Disney Through Another's Eyes (updated 2/1) Day 2/Part 2.

[jordanyosh]

Glad to hear everything worked out in the end. I was getting a bit worried--that's my nature.

 

[desiab]

Our entire trip to WDW in January is geared around celebrating our anniversary and no anniversary would be complete without a fabulous present. Simmer down. I am not discounting the love, happiness, and commitment. But let’s keep it real. This is about the gifts!

As soon as my anniversary is over in January, Sonny will start asking me for hints for the following anniversary. For most of this year I have been begging him to upgrade my Cricut. For the uninformed—a Cricut is a die cutting machine with interchangeable cartridges. (Two of the cartridges I have are the Disney cartridges.) I use it like crazy for my scrapbooks, card making, invitations, and other craft projects.

This is what I have and this is what I wanted.
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I know to the untrained eye they don’t look different, but trust me they are. The first one only cuts items on a 6 x 12 mat. Whereas, the second one can cut on a mat 12 x 24. Can you imagine the Disney projects that I can make with that baby? I wake up at night dreaming about the mickey heads I will cut out of magnetic and sticky paper. I fantasize about the homemade autograph books that my children will proudly carry with them from park to park.

So every few week my DH would confirm with me that I still wanted a new Cricut. I even had someone lined up to buy my smaller one. Everything was coming together nicely. Then the DIS threw a kink in my plans. How you ask? Well I followed a link over to the photography board and started looking at everyone’s gorgeous pictures. Pictures that I knew I couldn’t squeeze out of my pitiful point and shoot camera. Hey, they even have a Family over there. I want to be a part of the family! And everybody on the DIS is so willing to tell you all about the great sales that you just can’t miss. I need to buy this camera so that I can save money!

Before I knew it I was chatting with my DH on Skype telling him all about this camera that I just had to have. I mean if it is good enough for the folks on the DIS then it has to be good enough for me.

My poor husband—for the last 7 months he has been secretly checking out Cricut prices and cartridges, convinced that I would be receiving that for my anniversary and here I was changing the game plan. I have to say that he was a good sport about it and I am happy to report that I got my anniversary present early this year.

Drum roll please! My sweetie bought me a Canon PowerShot S5IS which is a major upgrade from my last camera.

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Sonny’s rationale in buying it early was that it would give me a few months to get accustomed to the camera. That way I can take the best pictures possible at WDW. The funny thing has been that he seems to be using the camera just as much if not more than me.

I have to say that I am in love with this camera and I haven’t even begun to scratch the surface on all the things that I can do. Here are a few of my initial shots with it—tell me what you think. On second thought just leave me with my deluded dreams that my pictures will pay the bills some day.

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These were taken last night. The first one by Sonny and the second one by me.

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Up Next: A Side Trip to ?????

 

[desiab]

Glad to hear everything worked out in the end. I was getting a bit worried--that's my nature.

I admit that I am a worrier by nature as well, but my DH is not. It seems like nothing phases him in the least. That can make for some interesting situations.

 

[DisLUV]

4 min from NO and 45 from the gulf. Sounds like yall live next door to us We live just outside Hammond, LA. Glad to see someone else from the LA / Miss Area on here! Great pre trip report

 

[Dylan_&_Blake's_mom]

Great trip report! any pics of that dachshund? I know it's a weird question bu twe are anxiously awaiting getting our first miniature dachshund and can't wait. Also, my husband and I will be in Florida for a Disney, etc. vacation on our 10th anniversary. We will be traveling with our 3 children from Illinois. I was wondering if anyone could help me plan something special for him and it sounds like you are a pro. The only problem is we will be staying off sight at Westgate Lakes resort & spa. Any idea on how i can get something special from said resort?

 

[deezeealum]

I'm so glad that everything worked out with LJ's new job!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you have survived all the speed bumps leading up to this vacation. You all really need it now!!! Great first pictures with the new camera. can't wait to see the ones from Disney.

 

[desiab]

4 min from NO and 45 from the gulf. Sounds like yall live next door to us We live just outside Hammond, LA. Glad to see someone else from the LA / Miss Area on here! Great pre trip report

Thank you for the compliment on the trip report. I love where we are because within an hour I can hit any one of three larger cities: New Orleans, Hattiesburg, or Biloxi.

