Girls Trip Revisited-- Final Day (Part 3) -- August 14

[KatMark]

Hi Kathy! I think I'm all caught up on your adventures!

I'm with the group. 3 year olds need strollers-at least have one there to put them in for when they get tired or cranky! Yowza!

Those girls look like they're having a great time together. How fun to tour WDW with your friends!

I think it's just called hair wrapping. It's cute!

Shannon, welcome back from your trip...can't wait to hear all about it.

I agree...I think Cameron would have been able to do more if he had been in a stroller. The girls had a blast and don't see each other as often as they used to since Heather and crew moved to Florida. Hair wrapping...duh...how easy was that. Just shoot me now.

Another lovely day

The girls hair wraps look super cute!

Thanks, Linda; it was a lovely day...and the wather was good for a change.

What better way to spend my lunch than getting caught up on this trip report???

Amy, you are too sweet.

Love the photos, I just cannot believe how big Mary's girls have gotten.

I couldn't believe how big they had gotten in the 17 months since I had seen them; Mark hasn't seen them since September 2011....isn't he in for a surprise when he sees them in December.

I toured Disneyland once with two three and a half year olds that were not in strollers. Lets just say that when I go with kids that age again they either need to be in a stroller or I need to break off and do my own thing!

Breakign off tended to be the theme quite a bit.

How did you like BCV? You probably say somewhere on here but I did the quickie and just read your links!

I know a lot of people love BCV, but I was not one of them. It was just "okay" in my books. The buses were terrible; we had some unfriendly CM's. Let's just say I much prefer OKW and AKL; we will see how I feel about Boardwalk Villas and how it compares to BC and OKW and AKL in December.

 

[KatMark]

Who hasn't had that thought?

I sometimes think that of a certan hat wearing person I know too.

We had fun. I was ready to leave the beach after about 3 days, but it was fun.

Glad to hear you had fun; I'm not one who can go to the beach everyday for hours on end. A couple of days for a couple of hours is all I can handle (much rather be at a pool).

I think I might just have to start a PTR for our Nov/Dec 2014 trip sometime soon and post about our past trip in it. Unfortunately the pictures will be limited in volume due to me, electronics and the Gulf of Mexico not making a great combination.

Uh oh...that doesn't sound good with the Gulf of Mexico!

Looks like a great idea to me!!!

Ice cream at Disney is always a good idea.

Cool!

That's twice now when I was with Mary and the girls that Avery and Brenna were picked (the first time all four girls were picked).

So who's tears are we talking about? Yours or hers?

Kenzie started it!!!! Seriously, I was in tears as I don't know when I'll see Brenna and Kenzie again.

We went to the Tennessee Aquarium in Chattanooga on our way south for our trip. We didn't want to take the big double stroller since we didn't plan to do much "walking around" on this trip aside from the aquarium. DW borrowed her sister's umbrella stroller for DD and DS was just going to walk with us. By the time we were done in the aquarium, DD was the one walking and DS was in the stroller. And the 1 year old was actually willing to hold my hand and stay with us better than the 3 year old.

Never fails...the younger one is easier to handle.

Wow, Ms. Kat....sounds like your trip was turning out to be very eventful.

It certainly had it's moments.

I love that you are having such a great time with the girls, they seem like they are having such a wonderful time together. It just proves what I thought about with Mackie on our trip, they have much more fun with other kids their age along on the trip.
Mackie and I were just talking about that last night and how the next trip has to be with one of her closest friends, we discussed who would be the best one to go with, and who would be the most grateful for a trip like that, not to mention who would be the least irritating to travel with.

It's good for the kids to have someone near their age with them so they can talka bout all that boy stuff or whatever it is they talk about.

I said it would just have to be during a time when I know other Dis'ers were going to be on the trip so I wasn't alone most of the time.

Us adults also need someone our age to talk about that boy stuff.

