Grateful, Thankful, Blessed: our 25th Anniversary SeaWorld Celebration (Spring ’18 TR)

When do you think you'll be venturing southward agani this year? Any chance you might pop down for a quick trip to visit your DD in late October??

France, WOW!! That will be an epic vacation. Will Disneyland Paris be one of your stops?
We have a cruise Oct 11-15 so likely not. IF we happen to get down there may be toward beginning of month when middle kid doesn't have band for the one weekend. Since we don't return from cruise until middle kid's 16th bday (and its adult only cruise) if I can swing it I'll take her for a quick weekend trip. We could even visit a college just so if she misses a day of school it is excused lol! Older DD comes home Aug 9th back to Arkansas for school.
Yep-planning a day at Disneyland Paris-can't be that close and not go. Will be tracking airfare soon so I can get better idea of budget.
 
Mother Nature went WILD :scared:

Trust me, mother nature can be a complete and total, well not an appropriate word to say on these boards! But since I've seen your pictures I know that you had bright and sunny skies the remainder of your trip!

And woo-hoo on scheduling your next vacay. I'm glad I'm not the only one who comes home and then immediately books the next adventure!
 
I finally got a chance to check in after our trip. Happy to see you started your report already!

How can you not love a plane with a walrus on it? Sweet Tomatoes is so yummy. We went there once this trip too. They had a yummy taco salad this time. I usually put a chocolate muffin underneath the vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrrup. So you were a bit healthier than me. ;)

How cool is it that you had your own private stairs to the pool! I've never seen that before. I'm kinda jealous. ;) Your resort arrival was better than ours. Upon checking one of the beds I discovered lots of uhh evidence that there were bedbugs. Like a LOT! Thankfully I checked the beds before we did anything else. They ended up moving us but it was a couple of hours we couldn't get back in our trip. Seriously how did the maids miss this!

Looking forward to hearing about Sea World. We drove by a lot on this trip since we were staying at Mariott Grande Vista and everytime the kids begged to go.
 


Also, I too am wondering what the Sleepy Hollow party is. I haven't heard of that either. I wonder if it's going on in September. Kid fell in LOVE with Fort Wilderness the one night we stayed there this trip (even through all the rain!)
 
YIPPIE!! Cant wait!!

Me neither!! :teeth:

The good thing is, fall trips always seem to roll around SO unbelievably quickly. Summer is such a wonderful season, it just flies by and all of a sudden, it's Labor Day weekend. Then just like that, it's time to head back to Orlando. Our spring trips are the exact opposite: the winter takes FOREVER to pass and time crawls by :snail:.

Sounds like your ready to pack already! What's the Sleepy Hollow event? That's something that's passed me by as I've never heard of it.

We love FW and are planning a visit over Christmas to see the camper decorations.

I do have an embarrassing amount of stuff already planned for October, don't I? :o What can I say, its a good cure for the post-vacation blues :p.

The Return to Sleepy Hollow event at FW debuted in 2017, and apparently sold out almost every night. This year, they added a third tier (the Ultimate ticket) which includes the Van Tassel dessert party. We didn't feel MNSSHP was a good value last year (much more crowded than in year's past, and more expensive every season) so we thought it would be fun to try something different, but still in the Halloween spirit.

http://www.wdwinfo.com/news-stories...ent-coming-back-for-2018-tickets-on-sale-now/

:rotfl:I truly did spend the entire day watching the royal wedding, the recap, the fashion recap and the recap of the recap!

I would love to squeeze in a visit during your October trip. Rich has a meeting with the union today so if he is back to work sooner than planned we may be in luck!

Really? That would be AWESOME!!!!! Let me know if you're serious.....'cause I really want you to be serious! How much fun would we have??

We have a cruise Oct 11-15 so likely not. IF we happen to get down there may be toward beginning of month when middle kid doesn't have band for the one weekend. Since we don't return from cruise until middle kid's 16th bday (and its adult only cruise) if I can swing it I'll take her for a quick weekend trip. We could even visit a college just so if she misses a day of school it is excused lol! Older DD comes home Aug 9th back to Arkansas for school.
Yep-planning a day at Disneyland Paris-can't be that close and not go. Will be tracking airfare soon so I can get better idea of budget.