Great trip report! any pics of that dachshund? I know it's a weird question bu twe are anxiously awaiting getting our first miniature dachshund and can't wait. Also, my husband and I will be in Florida for a Disney, etc. vacation on our 10th anniversary. We will be traveling with our 3 children from Illinois. I was wondering if anyone could help me plan something special for him and it sounds like you are a pro. The only problem is we will be staying off sight at Westgate Lakes resort & spa. Any idea on how i can get something special from said resort?

Here is one of our rotten babies "Lady Dixie". The other three are human.

I have not stayed at Westgate Lakes Resort so I don't know of any services specific to the resort. Without knowing what things your husband likes it might difficult for someone to help plan something special for him. But I can tell you some of the things I have done for my DH.

We went to Disney in Jan to celebrate our 7th anniversary. Starting exactly a week before our actual anniversary I left him a card and a present every day for 7 days. My DH loves movies--especially Star Wars and other sci-fi types, music, electronics. On Black Friday I was a shopping fool and scooped up some great bargains, so it wasn't expensive gifts but meaningful. I also went against the grain and had flowers sent to him at Disney. That is something you could possibly get a florist to do even at Westgate. I am not a flowery person but DH enjoys that kind of stuff. I sat down and wrote him a love letter.

On another trip I booked a nice dinner at Shula's at the Dolphin. It is a fairly expensive steak house, but the nice thing is that if you make dinner reservations there, 2 hours of child care was included. We got to have a nice dinner without the kids. They were fed and had a blast at the Dolphin camp. You could check to see if that is still available.

I'm so glad that everything worked out with LJ's new job!!! I'm keeping my fingers crossed that you have survived all the speed bumps leading up to this vacation. You all really need it now!!! Great first pictures with the new camera. can't wait to see the ones from Disney.

So far things have been running smoothly with the trip, so we will hope that it continues that way.

Getting to take pictures with my new camera is making me even more excited about this trip.

 

[desiab]

Sonny and I had the opportunity to take a side trip to Savannah at the end of September.

Can you keep a secret???

Only a few of my closest friends know about this, so shh!!!! We went to see Paula Deen on the set of her show Paula’s Party. I love me some Paula Deen and so does my MIL. She about permanently turned green when she found out we went to see Paula Deen in January and begged us to take her.

Being the wonderful DIL that I am I obliged and planned a trip. I think that this has earned me the place of favorite DIL from here on out.

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(Picture of Paula and I in Jan '07)


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The plans were all set to go when I get a phone call from my sister (read “babysitter”) that she and my mom are in South Carolina and will not be back until the end of the month. What?!!! So both options for babysitters are gone and it looks like we are not going to be able to make the trip. Just a few days before we are scheduled to leave we are able to coerce my brother and SIL to keep two of the kids and one of my bestest friends agrees to keep the baby.

Then my MIL calls and says that the doctor is threatening that she will not be able to go if she can not get her blood pressure down. In the end he prescribed some different pills and told her to rest as much as possible, but she could go ahead with the trip.

A few days before we were scheduled to leave, Sonny tells me that he and his father can’t find anything that they want to do while we are at the taping. So….? Well, he was thinking that maybe I could call the producer and get their names added to the guest list. I got knots in my stomach just thinking about having to call and ask a favor. Much as I love him I don’t know if I can do this.

I let him talk me into calling and the producer was nothing but nice. She just asked me to send her an email with all of their pertinent information and pictures for security and she would see what she could do. The last thing she told me on the phone is to be careful that I typed in the correct email address. Her email address had a “s” on the end that people usually left off. Also, I was to call on Wednesday afternoon to confirm the changes with her.

We were hoping to leave home bright and early on Wednesday morning since we had an almost 10 hour drive to Savannah, but you know what they say about the best laid plans. We actually got on the road around 11:00 a.m. and headed to Sonny’s job to drop off a package. A quick stop turned into a 30 minute gab-fest and then we forced ourselves to get back on the road.

 

[desiab]

Around 3 p.m. I start panicking because I remembered that I hadn’t called the producer. After a few tense moments I am finally able to be connected to her extension and the news wasn’t good. It would seem that I had indeed forgotten that pesky “s” on the email address. This is when panic really starts setting in because we are barreling down the highway at 70+ miles an hour and I don’t have internet access. I do have my laptop, so Sonny suggests that we pull over into the Mickey D’s parking lot and use their wi-fi. No soup for you! McD’s wants to be paid for your ride on the World Wide Web.

