FAMILY TRIP TO WDW

[Angelrose]

FAMILY TRIP TO WDW

One of Three


Hello my friends. I am very excited for this years trips. Yes, plural! Our first trip starts on February 11th and ends on the 25th.

My family consists of my son Chuck, my beautiful daughter in law Karen, my grandson Jesse, 8 (who calls me Graham Cracker instead of Grandmom) and my granddaughter Zoey, 5 ( who is all girly girl and loves to wear pink). Oh yes and then there is me, Mary, 70 years old but only 5 at Disney World.

Our second trip will be in October for the food and wine festival and the Halloween party. No dates yet. Our third trip will be in December for the Christmas party and parade. We talked to the kids and we told them no birthday parties this year. Instead we would be going in October for Zoey’s birthday and December for Jesse’s birthday.

August 26, 2015. Today I got my plane reservations. February seems a long way away. We have our vacation home reservation. We are staying in the same home we did in 2012. I love that home. I have my own suite, Chuck and Karen have theirs and the kids each have their own bedroom. There is also a swimming pool and a Jacuzzi. It’s a gated community which has a lovely playground. I will be arriving first around midnight of the 11th and the rest of the family will be driving in the next morning.

December 15, 2015 – Today Karen ordered our Annual Passes. It’s getting close. 57 days and counting.

 

[Angelrose]

January 15, 2016 - Karen ordered our Rewards cards and we should get them any day now. Chuck is busy staying up until midnight every night this week trying to get our fast passes. Since we are staying offsite most of the fast passes are gone from guests staying onsite. So a few seconds after midnight Chuck goes on to get as many fastpasses as he can for that day. Seems not quite fair to me. But I guess all that matters is that we get what we want, when we want them.

Now don’t laugh, but I have my suitcase almost all packed. Not my clothes but everything else I need. My clothes will go in my carpet bag. I’m waiting a tad more to pack them.

26 days and counting!


January 21, 2016 – I now have my limo reservations. I have everything I need all done. I have my Rewards card all set too. Now it’s just the waiting. 20 days left.

January 27, 2016 – Today Karen got our plane reservations for our October trip. We leave October 3 and will be home on October 8. A short trip so we can all experience the Food and Wine Festival and the kids can see the Halloween parade and go to the Halloween party. I’m looking forward to that too.

14 days, 17 hours to go. It’s getting CLOSE!

 

[Angelrose]

February 10, 2016 - It’s almost time! I just printed out my boarding pass. There are just 19 hours to go. I am beyond excited. Now who would have guessed? I brought my luggage over to Chuck’s house. He will do all the packing of everything into the van tomorrow. I have all my chargers packed and I will bring over my laptop tomorrow morning.

My cousin Joan and I are going out for our red velvet pancakes at IHOP tomorrow morning. We usually go every Friday and make that our shopping day. Joan and I are very much alike. When we go out there is sure to be a lot of laughing, usually at ourselves. I knew I would be going crazy just sitting at home all day. This way we can spend the morning keeping me occupied. When I go home I will get my travelling purse ready with the final things. Then Joan will be back to pick me up at 4. I will have time to check in and get something to eat before we board. Have I mentioned that I am excited!


February 11, 2016 – It’s 7:30am and I am getting ready to go to IHOP with my cousin Joan. I need something to do so I don’t go completely whack a doodle. At least with Joan, I’ll have company going semi whack a doodle.

We had a lot of fun going shopping and having pancakes. I did get a new pair of Sketchers at Kohls. They are so comfy. I also bought a Disney bracelet, similar to the Alex and Ani bracelets. It has Tink all in Rhinestones on it.

Joan picked me up at 3:30pm and I went through security with no problems. Karen called to tell me that my flight was delayed 15 minutes. I went to find something to eat and found a sausage, egg and

cheese biscuit sandwich. They warmed it up and I walked to my gate. The sandwich was truly disgusting. The board said my flight was on time. The weather here is so cold and windy. I will be glad to get to some warmth.

Now it’s a two hour wait until take off. It’s 4:50 and they just changed the time to 6:45. Nice to know that the airport is half an hour later than online.