Sorry about the drama with part of your group. It's really hard to travel with that many people in a group, the best way to travel with that many people is to break up and do what you want to do with the people that want to do those same things with you. It's the only way to keep one's sanity. That and steer clear of those who irritate the snot out of you.

Luckily, the ones with the drama only spent part of that one night with us and we never saw them again.

You are so ready to be grandma, I love how much you love being with the girls and enjoy the heck out of them.

I'm not sure I'm ready to be a grandma, but I know that I will love it.

 

[KatMark]

I love the lion king show. My grandson Cody has been picked the last two years but I think he will be "too cool" this year to even consider it.

How old is he that he'll be "too cool?"

I want to see Nemo this trip as I've only seen that once.

HOW awesome they were picked!!!! That's fantastic!!!
Lion king is a great show!!!

Yet it is a great show, and the girls were thrilled.

I love Festival of the Lion King! I've missed it my last two trips too. Next trip for sure!

I guess that will mean September????

I have missed my "monkey" the last couple of trips. I think he was moved to a later show. I will have to test that theory.

You'll have to do the first show, a middle show and a last show and find that monkey!

Hi to Donald and his nephews!

Thank you, Mark.

She usually tries to capture a different side of them.

Sssh....this is a family board.

Very cool!

Yes it was.

I'm a guy, so as far as I know the official term is "put stuff in their hair".

I like your term too!

 

[KatMark]

I took this shirt picture, too. I believe strongly in this theory.

No AK tree, though. Did you notice?


I did not notice that about the tree until you said something. I wonder why that is? I agree with you on the theory as well.

Awww, shucks - tears and goodbyes. I don't like that! Gotta be happy for the good times together, though, and look forward to the next time you have Disney fun together.

It is so hard saying goodbye when you don't know when you'll see them again (I'm currently going through a sitaution here...my best male friend of 20 years is moving to Tennessee and I don't know when I'll see him again and it is breaking my heart.

Thankfully, I will be seeing Mary and the girls soon.

 

[KatMark]

soooooooo need to know the story on YOUR monkey?!!?

You got your answer. Just don't mess with Pat and HER monkey!

The stroller thing is so funny. It is so dependent on both the kid, and the family. Some folks boot them out at 3, some kids want out at 3 and others have 8 year olds in them so...it can be interesting! Pro's and cons to all of it I think.

There are pros and cons and I can see that. But a first visit and at a crowded time, the stroller definitely should have been used.

Loving the girls hair wraps, treats and a visit with Pat's monkey! nice afternoon.

It was a great afternoon.

Okay Okay I will share.


Over the years of seeing the show I have a favorite...



This is MY monkey. He used to be in the early shows but the last couple of trips he has been absent. In fact the whole troupe has been mostly absent. Yup I see the show a lot.

He may be easy on my eyes but he is also a very enthusiastic and interactive performer. Always engaging the kids and audience and seems to really enjoy himself.

However I usually get more shots of

Pat that is the wrong side for why I thought he was your favorite

Thank you! Sorry Kathy inquiring minds needed to know about monkey's!!
That's pretty FUNNY!

Pat loves her monkey. Another story on the monkeys. One of them is a former Olympic medalist. One of the CM's told Mary that she would have loved to introduce him to Avery, but he had another show to do. Wouldn't that have been cool?

I just love the pictures of you and the girls together - you look so happy and loving, it warms my heart to see FOTLK is a great show, and how cool that the girls got picked to participate.

They are such sweet girls and so easy to love them.

I'm glad some of them got picked a second time while I was there.

I thought they changed from Nescafe?

Could have fooled me. The stuff in the little mart was awful!

Ooh you saw Boba Fett. I am a HUGE Star Wars fan. I can tell you them all. LOL
All of these SW characters I am totally geeking out.

Who? Seriously if you are a huge fan you really ought to go during Star Wars weekend.

The food at Beaches & Cream look so good.

It is very good.

The bow ties are funny.

It was the first design I could find to hide the faces of Ryan and the kids.

