It took him 6 days to get home from Afghanistan, but it was WELL worth it! (July '11)

[newmommy_2010]

I am here! So glad to hear you guys got an upgrade! Nice views! Can't wait to hear more!!
As a military wife myself, I want to thank your husband and you for his service and your hard work as a single parent while he is away fighting for our freedom!

 

[LaDonna]

Did you do dinner at Grand FLoridian, how did you like it? We really enjoyed when we went, but that was some years ago

Definately going to try the journal thing next time, I just get lazy

 

[carrie6466]

I made it. Whew! That was tough!

 

[Nature Mom]

Great trip report! You have a lovely family, I am enjoying reading along.

 

[mamaboogie]

I am really enjoying your trip report!

You have a gorgeous family - very cute!

What amazing photos of the water pageant you have from your balcony.

Can't wait to read more!

 

[blackdogg]

yeah for r&r! love the trip report and smiling faces ill be checking in too! we did an r&r trip about the same time as you such good times and memories that will hopefully get us thru! im sure that goes the same for you guys too! all the best!

 

[4forWDW]

I am enjoying your TR
Your children are so cute and the interaction at 1900 Park Fare was too funny
Also, great job on the BBB do.
I'm so glad you got the upgrade - you all deserve it!
I'm anxious to hear what you thought about the Pirate and Pals Cruise. I am thinking of doing that next June. My DD will be 14 and my DS will be 11.
Amy

 

[gray2402]

I am here! So glad to hear you guys got an upgrade! Nice views! Can't wait to hear more!!
As a military wife myself, I want to thank your husband and you for his service and your hard work as a single parent while he is away fighting for our freedom!

Yes, the upgrade was AWESOME! The view, the balcony, being in the tower with everything... PRICELESS! Thank YOU and your family too, for serving!

Did you do dinner at Grand FLoridian, how did you like it? We really enjoyed when we went, but that was some years ago

Definately going to try the journal thing next time, I just get lazy

The dinner was good Well, I mostly ate sushi..... LOL Dennis really enjoyed it and he had several different items off the buffet.

I will hound you on facebook next time you go, to guilt you into keeping notes!!

I made it. Whew! That was tough!

LOL What happened?

Great trip report! You have a lovely family, I am enjoying reading along.

Thanks so much

I am really enjoying your trip report!

You have a gorgeous family - very cute!

What amazing photos of the water pageant you have from your balcony.

Can't wait to read more!

Thank you so much!!

yeah for r&r! love the trip report and smiling faces ill be checking in too! we did an r&r trip about the same time as you such good times and memories that will hopefully get us thru! im sure that goes the same for you guys too! all the best!

Yes, the trip, the photos and all of the fun have to last us the next six months! Deployments are rough... that is why we try and do big stuff when we have the chance!

I am enjoying your TR
Your children are so cute and the interaction at 1900 Park Fare was too funny
Also, great job on the BBB do.
I'm so glad you got the upgrade - you all deserve it!
I'm anxious to hear what you thought about the Pirate and Pals Cruise. I am thinking of doing that next June. My DD will be 14 and my DS will be 11.
Amy

Amy, thanks! We LOVED Pirates and Pals! I cannot recommend it enough! I will write a lot about it when I get to it in my TR ... we went on the 8th of July, so you know when to look for it

 

[gray2402]

So after a good nights sleep, I woke up to a ringgggg ringgggg noise .... wake up call! It was 6am. But I jumped out of bed and began getting everything ready that we would need! I let the family sleep in a bit ... I mean, who could wake these little cuties?

I also took some photos off the balcony. The lake was beautiful each morning!

Finally got the family up ... the kiddos were tired and complained a bit, but I reminded them we were headed to our first Disney Park--- Animal Kingdom!

Finally headed to the elevators so we could head down to the bus stop...

We got on the busses around 7am and ran into FlipFlopMom! We chatted for the bus ride over and we knew we were planning to meet up later on for a DisMeet.

