Happy Birthday Bill – The 3 Day B'day Extravaganza *New 7/8 Now it's time to say bye*

[Goofyluver]

I'm glad Bill "enjoyed" the belly dancer!

Great pics around Epcot!

And I was told to try one of those Grey Goose slushies. Next trip!!! It's OOOOOONNNNN!

 

[SaratogaShan]

Beautiful pictures!........Especially the one of YOU! You look so happy.

We will have to eat at Marrakesh in the future. Sooner rather than later if my husband realizes there are belly dancers there.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Shan

 

[mkluvsmickey]

What are your dates again in October? I would love to get to meet you if we could.

Tracy - we will be at POP from 10/15 - 10/19. I really hope we can meet!


Great update! Love the term "epicot" - now you've got me saying it!

It is nice to see the pictures of how accessible WDW world is for Bill - that looks like a really cool clamshell that you guys got to ride in during Nemo.

I always forget about the dolphins in there - can't believe I've never seen them all these years.

You look so happy in that picture with the slushie! I guess I would be too - lol. I have yet to try that drink but it is on the list for our girls trip in December.

Love the peeps pic from Morocco too!

Great job Tracy - just love your reports!

 

[mrsksomeday]

Gorgeous photos, all the flowers look lovely and Bill liked the belly dancer huh

With the fence at Epcot, I think but maybe wrong, that at busier times of year/day they have a big bag check area and the fences guide you through them rather than the bag checks at the turnstiles

Hi Jo! I loved looking at all the flowers. We seem to not spend time just looking around the world showcase. We hope to changed that in October.

Bill enjoyed watching the belly dancer .

Makes sense about the fence, it just looked odd to me.

Yup. Bill has the same look on his face that my husband did when he saw the belly dancer.
What the heck is the white sauce on your dessert? It looks so good!!!

Hi!! Most men had that look on their face . I have no idea what the white sauce was, it wasn't a very flavorful dessert, but the mint green tea might have thrown my taste buds off .

I'm glad Bill "enjoyed" the belly dancer!

Hi!! I am glad he liked it too, that restaurant has a great atmosphere.

Great pics around Epcot!

And I was told to try one of those Grey Goose slushies. Next trip!!! It's OOOOOONNNNN!

I seem to go pictures crazy on vacation. I loved the Grey Goose slushie, although I am going to try the Grand Marnier slushie next trip!!

Beautiful pictures!........Especially the one of YOU! You look so happy.

Hi Shan! Thanks for the compliments, you should have seen how happy I looked after I drank that slushie .

We will have to eat at Marrakesh in the future. Sooner rather than later if my husband realizes there are belly dancers there.

Can't wait for the next installment!

Shan

The belly dancer does make for a unique experience.

Tracy - we will be at POP from 10/15 - 10/19. I really hope we can meet!

Hi Michelle! We are scheduled right now the 19th - 27th, but I am adding the 18th. I hope we can meet too!!

Great update! Love the term "epicot" - now you've got me saying it!

It is nice to see the pictures of how accessible WDW world is for Bill - that looks like a really cool clamshell that you guys got to ride in during Nemo.

I always forget about the dolphins in there - can't believe I've never seen them all these years.

You look so happy in that picture with the slushie! I guess I would be too - lol. I have yet to try that drink but it is on the list for our girls trip in December.

Love the peeps pic from Morocco too!

Great job Tracy - just love your reports!

Disney is one of the most accessible places there is. It makes me so happy that he can ride all the things he can in the comfort of his wheelchair. The CM's were really accomodating when I was taking pictures of the accessiblity.

The dolphin training was a "must do" for us this time, I am so glad we did it.

I think you will enjoy the slushie .

I am glad I took that picture in Morocco. I adore Jordan and it just kept running through my head to do that. After I did, I didn't think about doing it again.

Thank you everyone for reading.

 

[luvfigment]

Great update Tracy! EPCOT is really pretty in the spring early summer, the pictures were great. Can't wait to see what was next.

 

[mrsksomeday]

Great update Tracy! EPCOT is really pretty in the spring early summer, the pictures were great. Can't wait to see what was next.

Thank you so much!! I loved the flowers, I could have went crazy taking pictures of them.

 

[mrsksomeday]

We came out of the restaurant and it had cooled off a bit. The sun was behind some clouds and there was a breeze, ahhhhh very nice. We went to look at a pin cart. Bill hadn’t purchased any pins yet and was itching to. He got a muppet pin and a Tink Pin:

Why do I go picture crazy when I go to WDW? I guess in the back of my mind it doesn’t feel real to me, that I might never make it back and I have to capture all the sites I see, so this installment will have some of the many pictures I took.

