Mom and Dad Take on the World...Alone!

[lilpixiebabe101]

great TR so far. PM me if you still need someone to help with putting pics in the posts

 

[wvdislover]

Enjoying this installment. Felt like I was there. I'm sure my DH wouldn't wear the pin either.
What happened? Don't leave us in suspense.

But isn't that the fun part?

Great update! (I don't know if you watch Saturday Night Live or not, but the Noni part made me think of one of their stranger skits with the couple who both have the name Nooni or Noony ).

Anyways, sounds like a fun afternoon at the Studios. We have never done the Animation thing before, so I am looking forward to that next time we get to go. I have the Four For A Dollar CD (although they are called Return 2 Zero) - it's great! Love them!

Great cliffhanger at the end! I hope you're joking though!

Looking forward to more.

Sara

It was a fun day there. I got to draw Tigger! DH was surprised at how well I did--they made it easy for older kids and adults to do. It may be more challenging for younger kids, since it's a bit fast-paced, though.

Joking? We'll see...

Everybody else:
Thanks for coming along! Don't have time to finish the day yet. Maybe this weekend. As soon as I get DH to help me download pics from my camera, I'll check with you guys about adding them to the TR!

 

[blue_river]

For those of you who have never stayed at CSR, it is a beautiful resort surrounding a lake.

No pics yet?

so they gave us Anniversary pins to wear. I put mine on, hoping it might work some magic for us during the day (it works for other people, why not me?), but Goofy was not about to wear one Maybe I should rename him Grumpy

I wanted this picture SO MUCH!!! But, Goofy said he wanted to think about it--it was $25, unframed, and where would we put it? I don't know, but I wanted it! I decided not to push it, though. Who wants to have an argument at WDW? We figured we could find it elsewhere if we decided to get it.

Did you get it later?

We decided to take a bus to MK and then take the boat to the Poly ( a bit more romantic than just taking a bus to the Poly, and besides, not only were we celebrating our anniversary, it was Valentine's Day!!! )

aww...sweet

I'm looking forward to hearing about your dinner at O'Hana's!

 

[wvdislover]

Ok, so we arrived at the Poly and looked around a bit before checking in at the podium. When I checked in (at 7:30 for our 7:40 ADR's), they told me it would be about 10 minutes, so I went to check on Goofy, who didn't mind the wait--he had settled in to watch the "Don Ho" guy singing outside O'hana's ("we'd have gotten here earlier if I'd known this was going on!"). I went to find the bathroom, so I wouldn't have to go in the middle of dinner. Wouldn't you know, the 10 minute wait lasted about 2 minutes! Anyway, we got seated as soon as I came out of the bathroom. I made Goofy go and wash his hands, too. Did I mention how many people at WDW were hacking away with "the crud?" Also, when we made our little stop at AKL, the person in front of me was telling the cashier that while they were leaving the resort to go home that day, part of their family had to extend their "vacation" for a day b/c their child had been throwing up all night and they couldn't travel yet. The cashier replied, "Yes, that's going around here." I don't want THIS while I'm here at WDW!!! Hence, lots of sanitizing and hand-washing for the week! After Goofy returned to the table, our server brought out our bread and salad, followed shortly by the pork dumplings, chicken wings, scalloped potatoes, and stir-fried veggies. Now, I wasn't real sure how Goofy would feel about this meal. He really has only about 10 foods he really likes; the rest he either eats out of fear of making me angry or he just doesn't eat. Usually, he doesn't do ethnic foods, except Italian (and that's usually limited to spaghetti and lasagna). Howerver, he was eating...and liking it! Good boy! The salad dressing was really good. Even my 1000 Island guy was enjoying it! I loved the dumplings and potatoes, and the wings had a really nice flavor to them. I don't remember much about the stir-fried veggies, so they must have been "OK." Next, the servers brought out the pork, shrimp, steak, and turkey. I think the pork was the best, but the other meats were good, too. Most of it was a little dry, though, and could have used some sauce. I thought about asking for some, but figured I'd better not embarrass DH, since he was good enough to come here with me (I'm always the one who asks for the "strange" stuff when we go out to eat; he's gotten to where he apologizes to our servers when I request stuff ). Yes, I know, some of you are saying, "Oh my gosh! But the sauces are the best thing they have! Why didn't you have sauce?" Remember, I've now been up since like 3am and I totally forgot that the menu had sauces listed on it, and I somehow didn't see the bowls of sauce on anyone else's table until we were leaving the restaurant Well, I know we'll be going back next time, so I'll try it then. Maybe I was distracted by the "entertainment lady" walking around the restaurant. I really wanted a couple of those leis she was passing out to the other end of the restaurant. I finally got my server to go get me some--my girls will LOVE them! (I know I got home with them. Now, where are they?). After I got my leis, I was able to relax more. Next up, bread pudding a la mode with bananas foster sauce!!! Need I say more? It was delicious! Just that makes O'hanas worth going back to. And we're not even big bread pudding fans.

