More Fun Than Rock, Paper, Scissors, Lizard, Spock-Adventures of the Sweet 16!New8-15

[mickeystoontown]

What I wouldn't give to do the Keys tour. I'm counting down the days until Hunter turns 16 so we can do it. It sounds like it is well worth the money!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

That sounds like a truly amazing tour!! I'm so glad you were able to enjoy the tour, you needed a touch of Disney magic.

It was nice to do something like that, where I didn't have to look around to make sure Jack or Will hadn't wandered off. Someday when they're older, maybe they'll want to take it, too. But of course, then they won't still think that Mickey is real...it's a trade off!!

Jen, Your tour sounds wonderful and makes me excited to look into it! I am glad you had some time to yourself to enjoy it (adult time).

It sounds really selfish, but I enjoyed being there without having anyone else to look after. And the added benefit was that I was more than ready to go back and enjoy the kids and their take on things after that morning.

What I wouldn't give to do the Keys tour. I'm counting down the days until Hunter turns 16 so we can do it. It sounds like it is well worth the money!

It is - and since Hunter is a Disney fan, too, I think he'd enjoy it as well! I think it'd be fun to do as a family!

 

[glennbo123]

That sounds like a great tour. I haven't done any of the tours yet...someday.

I haven't gotten to this point in my TR yet, but I took a picture of the window with where the singing lessons take place.

 

[glennbo123]

I just noticed that you do have a picture of the alley where the "singing lesson" window is....can I borrow it for my TR when I get to that point? I just took a picture of the window and not the whole alley.

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[FairyGodmotherJen]

That sounds like a great tour. I haven't done any of the tours yet...someday.

I haven't gotten to this point in my TR yet, but I took a picture of the window with where the singing lessons take place.

There it is! I swear, I have a picture of it somewhere...probably lost in the insane amount of pictures I have from this trip. And we don't have the good ones yet from UT and his SLR. He's quite the photographer, so we're excited to see those. Since he's in Oregon right now, it'll be a little while, though!

I think we just traded posts on our TRs...

 

[FauntleroyFAN07]

that tour does look like it would be a blast, we would def look into doing that on a solo trip without kids some time.

thanks for the pictures of it.

 

[glennbo123]

I think we just traded posts on our TRs...

Yes, we did! That's always fun when that happens.

Hey, I think I ninja-posted a question to you while you were responding to that first post of mine.

 

[dismagiclover]

That tour sounds fabulous! I'm hoping to do a trip with just DH and I for my 40th birthday and that would be a great thing to do! I can't wait to hear about the Ohana dinner. I have a picture of a couple of people in your group if you want to use it

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

that tour does look like it would be a blast, we would def look into doing that on a solo trip without kids some time.

thanks for the pictures of it.

You and Candi would really enjoy it!

Yes, we did! That's always fun when that happens.

Hey, I think I ninja-posted a question to you while you were responding to that first post of mine.

Yes, apparently you did! That's fine! I was thinking about printing out a few of your Sci-Fi pictures to put in my scrapbook... They're a lot better than mine! Could we trade?

That tour sounds fabulous! I'm hoping to do a trip with just DH and I for my 40th birthday and that would be a great thing to do! I can't wait to hear about the Ohana dinner. I have a picture of a couple of people in your group if you want to use it

This would be perfect for that kind of trip! I was uploading the pictures of 'Ohana when I updloaded these and was laughing when I saw them. We were explaining the story to my MIL this weekend, who doesn't completely get it but was laughing at the thought of someone else posting those pictures of her boys.

 

[glennbo123]

Yes, apparently you did! That's fine! I was thinking about printing out a few of your Sci-Fi pictures to put in my scrapbook... They're a lot better than mine! Could we trade?

Absolutely! Thanks.

 

[jenjolt]

You are absolutely right the KTTK tour is amazing! I went on it during my solo trip and it was just wonderful especially for a Disney fanatic! I'm glad you had a great tour guide and you had such a great time!

I love the pictures of the Main Street Windows!! Such attention to detail is why I love Disney!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Absolutely! Thanks.

Great!

You are absolutely right the KTTK tour is amazing! I went on it during my solo trip and it was just wonderful especially for a Disney fanatic! I'm glad you had a great tour guide and you had such a great time!

