Our 2009 GRAND trip to WDW

[minniebeth]

Loralie,
I have found your TR and am loving reading and following!
It's fun to read about your family's experience, I have 2 kids similar in age and another 7yo, so your story is interesting to me!

I'm from NJ and a big Yankee fan...LOVE your DH's Yankeee hat! ...and even better, his Notre Dame shirt! We're also ND fans!

I'm curious...with an earlier night coming back to the GF from Epcot, did you just hit the hay or come back and do anything at the resort? I'm just curious what there is to do around the resort besides swim that would appeal to your boys. Did they have the movie or campfire I've read about while you were there?

Did your boys enjoy DQ? My DS14 loved it! I can't believe you braved Cyber Space Mountain 2 times! Once was MORE than enough for me! I was dizzy and nauseaus for quite some time after DS' first crazy roller coaster...and I love roller coasters!

What a sweet story about your DS befriending the boy at WPE...that will be a nice memory! The snacks you mentioned at Goofy's are only one snack credit? Wow if they are!!

I loved the cute balcony photos that you and your DH took of each other. I love all the posed photos of fun WDW things, but those are the photos that we take that you look back on and make you smile, capturing those moments!

I am very inspired by your weight loss and will use your TRs as an inspiration!
Way to go and keep at it!

Thank you for sharing your family's magic with us!

 

[MEK]

[

While we ate in WPE, my DS11 made a friend...... When we were done we told the boy we were going to go next door to Goofys to make our own snacks. The boy asks us to wait a min. and he goes in the kitchen. He comes out with his mom's cell phone and tells us that it is alright with his mom if he comes to Goofys candy co. with us. So now I have 3 boys to look after. It was fine and my DS11 was happy his new friend was tagging along.

OK - this is a funny story. I don't know whether to feel sorry for this kid (cause he has to sit in around all day while his parents work) or admire him for getting himself invited to Goofy's with the Disney tourists! What could you say, "No". Seriously - I'm sure your son was thrilled to find a new friend.

Must go home to see your newest photos. I still Lov'n your TR.

 

[MagicShell]

I just found your report. I am enjoying it. Your 11 yr. old sounds like my 13 yr. old daughter. She makes friends everywhere she goes. Her dad and I do not know where she gets her out going ways. We are both rather reserved.

We had 8:05 res. at CP in Dec. I really wanted to see and empty Main Street too, but I kind of felt like it made us late getting into the MK. It was worth it though, I love the CP at breakfast.

By the way, you look great. Congratulations on the weight loss.

 

[loralie]

Loralie,
I have found your TR and am loving reading and following!
It's fun to read about your family's experience, I have 2 kids similar in age and another 7yo, so your story is interesting to me!

I'm from NJ and a big Yankee fan...LOVE your DH's Yankeee hat! ...and even better, his Notre Dame shirt! We're also ND fans!

I'm curious...with an earlier night coming back to the GF from Epcot, did you just hit the hay or come back and do anything at the resort? I'm just curious what there is to do around the resort besides swim that would appeal to your boys. Did they have the movie or campfire I've read about while you were there?

Did your boys enjoy DQ? My DS14 loved it! I can't believe you braved Cyber Space Mountain 2 times! Once was MORE than enough for me! I was dizzy and nauseaus for quite some time after DS' first crazy roller coaster...and I love roller coasters!

What a sweet story about your DS befriending the boy at WPE...that will be a nice memory! The snacks you mentioned at Goofy's are only one snack credit? Wow if they are!!

I loved the cute balcony photos that you and your DH took of each other. I love all the posed photos of fun WDW things, but those are the photos that we take that you look back on and make you smile, capturing those moments!

I am very inspired by your weight loss and will use your TRs as an inspiration!
Way to go and keep at it!

Thank you for sharing your family's magic with us!

When we came back from Epcot early we basically rested in the room. My DH and I hung out on the balcony while the kids watched T.V. I think we we were so tired from getting up so early everyday, I think we were just exhausted. We had planned on doing the movies and campfire for a different night but we never got to do it because of the rain. My boys LOVED DQ and because of the rain we went a second time this trip. My DS11 loved meeting the little boy at WPE. I think it is a memory he will remember for a long time. The snacks from Goofy's are only 1 snack credit each. Really good use of a snack credit. Thanks for reading along and for the nice compliments. I will try to post day 4 later on today.

OK - this is a funny story. I don't know whether to feel sorry for this kid (cause he has to sit in around all day while his parents work) or admire him for getting himself invited to Goofy's with the Disney tourists! What could you say, "No". Seriously - I'm sure your son was thrilled to find a new friend.

Must go home to see your newest photos. I still Lov'n your TR.

I know what you mean...I felt a little bad for him too but he was a very nice little boy and my son was happy so it was all good.

