Flowers, Segways & DIS Meets, Oh My! - Updated 10/26, Final Thoughts-FINALLY!

[MHTeacher]

Thanks for the report on your trip to St. Louis. It's one of those places that's close enough to home, that I'm ashamed to admit I've never visited.

The Basilica is absolutely beautiful!

Just got to know, did you plan that Mickey topper in the picture, or was it pure accident?

 

[stace208]

St. Louis looks really fun! That Basilica was just breathtaking!
It's too bad that the tournament wasn't up to par. Sure seems like they could've done a better job. I bet the boys were all thrilled though anyways!

Those Clydesdales and Dalmatians used to be near me, at Busch Gardens. When AB sold off the parks they took the horses and doggies back. We still have Clydesdales now but they are black and now we've got two cute Border Collies. They used to have a tour of the brewing plant that's right next to Busch Gardens but they cut that out years ago. I always hated the smell but the adults loved going to get the free beer at the end!

 

[KatMark]

He loves 'em!



It's very common for a parent to operate the scoreboards, no one would have minded doing it if they would have just turned them on! They do charge alot for those tournaments and having nice facilities and working scoreboards shouldn't be too much to ask.......



How cool that you got to stay there! How were the rooms? The lobby area was gorgeous!

I remember MANY loads of laundry with seeds in the washer/dryer.

We always had a parent operate the scoreboard, and I always kept the book. I just don't get why they didn't put the board on. Cheap a**es.

The rooms were stunning. Thanks to my boss who knows the people that own the hotel, we were upgraded to a suite since there were three of us. My only regret is we were only there two nights and we couldn't explore more. One of these days I want to go back...it is only about a 6 hour drive from us.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I love that pic, I think I'm going to do a black & white version, maybe just leaving the red on their uniform #s in color

Ooooh, that will look very nice!!!

 

[MEK]

Michelle -

Sorry I am a couple days late checking in. I loved your St. Louis trip. Sorry the tournament was not run as well as it could have. That is disappointing. It's not fun to travel and then have a sub par venue.

As you know, I attend Catholic church so that Cathedral was absolutely spectacular. WOW!!!! thanks for sharing those fabulous pictures.

I'm glad the boys had fun at 6 Flags - sounds like they got their "thrill" on. You - not so much! Ugh! It's no fun when you can't ride the rides.

Thanks so much for the mega St. Louis trip update. I really enjoyed it!

 

[RachelNinja]

What a great tangent! I love reading about Disney, of course, but these other trips are also fun to read about especially when it's a place I don't know! I get to visit the city with you and your family. Thanks!

 

[praisehisname]

I really enjoyed reading about your trip to St. Louis. I don't know that I'll ever visit there, so it was fun to see some of the sights.

 

[SoonerGirl]

Thanks for the report on your trip to St. Louis. It's one of those places that's close enough to home, that I'm ashamed to admit I've never visited.

The Basilica is absolutely beautiful!

Just got to know, did you plan that Mickey topper in the picture, or was it pure accident?

No it wasn't planned! I didn't even realize it was on the photo until I downloaded them after we got home. I thought about trying to photoshop it out, but decided against it

St. Louis looks really fun! That Basilica was just breathtaking!
It's too bad that the tournament wasn't up to par. Sure seems like they could've done a better job. I bet the boys were all thrilled though anyways!

Those Clydesdales and Dalmatians used to be near me, at Busch Gardens. When AB sold off the parks they took the horses and doggies back. We still have Clydesdales now but they are black and now we've got two cute Border Collies. They used to have a tour of the brewing plant that's right next to Busch Gardens but they cut that out years ago. I always hated the smell but the adults loved going to get the free beer at the end!

Isn't that Basilica gorgeous? I was so happy that we decided to go over there and take a look at it.

That's too bad that they took the horses and dogs back, but I guess I get it since they were no longer affiliated with the park. At least you've still got some pretty animals to look at

I remember MANY loads of laundry with seeds in the washer/dryer.

Yeah, Jared is the WORST about cleaning out his baseball pants pockets - I'm constantly finding seeds and candy bar wrappers in the wash!

The rooms were stunning. Thanks to my boss who knows the people that own the hotel, we were upgraded to a suite since there were three of us. My only regret is we were only there two nights and we couldn't explore more. One of these days I want to go back...it is only about a 6 hour drive from us.

If we ever go back we may just try and stay there at least for a couple of nights. Downtown St. Louis was really pretty and there was lots of stuff I would have liked to walk around see that we didn't have time to.

Ooooh, that will look very nice!!!

I've done a couple different versions, I'll have to upload them and show them to you, they turned out pretty cute!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Michelle -

Sorry I am a couple days late checking in. I loved your St. Louis trip. Sorry the tournament was not run as well as it could have. That is disappointing. It's not fun to travel and then have a sub par venue.