I love the pictures of the Main Street Windows!! Such attention to detail is why I love Disney!

Exactly! It was so nice to hear the stories behind some of those details on the tour.

 

[marvali]

Love the updates. We need to take the time to do those tours sometime in the near future.

The photopass pictures are great. Love the SWW pics, and the family photos. What a great looking group. And the BBB pictures of the girls; they look so beautiful all dolled up as princesses.

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Love the updates. We need to take the time to do those tours sometime in the near future.

The photopass pictures are great. Love the SWW pics, and the family photos. What a great looking group. And the BBB pictures of the girls; they look so beautiful all dolled up as princesses.

Thanks! I ended up being so glad Haley did it. My baby starts fourth grade in a few days (that's the grade I teach, and the oldest grade in the elementary school for our corporation), and she's currently in Oregon with DH for a family wedding. She's never been so far without me before...it's almost nice to look back at the BBB pictures and remember that she's (at the moment) still partly little girl!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

We had decided on the way back from our tour that afternoon that we would NOT have to run to make this reservation! We all agreed to head to the bus stop at least an jour and a half early. I think we actually made it there a little earlier than that…and a bus pulled up within about ten minutes of us getting there! It was so nice! We loaded up onto the bus – all fourteen of us, as Norah and Ruby were the only ones not there, having spent the day at Animal Kingdom.

Since we’d arrived so early, we decided to take a ferry over to the resort instead of the monorail. We hadn’t done this yet, so it was nice to try something new. I think we all found it a very relaxing alternative to the traveling we'd done so much of this trip!

We enjoyed our leisurely boat ride, stopping at the Grand Floridian first.

I started taking pictures of monorails…I tried to take a picture of all the different colors I saw. Here are a few…

The monorail has always been one of my clearest memories about the two trips I took with my parents when I was a child. It holds a special place in my heart.

Though we weren’t feeling rushed, it had still been a long day, and the week in general was catching up to us. Sue decided to stretch out on a bench…these are her shoes.

Before we knew it, we were pulling up to the Poly. Ohhhh, I want to stay here someday! This is where we stayed as kids when my parents took us, and I have great memories. Plus, it’s just a beautiful resort…and, as I said before, I love the monorail and would love to stay on the monorail line again!

We checked in, but I hadn’t been able to contact Norah yet. We really didn’t want a repeat of yesterday, when one group (ours) was late and held everyone up from eating. Since we were early, several of us wandered around and took pictures while others sat and relaxed.

(Oh, my goodness...I cringe to think I'll be seeing more of this in the future...I didn't even notice she'd done it until I saw the picture!)

(Cont. in next post)

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Thankfully, Norah and Ruby pulled up five minutes before our ADR time. We were seated pretty quickly. We were initially disappointed with our seats…three tables in the room right to your right just as you come into the restaurant.

It seemed way off the beaten path, and pretty far away from the action. We had been seated in the middle of the main room on our last visit, and had enjoyed being able to see everything. We had to listen closely to the lady doing the entertainment so we’d know when to have the kids join in the fun. We were “out of the loop” in our area – in fact, Mrs. Darling was there with her family and we didn’t even know it until we saw pictures in her TR! - but it ended up being nice to go back to our table in the quiet to continue eating between bouts of entertainment.

Of course, when the food started coming, we were pretty distracted!

(I love this pic of my mom and aunt!)

We loved our meal here!! The menu had changed from last time (noodles instead of the yummy potatoes we’d had, shrimp on skewers instead of just a bowl of peel-and-eat), but everything was wonderful! We loved the dumplings/potsticker things, the noodles, and the salad. Bryan and I agreed that we could have just eaten those things and been happy! But then they came around with the meat! I enjoyed the beef and the chicken. The pork was a bit dry for me, and the shrimp were just too much work (though I do enjoy shrimp). But, as I said, the meat was an afterthought for us. Then you throw in the dessert – bananas foster bread pudding! Oh, yummmmm……We will definitely be heading back here!

Even though we felt far removed from the action, we were able to get the kids involved several times. We got leis, paraded around the room with maracas, and did the coconut races.

