How do we love Disney? Let me count the ways... (updated & completed 5/11)

[faerieprincess]

You took some great WS photos!!

Thank you! i'm really proud of a couple of them. There were loads - i've only put up 15 of them, i took about a hundred!

Absolutely adore the WS...you took some amazing pictures and I'm so glad you and Jess were able to work out a deal YAY!! Can't wait to hear more!

Thank you! Jess and i came to the deal fairly quickly. To be honest i was more worried about how my mum and grandmother would give me heck for letting her go alone, than i was about her actually going alone! i knew she'd be fine, but wondered if it was worth the crap i'd get later.


It was.

 

[princess~yo]

Great photos! Love all the WS shots, but I have to say I adore Mary Poppins!

 

[ILuvCrush]

great pics Sare!!!

i really love the spaceship earth one...It is such a neat angle and completely different from most pics of it

paula

 

[faerieprincess]

Great photos! Love all the WS shots, but I have to say I adore Mary Poppins!

Thanks!

i love Mary Poppins, too, and since this was the day we'd cancelled our ADR to see her at breakfast, it was soooooo tempting to get in line to meet her. But (a) i didn't have my autograph book with me, (b) there were no CMs there, just the characters, as far as i could tell, and (c) the line was HUGE! i just didn't have time

great pics Sare!!!

i really love the spaceship earth one...It is such a neat angle and completely different from most pics of it

paula

Thanks! i love all of your pics, so i'm all blushing that you liked mine

 

[mom2mek]

Thanks! You're going to have a great time there as adults without the kids (though i'm sure you'll miss them). If i ever get to go again, it will most probably be without Jess and i'm sure i'll miss her, but this day at Epcot made me realise it would be really nice to be there alone, too.

The thing about the Photopass pictures is that yes, they were nice. Some of them were really nice in fact and one of them i loved so much that i bought the digital download of it. But there were only about 60 pictures in total, which would be more than $2 per photo to buy the CD! Even after i went and made about 200 borders and things, it still just wasn't worth it. Especially since i'm about to spend $80 printing the digital scrapbook i made (one copy for me and one for Jess as her highschool grad present). (And yes, i promise to share that one picture, at the end. And i'll also let y'all see the scrapbook too!)

Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing so much more of the World Showcase than I usually do. I will miss them and I will have pangs of guilt I'm sure, but I'm very excited as well!

Can't wait to see the scrapbook! I'm working on a mypublisher photobook for our Oct trip...I'm just johnny-on-the-spot with that aren't I?

Sara

 

[faerieprincess]

Yes, I'm looking forward to seeing so much more of the World Showcase than I usually do. I will miss them and I will have pangs of guilt I'm sure, but I'm very excited as well!

Can't wait to see the scrapbook! I'm working on a mypublisher photobook for our Oct trip...I'm just johnny-on-the-spot with that aren't I?

Sara

You will, you will, and you will! And you will!

Look at it this way, about taking so long.... it makes the trip last longer! i've barely started my actual paper scrapbook - i think i've done about 4 pages so far (of the inevitable 40 or so). Since i normally boot right along and can do a few pages an hour, i was a little concerned at my lack of progress until i realised (a) i don't want to finish the scrapbook because it will mean the trip is really over and (b) it has to be perfect to really express how amazing the trip was. But no pressure on myself or anything

 

[faerieprincess]

From the first photo in front of Mexico to the last photo in Canada, my tour had taken 59 minutes. i was a little bummed at not being able to see everything i wanted to (i'd really wanted to watch the films in China and Canada, ride the Maelstrom in Norway, and just be able to explore every country), but i was pleased that i'd gotten all the way around, at least. At this point i had a terrible pain in my back and had to sit down for a couple of minutes facing the Lagoon, trying to move into a position that would clunk my back into place. Finally the pain eased and i made my way out of Epcot for the last time.

The walk to the bus seemed even longer than usual and when i got there i had, i think, just missed a bus, because i sat on a bench there for quite a long time - probably the longest wait for a bus i'd had the whole trip. When one finally came, it took over half an hour to get back to PoP, a trip that normally took about 12 minutes. It seemed like we went all the way around the outside of the World, because i saw things out the window i'd never seen before (including Coronado Springs and Blizzard Beach! ). Not sure what was going on and the other passengers were as nonplussed as i was, but none of us braved asking the driver.

FINALLY i got back to PoP and headed to our room. True to her word Jess had showered and washed her hair and was dressed and ready to go. i brushed out my hair and decided i could get away with not washing it yet.

As a side note, before we left home i put some fresh dye in my streaks so that they were a fairly bright pink while we were in Florida. When i bought the white hat at DHS i was mildly concerned that the pink would come off on the hat, but since i sleep on white pillowcases and have never had a problem, i wasn't really worried. It wasn't until this day, when it was really hot out and i was pushing Jess in the wheelchair, that i finally managed to soak some pink into the hat! Luckily it's only on the inside and i'm sure it's not the last time it will happen, since i've become quite fond of the pink streaks and intend to keep them through the summer. (i've finally found the balance where i like my hair and my boss doesn't mind the pink!)