I am racking my brain for a solution when again I get a suggestion from Sonny—call my SIL. Easy as pie she hacks into my email account and resends the original email. The producer confirms that she got the email and all is well. The guys will get to go to the taping with us after all. I chose not to point out to my DH that he could have saved me this stress to begin with if he had just let me include him in the beginning.

After that it was a pretty uneventful drive, but we had to stop so many times for my IL’s to go potty that I felt like I had the three kids with me. What can you do? You can have a little bit of fun at someone else's expense!

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We finally made it into Savannah around 10:30 and breezed through the check-in process. A friend had pointed me in the direction of an awesome discount at the Marriot Courtyard in downtown Savannah that saved us $100 a night on each room. Score!!!

We had a choice of a courtyard or Savannah view. We chose the Savannah view and I am so glad we did. Seeing the city at night all lit up was beautiful. I only wish that I had been able to use my new camera correctly to capture the scenery.

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(picture of view in daylight)

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Our instructions from the producer were to arrive at Uncle Bubba’s by 7:30 a.m. for the taping. I admit that I was acting a bit bossy and told everyone they had to be ready to leave at 7:00 or they were getting left. This is Paula Deen we are talking about!

I guess my MIL being excited helped the schedule because she was downstairs at breakfast waiting for me. With the directions in hand we left the hotel and were on our way. We were making good time and then the heavens opened up and just started dumping on us. The rain was falling so hard that traffic came to a crawl around us because visibility was low.

 

[jordanyosh]

I don't watch many cooking shows because...well...I don't cook--at least not very often. When I do cook ,a can opener is usually involved-me being a single male.

However, I do watch Paula on occasion because she's a hoot. Her food always looks great, but DECADENT!!!! I would probably have a heart attack after just one of her meals.

Waiting for more.

 

[betsywdw]

I love Paula too I met her in February at a local store here! Her food is so wonderful!!!

 

[Lan]

I have been to Paula's resturant once and loved it!!!

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

We have the same camera!!! You will LOVE it!!! My one and only complaint is how heavy it is, but what are you gonna do about that?? The pics are BEE-YOO-TEFUL.

I didn't even know they had come out with the new larger format Cricut yet...cool!!! I scrap with a group of chickies once a month and 4 of them have a Cricut. Between them they have tons of fonts. So I just mooch off of their machines!! Love it!!

And not for nuttin', I totally "get" your sense of humor!!!

 

[desiab]

I don't watch many cooking shows because...well...I don't cook--at least not very often. When I do cook ,a can opener is usually involved-me being a single male.

However, I do watch Paula on occasion because she's a hoot. Her food always looks great, but DECADENT!!!! I would probably have a heart attack after just one of her meals.

Waiting for more.

The first time we went to see Paula she made deep fried cheesecake and it looked like a bite would give you cavities. We weren't able to sample that dessert, but we did get some apple pie with cheese.

I love Paula too I met her in February at a local store here! Her food is so wonderful!!!

Isn't she the most down to earth person? We got to go the first time in January and the first thing that she did was walk over to me and give me a big hug. That part was edited in the final episode but I know it happened!

I have been to Paula's resturant once and loved it!!!

Lan, I will try to finish up tomorrow and tell you about our dinner.

We have the same camera!!! You will LOVE it!!! My one and only complaint is how heavy it is, but what are you gonna do about that?? The pics are BEE-YOO-TEFUL.

I didn't even know they had come out with the new larger format Cricut yet...cool!!! I scrap with a group of chickies once a month and 4 of them have a Cricut. Between them they have tons of fonts. So I just mooch off of their machines!! Love it!!

And not for nuttin', I totally "get" your sense of humor!!!

I am so in love with this camera that I don't leave the house without it. The weight of it doesn't bother me, but once we are in Disney that story may change. I will just have the cabana boy to carry it.

Am I enabling you on the new Cricut? Can you imagine the Disney stuff you could create with the new Cricut. Buy one and I will come and scrap with you ladies. I am on Cricut cartridge sabbatical and refuse to buy any, but I may have to pray for forgiveness. My local Wal-Mart just marked a bunch of them down to $30.