I liked seeing the boat in the lagoon:

More random World Showcase pictures:

For some reason I short changed Mexico, like I usually do to Canada . We were making our way to one of the wheelchair accessible locations. Illuminations was different from the last time we saw it, we loved it. WDW really knows how to do the fireworks shows.

We made our way out of the park and went to the bus line. For some reason there was no place to break off to go for wheelchairs so we went through the normal line. It was insane how many people were in line, but everyone was nice for about the first hour, then people started getting cranky. Busses were going to the other stops, but not for Pop. It took us over 90 minutes to get close to the front of the line. I expected this because of the crowds in June. It was very hot, but I was handling it well. A bus showed up and the driver started telling me we were in the wrong place and we should have been here, blah, blah, blah. Then I told him there was no place to veer off and he looked and said “well that shouldn’t be that way” DUH!!!

We finally got back to Pop and got Chocolate milk for Bill’s pills. I set the alarm for 6am and we went to bed.

Next installment…Did we make rope drop at DHS?

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Great pictures of World Showcase Tracy! I especially like the one of SSE seen through the china/japan( (?) pavillion. We have yet to see IllumiNations - must do on next trip. Sorry about your horrible bus wait - that is crazy!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Wonderful pics Tracy!!!! So clear.

 

[ddstratton]

Great installment!! I love your pictures around the World Showcase. Don't worry about going picture-crazy. On our last trip to TN, we were gone for a total of 7 days, and I took over 800 pictures. I hate to think how many I'll take at Disney World..... (That's why I'm bringing the laptop -- so I can download my pictures and not worry about running out of room on the memory cards)

 

[luvfigment]

Yikes 90 mins?!?!?!? That is why DH likes to walk aroud the park and take our time leaving so we don't have to wait in a line that long. Plus it is nice to be in the parks just enjoying the moment while sitting on a bench instead of in a line. Can't wait to see if you made it for rope drop.

 

[Goofyluver]

90 minutes for a bus? I can't even imagine!

Great pics. I loooooove reports with lots of them. No complaints from me!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Just checking in to say Hi

 

[mrsksomeday]

Great pictures of World Showcase Tracy! I especially like the one of SSE seen through the china/japan( (?) pavillion. We have yet to see IllumiNations - must do on next trip. Sorry about your horrible bus wait - that is crazy!

Hi Michelle. Thanks, I really like that pic too. It is the Japan pavillion. Oh you need to see Illuminations, it is wonderful.

Wonderful pics Tracy!!!! So clear.

Thank you so much, I am very happy how they turned out.

Great installment!! I love your pictures around the World Showcase. Don't worry about going picture-crazy. On our last trip to TN, we were gone for a total of 7 days, and I took over 800 pictures. I hate to think how many I'll take at Disney World..... (That's why I'm bringing the laptop -- so I can download my pictures and not worry about running out of room on the memory cards)

Thank you!! This is the first time I haven't taken the laptop to download pics, I was afraid I was going to run out of room .

Yikes 90 mins?!?!?!? That is why DH likes to walk aroud the park and take our time leaving so we don't have to wait in a line that long. Plus it is nice to be in the parks just enjoying the moment while sitting on a bench instead of in a line. Can't wait to see if you made it for rope drop.

Hi! Usually Bill and I do walk around for a bit before going out to the busses, but we had been up since 4am and just wanted to get back to the room.

90 minutes for a bus? I can't even imagine!

Great pics. I loooooove reports with lots of them. No complaints from me!

Hi, it seemed like forever, lol. Thanks, I love reports like that too. I promise, I never leaned on someone, moved a child out of the way, or used a strangers head for a tripod to get any of these pictures .

Just checking in to say Hi

Hi back , there will be in installment coming right up. I have to go get Bill for lunch right now.

 

[mrsksomeday]

The alarm went off and the wake up call came at the same time. What did we do? I hopped up ready to go and Bill didn’t say his classic “one more hour” line. We were both excited to see what would happen this day. After I got Bill ready, I got ready, and got stuff together for Bill’s backpack, we were out the door by 7:30am.

A rare quiet time at Pop:

Bill, waiting for the bus, ready for a day of Star Wars activity:

We got on a bus right before 8 and in a couple of minutes we were there. We were standing in a great place to wait for the Stormtroopers to show up. I took some pictures:

Why have I never noticed this Mickey?

