It Was the Best of Times & the Worst, But It Was the Best Trip Evah!

[MEK]

Doris - your dress is beautiful. What a gorgeous job you did making it. I am so impressed.

Oh my - your story about Kelly and the chicken choked me up. What a shame. I'm so glad that it got fixed and I'm sure Kelly forgot about it quickly. Isn't it funny how certain things evoke such strong childhood memories.

The girls dresses are adorable. They both always look so cute. And yeah for being up close and personal with the fish tank!

 

[jenseib]

I love the dress, it's fabulous! You did such a nice job on it...I wish I could learn to sew.

It sounds like Anne is kind of strict on a few things that are not a big deal, but I understand about not stepping on her toes too much as well. My sister sometimes gets that way...and I think...where we really raised in the same family? LOL

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Jen, Anne seems to want the girls to be older than they are. Overall she is a good mother, we just have differing parenting skills.

 

[jenseib]

Jen, Anne seems to want the girls to be older than they are. Overall she is a good mother, we just have differing parenting skills.

I totally understand that.

 

[Beth D]

Doris - How did you (or Anne) sign the GD up to participate in the Jedi Training Academy?

I just found out that there's a possibility we may get to go to HS the day before our cruise, and wanted to register DS. I was on the webpage for the park, and it told about the opportunity, but there was no info or link there to register?

Thanks!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Doris - How did you (or Anne) sign the GD up to participate in the Jedi Training Academy?

I just found out that there's a possibility we may get to go to HS the day before our cruise, and wanted to register DS. I was on the webpage for the park, and it told about the opportunity, but there was no info or link there to register?

Thanks!

You have to register in person on the day that you want to participate. We got there first thing in the morning so as not to miss the opportunity. The registration is in the area of the ABC studios. You walk that narrow area with the pictures of ABC programs that are on the buildiings. The registration center is open at 9:00 I believe. It is iin one of those oofice type buildings. Just ask where it is & a CM will be able to tell you. Remember registration has to be in person.They have several times a day to choose to participate.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Well, it is now Saturday morning, the last day of Anne & the girls’ trip to WDW with Grandma& Grandpa. It was such a nice morning that I decided to sit outside on the patio. I’d eaten my breakfast of half a Sweet Almond pretzel from the Norway bakery.

Anne sent Emily out to eat her breakfast while she got Kelly dressed & start packing.

Emily was enjoying her cheese & crackers while she waited.

We were having a very nice chat which we don’t get to do very often.

It was fun to listen to her ideas of things & her impressions of WDW. I do know that she wants to come back to WDW, but of course who doesn’t!

Kelly came out to eat her breakfast so that Anne could finish the packing. They wanted to get over to Epcot to do a Kim Possible mission. Their ME was picking them up at 1:00 which didn’t leave them a lot of time to spare!

We were checking out a very small lizard for something to do.

Kelly & I are having our one on one moment together. Bob took Emily to feed the ducks at the beach. Anne is still packing! That room was pretty cluttered with all of their things! Anne does not travel lightly! LOL!

I brought out my little pup that the MK had made. This was the first animal that we ever had made for us at WDW! I was hoping that one would be done for us. It was the first of several!

I think that Bob was going for a peek a boo shot! That man!

Continued….

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Emily was enjoying the ducks along with Grandpa! Bob likes to play with the wildlife when he goes on vacation.

She was getting a lot of attention from those birds!

The beaches are so nice first thing in the morning, no footprints & nicely raked.

Anne finally got the packing finished & here they are waiting for the Epcot bus. I think that the time was around 9:00am.

A quick shot of the fountains shooting up in the air as we pass by on our way to WS.

Not too many people are going to WS at this hour which was good for us. We had a mission to accomplish!

Bob was taking a shot across the fountains at SE. He likes to shoot in Epcot!

Somehow we got ahead of them, but we are all on the way to see Kim!

Here I am so alone in WS, this is why we like early September!

More of empty WS!

La Hacienda fountain….