I love AK.
Pizzafari is a good place for lunch.
Hi Donald and his nephews.
All caught up.

I love AK too; it was actually Flame Tree that we went too. Thanks for saying hi to Donald and the boys.

 

[Chicago Mo]

I have missed my "monkey" the last couple of trips. I think he was moved to a later show. I will have to test that theory.

It is so hard saying goodbye when you don't know when you'll see them again (I'm currently going through a sitaution here...my best male friend of 20 years is moving to Tennessee and I don't know when I'll see him again and it is breaking my heart.

Thankfully, I will be seeing Mary and the girls soon.

aww Kathy i am so sorry! so hard to miss a friend!!! True Friends are so hard to come by! I am sure you will be seeing each other as much as you possibly can.

 

[KatMark]

So cool that the girls got picked to be in the show. I know how special it makes them feel!

It sure does, and it's such a fun show!

Speaking of making them feel special, the hair wraps are so cool! Definitely something to tuck away as an idea for my little miss. As they get older (girls) the draw for BBB lessens, but the need to still be pampered never goes away.

It's nice that they ahve something when they outgrow the BBB. No, we ALWAYS need to be pampered in some fashion.

Whoa! I was seriously behind! It is so wonderful to see you loving on those girls and having such a great time! Despite crappy coffee, problem bus service and a serving of drama (not yours of course!) it looks like there was still a lot of great moments.

Well you did have an excuse...you were at Disneyland. I do love those girls....we have so much fun together. It had some very special moments.

I'm sure Mark was proud of the girls taking after him with the hat poses!

He was impressed.

Oh and I love Beaches and Cream... we don't go there nearly enough for how much I like it. We'll try to hit it up next month.

Maybe we can hook up there if one of our park days doesn't work? I think we are going there on Wednesday, the 21st. But once I finish my PTR, I'll do an outline at the end of it and we'll figure out a time to meet for sure.

Reading from phone. Not good when I'm trying to see pictures of the cutest girls on earth. Love FOTLK. Be back later!

Yes, they are all very cute girls. I love FOTLK; hope you get back to see the cuties.

Is this True?!?! I know they have starbucks on main street?

I can't wait to be able to have Starbucks and have a decent cup of coffee. I'm not sure what they serve in the rooms now, but the stuff at the restaurants is still awful!

Caught up on Day 3. Those girls are so cute, and you're obviously loving being with them.

I do; and I just talked to Mary a little bit ago and we are in the process of making plans for next year's girls' trip.

I thought that everybody knew about Pat's monkey by now, even him!

I'm sure Pat's monkey has figured it out and knows exactly where she is when she is there.

I can't wait to for my boys to see FOTLK. We saw the Nemo show last trip.

I give the edge to FOTLK; Mark prefers Nemo just a tad. I think we'll do Nemo next month and FOTLK in December with the girls.


Love the hair things the girls got. And so cool the two girls got picked to be in the show, too fun.

It was a long process getting those in their hair, but they really liked them. The other two girls didn't get anything done to their hair, but the sweet CM made them each a bracelet.

Here are the rest of my AK pics. Those hair wraps were very cool, we just took them out last night and they still looked ok.

We took a trip out to Rafiki's Planet Watch, one of Avery's favorite places.
The vet was changing the bandage on a warthog.



Avery then pet a cool snake









We really like the FOTLK show. It was even more exciting to watch it now that the girls are competing. Avery would whisper each move as a monkey did it. A CM standing nearby over heard her and told us that one of the monkeys was an Olympic gold medalist!!! No wonder they knew what they are doing!!!



Big girls were picked for the show







These are the last pics from AK-oh boy would the girls be mad if they knew I posted these.







Time to hit the pool!!!

EDIT These pics are from 2 different AK days ooops-one was after Ms Kathy left-I was wondering why she didn't have any of the same pics LOL

Great pics, Mary. I wondered why they had two different outfits on in the pictures. I forgot you went back with Judy and clan after I left.


