Hello CBers! We're back!

[JESW]

Just got back a short while ago. Real nice flight home to Boston - much nicer than the one down where we hit turbulence, bad weather on the east coast so we changed routes, and then cross winds in Orlando that had us circling for about a half hour. The flight took an hour longer. (We lucked out as some flights were diverted to Tampa)

The magic is still there! It was a bit cold tho and we wore our winter jackets many days/nights. So cool to be walking around the world listening to Christmas carols tho! And to see the various Christmas trees in the lobbies and the decorations.

I met up with merlk (Melissa) a fellow DISer at the airport (we were on the same flight). We saw each other again at MK when they were getting off Dumbo and we were getting on.

Crowds weren't too bad....many rides were walk-ons including Test Track. Longest waits (about 15 minutes) were at Haunted Mansion & Jungle Cruise.

Bad news was that my DH hurt his foot somehow so that slowed him waaaaaay down all week. DD3 got hit with a stomach bug very early wednesday morning and that threw her off for the rest of the week. (Not sure if it had anything to do with the sickness that hit the cruise ship as her symptoms were very similar)

We stayed at the Yacht Club concierge and it was as nice as usual. We got in for Cinderella's Royal table for breakfast. Did way too many fast-food meals since DD wasn't feeling well. (We had to walk out of Spoodles one night when she pitched a fit)

Characters all over the place. The Princesses were sweathearts.....wonderful with the kids. Mary Poppins was VERY proper and told my kids to stand up straight when they were getting their picture taken with her! The evil queen was so funny...totally in character and nasty! She almost knocked over DS8 & DH when she stormed by. We saw Jessie playing games in the arcade at Pizza Planet. Alice & Mulan were looking at pins under the hat at MGM.

We saw the shuttle up in the sky when we were at EPCOT. (Standing near the pin station)

Our goal this trip was to meet Lilo & Stitch and we did that at MGM. Stitch could have used a little caffeine or something since he seemed rather lethargic.

New things I tried this trip - Astro Orbiter - I don't like things that go around! Beauty & the Beast show - loved it! Test Track - loved it, loved it, loved it! The parade at MK. We sat right in front of the ice cream shop & bakery and that was great since they performed there a bit. DS8 got picked to be a chimney sweep!

We bought lots & lots of things...so much that we went over our card limit! (We found that out when we went to the build a pin station at Downtown Disney and we were denied!) Concierge changed that and lifted our limit. (DH bought swords form Japan and a bomber jacket and those were two high ticket items)

Our favorite is to walk around EPCOT - especially at night. We saw the parade and fireworks a lot.

I could go on & on but we have to get the kids to bed soon.

I'll try to answer any questions you may have...

Jill...who has LOTS of laundry to do tomorrow..

 

[Serena]

Welcome back!

 

[helenabear]

Welcome back Jill!!! Sounds like a wonderful trip over all (despite the little hang ups). You have me so excited to go next week now!

 

[linny172]

Wow sounds like you had a great trip in spite of a couple mishaps..

 

[Dan Murphy]

Wow, that walk around just got me all set for my trip this week. Sounds great, so many great thngs there. Nice.

 

[snoopy]

Welcome home!

Now, let me clarify, winter jackets, or winter coats? Please say jackets, I really don't want to have to drag my winter coat down to Florida in less than two weeks.

 

[Gail T AGAIN]

sounds like you had a wonderful time. Hope your DD is feeling better and it didn't ruin her magical time. you hit a few other road blocks but sounds like you had a good time despite all that

 

[Princess Michelle]

Welcome back! Sounds like a fantastic trip!


Snoopy- A light jacket should do you just fine.

 

[JESW]

Snoopy - some folks WERE wearing their winter coats...and hats..and yes, some were even wearing gloves/mittens. A little extreme.. But one morning when we went out it was only 43! (We were dressed in shorts and t-shirts and somone at the YC advised us to dress a little more warmly)

We were wearing polar fleece. The weather gave me an excuse to buy one of those hooded sweatshirts. (The fleece would have been fine, but, well, I REALLY wanted the sweatshirt! )

Those of you who are going soon will get to see all the wonderful lights. We went on the backlot Tour at MGM and we could see the lights all over the place, but were told they wouldn't be lit until this coming week or after Thanksgiving.

Go around and see the various decorated trees in the resort lobbies. Get a cup of hot cocoa in world showcase and walk around EPCOT (or go get a big cup of Beverly at Ice Station Cool! )

Another favorite I forgot to mention was the statues at Italy. OMG! There was one lady one night and she had the crowds in hysterics with her antics! One time she knocked a guys hat off so she could lean over and check out his butt! Another time someone was taking a picture of a couple with her and she put her arm out in front of the lady and cozied up with the guy! Too funny!

But we did notice that the crowds were picking up on Saturday. We saved that day for Downtown Disney. We went to EPCOT that night.

