Lucky #13 with pics ~ 9/25 Finished!!!

[nts4wdw]

I finally found you, again! I got lost after your pre trippie. It takes me awhile to catch on sometimes. I just spent an hour reading your report and love it. The pictures are amazing, especially the Illuminations ones! I'm sorry about your kittens.

So glad you found me!! I'm enjoying your pretippie!!

Lynn, I am so sorry about your kitty.
I hope Emily has a happy birthday.

Thanks and Em had a good day.

So sorry to hear about your kitty

Another great installment - awesome Illuminations pics!! We've never been to DQ - looks like everyone had a good time there.

Happy Birthday to Em from another Em! Would love to see pics of the Darth Vader party....sounds like something my hubby would've loved growing up (...or would still love now - LOL)

From our Em to you, Em!

Sorry about the glasses flash. I'm still learning about the digital camera! We had a great time and that cake was GOOD!

Hopefully Day seven will be up tomorrow! Still waiting for Chuck's comments.....did you hear that, Constable Mickey!

 

[luvfigment]

I am very sorry about you Kitten I hope that Em had a good b-day...her cake was awesome!!!

Looking forward to reading you next update. It is also great that Jake like EE and now will ride the thrill rides with Em.

 

[arizonacolbys]

From our Em to you, Em!

Sorry about the glasses flash. I'm still learning about the digital camera! We had a great time and that cake was GOOD!

[/QUOTE]

Awesome cake!! Thanks for sharing!

 

[LouDisney]

That is a great cake!

 

[nts4wdw]

That is a great cake!

Thanks! Walmart, baby! The same sweet lady there was been decorating our birthday cakes for a couple of years.

 

[LouDisney]

Walmart makes really good cakes

 

[ConstableMickey]

Yes, yes they do. In fact I just fininshed scarfing down a slab <Shhhhh, don't tell Lynn>. It's only 11:15 so it not's like it's a midnight snack. I perfer to think of it as stacking up on some heavy sleep carbs.....

Chuck

 

[nts4wdw]

Yes, yes they do. In fact I just fininshed scarfing down a slab <Shhhhh, don't tell Lynn>. It's only 11:15 so it not's like it's a midnight snack. I perfer to think of it as stacking up on some heavy sleep carbs.....

Chuck

I wake up and this is what I find! Midnight snacking! For Shame!!

And it's kind of pitiful when we are communicating through the message board when we live in the same house. Somebody is working too much......
No, I take that back, Disney money, baby!!!

 

[nts4wdw]

Day Seven
Another Dream at MK?

Good Morning!

This morning brings us to our ADR at Crystal Palace. Crystal Palace has an all you can eat buffet with Pooh and his friends. This is totally for Emily!! She loves Pooh and his friends. Jake will tolerate Pooh and his friends if a buffet is involved.
We were through the turnstiles by 7; 45 and on our way down a deserted Main Street. Don’t you love empty park pics?

Of course everyone else is behind us and soon we were waiting outside the doors of the beautiful Crystal Palace. We were hungry and not waiting very well that morning.

But soon, we were in!! We were the first people seated and I was hoping they’d say something about it but no luck. We had a beautiful view of the castle (which I forgot to take a picture of) all through our breakfast. Piglet was at our table very quickly. He is Emily’s favorite!

Pooh came soon after.

After signing Emily’s book, he also signed my banana!!! Try fitting that in a scrap book!!
I asked him if he was hungry and he indicated that he was always hungry!!

Pooh even knew the knuckle!

Tigger came by soon after and had fun with Jake! It seemed the more Jake tried to hide from the characters, the more they messed with him.

The food was awesome and we all ate far too much! It took Eeyore forever to come to our table. When he finally did, two girls from a large group lined up to get his autograph. I don’t know where his handler was, but Eeyore kept trying to get to Emily, who was almost in tears. Where were these children’s parents? Finally, Em got her turn and even then, one of the girls was standing right there just staring and trying to touch Eeyore! These weren’t little children, at least 9 or 10 years old. you a know a couple of well placed shots with the boiled eggs would have taken care of the situation real quick!!! But some people wouldn’t let me.

