Go ahead and put it on DisBoards. Beware, I will get you...eventually Final Photos!

[MEK]

Wow girl - you were a mad poster last week. I am in the process of getting caught up, but I want to save some for later.

OMG - I read so much I can't remember what I want to comment on.

Oh yeah - so glad the dessert party worked out for everyone. That would have been terrible if you couldn't add Leslie.

Speaking of which, that picture of Les and the Beverly is priceless. Did she warn Joe so you couldn't get him?

Nice lunch at Les Chefs (or was it dinner?)

The food from the tomorrowland terrace looks yummy, especially that lobster roll.

Great pics!

 

[Moira222]

Wow girl - you were a mad poster last week. I am in the process of getting caught up, but I want to save some for later.

OMG - I read so much I can't remember what I want to comment on.

Oh yeah - so glad the dessert party worked out for everyone. That would have been terrible if you couldn't add Leslie.

Speaking of which, that picture of Les and the Beverly is priceless. Did she warn Joe so you couldn't get him?

Nice lunch at Les Chefs (or was it dinner?)

The food from the tomorrowland terrace looks yummy, especially that lobster roll.

Great pics!

I was feeling guilty at being so far behind so i went on a mad postting spree. Plus now i can catch up on reading instead of writing!

We were so glad Lesley could join us at the dessert party. Well worth it. And no, she didnt warn joe. He had to step out for a biobreak and he wandered in and sampled without witnesses.

That Lobster roll was yummy as was dinner at Les Chefs.

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Subbing on... Going back to read now...

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

I just read through your dinner at Hacienda... It is funny you thought you were eating in the Pyramid... but I have to say having just eating at Hacienda... the food there really is quite good... I was impressed with it as well...

Your writing style and sense of humor are a lot of fun...

I was kind of curious... I don't know where you live in PA... I'm outside of Philadelphia... and we are planning on driving in July... we are stopping in Charleston and again on the way back...(maybe Savannah) but how long in total did the drive take and had you done it before... I haven't and I'm just curious about all of those logistics... It didn't sound too bad with the splitting up the driving and whatnot...

Will have to finish reading...

 

[MEK]

Come BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

 

[Moira222]

I just read through your dinner at Hacienda... It is funny you thought you were eating in the Pyramid... but I have to say having just eating at Hacienda... the food there really is quite good... I was impressed with it as well...

Your writing style and sense of humor are a lot of fun...

I was kind of curious... I don't know where you live in PA... I'm outside of Philadelphia... and we are planning on driving in July... we are stopping in Charleston and again on the way back...(maybe Savannah) but how long in total did the drive take and had you done it before... I haven't and I'm just curious about all of those logistics... It didn't sound too bad with the splitting up the driving and whatnot...

Will have to finish reading...

THe look on my face when we walked to the Mexico Pavillion and I saw my mistake, well you could have knocked me over with a feather. I laughed at myself and told Joe & Lesley that I am a HORRIBLE DIS'er that I didn't catch that one! LOL But you are right, it was a excellent mistake because we thoroughly enjoyed our meal -- it may have been our favorite meal the whole trip (aside from Joe's pancakes).

I am in the Lehigh Valley - so not far from you at all. This was our first time driving. We had sort of broken it into three legs of the drive. Lehigh Valley to South East NC - that part took 10 hours. we stopped a few times for coffee, gas, bio breaks (and to see South of the Border!) but we went out past Gettysburg & headed south that way to skip the whole philly/baltimore/dc headache. Then from NC to FL (We stopped off 95 at St. Augustine) it took 10 hours as well, though on this leg we stopped at a real restaurant and then walked a lap or two around the parking lot just to stretch our legs. The drive itself probably took more like 8.5 or 9 hours.

Then it took about 3 hours I think to get from St. Augustine to DisneyWorld. It was not bad. And the way home we did it much faster because we literally only dropped Lesley off at her house and took a 10 minute chat & bio break and then hit the road again.

