DDA Chapter 17

[tinknme]

Julie for Jack

 

[PNO4TE]

Once again Bob and I were awake first so we went over to the food court for breakfast. It was gorgeous outside so we took our food out to the tables there. It was packed inside anyway. We were about done eating when a lovely young Mom from Alabama bravely approached us and asked if she could join us since there were no other seats anywhere. We had a lovely talk with her. She and her DH and DD were there for their first Christmas trip and were just enthralled. And we heard all about it. Bob really enjoyed talking to her but did mention (more than once) that she talked even more than I do!

Eventually the girls showed up with a small breakfast to share and our guest vacated the table to the four of us. We took our time and enjoyed the warm sunshine again. Bob was ready to go back to the room to read and we three decided to go back to Epcot again. Off we went. We tried to get an ADR at Coral Reef for that night or any time the next day but there was still no availability. We didn’t do anything earth-shattering and I don’t think we even rode any rides… just had a great time at our favorite park. Soon it was time to ride the great monorail in the sky to the GF for tea. We arrived a little early and discovered that they did indeed have chestnuts roasting so Kristin grabbed one of her favorite holiday treats at WDW. We spent time just enjoying this beautiful resort and soon I was checking in for our tea. As is our norm, we had the cheese plate to share and each ordered the Grand Tea. I do have to mention the table next to us. There were two women seated there. One of them stared at Kathrin throughout the entire time we were in the Gardenview Lounge. Just STARED. Kristin and I even started looking over at her and she never stopped. It was very odd, to say the least! However, we love to do Tea here. It is one of the activities the three of us always try to do together when we are at WDW.

After tea we went back to the room and decided to spend some time around the pool. No swimming, just relaxing. We had a great time talking and laughing again. And when it was time to eat we opted for the food court once again! We got pot roast, roasted chicken, BBQ ribs and a Philly Cheesesteak and two beers to share. Again it was delicious! As you can tell we have become big fans of the POFQ food court. We had many good meals there. We had trees to undecorate and bags to pack and the crowds were large so we went back to the rooms at about 9:00 and got started. Tomorrow is our last day.

 

[PNO4TE]

I just got back in town. I had to get a few things for our trip and either today or tomorrow were the only days I had free.
We are not supposed to get the ice here. But, they are forecasting up to 12" of snow out of this second system coming through.
I guess I am glad that we are not flying out tomorrow.
I hope that by next Wed. the weather will calm down and we take off without any delays!

I hope your weather cooperates for your trip too, Tom!

 

[UP Disney]

I actually had read that when we signed up.

I probably missed it because I didn't read anything about the stroller part (since it doesn't affect me).

 

[UP Disney]

It was mediocre. But better than most things on TV on Sunday and Monday nights.

Ditto! I felt the same way. Though, I did skip the 1st hour of the 2nd night because I had to see The Closer season opener.

 

[Tammi67]

"Because it is supposed to snow tomorrow."

And most of the time when it is "supposed to snow" things do get canceled. And then it DOESN'T snow!

 

[tink2020]

I probably missed it because I didn't read anything about the stroller part (since it doesn't affect me).

Maybe. To be honest, I don't recall the pace listed anywhere else. That's kind of sneaky, for anyone NOT reading about strollers!

 

[tink2020]

Do you all know who the voice is before Illuminations? ("We've gathered here tonight around the fire ... ") Kyle and I were talking about it, and I can't find the answer anywhere. That seems like something that any Epcot fan would know, but I'm at a total loss!

 

[tink2020]

Elin, thank you for writing your report today! (The woman at the next table never said anything to you?! Do you think she thought Kathrin looked familiar or something....? Weird.)

 

[Tammi67]

I put five pairs of socks on both Alyssa and Matty.

Why?

 

[KristineN]

Jim Cummings

Do you all know who the voice is before Illuminations? ("We've gathered here tonight around the fire ... ") Kyle and I were talking about it, and I can't find the answer anywhere. That seems like something that any Epcot fan would know, but I'm at a total loss!

 

[PNO4TE]

Our last day. It is always hard and the circumstances that occur throughout this particular day made it even harder. We got up and finished packing. When we were done we planned to all do our airline check-in and get Kathrin settled with ME and then grab a bit of breakfast. While we were standing in line Bob and Kristin disappeared! Just when I was about to get angry that they weren’t there for check-in they came rushing up. Seems they decided to see if there were any lunch ADRs available for Coral Reef. And there was one!! Someone had just canceled an 11:35 reservation for 4 and it was ours as long as we could get there. It was now almost 11:00 but we knew we would make it.

We finished up, checked our carry-ons with bell services and jumped on the first bus bound for Epcot. We made it with 10 minutes to spare, so we took the time to call Bob’s parents. We talked to his Dad who let us know that his Mom (who had been in the hospital for a couple of days) had gotten out of surgery and was doing well. We went into lunch and had a terrific meal. We almost always get a table right at the windows and today was no exception. This was a great way to end our family holiday trip.