We get to AK, head off the bus and into the parks waiting for opening EMH at 8am. Get inside and immediately stroll toward E.E. to get fast passes. Then we head back toward Africa so we can ride the safari.

Sammie took all of these photos with her new birthday camera! I did not want to deal with my camera on the safari ... I just wanted to enjoy the experience!

I *love* this one!!! She is such a nut!

We also got a lot of blurry messes of photos .... but she did really well, considering how bumpy it can be!

After our safari adventure Dennis goes off to FP Dinosaur and the kids and I hang out in Africa ...

An African musical group comes out and we watch that. Sammie has her birthday button on so they sing to her! The gentleman who was singing said her name so beautifully! Sa-man-taaaaaaa! It was neat!

Dennis gets back and we head to Tusker House for breakfast... where we ran into Julie! We chatted a bit but also knew we would see her later that day (and actually we saw her and her husband several times throughout our trip! I promise we were not stalking them!!!)

After breakfast, Dennis heads to get FP for Kali River Rapids and Sammie asks to get her face painted .... which we usually will not do but after all this was a special trip, so I said yes! She ended up regretting it afterward due to the heat and the glitter (which got EVERYWHERE!) but it looked cute for photos!

 

[gray2402]

Dennis gets back and we head off to do some photopass photos ...

A funny story ... as we are taking photopass photos, a gentleman cluelessly walks RIGHT in front of us! Never even had a clue what was going on! The funniest part of it was that it was a CAST MEMBER! LOL Must have been thinking about something very hard!

We then head off to Camp Minnie/Mickey ...

and meet Pocahontas.

We then go see the Festival of the Lion King, where we are seated in this section!

Then it was time for the DisMeet! Well, right after FOTLK lets out is CRAZY! It was hard to find people! But we finally ran into FlipFlopMom and AmyinWonderland! Had a nice chat and took a photo!

We then decided to get in line for Donald Duck, since we did not buy the photo at breakfast, or get his autograph. Well, just as we are getting in line, we see Julie and her husband! So after a quick photo, the kids and I visit with them while Dennis waits in line!

It is almost our turn with Donald Duck, so we quickly say goodbye and rush up to get in line with Dennis. I *love* our photos with him! Donald Duck is Dennis' favorite, so we had to represent! We had a GREAT interaction!!!

Then we head off to ride some rides! First we did Dinosaur ... and Alex was tall enough!!!!

He did not cry or fuss, but he did not like it. He just informed us it was scary and he did not want to do it again! That was a common theme for all the big rides he could go on!

We then headed to the little kids dino ride. He liked that MUCH better haha!

Dennis and I went to take turns riding EE next! Sammie is tall enough and did it last year, but she did not want to do it this year. It was an AWESOME ride!

We then were SO HOT and went in search of snacks! Ended up with two frozen lemonades (SO YUMMY!), a Mickey ice cream bar that Alex and I shared, a chocolate/almond bar Dennis ate and a strawberry bar that Sammie ate. We sat and cooled down and ate our snacks.

We then went and saw the 3pm Flights of Wonder show. This was a MUST for me as we missed it last year. Alex immediately fell asleep, which was actually a good thing!

Sammie LOVED this show! She had not seen it since she was 2yo, so she did not remember it.

We then headed to Yak & Yeti for a late lunch. It was right before parade time, so the roads were crowded, but the restaurant got us right in!

We had the breaded green beans and wings for appetizers ... Dennis had the ribs, I had the shrimp lo mein, Sammie had the kids' lo mein and Alex had a hamburger. All yummy! We also had dessert... fried wontons for me (SO YUM!!!!) and everyone else had ice cream.

We knew we were leaving after this pretty much, so we gave away all our fast passes to a family sitting near us. They were happy!

We headed out and went to see It's Tough to be a Bug! Cute as usual...

Went to take more photopass photos ...

And then we took the bus back to CR... where I got a Dulce de leche cupcake (OMG! SO GOOD!) and we went swimming! Dennis and Sammie loved the pool slide and Alex and I enjoyed relaxing and cooling down.

