Jumping, Dancing & Jamming Our Way Through Walt Disney World! I'm With the Band Now!

Hey Lisa- Just wanted to let you know that the backsack I got from you will be making its first trip to the MK on Wednesday! We leave on Monday for a quick 4 night stay at the Portofino Resort at Universal.

I'll be sure to get a picture of me using it and post it here!

I hope we get to read a trip report from you when you get back!
 
:scared1:Whoa, John's med levels were crazy. Glad he is on the road to lowering them and getting himself healthy while not being over-medicated!

The garden is coming along great is seems. Homemade jelly is awesome, and great that you make some from the apples.

Glad Mama kitty and her other kitten showed up, so you know they are safe. I'm sure someone will adopt them once you catch them and get them to the shelter.
 
Hi Lisa,

It took me a while to catch up but I am joining in.

Great start so far. You pictures of CBR are making me want to stay there in a future trip.

Good to hear you are going to IOA on your next trip. I think you will love it.

I hope you don't mind. I took the picture on page 8 that you said was took dark to see Hunter's face and I spruced it up a bit. I just bought a book on Photoshop and it gave me a change to practice a technique.

Before
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After
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The original was not too high a resolution and my edited phot is a bit grainy. If you want me to update an original then you can PM me.


Oh, you startled me at first on the pregnancy comment...I am too gullible. You are too funny :rotfl2:
 
Sounds like a great trip to Knoxville! Can't wait to hear about it. I am envious of your garden. I need to get beans, corn, and tomatoes soon to freeze. I should be getting blueberries soon from my DH's grandmother too. I hope everything works out on John's meds. I know how hard it can be to regulate with seizure medication.
 

I have most of the pictures of our Knoxville trip uploaded...finally. I don't know what was up with Photobucket yesterday but it took over an hour and a half to upload 168 pictures! Oh well, I have enough loaded to start a mini-report for ya'll. But, I'm in the mood for some Disney this morning! :tinker: I know that I took way more pictures than the ones that I am about to post but I think they are on another card that I haven't uploaded yet. Oh well, I've got plenty to write a little something something. :thumbsup2

When I last left off, we had made the long drive (partially with little to no air conditioner), arrived at the resort, walked all around a set of buildings looking for our room, gotten swarmed by gnats, eaten dinner at the food court and were deciding whether or not to unpack our suitcases. It's been a while since I wrote anything Disney related so let me refresh your memory as to why we were having trouble decinding if we should unpack.

Our Disney vacation consisted of two reservations. One was a room only reservation and it was for two nights and the other was a package reservation which I booked with free dining. :woohoo: While the lady who checked us in told me that we would have the same room, I could just see me tucking everything away and getting nice and settled only to be told two days later that we'd have to change rooms. No matter how much I hate living out of suitcases, I knew I would hate it even more if I had everything organized in the room and then have to pack it back up.

Sooooooo, we came to the conclusion that it would be best to just leave everything in the luggage and wait and see if we'd have to change rooms.

As we were walking back to our room (and holding the pack/unpack discussion), I tried taking a picture or two. They didn't turn out good at all but it was dark out and none of my night time pictures turn out well:

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I don't know what time it was when we got back to our rooms but I do know that it didn't take any of us long to get settled in our beds. We were all super de dooper tired from the two days of driving. And, the lack of air conditioning and stress of finding a repair shop seemed to suck the energy out of us. I forgot to mention that we brought a twin size air mattress with us. Since the beds at the CBR are full/doubles and Hunter is getting so big, he didn't really want to sleep with any of us. We blew the air matress up with the hair dryer and Hunter was happy as could be. The nighty nights were said and we were all out like a light.

No alarms were set because we wanted to sleep in for as long as we wanted. I can't quite remember what time we all started to rise but I'm thinking it was around 10:00 or so. That's super late for us but, like I said, we were all tired. There were no real plans for this first full day at Walt Disney World except for a 3:00 ADR at Rainforest Cafe'. Hunter's birthday was May 24th and that's the day were started our drive to Disney. We told him he could chose any restaurant on Disney property as his birthday dinner. At first, he chose T-Rex but changed his mind and said Planet Hollywood. Later, he said he wanted Rainforest Cafe'. So, Rainforest Cafe' it was.

