At the Airport Hotel now...

[TuckandStuiesMom]

My flight's @ 7:15 am tomorrow. Hard to believe but this time tomorrow, I'll be at the Wilderness Lodge Villas. My daughter and her best friend will be coming in later in the evening (all three of us are on different airlines frequent flyer programs).

It's funny -- getting ready for this trip has been a little stressful (blizzard, power outage, work, a couple little family issues) but I actually felt the stress melting away as I drove down the hill to Phoenix (about a 180 mile drive) this afternoon.

We don't have any heavy duty plans for this trip -- just planning to let go and see what happens. (Yes, I am one those people. LOL!) We have ADRs for Chefs of France, Boma, and Ohana. I have another one that I am probably going to cancel since both the girls have expressed interest in the Sunday Gospel Brunch at HOB. (I'm hopping over to the HOB website as soon as I finish this post to see if that is doable or not.)

SO LOOKING FORWARD TO THIS NEXT WEEK! Hope I get to meet some of you local folk!

 

[jackskellingtonsgirl]

Oh, dear. You subscribe to the Mike-Mr. Z-Saxton method of travel.

I hope you have a wonderful time!! And I do hope you get to meet up with the locals. They are well worth meeting!

 

[itsmuggsie]

Hope you have a great time!!!

 

[Saxton]

Oh, dear. You subscribe to the Mike-Mr. Z-Saxton method of travel.

I hope you have a wonderful time!! And I do hope you get to meet up with the locals. They are well worth meeting!

Try it our way, you might like it!

TuckandStuiesMom - I'm heading down tomorrow, I'll try to keep an eye out for you so I can say hi!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

TuckandStuiesMom - I'm heading down tomorrow, I'll try to keep an eye out for you so I can say hi!

Awesome Sue! Would love to meetcha! I'll pm you my cell #.

Thanks TSG and IM! More later -- gotta say this free Wi-Fi @ the airport is pretty dang cool.

 

[Mathfailure]

I love the go with the flow - then what ever happens is the plan!

Hope all is wonderful and the time with loved ones is memory making

Kathleen

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

I love the go with the flow - then what ever happens is the plan!

Hope all is wonderful and the time with loved ones is memory making

Kathleen

Thanks Kathleen!

Albuquerque always makes me think of Bugs Bunny. "Shoulda toined left in Albukoikey..."

Next stop: Orlando! Woo-Hoo!

 

[PennyW]

We may run into you at the Wilderness Lodge Villas ... we're checking in tomorrow!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

We may run into you at the Wilderness Lodge Villas ... we're checking in tomorrow!

Awesome! Here's hoping we run into each other. I'm here at the lodge right now and the decorations are incredible!!!!

The girls are on their way as I type, via ME.

Had a tuna salad sandwich @ Roaring Forks for my supper -- very yummy and even though I was super hungry, it was way too much for one person so I think we'll be splitting entrees when we eat there in the future.

That's it for now -- I'm headed down to the lobby to wait for the girls.

p.s. -- I guess it was snowing like heck at home today and yet...

it was 79 degrees F here when the plan landed. Woo-Hoo! Can everybody say Schadenfreude???

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Well, it’s Sunday morning and I am sitting out on the balcony in jeans and a T-shirt. Loving these temps! The girls are still asleep. I can hear Christmas Music in the background and an occasional toot from the boats in Bay Lake. It is so gorgeous here; I just don’t think it gets any better than this.

Speaking of the beautiful weather, I sure saw lots of interesting clothing combinations last night. I think most people were expecting it to be colder – there was one girl in tall ugg boots, short shorts and a tube top. Another fella was wearing a heavy fuzzy Donald Duck hoody, floral trunks, and flip-flops. I think we packed mostly cool weather clothes too -- but no uggs or floral shorts… What was I thinking?!?!

After the girls got in last night, we all went to Roaring Forks again where they got dinner. Like me, they were famished. Sarah had a nice chicken salad with raisins, beets, and feta; and Anna Marie had the smoked turkey and harvarti sandwich. Both were very good. We could hear the electric water parade from the pool area where we were sitting. After the girls were done with their dinner, we all went out to beach and watched the end of it. It was so nice that we stayed out long enough to see the high displays from Wishes.