I just found your report. I am enjoying it. Your 11 yr. old sounds like my 13 yr. old daughter. She makes friends everywhere she goes. Her dad and I do not know where she gets her out going ways. We are both rather reserved.

We had 8:05 res. at CP in Dec. I really wanted to see and empty Main Street too, but I kind of felt like it made us late getting into the MK. It was worth it though, I love the CP at breakfast.

By the way, you look great. Congratulations on the weight loss.

It's funny how kids can make friends so easily. I guess we ate faster at CP than you did because when we were done we were a few min. early for rope drop. I think we lucked out because all the characters came right away so we did not have to wait around for them. Thanks for the kind words on the weight loss. I have been having a little hard time getting back on track since the vacation and I really have to get back to my exercise routine. Thanks for reading along.

Loralie

 

[CoryDKross]

Hey, love reading your report. My family was also at the GF (May 9th-16th). After our GV room was not available at 3pm, they upgraded us to Sugar Loaf! The room looks the same, but it was nice being across from the courtyard pool and also the snacks all day were good. This was only our second trip, but I cannot see us staying anywhere else now! I have just booked GF SL for November! Anyway, can't wait to read more....

 

[BIGSean]

Hi all,

I am Loralie's DH...She SWEARS that means Dear Husband...but who knows? We had a great time on the trip, and it was entirely due to her planning. She did a great job and it is cool reading about the trip! Great job kid!

 

[KimDis]

Hi all,

I am Loralie's DH...She SWEARS that means Dear Husband...but who knows? We had a great time on the trip, and it was entirely due to her planning. She did a great job and it is cool reading about the trip! Great job kid!

LOL - welcome to the DIS!

 

[loralie]

Hey, love reading your report. My family was also at the GF (May 9th-16th). After our GV room was not available at 3pm, they upgraded us to Sugar Loaf! The room looks the same, but it was nice being across from the courtyard pool and also the snacks all day were good. This was only our second trip, but I cannot see us staying anywhere else now! I have just booked GF SL for November! Anyway, can't wait to read more....

What a great dose of pixidust. Upgraded to Sugar Loaf! I was so hopping we would get upgraded but no luck for us. It must be so nice to have another trip planned for November. I have no idea when I will be back. Thanks for reading along.

Hi all,

I am Loralie's DH...She SWEARS that means Dear Husband...but who knows? We had a great time on the trip, and it was entirely due to her planning. She did a great job and it is cool reading about the trip! Great job kid!

Thanks Babe...and I swear that's what DH stands for.

Sorry I have been away from the boards for a few days. I am going to post day 4 in a little bit. Thanks for sticking with me.

Loralie

 

[Disney4nonah]

Great TR, love your kids so cute! And you look beautiful, love the before and after pics! can't wait to read more, you have a fan here

 

[disneydreamertoo]

Hi all,

I am Loralie's DH...She SWEARS that means Dear Husband...but who knows? We had a great time on the trip, and it was entirely due to her planning. She did a great job and it is cool reading about the trip! Great job kid!

You are a true DH! How sweet for you to post on Loralie's TR. I am enjoying it so much! Thanks for taking the time to do this Loralie!!!!

 

[loralie]

We woke up on the 4th day of our trip and we were not happy to see the news. According to the weather report, it was to rain and thunderstorm every single day for the rest of our vacation. I knew it was supposed to rain before I left but everyone told me that when it rains in FL, it only rains for about 1/2 hour and the rest of the time it is sunny. Not this time. So...according to my schedule, that I worked so hard on before I left, we were supposed to go to morning extra magic hours at Animal Kingdom today for a short time and then go straight to Blizzard Beach. Well it was cloudy out but it was not raining yet and I knew the boys really wanted to go to Blizzard Beach so we decided to skip Animal Kingdom and relax in the room a little and take our chances at Blizzard Beach which opened at 10:00 am. Before we went to the bus stop, I looked out on the balcony and saw this

The mousekeepers walk the grounds with their parasols in the morning. Just another little touch that makes the GF so special.

We finally made it to Blizzard Beach after waiting for the bus for what seemed like forever and it was not crowded at all due to the cloudy weather. We loved the slides and were able to do so much in a short amount of time. DS11 wanted to ride Summit Plummet so badly but I was not too comfortable with him doing that so I said no. We went on pretty much everything except Summit Plummet and another really intense slide that I can't remember the name of right now. Anyway, after going on pretty much everything, it starts raining...ALOT! We decided that since we are wet anyway, we should just hang out in the wave pool. It was so nice and warm in the wave pool. A few other crazy people like us were in the pool too and we had fun.

