Memories that will live on forever! Oct. 17-24, 2010-UPDATED 10/7/11 and New TR Link

[mickeysmyboy]

Joining in! DH and I were there the same time you were!!!

You girls are adorable! Can't wait for more!

 

[laashley]

Sounds like a great trip in. How great that you got such a good deal on plane tickets. Erin is quite the photographer. I let Chloe take some pictures with my older camera and I had to drag her away from taking 300 pictures of flowers (she did get some good ones though). It is funny to me that at such a young age they can be so interested in photography!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Joining in! DH and I were there the same time you were!!!

You girls are adorable! Can't wait for more!

Thanks for joining in! It was a great time to be there, wasn't it?

I'm hoping to get in another update tomorrow evening.

Sounds like a great trip in. How great that you got such a good deal on plane tickets. Erin is quite the photographer. I let Chloe take some pictures with my older camera and I had to drag her away from taking 300 pictures of flowers (she did get some good ones though). It is funny to me that at such a young age they can be so interested in photography!

Hi Ashley! I couldn't believe the deal that we got on the air and hotel. What made it even sweeter was that we didn't have to drive four hours to the airport like we did last year.

The kids really love taking pictures of the flowers, don't they? I was quite taken with some of the pictures that Erin took.

 

[ladybugmom]

Hi Heidi!! I'm joining in!! Can't wait to read all about your trip!!

 

[sjs314]

Subbing can not wait to read more about your trip, we are considering going in October next year

 

[scottny]

Joining in. I arrived the day before you left.

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Hi Heidi!! I'm joining in!! Can't wait to read all about your trip!!

Hi Becky! I'm glad that you are here!

Subbing can not wait to read more about your trip, we are considering going in October next year

Welcome! This was second year in a row going in October and we love it! The weather is just perfect and it is fun to see Magic Kingdom dressed up for Halloween.

Joining in. I arrived the day before you left.

Welcome! I see that you have a link to a TR. I will have to stop by!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

After loading up our car we got on the road. Our destination was the Holiday Inn SunSpree. When we initially booked the hotel I figured it would be fine because it is a Holiday Inn. After booking the hotel/air package I read some reviews and they were talking about how the hotel was under renovation. I was a bit annoyed by this because when I had used their website they gave no indication of this and all of the pictures on their site were of rooms that had been renovated.

We arrived at the hotel about an hour after we left Sanford. We all headed in to check in and the girls were excited to find a theater adjacent to the lobby that was playing Cinderella. You could tell that the lobby had recently been renovated and it looked great. So far, so good. They gave us our room assignment and I asked if it was a renovated room and I was told that it was.

We headed to the elevator that would take us to our room and it was down right scary. We decided we would be taking the stairs from now on. When we arrived at the room we knew there was no way this was a renovated room, but it was clean so we just decided to let it go.

That evening we headed to Giordanos for pizza. It is Chicago style stuffed pizza and it was fabulous! We had a great dinner while enjoying the Vikings game. I had purchased a $25 gift certificate from restaurant.com for $3 and our total after the certificate was only $13 and this included the tip! It was a great deal.

After stuffing our faces we headed to the Walgreens that was across the street from our hotel for a few breakfast items, water, and some items we couldn't bring in our carry-ons, like a huge bottle of sun screen!

We made it back to the hotel and were in bed at about 8 so we could be ready for our first day at the parks. At about 2 am I woke up and could not sleep. I rolled over to find Stu wide awake as well. At about 3 Stu got up and left the room. In the morning when we got the girls up he told me he had gone down to the desk and told them he could not stay in that room for a week because the bed was V-shaped and we kept rolling to the middle. They told him it would be no problem to switch. The problem was we would have to pack up all of our stuff and move before we headed to Epcot.

We packed up our things and our new room was just six doors down. To get to it we had to go through a door way. When we walked through the door you would have thought we were at a completely different hotel! It was all redone and it looked great. I couldn't believe that they were actually giving people the scary rooms when they had rooms available in the renovated area!

Here are some pictures of the pool area. You can see the scaffolding and black covering on the areas of the building that they are working on.

