If your heart is in your DREAM a Aug/Sept 2011, NEW - links to dining/trip report

[OhioDisneyLover]

Hi Karin,

Pixie is so cute.

I'm sure that she will have a fun time at the cat hotel.

 

[dizneeat]

Hi Karin

Glad you have everything sorted for Pixie and that you can relax knowing she will be well taken care of whilst you guys are ok

We were gobsmacked when we found out that she could not stay with Tom's friend, but now that everything is set we can finally go on with more planning!

Hi Karin,

Pixie is so cute.

I'm sure that she will have a fun time at the cat hotel.

Pixie is our little princess. We were real happy when even the vet recommended the cat hotel! I guess she will have some fun there too! Even though we will miss her a lot!

 

[Minnie&Nana]

Oh, Karin, what a shock that had to be to find out only 7 weeks out that Tom's friend would not be available. After all, this is not the kind of trip you can post-pone or rearrange - I know how much your sweet Pixie means to you and know you only want the best for her. She is sooo cute!!

I'm so happy the "cat hotel" will work out - have you been able to visit and see just what it will be like for her?

Mia (DD) and I have not travelled together since 1997 (!!) because we have no one to trust with our furbabies. Unless they can come with us, one of us stays home to be with them. I understand your concern!

Gee, it seems like it was only a little while ago that you were finishing up last year at school and posting pics of the end of the year class trip - where does the time go?!?!

Sending love to you & Tom! Loads of dust for no more such surprises!!!

 

[englishrose47]

Karin I understand so well !!The last time we all went to Disney we boarded Snoopy and he was NOT a Happy camper !!I mean he was well taken care of but did not like being there so this time Judy's friend will watch him either at the house or her apartment !!I am sure he will be here while she works and then overnioght she will keep him with her at the apartment Snoop and Max LOVE her ,so it should be fine !!I don't know what we'll do if anything goes wrong !!!

 

[tinacaplan]

How did I miss your updates? Glad you enjoyed your little gift, even if it was a tad late. Its amazing I got to the post office at all.

I know how busy those last couple weeks are, believe me. Are you done now? If so...congratulations! That's something to be celebrated!

Sorry about the mix-up with your cat. That's a tough one. I'm thankful that Mark's sister takes our poodle, Roxy, otherwise, we'd have to board her and that involves LOTS of shots and added expense. Nothing you want to be dealing with heading into a trip, that's for sure.

 

[jenseib]

I know ALL about animals needing care. We have a couple of HUNDRED lovely ladies that need to be milked twice a day, everyday and of course they want to eat too. That is why Skip couldn't come this last trip, of course. I can't complain though, it's how we make a living. Those girls are basically paying my way to Disney!

 

[dizneeat]

Oh, Karin, what a shock that had to be to find out only 7 weeks out that Tom's friend would not be available. After all, this is not the kind of trip you can post-pone or rearrange - I know how much your sweet Pixie means to you and know you only want the best for her. She is sooo cute!!

I'm so happy the "cat hotel" will work out - have you been able to visit and see just what it will be like for her?

Mia (DD) and I have not travelled together since 1997 (!!) because we have no one to trust with our furbabies. Unless they can come with us, one of us stays home to be with them. I understand your concern!

Gee, it seems like it was only a little while ago that you were finishing up last year at school and posting pics of the end of the year class trip - where does the time go?!?!

Sending love to you & Tom! Loads of dust for no more such surprises!!!

What shocked me most was that she didn't call us right away to tell us that it would not work out. We had asked her way back when, in May and she didn't think about letting us know. But it worked out in the end.

We haven't had time yet to get and have a look at the place, but both, the vet and the pet shop owner recommended the place, so we trust their opinion. We did talk to the pet hotel owner and she seems very nice and had lots of questions herself and answered ours too!

