Now a Trip Report!!! Will We Stay or Will We Go? A Thanksgiving Pre-Trip/Trip Report

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

As I'm soaking up all the Holiday spirit Clay says to me "Let's go". Say what????!!!! But I'm not done! Did I say any of this? No! I was not a happy camper and this is where I pouted a bit. Seriously people! This whole entire trip I've done nothing but make adjustments so ya'll could do what you wanted to do and the ONE thing that I want to do ya'll are rushing me through. OK...fine...but I'm going to torture you with taking your picture!

We still had a set of FPs for Toy Story and plenty of time to kill before our HBD dinner so we rode Toy Story again. I was still pouting.

As we were waiting in line, Clay realized something was up with me and asked me what was the matter. Of course, I gave the mature reply of "Nothing". He just sighed and left it at that. I'm sorry to say that I let my attitude get in the way of enjoying this last ride. On top of that, Clay beat me this time. Time for dinner!

There's a happy face! You can also Clay's knee brace in this pic.

To be continued.....

 

[mousescrapper]

Hi Jill...

yes I agree IJSS is very hard to take pixs at I never get good ones either but it is a fabulous show Love the ToT and RnRC pix those are nice, the girls look like they are lovin it.

and the Lights were something huh? but yes CROWDED in there...apparetnly the trick is to go at park closing they stay on and area open 30 minutes past. Another Diser did thatand practically had whole area to themselves..
can understand your pouting

Hope you HBD dinner is great, looking forward to the review.

J~

 

[jillyb]

Hi Jill...

yes I agree IJSS is very hard to take pixs at I never get good ones either but it is a fabulous show Love the ToT and RnRC pix those are nice, the girls look like they are lovin it.

and the Lights were something huh? but yes CROWDED in there...apparetnly the trick is to go at park closing they stay on and area open 30 minutes past. Another Diser did thatand practically had whole area to themselves..
can understand your pouting

Hope you HBD dinner is great, looking forward to the review.

J~

The only show we haven't seen yet is LMA. Hopefully we'll make that show on our next trip. And, if we do Indy on our next trip I'm going to try for better pics! The girls really did enjoy ToT and RnRC. They're both thrill riders like their Daddy. I enjoy them too...in moderation!

The Lights are just incredible! There's more to that story coming up, along with our dinner at HBD.

 

[jillyb]

Our name was called and the gentleman that escorted us to our table started talking to Clay about his knee and how he had problems with his knees...blah blah blah. It was so funny because once he put that knee brace on he had several comments to him about their knees! That knee brace was equivalent to a celebration button...everybody had to make say something to him! And it was always men. He even had a CM say something to him! LOL

This time we had good table karma. We walked down the steps into the dining room, walked all the way across, up the steps and we had the big booth table right in front of the steps. It was perfect! Our server showed up to take our drink orders. I was still feeling out of sorts over the whole lights thing so I decided Mama was gettin' a drink! I ordered a Hollywood Lights and Clay ordered a Yeungling. The girls got a Coke. The Hollywood Lights was very good and the girls were enthralled with the blinking ice cube. Alison asked me later if she could have it. Uh...No! That's my blinking ice cube! (I saw a pack of them at a gift shop later and wanted to buy them for her but she was there and there was no way for me to get them without her seeing them. I'm sure I could find some online somewhere.)

For appetizers, Alison and Clay ordered the Blue Lump Crab Cake (Potato Crust, Green Cabbage Slaw, Cognac Mustard Sauce, and Rémoulade), Hannah had the chicken noodle soup and I had the Cobb Salad. This was the first time Alison had crab cakes and she really liked them. She's a picky eater and on this trip she tried a lot of things for the first time and discovered there were some foods she actually liked!

Clay's entree was the Sterling Silver Pork Chop (topped with Smoked Gouda and Apricot Preserve served over Napa Cabbage, Bacon, and Potato Hash with Apple Cider Jus), Alison got the Butter Brown Almond-crusted Black Grouper (with golden beets, roasted celery root, leeks and a lobster beurre blanc; another first for her and which she really liked), Hannah a hot dog and french fries (what a waste!) and I had the Char-grilled Filet of Beef (over white truffle whipped potatoes, mushroom ragout, Cippolini Onions, and red wine reduction). I ordered the 6 oz. but our server either didn't hear me or chose to ignore me and brought me the 8 oz.

