Doing Disney Grandma Style! Our 6 day adventure! new ptr link up 1/17 ! PG.15

[purplepeg]

Awesome update! I can't imagine being a kid celebrating your birthday in Disney! He must have been over the moon. Hmm, wonder what happens next?

 

[Sooze]

After those 3 we finally went and got some yummy food! LOVE breakfast here, WAY better than dinner! IMO!

I completely agree! We will only do breakfasts here now!!

I thought they did a specialized placemat but we didn't get one?

For Tyson's 8th birthday, we got a placemat. For his 9th? Just a cupcake. Must be those infamous Disney cutbacks we keep hearing about. A little bit here, a little bit there...

Here's what the placemat looked like:

The grandma's getting into it!

How fun are they!? Do I see Disney shirts on the grandmas?! Hooray!!

While walking to test Track Matthew was soaking it all in!

I love that our children love the place that we love so much! (Did you follow that?)

Test Track was a GHOST TOWN!

Another good reason to go in the fall... you're helping me build up my case for a fall trip next year... thanks!

We asked for the middle top row and the CM's were great and let us wait so we could have it!

Good girl, Diane!! I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I will NEVER ride Soarin' and NOT be in the top row, center section ever again! There is NO other way to ride it!!

WE GOT NOTHING!!! I think it was because she had a little cold! Needless to say the boys were so upset that they didn't get to trick their grandmothers! HA!

Awwww... poor little guys!

They raised the prices in August so he actually got $68...NOT BAD!

Pretty cool gift, eh?! We were pleasantly surprised when they handed Tyson his free card, too!!

WELL up until this point he was a GREAT big brother and just genuinely happy for his brother..........WELL, that was all about to change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh oh....

Waiting to hear all about it....

 

[IluvXU]

That picture is just to precious! What a fantastic way to start a birthday. Happy Birthday again Eric! I know that one of my students spent his birthday at WDW this summer... so it is a perfect age to do so.

What a lucky birthday boy he was! I hope that someday Luke and Emily can be there on their birthday too, Hannah did once, but we will see.

We will have to get to Chef Mickey's for breakfast sometime soon, we have only done dinner there.

It is so fantastic to go to EPCOT from the Contemporary, and wow about the FP return time.

It is so special to see that the grandma's got to have a great trip with you all. Having done a trip with my parents I know just how wonderful it is.

Poor Matthew. That would be a tough thing to handle. Dad's birthday during summer trip, little brother during this trip. I wonder how this turns out?

 

[Trentmom]

Sounds like Eric had an awesome birthday

Crowds looked non existent that day


It is natural for Matthew to be a tad jealous

 

[MAJ RN]

Another wonderful update!! nothing like a cupcake for breakfast on your birthday!! I hope Matthew was not too jealous. My youngest son was blessed to also celebrate his birthday in WDW and my oldest was not thrilled, but I reminded him that he was still in WDW and that is a privilege. Can't wait for the next installment.


Melissa

 

[Happydog]

Hi Diane!!!! I just figured out that you had gotten back when Laura clued me in! I just love all the photos and stories so far! We had a similar whirlwind weekend in Sept/Oct and so it looks like yours was as action packed as ours was!!!! We are taking the boys to the Pirate's League this Christmas, and so I really enjoyed seeing all your photos!!!! And of MNSSHP! I couldn't get many! Great to see BLT -- I am looking forward to trying it out! Worried what is coming next -- I have two boys too, and well I know how that Sibling thing can go...

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a great way to start his birthday for Eric!!! I think I would like to spend my birthday walking to Chef Mickey's from BLT!

 

[praisehisname]

A CM rolled this gigantic ball towards the boys and they had a BLAST playing with it!

DH was facinated with these and ended up buying one in the smaller size. It's a lot of fun!

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned one thing about Matthew being jealous or upset that Eric was getting to be at Disney for his birthday or getting a gift card! WELL up until this point he was a GREAT big brother and just genuinely happy for his brother..........WELL, that was all about to change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Uh oh...

 

[timandlesley]

Diane,
What a great update. Glad you experienced the same lack of crowds we did, we're going to be in for a culture shock come June, but at least we'll have eachother : ) Great birthday for Eric. So fun you got to experience this with both of your mom's, they look like they are having a blast - too funny about your mom and the Beverly.
UhOh!!! What does Matthew do????
Lesley

 

[CRSNDSNY]

Oh no! I hope he wasn't too upset!!!


BTW, you have the best TRs!!!

