Once Upon a Christmastime! A Nov. 2010 PTR! *Update 12/12, Disney Blues, pg 61! :( *

[SOUTHERNtinkerBELLE]

Congrats on 2.5 lbs!!! That is so great! I have my weigh-in tomorrow morning - I hope I did as well as you!

I am so excited for this mini-TR! I can't wait to see some pictures!

 

[Nermel9]

Yeah, it's rough trying to figure out what all we did 3 years ago!

LOL, it is...and with the lack of pictures I have, it's even harder! Now that I'm thinking about each day, I can remember some things a little easier now, but I don't know what order we did things in! At least when I do my November flashback from last year, it will be easier, I have lots of pics from that trip, and an itinerary!

I will be making a Christmas one too!!!!! Yay for our binders!

Yay! I wanted to start mine today, but didn't get around to it! This week probably!

Yay, for 11 weeks.

for 2.5 more pounds (and a total of 6).

And I like the idea of your flashbacks -- that is a great concept. Can't wait for more.

Thanks! I'm so happy I lost a decent amount of weight this week, I was determined! Glad you like the trip flashback, sorry no pictures!

Congrats on 2.5 lbs!!! That is so great! I have my weigh-in tomorrow morning - I hope I did as well as you!

I am so excited for this mini-TR! I can't wait to see some pictures!

Thanks! How did your weigh in go? I'm sure you did great since you're doing the SB diet! I wish I could try that, but it's just too hard for me!

I'm going to start the next part of my little TR in a few minutes, gotta go check on some laundry first. I'm glad you guys like it!

 

[Nermel9]

Hi! So I left off at the end of our arrival day, moving on to day 2!

September 22, Monday!

I made us wake up really early to get to magic hours at AK! Like I mentioned earlier, this would be Brandon's first Disney park ever and my first time at AK, when I was there 11 years earlier, AK was not there! So we were really excited!

For anyone who has stayed at the All Star resorts, you know about the McDonald's on the way to the highway right? Well, this would be our breakfast stop for the next 5 days! We ate there every single morning...I might have skipped one because I was getting bored with it, but every day started with an Egg McMuffin and a hash brown! Only on vacation!

After our McDonald's fix and a short ride over, we were at AK! We were really early and got a great parking spot so we didn't need to wait for the tram. I was so excited I was practically running to the gate! We went in and it was so beautiful...I had no idea where to go or anything so we just wandered in and looked at the animals that lead you up to the Tree of Life.

Finally I saw it...my first glimpse of the Tree of Life!

I have better picture of it, but I used this one because it was the first one I took of the Tree, and it was my first time seeing it!

I remember reading in one of the Disney guide books that I had to go to Expedition Everest first, so that's where we were headed! I was so excited to ride this ride, I love roller coasters...and it would be Brandon's first! Not first time on EE, first roller coaster ever! He said he was always afraid of them.

We went on and LOVED it...it was late September so there was no wait, so we rode a few times in a row, soooo much fun!

I think after we did EE we did Dinosaur and Kali River Rapids...we weren't very impressed with those rides. I think next we did the safari, which was fun! I love the giraffes!

The only show we did was Flights of Wonder, which was so cute! Surprisingly I have a lot of pictures from that show, but this is my favorite

So cute!

We did a few more things before we decided to head back to the resort. I liked AK but it wasn't my favorite. Brandon didn't care for it very much either, he wanted to get to the good parks! So we went back to the room for a while and headed to DHS for the night, which, up until this trip, was my favorite park!

And this was the first time I realized it wasn't MGM anymore...I was so confused! I still call it MGM when I'm there, it's just a habit!

Anyway, after our little break, we went to DHS and it was my first time seeing this

The Sorcerer's Hat! When I was there the last time, there was no hat in front of the theater. It was a little confusing to me, but I like it now!

The last time I was at DHS was with my family and it was when ToT was still relatively new...my sister and I loved it and rode it over and over, and this was pre-fastpass so we had to wait in some lines! I wanted to do ToT immediately, and Brandon was kind of nervous about it! I convinced him he would love it just like he loved EE and we went on...and I was right, he loved it! Then we went on RnRC...my first time on that, and I loved it! We had so much fun that night, going back and forth between RnRC and ToT! There was no one there, there was no wait!

This was also the first and only time I have ever seen Fantasmic...we walked in about 5 minutes after it started. Actually, I think that's the first thing we did when we got there, then we went on all the rides, it was probably at 7 when the park was closing. I'm so out of order! We stood in the back and it was cute! I only have 2 pictures from it, and one is horribly blurry.

The only proof I have that I've ever seen Fantasmic! I would like to see it again and actually have a good seat, but I just don't feel like waiting an hour, which is why we always skip it! Maybe this time we will go, I have it scheduled in, but who knows how we will feel that night?

