I'm thankful for...MICKEY!!! My Thanksgiving '08 TR!: TR Update, Last Day!

[MAGICFOR2]

Yet more updates! You are really making up for lost time! I love the Christmas tree pics - I have to get there at Christmas some time soon!

 

[princessjv]

I just read your entire TR to date and am loving it! We were there at the same time as you and so far most of our park days were spot on. I'll have to look to see if I find your family members in any of my pictures~That would be a hoot!

Love the bedroom set and congrats on the hard work you've put into your new home. I look forward to the rest of the TR.

 

[jordanyosh]

jasmine,

wow...where to start.....

1) Dinosaur--great ride, but even I find it a bit scary. Taking new people and sitting them on the right side is a hoot though.

2) Flame Tree BBQ--mmmmmmm.

3) Maharajah Jungle Trek--the tigers were out!!! Good mojo!!!!

4) You seem to do well with rain at the parks!

5) Allowing DH the flexibility to come and go as he pleased was very generous of you.

6) Resorts at Christmas--

 

[lisalonglash]

Wooohooo, TWO updates to enjoy! Sounds like you all had a great day! Flame Tree is yummy, the Maharajah Trek is great (love the tiger pictures!), Dinosaur makes me and RnRC without music would be even freakier than it already is!

Can't wait for more, Julie!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

i'm sorry Julie's family....bats are NOT cute! Yuck!

THANK YOU!!!

NOT CUTE AT ALL!!!

It was such a treat to read all about it... I'm glad it rained today!!


Kathy

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I guess I can call yesterday productive now!

Great updates, I loved the AK pictures, they were great. The Christmas pictures were fantastic, I am loving your TR!!

Thanks, Tracy!

I love being at WDW at Christmas time. Those decorations are THE BEST!!!

Yet more updates! You are really making up for lost time! I love the Christmas tree pics - I have to get there at Christmas some time soon!

I certainly am making up for lost time! The trip was in November/December and here we are in June and I'm not done yet. Oy!

Yes, you do have to get there at Christmas time!

I just read your entire TR to date and am loving it! We were there at the same time as you and so far most of our park days were spot on. I'll have to look to see if I find your family members in any of my pictures~That would be a hoot!

Love the bedroom set and congrats on the hard work you've put into your new home. I look forward to the rest of the TR.

We were probably waiting in line next to each other! If you heard a girl telling her husband to please be serious in at least one picture, that was me!

Did you do a TR? I'll have to find it and read it and look for us if so!

Thanks so much for reading!!!

jasmine,

wow...where to start.....

1) Dinosaur--great ride, but even I find it a bit scary. Taking new people and sitting them on the right side is a hoot though.

2) Flame Tree BBQ--mmmmmmm.

3) Maharajah Jungle Trek--the tigers were out!!! Good mojo!!!!

4) You seem to do well with rain at the parks!

5) Allowing DH the flexibility to come and go as he pleased was very generous of you.

6) Resorts at Christmas--

Hey Jafar!

I definitely made sure the Dinosaur newbies were on the right hand side. My SIL's reactions were priceless on most of the rides!

I try to see the good in the rain at the parks! Lesser crowds are always a plus!

I was so happy that DH was at Disney World with me, I was totally okay with him sneaking away to watch da bears! I learned very early on in my marriage that balance is the key to a happy Julie and a happy DH!

Wooohooo, TWO updates to enjoy! Sounds like you all had a great day! Flame Tree is yummy, the Maharajah Trek is great (love the tiger pictures!), Dinosaur makes me and RnRC without music would be even freakier than it already is!

Can't wait for more, Julie!

That WAS a great day!

The only thing that would have made it better would have been music on RnRC!

 

[xoktenox]

Wooo lots of updates Julie! Can I just say that I'm petrified of birds and I give you a lot of credit for going through the bird area on the Maharajah Jungle Trek and eating at Flame Tree with all those birds around!

The Christmas pictures of the resorts are beauuuutiful! I can't wait to be there for that

 

[princessjv]

T


We were probably waiting in line next to each other! If you heard a girl telling her husband to please be serious in at least one picture, that was me!

Did you do a TR? I'll have to find it and read it and look for us if so!

Thanks so much for reading!!!

I will keep looking for my family in your pictures and vice versa. I started a TR, yet got too busy to post. I'll let you know if I decide to post it and finish it.

 

[MeMom]

After dinner, it was still raining, so we decided to do a resort tour rather than go to a park.