Check out the work being done near site....I think it's on Bonnett Creek Parkway (????) Our Tiffany driver (they were excellent by the way) on the way home told us that Marriot had just bought up some land and were building there.....right in the middle of Disney property! And Disney would have to share their roads and other systems with them. Not sure to what extent that means tho. And a bit past there is some land Universal just bought. If you want to get the scoop, talk to these drivers! or talk to the ferry riders down in the EPCOT resorts area. They told us they have the same break room as the security guys so they hear all the good dirt! We found that out because one day there was a helicopter all over the place and they told us they were filming for some reason.

Jill...off to bed now!

 

[melk]

Hey Jill!!!
I don't know how I missed this thread of yours because I've been looking to see if you were on the board (I did send you a pm). Sorry to hear that DH and DD weren't feeling too well on your trip.
We had a great time all week. Loved the weather, even if we couldn't get to Blizzard Beach (a little too cool), and loved the (lack of) crowds.
We also saw the space shuttle go up, we had just gotten off Thunder Mountain and saw it. That was cool. We had a great dinner at 'Ohana's with some friends and a good time at the campfire at FW one night.
Glad you had a smooth trip home, we did too. That flight to Orlando is not one I will forget too easily. I kept stuffing lollipops in my little one's mouth just to keep her happy as I could not have dealt with any more stress than I had on that flight!!
Take care,
Melissa

 

[WDWfanatic288]

oh great sounding trip!

I'm glad you had a such a wonderful time!

 

[melk]

Just bumping so Jill will see it and I can say hi!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Nice to see you back also, Melissa. That was great you guys got to fly together and again at MK. Sounds like a great trip also.

 

[JESW]

Melissa!

Hi! Yes, I totally missed this...and I'm not used to checking my pm box so I didn't know you sent one until I read this. Thanks!

So glad to hear that you and your family had a good vacation! Did your little one run you ragged?? DD was the most upset when we left. She kept saying - I want to go on more rides!

Fortunately we had a good flight home - nice and smooth. I was not crazy about the flight down!! We did have a 14 month old behind us with an ear infection so she cried most of the flight home. I felt sooo bad for her parents as we went through the same thing when DD was 15mo and the flight attendants we had were NOT nice about it! (they were this time) I got to talking with the Mom & the Grandma and we were all trying to get the little one to laugh. They also had a 4yo DS and he was ok....just tired of his sister crying! So the flight went rather quick and we were even 15 minutes early!

We still LOVE the Yacht Club area. But we think the Polynesian has a better deal with the concierge level - better food and better with their own building. We are tempted to go back there but we would miss the convenience of the YC/BC & Boardwalk area.

We never made it to Animal Kingdom. We've been there several times and have done mostly everything so we didn't feel the need to go. When DD was sick we lost more than a day so we wanted to go back to our favorites. It was easier to go to EPCOT & MGM on the ferry instead of lugging us all on the bus. (On one trip back from MK DD decided to pitch a ft (you know, the ones where everyone gets as far away from you as possible...) and we had most of the back of the bus to ourselves.)

I did see you guys another time...when you were riding on the TTA. DS & I were below waiting in front of Space Mountain for DH & DD. I honestly don't check a lot for ribbons. With the kids and trying to see everything it's just too much. But I do look a bit when we are just sitting around or are in a line.

When will you be going back?? We are switiching our times from May (when we usually took our trips) to November. The cold weather wasn't the best, but I would put up with that to have such short lines!! The kids did go swimming twice but it was just a little too cold for Mom! I went in the first time and go out after not too long.

We just started taking summer vacations. This year we went to Westerly, RI and had a blast! We were just a couple blocks from the ocean and the kids had so much fun. We need something to look forward to inbetween our Disney vacations!

Thanks so much for writing! I couldn't answer yesterday because one of our birds (the young cockatiel) bit through my mouse wire!! DH had to replace it. (the mouse..not the bird! )

Have a GREAT Thanksgiving!!!!!

Jill

 

[JulesMom]

Welcome Back!

Glad you had a great trip!

Don't you just love YC!!!

 

[Dan Murphy]

Originally posted by JESW
......one of our birds (the young cockatiel) bit through my mouse wire!! DH had to replace it. (the mouse..not the bird! ).......

LOL

 

[melk]

Jill,
That is too funny that you saw us on the TTA (I had to think about that one, it will always be the People Mover to me!). We went on that a couple of times so I'm not sure when that was you saw us. The girls like it because we can go into Space Mountain.

I'm not sure when we'll be back but we're definitely going because we bit the bullet and bought annual passes for the first time. So after the next trip we'll be taking a year off . May is a great time, we've gone then. Ideally I would like to go when the kids wouldn't miss school, but we can't stand it when it's crowded. Nothing is written in stone, but we're thinking maybe the last week of October. We have family on the Cape so we always spend at least a week there every summer.

Also, you asked about the baby. She didn't run us ragged at all. She was for the most part, very happy to have a front row seat in the stroller. When she got tired I would just put the seat back and she would sleep for an hour and a half. She was great! She had one major meltdown at dinner one night which was a bit of stress. The other two were very good, no big crisis' that I can recall (they were mad we didn't go to BB, though, and they didn't like it when we toured the new Beach Club villas--"this is boring").

But it was good to hear from you, glad you had such a nice time. Have a great day!

 

[nativetxn]

Welcome back

 

[Boots]

Glad to have you back!!!!