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

[mickeystoontown]

Coming back later to post replies but thought I'd get an update in while the boss is away...you know the whole "when the cat's away the mice will play" line.



We made it over to:

and I immediately gathered everybody's Keys to the World cards and made my way to the Fastpass machines. I do believe that everybody else in the park had the same idea because it was crowded with a capital C. (Guess I should changed that crowded to Crowded. ) I smooshed my way through the bystanders and eased into a line. About that time, my cell phone started ringing and there was no way that I could get to it. Why? Because it was in the bottom of my backsack (Hey, anybody need a backsack? I've got plenty for sell. ). I don't know why I had it in the bottom but I did. Anyway, people were looking at me pretty funny since my backsack was ringing and I wasn't even attempting to dig my phone out and answer it. I had Fastpasses to get people!

I made it to the front of the line and my backsack started ringing again. Okay, so I didn't answer it 2.2 seconds ago, why would I be answering it now? Give me a minute! Again, I ignored the ringing and got our Fastpasses. Once that was done, I dug my phone out and saw that it was Lacey that had called. Well, first it was John that called and then Lacey had called. I called Lacey back and she said that they were standing downstairs near the entrance of Living With The Land. I told them I'd be there in a minute. First, I was going to sign us up for the Behind the Seeds tour.

I wiggled my way through the people who seemed to just be standing there. They weren't moving or anything. Just standing there. Maybe they were waiting to see if the standby line for Soarin' would magically disappear or maybe they were waiting for their Fastpass return time? I don't know but the area was congested.

Finally, I made it to the desk to sign up for the tour. The castmember gave me a choice of times and I chose the next one since we were already in the building. I paid with my Disney Visa and received a slight discount. It wasn't much but, hey, I'll take any little discount that I can get. She told me to check back in at the desk 10 to 15 minutes before our tour and they'd give us our nametags then.

Now, I was off to catch up with the family. I found them pretty easily and gave them all their Fastpasses and told them what time we had to check back in for the tour. Since we had some time to kill, we figured what the heck...why not go on Living With The Land. We hopped in line and I barely had time to snap a picture of the hidden Mickey painted into the mural.

As I said before, Mama sometimes has trouble stepping onto moving platforms and she also has a bit of trouble making big steps up and down. Because of this, one of us makes sure we get into the boats first and then let Mama hold our hands when stepping down. She made it into the boat with no problem at all.

Some pictures that I took while on the boat:

A not so hidden Mickey:

**Sorry, I need to stop here. I've got a Judge's secretary on hold. Up next: Behind the Seeds tour!

 

[TinksThree]

I really like Living with the Land. It is an attraction that I can't quiet put a finger on what exactly makes me like it so! I can't wait to hear about the Behind the Seeds tour. I am trying to plan a "grown-up" trip and want to give one of the tours a go!

 

[natebenma]

Yeah!!! Living with the Land!!! This has always been one of my favorites. Although I truly do miss the folksy song that used to accompany the ride.

What really surprises me is that the boys like this ride too.

The plant are just so beautiful!!! You sure have some amazing pictures from the ride-can't wait to see the ones from the tour. Can you take pictures on the tour???

 

[MEK]

Great pictures from Living with the Land. I can't wait to hear about the Behind the Seeds tour. I have always wanted to take it! Curious to hear what you think!

 

[aprilisis]

I LOVE your Living with the Land Photos! That ride always makes me hungry. I can't wait to hear about Behind the Seeds!!! I think I am going to do that tour in November.

 

[JanaJohn]

About that time, my cell phone started ringing and there was no way that I could get to it. Why? Because it was in the bottom of my backsack (Hey, anybody need a backsack? I've got plenty for sell. ). I don't know why I had it in the bottom but I did.

Hi Lisa, I've been lurking in the background for sometime now enjoying your trip reports. I seem to remember that you make these backsacks. Have you ever thought of adding a small pocket inside the backsack where people could put their cell phones? I believe you just discovered that it might come in handy.

 

[JanaJohn]

Just read this over at WDWNewsToday under refurbishments. As of 9/30/11 Magic Masters in Downtown Disney will close to be replaced with Something Silver.

Is this the place where Hunter likes to shop for his magic tricks?

 

[Bethislucy]

if you don't mind me asking how much was the tour with your discount. I would love to do this and it might be possible this coming trip.