We returned to POFQ after lunch and headed to the pool to wait for Kathrin’s ME pick-up. Way too soon it was time to walk her out to catch her bus. I knew it would be a while before we would see her and it made it hard to say goodbye. She was off safely and we spent another hour or so at the pool before it was time for us to leave too. We stopped at the Hess station and filled up the car with gas, drove to the airport and turned in our car, all without incident.

By now we knew that Kathrin had taken off on time and was well on her way home. We stopped to change our clothes into long pants and grab our fleece out of our carry-ons because we knew it was much colder at home. While we were waiting for Bob to come out of the bathroom we heard him talking to someone in the men’s room. Kristin and I thought it was odd until we heard his tone of voice and realized he was on his cell phone. His aunt had called to tell him that his mother was not doing well at all.

We had major weather related delays and a security issue with an unhappy passenger from our flight who had to be removed form the airport by Security and some of Orlando’s finest. We were supposed to arrive in Baltimore at 10:30 p.m. but it was after 1:00 a.m. by the time we got in. We checked into our Park ‘n’ Fly hotel at 1:51 a.m. and Bob had heard nothing more definitive about his Mom except that she was in a coma. We slept a few hours and got ready to drive home in the morning. While we were at breakfast he called one of his brothers to see what was going on and was told that his mother had died at 4:30 a.m. We knew we had to get back to Virginia and get him unpacked, repacked and back on the road for the 6 hour drive to PA. This was not a good way to end a holiday family vacation, but it is the way this one ended. Enough said.

On the upside we discovered that Kathrin had a job offer on her voice mail at home when she arrived. She is now once again gainfully employed! I wonder if she had a guardian angel?

We had an amazing time in WDW. We love the holidays there, despite the crowds and craziness. We will go back… Every year, I hope. It is our family tradition, after all!

Thanks for reading and I will see you again when we begin planning our next WDW adventure!

 

[Tammi67]

Wow, what a fun day the kids had. I think we had maybe 2 inches. The grass wasn't even completely covered. But the kids were out almost all day. I think we had an hour or so break where we played Wii a bit. Our house seemed to be the place to be today. I think at one point there 14 kids sledding in my front yard. Then some of the little ones were cold so I brought them in, threw their mittens and snow pants in the dryer, and made them some grilled cheese for lunch. After that they were ready for round 2. Bob took some pictures so maybe I'll post a few later.

 

[babytrees]

Thanks for posting pictures of Timothy, Glynis! I hope he doesn't have a reaction of any of his shots today.

Elin, great trip report. Thanks for sharing with us!

If you all could spare some for Julie. Jack has to have a cat-scan on Thursday. He's 9-months-old now, and the doctors are worried there might be some fluid in his brain, since his head is measuring a bit large and he's not sitting up yet. Hopefully, it's nothing a little occupational therapy can't take care of, but they want to be sure. As you can imagine, the anticipation has Julie pretty anxious. Thanks!

Poor Julie and Jack!! Of course they have our prayers.

 

[Tammi67]

Elin - I've been skipping over your report due to time. After the kids are in bed I'm going to read through it all. Something to look forward to!

 

[PNO4TE]

Elin, thank you for writing your report today! (The woman at the next table never said anything to you?! Do you think she thought Kathrin looked familiar or something....? Weird.)

I don't know??!! If I had seen someone I thought I recognized I would have said something. Maybe she thought she was Katherine Heigl or Scarlett Scarlett Johansson!

I had to get the TR done. It has been festering enough that Bob mentioned that today might be a good time to do it.

 

[PNO4TE]

Jim Cummings

How do you know these things?!?!?

 

[PNO4TE]

Wow, what a fun day the kids had. I think we had maybe 2 inches. The grass wasn't even completely covered. But the kids were out almost all day. I think we had an hour or so break where we played Wii a bit. Our house seemed to be the place to be today. I think at one point there 14 kids sledding in my front yard. Then some of the little ones were cold so I brought them in, threw their mittens and snow pants in the dryer, and made them some grilled cheese for lunch. After that they were ready for round 2. Bob took some pictures so maybe I'll post a few later.

It sounds like a great day. We had a little more snow over here, apparently! We measured it on my car before I went out and there was somewhere between 3-4 inches on it! Our grass was covered too.

We sound like Amy and Jennifer. The only thing is, we live about a mile apart as the crow flies!

 

[KristineN]

Omar....our somewhat deranged but very fun Breathless boat driver....he was so busy telling us facts...that we almost crashed into a ferry. Bill has still not recovered from the incident

How do you know these things?!?!?

 

[tink2020]

Thank you!