 

[Wicket's Mom]

I will be back to continue on, but I need to get Wicket out & the Dis is running really slow right now!

Thanks so much Jen, as you can see your help was put to good use!

 

[MEK]

Doris, I'm so glad you updated. What beautiful pictures of CBR and of Epcot. Last days are so sad. So sorry the girls are leaving. I hope they had a wonderful time and made lots of memories.

Early September is a wonderful time for the crowd levels. You're right - the world showcase is like a ghost town!

 

[jenseib]

Ugh, I keep trying to post and it tells me the server is busy. Your husband cracked me up with his peek a boo shot. That is exactly what my Dh would do. He can't take a picture to save his life, except those shots.

 

[englishrose47]

Such an empty WS !!I love it !~!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

All of us made it to the Kim Possible check in station & received our Kimmunicators. We did request a country that was fairly close as we didn’t have much time. Bob & I got Mexico & Anne & the girls got Norway. If you can please do this game, it is so much fun. The Kimmunicators are specially enabled cell phones that give you the clues & directions where you are to search. Lots of fun! Sorry no pictures as all of us were to busy saving the world!

After the missions, we strolled around the WS to shop & also to see some characters. The girls had a nice meet with Princess Mulan.

Having a nice chat!

Mulan was such a sweet woman. The great thing about early morning in WS is that the kids had such a nice meet & greet!

Mulan was the last character meeting for the girls. There wasn’t anymore of them out at that time of morning. Later Bob & I saw quite a few of them, Chip & Dale, Jasmine & her prince & a few others. I was surprised to see them in the WS.

The girls chose TT for their last ride at WDW, they really loved that ride!

After some last minute shopping by Anne at Mouse Gear, it was decided they wanted lunch before the flight. So we stopped at Electric Umbrella. Bob & I didn’t have lunch since we had an ADR at Le Cellier for a 2:50 lunch.

Anne got the Caesar salad, the girls got a hamburger with grapes & fruit cup for dessert. It was starting to get late & Bob was getting antsy. About that time he got a phone call so he was out of the mix for a few minutes at least!

We had put their luggage in our room so we decided to go on ahead & meet them at the ME pickup stop. We hurried to get a CBR bus, luckily one was there so we made it back fairly quickly. Bob was obsessing about Anne missing ME & her flight! Frankly he was driving me nuts! I was anxious myself so I didn’t need to hear his griping.

 

[Wicket's Mom]

Crap! I just went to post the rest of the story & it all disappeared!

I will have to do this later, my neck is killing me. That was a couple of hours work! Aaarrrggghhh! Sometimes I just hate computers!!

 

[dizneeat]

What a fun last day you had with your granddaughters. Playing Kim Possible is so much fun ..... can you tell we have done it too?

It's amazing how empty WS was that day, but how sad you had to say goodbye to your GDs. Hope you enjoyed your meal at LeCellier though!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

We made it back to our room with a little time to spare. We grabbed their luggage & headed out to meet Anne & the girls at the ME pickup. Bob was so worried that they would miss ME & their flight. We hadn’t seen any CBR buses pulling in when we left Epcot. Well, as we turned the corner from our room, Anne was there hurrying to help with the bags. It seems when they went to get a bus none was there. She saw a bus waiting that had no destination written on the front. Anne went to the driver & asked where he was to be going. He asked her where she needed to go, she answered CBR. He said get in that’s where we are going! Sorely needed Pixie Dust was sprinkled!!

Our little train straggled to the station to hop aboard ME. That was such a sad bunch! The girls & Anne did not want to leave, but girls had to get back to school.

After many hugs & kisses & sad goodbyes ME was boarded for MCO & their flight home in Tulsa, Ok. We will take them back to WDW in the future. I really do think that every child should have the opportunity to visit WDW. It is such a magical place for adults & children alike! I know that is such a cliché, but I truly believe it with all my heart! Bob is not a big Disney lover, but he did admit with the girls along, he had a great time!