 

[heaven2dc]

I LOVE that the Grandma's are wearing matching outfits! (was that planned?) They truly look like they are having a blast.

How great that Eric got to spend his 8th birthday at WDW!! Now I'm sitting on pins and needles wondering how Matthew is reacting now

 

[CoP Luv]

WOW! What suspense. I hope Eric had such a great birthday, but I could imagine Matthew feeling a little down about all of the attention to his brother. Can't wait to read about it next!

 

[mylag1rl]

Eric's birthday is off to a great start ... can't wait to hear the rest. The grandmothers look like they are having so much fun.

 

[NMAmy]

YAY!!! Hi Amy, I am so glad you joined us again!! Tell me all about your trip you have planned!

I'm happy you have another trip report! We're doing spring break again, at BWV's again (I was going to go with BCV's but after the BW refurb decided to go back), and Cait is bringing a new, college friend this year. Come on, March! Can't get here fast enough for me.

Eric said the chair was comfy but he sat in it because it looked "cool"!

He's right--it totally looked cool and I'd have tried it out myself! Glad to hear it was comfy!

I am a firm believer that there is no better start to a birthday than having a cupcake for breakfast!

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned one thing about Matthew being jealous or upset that Eric was getting to be at Disney for his birthday or getting a gift card! WELL up until this point he was a GREAT big brother and just genuinely happy for his brother..........WELL, that was all about to change!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Oh, no, this doesn't sound good.

 

[DWGal210]

What a fun way to spend your birthday! How special!

Uh oh...I sense a brother meltdown coming....don't leave us hanging, Diane!

 

[dddisrunner]

Oh no Matthew!
Well, we can't blame him if he was a tiny bit jealous of all that Disney attention...

I think it's so cool that you are sharing your love of Disney with the grandmothers! I'm sure they loved Soarin' and Test Track. I can't wait to see if you turned then into mousejunkies!

I showed Baylor the pictures of the boys at Pirates League. He was curious about Mathew's age. I told him that I thought they were pretty close. I'm afraid we are approaching the time that he will think he's too old for all this, but, he has since decided that he wants a pirate make-over....:laughing:

Thanks Anita! Our moms both had a BLAST but no, I don't think we turned them into mousejunkies. It was great for them to see it through the boys eyes though! Matthew is 9 1/2, he will be 10 in March and he was apprehensive at first about doing it, but he LOVED it!! Tell Baylor to go for it!!

Awesome update! I can't imagine being a kid celebrating your birthday in Disney! He must have been over the moon. Hmm, wonder what happens next?

Thanks so much, he was OVER the moon!

I completely agree! We will only do breakfasts here now!!



For Tyson's 8th birthday, we got a placemat. For his 9th? Just a cupcake. Must be those infamous Disney cutbacks we keep hearing about. A little bit here, a little bit there...

Here's what the placemat looked like:

How fun are they!? Do I see Disney shirts on the grandmas?! Hooray!!



I love that our children love the place that we love so much! (Did you follow that?)



Another good reason to go in the fall... you're helping me build up my case for a fall trip next year... thanks!



Good girl, Diane!! I've said it before, and I'll say it again... I will NEVER ride Soarin' and NOT be in the top row, center section ever again! There is NO other way to ride it!!



Awwww... poor little guys!


Pretty cool gift, eh?! We were pleasantly surprised when they handed Tyson his free card, too!!


Uh oh....

Waiting to hear all about it....

Thanks Sooze for all the AWESOME comments! I knew I they used to give placemats, that is so neat!

That picture is just to precious! What a fantastic way to start a birthday. Happy Birthday again Eric! I know that one of my students spent his birthday at WDW this summer... so it is a perfect age to do so.

What a lucky birthday boy he was! I hope that someday Luke and Emily can be there on their birthday too, Hannah did once, but we will see.

We will have to get to Chef Mickey's for breakfast sometime soon, we have only done dinner there.

It is so fantastic to go to EPCOT from the Contemporary, and wow about the FP return time.

It is so special to see that the grandma's got to have a great trip with you all. Having done a trip with my parents I know just how wonderful it is.

Poor Matthew. That would be a tough thing to handle. Dad's birthday during summer trip, little brother during this trip. I wonder how this turns out?

Thanks so much Laura! You should definitely try Chef Mickeys for breakfast, it is GREAT!! More on Matthew coming up!

Sounds like Eric had an awesome birthday

Crowds looked non existent that day


It is natural for Matthew to be a tad jealous

Thanks Kelly! The crowds were AMAZING! Eric had a GREAT day!