Oops – Sarah just got up so we’ll be getting this show on the road pretty soon. I need to hurry up a little.

Today, we are going over to Downtown Disney to see if we can get into the House of Blues Gospel Brunch. I didn’t make ressies on Friday after all – I kept timing out on the website before I could enter all my info AND on top of that, pre-ordering comes with a $9.00+ “convenience charge”. For almost $30.00, I’ll take my chances to try to get in at the door.

Anywho, if that doesn’t work out, there’s always the Earl of Sandwich – one of our DTD favorites. After that, we’ll head over to Hollywood Studios – we’re planning to stay to see the Osborne Lights.

Well I gotta go in and upload this post. The airport Wi-Fi was awesome; here I’m using a fairly short Ethernet cord so Lappy and I are currently untethered to the world wide interwebs at the moment. Upside – hopefully fewer typos.

Have a great day, everybody!

 

[hematite153]

Oh, dear. You subscribe to the Mike-Mr. Z-Saxton method of travel.

It's hard to read, isn't it?

Try it our way, you might like it!

I actually do like to have some of my time listed as fairly loose. But, I have to know when the loose time is versus when the time controlled times are.

(Yeah, I know...it's a little compulsive sounding -- but, isn't that what WDW was designed for?)

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

Monday morning and it's very foggy out this am. Last night, the TV weatherman said today would be sunny warm and clear -- but rain starting tomorrow.

We had no trouble getting walkin tickets to the HOB Gospel Brunch. The food was pretty standard upscale buffet fare although the bread pudding w/ banana sauce was outstanding! The entertainment on the other hand was WOW!!! The group was the Sons of Solomon out of Daytona Beach and they totally rocked! Afterwards, I felt like I'd been to church in the best possible way. TOTALLY RECOMMEND the Gospel Brunch to anybody who is debating where it's worth the money or not.

We then went over to the Hollywood Studios. I stayed for Beauty and the Beast. We were sitting way up high in the peanut gallery and I started to get a little hot and tired.(I'm getting over a cold) After the show, I went back to the hotel to take a little nap... Well -- who did I think I was kidding??? I think it has already been established I am not a "Disney or Die" kinda gal. Needless to say, I didn't return to the park, I just lolled around the room. The girls stayed and told me the Osborne lights were pretty darn awesome when they got in. They also apparently hit a lounge somewhere along the way because it's almost 10:00 am and they are sleeping soundly. VERY SOUNDLY.

Anyways, I'm getting them up soon and we'll be heading over to Animal Kingdom. Neither of them have been on Expedition Everest yet and I cannot think of a single better thing for them to do after the kind of night they apparently had. Just call me "Mommie Dearest" Tee-Hee.

More later. Have a GREAT day everybody!

 

[soulmates]

ENJOY!!!!!!!!!!!!! We SO loved the Wilderness Lodge, LOVED it!!!

 

[OrlandoMike]

Just call me "Mommie Dearest" Tee-Hee.

More later. Have a GREAT day everybody!

You may want to get them a pretzed at the park! They are gonna need startch!

Glad to see you are having a great trip!

 

[itsmuggsie]

Have fun!! That is definitely my kind of vacation, just go with the flow!!!

 

[zeitzeuge]

Sounds like a great trip so far! I love your "winging it" way of vacationing.

 

[hematite153]

Sounds like you're all having a good time. Thanks for continuing to share it with us.

 

[Hydani]

Oh wow, how I wish I was you right now You guys sound like you're having a lot of fun. I've never eaten at the Earl of Sandwich, but I only hear amazing reviews from that place. Maybe I'll try it on my next trip. I love reading your TR

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

I'm glad folks are enjoying my thread.

Lappy and I are sitting in front of the fire in the lobby of the Wilderness Lodge Villas this morning while I do a load of laundry. (All of our warm weather clothes are dirty now and the weatherman is forecasting another beautiful warm day after the fog burns off later in the morning.)Even so, it’s definitely cooler this morning and the fire feels great.

