Having a GRAND time - the NEW Official GF Chat Thread PART 4

[Maxie86]

This is for Marvel. I am finally home. It is snowing very hard here. I really don't know how I made it home. I could not see anything, and didn't know where the road was. Total whiteout. I had to pull over several times to clean snow off of my windshield wipers, and clean the windows. Didn't help much, by the time I got back in the car they were covered again. Forunately my car is very good in the snow, so I didn't have any trouble on that end. There were lots of cars stuck all over the road. Off to catch up on the last couple of pages.

 

[Maxie86]

OK, I guess I am chatting with myself.
Lcaemom: Welcome, we are getting more MA peeps. We need to go to lunch so we can all meet. That is neat that you met a disser on the plane. I have never met one that I know of anyway.

Dawn and Siobhan: Feel better soon.

We are staying home tonight. Good thing too with all of this snow. We don't usually do anything special on New Years Eve. We always go out for breakfast on New Years Day.

 

[mickeynut1]

Hi Maxie .....We had a little snow this morning but it didn't amount to anything . DH said the weather forcasted us to get some accumulation tonight and maybe tomorrow and Friday . It's sunny here but COLD . That would be neat if some of you MA gals were able to meet . I'm glad you made it home ok......it gets freaky when you can't see the road .


Mare......I don't blame you for being nervous to go to CM when you were there Nov . Getting sick once would be enough to keep me away from anywhere . But I'm glad it wasn't anything that stuck around and you were all fine shortly after . We've done CM so many times that we're just burnt out on it . But we do love eating there and the character interaction has always been great for us .


Dawn......Was the doctor able to help ya ? I hope you feel better soon and your cough clears up .


Deb

 

[BlueSkies]

Good Afternoon Gals

Lisa I have been thinking about a split stay too for a future trip (always thinking about those future trips!! )...based on the suggestions I have gotten here it would probably be YC/GF or Swan/GF...

Lcae I was laughing thinking about what you said about shopping with the kids and them having on that "hurry up" face... My DH usually has that when ever I have that bad judgement to shop with him!!! My teens like to shop...not sure if that is a good thing or not

Mare A $30,000 bag should pack and carry itself around... I like your new dining moto..I think I'll adopt that too...What do you mean you spent your spa stash at the supermarket!!! Tell DH now you'll just need more... Have a safe trip to the country house and a nice weekend...

Channing Our teens will try to sleep all day too...even on vacation...WTH! Dawn is right they are all very nocturnal Whats so bad about tangled sweaters...I wear them all the time..

Dawn Hope the dr gave you some meds and you will start to feel better

I guess my New Years resolution should be to post shorter posts too....dont think I can though...than I'll just end up posting lots of shorter ones! I'm on that weight loss band wagon too...20 lbs would be so nice...

Marvel Hope you are enjoying that beautiful Florida weather...we are getting lots of the snow that you wished for!!!

Maxie That sounds like one scary trip home Glad that you got in safely...

Ok another novel...

Wishing you all a HAPPY NEW YEAR

 

[m&pForever]

Hi Everyone.
Universal and the Hard Rock Hotel is such a different experience than Disney... I can't say better or worse yet after 1 day but so different.

The King suite is very nice but the best part is the kids are with grandma in the connecting room!!
Chan, my mom had had a nice experience with SE limos. They got her here pretty fast.

We are on the first floor very close to the pool and food and the very convienent walkway to the parks. less than 10 min from our door to universal studios and i guess less than 5 min more to IOA.

Marvel....sounds like you have had an awesome trip. Good to know about the crowds around xmas time....maybe thinking of Dis at xmas next year so i would def like your imput on crowd comparision from summer to xmas.
dawn

Im so used to July and August crowds so mrs and I didnt feel much of a difference. In the summer i've been in wall to wall crowds on main street and that was the same last week. But i was just surprised on how empty the first couple of hours can be at Disney

Hi gals- finally checking in.
The crowds are crazy. Hollywood studios closed to capacity yesterday.

WOW im really surprised! but then again i think that is when we did mini golf and downtown disney

Marvel thanks for checking in.....we had that room and they felt bad for giving it to us last Thanksgiving when they upgraded us. But like you - I loved the view!! That side view is neat. Enjoy Universal ....FOTL is a neat perk. Happy New Year!

