Jingle Bells....AKL....Disney for 10 Whole Days! ** Updated June 2015: Videos Added**

[thornton0511]

Hmmmmm, Maybe from now on I'll show up late for Fantasmic. Nice score on getting seats, wet zone or not. But wow, what a range of emotions to go through leading up to it. I can definitely empathize with the water from the screens though. UGH!! OK Disney, time to come up with something new here.

Ahhh what a great one two punch with Fantasmic following by the Lights. Disney Magic indeed!

Yes Rob this particular trip was DRAMATIC to say the least lol. I laughed, I cried....then I laughed again lol non stop. And not to leak any spoilers but I am saving the most dramatic episode of them all for the end.....hahahahaha.
Yeah Disney really needs to figure the water spraying thing out IMO. Surely they can at least control the wind as we all well know that they do have control of things including nature inside their "bubble". DH and I talk about this quite often too. Especially with insects and bugs. Sure there are some to be found in WDW but not as many as you would expect being that it's basically swamp land in central Florida. My DH cannot walk out of our house in East Texas without getting like 50 mosquito bites in like 30 seconds. They are on him faster than a chicken on a june bug....but then we go to WDW and not one bite.....explain that. So yeah, I think they can control how the wind blows water and keep it out of my face.

 

[scottny]

I had a lot of people question why not have the test done for medical history and for me, personally, knowing where I came from was more important. Plus I don't think that I am brave enough to want to know the other.

I have cancer on both sides of the family so I am glad I know. I am happy I know my origins also but look at me and you know I am Irish. LOl/

Characters are there for breakfast at ‘Ohana.


Sorry for the flooding.
The pretzel hot dog looks good.
The peppermint shake looked yummy.
MMM, cheddar soup. I need to make that soon. I have a craving.
Those fries I did not care for. Glad you liked them.
I love those soaps, the names crack me up.
I never saw the ferret fart one. That is hysterical.
People are so inconsiderate. I wish the cm’s would not give in to people.
Glad you got seats.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Especially with insects and bugs. Sure there are some to be found in WDW but not as many as you would expect being that it's basically swamp land in central Florida. My DH cannot walk out of our house in East Texas without getting like 50 mosquito bites in like 30 seconds. They are on him faster than a chicken on a june bug....but then we go to WDW and not one bite.....explain that.

You know, I've actually talked with CM's about this very thing because it's always astounded me how little biting insects there are in the World. The most common explanation I got... Dragon Flies! Yup, they bring in Dragon Flies. Pretty cool. And I do see a lot of Dragon Flies.

 

[thornton0511]

I have cancer on both sides of the family so I am glad I know. I am happy I know my origins also but look at me and you know I am Irish. LOl/

I am so sorry to hear that. At least you have the relief of knowing and I am sure that helps. Irish lol....it's funny but I have a work friend who when I told him the results he looked at me and then said, congrats you paid money to take a test and find out that you ancestors are from Europe....no kidding. Lol all in good humor.
Characters are there for breakfast at ‘Ohana.


Sorry for the flooding.
no worries
The pretzel hot dog looks good.
yes they were pretty good
The peppermint shake looked yummy.
very
MMM, cheddar soup. I need to make that soon. I have a craving.
if I knew how to make this I would be in trouble lol
Those fries I did not care for. Glad you liked them.
the hubs thought they were kind of meh but I was in love
I love those soaps, the names crack me up.
I never saw the ferret fart one. That is hysterical.
lol glad to see someone who can appreciate the humor in this
People are so inconsiderate. I wish the cm’s would not give in to people.
I know it breaks my heart to let the some people win when they are obviously wrong. I wish more companies would back employees up and give them the courage to stand up for when they are in the right. sigh.
Glad you got seats.

Thanks

 

[thornton0511]

You know, I've actually talked with CM's about this very thing because it's always astounded me how little biting insects there are in the World. The most common explanation I got... Dragon Flies! Yup, they bring in Dragon Flies. Pretty cool. And I do see a lot of Dragon Flies.

No kidding?! Wow that is very interesting. You know I have heard that bats are good at keeping pesky insects away too but dragonflies are definitely a better solution then releasing a bunch of bats....lol just pictured that in my head as I was typing.....hehehehe.

 

[thornton0511]

A Mini Birthday Trip Report Interruption
I thought that I would take a break from Disney Trip Reporting to share our little weekend adventure we had this past weekend.

