Compromise is a Disney word: Taking one for the team over Thanksgiving 2016* August PTR link! 5/28

[kittylady1972]

Love your report of all the fun Dolphin & Swan decorations. I never even thought about checking out how they setup those resorts at the holidays. We've stayed at the Swan once and did enjoy it there. It sounds like we need to stop there for some food sometime, especially with many Italian food lovers in my family.

As a lover of ice cream, I was thinking maybe I need to try that creamery but you seem to indicate that it doesn't beat Beaches and Cream and since we have a ressie for that in May I'll probably just stick with that. However ice cream is just a way of life for me and I don't pass up any opportunity to have some.

Love your Illuminations view. I can't recall if we've seen the holiday version or not either, and if so it's been a while. I last recall standing in a crowd in the rain to watch but I don't remember when that was as my family is very ANTI shows of any kind.

Can't wait to read about your last day!

 

[Imagineer5]

Such a nice view of Illuminations, and how nice the music was so clear too.

Glad your dinner went well at Il Mulino. I feel like it's a bit awkward that Swolphin claim to be Santa's Favorite Resort - and I think he looks weird in that summer outfit lol! We did check out their decorations and agreed, the chocolate display smells amazing!

Actually the best part of your night to me, was the walk over to get ice cream while the boys had fun playing at the arcade! What a nice moment, and sweet of DH to come up with the idea.

 

[thumper*]

I have enjoyed your TR. So many things to comment on but can't remember them all. But a few, first I love your selfies your cute freckles show better (LOL) and I loved the Smee shirt and DH's MM shirt you hate. I'm so glad that I stumbled onto your report I learned a lot especially the story tellers in Epcot and Holiday Illumintaions I had no idea. I will definitely be anticipating these on our Dec trip. DH & CHris' transportation issues to FW Men they just don't listen.
I vote for a separate Univ training TR. Don't make us wait until after May trip. Excited to hear the end of this TR and reading your upcoming TR's.

 

[ArielSRL]

The boys out and out refused to change into nicer clothes and quite frankly, I wasn't in the mood to argue.

You gotta pick your battles, right? I know all about that.

Oh by the way, these displays are made entirely of chocolate! And it smelled as good as it looked.

Yum!

He did feel the need to see what putting half a lemon in his mouth would taste like and this was the result:

I used to eat lemons as a kid. Weird, huh?

Right in the middle of it all were these guys:



And they'd brought along the Big Guy himself:

Nice!

I guess he isn't a Wilderness Lodge fan like myself............

Boo hiss!

I had Ricky take a picture of Steve and I since we have so few of those:

Very nice. And I love the skort, obviously! And the purse. Oh and definitely the bandaid!

I got the Ooey Gooey Buttercake and Dark Chocolate.

Sounds delicious.

I found out that a kid I went to elementary school with has worked for Disney for 26 years now and is currently a bartender there

That's cool. Maybe he will hook you guys up! Whatever that means...lol.

We got back to the room just in time for the 9:30 showing of Illuminations, so being our last night I had to watch from our balcony. I don't know if I mentioned this but in addition to seeing the high fireworks we could hear the music really well.

I'm glad you got to check those out since you guys decided to skip out on seeing them in person. This way was a lot less crowded, too!

 

[Hettie]

Just getting caught up on this report, have been reading the dining report as well, enjoying them both.

That white eyelet skort...I love it so much! I've seen it in someone else's report too. Do you mind sharing what brand it is, please. I want to scour the internet for one.

 

[ArielSRL]

Just getting caught up on this report, have been reading the dining report as well, enjoying them both.

That white eyelet skort...I love it so much! I've seen it in someone else's report too. Do you mind sharing what brand it is, please. I want to scour the internet for one.

It may or may not have been my report. It is a skort from Academy. BCG brand, laser cut skort. Currently though, they only carry black. Last year they had black, white, navy, orange, and pink, at the very least. I have one of every color but orange. I was hoping they would carry the same or more colors this year because I was going to buy duplicates. But last I looked, it was only black.

 

[Hettie]

It may or may not have been my report. It is a skort from Academy. BCG brand, laser cut skort. Currently though, they only carry black. Last year they had black, white, navy, orange, and pink, at the very least. I have one of every color but orange. I was hoping they would carry the same or more colors this year because I was going to buy duplicates. But last I looked, it was only black.