The drive wasn't awful, it just wasn't the two hours from ABE to MCO that we have come to love. We will do it again, depending on airfares.

Come BAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAACK!

I'm sorry!!! I do have to finish. I will post a few good excuses for my absence & then finish, I promise!

 

[Moira222]

Oh this fall has just been busy for everyone, hasn’t it? Between field hockey,

girl scouts,

and basketball which just started, and a line dancing class with my friend, my free nights have been majorly limited.

My laptop is officially junk. I am so hoping that Santa brings me a new one for Christmas, even though I know that this is an unrealistic expectation. But, as Katie is fond of pointing out, if Santa brings it, its free! Right? But reading a single TR on my laptop can take hours, so I’ve been surfing on my phone & nook, which make posts short on other TRs and makes updates on my own TR impossible.

We’ve a new director at work, and she has added quite a few new responsibilities to my plate, which means that my day time surfing is few and far between. Happily I am caught up for the moment, and December is a “no eblast” time for our office, so YAY no new events to build, report on or market. Whew!

We had two camping trips this fall – in a tent.

We finally sold our RV and instead of replacing it with a tow behind trailer, we agreed that we’d really rough it for a while in a tent and use the sale money to buy Disney Vacation Club! WAHOOOOOO

We found a really sweet deal on a resale property in mid-October and completed the paperwork right away. And waited. And waited. The sellers are going through bankruptcy and from the looks of things, possibly a divorce too. So after our paperwork went to Disney for ROFR, we got a message that there was some missing paperwork, and it had to go back to the sellers for handling. The problem was that this happened at the same time as Hurricane Sandy, and the sellers live in NJ, which was hit very very hard. So weeks went by. Right around Thanksgiving, they sent their paperwork in. Oops, still something wrong. Back to them again. My last message was that they would have it all handed in today. I’m not holding my breath (much). I am really hoping that it gets back to Disney this week for ROFR again. We could have walked away from this, but the points and price were just where we needed them to be, and we will have 2012 points to use by June, which means we should be able to go to Disney TWICE next year!!!!So we wait. And we hope. And we wait.

We’ve alerted our camping buddies to the possibility that we’ll have enough points for two studios, so while they’ll have to cover food & parks, we’d all drive together & we’d use points to cover the rooms. It would be awesome because we have a great time together, and have known each other since our girls were in day care as infants together. Fingers crossed for us!!!

On Black Friday we took our traditional Christmas trip to Hershey Park. It’s the local “happy place”

In the beginning of December I made a change which is already life altering not just for me but for my family. I had a sleeve gastrectomy – in laymen’s terms, I had the size of my stomach surgically reduced to about 25% of its original capacity. I have been overweight most of my life, and ridiculously so these past 10 years. Every time I lose weight, I gain it back plus 20 more lbs. When I took a flight to Las Vegas with my best friends the year we turned 40, I was horrified that I had to ask for a seat belt extension on the plane. I can’t even describe the mortification. Joe & I joined Weight Watchers right after that trip. He lost about 100 lbs. I lost 39, and then slowly started gaining it back again. I knew I could not deal with 20 more than I was before, and the cycle had to end. This was something I put a LOT of thought, prayer, and research into for a long time before going to the doctor about it.

I am SO THRILLED with how I feel now that I am two weeks out from the surgery. I am healing very well, have added time and speed to my walks by adding treadmill time to dog walking time. I am already fitting into clothes that I haven’t worn in several years (thank goodness I tend toward “classic styled clothing” so its still okay to wear!) and more importantly I feel great! I am looking forward to being able to keep up with and maybe even challenging Katie and Joe when it comes to physical activities. And SO looking forward to riding side by side with my little girl on rides that I couldn’t fit in very well before.

Oh and you know, there’ve been the ordinary and not so ordinary things like Halloween, a major hurricane that left us without power for a week (thank goodness we are campers!), an elbow break & subsequent surgery (three days after mine) for my father in law, Thanksgiving, and Christmas prep. Can you believe Christmas is in one week? EEK!

