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[jc040404]

If you noticed in the comment before, we have dates for our long'ish stay now!

Well, sorta. On Tuesday, dh came home from work with the news I'd been hoping for. His schedule is soon becoming a thousand times easier for us. (And much more WDW friendly! ) He was even able to secure the dates around their shared birthday in June and most of what I want in March. We're definitely going with CBR and I'm guessing five or six nights. I'm so excited!

We celebrated with cake.

Yummy stuff. Kinda giving away a bit of the future of this TR, but Blake is WILD about "the mermaid" now.

 

[jc040404]

I'm using Picaboo. I made one for our last trip and got it for free cause it was my first book with them. I LOVED the program cause it let me have full creative license instead of just dropping photos into boxes. Now they have a code out for B1G1. So I can pay for 2 and get 4. 1 for me and DH and 1 for each of my 3 brothers! Perfect! :-D

I used to do real scrapbooking but this computer stuff is WAY easier and cleaner!

I can see why it would be hard for you to do photobooks for your trips! You have so many! I would never know what trips to actually scrapbook and what not. You should just print off your TRs and bind them at the end of the year! I know last year's kinda died but just start doing it this year!

I think I tried Picaboo when Andrew was baby actually. It was pretty neat. I had this crazy idea of making a book for his first year. I actually took somewhere over 40,000 pics that year. It was a little overwhelming. That sounds awesome though. It has to be fun without the little boxes and more freedom to create. I might have to check into it again. I've been wanting to do some. I was thinking about maybe one per month of Disney maybe? I sorta did one for Andrew's first trip on his first bday. (Okay, totally tempted to do a TR about that now.. but I will resist.)

Side note.. I am actually soooo upset over messing up that TR! I have it all saved in Word, so I *could* post it over if I upload the pics again, but I won't. We just had such a great year with so much extra magic. I wish I could read it tonight!

 

[GaRain]

We have a late breakfast ADR at Ohana on the 6th. It's our check in day, so we'll probably just be hanging out at the resort and MK that day. Hope we can meet up! I seem to be missing everyone.[/COLOR]

I don't leave until that evening. So, I could stalk you....LOL!!!!

 

[PirateKate]

How disappointing that the Magic Kingdom was closing at ten! You all seemed to handle it very bravely, though. I love sitting on Main Street and watching the Castle while everyone else leaves. Sadly, my boys don't seem to find the Castle's changing colors nearly as amusing as I do. Maybe when they are older.

Animal Kingdom day looks like a lot of fun! I can't believe how many people were scared of Dinosaur. Don't they know the dinosaurs are animatronic and cannot actually eat them?

Oh, and I love Blake's little shirt "Bugs Rule". So cute!

 

[onescgirl]

In your Dino pic, I love how everyone is ducking & screaming & Andy looks so calm!

Congrats on the new long trip to CBR!!!!!

 

[jc040404]

Anyone stayed at POR?? Would my family like it? I'm looking at possibly doing a couple nights there next month, but I can't decide. Andrew wants All Star Sports (yuck), but did seem interested in this one when I saw it was available..

I don't leave until that evening. So, I could stalk you....LOL!!!!

That doesn't sound creepy at all... It'll be neat if we can meet up. I feel kinda bad for missing everyone that's mentioned it so far.

How disappointing that the Magic Kingdom was closing at ten! You all seemed to handle it very bravely, though. I love sitting on Main Street and watching the Castle while everyone else leaves. Sadly, my boys don't seem to find the Castle's changing colors nearly as amusing as I do. Maybe when they are older.

I felt so silly when he told me the park closed at ten! I don't know why I was thinking midnight. Fun stuff either way! I could see watching the castle change being a little less than exciting for your boys. They're little yet. Blake probably wouldn't have been so into this if it weren't so late either.

Animal Kingdom day looks like a lot of fun! I can't believe how many people were scared of Dinosaur. Don't they know the dinosaurs are animatronic and cannot actually eat them?

It is kinda ridiculous, right??

Oh, and I love Blake's little shirt "Bugs Rule". So cute!

Isn't it too adorable! It's one of his favorites!

In your Dino pic, I love how everyone is ducking & screaming & Andy looks so calm!

He loves it! That pic is great. I'm glad John was watching and snapped a pic. We should've bought a copy. I haven't had a ride pic I liked as much before or since. Oh well..