We took our time getting up and taking turns in the shower. There was no need to get in any hurry since we had hours before our ADR. All of us ate a few snacks out of our "snack bag" that we brought along. We didn't eat much because we didn't want to be full once our ADR time rolled around. Once we were all done, we headed to the bus stop where, if I am remembering correctly, a bus to DTD and Typhoon Lagoon came fairly quickly. We had the bus all to ourselves so we took pictures:

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Man, oh man, can I tell from this picture just how tired I was. My eye was drooping like crazy that morning. Thanks Bell's Palsy....I love ya.....NOT! :headache:

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My first order or business was to go to Guest Relations/Services/whatever it's called and get my Disney rewards/gift card. I do not like credit cards and haven't had one in years but I did have a Disney Visa Debit Card and had earned Disney dollars by paying on our trip. I was told to go to a Guest Relations desk and tell them I wanted to redeem my rewards dollars.

We made our way over to Guest Relations and I hopped in line while the rest of the family sat and waited. I was called up quickly and I told the castmember what I needed. She handed me a gift card and told me there was a number on the back that I needed to call to activate the card. I told her that sounded simple enough and she told me that she just had a lady jump all over her because she didn't want to call the number. She wanted to castmember to call the number and that this was a whole lot of blankety blank. I told the castmember not to worry, I wouldn't be doing that. I thanked her and went over to the benches to make the call.

I placed the first call and was told that they would have to transfer me because they didn't have access of my checking account which is what the Disney Visa Debit Card was connected to. They transferred me and I was promptly disconnected. I tried again. I was told the same thing and they wanted to transfer me again. I told them I wanted the telephone number that they were connecting me to just in case I was disconnected again. They gave it to me and, guess what, I was disconnected. :headache: I made a call to the number they gave me and they told me that I had to be transfered directly to Chase Bank. Cool, go ahead and make the transfer but, before you do, give me that number. I was put on hold and then the call got disconnected. By this time, I could understand why the lady talking to the castmember had yelled that this was a whole lot of blankety blank. This was ridiculous!

Call number 4 was made and I told the person who answered that I wanted to speak with a supervisor. I needed something who was not going to put me on hold and then disconnect me and I needed somebody who knew how to activate my Disney rewards card because this was my fourth call. She apologized, put me on hold and hung up on me! Oh my gosh! Are you freaking kidding me? :furious:

By this time, I was pushing the buttons on my cell phone so hard that I thought they were going to pop off the phone. I can handle the fact that people don't know what I am talking about but I do not like being hung up on or disconnected multiple times. Dial, dial, dial.....ring, ring, ring.....what can we help you with today.....to activate card push.....ZERO! ZERO! ZERO! ZERO! That's supposed to be me pushing the 0 button over and over again until I speak with an actual live person who knew what the heck they were talking about!

Finally, someone comes on the phone and they seem to know what department I need to talk to. They transfer me without being disconnected. Would wonders never cease? :rolleyes: The person who answered asked me what I was trying to do and I explained to them all of the various people I had talked to. They apologized, took my information and put me on hold (but not before I got their number). He came back with an activation confirmation code. I could finally use my card! :cheer2: I thanked him profusely and then hung up. I tucked the activation code and card into my purse and off we went.....over 40 minutes after I went inside the building. :faint:

***Continued in next post






 
Frustration (mine) and idleness (my family waiting on me) certainly builds up an appetite and we found ourselves starving. So much so that we declared we would just fall down from lack of energy if we didn't get sustenance soon. Maybe that's a slight exaggeration but we really were hungry.

We figured it wouldn't hurt to see if Rainforest Cafe' could get us in earlier than our ADR time so we walked over to see. I approached the elephant and waited my turn. I was motioned over by the castmember and I told her that our ADR wasn't until 3:00 but could they fit us in sooner. She said absolutely and asked if everybody in my party was there. I told her yes and she said they'd seat us right way. I waved everybody over and we followed the line of folks down to the fish tank where we stood for maybe a minute before my name was called.

We were seated and our waitress came over quickly and took our drink orders. While she went to get our drinks, we looked over the menu and tried to decide what we wanted to eat. This wasn't our first time in the rainforest and, while I know some people don't like it, we have really enjoyed our meals there. Our waitress was back in no time at all and we were still pondering what to order so she gave us a few more minutes. After looking at the menus, we finally decided and our waitress seemed to appear out of nowhere. She must have ESP! :laughing: She said she'd put our order in and would be back as soon as they were ready.