Yes, I think it was your report! Thanks so much for the info, I'm going to look for one on eBay, etc. It's so cute with Disney tees.

 

[ariane37]

I'm really looking forward to having a at Abracadabra.

Me too! It looks so neat in there! If you do it next week you'll have to text me and lmk if you like it

And how cute is Surfin' Beach Santa? Don't get the connection the Swalphin but cute none the less.

I don't get it either, except for that promotion I see on the Dis every year around Nov/Dec that says "stay at Santa's favorite resort!" It's either for the Swan or Dolphin or both.........don't know what PR person came up with it but it's weird.

I can't believe it was your last night already. It definitely seems to have gone way too fast

They always do, don't they? That's precisely why you can't wait a year to go back

Mrs. Claus looks a little...intense. I think that might scare me a little, lol!

Doesn't she? She was pretty loud too, but she kept everyone in line

I have a fast pass for it, which I've never done before. I'm so curious to see how the viewing area is vs. just claiming a spot along the railing like I normally would.

We've never FP's Illuminations either but the year we did the CP dinner package it included VIP viewing of Illuminations. The area we were brought to was over by the entrance to WS by.........OMG the big store? Whose name escapes me as I type but I know it so well?? To the left of that store if you're standing where the Christmas tree was. Anyway it was a good view but I don't think it was the best view we've ever had. Is that where FP viewing is?
WAIT, you did the CP dining package last year - did you get the VIP Illuminations viewing still??

And at Boardwalk, between those two trees in your picture where the furniture is, they put in a bunch of other trees and miniature gingerbread houses. On certain days they had gingerbread cookies available for sale and you could decorate them. All of the proceeds went to charity.

I knew I could count on you! It looked so much nicer by the time you got there.

The gooey butter cake ice cream is what I had too, and I liked it, but you know I wasn't super impressed overall, either. It was just ice cream! I still maintain that the plain gooey cake by itself and not mixed into ice cream was incredible though!!

I remember you didn't hate it but aren't the biggest fan lol

We went there on our first trip! I liked the old school carnival/knock over the clown game there. We went to the Contemporary arcade once too and I didn't find anything there really.

I like any arcade that has Ms. PacMan if you want to talk old school! The only thing I liked about DisneyQuest the one time we went!

Love your report of all the fun Dolphin & Swan decorations. I never even thought about checking out how they setup those resorts at the holidays.

In 2015 on our trip, we were staying at BWV and took a walk over to the BC/YC to check out the decorations. On a whim we went into the Swan since we'd never been in before and were kind of surprised it was decorated the way it was. But it makes sense that they wouldn't want to be left out since the other BW resorts get so intricately decorated.

It sounds like we need to stop there for some food sometime, especially with many Italian food lovers in my family.

You should add it to your list on one of your upcoming trips

As a lover of ice cream, I was thinking maybe I need to try that creamery but you seem to indicate that it doesn't beat Beaches and Cream and since we have a ressie for that in May I'll probably just stick with that.

Yeah, stick with B&C. In the future if you're in the area give Ample Hills a try, but keep what you have for May.

I can't recall if we've seen the holiday version or not either, and if so it's been a while. I last recall standing in a crowd in the rain to watch but I don't remember when that was as my family is very ANTI shows of any kind.

Well maybe now that DD watched the Chinese acrobats and enjoyed them, you can at least get her to watch more shows if nobody else!

Such a nice view of Illuminations, and how nice the music was so clear too.

I was thrilled with our view, as I have been on our last few trips. I assume our luck will run out at some point but I see the view as an extra perk and not something that's necessary so it's always nice to have

I feel like it's a bit awkward that Swolphin claim to be Santa's Favorite Resort - and I think he looks weird in that summer outfit lol! We did check out their decorations and agreed, the chocolate display smells amazing!

I have no idea where they came up with that tagline! I also like him better in his "winter" outfit

Actually the best part of your night to me, was the walk over to get ice cream while the boys had fun playing at the arcade! What a nice moment, and sweet of DH to come up with the idea.

He's always looking for a few minutes alone time lol. And really the boys like being without us. I miss them being small but there are many pluses to them growing up!

I have enjoyed your TR.

I'm glad!

But a few, first I love your selfies your cute freckles show better (LOL

Aw, what a nice thing to say

I'm so glad that I stumbled onto your report

I am too! Thank you for following along!