Congrats on the new long trip to CBR!!!!!

I feel kinda silly about being excited about our "long" trip, when it's really only going to be five or six nights. So many on here seem to spend a couple of weeks straight at WDW! This is long for us though. As much as I'd like to spend a month or so at a resort, I don't see my children lasting anyway.

 

[jc040404]

September 4th, 2010 - Saturday * Day Eight

Time for another Disney Day!! This is actually the start of a few months of Disney days. We’ll only manage one more overnight stay before Christmas. We still had lots of fun though!

The day started out very slow. I didn’t notice the alarm and we weren’t moving very fast. Our mission was DHS if we could get there early, but it wasn’t looking good. There was AM EMH this day so I didn’t want to be super late. Oh well. We decided to just go with it and pick our park when we got closer instead. The journey this time would prove to be the worst drive to Disney I hope we ever have..

Everyone hopped in the car and we were on the road. There wasn’t a lot of traffic, but Saturdays are rarely that busy anyway. The boys dozed off in the car. It was an uneventful and relaxing drive. John and I just listened to the radio and talked.

Then it happened.

At an exit/on ramp/something-like-that near Auburndale, six cops came flying onto I-4. Everyone who was cruising along beside us was now sitting on the side of the interstate.. Yes, my husband had been speeding! We’d all been caught by a plane quite a few miles back? I’ve never heard of this before. He said he didn’t realize he was doing it and was just driving along with the rest of the traffic. Not good. The officer was really nice and explained what we needed to do next. First time we’d ever been stopped for something. (It better be the only one, too!) Presented with a ticket, once again we were on our way. I’ve spent every ride since watching my husband’s speed.

Please don’t speed. It’s dangerous.

Not a proud moment to share, but you can imagine how this set the tone of our morning. I was more than a little annoyed with my husband for speeding. He apologized and told me not to worry about the ticket. It wouldn’t happen again and we’d just go have a fun day. From there on the ride was quiet. We didn’t even discuss which park we’d go to anymore. He just headed to DHS anyway. We were walking up to the turnstiles just as the park opened to everyone.

Goofy, aka Andrew, walked ahead of me and the turnstile CM helped him push through. I guess she was still in the helping habit when my turn came. I started to walk through and she reaches down to grab the bar, instead grabbing me! She was embarrassed, but started laughing. It scared me, but then I laughed. John had seen it and started laughing, too. Ticket or not, this Disney Day was saved by a CM grabbing my leg. How weird. We needed a silly weird moment, I guess.

Despite the park being open for a little over an hour already, we moved in the usual “rope drop routine” to TSM. John gathered the FPS for later while I took Andrew into the line. It had quite a standby wait, but we didn’t mind at all. I was actually looking forward to just standing around in that fun area and chatting with my baby.

Yep, 70 minutes. It was sixty when we got in line. This is when we finally made it to the entrance!

While Andrew and I were in line, John took Blakers to play in the HISTK area. They had a great time and he actually took pics! John is the opposite of me when it comes to pictures. His camera rarely leaves his pocket anymore. I loved some of these..

I’m guessing you’re not really supposed to let kids go back here? It was cute anyway.

While they were playing, Blake spotted something in the sky..

Near the restrooms by the Animation building, I think..

In the TSM line, Andrew and I were having some fun of our own. I let him take control of the camera and did some people watching!

The guests around us were super entertaining this day. Well, they are everyday really. I listened to a couple behind me spend the entire wait talking about how the wait can’t possibly be seventy minutes. Then they’d argue about how long we’d been in line. I was tracking the time, but didn’t think I should bother their wait experience. They were consistently saying fifteen minutes more than we’d actually been somehow.

Directly in front of us were some super fun Florida residents! I LOVE running into this type of guest. They come here all the time and they want EVERYONE to know it. It’s always entertaining. The entire family was even dressed in Seminole gear. I must sound like such a rotten person in this TR, but I like having fun with this. They were asking everyone around for their state. When my turn came, I said we were from Ohio. Technically, I did spend the first eighteen years of my life there, so it wasn’t really a lie. Andrew was too busy with the camera to notice. C'mon, they wanted us all to be jealous, right?

Eventually, we made it here..

The couple behind me were near cheering. We’d finally made it to the ride!

Then they saw this..

/cheering.