We landed at 9 but were held up by a plane that was late taking off. I head down to baggage to look for my driver who is nowhere to be found. Of Course! So I phone the number and no one is there. I walk back and forth and then I finally see a gentleman walking towards me. It was a Lincoln Town car. Very nice ride. Then he asks me for directions. I told him, I don’t have a clue. This was all talked about when Karen made the arrangements. She also told them that I don’t know how to text or even read them. She told them the address and to look it up on Google maps. He said he would use his phone GPS to find it. Oh Goody. After what seemed like hours, we finally get to the High Grove Resort. Then his phone battery died. Of course it did. So we drive around until we finally found the street. I asked him to wait until I got in the house and he did.

I have no idea how to work the tv so I am just going to get some sleep. I can’t wait for the rest of the family to get here tomorrow.

 

[Angelrose]

February 12, 2016 – I woke up around 7, had some hot chocolate and read grocery shopping. After we got back we all went my Kindle. The family arrived around 9 and we unpacked a bit and then Karen and I went to Disney Springs. We walked around and went into a few stores. I got a couple of pins for my cousin’s sons and one for myself. I had to get Duffy. Nobody likes him but Zoey and me. I found a sweatshirt I liked but they didn’t have it in my size. They have it at the Emporium, so I will get it another day. I did get some goodies at Basin. We had our lunch at Earl of Sandwich. We got the Holiday sandwich and I got some potato salad to go with it. I love that sandwich! We got our Magic Bands there. Zoey got Minnie, I got Mickey the Sorcerer’s Apprentice, Karen got Grumpy, and Chuck got plain orange. We did more looking around and then headed back to the car. That parking garage is AWESOME! We drove home and relaxed the rest of the evening.



February 13, 2016 – Boy did I sleep well last night. I forgot to set my alarm and Chuck had to wake me up at 6:30. I had my coffee and got dressed and we were off. The first thing we did was ride the people mover. I love that but Zoey was clutching Karen’s arm like crazy. We all rode Dumbo, but you can’t make it go up and down. When you go up, you stay up. After that we rode the barnstormer. Now two years ago, Zoey rode with me and cried the whole time. This time she rode with Karen and cried the whole time. The family rode the Speedway, but I sat that one out and bought a sweatshirt. Not the one that I wanted, but another Mickey one. The Emporium did have the sweatshirt I wanted and the woman there didn’t even know what I was talking about. Maybe Mousegears will have it tomorrow.

We stopped in and had a snack. Karen got a cookie and so did Jesse. Chuck and Zoey had a cake pop and I had a big snowflake cookie.

 

[Angelrose]

Zoey wanted to see Minnie and was dressed in her Minnie dress. We saw Goofy, Donald, Minnie and Daisy. We then walked over to Adventure land and the kids went on Swiss Family Robinson tree house. I sat and rested. When they came down they had a Dole Whip and I had the Orange swirl. That wasn’t as good as it was before. Before it was orange ice cream, now it’s orange sherbet but tasted like frozen orange juice. It wasn’t bad, just not as good as before.

We were lucky to see Aladdin and Jasmine out, so we got in line just as they closed it behind us. We got pictures and they signed Zoey’s autograph book.

 

[Angelrose]

It was time for the kids to run around and burn off some energy, so they all went over to Tom Sawyer Island. Grandmom sat down and relaxed. I was so relaxed, that I fell asleep. Someone, we won’t mention any names, but her initials are Karen, snapped a picture of me napping, and posted it on Facebook. THEN she woke me up, and told me the way I was slumped over, they thought I had died. LOL “I’M ALIVE”!

I looked so silly that we all got a good laugh. It was time for our lunch/dinner reservations at Liberty Tree Tavern. Karen and I had the Pilgrim’s feast. Chuck had fish and chips and Jesse had pasta. Zoey had an Uncrustable. We also ordered the corn fritters as an appetizer. They were sooo good. We were so stuffed that we couldn’t think of dessert.

We went right on Mickey’s Philharmagic. I always love that and we all tried to grab the jewels. Everyone but me went on the carousel. Those horses are just too high for me to haul myself up on. I sat and waved.


We had fast passes for the Dwarves mine train. We had some time before so we went on Arial. It was supposed to be a half hour wait, but it turned out to be an hour. We JUST made it to the Dwarves before our time ran out. It was a really cute ride. Zoey only cried a little.