Ah yes, the budget :rolleyes:. I totally get it. There's only so far one can stretch the wallet.

I really should start buying lottery tickets. I don't necessarily need to win millions, just enough for me to be extra splurgy on our travels :goodvibes.

Trust me, mother nature can be a complete and total, well not an appropriate word to say on these boards! But since I've seen your pictures I know that you had bright and sunny skies the remainder of your trip!

And woo-hoo on scheduling your next vacay. I'm glad I'm not the only one who comes home and then immediately books the next adventure!

Ha ha! You are in good company, my beautiful friend. It's good to know we're both not crazy! (or, if we're crazy, that we're not alone :rotfl:)

I'm a little bit envious, though. Your new countdown is WAY shorter than mine!

We were exceptionally blessed with the weather in Orlando. At home, well.....not so much :umbrella: . Stay tuned.

Well if they get the go ahead I might have a few! So I'll get in touch if you don't mind :goodvibes

You sure you don't want to detour to Michigan if you're already that far north? ;)

I finally got a chance to check in after our trip. Happy to see you started your report already!

How can you not love a plane with a walrus on it? Sweet Tomatoes is so yummy. We went there once this trip too. They had a yummy taco salad this time. I usually put a chocolate muffin underneath the vanilla ice cream and chocolate syrrup. So you were a bit healthier than me. ;)

How cool is it that you had your own private stairs to the pool! I've never seen that before. I'm kinda jealous. ;) Your resort arrival was better than ours. Upon checking one of the beds I discovered lots of uhh evidence that there were bedbugs. Like a LOT! Thankfully I checked the beds before we did anything else. They ended up moving us but it was a couple of hours we couldn't get back in our trip. Seriously how did the maids miss this!

Looking forward to hearing about Sea World. We drove by a lot on this trip since we were staying at Mariott Grande Vista and everytime the kids begged to go.
You had evidence of bed bugs in your room at the Grande Vista??? :eek: :scared1: That's awful.....and so surprising for such a lovely property. I guess even the upper end resorts aren't immune. Thank God you checked .... had you not, can you imagine how that could have turned out?? Ick :sick:.

All of the Fountains villas at SVR have the front entrance (which takes you to the parking areas) and a back entrance to either the pool or a water feature (depending on building location). Both are accessed by the same room key, so its really quite convenient. Very well thought out by the architects who designed that phase of the property.

Also, I too am wondering what the Sleepy Hollow party is. I haven't heard of that either. I wonder if it's going on in September. Kid fell in LOVE with Fort Wilderness the one night we stayed there this trip (even through all the rain!)

How late in September are your travel dates? Return to Sleepy Hollow starts on the 28th:

https://disneyparks.disney.go.com/b...erness-resort-campground-begins-september-28/

I have to look up what time fireworks at MK will be on our night. I'm thinking maybe we might be able to catch them from the FW beach after the dessert party. That would be a mighty fine way to wrap up the night.
 


Sleepy Hollow sounds great. Can't wait to read all about it, assuming you will be doing a trip report.......:rolleyes:

How far are you from Schenectady? We can get some pretty decent flights to New York, depending on the season, but then it looks like a 3 or 4 hour drive to Schenectady.
 
I am so sorry there’s been a terrible lack of updates this week :o: my work days were hectic and full (probably not surprising right before a long weekend) and the sun has actually been shining here in SE Michigan this week. That meant we kicked some major butt in the lawn care/property maintenance department here at the house, which has definitely made me a happy girl. Other than a cloudy, rainy and possibly stormy morning in the forecast today, the balance of the Memorial Day weekend is supposed to be hot, sunny and dry……so hopefully, more progress will be made outdoors and our backyard transformation will continue moving right along. I hope all my American readers have a great Memorial Day holiday planned!

In the meantime, I want to at least get a start on the next entry in this trip report. Without further adieu, let’s kick off Day 2.