I learned a lot especially the story tellers in Epcot and Holiday Illumintaions I had no idea. I will definitely be anticipating these on our Dec trip.

Definitely try to see some of the storytellers, they're great for getting you in the spirit of the holidays. And I hope you get to watch Illuminations from inside the park!

I vote for a separate Univ training TR. Don't make us wait until after May trip

I would've loved to do a separate TR for that trip but I'm trouble finding time to finish this and my current dining report up However I really want to show everyone what we did, so I've been thinking that once I finish with this trip, I'll add the Universal training on to this one.............

g box....you can see where this is going right? Well one day I was making him a box of mac and cheese and he saw the cheese was indeed a powder and threw the biggest fit! He claimed it never was one before and I made it that way

Totally something Chris would do! Of course he's 11 and I'm guessing your brother was older than that when the mac n cheese event happened
OK Raeven I have no idea how this quote got here since I think it's from my dining report..........lol I'll end up quoting it again over there!

 

[ariane37]

Very nice. And I love the skort, obviously! And the purse. Oh and definitely the bandaid!

The band aid totally makes it, right? I only noticed it when the picture posted here SO big.............

I'm glad you got to check those out since you guys decided to skip out on seeing them in person. This way was a lot less crowded, too!

Me too. I was bummed I wasn't going back in to watch but was feeling my age in terms of being tired. If it was earlier in the vacation I probably would've been fine but being our last night, I was wiped!

Just getting caught up on this report, have been reading the dining report as well, enjoying them both.

I'm so glad and

That white eyelet skort...I love it so much! I've seen it in someone else's report too. Do you mind sharing what brand it is, please. I want to scour the internet for one.

Yes, I think it was your report! Thanks so much for the info, I'm going to look for one on eBay, etc. It's so cute with Disney tees.

They are so comfortable! It stinks they only have black now because I only bought black and white and would love a blue and pink one. I should look on eBay too, good luck!

 

[Raeven]

Totally something Chris would do! Of course he's 11 and I'm guessing your brother was older than that when the mac n cheese event happened
OK Raeven I have no idea how this quote got here since I think it's from my dining report..........lol I'll end up quoting it again over there!

Lol I think this is from the dining report. Oh yeah my brother was like 16 when that happened

 

[Britbrie]

Omg, the dropping of the sandwich story made me laugh so hard I spit my drink out! lol. Poor boys/men, they always have to have their food and when they don't get it they whine. hahaha.

The Dolphin's tree is SOOOO pretty! I wish I would've had a chance to make my way over there and see it!

My very first Disney hotel was the Boardwalk! It definitely holds a special place in my heart!!

 

[ariane37]

​

So did any of you guys catch "The View" this week? They were broadcasting from AK and on Thursday, James Cameron was on and he gave Whoopi a tour of Avatar! They rode the Na'vi River ride too, it looks amazing! I haven't watched The View in years but when I heard they'd be at AK I made an exception and I'm glad I did. I'm more excited than ever to see it in August as long as that trip happens, but I'd love for their to be a soft opening when we're there in May.
In other news, Steve and I leave in 2 weeks for the first of our 2 scheduled kid-free trips We had major snow today and we're expecting another big storm next Tues. into Wed. Then more snow next weekend and the long range forecast shows snow showers on the 22nd and 23rd. I can only see up to the 24th and we leave the 25th, so fingers crossed for good weather. I'm also debating making some changes-nothing like doing that with 14 days to go!
Finally, Ricky's knee is heeling really, really well. He goes back to PE Tuesday, started PT this past Wed. and should be back to playing basketball before the end of the month if not sooner. He has an All-Star game on the 16th we're not sure if he'll play in and possibly a championship game the 18th, but even if he doesn't play in them he'll be ready to start the one AAU travel team he's still doing when that starts in a few weeks. The orthopedist and physical therapist both say the chance of this re-occurring is slim to none and his knee will heel 100%

Thanks for listening to me ramble! Now on to our last day.......