So if you get my sense of humor does that make us both crazy?

Check out something I took a picture of on Saturday. Let's just say this reminded me of a Jeff Foxworthy joke.

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Umm...How did you get those pictures of my car? Are you stalking me??

 

[desiab]

Umm...How did you get those pictures of my car? Are you stalking me??

 

[desiab]

When we last left our travelers they were fighting their way through a monsoon off the coast of Savannah.

I am a nervous Nelly by nature and I do not do well in stressful situations. At this point I am ready to faint I am so nervous about the low visibility. My DH on the other hand never seems to act rattled and drove on like there was no rain. The rain eventually subsided and we start looking for the road to the restaurant.

A Public Service Announcement: If you are at any time going to Uncle Bubba’s Oyster House for dinner or for the show be forewarned that internet directions are not always right! Both times we have come I have printed directions from the hotel to the restaurant as a safety precaution. (I’m Nervous Nelly remember?!) Anyways, both times the directions have told us to turn left off of the main highway and the restaurant will be immediately on the left. Wrong! It is a right turn off the interstate. The last show we almost didn’t make it in time because of the wrong directions. Once we arrived at the set I met another lady who had run into the same problem.

Arriving at Uncle Bubba’s​

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Once we arrived to the holding area for the audience my MIL started to get really excited and could not stop asking me questions. I answered as many as I could and a lady behind us heard me. She came over and introduced herself and said that she was going to become my new best friend because I seem to know what was going on. Sonny says I have this way of attracting crazy people to myself. :-0 Just kidding! She was very nice and not crazy at all, but now I had two nervous, excited woman bombarding me with questions.

Pretty soon one of the assistant producers came out and ran through a list of rules and “no-no’s” that we were to follow during the taping. I believe that my MIL spaced out during this part because she followed none of the rules.

After everyone was allowed to go to the potty in groups, one of the producers came out and surveyed the audience to see how she wanted to seat us. I was hoping beyond hope that the producer would like our look and seat us close to the front like the last time. She pointed to Sonny and I and asked us to come with her. I got excited there for a moment because she led us into the studio and starts looking at the café seats that are right behind Paula as she cooks. As she is walking toward the café she inquires if there are just two of us. When Sonny corrected the count and said "four", she stopped mid stride and looked at us again. “Oh,” she says as she stops and turns directions. My heart did a flop. No soup for me! I tried not to be disappointed as she led us to the last table at the back of the room right next to a curtain. But this spot would be instrumental later on.

During the show three special guests came on and helped Paula make apple pie, oven fried sweet potatoes, and some other things that I don't remember. I won’t give away who the three guests for the show were, but the theme for this show was “TV Dinners”. Two of the stars I was familiar with, but I don’t watch American Idol so I had no clue on the third.

With our table being so far away from the main cooking area we were not able to converse with Paula like we did last time. I was a bit bummed about that but my MIL kept assuring me that they were having a great time. Between takes we could hear Paula laughing and talking to Gordon Elliot behind the curtain. My MIL said that it was annoying to be so close to Paula and not be able to talk to her. Before I knew it she was getting up from the table and parted the curtains. I was completely mortified! I told Sonny it was his mother, so he had to go and retrieve her.

A second later we recognize my MIL’s and Paula’s laughter from behind the curtain. They are talking and laughing like old friends reunited. They chatted about Katrina, grandchildren, and even swapped emails to share recipes. Well shut my mouth! Paula Deen is truly a southern lady and a gem. She was so personable with my MIL and never seemed upset or impatient. I can’t say the same for some of the assistant producers. One of them rushed up as soon as she saw my MIL and was trying her best to make her go back to her seat, but she and Paula kept right on talking until it was time to tape the next segment. Needless to say that was the highlight of her trip and I have cemented myself as her favorite DIL.

Pictures around Uncle Bubba’s​

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Up Next..."One More Wish Granted"
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[desiab]

After we left the taping my MIL thanked Sonny and I profusely for bringing them to Savannah. She commented that the cherry on the top of the trip would be getting to eat at The Lady & Sons before we went home. I pulled out the map and got directions to the restaurant. As we circled the corner we could see that the line from the check-in stand went around the block. We all agreed that the line was too long to wait, so we would just grab a bite to eat elsewhere and go back to the hotel.