DD Sydney turned 8 years old this week so we decided to take her to Dallas for the weekend to celebrate this occasion. We decided to go ahead and take the kids out of school on Friday to get a head start on the trip. This also happened to be Sydney's actual birthday so we figured it would be better anyways.

Since the plan was to get up pretty early on Friday morning we went ahead and let DD blow out her birthday candles on Thursday night after dinner and give her gift to her. Her choice dessert...cupcakes from a local bakery we have in town who makes cupcakes very similar to Disney style and they are delicious! She went with chocolate peanut butter cup…..nom nom nom. For her birthday present from us she received a gift card to the American Girl Store in Dallas to use.

We saddled up and were on the road by 8am. Sydney made sure to buckle in her AG doll Claire. Safety first people lol!

Our first stop was a gas station that we always stop at to fill up on gas for any trip we take in this direction. It’s kind of a family tradition and hey if you have to stop to fill up on gas might as well make it a nice one right?! This place is really neat and it when we stop here it's like the official start to any vacation so we get excited.

While the hubs filled up the kiddos and I headed inside to wander around a bit and then noticed these wooden rocking bench chairs. I am assuming that they are handmade because DS Cory noticed a price tag to the tune of about $1500 for one. Holy cow! That's when I told the kids to slowly get off the bench and walk away…lol.

As our adventure continued we noticed a huge walking trail that was covered with blue bonnets, which happen to be our state flower. If you are from Texas at some point you have to get your kids picture taken in a blue bonnet field…..it's a rule lol.

I thought a blue bonnet picture would be perfect to capture an 8th birthday with.

After out little pit stop we had made it to our first birthday destination…..the galleria mall.

Which more importantly was home to the American Girl Store. Before Sydney's little shopping spree, she and I had a very important lunch date. So with that in mind the boys headed off in a different direction and Sydney and I headed in to girly land.

Sydney and I, and of course her AG doll Claire, had ressies at the bistro. She received her doll for Christmas this past year and said then that this is what she wanted to do for her birthday.

We checked in a few minutes early and they had no problem going ahead and taking us to our table.

We both started off with their famous pink lemonade.

Which by the way was Sydney approved! They have a box in the middle of the table that has little cards inside with questions on each of the cards.

This provides a very fun game for everyone to play while waiting for your food to arrive. And of course I have food pictures….what kind of good DISser would I be if I did not take pictures of food?

We each had a list of appetizers to choose from. Sydney went with the pretzel bites and I with the parm fries. Both were very good.

For our entrees Sydney went with the some kind of picnic duo that included an mini hamburger and hot dog, complete with fruit and pickles.

And I went with the salmon which was very yummy.

The entire lunch experience took about an hour and then we headed downstairs so Sydney could do a little shopping. She decided on getting a new doll and matching jammies with her birthday money. Since AG announced that Isabelle, a gymnast doll, was the doll of the year Sydney had her eye on this particular doll since she is in gymnastics. She was one happy 8 year old for sure!

The boys met up with us after we were done and we headed back to the car. Then we were off to our next birthday weekend adventure.
Continued next post……
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[thornton0511]

Mini report continued.....


So after leaving the Galleria we headed to our next birthday destination. The Great Wolf Lodge in Grapevine, Texas. This was our first time to ever stay here. Since we are a Disney family we have the tendency to compare pretty much everything to Disney. That being said….you guys this place is awesome! I really felt like whoever built these water park resorts spent some time at Disney parks. And since we are not close enough to visit a Disney park as often as we like, this might just be our new Disney in between spot.

We parked and headed in with our stuff. The doors open automatically and you hear howling wolves as you enter….GAH it was almost like being home at Disney.

We got in line to check in. The way this place works is that you pay for a room and that gives you access to the water park. Since we were staying for one night that meant that we could use the water park for our arrival day (starting at 1pm) and our checkout day (from 9am until the park closes at night). Pretty great deal.

I wish I had taken more pictures but I was so caught up in it all that I forgot. It was themed really well though. And they had these trees all throughout the lobby and the set up, like I said earlier, was a lot like Disney. We were very happy and excited. Once we checked in we received our "bands" that we had to wear the entire time. They had a chip like Disney magic bands and this allowed you to get into the park and also opened the door to your room. I'm not sure if they allowed you to do other things like charges and such and we did not ask.