 

[407-W-DISNEY]

Hi Lisa,
What a beautiful wedding and receptions your daughter had! she is a very lucky girl!
Congrats to both of them for a long, happy life together.

Yeah! Can't wait to hear more about your Disney trip!

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I'm lovin all the Epcot pictures. I can't wait to hear about the behind the seeds tour. I haven't done any of the tours at Disney but I'd love to one day.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good morning! I am trying to find the time to get back to the trip report. Just after I finished applying for the Disney Mom's Panel, the boss came in and I didn't get a chance to post replies. It's also time for the office monthly billing so I'll be busy doing that during the day today and tomorrow but I am hoping that I can sneak back over here a time or two in between appointments. For those of you who applied for the Disney Mom's (and Dad's) Panel, good luck!

 

[KatMark]

Terrific photos of Living with the Land (this is one of Mark's favorites).

Good luck on the Mom's Panel!

 

[GrammyJudy]

I applied the last 2 years and was turned down...guess they don't want Grammys! I hope you make it Lisa, you would be awesome!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Terrific photos of Living with the Land (this is one of Mark's favorites).

Good luck on the Mom's Panel!

I love Living with the Land too! Thanks for the "good luck". I've been applying every year but never get past round 1.

I applied the last 2 years and was turned down...guess they don't want Grammys! I hope you make it Lisa, you would be awesome!

Well, if they take Dad's then I don't see why they can't take Grammys.

So many things I want to comment on!

That wedding video was awesome! I love how they did the intro...with Jesse's ring rolling into Lacey's! That was pretty neat. I would feel the same way you did about not making it into the video (besides your feet). Lacey & Jesse know you were there and appreciate all the work you did. Which, by the way was beautiful! Your "Wedding Team" could get paid for that! Everything looked so nice. I'm glad you all had a good time! I don't know how Jesse could see to drive that Jeep, lol!

Great job on transforming those doors at the LA reception, too! All that food looks very good. I'll probably be wanting lunch early today!

And now that you're back to Disney...what day is it? Friday the 27th? For some reason I had it in my hear our first park days were the same, but I can't remember. If it was Friday, we were in Epcot that day too! AND did the Behind the Seeds Tour!!! I can't believe we missed each other!

I thought the video was great....after I got over not being in it. There were a bunch of Mission guys who decorated the Jeep. What you didn't see in the video was a "leader" car that was in front of them. They could see the car in front of them but not much else. So, the leader took them directly to the local car wash so they could get the paint off.

We were in the same park on the same day! I can't believe that we didn't run into each other somewhere. What time was the tour that you took?

There is a side entrance to spaceship earth, handicaped, but it makes it easier to get on and off so maybe next time Mama should try that. I use a scooter at Disney due to bad back and knees and thus we use this entrance. You do not miss anything now Haunted Mansion is another story as you miss the stretch room so I will walk in there.

I wish I had known that. Mama does pretty good getting in and out but sometimes gets tripped up on the moving platforms.

Lisa, I am sooooooooooooo far behind (we were gone for the long weekend and I've been since since we got home).

Love the additional wedding and reception pictures; it looks likes everyone had a great time.

Great football pictures of Hunter's team!

Love the Epcot pictures too.

You've got just 10 days before you go to disney!

Wow - fantastic job on everything! (And I think the cake color is nice and sunshiney! )

Great pics around Epcot - that is strange that the swirls above that walkway are gone!

Oh it was sunshiney alright! I added just a wee bit of color to the icing and....BAMM!....it was bright yellow!

Getting myself caught up, I was far behind. The wedding and both receptions turned out great, Lacey looked beautiful in both dresses.

I really like the yellow Bridesmaid dresses too. It's a beautiful yellow color. Were they from David's? I looked at that one when I was looking for a dress for my brother's wedding last year, I was a bridesmaid (one of many...) and we were able to pick out our own dress, it just had to be black or black/white, I ended up with a different, but similar one because I decided to go long, but I am going on a cruise in March (hopefully) and I want to go back and get that one (probably in a darker color) for one of the formal nights.

Glad to see the WDW TR restarted, like you, I am ready for a Disney fix (speaking of that I have to get going on finishing up my TR...) Looking forward to the Behind the Seeds tour, We did that back in 2010, it was neat.

Those were from David's Bridal! She started out with a darker yellow but saw the canary colored sandals and changed colors.