AND NOW IT'S TIME TO SAY GOOD-BYE...............​

Oh, those going home from Disney blues. It's always easier when you have another trip planned which at the time we didn't, even though we knew we wanted to come back in the spring. Back in 2013 we had a later flight after many trips with an early departure flight so we did a park on departure day for the first time and loved it, so since then whenever we can that's what we try to do. This time we lucked out and got a flight home at 8:55 pm, which meant we could stay in the parks until almost 5!
Even still, I wanted to try making RD at MK. I don't care what our first park of a trip is but I do like to end at MK, even if we do more than 1 park that day. Ricky still likes spending a lot of time in MK and since he'd only had one day there, he wanted to spend the whole day there today. We were up super early but I still had time to take a few more room view pictures that I hadn't taken yet:

The view looking down:

This was a smoking area but it was never crowded when I looked and from this high up we could never smell any smoke.
Looking down and to the left:

We originally thought this was the path out the "secret door" to Epcot but Steve followed it early one morning and it lead to garbage dumpsters lol! The smoking area is to the right.
Finally one of our balcony. I know some BC rooms have a small one but we had a really long narrow one. From where I'm standing taking the picture there's another chair and a small table you can't see:


At this point everyone else was ready and yelling at me to get moving, since I'm the one that wanted to make RD in the first place. We skipped breakfast because there was something in the park we wanted to get While we made it to the bus stop by 7:40 I couldn't walk through the BC lobby on our last day without getting one more picture:


I knew that unless a bus was right there we weren't making it before the park opened at 8. Luckily we arrived at Magic Kingdom by 8:15 and for the weekend after Thanksgiving, it wasn't jam packed! We went right to HM which was still a walk on and Ricky rode with us. It still kills me that the kid will ride TOT, RnRC, and EE but usually steadfastly refuses to ride HM! Next was a ride that holds a special place in my heart as I have fond memories of riding it with my grandmother on trips when I was a kid - Peter Pan. The best part of today was that Chris kept saying he didn't want to ride because it's boring, but Ricky right away when I suggested it said he wanted to. When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you." Sometimes even teenagers are ok Since we didn't have a FP we got to go through the whole queue and I love the new queue. The first time we saw it I took lots of pictures but this time we moved pretty fast so I only got a couple:


And then this cute one of my 14 year old playing with his shadow lol:


After that we went straight to BTMRR even though we had a later FP for it since it a favorite of everyone. It was just after 8:30 but there was already a 15 minute posted wait, which was accurate. Next it was a walk on Pirates. Then, I convinced everyone to do a ride none of us had done in quite some time - the Magic Carpets of Aladdin This certainly isn't a favorite of mine but we were in the area and NOW it was getting jam packed. Checking the app, wait times were growing everywhere. Aladdin was still a walk on so why not?
Ricky was even ok with a selfie since it was our last day:


And one of the other boys:


Since I hadn't been on Aladdin in awhile I took a few pictures from up there. Nothing extra special but I'm going to make you suffer through them anyway!






By now it was 10:00 and we were close to starving to death. Luckily MK had an option that Ricky could live with other than a Starbucks breakfast sandwich, so we left Adventureland for New Fantasyland to eat. Along the way we passed this guy trying to find some young ladies to show off in front of:


Then it was onto a ridiculously long line at his tavern for a couple of ginormous and delicious cinnamon buns! It was so long that a CM was passing menus out to everyone who was in line outside the tavern. We were outside, behind about 25 others who were outside. Eventually we got our food and grabbed a table in the sunshine. It was still before 11 when we finished, so we had lots more park time to go!

UP NEXT: HEY! I KNOW THAT GUY!​

 

[ArielSRL]

So did any of you guys catch "The View" this week?

I was at work. I need to go in YouTube or ABC and see if I can find it. I did watch something from Good Morning America.

I'm also debating making some changes-nothing like doing that with 14 days to go!

This is truly catching bc even I got a wild hair and decided to switch our Epcot and AK days today. Basically bc AK is going to be open later than Epcot and we will have AM EMH at MK the next day. I'm trying to replicate our ADRs but have only had luck with 1 thus far. I set up a TP ressie finder request for 1 but the other is the ROL dining pkg and I can't set up a search for that or at least as far as I can figure. I really just want to book the FP and cancel the breakfast anyway but there is still the pesky speculation that AK is going to tiers and ROL will be in Tier 1. Ugh. Anyway, sorry to hijack your report.....

Finally, Ricky's knee is heeling really, really well.

Good to hear!

This time we lucked out and got a flight home at 8:55 pm, which meant we could stay in the parks until almost 5!