We made our way up to our room which was on the 3rd floor.

They have an assortment of types of rooms to stay in and we had opted for a kid kamp room. And now for the room tour….

When you first walk in there is an area with a mirror and sink located out of the bathroom, which I always like.

Directly next to that is another area with a mirror and microwave with mini fridge below

Across from that was the bathroom, which is your typical bathroom

Right next to that was the kids bunk area which came with the Kid Kamp rooms

Here is a view from inside. Included is a set of bunks, a small table, and the kids have their own tv. The décor of the room is set up like they are in their own tent. Super cute!

Sydney claimed the top bunk for herself lol.

The rest of the room consists of a full size bed, with a sleeper sofa

And a TV with storage, and small table and chairs. The setup is a lot like a DVC studio.

After getting settled in we quickly changed and went downstairs to the water park area. I really wish that I had taken more pictures but unfortunately I do not have a waterproof camera so……

I will just tell you that we had a blast and there is so much to do here!

After spending several hours in the indoor water park we headed back upstairs to shower and change to get ready for dinner. The kids posed by the elevators while we waited. There are several choices for eating at the lodge but we decided to leave and eat dinner elsewhere this evening. There is a restaurant that really makes us feel like we are in Disney and Grapevine, Texas is the closest one to us…..

Good old Rainforest Café. Just can't pass it up!

The kids were very happy to be eating here.

Since I am sure you have all seen food pictures from here I will spare you, but one cool thing was that our server noticed our Great Wolf Lodge Bands and informed us that since we were staying there we could get a free queso appetizer . Awesome!

After dinner we headed back to the lodge, which happened to be like a 5 min drive, and wandered around a bit. Then the kids changed into their jammies and we headed back downstairs for storytime.

They do an evening story time thing complete with their own characters that you can meet and animatronic puppets.

This guy kept popping up out of a stump making it obviously clear that I would now be having nightmares when I slept……very creepy.

Sydney did not seem to mind as she sipped her Starbucks hot cocoa and enjoyed the show with her new doll in their matching jammies. It was a really neat idea to have all of the kids come down in their PJ's for this activity.

After the show we just kind of hung around in the lobby and DH and I relaxed a bit while the kids had an impromptu game of hide and seek. It was the perfect way to end a most enjoyable weekend away. We got up the next morning a spent a little more time at the water park before heading home to get ready to go back to work and school. It was a nice break and I am so glad that we were able to get away and also celebrate my baby growing up way too fast.
And don't worry I am getting right back on board to finish up our Disney trip ASAP!






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[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, at only 8 she's already in the "I don't trust you to buy what I'd want so a gift card for be perfect" phase.

Wow Jenn, I didn't realize it before, but Sydney looks so much like you.

Holy wow, that lodge looks amazing. Howling wolves???? Water park access for 2 days???? Yes, please!

Sounds like an awesome place and a wonderful time.

 

[thornton0511]

Haha, at only 8 she's already in the "I don't trust you to buy what I'd want so a gift card for be perfect" phase.

Wow Jenn, I didn't realize it before, but Sydney looks so much like you.

Holy wow, that lodge looks amazing. Howling wolves???? Water park access for 2 days???? Yes, please!

Sounds like an awesome place and a wonderful time.

Awww Rob you made her a Birthday button! That is so incredibly thoughtful! I will definitely be showing Miss Sydney that! Yes this was the first year that she received gift cards for her birthday and she was super stoked lol. People tell me often that she is my mini me . The funny thing is that while I do think she resembles the adult me I looked nothing like her when I was that age lol. Um, yeah Great Wolf Lodge was pretty awesome. By no means do I think it can replace Disney but it can definitely fill the lonely times in between trips, you know until Disney finally builds that park in Texas that has been rumored FOREVER! Still waiting Disney....patiently.....lol.

 

[thornton0511]

Dinner at WPE Because We Love It
So like I had said earlier I had no plans for dinner on this particular evening…..gasp, and so we decided to go with WPE again because the in laws had missed it the first go around and let's face it, it's that good.
Now we had learned from our little adventure earlier in the week that waiting for a bus to Saratoga and then walking to DTD was NOT the way to do go (see I learned something here) so instead we literally caught the first bus that pulled up to HS. And it happened to be a POR bus. So we hopped on. Then we waited at the POR bus stop for a DTD bus. We ended up getting to DTD around 9pm, which still took a good deal of time, but not near the time as our last little adventure. Point being that Disney should seriously consider one way buses from the parks to DTD, especially in the evening. I don’t know how they can accomplish this with the bus schedule but there really just is no quick way that I have found to get to DTD when relying on Disney transportation, IMO.