I did butt in this time and let them know how much longer we had to go. They didn’t sound happy and I wanted them to know we really were almost there. I was guessing our wait time would end under an hour and we had a nice little talk. It was their first time obviously. The rest of the wait did go pretty quickly.

Actual wait time = 48 minutes from joining the line outside until sitting down in the ride.

The ride was fun, as it always is. I still say I need a practice round first.

We joined up with Blake and John outside to decide where to go next. We hadn’t done the Playhouse Disney show in a while, so it seemed like a nice idea now that Blake is a little older. He didn’t really care that much before.

A short wait in the line outside, we moved in and found a seat on the floor. I love listening to the music as you wait. It reminds me of all the fun Playhouse Disney stuff that they no longer show. I so miss the Koala Brothers! I don’t understand their line up choices. I could really do without things like Oso or Jungle Junction for some of the older stuff. Just my opinion. Oso really gets to me. Really. That bear is not very bright..

While we were bouncing with Blakers and singing along to songs he didn’t know, a CM yells at everyone on the floor.

“Don’t wait for an invitation! Scoooooot up!!”

We all squished forward. It was kinda silly. There wasn’t much room left to begin with and only three more guests came in. Haha.. He really could’ve picked a different way to say that.

Someone’s having fun!

We all had a great time!

Outside again, we were clueless about what to do next until John suggested something new..

Coming soon! Something new! Bet you didn't see that coming..

 

[IheartDDuck]

I always love the debate in line for TSM regarding how long the wait will be. I have to admit, I tend to be one of those people. Nice that you didn't end up waiting for 70 minutes. I always like when you come in under the posted time. Love the pictures of Blake at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids set.

 

[Dugette]

Bummer on the speeding ticket! That's crazy how they stopped everyone and got the speeds from the air! Yikes!

Your boys are so cute...I think they like being in pictures!

Love Andrew's pictures. It's different seeing things from a kid's point of view.

Can't wait to see what NEW thing you do!

Oh, you asked about POR in a post. We stayed there for most of our January 2010 trip. It was really nice. We were in one of the mansions (Parterre Place) and very well located. I've heard the resort is big and walks can be long, but we didn't have that problem from where we were. I think the best part was how peaceful it seemed and the beautiful river running through the grounds. The boat to Downtown Disney is nice too. We never tried it out, but I think the pool is pretty neat. We liked the "make your own pasta" station in the dining area. Let me know if you have any other POR questions.

 

[CAStevens218]

You've added some great updates since I last checked in! I love the pictures on Blake in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. That place is one of my clearest memories of the one trip we took when I was a kid. We have some awesome pictures of my brother and I playing on it!

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law! I know how hard those kinds of situations can be. I'll be thinking of you all!

Also, big news! I decided to write a trip report! I posted the first installment tonight. I titled it "Are You Sure That Snow Is Fake?!?" because it was just sooo cold when we were there and I swear the snow of Main Street could have been real!!! Hopefully I can keep up with it. Why I decided to do this with a new semester starting at school is beyond me!

 

[GaRain]

POR resort is lovely! It is a BIG place though! I have stayed in both sides the plantation and alligator bayou and loved both! I did get lost in the bayou though as at night, all of those buildings look alike.
I loved the food court with the big mill in it. The pool is great - AND you can use the one at french quarter too.
Loved taking the boat to Downtown Disney as well!

 

[onescgirl]

Sorry about the speeding ticket. I've never heard of getting caught from a plane

Please don’t speed. It’s dangerous. (Please, no creepy pm’s)

You get these?

 

[jc040404]

I always love the debate in line for TSM regarding how long the wait will be. I have to admit, I tend to be one of those people. Nice that you didn't end up waiting for 70 minutes. I always like when you come in under the posted time. Love the pictures of Blake at the Honey I Shrunk the Kids set.

I can understand debating some about the wait, but this couple wasn't talking about anything else. Coming in under the posted time is awesome! This was way under though.

Bummer on the speeding ticket! That's crazy how they stopped everyone and got the speeds from the air! Yikes!

Your boys are so cute...I think they like being in pictures!

Love Andrew's pictures. It's different seeing things from a kid's point of view.

Can't wait to see what NEW thing you do!

