And the Rain, Rain, Rain Came Down, Down Down - or Oy, Fay! Updated 10/1. The End.

[Disneyland_Mama]

CE, I loved your latest! Your pics are lovely!

I have to admit, Maddie and "her boy" were very sad to "lose" all their new WDW friends. I do hope we have a chance to meet again in WDW and get to spend more time together.

DUDE! What's this about D possibly getting FIRED??

 

[cmp1111]

So glad that Fay didn't, um, rain on your parade.

Or, more accurately, that you didn't care that Fay rained on your parade.

You got it.

Now I know. It's been ages since I've been on the boards. There is a method to this no-trip report reading madness. I'm working on that tenure/promotion/pay raise thing, so I can afford to take more WDW trips and write my own TRs!!

And that's important.

Everyone, this (csuzannet) is Dr. Belle. Dr. Belle, everyone...

I have to admit, Maddie and "her boy" were very sad to "lose" all their new WDW friends. I do hope we have a chance to meet again in WDW and get to spend more time together.

Me, too. And I do plan to get back to DLR one of these days. The boys need to see Mr. Toad.

 

[rachel3]

great pics and it really does sound like you got a lot done.

 

[DisneyJo]

So glad that Fay didn't, um, rain on your parade.

Hi Dr Belle

 

[Muffinygood]

Aw, thanks, ladies. He's a good egg. They all are. I got lucky

NOT LUCK. Great Parenting.

Wow CE!!! A great report!! The pictures were terrific. The videos were funny!!

Sooo,,,did you see any tattoos on Mo?

And I didnt know you could get a doggie bag for German Beer!!

I`ll have to remember that for October 19th.

Dude, just don't try to take it OUT OF EPCOT. LOL.

Me too!!!!



I'm sure I was falling over as well, Dawn. I know I would be after one of those huge beers!

I think I saw a glimpse of Flat Jodi in Mel's hand outside in the group shot. Just need a bit of evidence that I was there! I'm sure I had lots of fun!

CE - thanks for some great pics and videos! I only wish I could have been there!

Yes. I'm the worst friend ever. WORST. I have the pics of Jodi. I plan on posting them....um. Someday. Really.

How funny! I didn't hear that.

Next time we need to meet in a bar or somewhere where we can sit longer and not feel rushed. Of course you're all welcome my house!

Yay. I want to go to Angela and Mitch's!!!!

It was actually like Florida in August this day – HOT and humid. We were all really feeling it. The boys took a little turn in Donald’s Boat, and then they wanted to do the Barnstormer. Thankfully it was a walk-on, so we all did it. Then we did it again. And again! The boys were brave enough to do this one on their own:

MY FAVORITE RIDE! Yay Barnstormer!

After we got fed and watered, Buzz really, really wanted to ride Buzz, so he & I headed over there, whilst D & Woody did the Speedway. Woody was concentrating!

Cute pic! Such a serious car driver....

The boys then wanted “that relaxing ride” so we did TTA:

Ok, this is our family's favorite ride. We always do it. Some of our favorite photos are on TTA.

***************
I only quoted your last entry but they were all great! I finally got over here to read. Things have been CRAZY at my house, as you know.

Loved that you guys had wine on the balcony every night. The boys were so darn cute, we enjoyed meeting them so much (And you and D!) I can't believe you rode Kali that many times. You should get the MOTY award, despite the Dino ride issue! I hate that ride. So Jerky!

And ITA about not having enough time to talk. We want to spend more time just TALKING with you guys next time. Great TR, CE! Thanks for writing it!

MEL

 

[ncsjodi]

Yes. I'm the worst friend ever. WORST. I have the pics of Jodi. I plan on posting them....um. Someday. Really.

And .....um....."someday" I might believe that you actually took Flat Jodi to WDW.

 

[englishrose47]

Sounds fun, but this is Crystal Palace (CP) at the MK.

I'd love to hear how you like it, though - my kids are becoming more and more into fish and seafood.

OOPs I either quoted wrong or saw wrong !! At my age could be either or both!!

 

[PrincessV]

I have to admit, Maddie and "her boy" were very sad to "lose" all their new WDW friends. I do hope we have a chance to meet again in WDW and get to spend more time together.

Thanks T, I meant to comment on that too... Leo asks often about his "Disney friends" and soooo wants to see them all again! Like TOMORROW!!

 

[cmp1111]

Dude, just don't try to take it OUT OF EPCOT. LOL.

I forgot about that - no kidding!

I only quoted your last entry but they were all great! I finally got over here to read. Things have been CRAZY at my house, as you know.