I think we were all wiped out by now. That walk out seemed much longer than the walk in. The kids fell asleep in the car and went right to bed when we got to the house. I typed up my report, got a nice hot bubble bath and went to bed. Tomorrow we go to EPCOT.

 

[Angelrose]

February 14, 2016 – Today we slept in a bit and drove over to EPCOT around 9:30. Our first fast pass was for Spaceship Earth. There was still a very long line. I still love that ride. Next was Test Track. Karen and I designed our car which was a lovely shade of pink/purple. Unfortunately our car came in 3rd in all departments. The ride was fun as usual. We walked around and Karen, the kids and I had lunch at Sunshine Seasons. I got a nice grilled chicken salad, with almonds, raisins, quinoa, and some strange greens with Feta cheese. It was very good but I couldn’t finish it all. I had crème Brule for dessert.

We went on the Nemo ride and then walked around the Living Seas. Zoey had somehow hurt Karen’s finger and it was all swollen. We went over to First Aid at the old Odyssey Restaurant. They were very nice and wrapped an ice pack around her fingers. That helped a lot.

Next we went to ride the new Mexico ride. That was really cute. After that I stopped at the crystal store and bought a pretty crystal Mickey head. Last year I bought the matching Minnie head with a pink crystal bow. I used to have another small Minnie head but that was

confiscated by Zoey. “PLEASEEEEEEEEEEEEEE Grandmom??” Now how could I say no to that?

As we got to America, we heard the a capela group just starting. They were wonderful. I could have listened to them all day. We walked some more and visited the China store. I bought a small silk purse. We looked in England at the Doctor Who stuff. There was a t shirt there, I might have to buy. We walked outside just as the rock band started. Now I don’t like rock music but these guys were GOOD. I just sat and clapped and enjoyed every minute. When they were done, they said they would be available for pictures. OK now don’t laugh. I asked Chuck to take a picture of me with them. I said, “DON’T LAUGH”. You know who you are. Needless to say I was the oldest person in line. When it was my turn, I told them I was older than dirt, but really enjoyed their music. They said was I prettier than dirt. LOL I guess that was a nice complement.

Our last stop was Canada. Last time we were at Disney two years ago, Chuck got a moose hat and I posed with a polar bear hat. I have kicked myself since then for not getting it. Sadly they had no hats at all. Karen said that she thought they had them in Norway, so we will see next time we visit EPCOT next week.

We stopped at Target to get a few things and then came home. It’s been another long but fun day. Tomorrow is Disney Studios. I will never get used to calling it that. It’s still MGM to me.

 

[Angelrose]

February 15, 2016 – I didn’t sleep at all last night. The bed seemed too hard and the pillow too flat. I think I was just overtired.


We had an early start because we were having breakfast at Hollywood and Vine. It’s a character breakfast and Jesse and Zoey were super excited to see their cartoon friends.

Jesse had made a new best friend, so we had to have a picture of the two of them.

 

[Angelrose]

After that we went to ride Rock and Rollercoaster. This was Jesse’s first time and we didn’t tell him it went upside down. We wanted him to try it once and then if he didn’t like it he never had to ride it again. I sat next to him and Chuck was in the back. Jesse picture had his eyes bugging out and mine were closed. He did scream a bit and he said he was a bit dizzy when we got off. Karen asked him if he liked it and he said yes! She asked him if he wanted to ride it again someday and he said yes. So I guess it wasn’t too bad an experience. Chuck and I did Tower of Terror and I got a bright orange t shirt. I’m sure that will look lovely with my red hair.

We had to see Motors, Lights and Action one last time before it shuts down. We all love that show. We had a small snack and let the kids play in the playground there for a while. We just relaxed.

Jesse loves to rub noses.

Notice how the third stunt man RUSHED over to get his picture taken with Zoey. LOL


We had a Fastpass for Indiana Jones which we all love. Then we saw the Frozen sing along. That was really a cute show and I’d love to see it again. Our last ride of the day was The Great Movie ride. I’ve always loved that. We went into some stores and I found my sweatshirt in my size! YAYYYY! It’s Mickey the Sorcerer’s Apprentice and it has a hat as the zipper pull. I love it.