For dessert, Clay ordered the Grapefruit cake (Light Layers of Yellow Cake with fresh Grapefruit Cream Cheese Icing), Alison had the Chocolate Flourless cake (Served with Port Wine sauce, fresh berries, and sweetened creme fraiche), Hannah had the Hidden Treasures (Vanilla ice cream, Oreo cookie crumbles and gummy snakes with a Tollhouse cookie) and I had the Double Vanilla Bean Créme Brulée (with Dark Chocolate-dipped Biscotti). We were stuffed after all that! Clay declared this the best meal of the entire trip. I'm thinking that this is going to be on the list of must-do's for future trips.

By the time we were done with dinner the park was closed but there were still quite a few people milling around.

I'm no longer pouting, but still feeling bummed about the lights and not being able to get a Photopass picture of all of us with the lights, when Clay says "Hey...let's go see if the lights are still on." I don't know if he figured out what had me in such a funk or what but I'm glad we went back over there because it was D. E. A. D. There were just a very few people there and it was wonderful to practically have the place to ourselves.

The time stamp on this picture is 9:52 so it was very close to time for lights out.

Clay and the girls had walked down the side street across from the soldiers lighting display. There were two Photopass photographers standing there and nobody was waiting. I called Clay’s name but he didn’t hear me. So, I did what any good Southern woman would do. I unleashed “the Whistle”. Ya’ll know the one I mean…where you put your thumb and index finger in your mouth and blow. When I use “the Whistle” it never fails to amaze and impress and the family member whose attention I’m trying to get turns around to see what I want. The Photopass photographers were duly impressed with my whistling skills. My family totally ignores me. What the heck??!!! How could they not hear that???!!! Meantime, the clock is ticking and if they don’t hurry and get their butts up there the lights will be turned off. They finally turn around and are walking back up the street and I’m frantically trying to get their attention. Nope…nada…zilch. Have I suddenly become invisible or is someone being passive-aggressive?? FINALLY, Clay notices my frantic arm waving and I say “Will ya’ll get up here!!!!!!!!!!!!” The Photopass photographers get us on our mark and I get my picture.

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

The grand finale was beginning and it was time to leave. These are my next favorite videos of the trip....watching my girls dancing down the street.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FXCQDFgaZ1o

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y929hQ7A4Do

On the way out:

Clay and the girls needed a bathroom stop so I waited and took more pictures.

Then I remembered...I needed a picture of Bo!!

Jackie (if you're still reading this!) remember in the beginning of my report I said to remember the Pilgrim hat in the background? Yeah...that was the last time I saw it. I could have sworn I carried it in to the room with me the night we arrived but it, along with several other things on this trip, vanished in to thin air. I was very disappointed because I printed it off Family.com or some place like that that had Thanksgiving printables and it was a Pilgrim hat with Mickey ears. It was so cool! I wanted to put it on Bo so he could wish Chelsea a Happy Thanksgiving.

When the girls came out, I told them the story about Chelsea and Bo and had them pose with him.

Alison, as you can see, is way too cool for Bo. She'd rather have the Coke! Hannah, on the other hand, may be some younger competition for Chelsea!

We got back to Pop about 10:30. I can't remember why, but I had to stop in the lobby before going back to the room. I walked in the door, stopped and looked again. Huh...I don't remember this stuff being here earlier.

I think we all were out as soon as our heads hit the pillows! It had been a long, but fun, day.

I woke up sometime in the middle of the night sweating and feeling nauseous. At first I thought "Ugh...menopause!" , but then I started getting that hot face and funky feeling in the back of my throat like you get when you're going to throw up, then I thought "Don't tell me I got food poisoning at the Hollywood Brown Derby!" . I laid there willing it to go away and praying I wasn't going to be sick. We had big plans for tomorrow and I didn't want to miss them. As the feeling got stronger, I got up and ran cold water over a washcloth and washed my face. Ahhhhh...that coolness felt good on my face! I ran more cold water over the washcloth, crawled back in bed and put the washcloth on the back of my neck. That felt even better! I laid there a little longer and dozed off.

Next up: Happy Thanksgiving!!

 

[MeMom]

Only one thing missing here.

Great family picture!

 

[jillyb]

Only one thing missing here.

Yeah...but Jackie wasn't on our trip.


Great family picture!

Thank you!

 

[Poolrat]

(continued in next post)

I think you got out of your funk by the look on your face.

Those are great pictures.

 

[wigdoutdismom]

Whew! So glad you didn't get food poisoning at HBD....
I hope you were better the next day.