Ate leftovers and snacks in the room, bath for the kids and shower for me and into bed by 9pm!

 

[mamaboogie]

Great update!

How cute were your sleeping beauties? I took a very similar photo of my two at CBR - except they were 12 and 14 and didn't appreciate me sharing it!

The photos from your balcony are breathtaking! Simply beautiful.

Blurry photos on the safari are compulsory!

You got some great photo pass photos!

Looking forward to next update!

 

[LaDonna]

Tyler is asking me to ride Dinosaur next time I'm hoping he'll be able to handle it, but he's pretty tough

 

[Backstage_Gal]

Sounds like you had a great trip so far

 

[gray2402]

Great update!

How cute were your sleeping beauties? I took a very similar photo of my two at CBR - except they were 12 and 14 and didn't appreciate me sharing it!

The photos from your balcony are breathtaking! Simply beautiful.

Blurry photos on the safari are compulsory!

You got some great photo pass photos!

Looking forward to next update!

I love sleeping photos!!! I have more from other days too LOL Yep I imagine mine will not appreciate it when they get older

Tyler is asking me to ride Dinosaur next time I'm hoping he'll be able to handle it, but he's pretty tough

Alex was funny with all the 'big' rides! He never fussed but pretty much said he did not like them. Hopefully he won't remember and next trip he will want to ride!

Sounds like you had a great trip so far

It was such a great trip!! Lots more to come!

 

[churchpilot]

Just found your trip report. So glad you upgraded to the Contempory and you got a great room!!!!! Will continue to follow along. We will hit Disney again this year in late October for the MNSSHP and then November for Christmas party. Your children are gorgeous and you guys look so good together. So glad you got your hubbie home safe and sound. Best wishes.

 

[gray2402]

Just found your trip report. So glad you upgraded to the Contempory and you got a great room!!!!! Will continue to follow along. We will hit Disney again this year in late October for the MNSSHP and then November for Christmas party. Your children are gorgeous and you guys look so good together. So glad you got your hubbie home safe and sound. Best wishes.

A local reader, cool! Thanks for reading along I hope to go back next October (2012) for my son's 5th birthday and do a MNSSHP!

 

[gray2402]

Hi there everyone! Thanks to all the new readers who joined in! Sorry to keep you hanging... had visitors this weekend! It was a nice time!

So anyway, we left off on July 6th ... we were in bed by 9pm and that was a good thing because July 7th was a looooooong (but really fun!) day.

We were up around 6:15am, got dressed and ate a small snack each--> cereal for Dennis and Alex, a cereal bar for me and a granola bar and juice for Sammie.

Then we were OFF! We left at 7:20am.

We LOVED being able to walk to the Magic Kingdom! It was WONDERFUL! Sammie had her camera out and snapped a few photos ...

When we got to the MK, we had a little while until the opening show. Sammie was eyeing a family with a little boy and girl... and they had pin lanyards on! She shyly went up to ask them to trade and a nice little chat began!

We snapped an obligatory photo ...

Watched the opening show and then headed inside! We split up at the hub though ... Dennis went to get FPs for Space Mountain and the kid's and I headed to Fantasyland ... straight to the Carousel.

I asked the CM to show us Cinderella's horse and she did! So Sammie rode that. I did not know there was a Prince Charming horse too, and so Alex rode that!

When we got off the ride, we saw Pinnochio so we jumped in line to see him...

We then rode TONS of rides! LOOOOOVE morning extra magic hours! It was AWESOME!

Dumbo

Tea Cups (twice)

Peter Pan, It's A Small World, Winnie the Pooh, Indy Speedway, Astro Orbiter, Buzz Lightyear...

then the kids and I rode TTA while Dennis went to get FPs at BTMRR...

We got off that and ran into someone we had been DYING to meet!

This is a MUST SEE video!!!

It was an AMAZING interaction! We looked for him later that week but no luck...