So let me apologize for being so negligent (though I have at least been trying to keep up on TR’s & PTR’s where I can!) and move on with the wrap up of this trip.

 

[Moira222]

Oh going home day is always so sad. I never did take the big tour of the resort like I had planned, although I did wander over for coffee…and got lost on my way back. I guess I should have paid more attention to the map of the resort!

We packed up our overnight stuff, refreshed the ice in our Mickey cooler, and loaded up the car. But wait! We had one more ADR before we hit the road.

10:35 Breakfast reservations Kona at the Polynesian Resort.

We had only a brief wait for our table, and its always a pleasure to look down at the lobby of the Polynesian.

Finally seated, we ordered our coffee

Joe & Lesley both had Tonga Toast

That looked like too much sugar for me, so I opted for the Big Kahuna --

and then enlisted my big kahuna to help me finish it

One day we will stay at the Poly. It’s so pretty!

Then we hit the long road home. Naturally we had sunny skies the whole way home. I was feeling just a bit envious of my cousin, Poly85, and MEK, who I knew were arriving later that same day.

The drive was long, and not adventurous at all. We drove straight through to Lesley’s house in south east North Carolina. After a brief chat with her hubby, Joe and I got back in the car & finished the drive. I didn’t take any pictures. We just drove. And drove. And drove. I think we should have pulled over around 3 am for a bitty nap but we were just anxious to get home and see Katie at that point, so we pushed onward.

We headed straight to my sister’s house and arrived at 9 a.m. – to a sleepy household ( a rare thing at my sister’s house!) We didn’t say a word, just waited for Katie to come out & we surprised her. She was so happy to see us! ( I was just tooo tired to take photos at this point.)

Home we headed, where Thor was just has happy to have mommy & daddy back again. It’s lovely to go away, but soooo good to be loved when you get home!

When we got home, I took a few photos of our souvenirs.

Katie’s tiara, which she loves!!

New decals & license plate holder for my car, and a Mickey shape for making pancakes.

post cards (I sent a few while I was there and apparently you can only buy them in a packet! And new corn-cob holders.

Katie’s Autograph tee:

The red at the bottom is from the first person – the castmember at the KidCot stop in Japan who wrote Katie’s name in Japanese then drew her flag & a Mickey head. Love that she did that so personal - that young woman was so thrilled that she was the first to sign the shirt!

Gifts for Katie – a new tee, mars mud, Mickey rice krispy treat, and an alligator pencil from St. Augustine.

A Jack Skellington bowl for my sister in law.

New tee for me

and one for Joe;

Fleece throws – one for us & one for our house & dog sitter
and the pins I traded for while I was there:

I am going to blatantly steal MEK's photo follow up - I just loved hers so while my photos are not so awesome, I am still copying the idea. stay tuned

 

[KatMark]

You have had a busy time of it.

I'm glad you are feeling better after your surgery.

Great update. I love Kona (we were there last week)...always so good. And the coffee is to die for.

Great sounvenirs you picked up.

I can't wait to see the "photo" finish.

 

[Moira222]

You have had a busy time of it.

I'm glad you are feeling better after your surgery.

Great update. I love Kona (we were there last week)...always so good. And the coffee is to die for.

Great sounvenirs you picked up.

I can't wait to see the "photo" finish.

Aren't we all just so busy? I still sigh when I think of you rushing home from a trip, cleaning up and getting ready for an engagement party, then all the holidays and everything with services' for Mark's mom & taking care of your mom, then getting Mark's surprise ready. PHEW!

I feel great after this surgery - I've heard of a lot of people having "buyers remorse" a little, because at first there are quite a few restrictions, but I will gladly give up this year's Christmas Cookies and spiked eggnog for a happier, healthier, happier-to-be-me Mary Ellen

I am so frugal when it comes to souvenir shopping. I love to pin trade, because they are great souvenir's and (while I am sure to get flamed by some for this) I buy a lot of them on ebay and then trade. I didn't trade all of them last time, so we will be set for next trip as well. The tiara was the most popular item - sometimes Katie wears it, sometimes my sister in law will have it on if Katie leave's it downstairs, and even I have been known to indulge in my inner-princess.