Guess what? I met my first non-virtual DISser this morning! Penny in the elevator! Penny and friend looked totally turned out for a day in the parks – resort casual at its best. Of course, I looked like Ishkabibble – wearing horrible odds and ends out of the bottom of my suitcase, big wild humidity hair pulled back in a rubber-band, AND carrying a sack full of dirty clothes. So much for making a good first impression – which is pretty much the story of my life.

We did Animal Kingdom yesterday. Girls did Expedition Everest 3 times w/ no wait. (They opted out of starches, Mike, but hit the iced tea BIG TIME at the tea stand. Poor Dears were dehydrated. LOL!) We went on the Safari and maybe I got a good picture of the one of the elephants. We rode the train back and forth to Rafiki’s whatever – we didn’t get off because we were giggling so hard about the conductor’s somewhat snippy-snarky narrative about the train NOT being a short cut to Asia, keeping our limbs AND children inside the train at all times, etc, etc.

For once it was cool enough so we could really dawdle along the trails. A very nice cast member told me “all” about naked mole rats – well the Disney version of “all” anyways –absolutely no mention of the nasty dining habits of the subordinate nest dwellers.

Speaking of dining habits…We had room service for dinner – ribs, mashed potatoes, cornbread, and chocolate cake. It was only one order but it was plenty for all three of us to share. Golly! The ribs were good -- but the mashed potatoes here are to-die- for… How do they do it?!?! I’m guessing butter, butter, BUTTER!

We also had a funny thing happen with our room service meal. There was a small creamer size pitcher of a viscous dark brown liquid adjacent to the chocolate cake.

Chocolate sauce – Right?

Nope!

Barbecue Sauce!!!! NOT the best add-on to a nice slice of chocolate cake – let me tell you… We scraped it off as best we could, and ate the cake anyway. It was still yummy – even with the lingering nuance of slow hickory smoked meatiness.

Today, we’re doing EPCOT. The girls haven’t been on Spaceship Earth since the re-do and I am looking forward to seeing their reaction. Then it’s off to Club Cool where I like to put on my best sweet little old lady act, wheedle my way into strangers’ good graces, and get them to partake of the exquisite elixir that is Beverly… Bwah-Ha-Ha…

Have a great day, everybody!

 

[TuckandStuiesMom]

This morning finds Lappy and me out on the balcony. MUCH cooler than the previous three days that we have been here. The sky is mostly overcast with only a few patches of blue here and there. I’m actually wearing a sweater.

The girls are sleeping in again (they met up with a friend they used to work with, in Phoenix; and there is no telling what kind of shenanigans they were up to last night – hopefully nothing that’ll turn up on the 6:00 news).

This morning, I snuck over to Fort Wilderness for breakfast and old times’ sake. Love those grits! I was sorta surprised to see that the lawnmower tree (stump?) has lost all its bark. I’m thinking it won’t be long before its gone altogether… When my oldest kids were young, that was always one of our first things to check out – how much of the lawn mower was still visible at the base of the tree. When we were here in 2008, it was waaaaay cool to see my oldest son showing it to his 8 year old boy. Other families have priceless heirlooms and family recipes lovingly handed down from generation to generation. Apparently, our time-honored family tradition is gawking at a piece of junk embedded in a tree-root in Florida. It fits.

We had a good time yesterday at Epcot. I was surprised how busy it was. Even so, we didn’t have long waits at any of the rides.

The girls enjoyed the revamped Spaceship Earth as I figured they would. Sadly, there were no newbies at Club Cool so I was unable to sucker anyone into the Beverly… (Sigh)

A gospel group was singing and playing by the fountain in Future world; but they were amped up way too high to really enjoy the music. Half the fun of Gospel is watching the singers but the sound was too loud and distorted near the stage to do so.

Sarah bought a wine pass in France and I had a glass of Vouvray (sp?) that was quite tasty. We ate yummy little things in France -- We did a little shopping in Japan and I headed back to the room so nobody would see what I’d bought. I’m sure I’ll be hearing what the girls were up to last night, after I get them up.

Today, we do the Magic Kingdom! Woo-Hoo! I’m stoked!


Have a great day, everybody!