I took pictures while we waited. After looking at my photobucket account, I know I have more pictures but these are all that's uploaded:

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This was right next to our table:

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These were around us:

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We were in the ape room and the other pictures I took had the monkeys/apes in them but I think you can get a feel for the atmosphere from these semi-crappy pictures. ;)

Soon, our food arrived. I ordered the appetizer trio but only after I made everybody promise that they'd help me eat it:

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Lacey ordered the bbq wrap:

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Hunter ordered a plain burger:

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John ordered shrimp two ways and steak:

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I didn't get a picture of Mama's burger but it was a burger like Hunter's but with all the fixin's.

Everything was really delicious! Like I said, I know that a lot of folks out there don't care for the Rainfores Cafe' but we've never come away complaining.

Before we left the restaurant, we made a potty stop. John, Lacey and Hunter went while Mama and I waited on our checks. They all came back talking about the hand dryers. They were amazed and insisted that we try them out. (What can I say? We're easily amused. :rotfl2:) Mama and I ducked into the bathrooms and it was empty enough that I felt comfortable taking a picture of the state of the art hand dryers. You stick your hands down in them and move them up and down and it blows them dry. I'm talking DRY. Not the kind of hand dryers in most bathrooms where you fling your hands back and forth underneath and then have to pat your hands on your legs because they aren't really dry DRY. These suckers actually blew the water right off your hands.

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Another one that I was able to snap before I left the bathroom:

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We wobbled our stuffed selves out of the restaurant and I stopped to take one last picture:

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***Up next: Shopping at Downtown Disney!
 
We haven't been to a Rainforest in sooo long. We had one in town but it closed a couple of years ago. I doubt my younger kids even remember it. Your pics make me miss it. I think I'll try to schedule a meal for our next Disney trip.

We do have a T-rex and we were going to eat there Sat. night but the wait was an hour and a half. We ended up looking around and then eating somewhere else.

About those hand dryers - we have them in our movie theaters and I crack up watching my hands in them. They are so powerful that my skin moves around. It's pretty freaky!!

I'm loving your report as always!
 
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Hey Lisa,

First off - your food pics are making me super hungry! I think we need to take DD to the Rainforest Cafe sometime as she's never been. Have you been to the one at AK as well? Is one supposed to be better than the other, or are they about the same?

Secondly - I'm sorry you had to go through all that rigamaroll (sp?) with the bank! That is sooo frustrating and especially when you are on vacation to boot! :scared1:

I hope you had a good weekend and had success picking out dresses!

I'm going to get lunch - see I told you, you made me hungry! ;)
 
Love the RFC photos! We don't eat there very often either as it is not on the DDP. We always opt for PH instead as our "chain of choice" in Disney. BUT I do have to say that RFC has the best mixed drinks, so sometimes we will just go to the bar for big girl drinks and not eat there. Then be on our merry shopping way!
 
Sounds like a fun lunch! We haven't been to RFC since our honeymoon 10 years ago. DH mentioned taking the kids there. They would probably loved it.....just a little worried as Owen hated T-Rex 2 years ago. I had the claw marks to prove it! :laughing:
 
Looks like a great first meal! Makes me hungry since it's noon here, and I haven't eat today yet!

I like the monkey room, my family would fit right in there:rotfl2:
 
I LOVE the Dyson Airblade hand dryers! The mall 1 mile from my work has them in their restrooms. I eat at the Subway in the food court there for lunch almost every weekday. They are great hand dryers.

Rainforest Cafe looks so nice. I am thinking about going there for my next trip, even though it will probably be another solo trip. I just don't know how I feel about going to a restaurant alone, but I could get through it.

Oh, and I am pretty sure I know the dates for my next trip. I was thinking next fall (2012), but didn't want to wait that long. :lmao: I'm pretty sure I am going to go February 8th-18th. I will be getting a ticker as soon as I book! :cheer2:
 
We haven't been to a Rainforest in sooo long. We had one in town but it closed a couple of years ago. I doubt my younger kids even remember it. Your pics make me miss it. I think I'll try to schedule a meal for our next Disney trip.

We do have a T-rex and we were going to eat there Sat. night but the wait was an hour and a half. We ended up looking around and then eating somewhere else.

About those hand dryers - we have them in our movie theaters and I crack up watching my hands in them. They are so powerful that my skin moves around. It's pretty freaky!!

I'm loving your report as always!

It had been at least two years since we went to Rainforest Cafe'. The last two years, we've eaten at T-Rex.

The hand dryers felt so funny on your hands.

Hey Lisa,

First off - your food pics are making me super hungry! I think we need to take DD to the Rainforest Cafe sometime as she's never been. Have you been to the one at AK as well? Is one supposed to be better than the other, or are they about the same?