I was hoping to get an update done before I left work, but won't be able to. I have an appointment at the salon tonight, and will try to do the update of our evening after AK when I get home tonight.

 

[KatMark]

aww Kathy i am so sorry! so hard to miss a friend!!! True Friends are so hard to come by! I am sure you will be seeing each other as much as you possibly can.

Thanks, Mo. He was my rock during the last week before my dad died. He called me every couple of hours to check on me, he comforted me and was my shoulder to cry on throughout the process. We met on the train when I moved out to the suburbs, and we just hit it off immediately. We rode together for 10 years until he got ill and moved to TN for a couple of years and then he came back and has been here the last six years. I'm thinking I may have to make a detour on my next girls' trip and stop on the way home in TN to see him.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Thanks, Mo. He was my rock during the last week before my dad died. He called me every couple of hours to check on me, he comforted me and was my shoulder to cry on throughout the process. We met on the train when I moved out to the suburbs, and we just hit it off immediately. We rode together for 10 years until he got ill and moved to TN for a couple of years and then he came back and has been here the last six years. I'm thinking I may have to make a detour on my next girls' trip and stop on the way home in TN to see him.

 

[GoofyIsAsGoofyDoes]

along the way since we knew we'd have a little wait, we stopped for some treats:

Always a must at AK.
Great park… not quite enough shade.

Everyone say hi to Donald and his nephews:

Hi! Ummmmm… Donald?

Did I miss where Donald started discussing his fascination with Broadway musicals, being enthralled by the idea of matching handbags and pumps and considering a change of profession to interior design?

As luck would have it, Brenna and Avery were on the end sitting by Mary, and they got picked to be in the show:

Extra magic!
Very nice. We like FOTLK but our favorite show at AK is Nemo. I probably should have tried to catch Lion King this last time though as I heard that it may be in line to either be moved elsewhere of taken out completely. We’ll see if that actually happens.

 

[MEK]

Great pictures of the girls and I am happy to see that Pat's monkey was in the mix. I think Glen is right - everyone knows about Pat's monkey, including him.

Thanks for the fun updates ladies!

 

[KatMark]

Thank you.

Always a must at AK.
Great park… not quite enough shade.

It could use a little additional shade for sure (so could the Studios).

Hi! Ummmmm… Donald?

Did I miss where Donald started discussing his fascination with Broadway musicals, being enthralled by the idea of matching handbags and pumps and considering a change of profession to interior design?

Wow...I am getting old. You have a much keener eye than me. It is Daisy and Donald's nephews. So anyone who said hi to Donald you are as old as me.


Extra magic!
Very nice. We like FOTLK but our favorite show at AK is Nemo. I probably should have tried to catch Lion King this last time though as I heard that it may be in line to either be moved elsewhere of taken out completely. We’ll see if that actually happens.

Always love that extra magic. They are moving it behind Tusker House, but I don't think it is leaving.

Great pictures of the girls and I am happy to see that Pat's monkey was in the mix. I think Glen is right - everyone knows about Pat's monkey, including him.

Thanks for the fun updates ladies!

Yes, I think the monkey knows too.

 

[KatMark]

So after our rest at the BCV, it was back to the horrid us stop to wait for our bus and head to the



They really need to have some sort of lines for the buses as people were cutting in front of those waiting for 20 minutes and they had just arrived. It was quite aggravating.

Anyway, we arrive at the MK. We stopped for some photopass pictures (sorry, still don't have my CD) and then we headed to dinner. We ate here:



We got a table upstairs and here is some of our food:







After everyone finished dinner and made bio-stops, it was off to do some attractions. First up:



And being the unselfish person I am, I skipped the ride and ran and got fastpasses for Winnie-the-Pooh while everyone else rode.

Waiting for them to get off the slow boat to China:



From there, it was off to



Someone was ready for the show to start



We were a little worried about how Cameron would do as he doesn't like loud noises, but he did really well overall.