Wahoo!

Finally one of our balcony. I know some BC rooms have a small one but we had a really long narrow one.

Everybody that I have seen stay there has had a bigger balcony. @Jfsag123 had one like yours, I think. My friend that I'm renting points from, didn't have a long one but had like a corner room so the balcony was huge! It looked funny with just the 2 chairs and small table on it.

I couldn't walk through the BC lobby on our last day without getting one more picture:

Very nice!

When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you." Sometimes even teenagers are ok

So sweet!

Since we didn't have a FP we got to go through the whole queue and I love the new queue.

We are doing PP at RD during AM EMH just so I can experience the standby queue!

the Magic Carpets of Aladdin

My boys love this ride!

 

[MeghanEmily]

When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you." Sometimes even teenagers are ok

Oh my goodness, how sweet is this kid?! You've got some pretty great boys, Ariane!

I love that you had time for so much MK time on your last day. We've never managed to book our flights to get park time on the last day, but it seems like a good way to help soften the blow. Might see what we can do next time we fly...

 

[StarWarsMomofGirls!]

So did any of you guys catch "The View" this week? They were broadcasting from AK and on Thursday, James Cameron was on and he gave Whoopi a tour of Avatar! They rode the Na'vi River ride too, it looks amazing!

I didn't see the whole thing. I did watch the clip on uTube later. Whoopi looked a little like, I don't know what I am looking at. The Na'vie River looks amazing. I know they don't want to show too much, but I felt like the floating rocks sections, might be kind of small.... Did you see the clip when the Chew is trying the new 'treat'. Clint looks like he HATES it. Kind of funny. And Mario sounded like he was biting his tongue about the fact that it is normally a savory dish. Like he wanted to say this was terrible. Ha. I mean I don't care, everyone has different opinions on food, but I found it kind of funny.

We had major snow today and we're expecting another big storm next Tues. into Wed.

Ugh, I am trying not to obsess about it too much! We didn't get much on Tuesday down here. Really just rain snow mix and nothing really stuck.

Then more snow next weekend and the long range forecast shows snow showers on the 22nd and 23rd. I can only see up to the 24th and we leave the 25th, so fingers crossed for good weather.

I am crossing my fingers for you! It's far enough away, that they will change it a million times.

Finally, Ricky's knee is heeling really, really well.

SO good to hear!

This time we lucked out and got a flight home at 8:55 pm, which meant we could stay in the parks until almost 5!

We love doing this. We have almost always taken an 8 flight back. But it gets you home LATE! Which with your boys probably isn't a big deal. But my little ladies, is a little rough. We need to have a full rest day at home after that. Which is a problem for our Sept. Trip. It kind of feels like a bonus day in the parks, doesn't it?

We originally thought this was the path out the "secret door" to Epcot but Steve followed it early one morning and it lead to garbage dumpsters lol!

It's the secret door to another kind of world!

When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you."

So Sweet!!!! Good son!!!!!

ince we didn't have a FP we got to go through the whole queue and I love the new queue.

The queue is fantastic. I still wouldn't want to wait in the 90+ line.

Then it was onto a ridiculously long line at his tavern for a couple of ginormous and delicious cinnamon buns! It was so long that a CM was passing menus out to everyone who was in line outside the tavern.

I have never seen a line there. They are slow.. Which I don't understand. Isn't everything there already prepared? Morgan loves those Cinnamon Rolls and Gwen loves the LaFrou's Brew. So, it is usually a must do stop for us.

 

[ariane37]

I was at work. I need to go in YouTube or ABC and see if I can find it. I did watch something from Good Morning America.

I think most of my Disboards friends had to work I missed the GMA segment but watched the YouTube video of that.

This is truly catching bc even I got a wild hair and decided to switch our Epcot and AK days today

Ha, great minds think alike! I need to now finish those March plans lol and get moving on May, which are roughly sketched out, only because there are quite a few things I want to do on that trip. A tour is one of them and since you can book those 180 days out, I should probably do that..............

but there is still the pesky speculation that AK is going to tiers and ROL will be in Tier 1. Ugh. Anyway, sorry to hijack your report.....

I hope not but I fear they will and it'll suck.

We are doing PP at RD during AM EMH just so I can experience the standby queue!

Both times we've walked through the whole queue have been early in the day; no way would we wait in a long SB line regardless of the nostalgia factor!

