I finally saw the lights! Our super special anniversary trip! NEW 2/2 pg.18

[Charleston Princess]

Yeay for a lovely dinner and for the boys enjoying the kids' club! That had to have been wonderful to hear when you went to pick them up!

Great rest of the night as well -- too bad it was crowded at Epcot, though.

Beautiful view of Illuminations from your room!

 

[DisneyCrafter]

I'm so happy that the boys did well. I think that you and Tim should do a date night every trip!

You mentioning the screen in Soarin' set off a light bulb in my head. I noticed it seemed almost dirty and there was a black spot that was flickering the entire time. It was very annoying when you're trying to be immersed in what's happening on the screen.

This just past food and wine fest seemed a lot more crowded than 2010, IMO. We went the same week both years and even in the early afternoon during the week there were some pretty long lines. I think people are catching on to the fest and MNSSHP. I better down play it and say what a horrible time of year it is to go.

 

[skier_pete]

I was looking forward to my DISmeets that morning too.

We probably got there close to 11:00? But then we hit some rides & ate lunch a little late which made us hit the lunch lines. We always eat early to avoid the crowds but it didn't work out that way today. It just goes to show that you have to make rope drop!

Maybe I never said where we ate? Oops! We ate at Shula's! This was our third visit & loved it! It's expensive but so good!!

Definitely the coldest day of our trip!

You might've mentione Shula's earlier in the TR, but I didn't see it in these recent posts..thanks for clarifying. "It's expensive"...doesn't that apply to every Disney dinner? As long as you get the ..."So good" part too!

Now that I think back, I do remember how empty it was the first few hours, but it did build later in the day. The 8 AM rope drop made the morning extra empty. It was such a difference from our MK day 9 days later.

 

[skier_pete]

You mentioning the screen in Soarin' set off a light bulb in my head. I noticed it seemed almost dirty and there was a black spot that was flickering the entire time. It was very annoying when you're trying to be immersed in what's happening on the screen.

Sorry to go slightly OT, but what's going on there is film degradation. If you think back to even 5-10 years ago, when you went to see a film in theaters, even after a week or so, the print would get the occasional scratches and flickers. Nowadays, most first run theaters have gone digital, so scratchy prints are a thing of the past. Soarin' still uses a large-format film projector, though. Now realize that they run that film every 8 minutes of so for 12+ hours a day. That's why the film looks like s**t and isn't getting any better.

People complain and say they need to change up the movie in Soarin' I say they just need to put in digital projectors, because the film print is getting terrible.

OK - back to your regularly scheduled TR.

SP

 

[Lovemy3babes]

I'm glad the boys had fun at the Kids' Club. Sorry poor Zach had to suffer drinking water though.

 

[KatMark]

Sounds like a great evening. I may have missed it .... where did you eat for your anniversary dinner?

Your pictures walking back and forth are beautiful.

And it looks like you had a good time at Epcot that evening, despite the crowds.

 

[DisMomAmy]

It's great that the boys enjoyed their time at the kids' club. Hopefully that eases your mind for future mom and dad only dinners. I would enjoy working in one of the kids' clubs down there, not only just hanging out with the kids doing crafts and playing games, but knowing that parents were getting some good quality time to themselves.

I have heard only good, good things about Shula's. I bet they have mouth-watering steaks!

The Boardwalk area is so pretty at night with the lights shining on the water.

Brooklynn would like the kaki gori. I meant to get her one on the October trip, but never did.

You would be a great CM for the Kids Clubs! You should totally move there & do that! But you'd have to work part of your time in a park so that you could enjoy that too!

Shula's is yummy!

The whole Boardwalk/BC area is gorgeous!

Glad you had a nice evening. Boys look like they had fun, glad it was a good experience in the kids club, and makes me feel better if we ever contemplate using one.

Love the pictures from your room at night of Illuminations.

They did really well at the kids club. I don't think they were ready until this year. We have a couple more trips, then Alex will age out!

It was great to be able to see Illuminations from our room!