We parked the truck in the garage and walked over to the Whistle Stop Café located behind the Savannah Visitor's Center. You can’t eat at the Whistle Stop without trying the Fried Green Tomatoes, so that was our appetizer. My smart thinking FIL ordered three baskets for us to share. Each basket was hipped high with crispy dip fried tomatoes with a raspberry dipping sauce. I think that the tomatoes rated as some of the best I have eaten, but none of us really cared for the raspberry dipping sauce.

After the green tomatoes I can’t remember what anybody ate. The food wasn’t bad. It was just that we were exhausted after the long drive and then getting up super early for the taping. We browsed the SavannahVisitor's Center some more and peeked at the museum.

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Everyone agreed that it was time for a nap and the sight seeing would have to wait for later in the evening. It was so refreshing and we almost felt naughty about taking a nap in the middle of the day. The best part was that we didn’t have little people with their feet in our back or pestering us to wake up.

We woke up pretty late from our nap hungry as a pothead with the munchies. Not that I would know what that is like! Anyways, we decided to take a ride to see what we could nosh on and rode past The Lady and Sons again.

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The plan was to jump out, get some cookbooks, and head somewhere to eat. Once we turned the corner, there was no line. Not one single person was waiting to get in and I made Sonny stop the truck in the middle of the street so I could inquire at the podium.

The young lady was less than enthusiastic to see me and told me that she could not seat us as they were booked up for the rest of the night. I must have been dragging the jowls because she immediately asked how many we had in our party. When I said four adults she handed me a laminated card and directed me back to the front entrance. At the front entrance the hostess stopped us dead in our tracks. When I presented my magic ticket she cleared the way and told us to take the elevator to the third floor. Yeah!!!!

We were seated right away near the bar and the buffet. These people know how to make a fat girl happy. Our server soon followed with hoe cakes and garlic biscuits and took our order. Today’s success with the Fried Green Tomatoes prompted us to try another order at the home of the Southern Fried Queen. Sorry Paula, but I have to admit that the tomatoes were lacking. Especially after the ones we had earlier in the day.

Except for DH, we opted to eat the southern buffet. We enjoyed every morsel and almost didn’t have room for dessert. I will now submit for your viewing pleasure some food porn.

Hoe Cakes and Garlic Biscuits​

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Sonny’s Wedge Salad​

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My big plate from the buffet​

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Overall, our meal at Lady and Son’s was good, but it will probably be a one time thing. Most of the food we ate is food that we cook at home on a weekly basis. When we go out to eat we want to feel like we are eating something different and extraordinary. My MIL was happy though because she got one more wish granted.

That ended our wonderful time in Savannah and we are making plans to go back soon and explore the city.

I guess I have digressed long enough (I am trying to drag it out so you have plenty to entertain you in the next 70+ days till we leave.) and it is now time to start talking about my plans for Disney.

Up next…”Our Itinerary”

 

[Jiminy'sGirl]

Wow!! Those people sure saw a VIP person coming!! Nice hook up!!

I am drooling at the mouth at your mention of fried green tomoatoes and hoe cakes.... What I wouldn't do for a decent hoe cake. I just can't make em worth a darn. And I agree - the Whistle Stop Cafe has totally perfected the whole fried green tomoato thing, which is as it should be, I suppose.

The kiddos are playing unsurpvised on the front lawn while I check out your pre-trippie (oh horrors!), so I must run. But can't wait to see that itinerary!!

 

[KandiKin]

Girl, you crack me up! I knew there was something about you I liked--it's the NOLA thang. My hubby and I met at LSU, where he played football. We were in Newawlins when Katrina hit. (Watching the Saints lose, etc.)

Katrina=Un. Bee. Leave. A. Bull. We evacuated on Sunday, and I had such a bad bad bad feeling about what was coming I sobbed all the way across the Ponchatrain. I needed some of those Skittles myownself.

And WRT food: No one, and I do mean NOBODY knows their way around food like a Southerner, oui? Paula Deen is awesome. That is sooo cool you got to meet her! I feel cool because I 'know" someone that met her! How dorky is that?

Just wanted to stop by and say "Hey!" Love your report!