Secondly - I'm sorry you had to go through all that rigamaroll (sp?) with the bank! That is sooo frustrating and especially when you are on vacation to boot! :scared1:

I hope you had a good weekend and had success picking out dresses!

I'm going to get lunch - see I told you, you made me hungry! ;)

We have eaten at both locations of Rainforest Cafe' and found them to be about the same in quality. Wait times for the one at Animal Kingdom seemed to be a little shorter.

I was so tired of talking to one person, being disconnected, calling back, etc. By the time I got through going through all that, I was ready to choke somebody.

Love the RFC photos! We don't eat there very often either as it is not on the DDP. We always opt for PH instead as our "chain of choice" in Disney. BUT I do have to say that RFC has the best mixed drinks, so sometimes we will just go to the bar for big girl drinks and not eat there. Then be on our merry shopping way!

We usually eat one meal at a restaurant that's not on the dining plan. We'll save that night's credit and combine it with another night's and do a dinner show. But, this time, it didn't matter that we had to pay out of pocket because our dining plan didn't start until a day later.

Sounds like a fun lunch! We haven't been to RFC since our honeymoon 10 years ago. DH mentioned taking the kids there. They would probably loved it.....just a little worried as Owen hated T-Rex 2 years ago. I had the claw marks to prove it! :laughing:

I had forgotten how much fun the Rainforest Cafe' was inside. If Owen didn't care for T-Rex, then I'm not sure if he'd like Rainforest Cafe'. Ouch on the claw marks!

Looks like a great first meal! Makes me hungry since it's noon here, and I haven't eat today yet!

I like the monkey room, my family would fit right in there:rotfl2:

I was getting hungry looking at the pictures too especially since I knew I had a dumb old chicken sandwich in the office fridge as my lunch. Oh we fit in pretty darn well in the monkey room too.
 
I LOVE the Dyson Airblade hand dryers! The mall 1 mile from my work has them in their restrooms. I eat at the Subway in the food court there for lunch almost every weekday. They are great hand dryers.

Rainforest Cafe looks so nice. I am thinking about going there for my next trip, even though it will probably be another solo trip. I just don't know how I feel about going to a restaurant alone, but I could get through it.

Oh, and I am pretty sure I know the dates for my next trip. I was thinking next fall (2012), but didn't want to wait that long. :lmao: I'm pretty sure I am going to go February 8th-18th. I will be getting a ticker as soon as I book! :cheer2:

I wish the Dyson hand dryers would make their way to this little hick town. We still have the kind that don't do a darn thing except blow a little hot air on your hands.

You could always go to Rainforest Cafe and eat in the bar area. If I am remembering correctly, there's quite a few small tables in the restaurant.

Oooh, I bet you're excited to know that you're super close to booking. That always makes me want to :banana:
 
We like both T-Rex and RFC! I had heard so many complaints about the food tht when I went the 1st time I was really surprised becasue we found it to be quite good! As a matter of fact T-Rex is a must for our family now!
 
We went to RainForest Cafe in Niagara Falls last summer and quite enjoyed both our meal and the atmosphere. :)
 
Sorry for the Reward point fiasco! Good idea to ask for the phone # when you get transferred....I don't know how many times I have been 'disconnected'! Grrrr!! I will definitely take that tip and ask from now on..

Glad you were able to be seated earlier and had a great meal! We also enjoy the Rainforest Cafe...
Those hand dryers look scary...like they would close in on your arms!! LOL :rotfl2: that's cool that they work though...
 
That whole rewards card fiasco was kinda ridiculous. I mean, when you continually get disconnected or they hang up on you that just isn't right :sad2: Well, you got through it all so that's good :thumbsup2 Looks like you had a lot of fun at Rainforest Cafe! The food looked great and you seemed to enjoy it. I want that BBQ wrap! LOL (: And LOL at the whole thing with the hand dryers! I think I've gone crazy over that stuff before as well, it's amazing how the simplest things can entrance you Hahaha Can't wait to read about some DTD shopping! :mickeyjum
 
Mmmmm, I really like RFC, and your appetizer trio looks so yummy! But I counted 4 apps, or do the chips not count?

I didn't know Visa would do a Disney debit card. Does it let you get the photo opp in Epcot just like the credit card? And is this available from only certain banks? Sorry so many questions, inquiring minds want to know. :lmao:
 
What a frustrating ordeal to get your rewards card activated!!!
Sounds like you had a good meal at RFC. I've always had good luck there, too.
 

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