I can see some complainig about that room. At points i could hear the beeps of the service trucks but that didn't bother me. FOTL has been great so far. We went into IOA after checking and Spidey had a 2 hour wait but waited less than 5 minutes.

Marvel: I used to work for Universal's Parent Company here in NYC in their corporate office. It was back in the 90's when they were building Islands of Adventures. I've been there twice, and it's nothing like Disney World. It was different....
We stayed at the Hard Rock Hotel and the only good thing about that hotel is the Palm Steak House - amazing steaks! DH hated City Walk. We had rented a car and actually went back to Downtown Disney a few nights.

Mare

Oh yeah its very different. The staff seems much more casual and very laid back and much younger! makes me feel old
We have a reservation at the Palm so im looking forward to it.
With our kids and with us getting us early we rarely see any nightlife. We have city walk passes ( dont even know what that means or gets us into) but we prob wont use them.

Marvel - The Kitchen restaurant there at the Hard Rock is good! Nothing too fancy but good! Good ice cream in the 24 hour place there in the HR,too.

Also, we liked The Odyssey at Islands of Adventure. It supposed to be the best sit down in the parks. A rainstorm forced us to take cover and it was close to supper so we ate there. Not sure if they take ADR's. The Italian place at Portofino is supposed to be good and there's a lot of places at CityWalk - Margaritaville,etc.
I think theres a Dr. Suess character breakfast in Suessland at IOA too.

You will LOVE front of the line! Have a great time! I couldn't get my kids out of the Hard Rock pool either! DD had to enter the air guitar contest. FUNNY!!

We ate at the Kitchen when we arrived and are going there right now for dinner. I love how you dont even need reservations.
That ice cream place looks great but they are expensive for stuff like soda and chips. I miss the lounge and the kids keep asking to go to it.
I passed Odyssey today and i hope to try it.
We are trying one of the italian places at Portofino ( i was told there are three so i forget which one we have.
The kids keep asking to go in the pool but they will never want to get out and we have to go to dinner.

Can you believe we have NEVER been to IOA? We went to UO fro a special thing and hated it...... We are Disney snobs but I think we might try it again to try IOA, we love coasters so that would be fun but i doubt the kids will love it like they do WDW.

I love coasters and im loving the ones here. The HULK, and dueling dragons are really great The dragon one is better and it seems they are building a rock n roller clone for next year called Rip Ride Rock It.

Oh and Back to the Future and Jaws! Both Lame!!



WDW makes it so easy to trap us on property I'm not complaining or trying to escape anytime soon!

WHAT!! Jaws is a little cheesy but I've always loved Back to the Future. We did the simpons today (which replaced BTTF) and its a lot of fun but i do miss BTTF.

Yeah, Disney is great at trapping you. Only because we drove were we able to come here.

If you want to see "The Birds" you can have a mini remake right at the GF:

Just eat outside at Gaspies...

they stole one of our sandwhiches too!

 

[BlueSkies]

Just popping in quickly...Having a small gathering of family over to help ring in the New Year...

Marvel I was on the first floor at HRH also...no king suite thought just a regular room..I agree very convenient to everything...they have a real nice pool too...AND a nice pool bar...yummy hot wings...finger food and slushy drinks in case you didnt stop there yet... enjoy the rest of your vacation...

We'll be here watching the ball drop in Times Square...(imagine being in those crowds in the cold just to watch that in person!!) eating lots of goodies...because starting tomorrow...getting on that diet/eat healthy track...

Have a good night all...safe travels if you are out celebrating...happy healthy 2009!

 

[mandymommy4]

Marvel~ Glad you are enjoying the parks! I love that you get FOL access when you stay at Universal hotels....... We are considering trying Universal in 09' .... might get passes there instead of WDW Also thinking about Sea world? Too bad we cant afford them all!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008 was special because I met all my GALS (and Marvel)! Here's to more fun in 2009!

 

[Lives4Disney]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008 was special because I met all my GALS (and Marvel)! Here's to more fun in 2009!

My thoughts exactly!

Happy New Year everybody!!!


Marvel, I am glad SE worked out for your mom. I have always had great experiences with them & have no problem recommending them as they are good! What kind of room did you book at HRH? We stayed at PBH in a deluxe concierge room....I didn't really like that hotel much....not my style. It felt COLD. I would like to try HRH.