We finished our dinner very content and Goofy was pretty tired and ready to go back to the room and crash. I had bigger plans, though. My plan was for us to arrive for our ADR's and not get seated until probably 15 or 20 minutes after our actual ADR time (it was, after all, Valentine's Day and a holiday weekend, and, in the past, we've never been seated at our actual ADR time, let alone EARLY!), which would put us at about 8pm. We would then be able to watch the Pirates and Princess Party fireworks from the comfort of the restaurant at the end of our dinner. Problem was, it was now 8:30 and the P&P fireworks weren't until 9:30!!! So, now, what to do? Goofy really wanted to go to sleep, but I'd really been looking forward to these fireworks for a long time. So, we got on the Monorail. His idea was that we would just ride the Monorail for a while so he could take a nap and then we'd come back to the Poly and watch the fireworks on the beach. Our next stop was the GF. If you haven't been there, it is absolutely beautiful inside, and definitely worth going to see. I convinced Goofy to get off the monorail and go inside, and we quickly jumped off like fun-loving teenagers at the last minute (so we did have some child-like fun!).

We went in and they had a big band playing on one end of the immense lobby. We found some comfortable chairs and decided to stay for the "concert." (Goofy LOVES big band music/jazz!). Life was good again! We would just hang out here until time for the fireworks. I took a few pics of the lobby (I'll have to add them later!) and we did some people watching. We had fun talking about the older gentleman sitting across the lobby from us. He looked like he had fallen fast asleep waiting on his family to do something. We also kept hearing some strange sounds behind us, and finally figured out that there was a tv with Disney cartoon playing on it, on the other side of the bushes behind us.

Finally, it was almost time for the fireworks to begin, so we found out where we could see and hear them at the GF and headed there. The CMs' at the desk said we could probably see them well down on the boatdock, but they weren't sure if we could hear the piped in music there. We decided to try it, anyways. There were only a few other people out there and it was a nice romantic spot, standing there on the lake. It was a bit chilly now and we were glad we had our jackets. We were enjoying standing there watching the 3 boys who had come out there with their parents; they reminded us of our girls. Finally, the fireworks began. We were able to hear the music faintly through some nearby speakers. It was really the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. They were incredible! Suddenly, I felt like I needed to cough (remember, I was still getting over "the crud"), but instead of inhaling to cough, I found I couldn't breathe. My lungs had gotten congested, probably a reaction to the cold air outside. Gasping, I started hitting Goofy on the arm. Fortunately, he realized what was happening and he quickly pulled my inhaler out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. I used it and was finally able to breathe again. It really was a scary moment, especially after I realized what could have happened if I had forgotten to bring my inhaler with me. Lesson definitely learned! It only lasted a few seconds, probably, but it seemed a lot longer. It took a few minutes before I could really breathe comfortably, though. It really scared both DH and me. After a little bit, however, I was able to relax and enjoy the rest of the fireworks. When the fireworks ended, we took the boat back to MK (another romantic boat ride) and then took the bus back to CSR. We got off the bus near our room, stopped at the drink machine to get a drink, so I could take all of my medicine, then we headed to bed. It had been a long, yet exciting day!

Tomorrow, Keys to the Kingdom Tour for me!!!

 

[OhMari]

Wow, scarry thing, not being able to breath. All of my kids have asthma, and luckily it is only triggered by viral colds. Sometimes though it is triggered by really cold temperatures too.

I can't wait to eat at O'hana's. I plan on eating there when there they have the party for when people go there for the christmas theme nites. How did you find out what time the fireworks were.

 

[mom2mek]

Very scary! Fellow ashtmatic here and I can agree that it is no fun! I don't usually carry my inhaler with me to the parks, but that's not a bad idea! Glad you were able to enjoy the fireworks and the romantic boat ride! O'hana's sounds great too!