Anyway, i got dressed and we headed out and got on an Epcot bus, which mercifully took the regular route back to Epcot. There we took the now familiar Monorail > TTC > Monorail > Poly route.

We checked in precisely on time, received our little buzzer thing, took the five steps across the hallway to the railing and turned around and went back because our buzzer was buzzing! Score!

We had the bread with that delicious macademia nut butter and ordered the sticky wings again to share.

This time Jess ordered the Prime Rib and i ordered the Coconut Almond Chicken.

Now i have something terrible to report.

While the bread and wings were every bit as delicious as the previous time, neither of us enjoyed our meals

Her meat was a little too pink for her taste (and i didn't like the taste of it, either) and the coating on my chicken was just yucky. IMO of course. i didn't like it at ALL. So we finished the wings and the bread.

We were both really disappointed that our last meal wasn't very good, but i guess between the two delicious CS lunches we'd had recently we'd used up all the yumminess. In any case we ate our wings and ordered the Kona Cone for dessert. We both ate the ice cream and had our cotton candy and sprinkles boxed up to bring home.

As a second disappointment, as our dessert was served i realised it was 8pm and we were missing Wishes, which i had hoped to watch from the Poly beach.

After dinner we took one last wander through the Poly gift shop, then headed back to PoP via Epcot, where we saw some of IllumiNations from the Monorail. We caught the bus and headed back to our room, where i set the alarm for quite early to give me time to pack and for us to check out and have some time to visit a park before we left. i don't think i even talked to my BF on the phone this night. We were sooooo tired. My back was really sore and i took a handful of medicine before bed.

Memories of Our Seventh Day
The weather today was... even hotter, a little windy
The best thing today was... it's a tie between our last ride on Soarin' and my 59-minute dash around the World. Such pretty places.
The worst thing today was... it was really hot and uncomfortable today, all day. And we are both so tired!
The funniest thing today was... trying to get that **** wheelchair in and out of the Land!
Today we tried... having me push Jess in the wheelchair
And the result was... not so great. It was really hard work and made me hot, tired, and grumpy. Er.
The most magical moment today was... the CM at Mission:Space who gave me an extra FP so i could try the Green side first.

 

[MadiMouse]

Don't feel bad, we didn't care for Kona either. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it!
But on another note, you ladies looked fabulous!!!

 

[DisneyTabby]

Sorry you had a bad meal at Kona. We've gone many times and never had one yet. Maybe it was an off night. Don't you just hate the last night it makes you so sad and ready for another trip even before you leave. Did you see the free dining offer? Maybe another trip is what you guys need.

 

[faerieprincess]

Don't feel bad, we didn't care for Kona either. I just couldn't quite put my finger on it!
But on another note, you ladies looked fabulous!!!

Thank you

i think it wouldn't have been so bad if the food hadn't been so freakin' AMAZING the first time! That meal had a lot to live up to and it just didn't compare. It wasn't anywhere near as good as any of the other meals we had anywhere at Disney, it was a huge disappointment. However, now i just know that next time my second Kona ADR will be for a breakfast!

Sorry you had a bad meal at Kona. We've gone many times and never had one yet. Maybe it was an off night. Don't you just hate the last night it makes you so sad and ready for another trip even before you leave. Did you see the free dining offer? Maybe another trip is what you guys need.

Yes, the last night is so sad even though we knew we had most of the next day still to go, it was our last dinner and that probably didn't help us enjoy it! It won't nearly keep me from going there again though.

The free dining is enticing but what would make it an even sweeter deal would be free flying! getting there is by far the most expensive part.

 

[ILuvCrush]

you both looked so pretty!!! Sorry Kona was a bit of a bust

I could go for a Kona Kone......

paula

 

[faerieprincess]

you both looked so pretty!!! Sorry Kona was a bit of a bust

I could go for a Kona Kone......

paula

Thanks

i could so go for a Kona Kone too.... but actually ever since someone who shall remain nameless (coughSaracough) put a picture of the 'Ohana dessert on her TR i've been jonesing for one soooooo bad. Almost bad enough for me to try making one!





Okay, not that bad.

 

[Lady Lallie]

I don't know how I missed your update!

You both look so pretty dressed up for you dinner. I'm sorry Kona wasn't as good the second time around.

 

[mom2mek]

Thanks

i could so go for a Kona Kone too.... but actually ever since someone who shall remain nameless (coughSaracough) put a picture of the 'Ohana dessert on her TR i've been jonesing for one soooooo bad. Almost bad enough for me to try making one!





Okay, not that bad.

Sorry bout that!

Seriously though, you girls look great all dressed up for your last dinner! Sorry it turned out not to be that good though. Bummer.

Those Kona cones look so good; had I not been so amazingly full after our lunch there, I would have finished the kids' cones! I could hardly finish my torte! And that is shameful!