Thanks, Mel.

And ITA about not having enough time to talk. We want to spend more time just TALKING with you guys next time. Great TR, CE! Thanks for writing it!

And thanks again. I'm getting big headed!

OOPs I either quoted wrong or saw wrong !! At my age could be either or both!!

No problem!

Thanks T, I meant to comment on that too... Leo asks often about his "Disney friends" and soooo wants to see them all again! Like TOMORROW!!

And of course since I have no firm plans for the next trip, all I hear about is "when are we going again, will we see our friends, will we all go together????"



But it's cute!

 

[cmp1111]

We woke up the next morning with that dreaded last-day Disney feeling. But we did get up on time because we knew we’d want to get going. I quickly checked the room bill – not too horrible! – and we finished packing up our stuff. D & I made a run to the bell desk whilst the boys had their balcony breakfast. (Another benefit of our favorite room – you’re so close that you feel it’s OK to do this!)

We put on dirty clothes (remember all our wet stuff? Yeah, I didn’t bring enough. We were drying things by draping them about the room. We picked the stuff that had actually not gotten too dirty – just wet and were now dry…) and headed out.

In the final “plan” this was to be our first and only AK day, but since we’d scrapped TL and done it on Friday, it was free choice. We debated a return to DHS, but knew that we’d get one, maybe two rides on TSM, but wouldn’t want to do much else there, and we did have until 5:00.

So, it was really no contest – we were heading back to the MK. I figured that if we needed to be back to the ME by 5:00, we should be walking out of the park by around 3:30. That would leave time for a bus, even with a wait. We could retrieve our cases from the bell desk and rearrange for airplane carry on rules, etc. We could change clothes if need be.

I took NO notes this day – I would tend to sit down and do notes at meal times, but I just didn’t, so bear with me…

We made it in time for the pre-show and rope drop, so that was good. The boys surprised me by wanting to head to Buzz Lightyear and Tomorrowland, rather than Splash, which we usually do, and not Dumbo to get the Fantasyland stuff out of the way.

So we started off (feeling a little like “them") and Woody reminded me that we’d forgotten their ears we’d bought last year, and never bought them this year. (It was raining! Who’s wearing ears in the tropical storm???)

So we stopped and bought some ears for our last 8 hours.

And then Buzz had to go potty.

So Woody & I went on to Buzz and picked up some FP’s for later, though the line was short.

This was the MK I was looking for – there just weren’t very many people there.

D & Buzz appeared, and we all rode. But I spun the car around quickly to get the 100,000 pt. target in the first room (thanks, Mo!) and my sunglasses, which I’d propped on top of my head, flew off. To be crushed by the cables moving the cars along. Yeah, there was $22 well spent.

Ah, well.

I think we did Astro Orbitor again – a new requirement, apparently, and then did the Indy Speedway one more time.

And then back to Buzz for the FP’s. Still no Space Mountain. So no, we never did it at all this year.

We wandered through Fantasyland and were able to hit all our favorites, Pooh, Peter, and even IaSW (D graciously went along) with no lines and moving right along.

About this time, D’s cell started ringing off the hook. Here’s the start of the “will he be fired?” story… He had been assigned a trip for Tuesday (that’s the following day.) As mentioned in the intros, he’s a corporate pilot, which means that he gets a pretty random schedule, but gets to go lots of neat places.


In a stunningly brilliant move, we had not communicated well about his vacation time, and he had in his head that we were leaving FL on a Sunday. So he asked for Monday off as a “recovery/delay” day, but not Tuesday. So now he’s flying and having to leave home at about 4:00 Tuesday morning. I hadn’t noticed this when he showed me his approved vacation, and I had booked the super late flight for Monday night – getting home at 11:00 p.m.

Upshot, if our flight is canceled, D can’t go on his trip on Tuesday, and nothing good will come of that.

We knew about that flight starting maybe Sat., and I told D that we could try to get him out earlier on his own or something, but he said no, we’d make it work. (That’s why I thought maybe I’d told Janet we were worried…)

So, he’s getting calls about this trip, then he’s also getting calls because one of his co-workers’ siblings has passed away suddenly , so everyone is sad and sorry about that, and also trying to cover his trips…

We cut straight through to Splash and were able to walk on and obtain FPs for a good enough time for later. I sent D & the boys off to the restrooms and snuck in a couple of t-shirts for surprises for later for the boys.

As I was paying, the CM noticed my FockerFest Wiener Salad button on my bagallini. He was most intrigued.