It kind of put a damper on things, and when the check came, we were ready to get out of there!!

We walked around in front of the castle, soaking up the atmosphere. We saw a sweet momma duck taking her babies for a walk. As a side note, what is it about seeing normal, everday critters at Disney that makes them sooooo noticeable and cute. We have zillions of Mallards and squirrels up here but we never pay them any mind. But once we get down there, there they are, looking all cute and trying to mooch any loose popcorn that we may have in our pockets.

As soon as they dropped the rope, we headed for Fantasyland. After a quick flight to Neverland, we headed over to Winnie the Pooh (to keep with the theme of the day.) We always have a great time on this ride, pretending to be getting sick in the water scene and bouncing with Tigger. We met a sweet English couple with their daughter in the queue. They were looking rough, said they were having trouble with the time change. I was so glad they were in front of us, because as we exited the ride, the Dream team was waiting with Dream Fastpasses for us!! Score!! We were all so excited!!

Jake let Pal Mickey try his on.

We felt like the whole park was ours! No having to coordinate Fastpass times!!! We even decide to catch Philharmagic (something we never do in the morning.) I love this show, mostly because my girl Minnie is one of the hosts! It’s a great way to immerse yourself in Disney. Don’t miss it! Since you can’t sleep in it because of the occasional sprinkling of water, my favorite part is watching the first timers reactions to the 3D effects, I’ve even seen a few adult hands reaching out and trying to grab the jewels during the Little Mermaid section.

Now we were ready for our new family favorite, Big Thunder Mountain Railroad! By alas, there was no one manning the Fast Pass entrance!! The poor CM at the regular entrance was kind of freaking out, because people were starting to crowd around and no one could let them in!! It was starting to get ugly He got on his phone to call for help
(or air support), but we decided to get out of his hair and take a trip to the Carribbean. We were able to catch a glimpse of Jack Sparrow coming out for his show. Sigh. I hope they keep this show. I really want to watch it one day, but the three other members of this family have no desire to stay and watch when you could be riding the ride. All I can hope for is maybe Emily’s hormones will kick in soon!!

After our voyage, we headed back to BTMRR, and the FP entrance was running smoothly! The CM looked so relieved. We had a great ride!

I kept my eyes open this time (mostly).

On to Space Mountain! Those tabs on our Dream Passes were going fast. As brave as I have become, I wasn’t up for Space Mountain. Jake was trying it for the first time and he loved it. (In just a few short days, he has become a roller coaster junkie!) Anyway, I was declared bag holder and left to wait.
I love this tree. I want one for the backyard.

I picked a spot near the popcorn cart where I could sit and was immediately accosted by a duck! She was begging so badly. I keep telling her I had nothing. As I was talking to the duck, I heard a voice, “Are you Lynn?” No, it wasn’t the duck. It was our dear travel agent, Deb! Insert shameless plug for MFL TravelShe was down for a few days with her daughter. (They have a house down there.) It was so good to talk to her. She’s been helping us plan our vacations for three years. Chuck and the children came out in time to say hi. I can’t believe I didn’t get a picture! You know you’ve gone down to Disney more than a few times when you see, recognize and recognized by other guests, Disers and even your travel agent (this was actually the second travel agent we ran into while down there, the first one we ran into twice in 2 years)

We had a turn trying defeat the evil Emperor Zurg, and decided to take a Jungle Cruise.
Here comes our boat.

By now it was time for some rest. A train ride to the front and we were off!

Continued

 

[nts4wdw]

We decided to give the High Rock Springs Pool at Saratoga Springs a try. It was beautiful. But apparently EVERYONE and their brother thought the same thing, because they were ALL at the pool, how dare they? Don’t they know this is MY vacation? It’s all about me!!! Actually I liked the quite pool better due to the smaller size so I can keep a eye out on the kids. And oh ya, the Jacuzzi.

The kids thought the slide was cool, but it was so crowded that they wanted to go back to our quiet pool!

And who can blame them? It was empty and who can say no to spitting frogs?