The one other thing that stands out to me about this night, besides riding RnRC and ToT over and over is getting a turkey leg! I LOVE those things! I wanted Brandon to finally try one after hearing me talk about them for years, and I got a picture of him eating it to remember the occasion!

I made it small, he would kill me if he knew I put that up here! Needless to say, he didn't care for the turkey leg, so I ended up eating most of it! Some people love them, some don't care!

We had a great first day at the parks, we were having such a good time and couldn't wait for the next day...Brandon's first time at MK, the park he always thought of when he heard "Disney World"!

So there is Day 1 of the parks! I'm sorry DHS is so out of order, it's hard to remember when we did things with no notes or itinerary! I'm guessing we did Fantasmic first, and then rode ToT and RnRC, but I could be wrong, maybe there were 2 showings of Fantasmic that night?

Magic Kingdom next!

 

[KatMark]

The order doesn't matter...it's what you did that matters. See we like AK better than the Studios (and I still call it MGM all the time). Perhaps it is our age and Rock & Roll does nothing for me (but I do LOVE TOT); I just find that the Studios needs a huge overhaul. The only thing with AK is that it could use a few more rides.

Can't wait to hear about Brandon's first day at MK.

 

[shelbys mommy]

Love it! My mini TR on my PTR is soooooooo out of order too!!!!

 

[Simba22]

Sorry, I'm late to the Flashback Party!

Just a little background about this trip-we only took about 3 months to save and plan for this trip, we decided to go in June and were planning for September. We went at the very end of value season and there was an end of summer room discount, so the room was super cheap! I didn't get a package, instead, I had my mom buy us tickets at AAA using her discount (which was like $3 a day or something not even worth it! )! We didn't do the dining plan, we had no ADR's, and we had 4 day park hoppers, which I thought was a lot at the time! HA! Little did I know!

OMG our first trip was just as bad! We went in May (because in 2005, May was still Value Season!), we decided to stay off-site to save money, we bought the park tickets through AAA (I agree that the supposed discount is NOT worth it!), and we did 4 day BASE tickets...no hopping for us! Of couse, we had a great time anyway, but now that I've been there so many times (and since I found The DIS!) I see how many things we did terribly wrong!

We got to the airport very quickly...and had like 3 hours to kill before our flight! Needless to say, Brandon wasn't thrilled with that...I was being cautious! I live in CT, we have traffic 24 hours a day on our major highways, Simba22 can back me up on this! I was so freaked out that we would get caught in some freak Hartford traffic and miss our flight!

Oh yes! The highways here are horrible! 3 of the 4 major highways in the state have been under constuction as long as I can remember, and there is literally ALWAYS traffic! Especially in the area by the airport because there are like 3 highways that all merge right there, plus it's a busy city. I can't blame you for wanting to get there 3 hours early! I've always gotten there about 2 hours early but if I could do 3, I probably would!

I didn't know anything about blister prevention back then, and just walking around DTD gave me blisters from my pink mary jane crocs!

Mine gave me blisters while I was SITTING on the PLANE! I hadn't really walked anywhere yet and my wonderful pink Mickey Crocs gave me blisters on the tops of my feet! I was really upset!

The order doesn't matter...it's what you did that matters. See we like AK better than the Studios (and I still call it MGM all the time). Perhaps it is our age and Rock & Roll does nothing for me (but I do LOVE TOT); I just find that the Studios needs a huge overhaul. The only thing with AK is that it could use a few more rides.

Can't wait to hear about Brandon's first day at MK.

I feel the same way! I adore AK and DHS is just kinda..."eh" to me! Which is crazy because I love all the rides, I love all the shows, and I love the park itself...but I always feel like it's missing something!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

The blisters are exactly why I won't wear Crocs. I know people extol their virtues all the time, but I get blisters fairly easily and don't want to get them from a pair of foam shoes.

Love the picture of Brandon eating the turkey leg I refuse to eat those things, though. There's so much sodium in them and the smell kind of bothers me. I obviously don't care if other people eat them, but I won't.

 

[therussells08]

I am loving the trip down memory lane!

Ahh, I know that McDonald's well! I have eaten there many many times while staying at ASMo!

I love seeing your first pic of the Tree of Life and the sorcerer's hat! I remember how amazed I was when I saw all of the big identifiers at each of the parks. Of course, the castle had the biggest impact on me!

Going back and forth between ToT and RnRC sounds like a perfect night to me! Those two hold very special places in my heart since they were the first two rides I ever rode at WDW!

I can't wait to read more!

 

[shelbys mommy]

Ahh, I know that McDonald's well! I have eaten there many many times while staying at ASMo!