Sara

 

[abitt]

WOW your trip sounds like you had so much fun. How exciting. I can not wait to hear more. And finally meet someone else from WV. I live up in the north central part ( near Clarksburg ). Keep us posted

 

[wvdislover]

I can't wait to eat at O'hana's. I plan on eating there when there they have the party for when people go there for the christmas theme nites. How did you find out what time the fireworks were.

Check the calendar on the official website before you make your ADR's. I actually guessed at the time, thinking they'd be at 9, but I asked our server and he told me 9:30.

WOW your trip sounds like you had so much fun. How exciting. I can not wait to hear more. And finally meet someone else from WV. I live up in the north central part ( near Clarksburg ). Keep us posted

Hi fellow West Virginian!!! Are you guys getting a lot of snow? We have about 3 1/2 inches, with a little more to come this evening and tonight.

Thanks for reading everybody!

 

[abitt]

Oh yes it has been snowing ALL DAY LONG and I am so ready for the sunshine. Have I told you how much I hate snow? Oh how I hate it. But anyways I am looking forward to hearing the rest of your trip report. I would really love to go to Disney without my kids. I am trying to talk my husband into going in Sept. without the kids and then back again in Dec with the kids. He thinks that I am insane for wanting to go so much. He never complains once he gets there. HA HA. Have I told you how much I hate snow?

 

[DL55]

Your evening sounded lovely (even "adult".) I'm glad Goofy enjoyed the music at the GF. Glad the attack didn't last long.

 

[wvdislover]

So Aimee, how much snow did you end up with? We got 5 inches, but it's almost all gone already!

 

[abitt]

We probably only had 2 to 3 inches. But the roads got bad pretty quick. Thank goodness it all melted off on Sunday. It was about 40 degrees yesterday. Hopefully spring is on it's way. Can't wait to hear more about your trip. Keep it coming.

 

[blue_river]

Did I mention how many people at WDW were hacking away with "the crud?"

Seems to be everywhere

I convinced Goofy to get off the monorail and go inside, and we quickly jumped off like fun-loving teenagers at the last minute (so we did have some child-like fun!).

Awww...sweet

We were able to hear the music faintly through some nearby speakers. It was really the perfect spot to watch the fireworks. They were incredible!

Sounds very romantic

Suddenly, I felt like I needed to cough (remember, I was still getting over "the crud"), but instead of inhaling to cough, I found I couldn't breathe. My lungs had gotten congested, probably a reaction to the cold air outside. Gasping, I started hitting Goofy on the arm. Fortunately, he realized what was happening and he quickly pulled my inhaler out of his jacket pocket and handed it to me. I used it and was finally able to breathe again.

OMGosh...what a scary feeling that must have been

I'm glad you were okay!

Tomorrow, Keys to the Kingdom Tour for me!!!

Woohoo...can't wait

 

[wvdislover]

OK, so Friday morning, I woke up at the crack of dawn--tough to do after our big day yesterday, but today, I was going on the Keys to the Kingdom Tour! This is something I've been wanting to do for a long time, but never got a chance to do. No kids on this trip, so no excuses. I left Goofy back at the hotel in bed, b/c he really had no interest in going on this tour Oh, well. I'm a big girl...I can do this by myself. I was going to run to Pepper Market and grab some b-fast to carry on the bus with me, but I decided I would be cutting it too close, so I just grabbed a granola bar from the room...oh, wait, no, I wasn't that healthy. It was a chocolate-covered peanut butter crisp--yummm! It really hit the spot. I was glad I didn't go to Pepper Market, b/c the bus came only 5 minutes after I got to the bus stop. I got on and we rode around to the front of the resort. The driver was surprised that I didn't get off here. That must mean that there are a lot of people who are too lazy to make the 5 or 10 minute walk to the front of the resort. Geez, people, it's not that bad of a walk. We did it a few times while we were there. Anyways, we headed to MK after that.

