood, it is certainly harder than running a 5K or even a whole marathon for that matter!

I am sorry that you had such a tough morning, I hope that it got better and that you had a wonderful race and a great day at Disney!

I actually felt a little bad dragging the boys out that early, too. I'm sure Landon would have gone back to sleep after he fell out of the bed. It was an adventure for them, though. I agree, motherhood is harder than any race could be. The motherhood medal would have to be very spectacular.

I'm sure with it being that early, it would have been a tough morning no matter what, even if everything else had gone perfectly.

I'm here and all caught up!

I totally hear ya on the whole morning thing -- I am NOT a morning person! I really hope the race improves for you. I can't wait to hear about it... I've always wanted to do a Disney Marathon.

Welcome! I'm glad you're here!

I've never been a morning person or a very fast runner, so I still sometimes can't believe we did that 5K. I bet a Disney Marathon would be really fun. Maybe someday!

Yikes. That DJ does sound obnoxious! Wild that he actually said that. This morning doesn't seem to be starting out all that well. Hope it gets better fast!

I was shocked when he said that. It seems kind of obvious that that's not a nice thing to say. Maybe he thought the people in the back couldn't hear him anyway.

Just found your report. We were there that weekend too and did the 5 k. (me, dd12, ds3) That traffic getting in was crazy and I heard the DJ say that too. I thought I was hearing things until now. lol
Your boys are adorable!

Welcome! I'm really glad you heard him say that, too. Jeremy says he can't remember the guy saying that, so I was hoping I hadn't imagined it. I was getting so stressed waiting in that traffic. It was just crawling along so slowly. Let me know if you see yourself in any of my race pictures. That'd be cool.
Thanks!

 

[PirateKate]

The sun is mocking you? Too funny. I am not a morning person at all! I think you already ran the race by getting you DH and 2 little boys ready and there so early!

Hope your day improved!

Doesn't the sun seem kind of mocking in the morning? So bright and cheery and smug... That's true, the hardest part of the race was definitely getting all of us there that early.

Any day at AK can't be too bad.

Ooh, I'm sorry that the race morning didn't go so well. I think one of the reasons I loved the Expedition Everest 5k was at night. I couldn't imagine how hectic it must have been to get two toddlers plus yourself and Jeremy ready for the race.
I can't believe the DJ said that! That was completely rude and it wasn't the kind of experience people expect from Disney. However, knowing how big customer service is at WDW, I can only imagine what that guy had to deal with from the company when they got ahold of him.

I hope the actual race turned out all right.

The Expedition Everest 5K is at night! I forgot about that, but that would be so much more fun than getting up early. I'll look into that one for next year. If they have a stroller division, we'll be there! I was thinking of doing the Marathon Weekend 5K and still might, but I'm afraid it would be cold and it's even earlier...
I couldn't believe the DJ said that either! I don't know what he was thinking. It's definitely not the sort of thing I'd expect from Disney. I wonder if anybody bothered to complain about it or if it was completely forgotten in the excitement of the race.

I am finally here! Your townhome looks really nice-I'm curious to find out if you regretted it over Pop.

And that DJ! What a HORRIBLE and very non-Disney thing to say.

Yay! I'm glad you're here! The townhome was really nice. Unfortunately, I'm still curious to see if I regretted it over Pop, too. I don't know...it was the right choice for this trip, but place for place, I'd just rather be onsite.

He was pretty annoying that early in the morning. It really wasn't a very magical thing to say at all. I'm not sure what he was thinking.

 

[KatMark]

Oh my...what was that DJ thinking? I really would like to have gotten in his face and given him a piece of my mind. What an "unDisneylike" thing to say.

 

[chloe770]

Wow. I'm sorry your morning was so unmagical. We must have gotten to the race early enough to miss most of the parking lot traffic. Seem like we were waiting forever for it to start. Glad I totally missed the DJ's obnoxious comment too. What was wrong with that guy? Must have been tuning him out as I too am not a fan of that Fireworks song. Like Katy Perry, just not that song. I hope the run gets better for you.

 

[afwdwfan]

"...slower runners in the back and attractive runners in the front, let's face it, those of you who are faster are likely the more attractive..."

Wow, you don't expect a comment like that to come from a DJ at a Disney event.

The thing I really enjoy about your TR's is the observations you make... like the part about Firework. So true. I'm glad you made it to the race.

 

[marDgreen88]

Lee Day was always fun. It was the Summer Honors program that hooked me. I loved that new humanities building, too. I was a history major, so I spent a lot of time there. The new science building looks even nicer, though. It'll be fun to see what they build next.

Wouldn't it be cool if they had seasonal refillable mugs? We accumulate quite a few refillable mugs, so it would be fun to have Halloween and Christmas mugs, too. Disney at Christmas is the best, isn't it?
I love having my own car at Disney, especially with the boys. It'd be so hard to rely only on Disney transportation with the two of them. Windsor Hills was perfect for this trip.

Oh yes, I love Humanities as well. My major was centered in the Religion building that was opened in late 2008. I LOVE that building... especially the little reading room upstairs. I don't know if you've ever been in there, but if you ever go back and visit, you should go in that room! Ah, such a beautiful campus.

I would love it if you could use the ones you buy at the park at the resorts! They'd be a lot more useful!

Ick, doesn't sound like a fun morning at all. I can't believe anyone affiliated with Disney would say something like that... I'm sure that one didn't go over well with a lot of people. I hope your morning got better!
I have to say though, your boys are the cutest... also... by any chance does your husband have a brother/family member who also went to Lee? I swear, he looks SO familiar, it's crazy.

 

[amandaw]

I'm so glad y'all made it to the race....even if it wasn't the best experience getting there. And that DJ certainly didn't help matters.