MagicBands + Margaritas + Muggles + Minions = TRP. New TR link is up! 10/31

[GoofyFan1515]

Beaches and Cream, and then Olivia's! How can you possibly top THAT?????

Now about that eating dessert first.........

 

[PracPerfPatricia]

Hey Cynthia,

I am about 1/3 of the way through this trip report aka novel...

I have clearly been a very bad Diser but am enjoying your writing and family hijinks...

I'm really curious about your take on Potterworld at Universal since we have a sort of quick and serendipitous Trip planned right before Christmas...

omg... the boys are just -well getting so big...

I was sorry to read about your shoulder/neck- but since I've only made it a bit through- I'm not sure how that resolves- I hope you're feeling better...

 

[eandesmom]

They had a good idea with breakfast.
Good choice they made with AK.
Plans look good.
That was a tiny plane. Yikes!
What? No one got “NO way Jose”? The treats you got do look good.
MMM! Olivia’s is good.
Seems like a fantastic day and night.
Caught up!

Breakfast was perfect! The boys rocked with all their choices that day.

Yep, that is how tiny it is! That is why it fits in my garage. At least until the wings actually go on.

It was a fantastic day and night. I need to go get caught up on yours, I always have these dreams of a free time on work trip where I get caught up and it never really happens...

And btw...if it was the shirts you were considering returning on the past FB update, don't. I love the colors and they are fine. You look AMAZING. So incredible. I like all the shirts. The issue is they are with the wrong kind of shorts and shoes. Actually the shoes are fine with the shirts, it is the shorts. For a collared shirt you really should have a khaki short (or grey, black, navy...but poplin style fabric, not a basketball style. Linen and other blends would work too. That would change the entire look. The shorts you have should be with a tee and a more casual shoe.

My 2 cents.

Beaches and Cream, and then Olivia's! How can you possibly top THAT?????

Ummmmmmm

Can't.!

Now about that eating dessert first.........

So NOT my thing but then again, I don't do sugar well.

Hey Cynthia,

I am about 1/3 of the way through this trip report aka novel...

I have clearly been a very bad Diser but am enjoying your writing and family hijinks...

I'm really curious about your take on Potterworld at Universal since we have a sort of quick and serendipitous Trip planned right before Christmas...

OOOOHHHHHH!

Well I can give you my take but oh, so many new amazing delicious things over there with Diagon Alley that it might completely be irrelevant!

I will say....if you can stay there a night or two especially at that time of year for express pass benefits...a VERY good idea methinks. Anything you want to know my friend, just ask.

omg... the boys are just -well getting so big...

If you've not seen it yet with David...you will! I think...though we have not measured for sure....it is a matter of moments until they both pass Jeff.

I was sorry to read about your shoulder/neck- but since I've only made it a bit through- I'm not sure how that resolves- I hope you're feeling better...

I am ok. I think I complain too much. Or not enough Jeff would say, I need to figure out a happy medium. I tend to wait until it is SO bad to say a peep that it generally doesn't go all that well.

 

[natebenma]

What a dilemma! Margaritaville/Raglan Road/Mine Train

Can't wait to hear how it is all resolved, but I'm not shocked to hear you have lots of options and game plans laid out.

We got on the bus to the resort and the boys didn’t think a thing of it. I had a special place in mind for a treat. One we had never been to before (or at least never actually inside). One, which having someone there early to get our names on the list, might be a very useful thing.

And still, I have not had lunch, dinner or an ice cream at Beaches & Cream. You threatened my Parrotthead status, but truly, can I be Beach Club Dee without having visited here?

You certainly make it look tempting.

However, we were confused. What we originally thought were sirens for the Kitchen Sink, were really a testing of the fire alarm. During the whole time we were there. That got old.

Unfortunately, I became acquainted with that fire alarm at midnight this past Sunday!




I can't believe you just missed the cutoff for the ticket windows

Nice job on the Fast Passes on the fly! Why not?

Good call on splitting at Olivia's.

Love your impromptu movie night.

 

[eandesmom]

What a dilemma! Margaritaville/Raglan Road/Mine Train

Can't wait to hear how it is all resolved, but I'm not shocked to hear you have lots of options and game plans laid out.

It is sort of resolved. Well we have a plan at least. We will see what we stick to!

And still, I have not had lunch, dinner or an ice cream at Beaches & Cream. You threatened my Parrotthead status, but truly, can I be Beach Club Dee without having visited here?

DEE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! how is this even possible????????????????????

You certainly make it look tempting.

I am glad we went

Unfortunately, I became acquainted with that fire alarm at midnight this past Sunday!

UGH!

I can't believe you just missed the cutoff for the ticket windows

Nice job on the Fast Passes on the fly! Why not?

Good call on splitting at Olivia's.

Love your impromptu movie night.

Oh the ticket window thing was annoying! But it all worked out, it was a very fun, very low key, perfect night all around.

 

[englishrose47]

Looks like we overlap on the 2nd half of your trip !!!!!!!!