Those times Ben got mad at me & we ate McDonald's???? It was THAT one!

 

[Nermel9]

The order doesn't matter...it's what you did that matters. See we like AK better than the Studios (and I still call it MGM all the time). Perhaps it is our age and Rock & Roll does nothing for me (but I do LOVE TOT); I just find that the Studios needs a huge overhaul. The only thing with AK is that it could use a few more rides.

Can't wait to hear about Brandon's first day at MK.

I like AK more than I did now than in 08...I think I might have been expecting too much! I do love MGM, I love the old Hollywood feel of it, and it has my favorite ride of all time, Tot!

Love it! My mini TR on my PTR is soooooooo out of order too!!!!

LOL, it's hard to remember everything! The first day in the parks was pretty easy to remember but I'm having a tough time with the rest of that week!

Sorry, I'm late to the Flashback Party!


OMG our first trip was just as bad! We went in May (because in 2005, May was still Value Season!), we decided to stay off-site to save money, we bought the park tickets through AAA (I agree that the supposed discount is NOT worth it!), and we did 4 day BASE tickets...no hopping for us! Of couse, we had a great time anyway, but now that I've been there so many times (and since I found The DIS!) I see how many things we did terribly wrong!

Oh yes! The highways here are horrible! 3 of the 4 major highways in the state have been under constuction as long as I can remember, and there is literally ALWAYS traffic! Especially in the area by the airport because there are like 3 highways that all merge right there, plus it's a busy city. I can't blame you for wanting to get there 3 hours early! I've always gotten there about 2 hours early but if I could do 3, I probably would!

Mine gave me blisters while I was SITTING on the PLANE! I hadn't really walked anywhere yet and my wonderful pink Mickey Crocs gave me blisters on the tops of my feet! I was really upset!


I feel the same way! I adore AK and DHS is just kinda..."eh" to me! Which is crazy because I love all the rides, I love all the shows, and I love the park itself...but I always feel like it's missing something!

We had a great time in 08, but there was so much I didn't know about planning! And I thought I was such the expert back then too!

I like getting to the airport early, Brandon hates it! He thinks we should just get there, get on the plane and go. He doesn't remember all the things we have to do before we get on the plane, and just assumes if we leave in the middle of the night there will be no traffic! Can't wait to see what time I can convince him to leave in November!

I can't believe you got blisters just sitting on the plane! I thought getting them just from DTD was bad! Like I said, I knew nothing about blister prevention, so I just assumed I'd be ok with one pair of shoes...I think I brought a pair of sneakers with me too, but I didn't wear them because I thought they'd make the blisters worse!

 

[Nermel9]

The blisters are exactly why I won't wear Crocs. I know people extol their virtues all the time, but I get blisters fairly easily and don't want to get them from a pair of foam shoes.

Love the picture of Brandon eating the turkey leg I refuse to eat those things, though. There's so much sodium in them and the smell kind of bothers me. I obviously don't care if other people eat them, but I won't.

Oh, I love my crocs...just not the mary jane kind anymore! After that trip, I stopped wearing the mary janes and only wear the classics now, and I rotate those with my Teva mush flip flops and either sneakers or Uggs! I will still get the occasional blister but it's nothing like 08...my feet were covered in blisters!

I LOVE the turkey legs! I'm sure they are horrible for you but whatever, you only eat them at Disney and I only have one, it's not like I will eat one every night!

I am loving the trip down memory lane!

Ahh, I know that McDonald's well! I have eaten there many many times while staying at ASMo!

I love seeing your first pic of the Tree of Life and the sorcerer's hat! I remember how amazed I was when I saw all of the big identifiers at each of the parks. Of course, the castle had the biggest impact on me!

Going back and forth between ToT and RnRC sounds like a perfect night to me! Those two hold very special places in my heart since they were the first two rides I ever rode at WDW!

I can't wait to read more!

I love that McDonald's, last November and this past May we went to eat just to visit it again!

I loved the Tree of Life, but the Sorcerer's hat looked weird to me at first, kind of out of place, but I love it now! And there is nothing like seeing the castle!

Riding ToT and RnRC over and over is the reason I love evening magic hours at MGM...there is usually no wait and you can do both rides sooooo many times in a row! We had so much fun that night!

Those times Ben got mad at me & we ate McDonald's???? It was THAT one!

 

[shelbys mommy]

LOL, it's hard to remember everything! The first day in the parks was pretty easy to remember but I'm having a tough time with the rest of that week!

Yes it is! The only reason I remembered so much detail in my last TR was because I kept updating my FB! All I had to do was go back & look at my posts!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

I LOVE the turkey legs! I'm sure they are horrible for you but whatever, you only eat them at Disney and I only have one, it's not like I will eat one every night!