We had a bus to catch back to Epcot because we had a 2:50 ADR for Le Cellier. It was around 2:00 when we arrived back at Epcot & I sorely needed an adult beverage. It was so hot, so I new exactly what I wanted. This is before my first sip!

See how much better I felt after my first sip! I did get some serious brain freeze with that drink, but it was so worth it! Loved that Grand Marnier slushie!

Now, on our way to Le Cellier. Passed these guys on the way, I love Off Kilter! You haven’t lived until you have heard Johnny B Good played on a bagpipe!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

After our adult beverages we headed to Le Cellier for our lunch. This was our first time eating here. The bad thing was that we weren’t hungry as we were tired & so hot. We had been on the run the entire time that Anne & the GDs were with us.

We arrived a little early so we had to wait, after about 15 minutes we were shown to our table. It is so dark in there, but that’s part of the atmosphere. I didn’t care for our table, it was on of those small two tops. Those tables get so crowded when the food is served. The pretzel bread was served with butter. I’m a sucker for good bread & known to eat bread instead of my meal!

We both ordered the Filet/w mushroom sauce. I switched out the rice for mashed potatoes, Bob likes rice. I just don’t like mushrooms & figured that I could scrape the sauce off the potatoes. The food was alright, but nothing special. We just weren’t feeling the love here. It could have been we weren’t very hungry.

We both had dessert, Bob had the Chocolate Moose, which he liked. I had the Maple Crème Brulee, which was meh. I didn’t like the strong maple flavor. I felt like I needed a pancake with it. My search for a good crème brulee was to end in failure this trip!

Bob did have a beer with lunch, but all I needed was water.

We headed out to tour the WS the rest of the afternoon. Along the way we stopped for a look into the caramel shop. OMG, I loved this place! I just had to have a couple of those strawberries.

Not a pretty picture, but I was in my happy place!

On our way around we had another picture taken by PP.

After this we decided to have some pool time so we went back to CBR. It was around 5:00. We got back, changed into our swimsuits, went to the main pool.

We found a couple of loungers & settled in with a couple of drinks, a mojito for me & a bud light draft for him!

 

[Wicket's Mom]

There were quite a few people at the pool, but as it got later they started leaving. I wanted to use the hot tub, so I went in. As usual parents let their children go into it unsupervised. There were a few parents with their kids, but they were all foreign. The water in that thing was 106 degrees, a sign was posted stating that!

The main pool at CBR is a walk in & there are many play spaces for children, why do they need to be swimming in the hot tub? As I was sitting there this little girl decides to jump into the tub with a big splash that goes into my face! Well don’t awake the sleeping bear in this grandma! I snapped at her that this area was not for swimming, go to the pool for that! They knew enough English to understand that! All of them got out & went to the pool. You should have seen all of the adults that got in after that group left. I think that I must have made some new friends!

As it got later we decided that we must eat something, but we still were not hungry. We had CSs that we were going to use, decided to use them later. Our dinner that night was Mickey Bars! Great dinner, Mickey Bars, Mojitos & Beer!

We were in bed by 9:00 for some much needed rest & relaxation.

I’m sorry that there were no pictures at this stage of our vacation. We just didn’t feel like taking any. We were so tired, hot & sad that the kids had left. We spent the rest of that day decompressing so that we could enjoy the two days that we had left of our WDW vacation.

 

[Beth D]

Great updates! It sounds as if another trip is around the corner!

That slushy looks like heaven in a glass.

I hope you get to enjoy the last couple days.

I found more info on the academy. I'm not telling DS as we might not make it. Our flight lands at MCO at 8:30 AM. We have to get breakfast, luggage, and pick up the rental car, so I'm guessing by the time we get to HS that they will be out of reservations. I just don't want him counting on anything...

 

[dizneeat]

So sad when part of your party is leaving!

I felt pretty much the same about our last dinner at LeCellier - didn't feel the love!
But I like your dinner - Mickey Bar and an adult beverage - you are my kind of girl!
Don't blame you for having an early night either, we have been known to do that too!

Can't wait for the rest of your trip report!