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

[KatMark]

Great cave pictures, Lisa. I'm a little surprised you did it with your fear of heights.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Love the pictures of the caverns. We are going to Raccoon Mountain near Chattanooga in October. We are staying in a cabin and going into the caves they have there. We are also going to Ruby Falls since it is close by. I haven't been there in probably 25 years and DH has decided the boys need to see stuff like that. I am ok with going but we usually go on a quick Disney trip in October so I don't think it is a fair trade.

You ought to try and go see Rock City while you are there. It is only a few miles from Ruby Falls. Great views from the lookout. On clear days you can see 7 states, and there are lots of rock formations that you have to walk/squeeze through.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

What fun!! We have talked about going to either that cave or Lost Sea in Sweetwater a few times. It's just that we have been to several caves in the past and really...once you have seen one you have seen most. Some are special like Carlsbad and we really liked Luray Caverns. But they can be so much fun regardless which is why we talk about going to one of these. Can't wait to see who didn't like their idea!!

It has been several years ago, but I have been to the Lost Sea cave at Sweetwater. It was different from any other cave tour I have done in that you get in a glass bottom boat and ride out on the lake to see the blind catfish. Seems like there was some mention of not knowing how deep the lake was in some places, or maybe how big it was because of underwater passages into other parts of the cave. If you get the chance you ought to go. It isn't a beautiful cave, just neat because of the lake.

 

[Mommy2BnB]

Lisa, I am enjoying your review of the Tuskaleechee (?) Caverns. This is one my family hasn't done, although, like you, I'm sure I've picked up the brochure for it. I love Townsend! My family camped there one summer and had the best time riding inner-tubes down the freezing cold creek.

Glad Lacey has been given so many of the things she needs to start her new married life.

And I'm like Natebensma.....I need to go shopping with you!

 

[natebenma]

Incredible cave pictures!!!

I love the picture of Hunter and Lacey and the one of Lacey and Jesse and all of those last individual shots.

It's great that they came out so well, with everyone in focus- a lot of times the camera gets confused and doesn't know what's important and the people turn out blurry.

 

[GrammyJudy]

Oh Lisa I was scared just looking at your picyures...I could NEVER do those caves. You are brave!

Good shopping...I just bought a couple of shirts and a light jacket on clearance to pout away for my Disney trip this winter.

 

[MEK]

Holy Shopping Jackpot!!!!!! SCORE!

 

[aprilisis]

You got some great deals shopping!
Those cave photos are so cool. It's amazing that those 2 boys explored the caves with so little light and that they didn't get hurt!

 

[reelmom]

You ought to try and go see Rock City while you are there. It is only a few miles from Ruby Falls. Great views from the lookout. On clear days you can see 7 states, and there are lots of rock formations that you have to walk/squeeze through.

We are planning on doing Rock City and the Incline Railway also. I am excited but after seeing your pictures, I am a little freaked out too. I don't do well with heights and those seem like some pretty steep drops. I also can't believe that those young boys found the cave and went exploring in the dark. Mighty brave boys.

 

[Kathy Jetson]

I can't believe the story about the 2 little boys they sound like a real life Tom Sawyer and Huck Finn. I don't even let River out in the back yard unless I can see him. I couldn't imagine him chopping trees down and climbing through caves with them

Loved all the cave pictures!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Morning, I'm working on an update now but I thought I'd post the email that I got from Disney which was in response to my earlier "rant" about the ever rising cost of a Disney trip. Just as I suspected, the response was rather generic to say the least. At least, I have gotten it off my chest and I feel better. But not good enough that I'm not going to put it into written form and mail it in to the Suggestions and Complaints Department. Seriously, I am not happy at all with the generic response. The written form letter may do no better than the email but I'm sending it anyway. Here's what they sent to me:

Dear Lisa,

Thank you for contacting the Walt Disney World® Resort. Lisa, you will
be happy to know that if a promotional offer becomes available, after
you have made your reservations, you may be able to modify your
reservation to include the offer, based on eligibility and availability.


Please keep in mind, by having a room reservation booked does not
guarantee the promotion may be added to that reservation. All
promotional offers are based on first-come, first-served. To modify your
reservation, it will be necessary to contact the Disney Reservation
Center at 407-W-DISNEY (407-934-7639) for assistance.

Keep in mind, that if you currently are booked with a promotional offer,
you cannot benefit from 2 offers.

The Walt Disney World Resort periodically offers special resort programs
as a courtesy to our guests. However, in view of the number of specials
that may be in effect at any given time, we appreciate your
understanding that our cast members are unable to proactively provide
information regarding such programs. Rather, as resort offerings are
heavily advertised worldwide through both print and broadcast media, we
encourage you to watch for advertisements regarding resort specials
through your local media sources.

In addition, we encourage you to visit our website at
www.disneyworld.com for information about our special offers. Any
offers that you become aware of, and that are applicable at the time of
your intended visit, should then be mentioned when making your
accommodation arrangements or modifications. Please note that the name
of the specific program is required in order to access the appropriate
information in our computers.

