Inching My Way Closer to the Castle Final thoughts/future trips 4/2p90 The End 4/4p92

[MEK]

Beautiful, beautiful sunrise pictures Mary Ellen. I may steal one for my desktop.

Thanks Kathy. You are more than welcome to steal away!

Beautiful sunrise pictures ME!!! Now I know I never have to get up early to see the sunrise....I can just look at your pictures!

Love it! that will probably be the first and last time I will get up for sunrise pictures at my house. Usually too darn lazy. Next sunrise pictures will likely be at some exotic vacation local!

Very sorry to hear about your sons' friend. That is very tragic...the loss of life when one is so young is so much harder I think.

Thanks Tracy. It is a very tragic and sad loss. Its the loss of future that makes it so tragic. All that untapped potential - gone!

Still didn't see Nemo this trip I was too busy doing other things...like getting take out drinks from Yak&Yeti

So they have take-out drinks for Yak & Yeti? Nice!

Well, it is my opinion that you and Cynthia MUST see Nemo even if I have to drag the both of you there!

Thanks for thinking of me when you went up the hill on EE It sure was something I will never forget And yes we got out of the train which was the most awkward part and then walked up the stairs and then down through the mountain.

That story still gives me the creeps. I would be scared to death to get out of that train. Something I never want to experience first hand, thank you very much!

I am already wallowing in my Disney depression after coming home so I am so happy to have our trip planned for May It looks like you are going to be having a great 2011 with many trips planned!! So excited for you!!

Tracy

I am very excited for our May trip, especially now that we have our ADRs nailed down. Can't wait to get there!!!!

D'oh! I find myself 3 pages behind; again! MEK mentioned it being a slow week for updates and I became update complacent. Sorry 'bout that folks.

Well, its about time! I actually didn't want to bother you because I know you can get busy with the kids and your other job. So now you are all caught up.

Was this taken before or after your sinister uncle tried to violently take over your father's kingdom and trick you into exile with a couple of wise-cracking insectivores?

Good one or Is that your way of saying I did a little too much photoediting? There was actually a lot of red in each of the pictures, so I just enhanced this one a bit.

More and More gorgeous pics!! LOVING IT!!

Yay for trying something new and enjoying it! I love veggies too so that might be a sandwich I would like!!!!

BLT's lobby and Top of the World Lounge simply look gorgeous! I really hope to stay there someday!! WONDERFUL!

Jen, that sandwich was excellent! So darn good.

Knowing you, you will definitely have a future stay at BLT. I can definitely see you and Leslie staying there during one of your future visit. Depends on who buys DVC first.

I just got caught up with your TR after been gone since Thursday. As usual great pictures. It seems that I will be getting a new camera after all. I took some great pictures in Gatlinburg this past weekend, however we lost the camera!

I am so upset that you lost your camera. You must be so ! I bet Gatlinburg was beautiful this time of year. Ouch! Major loss. Well, bright side is didn't you say you wanted a new camera?
The good thing about the larger dslr is that its hard to misplace!

It is too bad about the girl killed in the auto accident. Several kids that we have known have been killed in crashes over the past few years. One was a boy that was on the soccer team that I coached. Too many, too young.

Its truely an epidemic and it makes me so sad. Its almost like russian roulette. You look around at a group of 100 kids and you wonder who is going to fall victim.

 

[Lady Lallie]

BLT has become my dream resort now that I'm staying at Boardwalk in January. I must stay there!!

 

[MEK]

BLT has become my dream resort now that I'm staying at Boardwalk in January. I must stay there!!

Did I not just say that you and Jen would be staying there in the future? I am peering into my crystal ball and that is what I see. But seriously, it is perfect for the two of you!

 

[Lady Lallie]

Did I not just say that you and Jen would be staying there in the future? I am peering into my crystal ball and that is what I see. But seriously, it is perfect for the two of you!

I think we tried to get BLT for January but no such luck. Oh well, someday!

As far as who buys DVC first, I'm betting on Jen.

 

[megcellent]

Just wanted to stop in to say HI! I love, love, love at the photography ... and i'm only on page 12. I can't wait to see what else is in this TR! Fun, fun!

 

[MEK]

I think we tried to get BLT for January but no such luck. Oh well, someday!

As far as who buys DVC first, I'm betting on Jen.

Really? Well I guess you could have waitlisted, but I think you will both totally love the Boardwalk. What's not to love and you can save BLT for a second trip.

As far as whose first, my money was actually on you!!!!

 

[MEK]

Just wanted to stop in to say HI! I love, love, love at the photography ... and i'm only on page 12. I can't wait to see what else is in this TR! Fun, fun!