Oh, you asked about POR in a post. We stayed there for most of our January 2010 trip. It was really nice. We were in one of the mansions (Parterre Place) and very well located. I've heard the resort is big and walks can be long, but we didn't have that problem from where we were. I think the best part was how peaceful it seemed and the beautiful river running through the grounds. The boat to Downtown Disney is nice too. We never tried it out, but I think the pool is pretty neat. We liked the "make your own pasta" station in the dining area. Let me know if you have any other POR questions.

The speed from the air thing was new to us! When I read over the papers he gave us, we were listed by car color and type. I don't know how they really keep this straight and get exactly who was speeding. I didn't even notice any planes, but I guess we don't watch for them either. I don't get how this works at all!

POR sounds nifty. I've been reading up on it the last few days and we're probably going to check it out. I should go back and read some TRs. I'd totally forgotten how many took place in part there already. I can't wait to get away for a couple days, no matter where we stay! Disney days are great. We were just at AK on Saturday, but it's so much nicer not to have that drive home at the end of a day.

You've added some great updates since I last checked in! I love the pictures on Blake in the Honey I Shrunk the Kids playground. That place is one of my clearest memories of the one trip we took when I was a kid. We have some awesome pictures of my brother and I playing on it!

I'm so sorry to hear about your mother-in-law! I know how hard those kinds of situations can be. I'll be thinking of you all!

Also, big news! I decided to write a trip report! I posted the first installment tonight. I titled it "Are You Sure That Snow Is Fake?!?" because it was just sooo cold when we were there and I swear the snow of Main Street could have been real!!! Hopefully I can keep up with it. Why I decided to do this with a new semester starting at school is beyond me!

Woo Hoo!! So glad you started a TR! I LOVE the title! DH actually asked me that very question as we left MK one night! Checking it out next..

POR resort is lovely! It is a BIG place though! I have stayed in both sides the plantation and alligator bayou and loved both! I did get lost in the bayou though as at night, all of those buildings look alike.
I loved the food court with the big mill in it. The pool is great - AND you can use the one at french quarter too.
Loved taking the boat to Downtown Disney as well!

The boat to DTD sounds great. We never make it there, so I thought this might push us a bit. So glad to hear someone else who liked it! It looks nice.

Sorry about the speeding ticket. I've never heard of getting caught from a plane

Us either! It was too crazy how everyone was suddenly on the side of the road. We've seen groups pulled over in that same spot on Disney days since, but this was the first. It was wild.. And expensive. If he'd just paid attention, we wouldn't have learned anything about it!

 

[PirateKate]

Too bad about the speeding ticket. I don't think they should be allowed to use planes. I've never heard of that before, but shouldn't they have some criminals to track or something?

I would have been annoyed at those showy Florida Residents, too. We once had a lady from New York go on and on about how she was a DVC member and got discounted tickets and could go two or three times a year. Of course at the time, we were FL residents and had APs and it was probably our eight trip so far that year.

We have stayed at POR many times. It is very beautiful resort. I think I like the Magnolia rooms better than Alligator Bayou, but both are perfectly nice. At any rate, I would say POR is probably up to 75% better than All Star Sports.

 

[jc040404]

Too bad about the speeding ticket. I don't think they should be allowed to use planes. I've never heard of that before, but shouldn't they have some criminals to track or something?

The plane thing is a little crazy, not that anyone should be speeding to begin with. They must make quite a bit in tickets to make it worthwhile, I guess. Six cars and a plane seems ridiculous early on a Saturday morning. We've yet to notice any officers on the road on our late drives home. Ever. It's really nuts. There have been sooo many times when we've noticed dangerous drivers when it would've been helpful. They have their reasons, I suppose..

I would have been annoyed at those showy Florida Residents, too. We once had a lady from New York go on and on about how she was a DVC member and got discounted tickets and could go two or three times a year. Of course at the time, we were FL residents and had APs and it was probably our eight trip so far that year.

Aren't they crazy? We've ran into a bunch of them, but I never share where we're from. This group was the worst yet. She was so loud about it. (Hope it's not a DIS'er, but they aren't in my pic, so I guess I'm good. ) I even met one from the same city as us once! I just told her how lucky she was to live so close and let her brag. I guess it makes them feel special.

We have stayed at POR many times. It is very beautiful resort. I think I like the Magnolia rooms better than Alligator Bayou, but both are perfectly nice. At any rate, I would say POR is probably up to 75% better than All Star Sports.