Thanks for the photos of Sophia you have sent me - I never seem to get around to answer my email any more! I need a holiday!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Karin I understand so well !!The last time we all went to Disney we boarded Snoopy and he was NOT a Happy camper !!I mean he was well taken care of but did not like being there so this time Judy's friend will watch him either at the house or her apartment !!I am sure he will be here while she works and then overnioght she will keep him with her at the apartment Snoop and Max LOVE her ,so it should be fine !!I don't know what we'll do if anything goes wrong !!!

I so understand and if there were a way she could stay "home" it would be perfect, but unfortunately that is not possible. The good thing is, that the first time she stayed with Tom's friend Pixie didn't mind at all. She loves to explore new territory, so I guess she will be quite happy exploring her new home too.
And it is very hard to find someone who will "move in" with your cat for a month. It was no problem as long as there was someone in the house, but we can't leave her on her own for 23 hours of the day for a month.

How did I miss your updates? Glad you enjoyed your little gift, even if it was a tad late. Its amazing I got to the post office at all.

I know how busy those last couple weeks are, believe me. Are you done now? If so...congratulations! That's something to be celebrated!

Sorry about the mix-up with your cat. That's a tough one. I'm thankful that Mark's sister takes our poodle, Roxy, otherwise, we'd have to board her and that involves LOTS of shots and added expense. Nothing you want to be dealing with heading into a trip, that's for sure.

I was SO surprised to find your gift, and it was just so thoughtful of you! And did I mention that I loved the photo of my little friend Max?

Unfortunately we still have a week of school to go, but this last week has no regular lessons, it is hiking day on Monday, sports day on Tuesday, then we will have two project days (and I was lucky as another teacher needed someone to help and I volunteered! ) and then we hand out report cards on Friday and then I WILL BE FREE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Up to now looking after Pixie has not been a problem, since our father was living at the same house and with the cat sitters coming in to take care of the litter box and feeding her it was a perfect arrangement. But now that he has moved to the retirement home she would have to be on her own for about 23 hours a day and that's just not right.
So our little princess has a weeks "hotel" stay ahead of her!
It's not the expense of the cat hotel of vet, but the thought that she has to go through the shots that really frightened both of us.

I know ALL about animals needing care. We have a couple of HUNDRED lovely ladies that need to be milked twice a day, everyday and of course they want to eat too. That is why Skip couldn't come this last trip, of course. I can't complain though, it's how we make a living. Those girls are basically paying my way to Disney!

I love the way you mentioned that your "lovely ladies" pay your way to Disney. Guess that is WHY you take such good care of them!

 

[dizneeat]

Trip planning:

Day 6, August 18

Another early rise for us. Today we want to be at Blizzard Beach for Morning Extra Magic Hours. So again, we will grab a bite to eat out of the fridge

and then head to the car to drive over to Blizzard Beach and hopefully catch the start of Extra Magic Hours.
We again will find a nice spot to chill,

then head off to do some slides and maybe this time we will just wait for the raft ride we didn’t do last time. We will most likely grab a snack sometime after EMH and hopefully an adult beverage, as some of the ones on the allears menu sound pretty yummy.

If we are hungry we will grab a CS meal, or two,

before swimming some more and we will finally leave Blizzard Beach around midday again. We will head over to our villa to shower and change before we will head out to do some shopping.

We will still need some fish extender gifts for our cruises, so we will have to a look around at some of the souvenir shops as well as Walmart, Kmart and Target.
Our shopping trip should come to an end in the late afternoon, as we have a dinner reservation at Le Cellier. So after we have freshened up after our shopping spree we will head over to Epcot and walk over to World Showcase.

We will then enjoy our first meal at Le Cellier after it became a signature restaurant.

I hope we won’t have too much of a wait, as I hope to be able to get to the Preferred Viewing of Illuminations.

After the fireworks we will slowly make our way back to the car and drive back to our resort for an early night.

 

[Teri1]

Karin I know how it feels trying to find someone to take of your beloved pets, so you can go on vacation. We have Claire, the two Scotty Dogs, Mick's mothers's dog Rosie to worry about. Our daughter will stay with them or my parents will.
I am so glad you found someone.