Another wonderful update!! nothing like a cupcake for breakfast on your birthday!! I hope Matthew was not too jealous. My youngest son was blessed to also celebrate his birthday in WDW and my oldest was not thrilled, but I reminded him that he was still in WDW and that is a privilege. Can't wait for the next installment.


Melissa

Thanks Melissa! Eric did have a wonderful day! Glad to hear Matthew's reaction was a typical one!

Hi Diane!!!! I just figured out that you had gotten back when Laura clued me in! I just love all the photos and stories so far! We had a similar whirlwind weekend in Sept/Oct and so it looks like yours was as action packed as ours was!!!! We are taking the boys to the Pirate's League this Christmas, and so I really enjoyed seeing all your photos!!!! And of MNSSHP! I couldn't get many! Great to see BLT -- I am looking forward to trying it out! Worried what is coming next -- I have two boys too, and well I know how that Sibling thing can go...

WELCOME! Thanks for joining us again! Your boys will LOVE Pirate's League! BLT is amazing, enjoy it!

What a great way to start his birthday for Eric!!! I think I would like to spend my birthday walking to Chef Mickey's from BLT!

Thanks Jackie, me too!!

DH was facinated with these and ended up buying one in the smaller size. It's a lot of fun!




Uh oh...

They wanted to buy that big ball too and I said NO WAY!

Diane,
What a great update. Glad you experienced the same lack of crowds we did, we're going to be in for a culture shock come June, but at least we'll have eachother : ) Great birthday for Eric. So fun you got to experience this with both of your mom's, they look like they are having a blast - too funny about your mom and the Beverly.
UhOh!!! What does Matthew do????
Lesley

Hi Lesley! We are going to be shocked in June with the heat and the crowds! Our mom's did have fun, thanks!!

Oh no! I hope he wasn't too upset!!!


BTW, you have the best TRs!!!

You are so sweet, thanks!!

I LOVE that the Grandma's are wearing matching outfits! (was that planned?) They truly look like they are having a blast.

How great that Eric got to spend his 8th birthday at WDW!! Now I'm sitting on pins and needles wondering how Matthew is reacting now

Good observation, no they didn't plan to be dressed alike but we thought it was cute!

WOW! What suspense. I hope Eric had such a great birthday, but I could imagine Matthew feeling a little down about all of the attention to his brother. Can't wait to read about it next!

Eric did have a great day! More on Matthew next!!

Eric's birthday is off to a great start ... can't wait to hear the rest. The grandmothers look like they are having so much fun.

I'm happy you have another trip report! We're doing spring break again, at BWV's again (I was going to go with BCV's but after the BW refurb decided to go back), and Cait is bringing a new, college friend this year. Come on, March! Can't get here fast enough for me.



He's right--it totally looked cool and I'd have tried it out myself! Glad to hear it was comfy!



I am a firm believer that there is no better start to a birthday than having a cupcake for breakfast!



Oh, no, this doesn't sound good.

Thanks Amy! Yay for bringing newbies to WDW!!! How fun!!

What a fun way to spend your birthday! How special!

Uh oh...I sense a brother meltdown coming....don't leave us hanging, Diane!

More on the meltdown coming up!!

 

[dddisrunner]

So we left off with Eric and I going to get his birthday giftcard. Well, we come out and the first thing Matthew says is "How much did he get?" Now, I have to say, we planned this trip because we were off from school all week and Eric's birthday happened to fall during our trip, it was a bonus. That is why we thought it would be a great surprise just to go!!! Anyway, Matthew FLIPPED OUT when he heard how much Eric got, I am talking tears the size of golf balls! He didn't scream and yell just kept saying over and over "this isn't fair" Now we had told him he could pick out a few things and Bryan and I would buy them for him. He wasn't having it....I was shocked. It isn't like him to behave that way! Well we finally took him aside and tried to calm him down and then my mom spoke to him and he was FINE!!! I still to this day have no idea what she said, but it worked! This ate up a good 20 minutes and Eric started crying that Matthew was ruining his birthday! UGH!!!!!!!!!

Finally with everyone's attitudes properly adjusted we decided to head into the World Showcase!

The grandma's headed out on there own, the last we saw of them was near France sipping some wine!

I had taken some pictures of the food and wine boards!

We had fastpassed Kim Possible so that the boys could each do their own mission! So when we got to the International Gateway we got our Kimmunicators!

After all the birthday drama, Bryan grabbed this beer....

and I grabbed one of these delicious slushies from France! YUMMY!!

Bryan went with Matthew on his mission and I went with Eric!