I arrived at MK about 15 minutes early for my tour. I went in (it's really cool getting to go in to MK BEFORE it's open--it's like you're the only one there, and the park is open just for you!), went in and signed in for my tour, then took time for a potty break and some pictures (some I took and some Photopass took. She did the cool picture of me holding Tinkerbell--my Tink would LOVE that!!!). Then I went back and waited for the tour to start. Word of advice--when they offer you a free bottle of water, take it! I took some time to meet some of my fellow "tourists" (and yes, I was the ONLY one BY MYSELF!!! But I am a big girl, and I can do this by myself ), and then our tour guide came out to meet us (sorry, I forgot her name!). She explained the tour to us and handed out our headphones. For those of you who don't know, they give you a headset to wear during the tour so your tour guide can talk to you without yelling and still be heard. What a great idea! The funny thing was, though, that her microphone would sometimes pick up conversations of people around her and we could all hear it! In fact, she told us that the day before, they all heard a conversation about someone's plastic surgery--something that probably shouldn't have been public knowledge So, if you see a tour walking around, be careful what you say! We learned a lot of cool stuff on the tour--history of WDW, facts about the "keys" to the Kingdom, lots of background info about working at WDW and the World itself. It was really interesting to find out how they use different colors in the sidewalks to guide people and represent different aspects of US History in each of the Lands. We got to go behind the scenes and got to ride HM and Jungle Cruise and learn some new stuff about each of those rides. We had lunch at Columbia Harbour House--definitely would go eat there again--great lunch! Best of all, though, we got to go "backstage" and in the Utilidors--a very cool experience. It's neat to be able to say I've been there! The tour lasted about 4 1/2 hours, including lunch. Afterwards, I met up with Goofy to spend some time hanging out at MK together.

Oh my gosh!!! So many people! And so many of them were hacking away with the crud! Ewww--wash hands often! I called Goofy to find out where he was, and then set out to find him. I knew exactly where he was, but it was still like trying to find a needle in a haystack. TOO MANY PEOPLE!!! I may never go to WDW during President's Day Wknd again. Finally I found him. We spent a bit of time walking around Fantasyland, remembering things we've done with Violet and Tinkerbell. We decided we wanted to ride something, but the lines were way too long. There was even a 20 minute wait for Small World When we were here back in September, there was NEVER a wait for Small World! I still can't believe that people will wait in line for 45-90 minutes to ride Peter Pan. Peter Pan, of all things! It's a fun ride, and is cool for the kids, but 45 minutes!?! Isn't that what Fastpass is for? Finally, we decided on Philharmagic. Nice and cool, and no wait (it was getting ready to start!). Philharmagic is always so much fun, and yes, we still try to grab the food floating in front of our face! And the apple pie smell--yummm! I think our favorite part, though, is the Aladdin and Jasmine part. Violet was in a production of Aladdin with the Children's Theatre a couple of years ago, and then sang "A Whole New World" as a duet with Goofy at her voice recital that year, so this song really brings back memories. For those of you who don't know, Violet has some learning challenges, including ADHD and Asperger's Syndrome, so there is a special place in our hearts for memories of her doing great things like this We do have to laugh about this show, too, though, b/c, if you remember, Tinkerbell doesn't like to "get sprayed" during shows. When we were at WDW back in September, she had to ask the CM's at every show if she would "get sprayed or just sprinkled" at that particular show 6-year-olds, ya gotta love 'em!

Anyways, after Philharmagic, we went back to Tomorrowland and rode Buzz Lightyear. Only a 20 minute wait! Darn it--Goofy won again! So, do you really get points for "shooting" stuff, or does the computer just make it up? I can't ever figure out how to aim or tell if I'm actually hitting any targets Oh well, it's fun anyways. We also did the Tomorrowland Transit Authority, one of our other favorites. The last thing we did in Tomorrowland was go to Monster's, Inc. We only got to do this once on our last trip, and wish we'd gotten to do it again. We waited about 15 minutes to go in, then got to sit down in the theater. We were enjoying sitting there relaxing, and then I looked on the big screen, and there I was! I was the one they said "She's glad we're not making fun of her!" Yes, I was. I was definitely glad they weren't making fun of me, and hoped they wouldn't do so later in the show. Then the show started, and then it stopped. After about maybe 5 minutes. Unfortunately, they couldn't get it started again, so they had to shut it down and we had to leave They did, however, give us each a Fastpass to the ride of our choice! We pocketed those to use later.
We decided to leave and go to Epcot and do some stuff there before our ADR, but stopped at Pirates to see what the wait was. Too long, and they don't do Fastpasses anymore on Pirates, so we couldn't use our Fastpass we'd just gotten. We stopped to get some ice cream and had a great time just sitting, relaxing and talking together. Then we headed on out to go on to Epcot, still surprised at how many people were here.

