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

[mommytothreeboys]

Love the TN update. Beautiful pictures, as always!

Oh, and I like your hair a little longer...very cute!

 

[jenseib]

Awesome family picture...but that drive....I would be crying too. I think after 10 hours I would just say we have to stop and screw work the next day. LOL

 

[mickeystoontown]

Love the TN update. Beautiful pictures, as always!

Oh, and I like your hair a little longer...very cute!

Thanks Missy! It's funny that you mentioned the long hair 'cause I'm about to make an appointment to get it cut. Long hair is too much work.

Awesome family picture...but that drive....I would be crying too. I think after 10 hours I would just say we have to stop and screw work the next day. LOL

John and Hunter did say "screw work/school" the next day but I went to work like a dumb bunny. It's harder for me to take off work since I'm the only person in the office besides my boss.

I'm all caught up! Boy, I got SOOOO far behind. That drive home sounded just horrible. Bad enough to be stuck in traffic, but raining too? Gotta say -- I'm loving your family picture. You all just look very happy to be together.

Congrats on conquering Clingman's Dome! That's one thing we never got to during our visits to the area. It's on my list for whenever we make it back there, though. That whole area is just so gorgeous.

The rain made the wait/drive even worse. I was totally done by the time we got home.

You need to put Clingman's Dome on your list of places to visit. It's a heck of a hike though and I seriously won't go back without starting some sort of walking program before we go. It's rough!

Your day in Gaitlinburg sounds like so much fun and I'm so glad you found a place to park. I was there once in July and all I can say is O M G! Worst traffic EVER!

I know I missed several updates while I was away and I can't see pics right now, but I'll be back.

Enjoy your long weekend and I'm sorry you didn't get the bonus you expected. And the way you boss communicates - pftt. That stinks!

The traffic in both Pigeon Forge and Gatlinburg was horrible! It was always bumper to bumper.

My boss has all sorts of b-lls when it come to the courtroom but was scared to tell me about my bonus cut. Men!

Glad you had fun in TN! And YAY for them coming down for Christmas!!! We were suppose to leave Christmas Eve to go to GA for a few days and Friday was going to be our "Christmas Eve" because I have a strict Santa comes to MY house rule (Plus, we don't have enough room to pack up our presents PLUS all the presents from family in our car! We'd have to rent a uhaul!). But I have been fairly sick (I have a staph infection ), and the doctor doesn't want me to be too far from home.

And Boo to your silly boss!! Seems like you two know each other well enough that he could talk to you face to face about things! MEN!

I don't blame you for wanting to be home on Christmas Eve. Who wants to pack up all the presents and go somewhere else?

I hate that you have been sick. Are you feeling better now?

That photo of the 5 of you is really great. That drive home sounds terrible, though. 17 hours is a looong time to be stuck in traffic- especially in the rain, too!!
In case I'm not online in the next few days, Merry Christmas to you and to your family! I hope you have a fantastic time visiting with Lacey & Jesse.

I liked the picture too but you can tell we were all tired. I crammed as much as I could into those two days and we were pooped.

We did have a great visit with Lacey and Jesse and I teared up when they left to go back to Tennessee.

What a great family picture!

A tidbit on Mellow Mushroom- My husband works/worked for the original guys who created Mellow Mushroom. My DH has a grading business and does some of the work for them since they live around us. The three original creater/owners have since parted ways but DH still does work for them. One guy still owns the name and another guy started another local pizza place in town. Mellow Mushroom is awesome.

What a cool story! So, do you guys get discounts at Mellow Mushroom?

Sounds like it was a great trip! Minus the ride home. But you have to take the bad with the good right? Can't imagine living so far away from my family, I do not know how you all do it! So wonderful Lacey is so happy. I hope you all have a wonderful family Christmas together!

Also about your bonus, don't blame you for being upset. We had a similar issue here at work.

We definitely took the bad with the good on that trip. It was one heck of a drive home and I couldn't wait to pull into my driveway.

Thanks for the Christmas wishes. We had a wonderful visit with our entire family!

Love, love, LOVE your family picture! You need to frame that one
I would have been crying too if it took me 17 hours to get home driving 2 miles an hour

Sorry to hear about your Christmas bonus, and the way you were told. YAY on getting friday and Monday off form work.

I probably will frame the picture as it was one of my favorites from the trip.

I could tell that my boss was embarassed when he gave me my bonus check. He didn't even look at me when he handed it to me. Oh well, I am thankful that I at least got something.

I was 11 days behind but I spent the night catching up!

That was funny with mama and the obstacle course with Lacey and Hunter and the wheelchair races!

I loved the video with MS and S. I'm going to show River tomorrow and I know he'll say "why didn't you do that mom?''