Most specials are found directly on our website. Our website address
is: www.disneyworld.com

For personal reservation assistance, please contact the Disney
Reservation Center directly by calling 407-W-DISNEY (407-934-7639).
Special programs are offered on a first-come, first-served basis and are
subject to availability.

Lisa, we look forward to your visit to the Walt Disney World Resort and
hope that your time with us is magical.

If you have questions or need further assistance, feel free to contact
us.

Please include your full name, E-Mail address, and reservation number if
applicable on all correspondence.

Sincerely,


WDW Online Communications

PLEASE NOTE: All information is subject to change without notice and
should be confirmed just prior to your visit.

 

[TinksThree]

Well, that makes you all warm and fuzzy doesn't it! I think it couldn't get much more generic than that! I kept thinking "tell me something I don't know! Whatev..." (BTW: Free Dining was just released for "select" dates Oct-March 2012....I heard they will announce things like this only a few months in advance. That is the new strategy. Heard anything similar??)

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Well, darn. Sorry you just got a pre-formed response. But maybe they are listening to us anyway, since they just released more dates for the Free Dining. I am happy about that though, since some of my dates fall in the Free Dining. But I will save that for my PTR.

I will let you know whenever I get a response, though I'm thinking it will probably also be pre-formed. It was worth a try at least.

Looking forward to the next update

 

[ronnmel]

Talk about a generic and non-informative response! It might be useful information to someone new, but if they had read your email at all they would have seen that you have been going for years and know very well how deals and offers work, thank you very much!

 

[aprilisis]

Talk about a generic and non-informative response! It might be useful information to someone new, but if they had read your email at all they would have seen that you have been going for years and know very well how deals and offers work, thank you very much!

DITTO!

 

[racefanof88]

Wow, what a wonderful response . I can't wait to see what they say to me............lol.

 

[Angies1274]

I'm so glad to hear that Lacey had such a wonderful shower!

Wow! Those cave pictures are amazing but also a little creepy too. I'm afraid of heights as well....and with no handrails I would have been very nervous.

Aww...talk about a generic response! Hopefully, they will start listening as the offer they released today was very limited and more people will have to find alternate ways to afford a vacation that unfortunately may include having to stay off-property to cut costs.

 

[Amy&Dan]

So glad Lacey's shower went well!

That is the same response I got to my similar email to Disney! Gosh, I hope it made you feel as satisfied as it did me. What a crock!

Since fd has been released for much of the next five months, I am feeling confident/hopeful that something will come out in the way of a discount for our summer dates. I guess somebody at Disney watched the news this week and noticed the economy in our country is tanked and that maybe discounts are a good idea after all!

We still have the waiting game, but I am feeling quite a bit better. I just want them (discounts) released as soon as possible so I can feel confident in booking my airfare!

 

[jenseib]

I love the cave pictures. First thing I thought when you said the ages of the boys, was "Did their parents know about this cave" and then you said they kept coming back, and I wondered if they kept it a secret for years and years. And who the heck lets there 6 or 7 year old kid light up a rag on a stick? Yes my kids would've gotten a good spanking from a stunt like that!

That letter really doesn't even address the issue AT ALL. That make me mad that they don't take the time to actually read all the content.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Sorry for the lack of update yesterday. The Disboards were super slow because of all the chatter over on the free dining threads. It took forever for a page to load and then work called and I wasn't able to post my update.

When I left off, the guide had just told us the story of the boys finding the cave, climbing up with the help of a cedar tree and then demonstrated how very dark it can be in a cave without any real source of light.

I took this on the way up:

Once everyone had an opportunity to take pictures in the room, we made our way back down the tiny staircase:

This picture is blurry but you can still see how low the ceiling/rock was at this point of the walk. At other times, it was much lower.

Hunter thought it was the neatest thing that there was moss growing inside the cave enough though it was pretty chilly in there:

We continued on down and I took more semi-decent pictures:

We made our way over to Mama who was still sitting on the bench. The lady and her child had met back up with her family. Mama said the lady and her family were vacationing and staying in Gatlinburg. She said that it was so busy with people and traffic that you couldn't hardly move. She also said there was a parade and fireworks scheduled for later that day. Well, that put an immediate halt to our plans to go on to Gatlinburg. I certainly didn't want to fight those sorts of crowds. We all said we'd make a decision on what to do with the rest of the day after we finished up the cave tour.

As we went through the opening seen in the above picture, we had to go down deeper and there were, thankfully, handrails because there were quite a few drops along the way.

The next section of the tour had so many pretty formations. I wish my camera took better pictures but I never could find the "cave" setting.

What goes down must come up (well not really but you know what I mean) and up we went:

Where we came from:

Don't tell me it's time to go down again? Yep, it is!

As you can see in this next set of pictures, we were back on semi flat ground in no time and were gazing upon a pretty running stream which the tour guide told us was something like 98% pure.

**Continued in next post