Well, I'd tell you the real reason I don't want to eat turkey legs, but that would gross you out. It has to do with my old job at MK

 

[Nermel9]

Yes it is! The only reason I remembered so much detail in my last TR was because I kept updating my FB! All I had to do was go back & look at my posts!

That's a good idea! I kept notes in May with my phone, but this time I'm bringing an actual notebook with me!

Well, I'd tell you the real reason I don't want to eat turkey legs, but that would gross you out. It has to do with my old job at MK

You're right, I don't want to know, not for something I eat once a year! And I don't even think I had one in May so it's not even like I get one every trip! I'm sure they're disgusting, but whatever!

 

[DisneyFirefly]

You're right, I don't want to know, not for something I eat once a year! And I don't even think I had one in May so it's not even like I get one every trip! I'm sure they're disgusting, but whatever!

It's not anything about the turkey leg in particular, it's just something that happened regularly while I was working in custodial.

 

[Nermel9]

It's not anything about the turkey leg in particular, it's just something that happened regularly while I was working in custodial.

Ugh...I can only imagine...still don't want to know!

 

[therussells08]

It's not anything about the turkey leg in particular, it's just something that happened regularly while I was working in custodial.

My morbid curiosity is getting the best of me. I need to know!!

 

[Nermel9]

Hi everyone!

When I left off on my little 08 trip flashback, it was the end of our first day in the parks! The next day, Tuesday, 9/23 was Brandon's first day at the Magic Kingdom! We were both really excited, since he thought the Magic Kingdom was "Disney World". Before we got there, he didn't even know there were 4 parks.

Based on my pictures, we arrived at MK at around 10 am, which would never happen now!

We were excited to see MK decorated for Halloween!

We walked in and took our time looking around...they had so many of these cute pumpkin guys around, but we loved this one

since we're both huge baseball fans!

We walked a little down Main Street...Brandon's first look at the castle!

I'm guessing we went to Tomorrowland first, since Brandon kept telling me he wanted to ride Space Mountain. He told me he remembered hearing about it from other kids when he was younger after they got back from Disney vacations!

I do remember stopping off to the side to take pictures in front of the castle...here's an awful one!

We were looking through these pics last night and I told him I was so happy he didn't have that horrible white hat anymore!

There's one of me that Brandon took, since we didn't really know how Photopass worked and didn't want to bother people to take our picture together, but it's horrible, so I'm not putting it up here!

I remember there was a lot of Sleeping Beauty stuff going on at the time, because the DVD was just released, or about to be released. I was excited because I got to see the fairies and I love the blue one!

And they were constantly playing "Once Upon a Dream" by Emily Osment...it's one of the things that really stands out to me about this trip, it was always being played in MK! When I went home I had to find the song and put it on my Ipod...it's one of my favorite songs now because of this trip!

I honestly don't know what we did for the rest of the day! I know we went to Toontown because I have pictures from that, but as far as attractions, I have no clue! After the little pre-parade my pictures end for that day, and go straight into Thursday, the 25th, so I have a whole day with nothing!

I know Wednesday 9/24 we took a break from the parks (crazy, what was I thinking with 4 day park hoppers? Ugh! ) and we went to the water parks that day, both parks and were finished by about 1 or 2.

My feet were so covered in blisters I was basically hobbling by then, and since it was wet, I just took off all of my band aids and walked around barefoot. There was no reason to even try to keep them on, and I didn't want them floating around in the water if they came off...and it actually felt better to walk around with no shoes on.

I went down all the huge slides at Blizzard Beach and didn't like them...Summit Plummet is over before you even realize what is happening! I liked Typhoon Lagoon much better, I liked the Crush N Gusher, the water roller coaster they have there. Other than that, we had fun, but realized we were kind of over water parks. We haven't been back to them since that trip! I'm glad we went, it was my first time at Disney water parks, but I don't think I will go again, and if I do, I'll only go to Typhoon Lagoon.

Well, that's Day 3 and 4! I wish I could remember more, but with so few pictures or notes, it's hard! I asked Brandon last night if he remember a lot of that vacation, because he has like, a photographic memory, but he said he doesn't remember a lot, he just remembers being excited and happy that we were there! *Sigh*

Up next...more MGM and Wishes!

 

[KatMark]

We are like you and Brandon...we are way past water parks. Mark said if they had elevators to get to the top to go down the slide, he might consider it. Our favorite was always Typhoon Lagoon -- loved the Tidal Wave pool and, of course, the Lazy River.

 

[DisneyFirefly]

My morbid curiosity is getting the best of me. I need to know!!

I'll send you a PM