Saturday, May 5th: Cinco de Mayo. Or, as someone so candidly suggested, “Cinco de Drinko” :drinking1

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While my heart had been yearning for a Disney Day in this vacation (and we had toyed with the idea of adding a day at one of the Disney parks to the itinerary in the early planning stages), our house purchase and killer tax bill put a firm kibosh to that plan as the early months of the year unfolded. With moving costs, furniture and décor purchases, and our massive payment to the IRS, we had vowed to be somewhat frugal on this trip and try to have as much fun as possible without breaking the bank. We didn’t even bother making a breakfast reservation for a character meal for this vacation in an effort to be financially responsible: and that, as you know, is quite unusual for us. We usually sneak in at least one morning meal with Mickey somewhere along the way.

I wasn’t disappointed, really. We had so much other great stuff planned that being disappointed would really be quite petty. I decided it would just be something I could look forward to on a future trip, instead ::yes::.
A few days before our departure, I was lounging downstairs [covered in a blanket of cats :cat:] watching TV in the late evening when I receive a Facebook message from @chiamarie (who, for simplicity purposes, I will simply refer to as T for the purposes of this report). T and I had long since been chatting about the upcoming trip here and there over the preceding months via various modes of electronic communication, and had made plans to get together for dinner on whatever evening would work best with her hectic schedule. And when I say hectic schedule, let me assure you that that’s the understatement of the year: not only does she work full time for one of the major park families in Orlando, but she somehow manages to juggle part time work for one of the second organizations. She often works as much in two days as I do in two weeks :crazy2:.

When she messaged me that particular evening, we were chatting about the trip and how excited we were that it was finally on the horizon. She asked about our specific plans for the weekend, and I told her that we didn’t really have anything firm in place, just making sure we were available at some point to meet up with @JaxDad and his family before they returned home in the late afternoon on Sunday. It turned out she was off from both jobs on Saturday, and asked if we would like to join her at EPCOT, and admission would be covered through her CM guest passes.

I cannot even begin to tell you how this young lady makes my heart burst with all of her kindness :love:. She is truly one of the sweetest, loveliest people that I’ve ever been lucky enough to meet. I keep telling her that I want her to be my daughter in law, and she laughs at me like I’m kidding around. Who’s joking? :rolleyes2 I’m totally serious, kid :teeth:.

We messaged back and forth for a long time that night, weaving the plans together as I typed away on my phone and chattered non-stop to Steve. He happens to think the world of T as well, so he was easily pulled into the frenzy of excitement as our Disney Saturday took shape. There would be two stipulations on the day, though, that were laid out quite clearly for me by Miss T:

#1, I would be required to put on my big girl panties, man up, and ride Test Track :scared:. No chickening out allowed. She would be booking Fast Passes and I would be stretching my boundaries. Apparently, it was time :laughing:.

#2, I would be having a margarita from the tequila bar in Mexico. It was Cinco de Mayo, after all, so it was nearly a requirement…..right? :p She was also a bit horrified that I’d never had a margarita before (I’ll pause a moment here so you can all be shocked).

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There ya go :rotfl2:.

IN MY DEFENSE........I’m not a huge drinker. After spending 10 years on medication to control seizures (where drinking was a complete no-no), I just never got in the regular habit after that medication was no longer an issue. Yes, I'm a light-weight :blush: ... And I’ve never been fond of the tequila that I’ve sampled since then; of course, as T so rightly pointed out, not all tequila is created equal, so that may be part of the issue. She assured me I’d enjoy something fruity from the margarita bar (“it tastes like juice!”) and that it would be our second “must” of the day. Bottoms up :drinking1.


I was much more nervous about riding Test Track than drinking a margarita, but for T, I would gladly do both. Steve and I could hardly wait until Saturday. I may have even done a little dance as I packed my mouse ears in the suitcase on Thursday night :earboy2:.


**SIDE NOTE**

When we moved into our new home, I purchased a beautiful wooden sign from Hobby Lobby for our master bedroom. We mounted it above our headboard, as I thought it was a wonderful sentiment to wake up to in the morning and to be reminded of before bed each night. It was also the inspiration for the title of this trip report.