Oh my goodness, how sweet is this kid?! You've got some pretty great boys, Ariane!

I do, really, even though they annoy the crap out of me And for all Ricky's teenage attitude deep down he is a very caring kid, especially when it comes to me and his younger first cousins which I love.

We've never managed to book our flights to get park time on the last day, but it seems like a good way to help soften the blow. Might see what we can do next time we fly...

It does soften the blow, a lot! Instead of being sad on the last night, you perk up when you realize you still have a whole day. And then you stay busy that day right up until you have to hurry to return to your resort to catch ME so you don't even have lots of time to be sad about going home - until you're sitting at said resort waiting for the bus

I didn't see the whole thing. I did watch the clip on uTube later. Whoopi looked a little like, I don't know what I am looking at.

LOL I think she almost always looks like that!

The Na'vie River looks amazing.

It does. I'm much more excited about it than I thought I'd be

Did you see the clip when the Chew is trying the new 'treat'. Clint looks like he HATES it. Kind of funny. And Mario sounded like he was biting his tongue about the fact that it is normally a savory dish. Like he wanted to say this was terrible. Ha. I mean I don't care, everyone has different opinions on food, but I found it kind of funny.

I missed the Chew! But that sounds quite comical so now I have to go find it!

Ugh, I am trying not to obsess about it too much! We didn't get much on Tuesday down here. Really just rain snow mix and nothing really stuck.

Now they're saying up to 20" for us Tues. into Wed The boys will use up possibly their last 2 snow days. Yesterday I met my friends from college at Palisades Mall in Nyack (NY). They're all originally from NJ since I went to William Paterson and 2 are still in Jersey. One is near Jackson and got quite a bit Friday and she said they're saying close to 20" for her this week, too!

We love doing this. We have almost always taken an 8 flight back. But it gets you home LATE! Which with your boys probably isn't a big deal. But my little ladies, is a little rough. We need to have a full rest day at home after that. Which is a problem for our Sept. Trip. It kind of feels like a bonus day in the parks, doesn't it?

Yes, not quite as hard since mine are older unless they have school the next day, then we won't do the late, late flight. When we left in Nov. at 9 we got in at 11:35pm and had a 45 minute ride home, but since it was Sat. it didn't matter. We're taking the same flight home this month but no boys

The queue is fantastic. I still wouldn't want to wait in the 90+ line.

Oh neither would we!!! That's why if we're going to do it with no FP we do it early

I have never seen a line there. They are slow.. Which I don't understand. Isn't everything there already prepared

I don't get it either The day was getting crowded by 10 and really except for Starbucks and the Nutella waffle at Sleepy Hollow there aren't many breakfast options in MK, so I guess that's why it was so busy plus it was 2 days after Thanksgiving. Then, and I forgot to write this, a group of 5 women right in front of us had some kind of "Mickey coupons" I'd never seen before, I think they were with a tour group, so they were using them to pay but the CM's were confused as far as what they could order and how to ring them up, so they did each woman and each item separately. That party took about 15 minutes alone! Normally I'm nice but I was ready to yell "***" because I was quickly approaching hangry status!

 

[Jenny Sanders]

Hi Ariane! We are bracing for snow in Chicago too. BOO!!! But, its been a mild winter, so I can't really complain. I was going to do the smart thing and go grocery shopping today, in case we are trapped in the house tomorrow, but Starbucks with my best friend won out!!!! We are meeting at 1pm and until then, I just want to chill...Your trip sounds so nice, and I bet you can't wait for the next 2 weeks to go by...9 days here, and I will be sipping cocktails at the Hangar Bar. WOO! HOO!

 

[disneyAndi14]

I have really enjoyed your trip report, so nice about your son riding PP because he knows how much it means to you, so sweet! Our teenagers can surprise for sure! I accidentally took the path to the dumpsters when we stayed at BCV as well thinking it was the shortcut lol!

 

[kastoney]

So did any of you guys catch "The View" this week? They were broadcasting from AK and on Thursday, James Cameron was on and he gave Whoopi a tour of Avatar! They rode the Na'vi River ride too, it looks amazing! I haven't watched The View in years but when I heard they'd be at AK I made an exception and I'm glad I did. I'm more excited than ever to see it in August as long as that trip happens, but I'd love for their to be a soft opening when we're there in May.