I loved the outdoor pics from your thanksgiving trip. Thats great you got up the nerve to do Clingmans Dome but I wish you would have had better weather so you could have seen more. Sorry to hear the J.P. boat ride was a bust but thats great John told them his wife would write about it on the internet and you did!

I'm sorry your bonus wasn't what you counting on it being. But glad to hear you got Friday and Monday off to be with your family. I'm off until Wednesday. The new mean bosses where I worked got the boot and they brought back the nice ones and everyone else that was let go

I hope you enjoy your time with Lacey and Jesse and have a MERRY CHRISTMAS!

I read on Jen's report that you got your job back! I am sooooo very happy fro you.

I hope that you all had a great Christmas!

I hope you and your family have a wonderful Christmas!

I'm way behind on posting but have been keeping up with reading! I enjoyed hearing about the Thanksgiving trip, and glad it was so good except for the nightmare trip home.
I'm so happy for you that you will have your little family circle intact at Christmas! Hope it is wonderful, as i am sure it will be!!
(And happy that the Christmas bonus wasn't cut as much as he said!!)

MERRY CHRISTMAS TO MY FAVORITE DIS PAL!!

Thank you all!

Merry Christmas!!!!

We ate at Mellow Mushroom also---but on Friday night. Keith enjoyed it so much we ate at the one here locally the following weekend. I never could get him to go prior to the Gatlinburg experience! I think the Moonshine place is super cool! I tried it once and since I really don't drink much I thought I was going to die when it went down! Especially the lightening one! I could tolerate the apple pie. I think those moonshiners must have been desperate to get drunk to drink that stuff constantly!

I found the sign warning people to not buy there hilarious! I wonder the story behind it? That road out of Sevierville was !!!!! We tend to avoid going that way at all costs because it has never been a good experience!

I hope you have a wonderful holiday and enjoy having Lacey and Jesse home!!!

If we ever go back to Pigeon Forge, I'm going to get driving directions home from you. If there's a way around that entire mess, I'm taking it!

Sounds like a great day in Gatlinburg. Love the family photo -- it's great.

Merry Christmas to you and the family.

Joyeux Noel to you and your family!!

Merry Christmas to you Lisa, and all of your family!

Thanks to you all!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Happy two days after Christmas! I hope that everybody had a great holiday and are gearing up for the next one....New Years! If ya'll are anything like our family, you're going to be doing a little of this and a little of this: and a whole lotta with some of this thrown in for good measure. Yeah, right, get real! We probably won't even make it to Midnight before we are safe and sound in our beds.

I might and that's a big might stay up long enough to listen to whatever the "big announcement" is that Disney is supposed to make on Dick Clark's New Year's Eve Party. Lots of speculation of what that announcement will be. I've seen the short snippit of a video that Disney has posted and I'm anxious to see what it's all about. If I fall asleep before the annoucnement, then I'm sure the Disboards will be teaming with posts the next morning.

Once I get my Christmas pictures uploaded, I'll post some here for you all to see. We had a great Christmas but I was sad to see Lacey and Jesse go. I know that we won't see them again until my niece's wedding which is in March. I miss them already!

I'm going through all of my photobucket pictures so that I can post another Disney installment but I can't seem to find the ones that started our "down day". I ain't giving up though so keep watching for an update.

 

[TeachLuvsDisney]

Hi there!

I just wanted to say that I'm only on page 5 of your TR and I'm really enjoying it.

I haven't really been on Disboards very much but I'm really finding some interesting people and things here! I've been posting my trip reports on another Disney message board site. Maybe I should include it here too?

How do you get to be a Disboard celebrity? Your TR is very popular!

 

[MEK]

Caught up on your pics. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

I loved all the TN pics and I remember sitting in that exact same traffic heading from Seiverville to Gatlinburg. OMG - 17 hours to get home. That is just insanity.

We had a drive similar to that to the Outer Ban, but not nearly the same distance. It took us 3 hours to go the last 30 miles and I drive stick shift. I finally had to get out and walk around because my leg was cramping from holding ht clutch so long. You poor thing. Ugh! Glad you can put that experience behind you.

 

[BelleTinkMom]

I always seem to get behind. Hope you had great Christmas.

The Tennessee Trip looks like lots of fun except the drive home.

 

[natebenma]

Thanks for sharing your TN trip with us. The pictures were great. You sure had some highs (Clingmans Dome, the pizza place) and lows (Jurassic Ripoff and miserable traffic), but as always your family made some great memories and you have the pictures to prove it!

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year. Can't wait to see some Christmas pictures and to see what a Disney "Down" day is for your crew.