After that we met up with Dennis and headed out of the parks ... I have to say that it felt amazing to have accomplished so much!!! Plus, all those poor people walking into the parks were bound to be standing in some lines!!!

We were headed to the monorail to go to Grand Floridian, but I saw a boat hanging out and asked if they were headed there.... and they were! So we got a private boat ride to the Grand Floridian! Can you guess where we were headed? Our shirts might give you a hint!

When we docked, we headed to the main building and it was BEAUTIFUL! We had been there before, but never came by boat! So pretty! We saw a few little animal friends too ...

I will update where we went tomorrow!

 

[LaDonna]

I just get so happy think'n about all the fun you all had

What a WONDERFUL video! Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE the magic of Disney


So wow July and the EMH were still low lines, WONDERFUL!

I have that exact same black Mickey shirt you had on! Love it!

 

[gray2402]

I just get so happy think'n about all the fun you all had

What a WONDERFUL video! Oh how I LOVE LOVE LOVE the magic of Disney


So wow July and the EMH were still low lines, WONDERFUL!

I have that exact same black Mickey shirt you had on! Love it!

Thanks Push was awesome! Have you ever seen him? I suggest looking for him next trip!!! So much fun!!!

Yep EMH at all the parks were low! It was awesome We did not do Evening EMH's though.... well we were at MK when EMH started one night but we left shortly after.

 

[gray2402]

Ok so we left off headed into the Grand Floridian to eat .... well of course we were headed to 1900 Park Fare!!! We had done this once before and it was AWESOME! I was looking forward to the lobster eggs benedict and the strawberry soup... YUM!

We went in and had our photo taken. We were then immediately seated. Well, what a difference when we walked in! Our ADR was at 10:50am I think, or somewhere around there ... it was DEAD in there! Awesome! Oh and we did buy the photo! It was actually pretty cute!

The character interaction was amazing, especially with Tigger and Mary Poppins. Sammie had taught herself to say 'Supercalifragiliciousexpialidocious' so she could ask her to say it backwards ... it was awesome! Mary Poppins did of course say it! She also asked if they tidied their rooms up and how singing a song would help!

Tigger came by three times! He was AWESOME! He kept smelling our food and then our waitress (who was AWESOME!) would scold him haha!

Another MUST SEE video!!!! It was so much fun!!!


Mickey Waffles!!!

Winnie the Pooh! (The one of them both with Pooh Bear did not come out, but we had breakfast with him again, so no worries!)

So Alice stopped by.... while Dennis was at the buffet! Well I asked her if she could wait for him and so she asked me his name and then proceeded to YELL across the restaurant to him "DEEEENNNNIISSS, you are LATE!!!! HURRY UP" hehehehehe It was HILARIOUS! Here he is hurrying up!

Mad Hatter came by and he was fine, but last year the Mad Hatter was a lot better!

Our waitress brought cupcakes for the kids also which was nice! She also gave them each a glow toy! Tink for Sammie and Buzz for Alex! They LOOOOVED them and carried them around everywhere!

We then headed out to the monorail, jumped on and went back to CR to rest. The kids played and Dennis and I slept.

Woke up at 2:30pm and got all ready to go back to MK, with Sammie dressed as Snow White. We got on the monorail to ride it around and while on it, it began to DOWNPOUR! Like, a monsoon! We rode it around twice and then just got off at CR again. Alex had fallen asleep on the monorail so Dennis carried him upstairs and Sammie and I went to get snacks... Dennis got a pizza flatbread meal and I got a black forest cupcake as his dessert (OH MY GOSH SO GOOD!!!!). Also got a bottle of water as his drink.

Sammie got doritoes. She also saw a pin she wanted to trade on the CM's lanyard, but we did not have her pins, so we went back to the room and then I went back down to trade the pin and fill our mugs.

We ate our snacks and waited out the rain ... would it ever end? Would we make it back to MK? Stay tuned!!!

PS here is sweet little sleeping Alex!!!