 

[CarolynK]

I overestimated the hunger of my children. Apparently those burritos were more filling than I thought. Neither could finish their item. Granted, they were huge but wasted food NEVER makes Jeff happy.

Wasting food makes me feel guilty! At least the brownie was able to be saved for later.

Even though there were only 2 groups in front of us, it took FOREVER to get up to add a day to Jeff's ticket.

Those lines are terrible!

The choices may surprise you. Then again, selection was limited!

Up first?

It's a favorite of ours! We do it most trips. I wouldn't mind an update, though!

At any rate what I do remember is that Jeff and I watched

Smokey and the Bandit!

What a riot that was. It had been years!
We had a glass of wine, snuggled on the couch and watched a movie. Perfect!

We just returned from a Vanderbilt road trip, and as soon as we got home, DD announced she wanted to watch Smokey and the Bandit!! (no idea why, we drove nowhere near as fast as they did )

 

[eandesmom]

Looks like we overlap on the 2nd half of your trip !!!!!!!!

And now we have a plan! Well sort of.

Wasting food makes me feel guilty! At least the brownie was able to be saved for later.

The brownie and cake were both saved. One was eaten later that night and the next, the next day. I hate wasting food.

Those lines are terrible!

They are, it's bad enough to do it once, or twice a trip. This was the 3rd time I think....

We just returned from a Vanderbilt road trip, and as soon as we got home, DD announced she wanted to watch Smokey and the Bandit!! (no idea why, we drove nowhere near as fast as they did )

Were you touring the school? K checked it out, had interest at one point. It is lovely. How funny is that that she requested that movie. Wise that you didn't drive that fast. What a fun movie it is.

 

[CarolynK]

:
Were you touring the school? K checked it out, had interest at one point. It is lovely.

Yup, we did a tour. DS is a senior this year, hard as that is for me to believe!

 

[eandesmom]

Great school!!!! It's scary isn't it, that thy are getting that old. I'm in denial and avoiding signing up Evan for drivers ed lol. Kendall leaves in 2 weeks, it's mind boggling.

 

[eandesmom]

Off to the airport! I had great intentions of an update and finishing this, this week. The update is mostly written but needs all the photo links added in. So it goes. The last week of summer, which is also the week before school starts always kicks my behind with kid events. Add in an emergency family meeting about my dad and well, let's just say I'm on the way to the airport leaving a kitchen that looks like a bomb went off in it. Not really. But almost. Hey it was a choice. Get in a costco run so they have food for the long weekend or cook and clean. Costco won. I did however do a mini almost Aulani TR on my half marathon PTR. I was next door last week for work. So if you haven't, stop by and check it out! In the meantime I'm off to Disneyland to go run through a castle!!!!!!

Oh and Dad is ok, just another 2 weeks of immobilization which mean no rehab and stuck in my sisters front room. Which makes my mom stuck as he cannot be alone. We had a HI meeting.

A Help Intervention meeting. As in mom needed to ask for help so she could leave the house for a couple of hours each day. Hard to figure out selling a house, moving, meeting with brokers etc. when you can't leave!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Cynthia, I have been reading along on this thread as well as your runner's thread but I haven't had time to post because, like you, life has been super busy.

Have a great trip and run through the castle!

 

[KatMark]

Have a wonderful time; give Ann a hug for me and enjoy your run through the castle.

I'm glad Dad is okay.

 

[jedijill]

Have a great trip!

on your dad. Hopefully the HI worked...sorry your dad's immobilization is extended.

Jill in CO

 

[Pinkocto]

Have a great trip!!!!!

Sorry things with your dad have extended

 

[MAGICFOR2]

Hope you're having a great time - guess I'll check your other thread

I'm finally caught up here again. Nice treats at B&C. I think they've changed the Kitchen Sink now. Made it a lot smaller, I think. I've always wanted to try Olivia's - it's just not on our radar once we get to touring Nice night at DHS

 

[eandesmom]

Cynthia, I have been reading along on this thread as well as your runner's thread but I haven't had time to post because, like you, life has been super busy.

Have a great trip and run through the castle!

Thanks Lisa, someday I will get caught up. It was a GREAT trip.

Have a wonderful time; give Ann a hug for me and enjoy your run through the castle.

I'm glad Dad is okay.

Thanks Kathy! Lots of hugs were given and we had a wonderful time.

Have a great trip!

on your dad. Hopefully the HI worked...sorry your dad's immobilization is extended.

Jill in CO

Thanks Jill, I think the HI helped.

Have a great trip!!!!!

Sorry things with your dad have extended

Thanks Pam, one more week and then another doctors visit, hopefully that will mean a green light for rehab. I had a wonderful trip!

Hope you're having a great time - guess I'll check your other thread

I'm finally caught up here again. Nice treats at B&C. I think they've changed the Kitchen Sink now. Made it a lot smaller, I think. I've always wanted to try Olivia's - it's just not on our radar once we get to touring Nice night at DHS

Yes, the pictures I've seen look a lot smaller. Olivia's is wonderful, but in general, not terribly convenient to get to unless you are staying there or want to walk over via the running path from SSR.