Sara

 

[faerieprincess]

I don't know how I missed your update!

You both look so pretty dressed up for you dinner. I'm sorry Kona wasn't as good the second time around.

i snuck it in there when you weren't looking

Thanks, we had fun dressing up for a change!

Those wings and bread were just as good though.. mmmmm!

Sorry bout that!

Seriously though, you girls look great all dressed up for your last dinner! Sorry it turned out not to be that good though. Bummer.

Those Kona cones look so good; had I not been so amazingly full after our lunch there, I would have finished the kids' cones! I could hardly finish my torte! And that is shameful!

Sara

Thank you we actually didn't finish our Tortes either, the first night, i don't think. i don't remember for sure but i think i left a little less than half of mine - it was just toooooo rich. Chocolate on top of beef is always kind of iffy for me though

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Great update Sare!! Sorry your back was so sore and you didn't enjoy your dinner at Kona! Your WS pictures are beautiful! I love WS more and more each trip! It's so nice to walk around and see all the beautiful things!

 

[faerieprincess]

Great update Sare!! Sorry your back was so sore and you didn't enjoy your dinner at Kona! Your WS pictures are beautiful! I love WS more and more each trip! It's so nice to walk around and see all the beautiful things!

Thanks! yes it was really great to walk through and get the feel of each country - even on a whirlwind tour like that!

 

[faerieprincess]

After a long, deep sleep, i woke up ready and rarin' to go. i got up and started packing up our bathroom things, trying to do as much as i could before waking Jessie. Eventually she got tired of listening to my thumping around and got up on her own

We heaved both suitcases onto my bed and both of us got dressed. At this point i picked up the little pouch with our KTTW in it to take my credit card out and put it back in my wallet.

Hmmm. It's not here.

i started a calm kind of search, the kind where you know you've seen it recently and it's only a matter of locating it somewhere. That calm lasted for about ten minutes, and as the calm started to wear off i started to freak out. i picked up every single thing we had bought, brought, or found and shook it, felt it, etc. As i went i was folding and packing our clothes into the suitcases, constantly on the lookout for my card. i checked every pocket of every piece of clothing that had a pocket. i checked every book, bag, nook and cranny. i started to really freak out. i've only got one card. What if it was REALLY lost, and i couldn't pay for our hotel in Toronto on the way home? i was really freaking out. During this time my travel agent called to give me the confirmation number i would need for our hotel that night. i'm sure she thought i was really out of it because i could hardly process what she was telling me. Finally as i picked up my purple blazer, it hit me: the last time i really remembered using the credit card had been to buy our Tinkerbell sweaters on our first night, and on that night it had been so cold that i'd worn my coat. A quick dip into its pockets and the card was safely in hand.

i think i almost fainted in relief. Jess stopped holding her breath (she knows her sister well enough not to say a word while i'm in panic mode lol).

Crisis averted. Phew.

i finished packing at a much more sedate pace and managed to fit everything into the two suitcases and the extra duffel bag we'd brought. Our carry-ons felt a bit overstuffed, but i figured everything would still make the weight allowances.

For some bizarre reason i decided we'd bring our bags down to luggage services ourselves. i taped up the box with the fridge in it and left a "thank you" note and a couple of dollars on top of it, we took a last check around the room, loaded ourselves up, and headed out!

When we came out of our room the humidity hit us like a wall. It was HOT and humid and it was only about 10:30am! It didn't help that water was pouring off the roofs - soapy water, they were washing the roofs! Weird!

We saw these great towel animals:

Luggage services took all of our things (including our loose sweaters and jackets), and including my laptop, which i think the guy saw my hesitation because he said "don't worry, my laptop is my baby, too, it'll be perfectly safe with us".

All we kept with us was some money (we planned to go shopping later) and my camera!

We went into Everything PoP and had our final waffles for breakfast. i went to the Front Desk and checked us out, got the list of room charges (much less than i expected, yay!) and a list of how many credits we had left. We discussed which park we wanted to go back to.

i would have happily gone to any of the parks, and we considered going back to Epcot for one or two last rides on Soarin', but the last time had been SO amazing that we didn't want to risk a less spectacular ride. So, where would we end up going? Would we get all of our souvenir shopping done? Would we use all of our DxDP credits? Would i ever receive my text messages? Stay tuned to find out!

 

[ILuvCrush]

I'm forever sticking my CC in my coat pocket...especially when i need to get gas at the station..... and then being in panic mode when it's not where it should be

I hope your day turns out magical

Paula

 

[mom2mek]

I'm forever sticking my CC in my coat pocket...especially when i need to get gas at the station..... and then being in panic mode when it's not where it should be

I hope your day turns out magical

Paula

Yep! Me too! Happened to me today. Went to Walgreens and shopped and then went to pay...no card. It was in my coat from the other day when I got gas. Where's the hand slapping the forehead smilie? Ugh

Glad you found it Sare! Can't wait to hear where you went!

Sara