Wow, what a great view for Illuminations! Wow, what a busy MK day.

That is odd about the DVC guy. We never did the tour but bought actually through email. I would have liked to seen the Aulani room. Like you, we have another time share. I would love to get rid of it but I think we are stuck with it for life. We haven't used it for a couple of years but are going to this summer.

Wow, I can't believe you are on your last day and I still haven't even started!

There's nothing better than Illuminations from bed! And yes - MK was pretty crazy! The crowds really picked up over the holiday weekend (Veteran's Day).

The Aulani room was pretty but it was funny to see the poster of Hawaii on the fake balcony!

What an amazing view of Illuminations!

We are going to try out the Kids Club this year too. I've used the off site sitters before and they were awesome! We used Kids Nite Out and my son and his two cousins loved them so much, we used them a second time in the trip when we hadn't planned on it. I think the age min on Kids Club was 4 and my son was 2 at the time, so Kids Nite Out was a nice option- they stayed in our room the whole time (we had two connecting rooms at WL). We ordered in room service and the sitter came with a suitcase full of activities and toys.

Excited to try the Kids Club though, I think my DS would really enjoy it!

Sorry you missed your chocolate mousse, that is one of my favorites too- i stop there every trip!

The video games were the best part of the kids club for our boys! They couldn't tear themselves away! But they had a lot of other fun stuff to do.

Don't worry, I got my chocolate mousse the next day! Although it was the "moose" variety!

I'm so glad the boys liked the kids club. We have used the ones at the Poly, BC and AK. They all liked different ones for different reasons. Deirdre liked Poly best, Daniel liked BC and Mairead's fav was AK. They NEVER wanted to leave when we arrived, even the night they were there for four hours while DH and I did a Candlelight Processional dinner pkg. One time they even had us leave and come back later because one of the CMs had just gone to get warm choc chip cookies for them and they didn't want to miss out.

I love the pics from the BWI area at night, it is so pretty with the lights reflecting off the water. That is a GREAT view of the fireworks, was that from your balcony?

I have to decide if we want to try a new one next time or stick with the one I know they love.

The night pictures are beautiful... when they come out!

I was cracking up at your comment on the sidewalks weaving in and out, they really do! We were late to dinner on our girls trip and booked it over there and snuck in through a side door which amazingly took us into the back part of BlueZoo, where we were eating! I think we saved 5 minutes with that accidental shortcut.

Very glad the kids enjoyed the kids club. We've never done it and now they are too old. Boo!

The sidewalks were crazy! I didn't even notice any shortcuts! I'll have to look next time.

Kids clubs are fun - but we'll be aged out soon too!

 

[MEK]

Beautiful pictures of your walk over to the Dolphin. It looks so pretty with the sun just beginning to set.

Glad you had a nice dinner, but I'm sure the best part is that the boys had a great time at the Sandcastle club.

What a lovely view of Illuminations. Fun evening in Epcot and I think all your night time pics turned out great.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Yeay for a lovely dinner and for the boys enjoying the kids' club! That had to have been wonderful to hear when you went to pick them up!

Great rest of the night as well -- too bad it was crowded at Epcot, though.

Beautiful view of Illuminations from your room!

We were all really happy with our night out!

Soooo crowded at Epcot that night!

I'm so happy that the boys did well. I think that you and Tim should do a date night every trip!

You mentioning the screen in Soarin' set off a light bulb in my head. I noticed it seemed almost dirty and there was a black spot that was flickering the entire time. It was very annoying when you're trying to be immersed in what's happening on the screen.

This just past food and wine fest seemed a lot more crowded than 2010, IMO. We went the same week both years and even in the early afternoon during the week there were some pretty long lines. I think people are catching on to the fest and MNSSHP. I better down play it and say what a horrible time of year it is to go.

I couldn't agree more - we should definitely do a date night every trip! At least until Alex is 13!

I had read about the condition of the Soarin' screen & remembered noticing it a little last April... but it was so much worse in November!