We got some rest and had lunch in the room. (and polished off the last of the Wal-Mart subs, $2.98 for a 12” sub, you can’t beat that) I was anxious to get back to the park because one of my dreams was going to come true! But we awakened to another lovely Florida thunderstorm!! I was so nervous that we wouldn’t get to go, but the sun came out and we were on the way to EPCOT!!

My dream? To pick my own pearl in Japan!! I’ve thought about it for the last couple trips, but I was finally going to do it! (Off Kilter was playing and I walked right past. It was a little easier because Mark wasn’t there.)

First, we paid for the pearl. (Hint: you can pay at any register, not just the one where the oysters are.) Then we presented our receipt to the lady at the oyster register and she gave us a number. We looked over the oysters while we waited. I let Em pick for me. It’s the one with the two white spots sticking up to the middle right of the pic.

Soon our number was called and she began to open the oyster. So exciting!

There it is!

The lady got very excited! She had a little measuring device for the pearl. Normally the pearls are a 6. Mine was 7 and ¾!! I have no idea what this means

She gave us a ringing of the gong and everyone clapped. I felt very special!!

I chose a pendent and chain in white gold. We left it to be set and started toward American Adventure. We decided against it, and got French fries at the Liberty Inn instead.
Here’s my necklace. I wear it every day. It’s like having a little piece of Epcot with me. (I’m considering a ring next.)

We took the long way around the pond to catch Off Kilter’s last set. Still no Mark, but we did have something to look at.

What a magical end to the day!!

On the way out we stopped in my favorite shop, Mousegears. Chuck sent me over to look at car accessories. (I was considering a new plate for our car.) Little did I know he was buying a Princess Minnie for me. He surprised me on the way home. She sits on my bedside table now to remind me of a great day. See, after being married for 16 years, I’m still working my way up (see previous post about pacing one’s self).

 

[arizonacolbys]

Another great installment! Love your new Minnie bean! How sweet

Picking a pearl sounds like fun - I actually thought about doing it last trip, but never made it back to Japan...maybe I'll get one this time around!

 

[LouDisney]

What a great day Lynn!!

 

[Goofyluver]

YAY!!!! for another dream! How lucky are you guys!!!!

Love this installment...and now I want a pearl!!!

 

[shannon47142]

Whoohoo-dream fastpasses it must of been nice not having to plan around for fast passes!!
Your necklace looks great!!!
Another great update

 

[buffy0214]

I don't know if they are still considering on shutting DQ down in the fall, we were planning on doing Blizzrd Beach this past trip but decided to do DQ 'just in case'. Of course it didn't hurt that Lynn had gotten so many reward points on her Disney card that I only had to pay the remaining balance of $5.

I actually have 2 man purses (for different occassions) but my latest one is a big fanny pack with a kind of built in holster for 2 - 16oz. bottles. It worked out great, I would freeze the water over night and they generally wouldn't thaw out till about noon. And the best part is, it was only $10 at wal-mart.

Chuck

Darn! I hadn't heard of the possible closing of DQ. We are going to be there in Oct but I put our "extra" money towards MNSSHP. DQ is expensive but I would like to experience it.

Good idea about freezing the water. I asked my hubby if he wanted to order him a passporter pocket since he is the almighty Keeper of the Tickets and Fastpass Fetcher. I asked if he would wear it and he replied, "if you make me". He was like, "I've got a wallet". Hmmm, couldn't make him see the wisdom of this.

And it's kind of pitiful when we are communicating through the message board when we live in the same house.

too funny


I'll comment on day 7 next. I've got to go pick up the girls from school and don't want to be at the end of that line

 

[DisneyJo]

Happy Late Birthday to Jessica!! Not much longer 'til you go!! I'm so jealous. I could use some magic right about now.

Thanks and a big Happy Birthday to Em arty: And some for you too!

Dream team was waiting with Dream Fastpasses for us!! Score!!

this was actually the second travel agent we ran into while down there

Last trip we bumped into 2 lots of people from the UK that we knew

The lady got very excited! She had a little measuring device for the pearl. Normally the pearls are a 6. Mine was 7 and ¾!!