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As we sat in the airport waiting for our flight home, we remarked at how grateful we were for all the lovely little highlights of the trip, and how blessed we had been over the course of the week. We were so thankful. While the trip may have taken a completely different shape than it originally started out to be last December, it was so perfect in SO many ways :goodvibes.

Picking a name for each trip report is always the thing I struggle with after each trip. This time, it came very easily.


@chiamarie , we are so grateful, thankful and blessed to know you! :hug: [and the offer for a blind date with a good looking bachelor from Canada is always open if you change your mind :teeth:]


On Friday night, we texted with T and set up a meeting place and time at EPCOT: sometime close to park opening (9 am) outside the Joffrey’s Coffee kiosk.

Saturday morning, we were both up at the crack of dawn (partly out of habit, partly out of excitement) so we decided to grab a quick but hearty breakfast before heading to the park. We donned our matching t-shirts that we had purchased the night prior [since Steve was being a good sport about partaking in the matching Disney wear, I let him pick the T’s …. the grey would not have been my first choice, but he was happy so who was I to veto them?] and headed out in search of breakfast.

Fast and filling were my two requirements…..we didn’t want to keep T waiting because we were being gluttons….so Steve, quite predictably, slid us swiftly over to Golden Corral. It’s just around the corner from the Vistana, and traffic was surprisingly quiet that Saturday morning so we were seated at a table in no time. I had a coupon for 50 cents off each adult breakfast buffet, so the total with tax (excluding tip) was under $20. Steve would eat his cost (and half of mine too!) in bacon alone :blush:.

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I don’t think there were six tables occupied in the restaurant, including ourselves. You could easily have shot a cannon through the building and not hit a soul. It was quiet and peaceful and a nice way to start out our first morning in Orlando. It was also a very nice Golden Corral experience: generally its not the food that makes Golden Corral a questionable choice, it’s the behavior of some of the clientele. We had an attentive server that was helpful but not intrusive, the food options were plentiful and well stocked, and we both got well fueled for a long day of walking at the parks.

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As we were eating breakfast, we received a check-in from the Pet Nanny. Violet and Dash were doing great (she texted me some fun photos of them partaking in their customary morning antics) but she wanted to let us know that the power to the house had still not been restored. She indicated that all neighboring traffic lights seemed to be operating, so she wasn't sure if it was a localized issue to our house only, or if other folks on the street were also still without hydro. Steve and I chatted a bit about it as we ate, and opted to give it the balance of the day: we told Morga that if it was still an issue when she came for her nightly visit with the cats, we'd escalate things a bit more then. DTE is often a bit slow in getting power restored after a storm, but surely they'd have it on 24 hours later. Right??? :confused: It's not like we were buried under 3 feet of snow or a thick coating of ice. It was just a passing rainstorm, after all.

Having concluded our breakfast, the drive to EPCOT went super smoothly……all of Orlando seemed ‘quiet’, with noticeably light traffic on the roadways :car:…..and we were driving under that magical archway within minutes.

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Parking lines were pretty short and moved very efficiently. We were very fortunate to get a great spot just a short walk from the entrance, something that would prove extremely beneficial later in the day ::yes:: [more on that when the time is right].

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We headed over to our designated meeting space, and promptly received a text that T was on her way …. she had the same idea we did, and had stopped for a bite to eat before arriving. We amused ourselves by taking some photos while we waited.

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While the sun was blazing in the sky at that point :sunny:, the weatherman predicted that showers would be an issue as the day wore on. It would be warm (hot by Michigan standards), with temps in the high 80’s/low 90’s but not sticky humid. We had sunscreened our pasty white northern skin before leaving the villa, and I was prepared with both an umbrella and a canister of Banana Boat in my purse: whatever was needed later in the day, we would be ready :umbrella:.

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I was firmly enthralled with people watching when Steve called to me from behind: our favorite Floridian had arrived and somehow I had totally missed her as she walked by. T was here! :banana: Let our EPCOT day officially begin! :cheer2:

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More EPCOT up next :surfweb:.
 