I was at F&W last year but I couldn't really compare because in 2010 it was the last weekend in Sept/first weekend in Oct & this year was the last weekend of the festival, Veteran's Day weekend & the end of Jersey week. I figured that was why it was busier but it could definitely be getting more popular.

You might've mentione Shula's earlier in the TR, but I didn't see it in these recent posts..thanks for clarifying. "It's expensive"...doesn't that apply to every Disney dinner? As long as you get the ..."So good" part too!

Now that I think back, I do remember how empty it was the first few hours, but it did build later in the day. The 8 AM rope drop made the morning extra empty. It was such a difference from our MK day 9 days later.

Yes - All Disney dining in expensive! So I guess we got what we paid for at this dinnner!

Sorry to go slightly OT, but what's going on there is film degradation. If you think back to even 5-10 years ago, when you went to see a film in theaters, even after a week or so, the print would get the occasional scratches and flickers. Nowadays, most first run theaters have gone digital, so scratchy prints are a thing of the past. Soarin' still uses a large-format film projector, though. Now realize that they run that film every 8 minutes of so for 12+ hours a day. That's why the film looks like s**t and isn't getting any better.

People complain and say they need to change up the movie in Soarin' I say they just need to put in digital projectors, because the film print is getting terrible.

OK - back to your regularly scheduled TR.

SP

Exactly what you said!

I'm glad the boys had fun at the Kids' Club. Sorry poor Zach had to suffer drinking water though.

Zach & the water...

Sounds like a great evening. I may have missed it .... where did you eat for your anniversary dinner?

Your pictures walking back and forth are beautiful.

And it looks like you had a good time at Epcot that evening, despite the crowds.

Apparently I didn't mention the name of the restaurant... you weren't the only one wondering. We ate at Shula's! And it was wonderful! Our third time & it didn't disappoint!

Beautiful pictures of your walk over to the Dolphin. It looks so pretty with the sun just beginning to set.

Glad you had a nice dinner, but I'm sure the best part is that the boys had a great time at the Sandcastle club.

What a lovely view of Illuminations. Fun evening in Epcot and I think all your night time pics turned out great.

Thanks Mary Ellen! I'm glad you like my pictures since you are the picture queen! It was such a relief that the kids club went well!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Saturday 11/12/11 – Last park day!

This morning we planned to tour Epcot. We knew it was going to be busy since it was the end of the F&W Festival but we figured we could tour the morning, have lunch & get out before it got too crazy so that’s what we did. We arrived just after the park opened & headed right to Innoventions. I love arriving at the International Gateway!!

Along the way I stopped for KP fastpasses. I got four so we could have our choice of pick up locations. We were hoping that Alex would meet the height limit for Sum of All Thrills to go upside down!! Ane he did!! Zach was a bit teary that he wasn’t 54 inches yet but he pulled it together & we all made rollercoasters. Tim & Alex teamed up while I rode with Zach. We decided to do it again, switching partners, and they let us right into the building area without having to watch the movie again. After another fun ride it was time for breakfast at Sunshine Seasons.

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued...

After breakfast we skipped Soarin’ since we’d ridden the night before. We moved on to Nemo.

We also did a little shopping in the Nemo gift shop. Zach bought a little velvet bag of plastic fish, I got a Mine, Mine, Mine magnet for Tim (he loves all the seagull stuff), I bought 4 Disney pens (for Alex, Zach & our two neighbor girls who were looking after our pets) and a tin of mints - like Altoids, but in Disney shapes. Sorry no pictures of those things right now... After shopping, we were off to Mission: Space. On our way across Future World, we saw a high school marching band:

Alex has been playing trumpet since the beginning of last school year so it was cool to see the band. He thought it looked hard because they would have to memorize the music!

Arriving at Mission: Space, Alex had it all figured out which jobs we all should be. He wanted to ride twice so we could all have a turn at each job. We told him to write it down for next time because we were only going once!

I wanted to do some shopping at Mouse Gear so I sent Tim & the boys on Test Track without me. I picked up quite a few things! They met me in the store after TT & picked out a few things themselves.