 

[KatMark]

Happy Birthday, Lisa. I hope you have a magical day. xo

 

[PhoenixStrength]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!​

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[lledman]

wishing you a wonderful birthday

 

[TinksThree]

Happy Birthday!!! And I hope you enjoy your New Year's celebrations too! Your plans sound like ours!

I would be glad to share our alternative route! Anything besides going through Sevierville is a better route!

 

[oopsiDAISY]

happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hi there!

I just wanted to say that I'm only on page 5 of your TR and I'm really enjoying it.

I haven't really been on Disboards very much but I'm really finding some interesting people and things here! I've been posting my trip reports on another Disney message board site. Maybe I should include it here too?

How do you get to be a Disboard celebrity? Your TR is very popular!

Howdy! And welcome to this here trip report! I love having new readers and hope that you'll feel free to post any of your thoughts along the way.

If you do decide to start a trip report, please post a link so we can all follow along.

A Disboard celebrity? Heck, I didn't really know that I was one. I have always been a "people person". You know, the one that starts a conversation with a perfect stranger or the one who just talks and talks and talks. Well, that's me.

Caught up on your pics. Hope you had a wonderful Christmas.

I loved all the TN pics and I remember sitting in that exact same traffic heading from Seiverville to Gatlinburg. OMG - 17 hours to get home. That is just insanity.

We had a drive similar to that to the Outer Ban, but not nearly the same distance. It took us 3 hours to go the last 30 miles and I drive stick shift. I finally had to get out and walk around because my leg was cramping from holding ht clutch so long. You poor thing. Ugh! Glad you can put that experience behind you.

The drive home was definitely insanity!

Oh my gosh, I can't even imagine driving a stick shift in that sort of traffic. I'd have been a nervous wreck! Oops, maybe "wreck" wasn't the right word to use.

I always seem to get behind. Hope you had great Christmas.

The Tennessee Trip looks like lots of fun except the drive home.

I'm always behind too. We had a great time in Tennessee and wish that we had of had more time. But, I crammed in as much as I could while we were there.

Thanks for sharing your TN trip with us. The pictures were great. You sure had some highs (Clingmans Dome, the pizza place) and lows (Jurassic Ripoff and miserable traffic), but as always your family made some great memories and you have the pictures to prove it!

A belated Merry Christmas and an early Happy New Year. Can't wait to see some Christmas pictures and to see what a Disney "Down" day is for your crew.

We did have some highs and lows. I am choosing to remember the highs more than I am the lows though.

I hope that you had a great Christmas too. Any big plans for the New Year?

 

[mickeystoontown]

Happy Birthday, Lisa. I hope you have a magical day. xo

HAPPY BIRTHDAY LISA!​

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wishing you a wonderful birthday

Happy Birthday!!! And I hope you enjoy your New Year's celebrations too! Your plans sound like ours!

I would be glad to share our alternative route! Anything besides going through Sevierville is a better route!

happy birthday!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank you! Thank you! Thank you! John wrote me the sweetest note this morning and left it beside my purse. He can be such a tough cookie but he has a soft sweet side as well. We don't have any real plans for my birthday other than just being together which is fine with me.

**Disney Down Day posting coming up!

 

[aprilisis]

Happy Birthday, Lisa!! I hope you have a great day.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Today was our fifth day at Walt Disney World and we were all ready for another break from the parks. So far, we had visited the Magic Kingdom, Epcot and Hollywood Studios. It was time for some resort time. One of the things that we love about the Caribbean Beach Resort is the laid back, go-with-the-flow vibe that the resort has. It's nice to schedule a day to have nothing planned with the exception of our dinner reservation.

I have no idea what time we slept until but I am pretty sure it was about 10:00 or so. Too late for breakfast and too early for lunch. We decided to go for a swim while we washed a load or two of laundry. Laundry? Who the heck does laundry while on vacation? Well, I did. Oh and Mama did as well. At the CBR, the laundry facilities are right next to each of the quiet pools so you can do laundry and swim at the same time. Major plus!

When we travel, I take two mesh laundry bags with us to put our dirty clothes in so I simply toted those to the laundry room and tossed the clothes into the washers. Then, we all jumped in for a swim. I am a whiney baby when it comes to cold water and, to me, the water was just a tad bit cool so I didn't swim for long. However, the water temperature was just right for the rest of my gang and for the other guests who were there.

I don't know about ya'll but when we swim, we get hungry. I am not quite sure what it is about swimming that does it, but it does. At least to us it does. So, when lunch time came around, Mama and I made the walk over to Old Port Royale to grab us a bite to eat. My family was in a pizza mood. Mama was in a sandwich mood. At the CBR, you can order a large pizza, get two drinks and two desserts for two counter service credits. I decided to do that and get a salad for us to share. Mama got some sort of turkey sandwich and fruit for her dessert. We made the short walk back to the pool and we had a picnic under one of the umbrella tables.