DH headed back to the room to watch the Bears' game and the rest of us took the bus to Epcot and then got on the Monorail. And...we got so wrapped up in chatting that we forgot to get off! Oops again!

We eventually got on the resort monorail and headed over to the Polynesian. We walked around the Poly and took it all in. I definitely want to stay there at some point in my life!


The big, beautiful GF tree!

I went into Basin and bought some Christmas gifts for some of my friends. Just the other day, I was going to buy some lotion and then I would wait and treat myself to some Basin lotion when I'm at WDW in 2 weeks!

We sat and listened to a wonderful band playing Christmas music as we took in all the beautiful Christmas decor.

Tomorrow would be a full day of DHS and I couldn't wait! I fell asleep as soon as my head hit the pillow after my super fun, full day of Disney fun!

I want to stay at Poly someday, too.

Grand Floridian is so pretty at Christmas!

Basin is a great place to get gifts.

There's no sleep like Disney sleep!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Wooo lots of updates Julie! Can I just say that I'm petrified of birds and I give you a lot of credit for going through the bird area on the Maharajah Jungle Trek and eating at Flame Tree with all those birds around!

The Christmas pictures of the resorts are beauuuutiful! I can't wait to be there for that

I love Flame Tree so much that I am able to overcome my fear of birds during that half hour! But you can bet that I got out of there as soon as I was done with my food!

You're gonna love all the Christmas decorations! And the Christmas music everywhere! It's the BEST!!!

I will keep looking for my family in your pictures and vice versa. I started a TR, yet got too busy to post. I'll let you know if I decide to post it and finish it.

I got too busy for my TR for a while, too. Hence the NOvember TR being done in June!

I'm gonna check my pics for sure!

I want to stay at Poly someday, too.

Grand Floridian is so pretty at Christmas!

Basin is a great place to get gifts.

There's no sleep like Disney sleep!

Okay, let's go stay at the Poly!

I can't wait to get me some Basin stuff and some Disney sleep in TEN DAYS!!!!

 

[mousescrapper]

That was a worthwhile rain visit to DHS for you after all....I agree ToT is one of my all-time fav's too!

Love all your pictures

Dinner sounded yummy...one day we'll eat there, another resoprt on my dream to-do list!

Your resort tour was brillant! All the Christmas pic's make me so-so excited for our trip next year! We watched some tv special about decorating for Christmas there and I'd love to see the Gingerbread house at the GR too....

oh and the guy in suspenders too!

J-

 

[DisMomAmy]

I can tell you are getting in Disney mode for your upcoming trip - so many updates at once... apparently you have Disney on the brain.

Sounds like you had a great day at AK - even though you had a wet bootie!

Those ducks terrorized Alex - I can understand your fear - they are a bit aggressive!

That was pretty cool that you went off to DHS by yourself - it's nice that everyone could do what they wanted without hard feelings. I tend to be the one who ends up with hard feelings...

The resort tour was awesome - I'd love to spend more time exploring the resorts in the future - not too fun for the boys at this point though...

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

That was a worthwhile rain visit to DHS for you after all....I agree ToT is one of my all-time fav's too!

Love all your pictures

Dinner sounded yummy...one day we'll eat there, another resoprt on my dream to-do list!

Your resort tour was brillant! All the Christmas pic's make me so-so excited for our trip next year! We watched some tv special about decorating for Christmas there and I'd love to see the Gingerbread house at the GR too....

oh and the guy in suspenders too!

J-

I absolutely love Boma. I would definitely recommend it for dinner!

Do you plan to tour all the resorts when you're there next year? That is such a fun thing to do. The only problem is that it makes me want to stay at all the super expensive resorts!

I can tell you are getting in Disney mode for your upcoming trip - so many updates at once... apparently you have Disney on the brain.

Sounds like you had a great day at AK - even though you had a wet bootie!

Those ducks terrorized Alex - I can understand your fear - they are a bit aggressive!

That was pretty cool that you went off to DHS by yourself - it's nice that everyone could do what they wanted without hard feelings. I tend to be the one who ends up with hard feelings...

The resort tour was awesome - I'd love to spend more time exploring the resorts in the future - not too fun for the boys at this point though...

I definitely have Disney on the brain! I need to get my act together and start getting things together for this trip. Normally I'm 3/4 of the way packed at this point before any trip! I haven't even started!

Poor Alex...I'm an adult and I can't even handle those ducks. I can't imagine being a kid and dealing with them!

Each time someone (or everyone!) from the group went back to the resorts while there was still so much park fun to be had, I just told myself it was their loss! I have to admit it made me a little sad, but I got over it!