As you'll see from my next update, we loved the tour.

I really like Living with the Land. It is an attraction that I can't quiet put a finger on what exactly makes me like it so! I can't wait to hear about the Behind the Seeds tour. I am trying to plan a "grown-up" trip and want to give one of the tours a go!

I don't know why I love Living With The Land so much either but I do. I could go on it several times each trip and still want to go again.

Yeah!!! Living with the Land!!! This has always been one of my favorites. Although I truly do miss the folksy song that used to accompany the ride.

What really surprises me is that the boys like this ride too.

The plant are just so beautiful!!! You sure have some amazing pictures from the ride-can't wait to see the ones from the tour. Can you take pictures on the tour???

I miss the live person narrating the attraction and the folksy song. As you'll see in my next installment, you can take as many pictures as you want during the tour.

Great pictures from Living with the Land. I can't wait to hear about the Behind the Seeds tour. I have always wanted to take it! Curious to hear what you think!

Mary Ellen, you should definitely do the tour. We really enjoyed it and it was cheap too. Well, cheap when compared to other Disney tours.

I LOVE your Living with the Land Photos! That ride always makes me hungry. I can't wait to hear about Behind the Seeds!!! I think I am going to do that tour in November.

I always wish I could pick up one of the 9 pound lemons and start eating on it.

Hi Lisa, I've been lurking in the background for sometime now enjoying your trip reports. I seem to remember that you make these backsacks. Have you ever thought of adding a small pocket inside the backsack where people could put their cell phones? I believe you just discovered that it might come in handy.

I'm so glad that you're not a lurker any more! I actually have thought about putting pockets into my backsacks and plan on doing that on my next batch.

Just read this over at WDWNewsToday under refurbishments. As of 9/30/11 Magic Masters in Downtown Disney will close to be replaced with Something Silver.

Is this the place where Hunter likes to shop for his magic tricks?

That's the same place! Hunter was super bummed when he heard about it.

if you don't mind me asking how much was the tour with your discount. I would love to do this and it might be possible this coming trip.

I'm thinking the tour was about $15 a person. It's really not that bad of a price.

Hi Lisa,
What a beautiful wedding and receptions your daughter had! she is a very lucky girl!
Congrats to both of them for a long, happy life together.

Yeah! Can't wait to hear more about your Disney trip!

Thank you so much!

I'm lovin all the Epcot pictures. I can't wait to hear about the behind the seeds tour. I haven't done any of the tours at Disney but I'd love to one day.

I think that you and River would enjoy the tour. Hunter first went on it when he was 8 and loved it.

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Good luck with the Mom's panel! Keeping my fingers crossed for you

 

[mickeystoontown]

It has been a crazy past month around here. With the kids school starting and especially at the University. Also Mom is having rotator cuff surgery and we have been traveling back and forth to St Louis. I am more than ready for our trip and patiently waiting for your next TR update.

I'll be praying that your mother's surgery goes well and that things settle down at your house for a while.

Lisa, everything looked so pretty at the reception. I really love that cake! I love Lacey's strapless dress, too. Congrats to Hunter & his team for such an awesome winning score!!
Did you guys have any problems from TS Lee?

We really lucked up in the wedding and reception dress department. I think we paid a total of $150.00 for both dresses!

We had no real problems from TS Lee. It rained for two days but no real storms. We really needed the rain because everything around here was so terribly dry.

Lisa, you are an amazing woman! Doing all that work for the wedding and then turning around and planning an equally amazing reception 1 week later...wow! Everything looked wonderful. Made my mouth water looking at all the good food! I also don't think the cake was too bright; I loved the color! (I wouldn't even attempt baking a cake for a reception so my hat is off to you!)

Maybe you could throw in a quick Disney trip to reward yourself for all the hard work! Just a few days would be wonderful wouldn't it!!!

Thank you so much! I love hosting parties and my dream job (other than a Disney vacation planner) is to be a caterer. Before Hunter was born and when he was a toddler, I used to do kids' parties. I'd go to the people's homes, set everything up and then do activities with them. I had so much fun and the extra money came in handy too.

I couldn't believe it took me so long to bake those darn cakes. But, the pans were 3 inches deep so that's what made the baking time extra long.

I'd love to throw together a trip to Disney! If only it didn't take me so long to get there.

Such a beautiful wedding and I loved both your and Lacey dresses from the wedding!

