Coach's Mardi Gras Trip Report '11, all that, and a bag of BLT! They closed it???

[Coach81]

Great little update Randy. Good job "figuring out" Bryan's favorite ride and sending him the pic. I miss it, but we'll be there soon enough.

Oh yeah.. with my tremendous IQ I was able to figure out his "riddle" of which pic to send

Sometime this weekend I'll put up my annual "4 am resort tour"... I took over 1200 pictures this trip with my Nikon... hard to choose which ones to post here...

See ya tonight!!!

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Oh, I love Rain Forest Cafe. We've always made that our traditional place to eat at DTD. Our last trip we had to try T-REX and actually it was very good. We'll see which one wins out on our next trip. The Volcano looks delicious. I've always wanted to try it but after our meal we are always to full to order it. Looking forward to seeing Bay Lake Towers.

 

[Coach81]

As has become our tradition on every vacation we have gone on over the last several years, when we first arrive at our resort (we have now stayed at every WDW DVC resort with the one exception of VWL- which we should conquer soon I imagine ) the very first morning I get up around 4 am, grab my camera and proceed to go snap about 50 or so pics of the resort. I am a closet photographer (photobug I think is the exact term) wannabe.. and armed with my new Nikon.. off I went at about 4:15 am the first morning, enjoy:


Elevator near our room:

Front of BLT:

Lobby of BLT:

Lobby 2:

Walkway to pool (one of my fav shots):

Pool 1:

2:

3:

Walkway to Contemp:

Facing Contemporary:

Fantasia Store inside Cont:

Check in to Contemporary and BLT (take note that there is NO ONE AROUND :

One small complaint about BLT- You have to basically go to contemporary for everything.. eats, drinks, bus, monorail, etc. It really is not a big deal, it's not that far of a walk, but some people don't like it. We didn't think it was bad at all... Compared to walk you have to do at SSR sometimes, it was very minor.

I took a bunch more but I don't want to bore you to death with all of my pictures. I really thought I took several "postcard" shots this trip, which was my goal.

Next up.. perhaps the longest day EVER at EPCOT

 

[Brave teacher]

Cool pics dude! I was waiting for your traditional pics in the early AM while normal people sleep.

 

[Cdn Friends of Pooh]

Why did it take me this long to find your TR???

B

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Walkway to pool (one of my fav shots):

Love this picture It looks sooooooo cool! I would love to be able to stay there someday!

 

[Coach81]

Cool pics dude! I was waiting for your traditional pics in the early AM while normal people sleep.

Yes.. I know.. I have issues

Why did it take me this long to find your TR???

B

Glad you did

Love this picture It looks sooooooo cool! I would love to be able to stay there someday!

Thanks so much, Jazzabelle!!! I would highly recommend the resort.. it is amazing!!!

Stay tuned.. much more to come!

 

[Coach81]

On a previous trip years ago a WDW bus driver told Zach something that has stuck with us after a long morning in EPCOT. He said "Hey young man, do you know what EPCOT really stands for?" Zach said "Sure!" The driver smiled and said "Everyone Person Comes Out Tired" Keep that in mind as I begin the Epcot day

So we all get up and make our way to one of the things we were really looking forward to this trip.. riding the Monrail

And boy did we luck out... low and behold not only is it the monorail... it is the TRON MONORAIL

So we arrive at our destination...

I informed the entire family... I was bringing my new Nikon DSLR camera on this trip, and I was going to be taking a TON of pictures.. just so happened that I picked a great time to come to EPCOT as it was....

So I was way pumped up as I know there would be plenty of purty flowers to take pictures of

Not sure why... buy my oldest wanted to badly to go see "Captain Eo" w/ MJ. He talked about it during the months leading up to this trip. Alisa and I have no clue what started his obsession with it.. but we all agreed to go check it out

During the day, Zach decided he wanted to visit the gift shop... and spend some of the money that was burning a hole in his pocket.. check out what he just HAD TO HAVE

Alisa says it all the time... God help us all.. he is just like his father

Well that is all for now.. as you probably guessed.. this day was turning out to be one we would not forget... here is one last pic of the start of the day before rope drop..

Up next- EPCOT pt 2 - "but I wanna do this", and "can we do this to?"

 

[Jazzabelle508]

Sounds like a fun start to the day funny that your son is the MJ fan of the family, did he love the show? I love the pic of your other son with the mickey hands. I love walking around and seeing cast members wearing them and the giving them high-fives. can't wait to hear more

 

[Shannon84]

I am joining in I LOVE BLT...I am not a DVC member, but friends of mine are and I got a glimpse of the good life when I stopped by their room in 2009...boy was I sad to return to POP

 

[Coach81]

So back to Epcot we go...

It was a beautiful day, and I had a blast taking pictures of all the great Topiary(sp), is that how you spell it???

Of course I had willing subjects to help me out as well..

We finished our "normal run" around the park- Soarin', Test Track, Mission Space, etc.. but then it started.. Mom & Dad.. I want to do this.. and Honey.. can we do this.. OH, I want to do Kim Possible.. all of which is great.. but time consuming..

There was one thing that Chase had talked about that he REALLY wanted to do this trip.. he had been talking about it for months.. he wanted to see the "British Invasion".. the Beatles Tribute band.. you see my son Chase is a FANTASTIC Rock Band Player (the video game).. to see him play you would be amazed.. and after we bought him the Beatles Rock Band game.. he has become a huge fan.. so..

Wish Granted:

They actually played really well.. we all enjoyed it very much...Chase was just beaming!!!

Next up some Pin Trading:

By this time.. it was getting late.. the sun was going down.. so we finished up by visiting the American Pavillion.. and Z decided to show off his hula hoop skills:

It was classic.. and he was actually quite good!!!

So after the show.. the sun went down.. I snapped a few more shots:

I really liked this one of Simba:

We finally made our way back to the exit..

Remember what the Driver told Z about the "real" meaning of EPCOT?

Case in point:

Thanks for hanging around, I hope you guys are enjoying this as much as I am...


Next up: We go see Mary Poppins for Breakfast

 

[Brave teacher]

Nice update on Epcot Randy! Looks like a long day! Can't wait to finally hear how Alisa liked girly meal.

 

[Coach81]

Thanks Megan.. it was.. but as exhausting as it was.. it was still fantastic!!! Oh yeah, Alisa was very excited about her visit with Mary Poppins..

Update coming soon...


OH NO.. they closed this thread!!!!

What to do.. what to do????