As you know, I attend Catholic church so that Cathedral was absolutely spectacular. WOW!!!! thanks for sharing those fabulous pictures.

I'm glad the boys had fun at 6 Flags - sounds like they got their "thrill" on. You - not so much! Ugh! It's no fun when you can't ride the rides.

Thanks so much for the mega St. Louis trip update. I really enjoyed it!

I remembered that you attend Catholic church and I actually thought of you as I was wandering through the church taking photographs. We are Methodist, but I was very moved by the beauty of the Basilica. My mom was raised Catholic, so I am quite familiar with the church, my boys had some questions though - they wanted to know what the water was for and why all the pews had kneeling rails

What a great tangent! I love reading about Disney, of course, but these other trips are also fun to read about especially when it's a place I don't know! I get to visit the city with you and your family. Thanks!

Glad you enjoyed it! I like it when people throw in other trips that they take, gives me ideas of other places to visit and what there is to see there

I really enjoyed reading about your trip to St. Louis. I don't know that I'll ever visit there, so it was fun to see some of the sights.

Glad you liked it Denise - a Disney update is coming right up!

 

[SoonerGirl]

When we last left off Mom and I were leaving Epcot to go back to the resort to get ready for the evening. We were heading to DTD to see La Nouba and do some shopping. We had just enough time when we returned to cool off a bit and then get ready.

I'll apologize in advance here because I have very few pictures from this night....

We arrived a bit early for the 6pm show, so we got off the bus in the Marketplace and took a leisurely stroll over to the West Side. We walked through a few of the West Side shops as I had never been over to that side, didn't see anything I couldn't live without however. This is my sole picture from that walk, I don't know what was wrong with me, just didn't feel like taking pictures I guess

Eventually we made our way over to Cirque and picked up our tickets at the Will Call window. We looked through the gift shop, didn't buy anything here either, then went inside to grab a snack and find our seats. When we ordered our snacks I was excited to see that they had those yummy cinnamon almonds here like they have at the MK, we didn't get any on our MK day and were happy to see them here - needless to say we bought a bag....

We had category 2 seats and were very happy with our seat location, I think I liked these seats better than I would have liked the higher priced ones. Sitting back further allowed us to see the entire stage and not have to strain our necks up to see the aerial stuff.

I honestly can't say enough good things about this show, we both really enjoyed it! About 10 minutes before show time a couple of clowns came out to entertain us while we waited, soon after the parade of main characters came out and walked through the venue. Their costumes were so colorful and different, I had a feeling we were going to see a very impressive show. I wish I had written better notes at the end of this night, because my memory has failed me a bit as to all of the different acts. I do remember that there were bike stunts, men in man-sized wheels rolling around the stage, trapeze & high wire acts, a highly impressive display at the end with trampolines and a building full of windows where you had performers bouncing in and out of windows, walking up the side of the building, etc - it was amazing! I also really loved the artistry of the performers who wrapped themselves in the huge sheet like pieces of material that hung from the ceiling - I don't even know how to put into words what they did - it was just beautiful! But, my absolute favorite part of the show were the young girls with the Chinese yo-yo's. They were spectacular and definitely a crowd favorite!

If anyone is on the fence about attending this show, I'd say GO! I know it's expensive and hard to justify the added cost, which is why I hadn't seen it prior to this trip, but since I just had my ticket to buy, it afforded me the luxury of saying 'what the heck, let's go'. I hope to take Don and kids sometime in the future, I worried that the 90 minute show would be too long for them to sit through, but it is so entertaining that those 90 minutes fly by - seriously, when the show was over I thought it was just an intermission, I couldn't believe it had already been an hour and a half!

After leaving the show we were hungry and more than ready to eat dinner. Prior to leaving for the trip I debated about whether to go to Wolfgang Puck Express or Earl of Sandwich this night. I had been to EoS (loved it), but never WPE, so we decided to try something new. Mom and I both got pizza and fresh fruit. I got the margarita pizza

and Mom got pepperoni and mushroom

I hate to say it, but after we finished with our meal I was wishing we had gone to EoS instead. The pizza was okay, nothing spectacular, and Mom's was overcooked - the bottom was practically burnt. They offered to make her another one, but we didn't want to wait so she just ate the pieces that weren't too bad and shared some of mine.

After dinner it was time to shop. I left my camera put away because DTD was PACKED this night, seriously - you could barely move, not good conditions for photograph taking! I did take some pictures of my purchases after I arrived home, so I'll post those here so you can see what I bought.

We started off in World of Disney and I went straight to the jewelry and accessory department. I had purchased the black D&B with all the different colored Mickey's on it in December and I was certain that I needed another one that looked more summery (is that a word???). I decided on the sketch, the small bag because I didn't want to get the exact same style as my black one. Here it is - I love it!

A bib for Baylee

T-shirt for me

Hoodie for me

Scrapbook embellishment kit - so much cute stuff in here!