Regardless we had arrived and I was craving some WPE. We ordered our food and found a table right in the middle of the place.

And now for the food…..

Sydney went with spaghetti noodles with alfredo sauce

And a cookie

Cory went with the chicken alfredo with the bacon on the side and cheesecake for his dessert this time

Someone in our party went with spaghetti but bad TR notes lead to me not remembering

Another chicken alfredo but I'm not sure who got this either lol

And to keep with the theme a pepperoni and mushroom pizza to whom it belongs I have no clue….ha

I do however need no notes to remember who this beauty belongs to

MEEEE! And yes it was so very very very good too!

And just because I have a picture of it everyone went with cheesecake this go around. And it was very nom nom too!

After dinner we split up from the in laws (not sure if I remember where they went) and we headed over to Basin to pick up a few Christmas presents for family members. I think we wandered around a bit and then finally caught a bus back to AKL around 10:45pm. It was late. We were tired. And tomorrow was to be our last full day at Disney. very bittersweet to say the least.

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[MEK]

Your daughter is adorable. What a fun way to celebrate her 8th birthday. You got a ton of great pictures of her.

The GWL looks like a fun place to stay. What a great room. It is reminiscent of the WL. Very nice.

Still need to read your actual update! Thanks for sharing your mini trip!

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Interesting that I think they tried a test run of a bus from AK direct to DTD. I'm not sure if thats still going on or if they plan to expand it, but it does sounds like it would be very useful.

Haha, goodness, how cold was it after I left Disney???? Ya'll are seriously bundled up.

Ah poop to the last day. BUT, that's always a good day to go for broke, so I hold that's exactly what you did.

 

[SonOfAStitch]

Really enjoying your TR. Looking forward to see how it ends.

 

[SonOfAStitch]

Anyways so I had my DNA tested a few months ago to find out some info and I recently got the results back in. Yay! So...would you like to know? Okay then. I am....
40% Scandinavian
25% Irish
25% French German
10% Greek Italian
Pretty cool huh? This would definitely explain my want to ride Maelstrom over and over everytime I find myself in Epcot I believe. And DD is stoked because she now thinks we are directly related to Anna and Elsa and also we are part Leprechaun lol.

Just curious, where did you get your DNA test done? I did mine on ancestry.com last year. I am looking to do it again with another provider to see if the results match. I was surprised to find out that my results also showed "Viking Blood" lol, but I am unable to trace any relatives to the Scandinavian region. Thanks.

 

[scottny]

Looked like a fun birthday trip. I have always wanted to try Great Wolf Lodge.

I agree about the buses and DTD. The food looked good.
All caught up again.

 

[thornton0511]

Your daughter is adorable. What a fun way to celebrate her 8th birthday. You got a ton of great pictures of her.

The GWL looks like a fun place to stay. What a great room. It is reminiscent of the WL. Very nice.

Still need to read your actual update! Thanks for sharing your mini trip!

Thank you so much we really had such a good time and it was a nice to have a break from the chaos of everyday life too.

 

[thornton0511]

Interesting that I think they tried a test run of a bus from AK direct to DTD. I'm not sure if thats still going on or if they plan to expand it, but it does sounds like it would be very useful.
I remember something about this while we were on our trip but I never saw it actually in action. Something must be done to keep me from wandering all over the world lol!
Haha, goodness, how cold was it after I left Disney???? Ya'll are seriously bundled up.
The temp really did drop a bit which was nice because it felt more like the season but at the same time water suddenly became more of an enemy too lol
Ah poop to the last day. BUT, that's always a good day to go for broke, so I hold that's exactly what you did.

exactly

 

[thornton0511]

Really enjoying your TR. Looking forward to see how it ends.

Anyways so I had my DNA tested a few months ago to find out some info and I recently got the results back in. Yay! So...would you like to know? Okay then. I am....
40% Scandinavian
25% Irish
25% French German
10% Greek Italian
Pretty cool huh? This would definitely explain my want to ride Maelstrom over and over everytime I find myself in Epcot I believe. And DD is stoked because she now thinks we are directly related to Anna and Elsa and also we are part Leprechaun lol.