We never made it to City Walk either.....I am curious if you do how it is.

Keep having fun!!! Have a wonderful New Year Vacation!

Have a great night all!!! I am sneaking a break in.....we just had dinner...and I have pacified the beasts. (not sure how long that will last so this has to be short.....well short for my posts )

OMG..there is something so funny about Wicked Fishheads.... Kelly I hope you are having a nice time.....with or without those family members.

You MA gals still getting hit with the snow? Stay safe and warm.

TTYL! Hope everybody is having a good time.
Chan

 

[tinklvr64]

Hey all.....

Good thing I went to the Dr....I have severe laryngitis and bronchitis So I have been ordered no talking, use a vaporizer and take 2 meds for a week. The bad part is the meds he gave me make me lightheaded and give me insomnia ( Ive had them before) We ended up not having our NY eve dinner..so we are saving it for tomorrow.

Watching Lucy again....

everyone have a Fabulous New Years!

dawn

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

Mass Gals - I hope you are all home and safe in that awful storm. Hubby works beside Patriots stadium and it took him 6 hours to drive home to Maine. It is usually a 2 hr 45 min drive!!! He said the roads were awful and the visibility was non-existant.

Dawn and Siobhan - I hope the two of you feel better soon. You have exactly 36 days!!!


Nocturnal Teens? I have 2 of those!!! Some days I love them and some days I would happily trade them for an oil change.

30k? For a flipping purse??? Even if I had Bill Gates' money there is no way that is reasonable. A diamond something for that price...maybe. But a purse? Um, NO! Something like that is a wasteful status symbol to brag to the world that they have money to buy dumb stuff. 30K would put me in RPC for a month. Which is approximately the same amount of time the purse would be in style anyway. Junk like that goes out of style so fast! (guess I'm not so into status symbols ) And I love a cute purse the same as anyone...ask my 3yo with her cute girly little Coach bag (clearance at outlet store.)

Mare- you lost me at Bloomies. I have no idea who the designers are. My doorman is a willow tree. My grocery delivery is done by my two teen sons. Coldwater Creek is the most "designer" store within 50 miles. The closest thing in my world to a luggage cart....the garden cart that hooks onto the lawn mower.

Marval- The room at Universal sounds nice. And FOTL sounds GREAT! I am so amused that the kids want to go to the Lounge...mine keep asking now if the hotel will have a lounge like disney. Poor things, they don't realize that not everywhere has that. And In Boston the concierge lounges all seem to be closed on weekends

Mandy- Hi! Sorry I missed you the other day! I hope you are doing ok without the pup. I miss chatting with you, Monday will be back to work and back to my Yahoo account.

Kel- I have fish headed in-laws...very stinky!! I am so excited that Keith is going to visit them tomorrow...and I am NOT going!

Chan- Did you sleep last night? I was up until almost 2am again. Better than 3:30 I guess. Monday is going to SUCK! I can't believe I have to go back to work. I could be a stay at home mom if I didn't want to go on vacations.

Boston meet? Let me know. The train goes from here to there and so does the greyhound. I could be talked into a weekend lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I can go any day school is out .

Hey! Jet Blue dropped the fare on my return trip. I have a $25 credit again. I now have $112 to use by Sept 7th, 09...where can I go for cheap?

 

[tinklvr64]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

2008 was special because I met all my GALS (and Marvel)! Here's to more fun in 2009!

I totally agree Mandy!!!!!

 

[tinklvr64]

Mass Gals - I hope you are all home and safe in that awful storm. Hubby works beside Patriots stadium and it took him 6 hours to drive home to Maine. It is usually a 2 hr 45 min drive!!! He said the roads were awful and the visibility was non-existant.

Dawn and Siobhan - I hope the two of you feel better soon. You have exactly 36 days!!!


Nocturnal Teens? I have 2 of those!!! Some days I love them and some days I would happily trade them for an oil change.