I promise to add souvenir pictures later! I have some in photobucket but not all of them so I'll get this posted & do a separate post later...

After TT & shopping, we headed to the WS next so Tim could grab some shrimp on the barbie from the Australia F&W pavilion. I took the boys on Maelstrom while Tim jumped in line in Australia.

He met up with us at the Norway Kidcot station. Then we headed to Mexico to hit that Kidcot station & ride Donald’s boat ride. It was packed in the World Showcase already!

Then it was time for lunch so we headed to Le Cellier. We checked in then I took the boys to the Kidcot station. Tim came running out after us because our name was already called.. BEFORE our ADR time! We had a great meal here as usual!!

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued...

After lunch Zach & I went to France to save the world! Tim & Alex went to the UK to visit the Kidcot station. We saw Mary on our way by (sorry for taking your picture random lady):

Zach was taking this very seriously!

Alex & Tim got to see Tigger & Pooh!!

This one was facing the wrong direction on the CD so when I added the border, it came out like this:

They also went to the Kicot station in France & we bumped into them during our mission! They moved on to Morrocco then headed back to BWV. Zach & I saved the world then each grabbed a Kaki Gori in Japan.

On our way out we stopped at the IG to get the bags I’d sent there from Mouse Gear. It had been a little more than three hours since I’d sent the bags there but unfortunately they weren’t there! We had to wait about 15 minutes for my things to show up but eventually they did. And of course we bought more stuff while we waited!

Up next: More pool time & our last park!

 

[irish dancer]

Looks like a nice Epcot morning but WOW those are some big crowds in WS so early, lots of people looking to enjoy F&W I guess. It looked like such a bright sunny day too, nice to see and day dream about at this time of year!

Daniel and Deirdre like to do the KP missions too. They've done almost all of them. On our June trip they had 2 left. The stinky CM gave me a hard time about picking our mission, I explained they'd done the others so she relented. She acted like it was a big deal.

Sad to see this trip coming to an end but your next one is on the horizon.

 

[EastYorkDisneyFan]

Sorry to go slightly OT, but what's going on there is film degradation. If you think back to even 5-10 years ago, when you went to see a film in theaters, even after a week or so, the print would get the occasional scratches and flickers. Nowadays, most first run theaters have gone digital, so scratchy prints are a thing of the past. Soarin' still uses a large-format film projector, though. Now realize that they run that film every 8 minutes of so for 12+ hours a day. That's why the film looks like s**t and isn't getting any better.

People complain and say they need to change up the movie in Soarin' I say they just need to put in digital projectors, because the film print is getting terrible.

OK - back to your regularly scheduled TR.

SP

It's interesting you mentioning all of that from the sound of it it's time to change out the print of the film. Well Digital could help with the overall quality of the projection of the film Digital projectors are still not at the point where you can replace an IMax projector with them which is what Soarin' uses as you would actually need two projectors for the image to fit on the screen and they have not solved the overlap issues yet for Imax to be truly happy with them, plus even for a film the length of Soarin'' it would require a very large hard drive to hold the film.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

We haven't done the Sum of All Thrills yet. It sounds fun though! Epcot looks so pretty in your pictures. It's a bummer it was so crowded though. Is kaki gori kind of like a snowcone? It looks yummy!

 

[eandesmom]

what a fun and productive morning! So cute that you guys split and did different missions, I love that. And getting called BEFORE your ADR time? Wow!

 

[MRYPPNS]

This has to be my favorite picture of Alex of all time!

 

[DisMomAmy]

Looks like a nice Epcot morning but WOW those are some big crowds in WS so early, lots of people looking to enjoy F&W I guess. It looked like such a bright sunny day too, nice to see and day dream about at this time of year!

Daniel and Deirdre like to do the KP missions too. They've done almost all of them. On our June trip they had 2 left. The stinky CM gave me a hard time about picking our mission, I explained they'd done the others so she relented. She acted like it was a big deal.