I liked Blizzard Beach, only been there once though. We enjoyed the mini-golf out front too.

 

[Stefy]

Another great day Is the preferred viewing spot really good? Was in it Morocco last year?

 

[Kat in GA]

I am glad you got your cat sitter worked out. I know that is a huge deal with going on vacation for so long. We are currently at the world for two weeks - and actually have a friend staying at our house (with our three kitties). It's nice knowing the house is being watched as well.

I do have a question for you. I had never heard of Illuminations viewing from LeCellier! I knew about it from Rose and Crown and the new Mexican TS - but not at LeCellier. Can you see from the restaurant or what do you do to get the preferred viewing??

 

[disney67]

Hi Karin and Tom
Im very upset they do not have a smiley stuffing his face with food .

First your kitty is really cute and aborable
Then here is my review of Miller's Ale House
we walked in and the place was really huge love the atmosphere .
we had a really nice waiter we told him it is our first time here and he really took his time to tell us what he liked , I was shocked you do no get this anywhere including some disney restaurants . mom oder the 35 shrimp scampi over liguini and i ordered the steak and boom boom shrimp with strick orders on holding the boom boom sauce . I started with a salad and a cup of new england style clam chowder the salad with so fresh and delicous and the chowder was good too . my food arrived and steak was cooked perfect and tasted the same way the corn mix was not good and i had FF . i tasted mom's scampi and it was delicous nice tasting shrimp good pasta cooked perfectly . OH forgot we had a soda and it was a big glass i think 32 or 44 oz that big . Overall it was that good mom said we are going tuesday cause they have kids eat free .

what is that on a stick is it a smores ?? if it is OMG that i could go for now .
and i did mousetactular last dec and when we saw illuminations they gave us 3d glasses that made the fireworks look like mickey heads i hjave to find them for this trip . now that you made me hungry it is time to go out and eat lunch . ttys hope you have a nice week
Jeff

 

[cbg1027]

Too bad I can't watch Pixie for you! She's soooo cute. Glad things are sorted out though and she will be taken care of.

 

[annmarieda]

How frustrating to have to scramble to get a sitter for pixie! I have kitties and one of the only reasons I would not want dd and her husband to join us on our next trip is that she could watch them. I want her to go...but if she does, I will be trying to figure out what to do with my furry family members.


Your day at the water park and then epcot looks awesome! I have had the smore at le cellier .... Is it still on the menu? I hope so..cause while I know a lot of people love the moose...I really did not like it when I tried it. This prefered viewing for illuminations is it tied to your le cellier ADR?

 

[jenseib]

We are touring Blizzard Beach that day too. But I think we arrive at 2:30, so you will most likely be gone by the time we arrive.

I do have a question for you. I had never heard of Illuminations viewing from LeCellier! I knew about it from Rose and Crown and the new Mexican TS - but not at LeCellier. Can you see from the restaurant or what do you do to get the preferred viewing??

I wondered that too.

 

[dizneeat]

Karin I know how it feels trying to find someone to take of your beloved pets, so you can go on vacation. We have Claire, the two Scotty Dogs, Mick's mothers's dog Rosie to worry about. Our daughter will stay with them or my parents will.
I am so glad you found someone.

I liked Blizzard Beach, only been there once though. We enjoyed the mini-golf out front too.

So far it has never been a problem as our father was still living at the same house and there was always someone there. Now that he has moved to a retirement home, she would be all on her own for most of the day - not good!

So when Ruth offered to take her in we were pretty happy. Pixie has stayed with her before and Ruth is some kind of a "cat whisperer". Only when she said, that she could NOT do it, we were shocked. But thankfully she can stay at the cathotel!

We intend to go back to both Water Parks this summer - even though I enjoyed Typhoon Lagoon more than Blizzard Beach. Oh, and the mini-golf is so much fun. We get a voucher for a free round of it every year, but very seldom get around to use it!