 

[Steppesister]

Hi Cynthia,

Was following your progress at DLR and thought I'd stop by here and read some. I try to hang in there as much as I can, and get my Disney fixes here and there. Great job on the run!

Love your stories here, btw!

 

[eandesmom]

Hi Cynthia,

Was following your progress at DLR and thought I'd stop by here and read some. I try to hang in there as much as I can, and get my Disney fixes here and there. Great job on the run!

Love your stories here, btw!

Hi Liesa!

Thanks!!!!

It was a fun race, and I didn't die! Which was the ultimate goal

 

[eandesmom]

Before I get to THE LAST DAY

I did a big update on the Disneyland Half PTR. It includes our agenda for the race itself, my recent week almost at Aualni trip and our ADR’s for the PHM!

It even has pictures! LOTS of them. If you want an Aulani fix.

I should have another one up there soon, maybe even today.

Also, I think I forgot to update on the travel drama with my sisters leaving on the Sunday. Kerri had made it home via Denver and Boise by using a different airline in Boise. It took them over 24 hours. We discussed how to go about filing a claim with the DVC travel insurance. Kerri had no luggage and they couldn't tell her when she would. They did tell her that once it did arrive, she would have to go get it. Melissa hadn’t had a huge delay out of MCO (though did have one) but got really bogged down in Denver. They'd gotten in at 3am I think.

She made her kids go to school!

We were all VERY happy we hadn't left on Sunday. Monday was basically toast for all of them and with that kind of travel I don’t think they fully recovered till later in the week.

In other trip news I've been very busy on the cruise front. I've ordered or received all our FE items, I have small things to get for assembly but will be putting them together on the ship for space saving reasons. I am not posting pictures though as one of my shipmates might see! I bought trip insurance finally (that was freaking me out) and pre-paid our tips and added a nice chunk of change to our on board account which will cover all of our excursions. Mickey mail arrived in the form of DME and cruise docs, all magic bands are here too! I also got a haircut. That really was for the DL half trip and honestly my HS reunion but I should be set for the cruise too!
Now if I can just get my arms around my kids schedules as school and sports start up, I will be ok. Jeff, maybe not so much. I am going to be gone a lot over the next couple of months so I hope he has his chauffeur hat on! I have received our Margaritaville gift letter and got the rental car down to $40! My new FE is on it's way and our stateroom magnets are ready. Which is good as I have another work trip next week and a crazy busy weekend because...

It's Eric's birthday today!



And it's Kendall's last weekend home.

Speaking of, Jeff had that to do on our last day. Return the rental car. Our plan was to load up and have Jeff drop us off at SSR to check our bags onto DME for the flight home. We were pushing it, as we always are on that last morning. Last load in the dryer, clean out the fridge, all that rot. He had to be there right at the rental car opening as to not go over on time so he dumped, and drove! The boys and I got all the bags settled and eventually, on their way. Though there was no one in front of us, the woman checking us in was very confused (about what I really do not know) and it took forever. As we headed over to catch the bus we discussed our plans. We didn’t have a ton of time, DME would be taking us around 2:30 which was earlier than we were used to leaving. Usually we take a direct flight on Alaska but with holiday rates...we would be on a non-direct flight with SW.
Jeff met us there and we headed, well where do you think? Car return was to the Dolphin so that really left DHS or Epcot as the most likely park options. Where did the gang want to go, to finish up the trip?
Here of course!



And then, time for a little snack



And another tour









We had one last mission, Eric really wanted some art for his room and we set off to see what we could find!

We enjoyed watching an artist at work



I saw an item Jeff might like (he did)



And Eric found his treasure. We ordered it. It's kind of neat all the items they have available to order within the store "on demand" on canvas, framed, different sizes, etc. At the time it was the only way you could get those items but now it looks like some are available online at the Disney Store. I also came up with an idea for a room I wanted to redo while we were in the store and made note to look at that on our spring DL trip.
Mission accomplished we had one last FP to use.



The last ride is SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO sad but I couldn't ask for a better one. With that, all that was left was lunch.

For some reason I feel like I had grand ideas for our lunch that didn't happen. I don’t know if it was because we were at DHS and I hadn't pictured us being there on the last day or because DHS doesn't have the most exciting food options but either way, here we were and we needed food.

So we hit a new spot. Or two or three.



I think Evan and I went to Rosie's, Eric and Jeff to whatever is next to it maybe? Pretty sure Evan got a cheeseburger and I didn't bother taking a picture.

Eric got this



No clue what that is, I probably have the receipt but am too lazy to look.

What I do know for sure is I had the Vegetarian Black Bean Burger with Onion Straw and Cheddar from Rosies and it was SOOOOOOOOOOO good. Surprisingly so.

Lunch over it was....

Bye Bye DHS!





But wait, lets get one last photopass. It was COLD today. The coldest day of the trip. I was so happy I had my my scarf!



Can you say….

PHOTOBOMB!



LOL! That TOTALLY cracked me up. It has never happened to me before.

Continued in next post