But the best part of the entertainment came as we were eating dessert. The lady doing the entertainment (I can’t remember her name!) approached us and started making small talk (someone must have told her we had a large group and were fairly lively). She got all excited that we were from Indiana “just like Michael Jackson!” Then Sue told her that she and Stoney grew up in the same town as Jackson, and the lady about lost it! After a few minutes of Michael Jackson excitement, she asked if there happened to be two strong, brave young men who could help her. Of course, we volunteered DH and Tim! They got to wear the ceremonial grass skirts (Bry’s was from Hawaii, with a whole story attached…Tim got the one that she said she bought the week before from the Dollar Store) and carry golden maracas. Their job, she told them, would be to hold the limbo pole – she insisted that this was a very important job! The guys were very good sports, and actually got into it a bit.

Getting them "suited up":

(Bryan hadn't finished his dessert yet...)

Aunt Dee even got some video…the first one is sideways, though, and I can't get it to turn around in Photobucket!





(This is when we realized that we’d been there the same night as Mrs. Darling…Bryan and Tim were there in her TR wearing grass skirts!)

We hadn’t laughed that hard in a very long time! It went down as being one of the best meals we’d had that week, hands down. To make it even more special, DH surprised me by having our server bring me a card midway through the meal. I have one picture of me reading the card, but...let's just say it's not flattering. It was an anniversary card (our 13th anniversary was a week after we got back) and a pretty pair of gold Mickey earrings…that I’ll have to take a picture of later and post at the end when I post pictures of all our other souvenirs. But they’re wonderful, and it was a great surprise. To round it all off, the entertainment lady brought our kids each “celebration” cupcakes in to-go boxes, which we ended up enjoying at home. It was a nice little bit of magic to keep us going as we faced the “we’re home” doldrums!

Before we left, we asked our server to take a group picture of us. We knew that not everyone would be at our sit-down meal tomorrow, and we figured this might be our last chance for a group shot (and we were right!)

Once dinner was done, many people decided to head out to different parks. However, I knew that our 8:05 breakfast ADR was coming up, so I knew we needed to get the kids back to the room. They wanted to swim, and I knew that, depending on tomorrow’s weather, this might be the last chance we got. One of Bryan’s goals, though, was to ride and get a picture of the Tronorail, so he headed to Epcot when we got off the monorail at MK. The kids and I took the bus back to CBR and explored a little on our own – we hadn’t had a chance to get to Caribbean Cay yet.

Unfortunately, it was getting dark and most of the little areas with hammocks and the walkway with the cannons were closed off for the night. But it was just the right amount of time, because we ended up getting a text from Bryan that he was headed our way as we headed back to the room. He got his picture...

(Not what he wanted, but he got yelled at for standing someplace he shouldn't have!) He wasn't as impressed by his ride, though...it turns out you can't see much with those skins on the windows!

Once he got back, he took the older two to the pool and I put Will down for the night. I pulled things out and began to pack a little while Will relaxed in his playpen, and once Bryan, Haley, and Jack returned we all turned in for the night, knowing it would be a very early morning the next day!

Up next…our last full day in the parks

 

[dismagiclover]

Now that I've seen all the photos of all of you with your matching shirts I am amazed I didn't put 2 and 2 together that night and figure out you were there. I guess I just wasn't thinking about it. I'm pretty sure my DS8 is in the 2nd video you posted. He is the next one in line to go under the pole right before you cut away. (It looks like the blue shirt and "cool hair" he had that day.) What a small world!

 

[FairyGodmotherJen]

Now that I've seen all the photos of all of you with your matching shirts I am amazed I didn't put 2 and 2 together that night and figure out you were there. I guess I just wasn't thinking about it. I'm pretty sure my DS8 is in the 2nd video you posted. He is the next one in line to go under the pole right before you cut away. (It looks like the blue shirt and "cool hair" he had that day.) What a small world!

I thought that might be him! I was looking for you guys when I found that video. Yes, "a small world" just about sums it up!

 

[glennbo123]

Those potstickers are Ohana are the best!

I couldn't remember the entertainment lady's name by the time I wrote my TR last year either. I still don't know it.

I'm glad you all had such a good time for your last meal with everyone together.

 

[Lady Lallie]

What a great dinner for your group, sounds like it was really fun with lots of yummy food!

I love your matching tshirts.