30k? For a flipping purse??? Even if I had Bill Gates' money there is no way that is reasonable. A diamond something for that price...maybe. But a purse? Um, NO! Something like that is a wasteful status symbol to brag to the world that they have money to buy dumb stuff. 30K would put me in RPC for a month. Which is approximately the same amount of time the purse would be in style anyway. Junk like that goes out of style so fast! (guess I'm not so into status symbols ) And I love a cute purse the same as anyone...ask my 3yo with her cute girly little Coach bag (clearance at outlet store.)

Mare- you lost me at Bloomies. I have no idea who the designers are. My doorman is a willow tree. My grocery delivery is done by my two teen sons. Coldwater Creek is the most "designer" store within 50 miles. The closest thing in my world to a luggage cart....the garden cart that hooks onto the lawn mower.

Marval- The room at Universal sounds nice. And FOTL sounds GREAT! I am so amused that the kids want to go to the Lounge...mine keep asking now if the hotel will have a lounge like disney. Poor things, they don't realize that not everywhere has that. And In Boston the concierge lounges all seem to be closed on weekends

Mandy- Hi! Sorry I missed you the other day! I hope you are doing ok without the pup. I miss chatting with you, Monday will be back to work and back to my Yahoo account.

Kel- I have fish headed in-laws...very stinky!! I am so excited that Keith is going to visit them tomorrow...and I am NOT going!

Chan- Did you sleep last night? I was up until almost 2am again. Better than 3:30 I guess. Monday is going to SUCK! I can't believe I have to go back to work. I could be a stay at home mom if I didn't want to go on vacations.

Boston meet? Let me know. The train goes from here to there and so does the greyhound. I could be talked into a weekend lunch at Cheesecake Factory. I can go any day school is out .

Hey! Jet Blue dropped the fare on my return trip. I have a $25 credit again. I now have $112 to use by Sept 7th, 09...where can I go for cheap?

Shel you are cracking me up.....

Yeah for 36 days.... And Monday is going to be sucko!

You know since we are becoming nocturnal moms we should chat at 2 am like the teens do

Hey that would be fun for all of you to meet in Boston!

ps I like Coldwater Creek and JJill!

 

[Lives4Disney]

Chan- Did you sleep last night? I was up until almost 2am again. Better than 3:30 I guess. Monday is going to SUCK! I can't believe I have to go back to work. I could be a stay at home mom if I didn't want to go on vacations.


Hey! Jet Blue dropped the fare on my return trip. I have a $25 credit again. I now have $112 to use by Sept 7th, 09...where can I go for cheap?

SHEL!! You need to come to IL. That is Zack's bday. We can party. He might be ready to leave home at that point I guess there goes my New Years resolution about the keeping the partying to a minimum. (JK)

And Shel...of course I was super tired last night and Jojo came to me about 11 or so and said she was going to throw up. So....since she WILL NOT take any meds I made her toast. (no clue what to do and that seemed handy ) It worked...but after that she wanted to lie in my bed and cuddle....so we did...we put on an I LOVE LUCY DVD and snuggled until about 1 when she went to her own bed. But if you nocturnal moms are up and chatting in the middle of the night you have to Skype me and let me know....I will put the laptop by my bed.


Dawn.....I am glad you got SQEEEeeeezed into the docs office today. Bummer on the meds but hopefully you'll be feeling better soon.

Oh...the Birkins...UGGO. Coyote UGLY BAGS ....They remind me of shoe shine man bags.....or a creepy old Barber/Doctor bag...you know like "Little Shop of Horrors"...."I'll be a dentist"..... , or an uggo hugongo leather Mary Poppins bag. I think they are pricey & expensive so it makes peeps WANT one...DREAM of one....COVET one.....if they were for sale at Target for $14.99 nobody would give them a second glance. JMO. Sometimes I just really do not GET the designer stuff.

ANywhooo.....now that I've offended half the thread.....

Ciao!
Chan

 

[princessesrule4]

Marvel - Glad you are having fun and enjoying FOTL! Have you done Men In Black with your older ones? My kids loved that too!
Have you heard when the new roller coaster is supposed to open? We were sent an online survey about what kind of music genres/ songs should be played while you are riding it. Supposedly, each rider can customize their ride by picking out a song/songs to be played. ( kind of like RnR, but each person picks it for themselves) Sounded cool but some of the song choices they gave us were hilarious! Everything from Country to metal to songs we had never heard of!