I can imagine that the boys would have been super bored on a resort tour. My DH couldn't even handle it!

 

[SwansLoveDisney]

Once again, our alarm was set for 6:40 this morning. I was a little bit slow moving this morning, but I managed to get myself up. It is a struggle for me to get out of bed at 6:30 every morning for work, but I guess Disney makes everything seem better!

After I showered, I tried to wake up DH, but he wasn't budging! He had been such a great sport for all the other rope drops, so I took no for an answer and he said he'd meet us all later on. I left the room and took some photos.

The emotion I feel almost constantly at Disney World

Where are we again? Oh yeah...

I headed to the cafeteria with some pop tarts in hand and toasted them up for myself. As I ate, I tried to guess who would show up for the bus this morning. As it got closer and closer to 8:15, I began to realize that NO ONE was showing up!

Finally, I saw my mom arriving at the cafeteria. Yay Mom! She said my dad hadn't gotten out of bed yet and that she hadn't heard from my brother or SIL either. I was tempted to call or text them just to be sure they weren't coming, but I didn't want to wake them if they were sleeping.

So Mom and I got in the bus line, which was HUGE! It was Monday after Thanksgiving, the day the crowds were supposed to thin and it was our longest bus line yet. Not good! I started to get nervous about the rest of our day.

Eventually, we got on a bus and arrived at DHS. This was my first time at DHS since it turned into DHS. I thought I would never get used to calling it that, but now it only takes me a second to realize that it's not MGM anymore!

We got through bag check without incident and then tried to pick the best line at the turnstyles. Most of the lines were pretty full, but we spied one line that only had about 5 people in it. Score! So we jumped in that line only to be told by a guy in front of us that it was a line only for cast members and their guests. Now, he didn't look like a cast member to me, so I asked him if he was a cast member. He said he was, but for some reason I didn't believe him. Rather than take a chance, Mom and I got into a different line that was kinda short as well. In that line were some other people who were turned away by the "cast member". We commiserated with one another over the fake cast member as we watched him wave his friends over into his line. Soon, all the lines were SUPER long and the turnstyles were opened up and GUESS WHAT!?! The turnstyle that the "cast member" was waiting at didn't even open! So when he realized that it wasn't going to open, he directed all of his guests to CUT IN FRONT OF ME AND MY MOM to get through our turnstyle!!! I wasn't having that, so I told the people, very nicely, that their "cast member" friend had kicked us out of line and that if they could jump in the line behind us if it was okay with the people behind us. His friends appeared to be shocked that he kicked us out of the line. So they asked the people behind us if they could cut. Well, the people behind us had been kicked out of the other line as well, so they gave the same answer as we did. To that, the friends of the cast member said, very sarcastically "Well, thanks so much for your hospitality." I feel like I might have been being petty about that whole situation, but I didn't get up at 6:40 to let people get to Toy Story Midway Mania before me!

Moving on...

Mom and I worked our way up as close as we could to the opening show and we thoroughly enjoyed it!

I tried to take pics, but mostly got pics of people's heads!

They let us begin the charge to TSMM and I grabbed Mom's Key to the World and ran/walked to the fastpass machines. Of course, as luck would have it, the lady in front of me was getting 65 billion fast passes. I waited patiently, grabbed our fastpasses, and then Mom and I got in the stand-by line. The queue was super cute.

I loved these when I was little!

I still love playing with a barrel of monkeys!

I could use that 50 bzilion dollars right about now!

Mr. Potato head was funny!

And the ride was SO MUCH FUN!!! I loved it!

I beat my mom in points, but she beat me in accuracy

As we exited TSMM, my dad and my brother arrived. My brother and I grabbed everyone's keys to the world and got fastpasses for Tower of Terror. We figured that when DH and DSIL arrived, they could use our parents' fastpasses.

Then, my bro and I rode RnRC using the single rider line. That single rider line moves SO QUICKLY!!! They scoot you right through everything so that you can fill in all the places where there's an odd numbered group. My brother said that the girl next to him was CRYING while waiting for the ride to begin! He tried to calm her down, but she didn't speak any English! He felt so bad for her, but there was nothing he could do. Poor girl! I don't know why her group decided to leave her as the odd person out!

Here she is next to my bro (she's in the back right!). She looks so scared!

After RnRC, we checked the ToT stand-by line and it was super short, so we hopped on that ride. Loved it, of course!

I could ride those two rides all day!

