"Mom, My Wish Came True!" Our best-trip-ever-week-before-Thanksgiving '09 TR!

[JLR]

Am I doing something wrong? Most of the pictures are not showing up, instead it says Photobucket - Bandwidth exceeded. I am dying to see the pictures! But it seems others can see the pictures. I do love this report! You tell a good story!

 

[claryche]

I can't see any of the pictures either.

 

[ShannonMB]

Am I doing something wrong? Most of the pictures are not showing up, instead it says Photobucket - Bandwidth exceeded. I am dying to see the pictures! But it seems others can see the pictures. I do love this report! You tell a good story!

I can't see any of the pictures either.

Yeah, I got an email from photobucket that I exceeded my bandwidth for the month, they must have shut me down after the others looked at it. According to the email, it'll be reset tomorrow and my pics will be back! After I took forever to update, then I finally do and photobucket has to get testy! But thanks for at least trying to see my update anyway!!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

Well done as usual!
Lily did enjoy dancing at Cosmic Ray's..... Tigger was there too! I have a short video of it on my camera. I felt like that night went entirely too fast. Maybe because we had spent a lot of time waiting for the parade? Everything after that just seemed so fast. The toy soldiers were my favorite part of the parade too! But like you said, it did sort of feel like they were going to step right on us with with those big - loud shoes they had on! Totally awesome!

Oh.........how I miss Disney!! Here we are in all this snow instead! I sort of feel like crying right now.

Awww, well you can always come back with us this year!!! Having another trip in the works always helps with the Disney blues! But I know what you mean, this was really an extraordinary trip -- the best ever.

 

[ShannonMB]

woohoo you updated thank you thank you thank you

Can ask if you would reccomend the mvmcp ???? for all 6 of us to do it will cost just over $200 - is it money better spent elsewhere????
Louise x

Just for you, darlin'!

Man, that's a hard question. I always feel like certain things should be experienced at least once, so you can make your own decision. I'm sure some people LOVE it more than I did. But my gut feeling would probably be to save the $ for something else. I only had to buy Lily and my tickets, so it wasn't that bad. But if I had to buy for a whole family, I'd definitely re-think it. There'll be plenty of Christmas vibe while you're there without having to shell out for the party, and really, like I said in my report, the only really different thing to me was the parade. I hear the waits for character greets can be ridiculous, so I wouldn't do them unless it was during the parade/fireworks, and then you miss the main things! Sooo, I don't know if I'd spend over $200 just for the parade! Sorry, I'm rambling! Bottom line for me, I guess, is that it's really not a must-do. Like I said, I'm sure others would feel differently about it.

 

[buzz for boys]

Just for you, darlin'!

Man, that's a hard question. I always feel like certain things should be experienced at least once, so you can make your own decision. I'm sure some people LOVE it more than I did. But my gut feeling would probably be to save the $ for something else. I only had to buy Lily and my tickets, so it wasn't that bad. But if I had to buy for a whole family, I'd definitely re-think it. There'll be plenty of Christmas vibe while you're there without having to shell out for the party, and really, like I said in my report, the only really different thing to me was the parade. I hear the waits for character greets can be ridiculous, so I wouldn't do them unless it was during the parade/fireworks, and then you miss the main things! Sooo, I don't know if I'd spend over $200 just for the parade! Sorry, I'm rambling! Bottom line for me, I guess, is that it's really not a must-do. Like I said, I'm sure others would feel differently about it.

Really not sure you are on your own i asked thw question on the uk boards and pretty much everyone said "its nice if you never done been to it but we wouldnt go again!" All meet n greets are off whilst the parade is happening too so im pretty much decided that the dollars will be staying in my back pocket unless of course by some amazing change of fate the £ rises dramatically against the $ and then it may be worth a shot

 

[ShannonMB]

Yay, my pictures are back!!!

Really not sure you are on your own i asked thw question on the uk boards and pretty much everyone said "its nice if you never done been to it but we wouldnt go again!" All meet n greets are off whilst the parade is happening too so im pretty much decided that the dollars will be staying in my back pocket unless of course by some amazing change of fate the £ rises dramatically against the $ and then it may be worth a shot

Well, I guess I can't really wish you luck there! But I don't think you're missing that much. I can see if someone was a local and they could buy the ticket instead of a regular park ticket, and get in at 4pm, etc, but otherwise,

So have you started planning meals and stuff yet? Let me know if you start a pre-trip report, k?

 

[buzz for boys]

So have you started planning meals and stuff yet? Let me know if you start a pre-trip report, k?