 

[Angelrose]

We were tired and hungry but nothing was available in the park, so we went to Texas Roadhouse. Karen had a steak, Chuck and I both had a bacon cheeseburger and Jesse had a kid’s cheeseburger. Zoey just had a roll with their cinnamon butter and some fries.

HELP there's a dinosaur eating my head!


We got home around 8:30, the kids went to bed and so did Karen and Chuck. I stayed up long enough to write up my trip report. Now to get a nice hot bubble bath and watch a bit of tv before bed. Tomorrow is Animal Kingdom.

 

[Angelrose]

February 16, 2016 – Today was Animal Kingdom day. First we went on the Safari ride. We saw so many animals and something new, African painted dogs. They don’t bark, they chirp! We saw giraffes, zebras, elephants, rhinos, many different kinds of antelope and cattle and some crocodiles. I think this is the most animals I’ve seen on the ride.

Next we went to the Lion King show. This is always so enjoyable. It never disappoints. When the girl flies up and does that beautiful ballet, it just brings me to tears. It is so beautiful.

Chuck, Jesse and I went on Expedition Everest. Now I have enjoyed this on two previous trips, but I think this will be the last time. I enjoyed it but it is getting to rough for this old lady. After the ride we stopped in the souvenir store. Karen said, “MOM, you have to get a Yeti hat!” So I tried one on and I looked ridiculous. Of course I bought it. That’s the great thing about getting old; you don’t care if you look ridiculous.

We all went to Triceratops Twirl. Jesse and I did this one and Karen and Zoey and Chuck did another one. This was perfect for the kids. Well, I’m just a big kid.

Karen loves flamingos

.

 

[Angelrose]

We all went to see It’s Tough to be a Bug. This was a first for me. I admit I never wanted to see anything to do with bugs, so I was a little hesitant. Karen got the biggest laugh when I got wet and even bigger

laugh at the end when I got a buzz on my…well, end. I did like it though.

We took the Pangani Forest walk. We saw so many wonderful animals and some of them are endangered. One was a beautiful black and white monkey with such beautiful fur and it was endangered because the natives hunt it for food. So sad. I’m very glad we did this walk.


We had eaten very light today because we were having dinner at BOMA! We love this buffet. This time we had the chicken corn chowder to start. I had a chicken leg, some African spiced pork, the great babootie, corn pudding, mashed potatoes, and a bit of hummus. What a wonderful meal. After dinner we had what we had been dreaming of since our last visit two years ago. Zebra domes. I had to have two, along with an orange cheese cake tart and some bread pudding. I think we all waddled out of there. When we arrived, there were fire trucks all around. We found out that the one store in all of Disney World that carried an Adventurer’s Club sign, was closed because of “technical difficulties”. We could see the firemen inside with thermal imaging looking into the ceiling and just checking everywhere. It was annoying that we couldn’t get into the store but thank goodness they were doing such a great job of making sure the building was safe. We’ll be back next week to have dinner at Boma again and hopefully the store will still have Chuck’s sign.


We came back to the house and Chuck took the kids to play in the pool. It was too cool for me to even think about going in. Hopefully this weekend we are having a couple of days off from the parks while Karen runs the Glass Slipper Challenge. It’s a 10K on Saturday and a half marathon on Sunday. We wish her success.


Tomorrow we go to Universal.

 

[Angelrose]

February 17, 2016 – We got to Universal right at opening. We headed straight for the new Harry Potter section. Chuck and Karen bought Jesse and me the new Magic wands that are interactive. You get a map that shows you where to find certain windows that you can try your Magic. Jesse would try and there was a CM there to help you. Jesse did very well and so did Zoey. Grandmom needs remedial Magic lessons. I think I got one after many tries. The CM that was helping me, said as we were leaving, “Goodby Weasley.” He noticed my red hair. LOL We rode Escape from Gringotts. Now that was really neat. Next we got some butterbeer. That is always so refreshing. Then we came to an ice cream parlor. They had some really interesting flavors. Karen got chocolate chili. It wasn’t that spicy. I got the salted caramel toffee. SOOOOO good. Jesse got chocolate/vanilla swirl and Zoey got strawberry/vanilla swirl. Chuck didn’t want any. We walked along, taking in the sights and stopped at The Leaky Cauldron for lunch.