Megcellent. Thanks for stopping over! Jen and my moto is heavy on the pictures, light on the words. We are soooooo lazy!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Well,"Henifer", I think that the camera got knocked out of the vehicle either on the Craft Loop or right inside of the Smoky Mountain park where we stopped to eat lunch.

MEK, I don't think that DH will pony up for the DSLR at this time, so it will be another P&S. Probably another Canon as they have good reviews & I've been happy with the Canon. I do have a film slr I could use in a pinch. I have several lenses & filters for that one, but it is so dang heavy!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Caught up again - oodles of beautiful pictures!!!! Enjoying it all, of course! I've never seen half of the things you've caught in pictures, I love that! I thought we moved pretty slowly, soaking it in, but so many details I've missed even still.

What kind of veggies did the sandwich have on it from Restaurantasaurus? Or was it a veggie burger? I might have to try that next time!

 

[Ducky4Disney]

Well,"Henifer", I think that the camera got knocked out of the vehicle either on the Craft Loop or right inside of the Smoky Mountain park where we stopped to eat lunch.

MEK, I don't think that DH will pony up for the DSLR at this time, so it will be another P&S. Probably another Canon as they have good reviews & I've been happy with the Canon. I do have a film slr I could use in a pinch. I have several lenses & filters for that one, but it is so dang heavy!

Ooh, that sucks. It's not one of those it-could-still-be-in-the-car situations. So sorry for your electronic loss! My P&S is a Canon SX 110IS and now they have a few models ahead of it. Happy camera shopping!

Caught up again - oodles of beautiful pictures!!!! Enjoying it all, of course! I've never seen half of the things you've caught in pictures, I love that! I thought we moved pretty slowly, soaking it in, but so many details I've missed even still.

What kind of veggies did the sandwich have on it from Restaurantasaurus? Or was it a veggie burger? I might have to try that next time!

I think I take so many pictures just so I can remember where I was and in what order I did things! I've had to use the context of the other pics to figure out where I took some of these!

The sandwich was grilled veggies not a burger. I didn't recognize a lot of the veggies but I think there was eggplant and zucchini involved.

D4D

 

[MEK]

I see that Hennifer has beat me to the replies, so I will leave you a few soccer picks before I got to bed......

Isn't soccer great. What other sport lands you on your @$$ like this.....

Brian in the white......

The B+ shirt. Worn in honor of a kid who played on the opposing team and died of leukemia. Nick on far left......

Brian on the ground....

Brian on the left......

Can I just say that soccer pictures are WAY harder than Disney pictures, especially at night. 50 of my pictures ended up being edited with effects or they would have ended up in the trash can.

See what happens when I get home from a game. I am too wound up to go to sleep and too lazy to do a trip report update.

 

[Ducky4Disney]

I see that Hennifer has beat me to the replies, so I will leave you a few soccer picks before I got to bed......

Isn't soccer great...

Ya know, I have never been a big soccer fan. That's not entirely true, I think it's the soccer mom label I don't like, but your a soccer mom and I like you, so it can't be that bad. Seeing those photos makes me think it might not be that bad!

D4D

 

[MEK]

Ya know, I have never been a big soccer fan. That's not entirely true, I think it's the soccer mom label I don't like, but your a soccer mom and I like you, so it can't be that bad. Seeing those photos makes me think it might not be that bad!

D4D

Let me just say its WAY better than watching baseball. It's good for my lack of attention span because there is always something going on.

 

[mickeysmyboy]

Still trying to catchup after our trip! At this point I’m not even sure what I caught up on! LOL! So if I already posted please forgive me!

Fabulous AK and EE pictures! MaryEllen, I still haven’t ridden EE! I’m thinking May

Great Safari pictures too! I find it’s really hard to get good shots on the safari! I love that little geyser! When we did the safari in January it was frozen!

I can’t blame you for not taking pictures in Nemo! It’s nice to just sit back and enjoy the show!

I’m so, so sorry to hear about Nick’s friend! It’s such a tragedy when a life is lost so young! It makes you hold onto yours a little closer, doesn’t it?

Love you pictures of the lobby of BLT! It’s a really cool lobby! I love the wooden chair! BTW, I think DH and I went to the lobby of BLT twice in 6 days because of that “special” walkway!

Great soccer pictures too!

 

[MEK]

Still trying to catchup after our trip! At this point I’m not even sure what I caught up on! LOL! So if I already posted please forgive me!

I know that feeling. Its sometimes hard to remember what you've read and what you've missed. FWIW - this is your first visit since you've been back - I think!

Fabulous AK and EE pictures! MaryEllen, I still haven’t ridden EE! I’m thinking May

What?????? That's almost as bad as Tracy and Cynthia not seeing Nemo yet. Well, you are SO riding it in May. I know Tracy and Cynthia ride. I don't think C likes the thrill rides.