At this point, I was pretty hungry. I guess my pop tart didn't do the trick. So we met up with my mom and dad at the Starring Rolls Bakery and I got a cherry danish. Hey, it had fruit in it. It was healthy, right?

Then it was time for Beauty and the Beast, my favorite show at Disney World! We found some seats and then DH showed up . He and I shared my Danish as we enjoyed the show. Belle seemed a little off to me during this performance and it was a bit distracting. Not my favorite performance ever, but it was still very cute!

After the show, my bro was busy calling his wife and trying to convince her to come to the park. She said she was finishing watching a movie on TV and then she would come. He seemed to be a little irritated by that, and I tried to tell him that it was her loss and that he should just try to enjoy himself. He wasn't having that though . He didn't want to ride anymore rides without her, so he hung back with my parents while DH and I went for another round of ToT and RnRC.

DH is back left

Super fun again, of course!

On ToT, I noticed a VERY creepy little guy that I had never noticed before. He was sitting off to the left of the elevator as we landed. I snapped a pic and it STILL creeps me out when I see it!

We were both pretty hungry after that, so DH and I called my family and they said that we should go ahead and eat and they would find something on their own. So DH and I headed over to Pizza Planet. The pizza was not my cup of tea, but it was definitely filling.

At this point, the 4 straight days of rope drop began to catch up with me. I felt PRETTY sleepy, so I decided that it was time for a real break.

DH and I let everyone know we were departing the park and we headed back to Pop Century for a rest.

Up Next: Doogie!

 

[princessjv]

At this point, the 4 straight days of rope drop began to catch up with me. I felt PRETTY sleepy, so I decided that it was time for a real break.

O my goodness. 4 straight days... I'd be pooped out too!

 

[KathyRN137]

After the show, my bro was busy calling his wife and trying to convince her to come to the park. She said she was finishing watching a movie on TV and then she would come.

Sooo many things to comment on in this update, but this one really takes the cake!!! I can definitely see coming later to the park if you're tired and need a bit of extra sleep... but... watching a movie!!! Oh my....

I don't think you were being petty about the "fake" CM line... you had every right to speak up!

I felt so bad for that poor girl on R&RC!!

I cannot wait to get Billy on TSM... I just know he's going to want to ride again and again!!!

Did I miss it?? Did you choose what park you and Mom are going to tour yet??


Kathy

 

[Charleston Princess]

Four days of rope drop??? Wow! I would need a nap as well, I think! Looks like it was nice and sunny that day, though!

 

[MeMom]

And the ride was SO MUCH FUN!!! I loved it!

We were both pretty hungry after that, so DH and I called my family and they said that we should go ahead and eat and they would find something on their own. So DH and I headed over to Pizza Planet. The pizza was not my cup of tea, but it was definitely filling.


DH and I let everyone know we were departing the park and we headed back to Pop Century for a rest.

Up Next: Doogie!

Your Monday after Thanksgiving was so much better than mine! I was back at school after having driven in from Alabama that morning after getting back from Disney World at about 2 a.m. I was in a zombie-like state and suffering Disney withdrawals.

You had one of Jill's favorite days - Toy Story ride and Toy Story pizza!

Sounds like you were in much need of a rest!

Looking forward to more and more and more!
We've started the pre-trip report for the summer trip, by the way. I don't have it in my signature yet, but you'll probably recognize it as being ours. It's called Brooklynn Takes Bella to Meet Cinderella.

 

[DisMomAmy]

Sounds like the ideal morning to me... TSM, ToT, RnRC! All my favorites!!

I can understand why you needed a break - Not only 4 early mornings, but late nights too! We tend to make the early mornings, but we usually have early nights.

 

[shebaxric]

Shame on that "Cast Member"! I think I would've been the same way, he should suffer the consequences of his unkind actions. Too bad his friends tried to go along with him! I cannot wait to get on TSMM!!! I have heard so many good things about this one, and I really enjoy Buzz Lightyear, so with it being the same concept, I think we'll really enjoy it! I can never get my family up for rope drops, I think we should at least try one of them. Which park would you reccomend?

 

[mousescrapper]

Another fun morning to be had at Disney....

can't believe that story about the fake CM....

glad you stuck up for your spot in line!

Ok I had to quickly scroll past that creepy puppet guy at ToT....I'm glad that I have never seen him....

did your SIL ever make it to the park?....watch a movie? OK maybe in a horrible rain storm....but not missing early morning lines on the best rides....

oh well, guess they can't all be crazy like us huh?

looking forward to more...