I love the tip of going to see the lights late! I think we'll do that next year...

 

[jillyb]

I think you got out of your funk by the look on your face.

Those are great pictures.

Yep...guess I found some "funk-be-gone"!

 

[jillyb]

Whew! So glad you didn't get food poisoning at HBD....
I hope you were better the next day.

I love the tip of going to see the lights late! I think we'll do that next year...

Me too! I was a queasy when I woke up but was fine later in the day.

 

[jillyb]

Woohoo! It's an update!

Thanksgiving Day

WARNING: TONS OF PICTURES AHEAD!

This was another sleep-in morning and a day that I was very excited about. We had a late breakfast at Boma, which meant I finally got to see the Animal Kingdom Lodge (my dream resort! ), then off to a relaxing day at the AK all followed up with a late Thanksgiving dinner at Ohana and a TGM meet on the Poly beach to see Wishes!

We’re here!!!

As God is my witness…one day these words will be spoken to me! LOL

The Christmas Tree:

AKL is just beautiful! I was glad we had time to explore some before breakfast.

Clay and the girls had already gone outside to the viewing areas so I headed out to join them.

For Jackie:

Unfortunately it was feeding time so we didn’t see any animals. So, we just enjoyed the beautiful surroundings. It was another beautiful day!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

It was getting close to check-in time so we headed back inside.

It was a very short wait and then we were seated.

Breakfast and service was very good here. I’d like to go back for dinner one day. After breakfast, it was time to head to the Animal Kingdom!

Another one of my favorite pictures!

A short drive and we were at Animal Kingdom and at the entrance in no time. As we were getting off the tram, Clay realized he’d left his cell phone in the van. Luckily the tram was still there so he hopped back on it. The girls and I went on in and as we approached the entrance to the Oasis we saw DeVine! I open my bag to get my camera and…OK…digging around some more and checking other pockets….ARRRGGGHHHHHH…I left my camera in the van!!! As DeVine is “walking” away, Hannah looks at me and in an excited voice she says “Mommy! She’s just like Charlene!” (To those that don’t know who “Charlene” is, she’s a character in The Kingdom Keepers books. I’ve been reading these books to Hannah at bedtime and we had just finished the second book right before our trip, which is set in the Animal Kingdom. It was a proud Mommy moment for me!)

I’m frantically calling Clay’s cell (all the while kicking myself for the missed photo opportunity) and hoping he’s not on the tram or entering the turnstiles. He finally answers his cell phone and I ask him if he’s at the van, to which he responds “yes”. Yay!!! The girls and I hang around the front of the Oasis and Clay re-joins us. This was the first time we’d done anything in this area and it was really nice!

This day was just a day to soak up the atmosphere and see the things we haven’t seen before. There were only two planned items for the day: go to Rafiki’s Planet Watch and Camp Minnie-Mickey. Join me in exploring the Animal Kingdom!

The Oasis:

On the way to Rafiki’s:

We got to the train station and it was very crowded. The line moved quickly, though, and we were on a train in no time. This was really the only place where we experienced crowds. After that it was smooth sailing!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

Rafiki’s Planet Watch:

Hannah was in heaven at the petting area!

Is your Mama a Llama?!

I wanted to see the characters in their Christmas outfits. Yeah…never happened! LOL We ended up going to the Character Spot and spent a lonnngg, but fun, time there. By the time we were ready to move on I felt like it would be too crowded to try to get pictures with the characters so we moved on.

Camp Minnie-Mickey/Character Spot:

Being a teenager, Alison was too cool to participate in the hula hoop fun. Apparently coloring is way cooler! LOL

Pocahontas:

It was really hard to get a good picture of her without someone else in it! LOL

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

The DJ came out and was spinnin’ some tunes so it was time to Dance! Dance! Dance!

I don’t remember where Clay had been but he showed up eventually and joined Alison.

Look at that face! LOL

Hannah and some other kids (and one big kid!) got picked to help Pocahontas tell a story.

After that, it was one quick picture with a Terk and it was time to move on.

And do you know what? All those characters around and she didn’t get a single autograph! That was pretty much par for the course this trip. Guess I printed out all those autograph cards for nothing. This trip we just didn’t bother to take the time to get pictures/autographs with characters that were roaming around. The lines were just too long and we didn’t want to stand in those lines.

Next stop: Trails around the Tree of Life!