Then we all hit the Carrousel:



It was then time for our fastpasses to see

















I think at this point that Judy and family decided they were going to head out. Mary, the girls and I were on a mission. There was a purchase for Mr. Mark that I had to get on the trip, so off we went to:



And what was the purchase? Well, this...of course:



And, of course, you can't buy a popcorn bucket and not buy popcorn:



The girls had also gotten some



in the Big Top.

Continued in next post

 

[KatMark]

We then decided our feet needed more of a rest, so we took a ride on the Peoplemover:







Then it was time to help this guy defeat Zurg:







We tried to watch the fireworks, but the girls waited too late to let us know they wanted to see them. We saw some of them as we walked from Buzz to Main Street.

We decided to call it a night. We were going to sleep in a tad later than usual and have a very special breakfast the next morning.



And Mary and I talked today and she asked when I was going back to Disney next year. I told her we had no firm plans. We are trying to find a time that Mark and Alisha can go with us and we are figuring August or September for that trip. I don't think we're going to do December next year as there are some things we want to start doing around the house before we hopefully move to Florida in 3 years whether Andy keeps the house or we sell it. So Mary asked if I was up to a girls' trip after Memorial Day before their AP's expire on June 4. What? Are you serious? Of course I'm up for a girls trip. Plans are not set in stone, but we are looking at those dates.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

First of all, I love the use of the term "bio-stop". Have to say I've never heard that one before!

That Dumbo popcorn tin is adorable!

The "angry" pictures on PeopleMover made me , but then seeing Avery in the next picture with that expression on her face made me . Perfect reaction from her!

And I hope you do get to do another girls trip next May!!!

 

[Amy&Dan]

Yay for another girls trip!!!!

Dan and I really think about moving to Florida, his company has offices there and its something we keep in the back of our minds. But a lot will depend on where Matthew is stationed etc. It would be nice to meet up in WDW with you and Mark as we all happily use our FL resident AP's!


Honestly, that Epcot area is very nice and has its definite advantages, but I like the spread out resorts like the mods, OKW and SSR. And the busses stunk for us at BWV, just too much sharing. But I'd still stay there again, it was a lovely resort and we loved the quiet pool!

Great update as always.

 

[Chicago Mo]

Wow you gals really moved around!
My New favorite term is Bio-stop. i have adopted this into my vast vocabulary!
the Dumbo popcorn bucket is too cute!!! The Buzz ride and the seriousness that goes on! who won?!?!
the other favorite is the pouty looks on the people pusher!!!


HOORAY for another girls trip!!! I AM SO HAPPY FOR YOU!!!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

You ladies sure were busy! What a great night at MK. We have also experienced issues like that at the bus stops, some people are so oblivious.

 

[ronnmel]

Yay for another girls trip!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

A CM standing nearby over heard her and told us that one of the monkeys was an Olympic gold medalist!!! No wonder they knew what they are doing!!!

Really? I had never heard that before. But very cool!

These are the last pics from AK-oh boy would the girls be mad if they knew I posted these.

They really need to have some sort of lines for the buses as people were cutting in front of those waiting for 20 minutes and they had just arrived. It was quite aggravating.

That's just not cool.

And being the unselfish person I am, I skipped the ride and ran and got fastpasses for Winnie-the-Pooh while everyone else rode.

You are very wise.

And Mary and I talked today and she asked when I was going back to Disney next year. I told her we had no firm plans. We are trying to find a time that Mark and Alisha can go with us and we are figuring August or September for that trip. I don't think we're going to do December next year as there are some things we want to start doing around the house before we hopefully move to Florida in 3 years whether Andy keeps the house or we sell it. So Mary asked if I was up to a girls' trip after Memorial Day before their AP's expire on June 4. What? Are you serious? Of course I'm up for a girls trip. Plans are not set in stone, but we are looking at those dates.

Excellent! It's never too soon to plan the next trip.