Sheli - I agree- wouldn't matter how much I made, there is no way I'd spend 30 grand on an ugly bag thats supposed to be cool because it costs a fortune or some dumb bunny celeb is carrying it. A month at the GF sounds great though!

Chan - The other half gets what you're saying!

Dawn - glad you went to the Dr. Hope ya feel better!

We had our pork roast, cornbread, collards and blackeyed peas tonight! Show me the money in 2009! Mandy are you with me?!

My kids and DH are lighting off some fireworks and I'm being summoned - Have a great New Years Eve everyone!

 

[mickeynut1]

Just popping in for a quick "hello" and to say HAPPY NEW YEAR EVERYONE!!!!!!!!

Mandy......I totally agree.......2008 was GREAT for me as I met all you Gals ......and Marvel too . I am so glad I can come to chat to talk everything Disney when nobody else understands . And also to vent when things just aren't going right . So thank you gals for a fabo 2008 and I hope 2009 is just as good if not better .


Marvel.....Glad you are enjoying Universal . I'm sure FOTL pass is awesome . Have a great time on the rest of your trip and safe travels home .


MA Gals.......I hope you are all safe and sound at home during the awful storm you're having .


Dawn......I'm sorry about the meds ......but I'm glad the doctor was able to give you something . Feel better soon .


Sheli.......6 hours for hubby to get home . I'm glad he made it home safely .


I hope all you gals and Marvel have a wonderful night . I will be back to chat next year . Have a great New Years Eve......night all .


Deb

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

New Years means: We are going to disney THIS YEAR. In fact...we are going NEXT MONTH!!! Happy January 2009

 

[Tinker*Shell*Bell]

How pesty! I post a happy new year at 12:01 EST and the DIS clock thinks I was too early. So Happy new year and happy 2009 everyone! (Again!)

 

[Maxie86]

Good Morning and Happy New Year. I didn't make it until midnight, so I slept through it again. What is it with the DIS clock. It never posts the correct time. Sheli we definately need to schedule a meet in Boston. In the spring when the weather gets better. Boston in winter isn't much fun. 78 days until spring. We got that blizzard that Marvel wanted. That was the worst traveling conditions that I have ever been in, and I've driven in a lot of storms. It is 5 here this morning with wind chills well below 0. At least the ice sculputures in Boston won't melt this year.

 

[goofygal531]

Happy New Year!

It was so cold last night, I believe Dick Clark said it was the coldest New Years Eve on record. I have no idea how people stand outside for 10 hours waiting for a ball to drop We did it once when we were young and stupid and it was 26 degrees out! Never again! Waited for 6 hours only to be back home in bed under the covers by 12:30 am!! The place clears out right after the ball drops.

We had a quite night. The boys fell asleep at their usual time and DH and I drank champagne and watched Dick and Ryan. It's so sad to see Dick after his stroke, my heart just breaks watching him.

I felt bad they made the Jonas Bros sing OUTSIDE! I thought they'd be inside!! DH said they must have heat lamps on them. Still it's COLD out!!

Sheli: I've never heard of Coldwater Creek. And I don't own a lawn mower either Sorry to hear your DH had such an awful drive home. Thankfully he made it home safely.

Maxie: Sorry to hear you got hit with a lot of snow. It missed us. We had the flurries but no accumulation.

Chan: I never said I coveted the handbag. If I was Oprah rich I buy one, I'd buy a lot of unnecessary things if I was rich. "If I was a rich man, la da dee la da dum..." The book about the bag was funny. I can't believe theres a two year wait list and the bag even comes with it's own passport since the ostrich skins are illegal in most states! Wasn't Oprah turned away one summer with Gayle at the Hermes Store in Paris? Remember that? They didn't know who she was and wouldn't let her in. So now I don't think she has a bag

Marvel: Hope you enjoyed your steaks. I forgot to tell you the lobster bisque is to die for. It's nice your on the first floor, we had a horrible room location. We were on the top floor, overlooking the pool but had to walk around the entire hotel to get to the elevator. Don't know if they've changed it, but back then there was only one way in and one way out and we had to walk very far to get there. We had questioned it and were told the resort is to resemble a rock star's mansion, so one entrance.