This is the Night Bus from Harry Potter. You couldn't ride it though.

 

[Angelrose]

We rode Revenge of the Mummy which was good but a bit much after eating lunch. I found a very petty owl with blue stones with the “lucky eyes”. I’m Italian, of course I’m superstitious. I need something to ward off the evil eye.

Chuck wanted to ride some big roller coaster, so the rest of us just sat down on the fake grass and relaxed.

When he came back we went on the Terminator 3D show. I loved it. We were getting hungry and had dinner at The Three Broomsticks. It was very good.


Next we did the Mummy Returns. Again a good 3D show. We walked around to the Hogwarts Express.

That train ride was excellent. Next we took the Castle ride. I do love that.

It was getting late, so our last stop Dr. Seuss land. We all did the trolley ride, the kids rode One Fish, Two Fish and the carousel. Now the long walk back to the car. My hips and legs were protesting and my ankle wasn’t speaking to me.

We finally got home and I just got a hot bubble bath and slept like a log.

 

[Angelrose]

Back to the Future.

Chuck is a big Simpsons fan.

 

[Angelrose]

 

[Angelrose]

February 18, 2016 – I can’t believe it’s been a whole week. Our trip is half over! We are having so much fun, it’s going to be hard to get back to real life.

We did Test Track and it was Zoey’s turn to design a car. It was pink of course with stars all over it. It was a very tiny car and came in 3rd. Next Jesse designed his car. It was super fast and did well. Zoey wanted to drive a car and Grandmom had to be a passenger in the back seat! You can see how thrilled I was at this idea.

We went to see the Nemo show. While waiting for the show to start, Chuck and I both fell asleep. Of course Karen was on hand to take our picture for posterity. Contrary to the evidence supplied by Karen, I was awake for some of this trip. After Nemo we saw the Crush show. That is always cute.

Chuck took Jesse to Mission to Mars and did the orange side which Jesse loved. Karen, Zoey and I just rested right by Mousegears. I ran in and got two hand sanitizers. One for my cousin Joan and one for Jesse. I gave my Frozen one to Zoey. Jesse got R2D2 and Joan is getting Frozen and my neighbor is getting the Cinderella one. I will pick up another Frozen one for myself later.

We went to see the Nemo show. While waiting for the show to start, Chuck and I both fell asleep. Of course Karen was on hand to take our picture for posterity. Contrary to the evidence supplied by Karen, I was awake for some of this trip. After Nemo we saw the Crush show. That is always cute.

It was getting lunch time and we went our separate ways again. This time I went with Chuck to the Mexican cantina and Karen took the kids back to The Land for lunch. We both got the same thing, the beef tacos with rice and refried beans. That was so good. I could eat there again with no problem.

We dropped off Karen at the Expo for the Glass Slipper Challenge. She will be doing a 10K Saturday and Sunday she will be running a half marathon.

The rest of us drove to Target and picked up a hair dryer for me and some water and some bananas.

We drove home and we all jumped in the pool for an hour or so.

 

[Angelrose]

February 19, 2016 – Today we had appointments at Bibbity Bobbity Boutique and The Pirate League. Karen, Zoey and I went to the Castle and Chuck and Jesse went to Adventure land. It was a girl’s day and a boy’s day. Well, Zoey was dressed in her Cinderella costume and was so excited. We were the first ones there today. Her “fairy godmother” was Nicole and was so sweet and perfect for her role. She did her hair and someone else did her nails. While they were making her up, I just HAD to buy her the long white gloves and the blue purse in the shape of a coach. Mommy doesn’t allow Zoey to wear any makeup or nail polish so this was a big deal. She was just fascinated by the glitter nail polish.

They took a lot of pictures during her makeup and after she was all done, they took her picture all by herself. Zoey didn’t stop smiling all day.

 

[Angelrose]

These are the professional pictures.

 

[Angelrose]

Jesse was made up to be a pirate and had a great time with dad and then did the Pirate Adventure where you read maps to find clues to the pirate treasure. It takes a while to go through all 5 maps.

Zoey wanted to meet some princesses. We got our pictures taken with Cinderella, Rapunzel, Ana and Elsa, Tiana and then Rafiki.