(Side note: We must have shopped at AKL the night before – I think after dinner but before we headed back to MK. The boys had picked some lovely carved wooden animals that should last them forever. Nice choice! But they hadn’t bought a lot besides the Star Wars stuffies the first day.)

We headed over and rode BTMRR, always a fave! We wound up at the end of the train, woohoo!

We hadn’t done the Jungle Cruise yet, so we went and got FP’s for that.

And then I think we went over and did Pirates, total walk on. The CM at the doors (no outside queue at all) was telling people that both sides were open, but everyone was going to the left. Well, we’ll go right! I don’t think we saw another group at all on that side.

Next, I believe we went to the HM. This time the timing was much better and we weren’t afraid of being crushed in the loading zone!

Hanging out in Liberty Square:

Then it was lunch time. I was looking forward to this all week.

We HAD to go to CHH and try the magical tuna sandwich. We were off the DDP by now – DDP goes by nights at the resort, not days on the MYW, so we were OOP. Go nuts, kids!

Woody loves tuna, so he, D & I all got the tuna. Buzz went with the chicken tenders.

Oh. My. God.

That was indeed the best tuna salad sandwich I’d ever had. YUMMMM. Thank you, V!!!

D must have run over and gotten Splash Mtn. FPs at that point. We wanted to do it again before we left, and we had just hit our window for the JC FPs.

So, we headed over to the JC. The skipper was a girl and was really pretty good, but no one else was laughing. Sigh. We were on a boat with a tour guiding CM – one of the plaid vest guys, but we sure didn’t recognize the party he was with, so if they were famous, we spaced it. D took a few pictures, but this was the only one that really turned out:

Safely making it through our cruise, we actually STILL weren’t ready for our Splash FPs. This side of the park was a little crowded by now. The stand-by for BTMRR said 40 minutes. We were afraid of waiting for it, but we also figured it didn’t really look that long.

It was maybe 3 minutes.

So we rode it,

and rode it again. And again. Buzz was done by then (though I was SO proud – both kids were raising their arms in the air by the second time.) He & I stopped and went to get some waters, and Woody & D went once more.

By then it was indeed time for our Splash FP, so off we went. And we got soaked.

We asked the boys if there was anything else they wanted to do. Buzz kind of wanted to do Buzz Lightyear again, but we weren’t sure we could get over there without FPs. We wound up in the Briar Patch gift shop, and both boys had been eyeing the stuffed Brer Rabbit all three MK days. So, we went ahead and got those.

It was really nearing time to go, and we didn’t want to do much more waiting, so we hopped on the train (to avoid any parade issues) and rode around to the front.

We had a short wait for a bus, and saw these lovely creatures. I couldn’t help but think of G-luv…

We made it back with plenty of time. We got our bags, did some changing (we were really still very wet from Splash, and we thought the boys might do better in sweats for the plane), grabbed some drinks, and waited.

We saw a bus pull up, though it was labeled for the Cruise Line. The bell guy said it was NOT our bus, so we didn’t head down, but then we decided to go sit that way, anyway, and the bus driver was fairly angry – he WAS our ME bus and was waiting on us. Oops…

We got on with maybe one other family. We did stop at only Pop on the way back and wound up with a lot of folks.

And the sky is completely dark. And we’re driving into it. Not good, not good at all.

I was getting some texts from Mel around then – she was also at the airport heading out. We kept updating each other about where we were.

When we first got to the Southwest counter, things looked kind of dire, though we had plenty of time. The lines weren’t moving, they’ve gone to almost all self-serve on the check in… But it did work out and they seemed to open more machines and we were through very quickly.

Mel & UnBob hadn’t gone through security, so I stopped and tried to find her. I just couldn’t see where she was saying she was. I was totally lost! Thankfully, when I said I was near a Starbucks, she found me, since UnBob had gone to get coffee.

We had a quick little chat – our plane was showing a 5 minute delay, only. We were all hungry, though, and our family tends to try to get through security so that we can just be done with the stress and just be. So after a short visit and a lot of hugs, we went off through security. I was so glad we’d seen her again!

We stopped and got McDonald’s, where the boys were very happy as they had the Star Wars toys.

Then we headed off for our gate. It still showed only a 5 minute delay. But there was no plane. The sky was thundering, lightninging, etc. Sigh.

D was getting very nervous.

We were wondering if we needed to find him a flight on another airline into Boston, quickly. It didn’t seem that planes weren’t leaving because of the weather, but we just didn’t have a plane…

Southwest is very good about turning planes at the gate, though. And our plane did show up. I think we were only about 35 minutes late leaving, in the long run. D wasn’t going to get much sleep, but it seemed like he’d keep his job!