Sad to see this trip coming to an end but your next one is on the horizon.

It was definitely a busy morning! Luckily we had a plan & stuck with it!

I think the only two KP missions we haven't done are Mexico & Norway. I did China without Zach so we'll have to do that one again... or I'll have him do that one with Tim. Bummer that the CM gave you a hard time about choosing a mission!

Almost over... but the new one IS just around the corner! Which feels good on a snowy day like today!

It's interesting you mentioning all of that from the sound of it it's time to change out the print of the film. Well Digital could help with the overall quality of the projection of the film Digital projectors are still not at the point where you can replace an IMax projector with them which is what Soarin' uses as you would actually need two projectors for the image to fit on the screen and they have not solved the overlap issues yet for Imax to be truly happy with them, plus even for a film the length of Soarin'' it would require a very large hard drive to hold the film.

Whatever the problem, they need to solve it!

We haven't done the Sum of All Thrills yet. It sounds fun though! Epcot looks so pretty in your pictures. It's a bummer it was so crowded though. Is kaki gori kind of like a snowcone? It looks yummy!

It's a lot of fun! You should definitely check it out!

what a fun and productive morning! So cute that you guys split and did different missions, I love that. And getting called BEFORE your ADR time? Wow!

We did split for different "missions" but only Zach & I actually did Kim Possible. Alex's misson was to hit up some Kidcot stations!

The short wait at Le Cellier definitely made up for our February trip when we waited forever for an opening time lunch ADR!

This has to be my favorite picture of Alex of all time!

He loves the characters!

 

[DisMomAmy]

When we got back from our morning at a packed Epcot, we all headed down to the pool for the last time. I ran back to the lobby to see if I could get some additional celebration pins for Alex. The CM was really nice & found me every kind imaginable! And Alex was thrilled!!

After some swimming we went back upstairs & changed for our night at DHS. There was a long line for the boat at BWV so we walked to the Swan/Dolphin & the boat pulled right up.

They had room for 16 more on the boat & we were #12-15! We headed to ToT and both boys wanted to ride again!

Zach still had a ToT shirt that fit him so I bought Alex this shirt:

Then we rode RnRC twice. We headed to TSM & got in line… and stood there.

The ride was down so we left. Alex was mad because he wanted to redeem himself from his losses on Buzz Lightyear. We headed to the O-Lights. The boys complained but I told them this was THE THING I wanted to do & asked them to suck it up and get in line for a photopass picture with me. We got in line & Tim went for some snacks at the stand right near us. The boys were so good at that point! It was busy but I don’t think it was as bad as it had been Thursday night. We waited in line, had our picture done & headed out… slowly. I sucked in every moment.

Continued...

 

[DisMomAmy]

Continued...

Here are my other pictures from the lights that night:

I just can't express how much I loved seeing the lights! They were absolutely beautiful!

After leaving the Streets of America, we headed to Star Tours again & got a partially new ride. We got a couple more souvenirs (extras for waiting in line nicely at O-Lights).

We tried TSM again & the line was much better. We had a short wait & Alex kicked my butt.

Zach beat Tim & overall Zach was the winner. Alex was a little bummed but satisfied with beating me.

It was time to say good-bye! We headed out of the park & just missed the boat.

The line wasn’t very long so we decided to wait. We were in line with some nice ladies on a girls only trip. They chatted with us about their kids & talked to the boys about our trip. They were regretting not leaving earlier for their ADR somewhere at the BC/YC. Luckily we weren’t in a hurry. After a little while a boat pulled up & we were on our way. We were tired so we stayed on the boat all the way to the BW & grabbed some food at the Boardwalk to go.

We got back upstairs, I packed, the boys got in bed & we all watched Illuminations at 10:00 before turning in!

The next morning we were up & out early as we had to check out & get to the airport. We checked our bags with resort airline check in, got some food, then waited for our ME bus. It was Mears & didn’t even have the Disney video. Boo…

We had an uneventful flight & returned to the chaos of our lives!

Up next: Final thoughts & more souvenir pictures