No cats to herd this time! It's just the two of us!UPDATED 11/24-DIS Meet & Departure

[kaysmommie]

Hi Sara,
Great update and pictures. Dinosaur is not a favorite of ours, glad you like it though. I think the ones of the light fixtures are pretty nice. Maybe something we don't always notice. You got quite a bit done in just 3.5 hours. EMH at AK seems worth it to me. Boma sounds fantastic, well except the long wait. I remember Shawn saying he liked it. Maybe I can convince Tom to try it next time. Love the AK pics, that Ostrich lamp is crazy .

 

[ladybugmom]

Loved all of the updates!! Ally rode Dinosaur and LOVED it!! They got stuck on the ride in the dark for some time--thankfully it didn't freak her out!! I have enjoyed all of your AK pics since we didn't get to see much of it in the rain. Can't wait to read more!

 

[mom2mek]

They've been so many times it's hard to keep track but I think they did stay there last time. Yes, now I remember... my sister thought they were staying at Pop until they got there and he drove the rental car to POR. It was one of her surprises.

Ahhh...yes I remember now too...the first of many of her surprises!

Hi Sara,
Great update and pictures. Dinosaur is not a favorite of ours, glad you like it though. I think the ones of the light fixtures are pretty nice. Maybe something we don't always notice. You got quite a bit done in just 3.5 hours. EMH at AK seems worth it to me. Boma sounds fantastic, well except the long wait. I remember Shawn saying he liked it. Maybe I can convince Tom to try it next time. Love the AK pics, that Ostrich lamp is crazy .

Thanks Nichole! Dinosaur is rough, but I still like it - I think I was the only one on our girls trip in December that really wanted to go on it! Glad you like the light pics...there are many more to come!

Loved all of the updates!! Ally rode Dinosaur and LOVED it!! They got stuck on the ride in the dark for some time--thankfully it didn't freak her out!! I have enjoyed all of your AK pics since we didn't get to see much of it in the rain. Can't wait to read more!

Hi Becky! That's great that Ally liked Dinosaur. My girls haven't been on it yet, only Michael, but I think they will like it when they ride it next time.

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Where did ya go? Guess you've been busy.

So, how's that pin code burning a hole in your pocket? Was it for free dining? Or a resort discount? Just wondering.....

 

[mom2mek]

Where did ya go? Guess you've been busy.

So, how's that pin code burning a hole in your pocket? Was it for free dining? Or a resort discount? Just wondering.....

What? SOmeone's still reading this thing?

I've got the next part typed up and was going to post it today during my lunch, but got a little sidetracked doing something else, so maybe tonight!

I got a 40% off pin code, plus the AP rates just came out for dates through October 3rd, plus there's free dining....ugh....what's a disney-obsessed girl to do with an AP that expires on October 9th?????

Sara

 

[mkluvsmickey]

I got a 40% off pin code, plus the AP rates just came out for dates through October 3rd, plus there's free dining....ugh....what's a disney-obsessed girl to do with an AP that expires on October 9th?????

Sounds like a rhetorical question to me.

 

[KathyRN137]

(We loved the ostrich lamp….looks like an egg!)



We walked outside to the valet and asked if they could call a cab. Luckily for us, there was one sitting just down the driveway - it was a big old taxi VAN, but we climbed aboard and he took us back to the Poly! One of the best uses of $20 the whole trip! Well worth it!

Oooh, luv that lamp! (I will look for it in October!)

And you are so right about the cab... we've done that when its late and it is so worth it to not have to wait around for a couple of busses for an hour!!

You're actually finished Day One!! And it only took two months!!


Kathy

 

[MeMom]

I got a 40% off pin code, plus the AP rates just came out for dates through October 3rd, plus there's free dining....ugh....what's a disney-obsessed girl to do with an AP that expires on October 9th?????

Sara

Pick up the phone and hit direct dial to Disney!!!