This time we were smarter and though I offered to sit with the boys so that D could sleep some, he said no, and so the three of them took a row, and I sat in the row behind him on the aisle in case we needed to change out. The boys went to sleep pretty quickly, so I do think D got a little nap. I would have, except that the girl behind me – a late h.s. or early college age, certainly old enough to know better – decided that she’d put her feet up on my seat kind of like people do who prop their legs on a car dashboard, if you KWIM? And then she jiggled her feet.

I think she’d been on the plane since San Diego, so it was a long flight for her, but… Come on. And then when we landed in NH, she pushed her way past me to be maybe the 3rd person off the plane, then complained at the baggage claim because her luggage wasn’t there yet. Small airport (it only takes about 2 minutes to get to baggage claim, not like MCO…) , midnightish, um, what do you want? Ah, well.

Our bags were pretty quickly ready (heh heh, before the pushy girl’s… Yeah, I'm mean...) and we didn’t even have to call for the van to the parking lot. We did get home in time for poor D to get about 3 hours of sleep, but we made it!

Next up: final thoughts.

 

[Hedy]

Glad D did ok.

 

[cmp1111]

Glad D did ok.

Thanks, I really can't imagine how that phone call would have gone...

 

[Goofyluver]

Ummm...I think that was a nice update. I think.

But, I couldn't get past the "we wore dirty clothes" thing...and then you had to pull out the evilest most vile picture in all of WDW...

The Duck.

(on a side note...dang you guys got a lot done!!!)

 

[ncsjodi]

Sounds like you had a great last day, CE. You really did get a lot done at MK that day. I'm glad it wasn't too crowded, even though Fay was gone.

Only 24 more days for me.........

 

[PrincessV]

A great MK day with low crowds... AND D keeps his job?! A perfect storybook ending!

 

[DisneyJo]

We picked the stuff that had actually not gotten too dirty – just wet and were now dry…) and headed out

We debated a return to DHS, but knew that we’d get one, maybe two rides on TSM, but wouldn’t want to do much else there,

But that's where we went

So we stopped and bought some ears for our last 8 hours.

What a kind Mummy you are

D & Buzz appeared, and we all rode. But I spun the car around quickly to get the 100,000 pt. target in the first room (thanks, Mo!) and my sunglasses, which I’d propped on top of my head, flew off. To be crushed by the cables moving the cars along. Yeah, there was $22 well spent.

But did you get the 100,000 points?

As I was paying, the CM noticed my FockerFest Wiener Salad button on my bagallini. He was most intrigued.

So what did you tell him????

We were on a boat with a tour guiding CM – one of the plaid vest guys, but we sure didn’t recognize the party he was with, so if they were famous, we spaced it.

We saw several guides, never anyone famous, well I think!

(though I was SO proud – both kids were raising their arms in the air by the second time.)

Brave boys

We had a short wait for a bus, and saw these lovely creatures. I couldn’t help but think of G-luv

So after a short visit and a lot of hugs, we went off through security. I was so glad we’d seen her again!

How nice you got one last hug

Our bags were pretty quickly ready (heh heh, before the pushy girl’s… Yeah, I'm mean...) and we didn’t even have to call for the van to the parking lot. We did get home in time for poor D to get about 3 hours of sleep, but we made it!

Yeah for beating pushy girl and phew for D getting home for work



Thanks for a great TR CE, it was absolutely wonderful meeting you and your gorgeous family, we must do it again

 

[rachel3]

whew, that was close!! i'm glad D gets to keep his job!! can't wait to hear your final thoughts, maybe plans for next year???

 

[cmp1111]

Ummm...I think that was a nice update. I think.

But, I couldn't get past the "we wore dirty clothes" thing...and then you had to pull out the evilest most vile picture in all of WDW...

The Duck.

(on a side note...dang you guys got a lot done!!!)

Sorry, love. We did have a great last day.

Sounds like you had a great last day, CE. You really did get a lot done at MK that day. I'm glad it wasn't too crowded, even though Fay was gone.

It was a great day!

Only 24 more days for me.........

Woohoo!

A great MK day with low crowds... AND D keeps his job?! A perfect storybook ending!

Yep!

 

[jcc0621]

Great last day CE. So glad that D still has a job

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

You know I love you, but dirty clothes? My OCD is going bezerk!

Wow, glad everything was cool with D's job!

You're much kinder than I am, CE - I would have said something to obnoxious college wiggly foot girl.

Looking forward to your final thoughts - they're alway my favorite part of a TR.