Here is a picture of section that had been completed.

They also had a bar right at the pool that was really nice.

I am so glad that Stu went to the desk and said something. I think the hotel will be really nice when it is done, but they definitely have a ways to go.

Up next: Epcot!

 

[ladybugmom]

Oh wow!! Your room (well 2nd room that is) is very nice!! I bet you were glad that your hubby spoke up!! Excited to hear about your day at Epcot!

 

[dismagiclover]

I'm glad you switched rooms! The new rooms look really nice! Can't wait to hear about Epcot.

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

Oh wow!! Your room (well 2nd room that is) is very nice!! I bet you were glad that your hubby spoke up!! Excited to hear about your day at Epcot!

The second room was really nice. The pillow-top mattresses were a big step up from the original bed that we were given. I think they were not about to argue with a man that would come down at 3am to complain about how bad the bed was!

I'm glad you switched rooms! The new rooms look really nice! Can't wait to hear about Epcot.

I was really glad that Stu said something. The renovated room was much larger and brighter than the original room. I couldn't believe the difference we encountered by just going down six doors!

Epcot update coming up!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

After we transfered our belongings over to our new room we were ready to head out to our first park-EPCOT! Since we never had a car on past visits, this was a new adventure for us. We were not sure how long it would take to get to the parks and how far we would be parking from the entrances. Because of this we set out at 7:40. We reached the parking lot in about 10 minutes! I guess our streak of arriving at the parks early would continue! We pulled into our directed spot and we arrived at the turnstyles at 8. I guess we didn't need to worry about rushing this morning. Here was what we found when we arrived.

And I thought we were going to be late!

Since we had plenty of time to kill Erin decided that she wanted to take some pictures. We headed over to the merchandise kiosk to see what they had. I just loved this shirt and I am still kicking myself that I forgot to get it.

Erin fell in love with all of the hats and sunglasses.

Erin started chatting with the CM at the kiosk and they started talking about pin trading. Erin told her she had never traded before, so the CM explained it to her and Erin decided that she wanted to try it. She was pretty proud of her selection.

After a successful pin trade the girls decided to run off a little bit of energy.

We decided we better head back and check on Stu. I knew he would want a chance to wander around a bit as well. A couple next to us asked us if we would take a picture of them and they took one of us in return. When Stu saw these pictures he told me that he never received the memo that he was supposed to wear red that day!

Erin was very intrigued by the monorail, so she wanted to make sure she got a couple (ok, maybe a dozen) pictures. I think she got some great shots!

I have to say, that camera was starting to look like the best purchase I ever made. It sure kept Erin busy during the wait!

Up next: Will Ava be tall enough for Test Track?

 

[ladybugmom]

WOW! You did get there early! Love the empty turnstiles!! And yay for a 1st pin trade! Erin looks so proud!! Too cute!!

 

[MeMom]

Disney shopping is pretty fun stuff! I hope you get that shirt sometime.

Great monorail pictures, Erin, and have fun with pin trading. Brooklynn really enjoys doing that now.

 

[dismagiclover]

I like that shirt too! I've never seen it before. I've handed the camera over to my kids plenty of times to keep them entertained. Gotta love digital cameras I hope you all get on Test Track together.

 

[MaryAz]

I am glad ur Hubby spoke up about the bed. Especially since you would be sleeping there for a week!
Great early am Epcot pics. Ur daughter takes some nice pics

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

WOW! You did get there early! Love the empty turnstiles!! And yay for a 1st pin trade! Erin looks so proud!! Too cute!!

I honestly thought it would take about 40 minutes to arrive at the turnstyles from our hotel, but it ended up only taking 20! The girls had fun and thankfully the time went by quickly. Erin really had a good time with pin trading.

Disney shopping is pretty fun stuff! I hope you get that shirt sometime.

Great monorail pictures, Erin, and have fun with pin trading. Brooklynn really enjoys doing that now.

Erin was really into taking merchandise pictures. At least that way she was too busy to ask for anything!

Pin trading is fun, but it sure can get costly!