After a while the rain was letting up but did not stop and we decided to call it a very wet day. We were going to get dressed and get some lunch because we worked up an appetite going up all those stairs to get to the slides. We did rent towels but since we had left them on a lounge chair they were now drenched and served no purpose. On the way to the lockers my DS13 spots a cart that sells cookies and asks if he can get one since he is so hungry, we are on vacation so of course I say yes. We get on the line and the person in front of us orders a cappuccino. There is only one person working the cart and he takes FOREVER to help the person in front of us. I should remind you that we are standing there cold and dripping in the rain. Finally it is our turn and of course the cookie that my son wants is not part of the dining plan so now I have to pay $3.00 for a cookie.

So...we get the cookie, get to the lockers, get dressed and we go to Lottawatta Lodge to eat. They do accept the dining plan so we got some food and go get a table. Of course all the tables are outside but they do have umbrella so we did not get too wet. After we ate we went to return the locker key and we see a cart that sells mini doughnuts. I had read about the mini doughnuts on the DIS boards and really wanted to try them. Of course they were not part of the dining plan so I paid $7.00 for a dozen and we shared. They were warm and yummy! By this time we were ready to get back to the GF and I looked at the bus stop and I just could not wait in the rain and then make the million stops before finally getting to the GF so I went over to the customer service window and asked them to call us a cab. I think it was $18.00 including tip and it was the best money I spent all week. The cab was warm and we were back to the GF in no time.

After we got back to the room we rested and got food from Gasparilla Grill and ate it in the room. I was not feeling well and I was glad I brought some antibiotics from home with me. I took some meds and rested and watched TV for the rest of the night.

That's it for day 4. I will try to post day 5 quicker and not make you wait too long.

Loralie

 

[loralie]

Great TR, love your kids so cute! And you look beautiful, love the before and after pics! can't wait to read more, you have a fan here

Thanks for the nice compliments. You are so sweet.

You are a true DH! How sweet for you to post on Loralie's TR. I am enjoying it so much! Thanks for taking the time to do this Loralie!!!!

He is a sweet DH. I am enjoying writing the trip report. It is fun to re-live the trip since I don't have another one planned.

Thanks for reading along.

Loralie

 

[MagicShell]

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear how rainy it was during that time at WDW. I love your picture of the mousekeepers, that is very cool.

 

[loralie]

Thanks for the update. Sorry to hear how rainy it was during that time at WDW. I love your picture of the mousekeepers, that is very cool.

We were a little bummed that it rained as much as it did on our trip but we made the best of it and still had fun. Seeing the mousekeepers was a nice little thing to see.

Thanks for sticking with me.

Loralie

 

[loralie]

Today was supposed to be our resort day. I had a great day planned, we were going to rent a cabana at the GF, then we were going to go over to the CR and I was going to go parasailing for the first time and the boys were going to try water-skiing for the first time. Well we woke up to rain so there goes our plans. Here are some pics of the cabana that took on our first day.

It would have been so nice to use the cabana but we are in WDW and we are not going to let the rain ruin our day. So first I got on the phone to change my dining reservations.

We were originally going to go to the GF Cafe for dinner that night but I changed it to 1900 PF. I figured it would be a fun dinner since the kids were a little disappointed they would not be able to go water-skiing.

Since we were now saving so much money by not doing the water-skiing, parasailing and renting the cabana, we decided to splurge and have a nice breakfast at the GF Cafe. We had to pay OOP for this meal because we had the rest of the dining credits planned for the rest of the week. Here we are at the GF Cafe. You can see my DH's shirt is wet from the rain and my DS13's hair is wet. I think DS13's hair is wet because he just got out of the shower, not so much from the rain.

The GF Cafe is such a pretty restaurant. We enjoyed our meal and talked about how we were going to spend our rainy day.

I will continue day 5 in the next post.

Thanks for reading along,

Loralie

 

[KimDis]

Loralie - thanks for the update. I've really enjoyed reading your TR. I haven't said it so far but you look great and you've really inspired me to get back in shape.

The cabana looks great! I think you've completely convinced me to stay at the GF now for our next trip.

 

[loralie]

Loralie - thanks for the update. I've really enjoyed reading your TR. I haven't said it so far but you look great and you've really inspired me to get back in shape.

The cabana looks great! I think you've completely convinced me to stay at the GF now for our next trip.

Thanks, I think everyone should stay at the GF at least once. Are you planning a trip there? It really is a beautiful resort.

Loralie

 

[KarBear]

Still love reading along!

 

[MagicShell]

Too bad all your plans got rained out. Those cabanas looked very nice. You were going to try parasailing?! I would never be brave enough to try that. I am waiting to see what you decided to do instead.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Oh my goodness, I was 4 pages behind. I do have a good excuse though, I started my own trip report. We surprised our 11 year old son with a trip to WDW and I thought some of my Dis friends might want to read about it. The link is in my signature if you want to have a read.

Now, back to your report. I am so proud of you on your weight loss. That's great!

I know that rain can put a real "damper" (pun intended) on a vacation but it looks like everything is working out for you guys despite the rain.

Looking forward to reading more.

Lisa