 

[Poohtigeey]

End of day 1? Seriously? I should have just waited til December and read the whole thing! Love ya Sara! Cool safari story. Did Shawn like FOLK? (FOLK? That's not right...)

 

[kaysmommie]

Sara,
I think a trip will be planned for October with all the good offers you have. You might have to convince Shawn to stay onsite with the kids this time .
We got a free dining pin post card, not sure if we will use it or not. It is good until December 17th. So much going on right now . Kaylee does have fall break though in October and Tom did mention just the two of us going in December for 3 days. So who nows it's a slight possibility.



BTW Hi Monica, glad you are on DIS

 

[mom2mek]

Oooh, luv that lamp! (I will look for it in October!)

And you are so right about the cab... we've done that when its late and it is so worth it to not have to wait around for a couple of busses for an hour!!

You're actually finished Day One!! And it only took two months!!


Kathy

Yep - that's me! The slowest trip report writer EVAH!!!! (Well, although my trip was THIS YEAR...ahem....)

Pick up the phone and hit direct dial to Disney!!!

I really do want to....just not sure what or when or who yet....if any.....

Sara,
I think a trip will be planned for October with all the good offers you have. You might have to convince Shawn to stay onsite with the kids this time .
We got a free dining pin post card, not sure if we will use it or not. It is good until December 17th. So much going on right now . Kaylee does have fall break though in October and Tom did mention just the two of us going in December for 3 days. So who nows it's a slight possibility.

BTW Hi Monica, glad you are on DIS

I would love to stay onsite with the kids and Shawn in October, but I think that is a long shot. If anything, maybe me and the kids might go, and do a short trip...or maybe just me.... I'm really not sure if anything will work out, but it's so hard what with all the offers and with my AP about to expire....

That's great that you and Tom might go together in December! Couples trips are fun, fun, fun!

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

End of day 1? Seriously? I should have just waited til December and read the whole thing! Love ya Sara! Cool safari story. Did Shawn like FOLK? (FOLK? That's not right...)

HOLY MOLY!!!!! It's Monica! You could have knocked me over with a feather when I saw that you posted.

However, you now are obligated, as my very, very good friend, to continue to post..... Yep! That's how it works. Those are the rules.

Now that you are reading, I will pick up the pace....

Sara

 

[mom2mek]

Well, like I promised, since Monica is reading I will try to go quicker so as not to lose her....on with Day 2!!!

Day 2 - May 14, 2009
Part 1 - A Tale of Two Shoes


After a blissful night of sleep in our Polynesian getaway, we awoke bright and early and got ready to make rope drop at Epcot. The plan for the day was to eat a quick breakfast in the room and then take the short walk over to the TTC to catch the Epcot monorail.

I got up and made what could only be described as "dirty water" disguised as coffee, and got ready for the day! Then I grabbed an apple and waited for Shawn to finish getting ready. After our night at Animal Kingdom the day before, Shawn felt like his sneakers were pinching his toes and decided to doctor up his feet with bandaids to attempt to ward off the beginnings of the blisters that were starting to form.

After many bandaids, he slipped his shoes on and realized that they still felt very uncomfortable. And that's when it hit him.....he looked down at his feet and realized that he had brought two different white sneakers!!! Both white, both athletic, ALMOST identical, but DIFFERENT makes of shoe! I couldn't help myself from laughing, but Shawn was pretty frustrated with himself. The two different shoes were the ONLY shoes he brought with him.

We debated walking the short walk over to the TTC, going to Epcot, and heading to MouseGears first thing to check out what kind of shoes they carried, but ended up deciding we should check out the Polynesian gift shops FIRST, just in case MouseGears didn’t have anything. So, we finished up getting ready and made our way over to the Grand Ceremonial House in hopes that one of the shops might have some shoes that would work for Shawn for the remainder of our short vacation. I joked with him that he might find himself in Crocs if that was indeed all they had at the Poly gift shops.

(Shawn is not a fan of Crocs, by the way)!