Blue skies & Annette: I found this on All Ears news pages, it explains the 90+10 better than I did:

Disney Resort Hotel Guests are now able to book 90 days prior to their scheduled check-in date for the first 10 days of their stay. (Guests of the Swan and Dolphin, Shades of Green, Downtown Disney Area Hotels and Good Neighbor Hotels are not eligible for this benefit.) Day guests can book 90 days before the date they wish to dine.

Kelly, Mandy, Deb, Amy, Dawn, Blue Skies, Annette, Vanessa, Kristen, Chan, Marvel, Maxie, Sheli, LCAMOM and please forgive me if I left someone out... I'm very thankful I met you all in 2008 and look forward to much chatting in 2009! (I forgot LISA and SIOBHAN, Sorry!!)

Have a wonderful day everyone and a great weekend. Talk to you all Monday!
Mare

 

[Lcaemom]

Good morning everyone and Happy New Year!!!

Hope everyone had nice plans, last night. Did everyone stay up til midnight? We had a last minute get together at the neighbors. We have the greatest neighbors...we get together for everything and it's just a walk down the sidewalk. Of course, it is about 2 degress here so, even that was brutal but, it was worth it...we had a great time with them. It was last minute so, I didn't have any wine to bring over and opted instead for kahlua....mmmm, haven't had that for awhile. We get together so often that a few get togethers back some of the moms started bringing their slippers to wear...we no longer have any inhibitions about sacrificing fashion for comfort/warmth. After working out in the snow yesterday, I was frozen...couldn't get warm all afternoon. When I put my slippers in a bag to carry over, my DH said "what are you doing?!?" We walked in and there were 7 other women wearing slippers and I said "SEE!!!!" Apparently, I wasn't kidding about my Dearform Pillowtops being my footwear of choice last night!
Today will involve taking down the tree, catching up on the laundry, cleaning out and up the house...I feel like we have tons of stuff to get rid of...clutter. I'm so tired of clutter!!! Someone was commenting on how difficult it is to get these agencies that take donations, to actually take donations. I can't stand waste and will not throw useful items away but, it is so frustrating trying to GIVE away useful things. Anyways, then I'm planning on making spaghetti and meatballs...and that's about as much excitement as we have left in us.

Dawn I hope you're feeling better...and I hope you got some powerful antibiotics!!! They should work in a day or two. You must feel awful. Stay warm and feel better soon...hope your fam is pampering you and cooking the NYE meal for YOU!!!
My 13yoDD like to shop, if it's about her...browsing on Main Street is not her thing. 11yoDD HATES to shop. Shopping with her is painful!!! I have to force her to shop for clothes...she says "yes" to things just to pacify me and then doesn't wear anything except her sports uniforms, warmups and tshirts from various sports clinics...she's very sporty. The dressiest thing she owns is a pair of warmups. I took her to see Wicked about a year ago, with a large group of her friends and their moms...and she had NOTHING to wear...we had to call a friend at the last minute and borrow some clothes. Shopping with my 7yoDD is not fun, either...she walks away from me to play...and then I panic that she has been kidnapped or has gotten lost. So, not fun...but, DH is the least fun...he just hovers with his "hurry up" face and that is the worst. Shopping alone is definately my preference.

Maxie86 I feel like we're living on the tundra, in the Arctic!!! It's 2 degrees, the snow is blowing everywhere. I feel like I've been defrosting since yesterday!!! I have a portable heater behind me and I'm still freezing. Hope you're staying warm!!!
I'm definately up for a Boston meet. That would be great!!! Let's start planning one. How many people here are from the Boston area?

m&pforever I want to come back in my next life and be a bird at Gasparillas...or a squirrel in the MK. Those birds are CRAZY!!! We watched a man come out of Gaspies, put his food down and go back inside to help his family...the birds tore his whole tray apart. There were waffles and bacon flying through the air...birds and people screaming. Another man came up and tried to save the day...I thought "Why???" Once the owner came out to his tray and realized what had happened...he apologized to all of us around and him. He felt awful...a CM went inside and replaced his whole meal and we all ended up laughing about it. I wonder how often that happens and how funny that must look from a distance. Can you request that view???

OK, the kiddos are all up...they just asked "what are we doing today?" As if we might be going out in this weather!!! I'm thinking it's time to start the cleaning...and the cooking, and the laundry...woohoo...it's going to be a fun day!!!