I like that shirt too! I've never seen it before. I've handed the camera over to my kids plenty of times to keep them entertained. Gotta love digital cameras I hope you all get on Test Track together.

Isn't that shirt great? That was the only time that I ever saw it.

I am glad ur Hubby spoke up about the bed. Especially since you would be sleeping there for a week!
Great early am Epcot pics. Ur daughter takes some nice pics

There was no way that we would have made it through another night in that room. The rest of the week was much more restful.

It was kind of fun to be there when Epcot was empty. We definitely weren't bothering anyone with the kids running around! I think Erin might have a knack for photography.

 

[jkluttrell]

I'm joining in too. I just read your first trip report, how fun!
We were there this same week. I am trying to decide if I am going to do a trip report on here or not. I have updated my blog and photobucket is blocked at work. My internet is not as fast at home so there are my excuses anyway.
Enjoying your report thus far!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

I'm joining in too. I just read your first trip report, how fun!
We were there this same week. I am trying to decide if I am going to do a trip report on here or not. I have updated my blog and photobucket is blocked at work. My internet is not as fast at home so there are my excuses anyway.
Enjoying your report thus far!

I just went and checked out your blog. It looks like you had a great time! I especially like your pictures from the Halloween party. I didn't realize that the princes were out with their princesses at the party. It is a good thing my girls didn't know about that!

 

[LoveMyTwoPrincesses]

After our wait it was time to head through the turnstyles. I just love being ahead of the crowd.

I love how Erin is checking out Spaceship Earth as we pass by.

We made made our way to the rope and started talking with a CM from Test Track by the name of Jackie. Erin was ready to do some pin trading and Ava decided she wanted to get in on it too.

Jackie asked us if we were celebrating anything and we told her that Erin's birthday was the next week. She said Erin needed a birthday button and that we all should have celebration buttons. She was really fun to visit with. Ava also told her that she was excited to ride Test Track and Jackie told her that she sure hoped that she was tall enough.

It was time for the characters to make their appearance! First up was Minnie.

Then Mickey made his way down the line.

I have to include this picture because you have to check out the expression on Ava's face in the lower right corner.

Next was our old pal Pluto.

The countdown began and when the rope dropped and we made our way with the masses to Test Track. We quickly brought Ava up to the CM at the measuring device. Ava asked, "Am I big?" and she was given the thumbs-up! We made our way through the line and we were all pumped up that Ava was going to be able to ride. Soon we were at the front of the line and about to get in a vehicle when a CM stops Ava to get measured again. He tells her that she isn't big enough! I told him that we had measured her with a CM at the beginning of the line to avoid a situation like this. He measured her again and then called another CM over to measure her as well. Finally they gave her the OK to ride! We hopped in before they changed their minds and both of the girls loved the ride.

After Test Track we decided that Stu and Erin would go to Mission: SPACE, while Ava and I would go to get FPs for Soarin'. We would all meet up at The Seas. While Ava and I were waiting I decided to snap a few pictures. Ava loved the seagulls outside of The Seas.

Finally Stu and Erin arrived! We headed in and took a ride on Nemo. As we exited Nemo, the Turtle Talk With Crush show was about to begin and the show was as cute as ever. After Turtle Talk I knew that I wanted to get a picture of the girls with Bruce. We missed this somehow last year and the pictures that I have seen always look so fun. While I was waiting to take their picture I was approached by Ashley (laashley)! I knew that Ashley and her family were going to be there that day, but I was glad that we ended up being somewhere at the same time. While we were chatting I realized that MeMom and Jill (BrooklynnsMommy) were also there! I have followed their reports even before I joined DIS boards, so this was very exciting.

I didn't realize how high it was to get up into Bruce's mouth, so poor Ava just couldn't get herself up there!

We had to grab a few more pictures on the way to The Land. While we were taking these pictures there was a woman that was having an absolute melt-down. She was trying to get a picture with Nemo, her teenage children, and herself. I don't know if the kids weren't cooperating or what happened, but she just started screaming at them that this was a terrible vacation and they were never coming back again! The kids looked like they wanted to crawl in a hole.

Up next: How tall will Ava be at Soarin'?