They saw Bill pointing at them and one of them pointed a gun right toward Bill:

It was funny, we liked it a lot. They decided to let us in. We saw someone dressed as Anakin behind Bill:

As we were walking in the park we heard them saying “fast pass lanes are over here”. Bill looked at me, I looked at him and we went that way. David Prowse’s (Darth Vader) line was very long. Peter Mayhew’s (Chewbacca) line wasn’t too bad and Bill said he wanted to try it. There was a lady in front of us with her son. This was their first time too. I asked the CM if I needed a Fast Pass or not because I didn’t want an autograph I would just be going through the line with Bill, he said only Bill would need one.

The lady, Diane, started talking to her daughter that had just come up. There was a conversation about the daughter not wanting to stand in line with her dad in the Darth Vader line “because they were way back there and there was no chance of a FP”. She wanted to get Chewy’s autograph, but Diane wanted her to stay with her dad and keep him company. Then I got an idea, I told her I could get a FP and give it to her for her daughter. I wanted to spread some Pixie Dust that day. She thanked me many times and got my email addy. The Stormtroopers walked among the crowd and I got a picture of Bill with one.

We went on our way and who did we see? Queen Amidala and we decided to get a picture of Bill with her. Yes, we had the birthday button on again – day 2 of the 3 day extravaganza. Don’t judge us just smile and keep reading. The Queen wished Bill Happy Birthday and I played photographer:

We didn’t have a plan for today, so we decided to walk around. Here are some random pics I took:

We walked over to see Behind the Force, but Bill decided to see the motorcade instead on the other side of the park. On the way we stopped in at Tatoonie Traders and got Bill a SWW t-shirt and a Star Wars pin:

We were worried about getting a spot, so we went over to sit at the Backlot Express, there was a rope so we sat behind it. We got to see the kids doing the Padawan Mind Challenge, it was cute.

People were lining up for the motorcade. Here is a family that got dressed up:

There were some people dressed up, but I think more would have been if it wasn’t so blasted hot. It was very hot that day, or at least to me it was.


Continued in next post...

 

[mrsksomeday]

Then it was time for the motorcade, here were the hosts of it. They jokes were really corny, but funny:

Look Darth Vader - David Prowse:

Chewy - Peter Mayhew (He kinda looks like Chewy doesn't he?)

Certain people/characters went up on stage:

Finally Warwick Davis:

Next installment…what to do next?

 

[MRYPPNS]

Next installment…what to do next?

Have a boozie slushie on such a hot day?

Great pictures....I've never seen pictures of the SWW "parade" before. And I must say that I recognized more characters then I thought I would.

 

[ddstratton]

You got some very nice shots of the parade/motorcade. Looks like a lot of fun (even though it was HOT).

And I have to admit. I've never even seen ONE of the Star Wars movies!!! I know basically who the main characters are, but can't really tell ya much about the storylines or anything. Just one thing I never did get "into". Look like you guys were enjoying it though.

 

[DisneyJo]

SWW looks fun, crowded but loads of fun.

How sweet were you getting that FP for that little girl, spreading your own pixiedust :

The parade looks good too and yes the actor who plays chewy does resemble the character

 

[mrsksomeday]

Have a boozie slushie on such a hot day?

Great pictures....I've never seen pictures of the SWW "parade" before. And I must say that I recognized more characters then I thought I would.

Hi Heidi! I wish I could have had a slushie that day . I also recognized more people than I thought I would, but there were some I was thinking "who the heck is that?".

You got some very nice shots of the parade/motorcade. Looks like a lot of fun (even though it was HOT).

And I have to admit. I've never even seen ONE of the Star Wars movies!!! I know basically who the main characters are, but can't really tell ya much about the storylines or anything. Just one thing I never did get "into". Look like you guys were enjoying it though.

Hi Darla, we had a great spot for the parade, I had no idea all the characters would go up on that stage, it was great!! Oh, I won't tell Bill you haven't seen any of the movies, I don't want him to faint. He will tell me I can't talk to you anymore .

SWW looks fun, crowded but loads of fun.

How sweet were you getting that FP for that little girl, spreading your own pixiedust :

The parade looks good too and yes the actor who plays chewy does resemble the character

Hi Jo. It was extremely crowded, but the people seemed to be a lot more polite than the super soap fans. Thanks, I had fun spreading the pixie dust. The mom kept saying over and over again.. are you sure? She was really sweet.

Peter Mayhew is a goof ball. You will see in some of the other pictures I have.