Sleepy Hollow sounds great. Can't wait to read all about it, assuming you will be doing a trip report.......:rolleyes:

How far are you from Schenectady? We can get some pretty decent flights to New York, depending on the season, but then it looks like a 3 or 4 hour drive to Schenectady.

Ha ha! That's the plan! :thumbsup2 If you promise to read, I'll be here to share the details.

We are about 550 miles (accordingly to Google Maps, about 8.5 hours without stops) from Schenectady. Ouch! :crazy2:
 
So happy you made it to Epcot. Too bad you aren't planning a summer visit- my DD has passes left from her program last fall. Hope you enjoyed test track and the margarita. The lines at La Cava fee too long last Saturday to get one- and DD and I were more interested in hitting up our favorite festival booths :rotfl2:
 
Of course I'll be reading along. It looks like a beautiful day at Epcot, but is something afoot? I'm not on Facebook or anything so your reports are all new to me.
 
So happy you made it to Epcot. Too bad you aren't planning a summer visit- my DD has passes left from her program last fall. Hope you enjoyed test track and the margarita. The lines at La Cava fee too long last Saturday to get one- and DD and I were more interested in hitting up our favorite festival booths :rotfl2:

Aw, what a sweet offer!! But, one thing we have learned (from 3 hotter-than-the-surface-of-the-sun August trips) is that summer in the Orlando theme parks is not the place for the Bo-Bina family :crazy2:. Whoever tries to say that there's no difference in the humidity from the north to the south is full of baloney. Summertime in Florida is a special kind of hot all on its own!!

And then of course, there's the pesky budget :rolleyes:. We'll be making a trip (maybe two) back home while the weather is pleasant, but other than continuing to explore Michigan (when we're not working on the house), that's likely the only travel plans we'll have for the summer months. Especially now that we have October plans officially in motion :).

The lines at La Cava were long on Cinco de Mayo, but the bartenders were moving like lightning......their poor arms must have felt like rubber by the time their shifts ended that night!!! We looked at quite a few of the festival booths and some of their dishes looked really good, but picky eater that I am, I was a bit afraid to try most of them (mostly because there was one ingredient or aspect I wasn't fond of......I am such a child when it comes to food!!). The Karamell-Kusche in Germany, on the other hand.....that was my newest Epcot discovery :love:.

This day is off to a great start. And I like Steve's t-shirt pick!

You just made his day!! :p

When he picked them out, I was like......oh, they're grey :crazy2:. He just looked at me in bewilderment, and says.....Yeah! I like them. They don't look 'girly'.

And I think to myself.....what's wrong with 'girly'? :confused3 :rotfl:

So, grey it was :rolleyes:.

I'll be pre-buying our shirts for our Return to Sleepy Hollow night in October ;). And they won't be grey!!! :laughing:

Of course I'll be reading along. It looks like a beautiful day at Epcot, but is something afoot? I'm not on Facebook or anything so your reports are all new to me.

The weather was splendid indeed to start the day. Especially for us northerners, as it was a colder-than-normal spring in Michigan. All that sun and warmth was certainly appreciated!

Afoot? Not really. Nothing super bad, anyway. Stay tuned for more!
 
You guys are so cute in your matching shirts! I'm glad you managed to get a Disney day after all - and Test Track is so much fun!
 
As per your last trip; we'll keep going with "I'm the little sister you never had" not daughter.....you keep forgetting how old I am! Jake is a smidge out of my age range that I'm looking for; and he lives in Canada; which isn't very close to Florida.

I was at dinner tonight; and my stepmom just found all our photopass photos and was confused as to who these "strangers" were in her Disney app.

Also, YOU are TOOOOOOO kind to say all those nice things about me! (pretty sure I can find a few people who'd disagree with all those nice things)
 
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Ha ha! You are in good company, my beautiful friend. It's good to know we're both not crazy! (or, if we're crazy, that we're not alone :rotfl:)

I'm a little bit envious, though. Your new countdown is WAY shorter than mine!

I embrace my crazy and my crazy friends! Being normal is so overrated. Because normal people don't say "yes, let's go back to Disney - AKA the surface of the sun - in July". Only five weeks and 2 days til we leave. And I just added another day to the trip. I'm clearly insane.