Yeah will do DS is going for his operation on weds and then we are in hospital fro a few days but as soon as I know he is ok and we have got over the rocky road I will definatly be starting my pretrip report !! Im so excited already - Im planning on showing pics of our first ever trip too just *** my kids look so tiny and cute and its a good comparison to now !!!
So you finish your trippie and ill start my pre trip - deal ?????

Take care
Louise x

 

[ShannonMB]

Yeah will do DS is going for his operation on weds and then we are in hospital fro a few days but as soon as I know he is ok and we have got over the rocky road I will definatly be starting my pretrip report !! Im so excited already - Im planning on showing pics of our first ever trip too just *** my kids look so tiny and cute and its a good comparison to now !!!
So you finish your trippie and ill start my pre trip - deal ?????

Take care
Louise x

Ohhhh, best of luck to little Cam on his operation and that everything goes exactly as planned. I know you are scared, but I bet you are glad to stop all the waiting in limbo. It never ceases to amaze me at work how I'll be taking care of a tiny baby who is just sooo sick, and the next week they are doing wonderfully -- kids are SO resilient. I just know he's going to be bouncing off the walls in no time after this surgery!!!

Okay, I'll get this trip report done now, so that after Cam recovers, you can get going on your PTR.

 

[ShannonMB]

Departure Day -- Boo! Fri, 11/20/09

Normally, for some reason, we fly out of Orlando to head back home at an early hour, and have to get the Magical Express like at 7am! I don't know why we've done that to ourselves in the past, but this time when Janie and I were deciding on flights home, we booked one for around 4ish. That way we could be a little more leisurely on our last day. Good plan!

We slept in a bit, then had the unpleasant task of packing up. Always such a sad thing to do! We got everything together, though, checked out, and left our bags with the concierge.

Unfortunately, Uncle Billy had to get the Magical Express earlier than the rest of us for his flight back to Seattle. So we had to say goodbye to him at some point this morning. Lily cried her little heart out saying bye to Uncle Bee. We love him SOOO much and since he's been in Seattle the last few years we obviously don't get to see too much of him. I told her not to worry, we'd for sure be seeing him again this year, after all, he HAS to come back for Janie and Andy's wedding when they decide to do it! She still bawled watching him get on the bus. I'm sure I cried a little, too. But we still had a little bit of Disney business to attend to, so that helped.

Lily and I have decided to start a tradition of building a Dino at TRex for each of our trips and giving the dino a Disney name. On our first day, when we went to DTD for our TRex meal, DTD was HOPPING, and the build-a-dino area was a madhouse. Since we (I) didn't feel like waiting to do it that night, I promised Lily that we would come back on our last day and build our 2nd annual Dino. So this was the priority for this day. Man, I was tired after this week, I tell you! But DTD was calling our name one last time. How absolutely wonderful to have that boat to take!!!

Here are a few pics I took in the daylight on the boat ride...

A couple of the treehouses -- so cool!

Approaching DTD...

I can't say enough about the boat launch at POFQ - it's so nice to get to travel from a moderate resort SOMEWHERE by boat!

Here's Lil by the lego lake monster.

We made our way over to TRex, and here's Lily making our 2nd dino -- Minnie!

Here's a pic of "Tink", our first dino from the previous trip...

With that done, we browsed a little more, then headed back to POFQ. Here's a random pic I took of the tote bag I got for a deal for spending such-and-such at one of the shops...

And here's my Peter Pan mug. I buy a new mug for myself on every trip..

We went back to the concierge to collect our bags. We said goodbye to my mom, who was driving back to Charleston, SC that day, then departed for the airport. No histrionics saying bye to her, she'll be around! But it was sorta sad to see her getting in her car from the window of the bus. We had all just had such a wonderful time together on this trip, no one even got on each other's nerves at all! I would attribute that to the beautiful weather, low crowds, and how I had everything pretty planned out so there was no standing around debating on what to do next! Plus, we do all love each other a lot!

I think the Magical Express stopped at Old Key West and Saratoga Springs before we were on our way to the airport. Beautiful resorts, from what I could see!

According to Lily, the Magical Express is called the Magical Express on the way TO Disney, but she refers to it as the Magic Killer on the way back.

I think Andy was ready to be home in his own bed after this exhausting week! Here he is with his new Tinkerbelle pillow! hahahaha

Here are a couple shots in front of the Disney store at the airport..

I like how early the ME gets you to the airport. No stress and rushing around! Plus, Andy and me were more than happy to eat lunch at Nathan's again. Best hot dogs ever! No pics, sorry.