Great Safari pictures too! I find it’s really hard to get good shots on the safari! I love that little geyser! When we did the safari in January it was frozen!

I love Safari but I actually don't mind if I miss it in May if times limited. I would, however, like to see the parade. I haven't seen that in a couple years.

S

I can’t blame you for not taking pictures in Nemo! It’s nice to just sit back and enjoy the show!

I love that show. BEST DISNEY SHOW EVER!

I’m so, so sorry to hear about Nick’s friend! It’s such a tragedy when a life is lost so young! It makes you hold onto yours a little closer, doesn’t it?

It sure does. It's terribly sad and distressing. There have been a rash of car accidents in the state this week. I think like 6 or 8 people have died. That's a lot of the second smallest state. Its all people doing crazy things like trying to pass in the median and on the shoulder.

Love you pictures of the lobby of BLT! It’s a really cool lobby! I love the wooden chair! BTW, I think DH and I went to the lobby of BLT twice in 6 days because of that “special” walkway!

I can't wait to see your pictures of the 1BR. I hope you loved it.

Great soccer pictures too!

Thanks. I still haven't gotten the hang of taking night pictures so I did those crazy edits so I could still enjoy the action shots.

 

[MEK]

Jen and I had just arrived back at BLT when we decided to enter through the lobby. We took the elevator up to our floor. Since I already had the camera out, I figured it would be a good time for some more BLT pics.

The Hall.....

The Floor.......

The carpet.....

The murals......

A view of the castle from one of the windows near the elevator....

We went back to the room to change into our swim suits. I made the near fatal mistake of laying down on the love seat. I think I was on the verge of a power nap when I sat bolt upright and said, "NO"! "I will not take a nap. I am going swimming". Phew. Crisis averted. Swimsuit on. Pool here we come!

Here is my view of the pool from the 9th floor......

OK - this is not a criticism, but when we got down to the pool deck level, the pool did not look nearly as cool as it did from the 9th floor. Even this lifeguard looks a tad underwhelmed.....

It didn't take Jen very long before she hit the slide......

Jen loved the slide, but would she ever be able to coax me into going down the slide?

I ignored Jen's request for me to join her. In stead I took pictures of a parasailer.....

Oops! Psych - it only looks like that parasailer is crashing into that tree.....

Before long Jen was taking her third ride down the slide and loving every minute of it. So what was my problem? Why wasn't I joining her? I used to love slides until 2 years ago. That was when I got whiplash riding the Vero Beach slide. I took off like a bat out of hell on the wicked little slide. When I tried to lift my head up....Bang...the back of my head smacked right back down on the slide. Ouch. Ouch. and Double Ouch. The back of my head tingled and my neck hurt. Ever since then I have been a little gun shy when it comes to water slides.

But you know what? I did it! I went down the slide. And you know what else? It was fun. Fun, except for that nasal irrigation at the end of the slide. Nothing like clearing out of the old sinuses!

Here's a picture of BLT from my perspective on my lounge chair.

Continued........

 

[MEK]

Continued.......

Jen and I didn't have a lot of pool time. We had a 540 ADR in Epcot so we figured we better get back up to the room around 415pm or so. I did a little exploring the pool area.

There is a cute little beach outside of the pool. Unfortunately, I couldn't figure out how to open the gate, so I took some pictures from the inside....

From that same vantage point I got some pictures of bay lake

Hey is that ANOTHER beach off in the distance?

Why I think its the Wilderness Lodge!

Soon enough it was time to head back to the room. Once we got there we started brain storming about planning a special tour. There was a tour that Jen really wanted to do, but she's never been able to do it with her DH. Today was day 3 and we knew we really only had 2 more full days before heading. We figured if we were going to do a backstage tour we better arrange it now.

So what tour did we decide to do? Well, let me give you a hint....We needed to be at the park by 7:30am the next morning.

So, up next....dinner at Epcot, Illuminations, and a surprise behind the scenes tour.

 

[KatMark]

Ya know, I have never been a big soccer fan. That's not entirely true, I think it's the soccer mom label I don't like, but your a soccer mom and I like you, so it can't be that bad. Seeing those photos makes me think it might not be that bad!

D4D

I'm not a soccer fan either (and I was a soccer mom...and jumped for joy when he gave it up for football, baseball and wrestling). But I like Mary Ellen too.

 

[nilla]

Wow, awesome slide! The pool does look really cool from that angle. Sorry it didn't live up to that from the ground.

Also glad you both rode it. If you ask me, life's too short to let potential agony get in the way of what could be a good time.

 

[KatMark]

More great pictures, MaryEllen. I've heard that about the pool at BLT -- underwhelming (we always thought that of the Contemporary pool). Good for you going down the slide.

I'm going to guess you do the Segway Tour.