We walked (well, I walked, Shawn limped) over to the GCH, passing many people heading to eat breakfast at Kona and 'Ohana and headed straight to Boutiki to see what kind of footwear they carried.

We passed by the male sized Mickey Crocs, (which Shawn actually did try on but didn’t think they were very comfortable), and found a wall of flip-flops.

(Shawn is not a fan of flip flops, by the way)!

At this point though, he was pretty sold on not having ANYTHING touch his toes, so after trying on many different pairs of flip-flops, he finally picked some nice leather ones for $60! Ouch! We grabbed a new hat for him as well and checked out (with a couple of the great $10 WDW tote bags....with a purchase of $50 or more....)


I'm not really sure why we did this next move, considering his foot condition, but we walked back to the TTC to get on the monorail. Looking back I'm not really sure why we didn't just get on the resort monorail right there at the GCH. Yes, I know it was probably quicker to do what we did, but considering the condition of his feet we probably should have just done that.

Oh well...maybe because by the time he had the flip-flops on, his toes felt better and all seemed to be fixed.

As we got to the TTC, we stopped at the Espresso cart that sits right there at the base of the monorail ramp and grabbed some real coffee and then made our way up the ramp and on our way to Epcot. It was just at or shortly after 9:00 at this point, so rope drop dreams were gone, but I was (ahem) ok with it. Mostly.

I had a 3 shot latte so life was good at that point! We had the whole day in front of us!

I do so enjoy the long monorail ride to Epcot. I love flying above the highway and past all the cars and then being taken around Epcot's Future World before arriving at the front of the park. We were able to see so much of the beautiful flower displays of the Flower and Garden Festival and I made a mental note to try to get up front on the monorail either later that day if we left for a break, or on our return trip to Epcot on Saturday, so that I could get pictures from above without the balloon decorations that are on all of the buses and monorail windows for the new "What Are You Celebrating" campaign! The view was so beautiful from up there.


When we arrived at Epcot, we were in a sea of humanity.....Ugh....

Arriving around 9:15 or so, we were herded into the security line like cattle, but as soon as we got through the turnstiles, we were in utter awe of the flower and garden beauty. Shawn took out his camera and started to take pictures, and I, in my “can’t-give-up-a-little-control” way, asked for his ticket and told him I would go grab fastpasses for Soarin so that he could take his time taking the pictures and not feel like I was rushing him. He reluctantly agreed, handed me his ticket, and OFF I WENT!!! Woman on a mission.

Just before anyone makes any mention of stopping-to-smell-the-roses, rest assured I too loved all of the displays and so wanted to stand and stare and marvel at their beauty. HOWEVER, “obsessive trip planner Sara” took over and wanted to at least get a FP under my belt so as to assure us lots of time LATER to enjoy the beauty of the topiaries. They would still be there! (Plus, they were way too crowded with people to get any pictures of just us and I figured later in the day would be a better time for that!)

On with some pictures.....

(Loved the red carpet!!! If I tried to do that, one of the flowers right in the middle would be brown and mess the whole thing up...)

So, off to the Land I walked.

I got to the FP machines at Soarin and inserted Shawn’s ticket, no problem. My ticket was another story….it was stuck. I didn’t want to leave the machine and have someone come up behind me and put their ticket in and have it get stuck as well, but there wasn’t any one right behind me either to track someone down, or at least hold the spot. After a minute or so, two older ladies approached me and I asked if they could just wait there while I flagged down a CM to get my ticket out. They offered to go get one for me so I wouldn’t have to leave. The CM came over and promptly got my AP out and I retrieved my second FP for Soarin and then left to go wait for Shawn over by The Living With the Land ride.

A few minutes passed…..then a few more…..um….HELLO???? Let’s get on a ride for pete’s sake, Shawn! JK! I didn’t mind that he was taking his time – when he arrived he looked very pleased with himself and very happy to have been able to take his sweet old time coming into the park and not be the FP volunteer for once!


Continued....next post....

 

[mom2mek]

Continued....