That's great, looks really pretty too

 

[buffy0214]

Of course everyone else is behind us and soon we were waiting outside the doors of the beautiful Crystal Palace. We were hungry and not waiting very well that morning.

Oh, my favorite, CP We've only done a late breatfast, but I love how you got into the park early. Too bad about the interruption with Eeyore. Some people just are impatient, I guess.

as we exited the ride, the Dream team was waiting with Dream Fastpasses for us!! Score!! We were all so excited!!

Another dream scored!! Whoo-hoo Obviously, I would like the Cinerella suite dream, but this is one of my favorite "common" dreams.

The poor CM at the regular entrance was kind of freaking out, because people were starting to crowd around and no one could let them in!! It was starting to get ugly He got on his phone to call for help
(or air support),

This happened to us at RNRC. We had a fastpass with a return time and no line to go to. Some in the crowd was becoming quite angy.

We were able to catch a glimpse of Jack Sparrow coming out for his show. Sigh. I hope they keep this show. I really want to watch it one day, but the three other members of this family have no desire to stay and watch when you could be riding the ride. All I can hope for is maybe Emily’s hormones will kick in soon!!

This is a must-see for me

I chose a pendent and chain in white gold. We left it to be set and started toward American Adventure. We decided against it, and got French fries at the Liberty Inn instead.
Here’s my necklace. I wear it every day. It’s like having a little piece of Epcot with me. (I’m considering a ring next.)

OMG!! I love this! It reminded me that I have 3 pearls stashed away in my jewelry box from early Epcot trips (before we had kids). I should have them set each into a pendant, one for me and one for each of my girls. I'm so excited about seeing this! Thanks for all the great pics, too!

See, after being married for 16 years, I’m still working my way up (see previous post about pacing one’s self).

Smooth, Chuck, verrry smooth Actually, it is very sweet

 

[nts4wdw]

Another great installment! Love your new Minnie bean! How sweet

Picking a pearl sounds like fun - I actually thought about doing it last trip, but never made it back to Japan...maybe I'll get one this time around!

You should so do it! It was fun and made such a great memory!

What a great day Lynn!!

Any day is a good day at Disney, but it was a partiularly good day!

YAY!!!! for another dream! How lucky are you guys!!!!

Love this installment...and now I want a pearl!!!

Thanks! You should get a pearl. I really want a ring now.

Whoohoo-dream fastpasses it must of been nice not having to plan around for fast passes!!
Your necklace looks great!!!
Another great update

Thanks. The Dream fastpasses were cool. Everyone was telling us Congrats!

Last trip we bumped into 2 lots of people from the UK that we knew
That's great, looks really pretty too

It was kind of cool seeing people we knew, but then again, it's good to be away from everyone too.
Your countdown says 6 days!!!!

but I love how you got into the park early.

Another dream scored!! Whoo-hoo Obviously, I would like the Cinerella suite dream, but this is one of my favorite "common" dreams.

OMG!! I love this! It reminded me that I have 3 pearls stashed away in my jewelry box from early Epcot trips (before we had kids). I should have them set each into a pendant, one for me and one for each of my girls. I'm so excited about seeing this! Thanks for all the great pics, too!

You should try an early breakfast. It's so cool to be walking down Main Street alone.
I would love the Cinderella Suite!! I can't even imagine it!
Oh, you should get the pearls set for you and your girls. So sweet!

Thanks for your comments everyone!! I've got to get to work on Day 8! I want to finish before school starts (and I go back to work full time). I've still got five days of trip to go.
How about you write a few, Chuck?

 

[praisehisname]

Congrats on scoring the Dream Fastpasses! Love the pictures from Crystal Palace. We've had dinner there, but I really want to do breakfast and get in the park early. Love your pearl necklace. I showed DH the picture, and now he wants to know what that will set him back!

Denise

 

[winkers]

I've wanted to do the pearl thing in Japan but haven't and now I regret it. I guess we'll have to go back!
And how sweet, surprising her with a Princess Minnie! Plus dreampasses all in the same day! WOW!