 

[Moira222]

Since I dragged out this TR for so long, I will completely steal an idea from MEK & show you a few highlights that some up our trip:

Brief stop at St. Augustine

YEAH!!!! I Love that sign!

Home for the week:

First stop:

can you tell we’d been drinking our way around the world?

 

[Moira222]

Day 2 (Our first full day)

Day 3

Front row seats:

and a special gift from the Yacht & Beach Club Resorts for our very special anniversary:

(more later, I have to SOME work today )

 

[Moira222]

[FONT=&quot]Day 4[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] my first rope drop show...in the rain
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[FONT=&quot] (do you know that ALL of my photos of Walt this day have a bird sitting on his head? )[/FONT]

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[Moira222]

[FONT=&quot]Day 5[/FONT]
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(I still laugh every time I look at this photo!)[/FONT]
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(nope, not this time. Next time!)[/FONT]
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[Moira222]

[FONT=&quot]Going home day[/FONT]
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[FONT=&quot]And that is the end Thanks for sharing in our Anniversary trip.[/FONT]

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[FONT=&quot]On a side note, I can barely contain my excitement as I learned that the sellers finally got all of their paperwork handed in to Disney. Our purchase should be going to Disney for ROFR within a few days and then we wait. I was hoping that since Disney had the paperwork once they would not take a full 30 days, but our broker has said that they will take another 30. boo.
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[FONT=&quot]Once everything goes through (positive thoughts and pixie dust that it does!) we'll be scrambling to make reservations. We are crazy enough to want to go the second week of February. Hmmmm can I make plans in that small a time? we shall see![/FONT]

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[KatMark]

MaryEllen, loved the report and the picture highlights....great job!

 

[Moira222]

MaryEllen, loved the report and the picture highlights....great job!

Thanks Kathy! This TR had just gotten so low on my list I was feeling guilty - especially when MEK & Poly85 (my cousin) finished & they went after me!

I don't know how you kept up with a PTR and a TR at the same time!

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Congrats on your DVC and hoping your sale goes through now as smoothly as possible with no more delays... I hope that it all works out for February...

Oh... you had those Macadamia Nut Pancakes on the Big Kahuna at Kona... Love those... (it's now my DS's favorite Breakfast spot... think we'll have to do it next summer... but also need to do Crystal Palace too (never done before... can't believe it...)

I did enjoy your trip review in pictures... I hope that you do a tr for your next trip... & if it's in February that will be here before you know it...

 

[MEK]

Yes - congratulations on your DVC purchase. I just skimmed your pics, so I didn't pay attention - where did you purchase? Sorry I am so clueless.

You have a few pictures that I absolutely love, but I am too lazy to cute and paste them. I absolutely love the one you got of the dock at the beach club. Hands down my favorite.

Also love your anniversary treat.

Refresh my memory again - did you leave in the morning or at night for your drive? I really want to stop in St Augustine on my way down this summer. But maybe I'll do it on the way back. Can't decide.

How was the drive back - was it terrible or not bad? I am worried about that. Anyway - I think I'll go back and see what I missed.

 

[Moira222]

Congrats on your DVC and hoping your sale goes through now as smoothly as possible with no more delays... I hope that it all works out for February...

Oh... you had those Macadamia Nut Pancakes on the Big Kahuna at Kona... Love those... (it's now my DS's favorite Breakfast spot... think we'll have to do it next summer... but also need to do Crystal Palace too (never done before... can't believe it...)

I did enjoy your trip review in pictures... I hope that you do a tr for your next trip... & if it's in February that will be here before you know it...

Thanks! I will probably do another TR but will have to plan better with Joe pictures Lol

Our contract went for ROFR on 12/12. Waiting waiting waiting.