Jason watched it and was impressed too. Of course I tried to hold back my bitterness as he watched it from home while I was at work I'm sure you can imagine how successful I was in that endeavor.

In other news, Steve and I leave in 2 weeks for the first of our 2 scheduled kid-free trips We had major snow today and we're expecting another big storm next Tues. into Wed. Then more snow next weekend and the long range forecast shows snow showers on the 22nd and 23rd. I can only see up to the 24th and we leave the 25th, so fingers crossed for good weather. I'm also debating making some changes-nothing like doing that with 14 days to go!

Fingers crossed that you all are snowless on the 25th. Of course I'm hoping for some of the snow on Tuesday, because I need a day off

Finally, Ricky's knee is heeling really, really well. He goes back to PE Tuesday, started PT this past Wed. and should be back to playing basketball before the end of the month if not sooner. He has an All-Star game on the 16th we're not sure if he'll play in and possibly a championship game the 18th, but even if he doesn't play in them he'll be ready to start the one AAU travel team he's still doing when that starts in a few weeks. The orthopedist and physical therapist both say the chance of this re-occurring is slim to none and his knee will heel 100%

Glad to hear he is doing better!

Back in 2013 we had a later flight after many trips with an early departure flight so we did a park on departure day for the first time and loved it, so since then whenever we can that's what we try to do. This time we lucked out and got a flight home at 8:55 pm, which meant we could stay in the parks until almost 5!

We always do the same thing. Figure what's the hurry in getting home when you can get one more almost full Disney day in. We can usually catch a flight around 6 or 7 which works out well.

Finally one of our balcony. I know some BC rooms have a small one but we had a really long narrow one. From where I'm standing taking the picture there's another chair and a small table you can't see:

The balcony looks awesome. Think the balcony is what I"m most upset about losing with the moderates. Jason and I love to sit outside and drink wine after the kiddo has gone to bed. This looks like the perfect wine sipping, illuminations watching, view.

best part of today was that Chris kept saying he didn't want to ride because it's boring, but Ricky right away when I suggested it said he wanted to. When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you." Sometimes even teenagers are ok

Since we didn't have a FP we got to go through the whole queue and I love the new queue. The first time we saw it I took lots of pictures but this time we moved pretty fast so I only got a couple:

How long was the wait for you all? We've only ever done FP too and I'd love to see the queue. Just don't want to wait 70 minutes to see it

Then it was onto a ridiculously long line at his tavern for a couple of ginormous and delicious cinnamon buns! It was so long that a CM was passing menus out to everyone who was in line outside the tavern. We were outside, behind about 25 others who were outside. Eventually we got our food and grabbed a table in the sunshine. It was still before 11 when we finished, so we had lots more park time to go!

That is an insane wait!!!! But those cinnamon rolls are worth it.

 

[Raeven]

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So did any of you guys catch "The View" this week? They were broadcasting from AK and on Thursday, James Cameron was on and he gave Whoopi a tour of Avatar! They rode the Na'vi River ride too, it looks amazing! I haven't watched The View in years but when I heard they'd be at AK I made an exception and I'm glad I did.

I watched it this weekend! The Na'vi River Ride looks amazing. I'm guessing with my motion sickness I won't be a fan of the other one so I'm most looking forward to that.

Finally, Ricky's knee is heeling really, really well. He goes back to PE Tuesday, started PT this past Wed. and should be back to playing basketball before the end of the month if not sooner. He has an All-Star game on the 16th we're not sure if he'll play in and possibly a championship game the 18th, but even if he doesn't play in them he'll be ready to start the one AAU travel team he's still doing when that starts in a few weeks. The orthopedist and physical therapist both say the chance of this re-occurring is slim to none and his knee will heel 100%

This time we lucked out and got a flight home at 8:55 pm, which meant we could stay in the parks until almost 5!

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We almost never have flights available that late or I'd take them too.

The best part of today was that Chris kept saying he didn't want to ride because it's boring, but Ricky right away when I suggested it said he wanted to. When we got off I asked him why he liked it so much and he said "I don't, but I know how much it means to you." Sometimes even teenagers are ok Since we didn't have a FP we got to go through the whole queue and I love the new queue.

That's so sweet of him. I've also always wanted to see the queue, but we haven't been when the line was short enough yet.