 

[ShannonMB]

So that concludes our best-ever trip to WDW!! I can't say enough about the week we went, crowd-wise, weather wise, holiday decor-wise. The 6 of us spent practically every minute together as a group and really made some memories together that I will always treasure. We laughed our heads off together , cried some, and had an engagement thrown in!!! We got to see and do so much of the World, and I'm quite sure Uncle Billy caught the magic again instead of feeling like 'been there, done that' like he thought he might before we went. Lily and I have our next trip in the works for the same time this year, and it remains to be seen if it will be just the 2 of us, or if we might have some joiners again. The more the merrier, apparently, because I can't even imagine a more fun week!!!

I WALT DISNEY WORLD!!!!!!

On a side note, if anyone's wondering, Janie and Andy have their wedding planned now!!!! They're getting married in May, at a place called Hocking Hills here in Ohio. It'll be just a family affair, there's a chapel there, and the family will all be staying in a lodge for the weekend (Janie and Andy will of course have their own luxury wedding cabin). Catered dinner and cake, hot tubs, fire pit, party!!! Excited!!!! And yes, Uncle Bee will be there!!!

Thanks to everyone who followed along on our adventure!!! See you next time!!!

 

[OhioDisneyLover]

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed your TR.

 

[buzz for boys]

Oh no your trip is over

I cant believe its all done Im gonna mis hassling you for more now

Take care all of you - cant wait to see a pre trippie appear from you real soon x x x
Louise x

 

[ShannonMB]

Thanks for sharing. I enjoyed your TR.

Thank you so much, it was really fun to do!

 

[ShannonMB]

Oh no your trip is over

I cant believe its all done Im gonna mis hassling you for more now

Take care all of you - cant wait to see a pre trippie appear from you real soon x x x
Louise x

Awww! I'm going to miss your polite requests for updates, too! If it weren't for your nudges every now and then, not sure I'd be done! We need to keep in touch. PM me when you start your PTR. And please let me know how Cam makes out on Wed when you get a chance.

 

[annnewjerz]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I just spent the last hour or so reading through your TR and it looks like you had a FANTASTIC time.

I'm glad that we decided to go in November and now that I know the crowds are low low low, I'm even more glad that we have decided to go November 16-20 so we can see some of the Christmas decorations we missed out on during our December trip.

 

[texfinn]

I caught this towards the end as I plan a trip this June. Thank you for sharing -- you guys had an amazing time and your TR was wonderful!!!!

 

[ShannonMB]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I just spent the last hour or so reading through your TR and it looks like you had a FANTASTIC time.

I'm glad that we decided to go in November and now that I know the crowds are low low low, I'm even more glad that we have decided to go November 16-20 so we can see some of the Christmas decorations we missed out on during our December trip.

Glad you made it back after my pics came back! I have a feeling you are going to have a new favorite time of year to visit WDW after your Nov trip! I know we did!!!!

I caught this towards the end as I plan a trip this June. Thank you for sharing -- you guys had an amazing time and your TR was wonderful!!!!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you have a best-ever trip in June!!

 

[meeko_33785]

Hi! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your report. I've been having a hard time catching up on a lot of reports after getting behind after my last trip and all the Holiday season. Just went through and read all of what I missed and enjoyed it. Looks like a fantastic trip.

Gotta love the Tremaines! They always seem to be some of the funniest characters in the parks. I've seen them in Fantasyland bit have never done the dinner at Park Fare. Maybe someday...

The Riverboat show sounds like so cool. Wish I had gotten a chance to see it before they stopped it.

All the food at Boma looks great. That's certianly one of my favorite restaurants at Disney.

 

[ShannonMB]

Hi! Sorry I haven't been keeping up with your report. I've been having a hard time catching up on a lot of reports after getting behind after my last trip and all the Holiday season. Just went through and read all of what I missed and enjoyed it. Looks like a fantastic trip.

Gotta love the Tremaines! They always seem to be some of the funniest characters in the parks. I've seen them in Fantasyland bit have never done the dinner at Park Fare. Maybe someday...

The Riverboat show sounds like so cool. Wish I had gotten a chance to see it before they stopped it.

All the food at Boma looks great. That's certianly one of my favorite restaurants at Disney.

No problem, thanks for popping back by. Truth is, I was getting pretty bad at updating there toward the end. Anyhow, thanks for reading -- it's a lot more fun to write one when someone reads it! And I totally agree with everything you said! ;o)