Another great day Is the preferred viewing spot really good? Was in it Morocco last year?

Last time we went it was in Marocco. We missed both, Illuminations and Wishes Preferred Viewing, last year. But the year before we really enjoyed the view and it was nice not to have to fight for a spot with a good view!

I am glad you got your cat sitter worked out. I know that is a huge deal with going on vacation for so long. We are currently at the world for two weeks - and actually have a friend staying at our house (with our three kitties). It's nice knowing the house is being watched as well.

I do have a question for you. I had never heard of Illuminations viewing from LeCellier! I knew about it from Rose and Crown and the new Mexican TS - but not at LeCellier. Can you see from the restaurant or what do you do to get the preferred viewing??

We're pretty happy our cat sitting situation has cleared up! Having someone move in for a few days would not have been a problem, but since we are staying for 4 weeks - it IS a problem. But now we know that she will be well looked after!

There is NO Illuminations viewinf from LeCellier. What I was talking about is .... we will have dinner at Le Cellier, then we will walk over to Morocco to sign in for the Preferred Fireworks Viewing of Illuminations. This is a perk that comes with booking with Disney.uk. You get a voucher and this allows you to use the landing area of the Friendships in Morocco as a viewing spot. There are only so many people allowed, so it is pretty neat.

Hi Karin and Tom
Im very upset they do not have a smiley stuffing his face with food .

First your kitty is really cute and aborable
Then here is my review of Miller's Ale House
we walked in and the place was really huge love the atmosphere .
we had a really nice waiter we told him it is our first time here and he really took his time to tell us what he liked , I was shocked you do no get this anywhere including some disney restaurants . mom oder the 35 shrimp scampi over liguini and i ordered the steak and boom boom shrimp with strick orders on holding the boom boom sauce . I started with a salad and a cup of new england style clam chowder the salad with so fresh and delicous and the chowder was good too . my food arrived and steak was cooked perfect and tasted the same way the corn mix was not good and i had FF . i tasted mom's scampi and it was delicous nice tasting shrimp good pasta cooked perfectly . OH forgot we had a soda and it was a big glass i think 32 or 44 oz that big . Overall it was that good mom said we are going tuesday cause they have kids eat free .

what is that on a stick is it a smores ?? if it is OMG that i could go for now .
and i did mousetactular last dec and when we saw illuminations they gave us 3d glasses that made the fireworks look like mickey heads i hjave to find them for this trip . now that you made me hungry it is time to go out and eat lunch . ttys hope you have a nice week
Jeff

Well, Jeff, I do not have a stuffing your face smilie, but at least I have a drooling one!

Thanks for the review of Miller's! We will definitely go back during the summer.

Yes, they offered smores as dessert at LeCellier. Not so sure if they still do with the new menu.

Your 3D Illuminations experience sounds fun! Never heard of it, but there is always something new at WDW!

 

[dizneeat]

Too bad I can't watch Pixie for you! She's soooo cute. Glad things are sorted out though and she will be taken care of.

Wouldn't it be fun if we could take our little princess with us to "Mouseland"? But at least it is one thing to worry about I can tick off my list, with our kitty going to stay at a cathotel!

 

[disney67]

I should of spesifyied (ok spelling not good ) what i should of said is the TA i use had some special events last and again this year last year oneof them was a special illumination dessert meet and they gave us special 3D glasses when the fireworks shoot off you see mickey heads here is the link for what she is doing this year
http://www.mousetacular.com/

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry, I had to stop around midday today, as Tom was picking me up to run some errands. But I am back now and hopefully there will be enough time for some updates!

How frustrating to have to scramble to get a sitter for pixie! I have kitties and one of the only reasons I would not want dd and her husband to join us on our next trip is that she could watch them. I want her to go...but if she does, I will be trying to figure out what to do with my furry family members.