Just curious, where did you get your DNA test done? I did mine on ancestry.com last year. I am looking to do it again with another provider to see if the results match. I was surprised to find out that my results also showed "Viking Blood" lol, but I am unable to trace any relatives to the Scandinavian region. Thanks.

Hi there and welcome!!! Glad to have you follow along and happy that you are enjoying my crazy adventures in Disney! I went through Ancestry.com for my DNA test. That's interesting that you are having trouble tracing yours back to what your results say. To be honest by looking at my features I would have never guess Viking roots. I always assumed blonde, blue eyes with fair skin, which I am lacking in at least two of those areas. Unfortunately I cannot track my family tree in anyway. I hope that you are able to find the answers you are looking for

 

[thornton0511]

Looked like a fun birthday trip. I have always wanted to try Great Wolf Lodge.

I agree about the buses and DTD. The food looked good.
All caught up again.

Hey Scott! This was our first time at GWL and it did not disappoint! It was so much fun!! Something really needs to be done about buses and DTD. It almost is discouraging enough for me to just not make plans to go there. Ugh. Glad that you are all caught up

 

[thornton0511]

A Last Full Day Morning with a Mission…..Do It All! Pt1

Today would be our last full day of Disney for this trip. It was now Friday, Dec 13th. We started the day with breakfast and our wonderful view of the animals that we had become accustom too. Remember the cookies we had gone to such trouble to get the day before in Germany?

They officially became breakfast for the kids. Don't judge me lol. We finished getting everything going and were out the door and on a bus to MK by 8:40. We would be touring this morning just the four of us. The in laws had decided to take it easy this morning and meet up with us by lunch time. We made it to the park by 9:07am. Not too shabby.

The ropes were dropped already as we hustled down Main Street. We were clearly on a mission today. There was no stopping us.

First things first as we pulled legacy FP using both our park tickets and our KTTWC. One set would allow us to pull FP's with the in laws card even though they were not officially in the park. This allowed us to pull 6 total for PP and 4 for Pooh, plus the extra one that comes with pooh. With our FP in hand we headed toward Fantasyland the next thing on our to do list.

Ride IASW. This was the first day it was open from its rehab which made it high on the priority list since this is Sydney's favorite, right under the peoplemover.

It was now 9:25am. We were doing good on time and there were not too many people in line yet for this ride's first reopen day. Even though DD loves this ride I have to be honest. I am good for one ride per trip on IASW, out of respect for Walt, but then I am good for not getting on again. One per trip, that's it. Unfortunately I end up on it multiple times so that Sydney can get her fill. The other two in my family….well they loath this ride lol. Obviously I force them to ride it multiple times because if I have to so do they! So they endure it every time. For the love of Disney people! Both boys will tell you though that IASW would be 100% better if they would give you target guns and you could obtain points for knocking the dolls down. I know it sounds awful, but a part of me agrees….

Anyways soon enough we boarded our boat and began a journey on the happiest cruise to set sail….

Once we passed the drunken hippo we can across the scariest part of this ride

As if the dolls were not creepy enough they have to put clowns in a hot air balloon and have them decend almost as if they are going to jump into your boat with you. Ugh.

We survived our near attack with the clowns and soon saw this as DS decides to sigh and say FINALLY! To which I gave him the evil mommy glare….ha!

After departing from our cruise we decided to go ahead and use our Philharmagic legacy FP. It was 9:45am. Was the FP really needed? Nope. But we did not want to be ungrateful for our bonus FP so….

After our exciting adventure with Donald we decided to go for a spin on

Just because it was there. But not before DD attacked DS with hugs for a picture lol

Another reason we like Disney so much. These two will fight like cats and dogs at home (like typical siblings do) but when we are here it just brings out the best in all of us! Love Disney.

It was 10:00 as we all took a spin around and around and around. It was now time for a happy check…

Happy mommy…check

Happy daddy….check

Happy kiddos….check.
All was right with the world.

It was now 10:10am and we were in the time frame for Pooh Bear. So that's where we went. We boarded our hunny pots and were off.

Love….this….ride!

I am so going to dance like this next time I am in Disney…..lol
Continued next post
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