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

We took a short break for a snack. The girls got popcorn and we all got drinks. The back of the snack kiosk:

We continued on with our travels:

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

After walking around the Tree of Life we headed to:

For my friend Pat (Poolrat):

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

As we were heading out of Asia, I stopped and bought a beach towel I’d seen on our earlier visit but didn’t buy. I also bought a pin for a $1.00 which went to the Disney Conservation Fund or whatever it’s called. Unfortunately, I can’t find it now.

We stopped for a Photopass picture:

And made a stop in Dinoland:

I don’t remember but the girls may have ridden Primeval Whirl. I seem to recall sitting on a bench and Clay calling his parents to wish them “Happy Thanksgiving”. We then headed to:

Blurry redneck ride picture:

Notice Hannah is doing the extreme “Jackie pose”. LOL

(continued in next post)

 

[jillyb]

(continued from prior post)

It was getting close to 6:00 so it was time to head toward the Poly for our dinner.

One last Photopass picture on the way out of the park:

I was a bit worried about Ohana. I had heard lots of stories about long waits after check in and I had told Clay that we might have a bit of a wait. We had a TGM meet at 9:00 and I was afraid that we’d be late getting out. I worried for nothing. We checked in, I went to wash my hands and when I came back our table was ready. Wow! That was a pleasant surprise! It wasn’t very crowded there at all. It did get busier as our meal progressed but it wasn’t bad at all.

Silly girl!

Our server was very nice and did a good job. But I’m just gonna say it…we weren’t real impressed with this meal. The steak was very good, the chicken was OK, the pork was yucky and the shrimp was a pain in the you-know-what! We just didn’t care for whatever they put on the pork and didn’t like having to peel the shrimp. The wings were very good and Hannah loved them. Clay got a rum and Coke and I got a lapu lapu. It was a bit too strong for my taste so I didn’t drink very much of it. Even Clay, who is more of a drinker than I am, didn’t like it. The redeeming feature was the bread pudding. Oh…my…goodness!! That was some good stuff! I’m glad we tried it but I don’t think we’ll do this one again…maybe a breakfast but I doubt if we’d do dinner here again.

After dinner, we went to the van to get a blanket I’d brought from home and headed out to the beach and found a nice spot near the speakers. There weren’t many people on the beach yet so this was a nice relaxing after dinner time. The lure of the water was too much for Hannah and we were constantly telling her to stay out of the water. Might as well have toward the sun not to rise in the East. Now for the fun part….hoping that those who were coming to the meet would actually find us!

Clay went to get some drinks for us and when he came back a lady came up and asked if I was Jill. It was Jeannine! She had seen Clay and thought she recognized him. LOL She and her family came over and joined us. While we were chatting, Hannah was playing in the sand with a couple of little girls. She had come over to where I was sitting and made the comment that they had English accents. What??!! What are their names??!! She didn’t know so she asked them. Their reply “Lucy” and “Emma”. I turned around looking for their parents and saw a couple that looked like the likely suspects so I said “Dave!” Both heads snapped in my direction and I waved and said “It’s Jill!” It was Dave and Andrea!! The beach was starting to fill up now and we were waiting on a few more people to show up. Anna and her daughters showed up and then Denise and her family were the last to arrive. She had a gazillion glow bracelets that she gave out to the kids. We all chatted for a while and then the Electrical Water Parade started. This was another first for us and it was really cool! Jeannine and her family couldn’t stay for Wishes and headed “home” for the night. It was really great to meet them!

Then it was time for Wishes! Wow!!!! I had no idea how cool these fireworks are! LOL Our only time of seeing them was in the Rose Garden in Magic Kingdom in 2008 so we’d never seen them from a distance. Watching from the Poly beach was the best view ever! I think that will be our viewing spot from here on out. And to top it off…we didn’t have to fight a crowd to get out!

Alison’s pictures from the Poly beach:

Dave took a quick picture of the TGM Group:

We all said our good-byes and went to our respective resorts. This had been a long day and a late night for us but I have to say it was, in my opinion, the best day we’d had so far.

Tomorrow: rope drop at Magic Kingdom!

 

[Poolrat]

For my friend Pat (Poolrat):

Thanks for the shout out.


Looks like you had a great day. I enjoyed Boma breakfast the last time I had a chance to eat there.

I am glad you did not have a long wait for O'hanas. The meats can be hit or miss. I like the wings and salad and the potatoes they used to have but have replaced with noodles.

I think the Poly beach is the best non crowded place to watch Wishes