Love you pictures of Spaceship Earth!

Thank you! I can't wait to see all of the wedding pictures.

Hi!

I just read thru your whole report (while I should have been working!), and ready for more Disney!

The wedding and receptions were beautiful, your DD looked so happy!

Also, we LOVE Cade's Cove. We do the Smokies every February for our anniversary and we've only seen a bear ONCE! Lucky you!

Can't wait to read more!

Goodness! You were one busy reader and I promise I won't say anything to your boss so long as you don't mention to mine that I am typing this on company time.

I wanted to see a bear so badly at Cade's Cove. Everybody in the van was sick and tired of me saying "I wanna see a bear!" every five minutes.

Glad the Louisiana reception was a success. I think you did a pretty good job covering those glass doors with the fabric.

I'll come back to read the Disney update later.

The doors were really plain and we needed to make sure that people didn't try going in and out that way so the extra fabric came in handy.

Yay for the Disney update!

I can't wait to hear about the Behind the Seeds tour! I plan on doing it when I go in February, so I hope you liked it

You should definitely do the tour. It's really neat to see how they do things "behind the seeds".

I bet he wasn't wearing that tank top the day before......

That's exactly what I was thinking!

The reception pictures are perfect. You did a great job on the cake, so I don't know what you mean about being nice. Seeing how much work you put into the wedding and reception will be something you can always be proud of, now start planning Hunter's so you won't have to work so hard when he gets married........... Lacey and Jesse will always have the best of memories about their special days.

I think I am about over my anger at Disney so I am planning our March trip . You knew I couldn't stay mad long, but Dale is still saying he won't redo the paperwork; we'll just have to see about that .

I worked for hours upon hours making that darn cake. Thank goodness I don't have to do the majority of the work when Hunter gets married. But, knowing me, I'll want to do it all.

I can see Dale's side of the whole fiasco. It's probably take me a while before I wanted to do that all over again. That wouldn't, however, keep me from going to Disney.

I was thinking the same thing! Hilarious!

Me too!

you finally made it to a park! I hear what you are saying about how close CBR is to Epcot. We stayed at Bonnet Creek (which is right behind CBR) and it was closer to Epcot and Hollywood Studios than anywhere else we have ever stayed.

Bonnet Creek looks like an amazing resort. I remember seeing it over the tops of the trees when we were at the CBR.

All caught up!

Lisa, what a couple of fantastic events! The wedding looked breathtaking and the reception the following week looked like so much fun.

Lacey looked beautiful (both days)!

The decorations were amazing (Yay for using them twice)! I LOVE the nature theme and is it wonderful that Lacey's personality really came through in all of the details.

OMG, the jeep Brings me back to my own reception 25 years ago when my brothers-in-law put rice in the blowers and a dead fish in the hood of my Chevy Chevette!

You forgot the caption of the picture with the silly uncle
"Lacey, Be careful with that toothpick!"

THANK YOU for the update about Hunter's football game! I was just coming on here to ask how his team was doing.

Great picture of Lacey and Mama on the bus, and I love your cute future picture- your flying car is sure a sweet ride!

So you have finally stepped foot into a park- and it is only page 57 - Time sure flies! Can't wait to hear more!

Oh yuck....rice and dead fish? I'm glad the guys who decorated my car at our wedding didn't have that idea.

Lacey had just eaten a piece of fruit and actually did poke her uncle with the toothpick as he was walking away.

I am a lurker, but just wanted to tell you that I love your trip reports. I have read your last two reports and am currently enjoying this one! I love your mini-reports inside the Disney ones too!

As a side note, it is also hard to get off of Spaceship Earth holding sleeping toddlers!

Hey! I'm so glad that you are no longer lurking! I enjoy hearing what other people think about my reports. Oh I remember the days of getting off of attractions carring a toddler. It's not easy!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I think I finally posted replies to everybody but if I did miss anyone please know I didn't do it on purpose. I'm trying to get an update posted before the boss comes in and started barking out orders.


Once we were done with Living With The Land, we decided, even though it was a bit early, we'd go back over to the Behind the Seeds tour area and wait. Here's what Hunter and Lacey did while waiting:

They would squeeze each others hand until one cried "uncle!"

I guess we had a wait of about 20 minutes before it was time to check in at the podium. They gave us nametags to write our names on and told us that the tour was just about to start. Shoot! I should have checked in earlier.