I guess I didn't take a picture of Mama's sandwich but I do remember her saying it was good.

We swam some more and hung out by the pool. Mama decided that it was too hot to stay outside any longer so I told her that I'd finish up the laundry and bring her's to her when it was done. We stayed in and by the pool for quite a bit longer before deciding to go in and rest for a while before getting ready for our dinner.

We had a 6:45 dinner ADR at the Grand Floridian Cafe and I knew it would take a bit of time getting there. I try to allow an hour when we are traveling to any destination other than a park. You never know when you might hit a snag in the transportation system. Once we were all showered and changed, we were ready to make the quick walk to the bus stop. We were going to take the bus to the Magic Kingdom, hop on the resort monorail and get off at the Grand Floridian.

Walking to the bus stop:

While we were on the bus, a lady across from me kept smiling at me. Of course, I smiled back. Then, she said "I've just got to tell you something." Several things popped into my head like "oh no, you've got a booger hanging out of your nose" or "your hair is sticking straight up in the back" or "did you know that you can see your bra through that shirt?" . Seriously! That's what I was thinking. But, it was nothing of the sort. She asked if I wrote trip reports on the Disboards and I told her yes. She asked if I was Mickeystoontown and I told her yes. She got all excited and hit her husband on the leg and said "This is Lisa! She's a celebrity! She's a celebrity! I read her reports every time!" I laughed outloud. I have never ever considered myself a celebrity but it was obvious that this lady did. We talked the rest of the way to the Magic Kingdom and I can't believe that I never got her username. So, if you are reading this....it was very nice meeting you.

From the bus, we walked over to the monorail station and I took the following pictures:

We arrived at the Grand Floridian and walked into the magnificient great room where I immediately felt an overwhelming "holy crap we are up high" sensation. It makes me feel all weird when a loved one gets close to a railing and the kids know this but they still do it. Meanies!

Notice in the next picture that I am NOT standing next to the railing but rather against a large pillar:

Three generations of ladies:

**Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

I wanted to take more pictures of the characters in the marble flooring but this is the only one I was able to take:

The chandeliers at the Grand Floridian are gorgeous and huge!

There was a large crochet piece at the end of the stairs and I tried to take a picture but it didn't turn out well at all since it was white on white:

I checked in at the desk and was told that it would be just a few minutes before we would be seated because they were cleaning off the table. We wandered around a bit and took pictures:

We waited about 10 minutes and our table was ready. Our hostess took us to our table and our waiter was at the next table so he was came to take our drink order immediately after helping those guests. As with the other restaurants, we had already studied the menus online so we pretty much knew what we wanted to order.

John had the steak with a substituted side of fries:

I believe that Mama and I ordered the same thing:

Lacey ordered the pasta without the shrimp:

Hunter had the roasted chicken with a subsituted side of fries:

When it came time to order desserts, we tried to order different things so we could sample from each other's plates. The dessert sampler plate with a chocolate Mickey:

I honestly can't remember the names of this dessert but I believe it was a key lime dessert:

This was the seasonal sorbet:

The food and service was good but not as good as when John and I dined there for our 25th wedding anniversary. Mama said that it wasn't her favorite meal of the trip and that the Grand Floridian was a bit stuffy and too high falootin' for her.

Before we left the resort, we stopped in the store to have a look-see. Hunter had also gotten a bit of a sunburn and we wanted to buy some aloe lotion to rub on his back before it got too painful. We found it in the sundries section and were surprised that it was semi-reasonably priced.

We decided to walk outside for a bit and see if we could find out way to the bus stop instead of going back through the building and to the monorail station. I took these pictures of the beautiful resort grounds:

I remember finding the bus stop and that we were all alone there but I can't remember where we went from there. Does the Grand Floridian even have a bus to Magic Kingdom? Did we go to Downtown Disney? I can't remember! I want to say we went back to the Caribbean Beach Resort.

Oh well, it was a lovely relaxing day. I'm so glad that we decided to work in a couple of "do nothing" days into our vacation.

***Up next: Animal Kingdom!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Happy Birthday, Lisa!! I hope you have a great day.

Thanks April! I plan on doing a whole lotta nothing this evening which is a perfect birthday gift.

 

[TinksThree]

The steak you ordered looked really good! I agree with your mama about the Grand Floridian seeming a little hi-falootin'! It was pretty to look at but not a place I would want to stay! I wish we had a relaxation day on this trip! Had I forced one more day we could have done it but oh-well, lessons learned!

So was this Saturday? If so that was the night of our fiasco meal at 1900 Park Fare! I may never get Keith back to that resort!!!