Your day at the water park and then epcot looks awesome! I have had the smore at le cellier .... Is it still on the menu? I hope so..cause while I know a lot of people love the moose...I really did not like it when I tried it. This prefered viewing for illuminations is it tied to your le cellier ADR?

I am real happy to hear that there are so many other wonderful people out there worrying about the well being of their furry family members. We love our kitty to bits and it took a long time thinking before coming up with the cat hotel idea. We really hope she will like it there!

I have no idea if the smore is still on the menu at LeCellier. A friend of ours had it and she LOVED it!
the preferred viewing for Illuminations is a perk if you book with Disney.co.uk. They have a special reserved spot (near Morocco - where the Friendships land) where you can watch Illuminations. Only a limited amount of people are allowed each night, so it's pretty special and the view is wonderful without having to fight for a spot.

We are touring Blizzard Beach that day too. But I think we arrive at 2:30, so you will most likely be gone by the time we arrive.

I wondered that too.

We won't stay past midday, as the park got pretty crowded around that time last year.
And the preferred fireworks viewing is a perk that comes with booking with Disney.co.uk. Last year we cancelled all our times, but I hope we will be able to fit in the fireworks this year.

I should of spesifyied (ok spelling not good ) what i should of said is the TA i use had some special events last and again this year last year oneof them was a special illumination dessert meet and they gave us special 3D glasses when the fireworks shoot off you see mickey heads here is the link for what she is doing this year
http://www.mousetacular.com/

Thank you for clearing that up! I checked the website and it looked pretty spectacular! Wonderful for you that you were able to take part!

 

[dizneeat]

Updates

So, what has happened those last ten days and what kept me from updating here?

Well, let's start at the end of June, when school was still in session. On Wednesday, June 29 we had our last teachers' meeting for the year and after that it was off to feed marks into the computer for the report cards. Thing is that the system we use is "very wacky" and sometimes lets you save lots of things, but then looses them again. So we got to the part we we checked and doublechecked and saved and doublesaved and triplesaved.

Report cards done, on Monday during the last week of school we had our "hiking day" and when we got off the bus I couldn't really see where I stepped, someone pushed from behind and ......... I fell. Hurt my knee and even though the scratches are nearly all healed, my leg is still swollen. Hope it's back to normal once we leave for the US.
On Tuesday we had a sports day for the pupils. Now, I am not the teacher who pushed them to win, but I will do my best to motivate them. After about 3 hours we had to break up the games as it was raining cats and dogs. Turns out in the end that my class won!
Wednesday and Thursday were project days - which means every teacher offers to do a craft or activity and pupils sign up for it. Thankfully another teacher needed someone to help her, so I volunteered! I was nursing my hurt leg and helping the kids to paint T-shirts.
On Thursday afternoon my friend Heidi had her retirement party at a restaurant and we sat for a LOOOOOOOOONG time having fun.
Come Friday, I was tired and ready to get this school year over and done with. So after handing out the report cards I packed up my things and headed home.

To celebrate the start of my summer vacation Tom and I went out to lunch that day.
There is a new, real nice Asian restaurant that offers a very reasonable daily menu and that is what we had ........


...........


...........


and if you thought I'd spare you the food pix, then you are wrong!

Now that fixed price menu (around 9$) not including drinks, starts with a

Sweet and Sour Soup. Very nice, tasty and a bit on the hot side!

The main course is served in a "Bento" box.

There are two mini eggrolls. These are homemade and filled with crunchy veggies! VERY good.

I had the fried sesame chicken strips with garlic sauce, which was real tasty.

Every box comes with some white rice

iceberg leaves and shredded carrot salad and some melon.

Tom had "8 treasures" as his main course and enjoyed it very much too!

We spent the afternoon and weekend working on our FE projects. Since we do small individual presents for every day of our cruises we have to make 180 individual presents for every day! Day 1 and 2 are nearly finished, and day 3 and 4 are in the making.

More updates and photos in the next post!