I was like......oh, they're grey

I've often wondered the draw between men and grey shirts. Tony has - and I'm not exaggerating - at least 10 different grey shirts in different styles and "hues". There are two grey t-shirts that are so old and tattered that they really should only be used as dish rags. But no, he still wears them. Not outside the house of course!
 
You guys are so cute in your matching shirts! I'm glad you managed to get a Disney day after all - and Test Track is so much fun!

Steve is SUCH a good sport about matching up while we're on vacation......and it really does make for some fun pics. I am always amazed at how many people we encounter in the parks notice, too.....and are quick to point out, "Awwww, you match!" (even when the matching is a little more subtle than our identical Disney T's LOL).

Test Track was awesome!! And so much different than I expected it would be!

As per your last trip; we'll keep going with "I'm the little sister you never had" not daughter.....you keep forgetting how old I am!

I think you keep forgetting how old WE are, kiddo. If Plan A doesn't work out and I can't convince you to marry my offspring, then having you as a "little sister" is the next best thing I suppose. But for the record, I think I'd make one awesome Mother In Law :teeth:. Just sayin' ;).

Jake is a smidge out of my age range that I'm looking for; and he lives in Canada; which isn't very close to Florida.

Details, details. Don't you watch commercials these days? "1 in 5 relationships begin online" :p.

I was at dinner tonight; and my stepmom just found all our photopass photos and was confused as to who these "strangers" were in her Disney app.

Oh dear. I hope we weren't too awkward to explain. And I hope you're having a great time with your family while they're in town!! Too bad the weather had to be so foul for their visit :(.

Also, YOU are TOOOOOOO kind to say all those nice things about me! (pretty sure I can find a few people who'd disagree with all those nice things)

I meant ever single word, sincerely. As for those who may disagree, there's a fool and an idiot in every crowd. They would surely fall into one of those two categories.

Can't wait to read about Epcot!

I took SO many photos!! The Flower & Garden Festival is SO stunning! :flower1:

I embrace my crazy and my crazy friends! Being normal is so overrated. Because normal people don't say "yes, let's go back to Disney - AKA the surface of the sun - in July". Only five weeks and 2 days til we leave. And I just added another day to the trip. I'm clearly insane.

I've often wondered the draw between men and grey shirts. Tony has - and I'm not exaggerating - at least 10 different grey shirts in different styles and "hues". There are two grey t-shirts that are so old and tattered that they really should only be used as dish rags. But no, he still wears them. Not outside the house of course!

Normal people might not do that, but the fun ones sure do!!! ::yes:: You only live once, my friend.....pack those misting fans and don't look back! You are going to have a BALL! And wahoo for an extra day :banana: ..... another whole additional day of FUN!!!! :woohoo:

As a pasty white and pale girl, grey is usually not very 'becoming' for me.....and it COMPLETELY feels wrong in Florida, especially. I feel like we should be sporting greens, blues, corals and yellows in the sunshiny south, not drab colors that resemble wet pavement or muddy snow. But.... I am not complaining :). While it wouldn't have been anything that i picked, it makes me smile when I see his (grey) stamp on our vacation memories.

You know we simply have to get our guys to meet someday, right? I truly think they'd hit it off famously.
 
Nice to come home from vacation to your started trip report @Gina-Gina-Bo-Bina ! We enjoyed our week in Paris but I'm glad to be home. Disneyland Paris is great, the themeing in fantasyland is so much better than wdw. Their studios park needs the love and additions it'll be getting in the coming years but I'm excited that Ratatoiulle is coming here, it's a fun cute ride. Their big thunder mountain is awesome, I wanted to pack it up and bring it home to one of our parks. Paris itself was also nice but I definitely didn't have that feeling that a lot of people have and while I would go back it's not going to push new places down the list like WDW does.

Next up is San Francisco labor day weekend so I can go to the Disney Family museum and see the Mariners play the A's in Oakland. Then WDW Nov 2-10 with the 6-10 part being solo which I'm looking forward to.
 

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