I was guessing that POR would so much nicer than All Star Sports. Obviously I'm not a resort snob, but I'm not a big fan of ASMo or ASMu. I'm guessing Sports is going to be about the same. If the boys really want it, we'll try it but I think I win this one. Really hoping we can check it out in a couple of weeks! I think I'll try something in the Magnolia rooms now, too. They do look a bit nicer than the other. Thanks!

 

[karebear23]

I'm catching up!
I love the Dinosaur picture! What a fun birthday!

Sorry about the ticket...thats crazy...a plane!

Love the pictures of Blake at HISTK!

Lucky you getting in under the wait time at TSM!

 

[Lisa29]

Just wanted to say I am still reading along. Up to page 15 at the minute and will carry on when I get some more free time.

Realling enjoying the TR again and love knowing that there are so many more of your Disney days to come!

 

[jc040404]

I'm catching up!
I love the Dinosaur picture! What a fun birthday!

Sorry about the ticket...thats crazy...a plane!

Love the pictures of Blake at HISTK!

Lucky you getting in under the wait time at TSM!

It was a great birthday, but seems so long ago now! Coming in under the posted time is always awesome, especially at TSM. Right??

Just wanted to say I am still reading along. Up to page 15 at the minute and will carry on when I get some more free time.

Realling enjoying the TR again and love knowing that there are so many more of your Disney days to come!

Glad you're still following along and enjoying! We're up to 19 Disney days total now. This year isn't as packed with WDW as the last, but I'm going to start working on that soon!

 

[jc040404]

Something new turned out to be an activity that didn’t include me and Blakers. It wasn’t a bad thing though. John had been talking about taking Andrew to the drawing class in the Animation building and today it was finally going to happen. Andy-Roo was so excited! They walked towards the building, leaving me clueless on where to go with Blake..

I remembered something he could do, but hadn’t managed to yet. We took the backwards path through the store and made our way down the stairs to see Lotso! In an earlier visit, Blake had been sleeping when big brother got to do this. I was a little concerned about my baby not wanting to see him after taking him to the movie, but he was fine with it. Toy Story 3 was his first trip to see a movie in a theater. While he did great and sat through it all, I don’t think he got that Lotso is a bad guy.

The line had been a bit of a wait, but we still had loads of time to kill. Thankfully, there’s lots of fun stuff in here. We answered some questions to see what Disney character we’re most like. Blake didn’t quite follow and just pushed buttons. He laughed when I told him he’d just picked “eating people” for an answer. Silly boy.. Here’s who he got!

Shan Yu.. Yuck.

Yay. I’m Cinderella.

I had Blake slow down and try again..

That time was a little more fitting.

After wandering around and looking at the Snow White pictures, John and Andrew were finally done with class.

Pooh!

I thought Andrew did pretty good. John’s picture was awesome and he was really proud. They both loved it, but were towards the end of the group. They didn’t get to sit at a table which made the drawing part a little rough for Andrew. I think John said they were given a lap board to hold instead. We made a note to get them here earlier next time.

It was called lunch time, but we had no plans. We walked over and checked Sci Fi to see if anything was available. No luck. They had tables, but no cars for a couple of hours. I didn’t think it was worth waiting with my family hungry now. None of us wanted to sit at a table. Where's the fun in that? We kept walking.

I can’t stand that ridiculous show, but he loves it.

That was at the ABC Commissary and Andrew insisted we stay. No one has anything nice to say about this CS stop on here, but we don’t mind that much. John got something that smelled terrible and the boys had turkey sandwiches. I think I got a burger. I just remember how nasty John's stuff smelled. He said it tasted okay, so I guess that's all that matter. It was the curry in it that turned my stomach.

While we were eating, I remembered the reason I had really wanted to do DHS this day. Star Tours was closing very soon and I wanted to take another ride with Andrew. We finished up and moved on.

I had expected this ride to be a bit busier, considering it was about to close. Nice for us though. No waiting! Okay, so there was a little waiting when we were all given our rows. The CM in charge here was great that day. He seemed to really be into his part of it all. I can’t wait to see this when they’re finished in a few months.

That was the end of our DHS experience this day, but it wasn’t time to go home just yet.

Coming soon.. Let’s end this day at the MK!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Um, I still haven't figured out that Lottso's a bad guy either!

Andrew did a really good job on his drawing! I love the Animation class.

I agree about the ABC Commissary. Back in the day, the food there used to be really good. Now, it's just icky.