Day 2 - May 14, 2009
Part 1.a - A Tale of Two Shoes (contd)

Waiting for Shawn to get to the line for LWTL (well, I use the term "line" very loosely).....

Time to get my ride on!

Our first ride of the day….Living with the Land! LOL! Shawn had never been on this ride and, as expected, he really liked it. It really is a fascinating ride and I know my step-dad would really enjoy it since he is an avid gardener. We made a mental note to not miss it the next time we were here with the family.

(Love the "plant" HM!)

After we left LWTL, we headed to the Seas for a quick ride on Nemo! But first….more pictures…..

One last shot, because I'm so mean....Shawn's new shoes....with lots of bandaids....

Up next....Shawn, try this....you'll like it....really....

Sara

 

[ladybugmom]

YAY!! Love the updates!! How funny that Shawn brought 2 different kinds of shoes! Glad he was able to find something else that worked for him! His pics of Epcot are GORGEOUS!! We didn't ride LWTL this time but we'll definitely put it on our list for next time!! Can't wait to hear more!

 

[mkluvsmickey]

Woo Hoo - two updates! Monica should read more often.

Love the shoe story. (Not the part with the blisters but the two different shoes part). I've done that too - wore a black and a blue pump to a client once. That's what I get for getting dressed in a dark closet.

Great pictures! Shawn really got some great shots of everything. So pretty!

Glad you finally got a ride in that morning! Can't wait to read what's next.

 

[mommytothreeboys]

Only a man would bring only one pair of shoes on vacation. And they call us silly!

Your pics of F&GF at Epcot are absolutely gorgeous! I love the close-ups of the dwarves and the ostrich. Very nice!

LWTL is one of my very favorite rides!

 

[mom2mek]

YAY!! Love the updates!! How funny that Shawn brought 2 different kinds of shoes! Glad he was able to find something else that worked for him! His pics of Epcot are GORGEOUS!! We didn't ride LWTL this time but we'll definitely put it on our list for next time!! Can't wait to hear more!

Thanks Becky! Stay tuned to see if those shoes really worked for him! Definitely try LWTL next time - it's nothing exciting, but it's really fascinating!

Woo Hoo - two updates! Monica should read more often.

Love the shoe story. (Not the part with the blisters but the two different shoes part). I've done that too - wore a black and a blue pump to a client once. That's what I get for getting dressed in a dark closet.

Great pictures! Shawn really got some great shots of everything. So pretty!

Glad you finally got a ride in that morning! Can't wait to read what's next.

Yup - I've done that before too, Michelle. I wore a navy pump and a black pump (same style, different colors) to work one day when I worked at a bank. Luckily, it was a desk job and I didn't work WITH the customers, so pretty much the only ones who saw were my co-workers who saw it when I would get up to go to the kitchen or the bathroom! Needless to say, I sat a lot more than usual that day! How embarrassing!

I thought it was funny that we were following the same "path" that we took on the girls trip! LWTL was our 1st ride then too! We like to live on the edge!

Only a man would bring only one pair of shoes on vacation. And they call us silly!

Your pics of F&GF at Epcot are absolutely gorgeous! I love the close-ups of the dwarves and the ostrich. Very nice!

LWTL is one of my very favorite rides!

I know, right? One pair? Doh!

I brought 3 pairs for a 3 1/2 day trip! I pointed that out to him. He wasn't amused.

Love LWTL!!! So neat!

Sara

 

[jillyb]

Awesome pictures as always! I got a laugh out of Shawn having 2 different pairs of shoes; blister....not so funny. I'm sensing the flip flops didn't help. I've done the different colored shoe/same style a couple times myself.

Can't wait to hear what you got Shawn to drink...although I have a pretty good idea what it is!

 

[DisneyJo]

I can't believe he took 2 different shoes not a pair Hope the flip flops were comfy!

I love all the photos but would have been like you, FP's first flowers second I always have to go on the Land ride too, the girls hate it though!