After our missions, we met back up with Bryan and Matthew and continued our way around the World Showcase. I was feeling HAPPY after my slushie!

We made our way to America and Bryan decides he wants to see some Sam Adams beer making seminar! B-O-R-I-N-G!!! So, he went alone and now I was ALONE with the kids!! How did this happen? The boys and I decided to grab some snacks. We got popcorn, pretzels and drinks and parked it outside the American Adventure and people watched for a bit!

Bryan said the show was 1/2 hour long so we planned to meet up in Mexico at 2:00pm! The boys and I strolled through some more countries! This was the wonderful blessing of being able to go just 4 short months after we were just there. We had no pressure to rush around! I took these shots along the way!

Then in China we found this beauty with no one waiting!

Then we ventured towards Mexico and found this guy!

After our encounter with the mexican Donald(forgot his name?) We went inside on the boat ride! Fun, the boys didn't remember going on before and they really liked it!

Now it was time to meet up with Bryan! Well we waited and waited and waited and of course he DID NOT bring his cell phone with him to the park that day! This is an ONGOING issue with us! So after about 20 minutes...WE LEFT! My thought was, he left us alone now it was his problem to find us!

The boys and I headed back into future world! We went back and played the velcro game we had played this summer with Luke and Lauren! It wasn't as much fun as when we played with our friends but the boys still got picked!

They were paired with another boy and they had to stack the blocks as high as they could in 60 seconds!

After our game, it was time to meet up with the Grandma's and low and behold Bryan was there, I guess he figured if he didn't make it there we would leave him!!! haha!

We then decided to ride Spaceship Earth before we left! I took this picture first!

Then we went to SE! The grandma's had never ridden!

CONTINUED IN THE NEXT POST!

 

[dddisrunner]

After our ride on SE it was time to head to the bus stop to catch and Animal Kingdom Lodge bus! We were going to have dinner at Boma for Eric's birthday dinner! I had asked him randomly if he could eat at any restaurant in Disney which would it be. He said Teppan Edo 1st which is funny because he didn't even eat anything there this summer, I think he just thought it was so much fun because we ate with lesley and her family! Well I couldn't get into Teppan Edo until 8:30pm TOO LATE! Boma was his 2nd choice so Boma it was!

We arrived at the AKL and I was SO HAPPY to be there! There is SOMETHING about this resort that I have yet to find at any other resort I have stayed at and that includes the BWV and BLT! I just LOVE it there!! It is HOME!

Downstairs at Boma we checked in and were seated immediately! We were STARVING! Sorry, I didn't take alot of pictures because I was too busy eating! Dinner did not disappoint and our moms LOVED IT!

I mentioned to our waitress that I had ordered Eric a cake! Before too long she came out with it!

the cake was DELICIOUS! It was all chocolate and very moist and the chocolate flakes on the ears were AMAZING! It was so big we had it boxed up!

After our yummy meal and cake, we hit the gift shop for a bit!

After a little while, we made our way back to BLT! The grandma's decided to call it a night but Bryan the boys and I went to the top of the world lounge at BLT!

You have to register and show your DVC card in the lobby and then they send you up to the lounge in a designated elevator!

It was BEAUTIFUL!!

Here is the chandelier!

This is the mural that changes behind the bar! SO COOL!

Bryan and I ordered drinks!

After we finished our drinks, we decided to head outside and watch Wishes! It was such a spectacular view!

Even the speakers have Mickey's on them!

The boys had a blast running around and playing!

It was the PERFECT way to end the evening! Eric said thank you for such a great day before he went to bed! I was happy Matthew seemed to come around and the day was salvaged!



Coming up next!

Oh no we are missing a grandma?
did you taste it first?

 

[praisehisname]

Anyway, Matthew FLIPPED OUT when he heard how much Eric got

My girls would have done the exact same thing.

We had fastpassed Kim Possible so that the boys could each do their own mission!

Great idea! Did you have to use two different KTTW cards?

Downstairs at Boma we checked in and were seated immediately! We were STARVING! Sorry, I didn't take alot of pictures because I was too busy eating! Dinner did not disappoint and our moms LOVED IT!

I want to eat there some day!

YUM! I want a piece!!!

The lounge looks gorgeous! Sounds like a wonderful evening!

 

[Trentmom]

Aww...poor matthew

Maybe he was just tired. Glad he calmed down

When is his bday? Maybe you start planing a birthday trip for him



Did Eric spend his gift card that night? What he get?

That lounge looks incredible. I wanted to eat that Mickey Cake...looked so yummy!!!