And a Grumpy mug for my Grumpy DH

Next we headed into Team Mickey where I bought this cute little baseball for my nephew (Baylee's brother)

Then on to Pin Traders, sorry the pictures of these pins are blurry - I took all of these with my old camera and the battery was about dead, they didn't turn out very good!

We are getting quite the collection of pins, so I bought a book to keep them all in

I got these two pins for Justin

and these for Jared

Next we hit up Days of Christmas - I LOVE this store and could stay in here for hours! I picked a few ornament for my little Disney tree, for those of you who read my December TR it's the one we had in our room - it's now going to be in my room and be decorated with nothing but Disney ornaments. Here's what I decided on - I had about 10 in my basket but forced myself to narrow it down!

By the time we finished here we were able to stroll through the kitchen store, then had to call it a night, everything was closing. I was bummed we didn't have time to hit up Basin or Goofy's, but oh well, I had really spent enough money anyway......

There was a bus waiting - yippee! And we were back to the resort and ready for bed by about 11:45. We went straight to sleep so as not to miss rope drop the next morning - it was time for some Toy Story Madness!

 

[manntra]

I really enjoyed your trip to St. Louis.....I like when writers throw in their side trips..gives you a chance to see a location that you might normally not and makes the TR go on a little longer How fun that you dipped your toes in the Mississippi!!

I can't believe some of the baseball drama that my boss goes through..his son is in a travel league constantly going to tournaments through the summer and sometime this month they have a week long tournament in Cooperstown. Some of the parents on his team are just outrageous and forget that it's about the kids...personally I think my boss over dramatizes everything and is just as much outrageous!!!

Tracy

 

[KatMark]

Great update. I'm glad you enjoyed the show. I have to admit when I saw it in Vegas I fell asleep during it (could be that my BF and I had walked the entire Strip and had a drink at each Casino ). We were on the fence between WP and EOS for this trip as we've never done either, but we are going with EOS. Love the shopping spree. The gift for your DH is PERFECT! And I love your new bag! I wonder where I've seen that before.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I also enjoyed "our" excursion to St. Louis. Thanks so much for sharing. Not somewhere that I will probably ever go so it is fun to see! I also like seeing what my DIS friends do in their non-Disney life.

I hear nothing but fantastic things about that show at Downtown Disney. And yet I still resist. Not sure why. Will definitely put it on my possibilities list.

So bummed to hear you didn't love WPE. That's on my "I want to try it list" but somehow EoS always lures me with that perfect BLT. For what it's worth your margherita pizza does LOOK good!

Such fun shopping. Love all your purchases. I think your plan for the Disney tree is awesome! That will be such fun for you to look at everyday during the holiday season!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Glad you enjoyed Cirque so much! I always hear such rave reviews of it! It must be a truly spectacular show!

Love all your purchases especially the new Dooney and Bourke bag -- so cute!!!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Now this is my kind of update...love shopping in WDW and I always love seeing what other people get. Yay for your new Dooney and Bourke bag! I have a tote bag that is really similar to that t-shirt you got.

Cirque du Soleil sounds awesome. Eventually we will have to try that. Even if it is expensive it's not something we'd be doing every trip anyway so to splurge once would probably be worth it.

 

[klacey1]

Never much into the idea of Cirque, but we're going to Vegas at the end of the month and everyone is telling me to see LOVE, the Cirque show set to Beatles music. We'll give it a try, probably-- I feel like everyone who's ever seen a Cirque show has loved it!
Sorry your WPE dinner wasn't that great!! We LOVE it there-- maybe they were having an off night? My pizza was cooked perfectly the last time.
Awesome purchases!! I especially love all of the ornaments-- the Tink one is adorable!

 

[PrincessInOz]

Another great update! Glad you loved the Cirque show. I'm a real sucker for Cirque and will go see their show everytime they come DownUnder.

YAY for the D&B bag. I was eyeing that bag and decided NOT to make the purchase. I suspect that come October, I'll be re-dressing this mistake.

And that Tinkerbell ornament is to die for. Great buys all round!

 

[Queenofallthings]

Great update Love your purchases, especially the hoodie and Tinkerbell ornament You never seem to be able to go wrong at EOS...it's so good....I love the tomato soup too

 

[mermaid764]

Love all the purchases you made, especially the D and B bag. That's the exact one i've been considering buying myself at the end of the month.

I also love the Tinkerbell and castle ornaments...they are beautiful and will look great on your disney tree.

Your review of Cirque has me wanting to see the show more than ever and hopefully will be able to one day.

Looking forward to more

 

[MEK]

What night did you go to Cirque? We went on Tuesday night and absolutely loved it. We got a generous AP (or DVC) discount so our tickets were really affordable. I felt exactly the same way you did. The show was so worth the $. I think everyone should see it once.

I love your D&B bag. As I tell everyone, I am not a bag person, but that bag makes me want to be one!