When we got to Epcot, we headed first to Spaceship Earth, since it wasn't open back in Sept, but the line was pretty long, so we decided to get Fastpasses for one of our other favorites--Soarin'! They were gone! The wait for Soarin', though, was like 45 minutes long. Hmmm...we have "any ride" Fastpasses. I pulled them out, only to find that they were only good at MK They're nice at Disney--maybe they'll let us use them here, too. I asked the sweet little old man at the Soarin' Fastpass line said, sure, go ahead and use them. Yea!!! Thank you nice man! As we got on to Soarin', I just happened to notice the line on the back of the seat that marks where you need to use the safety strap for little kids. I also noticed that when I sat down, my head was only a few inches above that line Goofy found great humor in that (my height--5 ft, 1 1/2 inches, is often the brunt of jokes, especially those of Goofy, who is 6 ft, 2 inches). I guess it is kind of funny--ok, it's actually pretty hilarious! As always, we had a great time riding Soarin', then we headed back over to Spaceship Earth, where the line had gotten shorter. We really liked the changes they've made to the ride; it's done very well, and I had some difficulties figuring out what was new and what was there before. The interactive thing at the end was pretty cool, too. We then headed back to the Clam-mobiles and had fun singing "Big, Blue World" with Nemo and Friends. Then it was time for dinner.

Dinner tonight was at Coral Reef. We went here back in September and enjoyed it, so we had decided to eat there again. I had the same thing I had last time--lobster soup (but I had to pay for it this time ), steak, and chocolate wave. Our food was excellent, but as last time, we got put in the back of the restaurant and our server was just "ok," a complaint I've heard from several other people. The food was worth it, though. When we left, there was a lady at the desk who appeared to be really upset about something that had happened during her meal. Unfortunately, I couldn't find a good reason to stand there and listen to see what had happened I asked Goofy if he wanted to stay and see Illuminations, but he was ready to head back to the room. I decided not to push it, since he did stay up for the P&P fireworks the night before for me, and we caught the bus back to CSR.

We got off at the front of the resort tonight, so we could get something to drink at the Market, then headed back to the room, enjoying the peaceful walk around the lake. When we got back to the room, I was shocked to see a huge Mickey "bouquet" of dark chocolate candy bars in our room. At first, I thought it was something the hotel had done for our anniversary, but then I realized it was from Goofy!!! Oh my gosh, my usually unromantic husband had spent mega-bucks ordering this for me for our anniversary! And he had ordered it with dark chocolate--my favorite!!! The card read, "Looking forward to an awesome week!" I could have cried--it was so sweet!!! Come to find out, it was actually supposed to be in our room when we arrived the first day, but it got sent to the room of someone else staying at the resort, who had the same name. I wonder how that other person explained that? I can't believe that other person actually kept it without saying anything!!! As Violet would say, "HOW RUDE!!!" Anyways, now I had mine (they had sent another one, complimentary, since it was THEIR mistake!). Have I told you how much I love my husband!?! We watched TV for a while, then went to bed to get some rest for our Segway tour tomorrow!

By the way, Happy Easter everyone!!!

 

[DL55]

What a wonderful husband. Mine is just too cheap.
It sounds like you had a fun time even with the crowds. At least the food was excellent even if service was just ok. I'm more interested in eating than some waiter hanging around.

 

[wvdislover]

What a wonderful husband. Mine is just too cheap.
It sounds like you had a fun time even with the crowds. At least the food was excellent even if service was just ok. I'm more interested in eating than some waiter hanging around.

Yes, mine is a good guy. I forget that way too often. We did have a good time, and can't wait to go back. We're trying to plan another September trip right now, and maybe a May trip for me and my Mom (she'd die if she traveled with us in Sept.--we're a bit too hard core for her ) Thanks for reading!

 

[momtoccc]

Sounds like you had a great time - looking forward to reading more!

 

[wvdislover]

We did have a good time! Thanks for reading, momtoccc!

 

[MomofCKJ]

Enjoying your report! Nice job to the DH on the candy!

We are going in January without the cherubs and I am looking forward to it! I would love to do the KTTK tour sometime too, solo of course, DH has zero interest!

Allyson

 

[wvdislover]

So, go by yourself, Allyson! It's a lot of fun, even when your DH isn't with you. Maybe that will give him a chance to do something himself that he doesn't think you would enjoy, or he can sleep in, like my DH did If you use a Disney Visa to pay for it, the cost isn't too bad (under $50), plus your lunch is included. Think of it as a chance to meet other people who really love Disney, too.