This was our 3rd time to take the tour and Mama's first. In the years past, one of our guides was a bit nerdy and the other was really entertaining. This year's guide was somewhere in between. You could tell that she really really liked her job as a bug person. I say bug person because I can't remember the correct name of someone who studies insects.

She told us to follow her and she led us through the hordes of folks standing around the entrance of Soarin'. She always did this weird half backwards/half normal walk. It wasn't like she was talking over her shoulder at us but it was an odd sort of walk. I'd say it was more of a "I'm going to face you and talk and the only way I can do that is walk backwards" walk.

Our first stop on the tour was the building where they conduct experiments using bugs. First you get to see a short video that compares good bugs to bad bugs. The video shows you how the good bugs attack the bad bugs and save the day....err... the plant. There were quite a few containers (think the size of a fish tank) that held various kinds of plants and the good bugs and bad bugs were duking it out right before our very eyes. Actually, our squinting eyes because these bugs are very small. You could see them flying around but not the actual punches being thrown amongst them.

We spent quite a bit of time in the bug room/lab because we had a few in our group that liked to ask questions....lots of them. Which was okay but they were more scientific questions and the conversation got quite in depth. It was way over my head. I prefer to think of the bugs in a boxing ring set up on a big plant leaf, beating the crap out of each other and the good guys winning.

Once those questions were answered, we moved on to the greenhouse where we got to see the "good" stuff. Like this:

We were allowed to get as close as we wanted but we couldn't touch and, obviously, go way off path.

We made a stop where there was an aquarium set up. Disney had made this aquarium into a hydroponic station of sort. It was mostly just to show you how you could grow these plants the same as Disney does.

They gave us handouts that gave step-by-step instructions. It was really neat and, of course, the nerdy/scientificy type people in the group were bombarding the tour guide with questions about this and then about that. In the meantime, I was taking pictures:

The tour continued on with our backwards walking guide leading the way. We stopped at the world record holder for the most tomatoes picked from one vine. You could have given me a salt shaker and left me there and I would have been in hog heaven.

Continuing on:

I kept seeing what looked like tags hanging from the plants and trees. When I got a chance, I asked our tour guide what those were. I thought maybe they were a tag indicating when they had conducted certain experiments on the plants, planted them, etc. (they all had dates on them). Turns out, the packets contained the good bugs. The bugs would come out of the bags and eat up any bad bugs that were on the plants. Cool! I wanted some of those packets! She couldn't give us the name brand but told us if we were to look really closely, we could see a www. name. I tried taking a zoom picture but it was too hard because you couldn't step over the sidewalk area.

(After we got home, I did find the website and am planning on ordering some of the bug packets to put in our garden and in John's dad's garden.)

 

[mickeystoontown]

We continued on until we came to the pumpkins. These pumpkins were small compared to the ones that they have grown before and that we had seen on previous tours but they were still pretty darn big:

If I am remembering correctly....hey Bridora....maybe you remember since you did the tour...

If I am remembering correctly, our guide told us that these melons were virtually useless to humans but they were good for the animals and that's why they grew them. She said they didn't have much flavor and were mushy.

Next up was the aqua...aqua....heck, the section where they had fish and shrimp and alligators...section of the tour.

***Having photobucket issues. Be back in a bit.

 

[jbmom]

Bugs are bringing me out from lurkdom. Can you post the name of the company you are buying the bugs from? I would love something like that for my garden next year!

Your trip report is hilarious and I have been reading along for awhile I just never posted! We stopped at the same Chattanooga rest area in August and have pictures of the same sea creatures!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Bugs are bringing me out from lurkdom. Can you post the name of the company you are buying the bugs from? I would love something like that for my garden next year!

Your trip report is hilarious and I have been reading along for awhile I just never posted! We stopped at the same Chattanooga rest area in August and have pictures of the same sea creatures!

Thanks for coming out! I love hearing from my readers! It took me a while to find the correct company name after we came home but finally found it. I had the site bookmarked but never did go back to it to do any in depth research on what their products were. Here you go: http://www.koppert.com/

I'm glad that I'm able to give you a laugh or two. I've often thought about writing a book but simply don't have the time to do it.

I loved the Chattanooga rest area. It was so pretty and a nice place to walk around and stretch our legs.

I hope you'll continue to post your thoughts.