Our 2009 GRAND trip to WDW
- Thread starter loralie
- Start date
wannago2disney
Mouseketeer
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- Apr 25, 2007
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I am enjoying your TR ....I love the before and after pictures! Congrats on your weightloss. I need to lose weight but not very good with sticking to a plan.
We did Chef Mickey's last year for dinner and loved it. My DS's fav guy is Donald and just loved all the crazy stunts that Donald was doing throughout the meal.
looking forward to more!
We did Chef Mickey's last year for dinner and loved it. My DS's fav guy is Donald and just loved all the crazy stunts that Donald was doing throughout the meal.
looking forward to more!
BlueSkies
~Disney Gal.....
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- Jul 31, 2008
- Messages
- 2,935
Loralie Really enjoying your TR! and the before and after pics are great....
Your boys got so much more grown up looking from the first trip to this one...and you got younger looking thats for sure!!! Love the coordinating Mickey shirts on your DH and sons too...
Looking foward to your next installment...
Your boys got so much more grown up looking from the first trip to this one...and you got younger looking thats for sure!!! Love the coordinating Mickey shirts on your DH and sons too...Looking foward to your next installment...
mindystar
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2005
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- 1,449
Oh, I can not wait to return to the Grand! Last time I was there was for my sister's wedding--we did a split stay and were there for the time leading up to the wedding. I love that picture of the bookcase/shelves they have as well as the gorgeous lace curtains! I wish I had the extra $250 to buy that mickey lamp, but my pics of it will have to do Oh and isn't a balcony just lovely!
Your towel Mickey is awesome and so elegant
I've never had dinner at Chef Mickey's, but have always enjoyed breakfast there. How many times did you get to twirl your napkins around?
Hope the problem in your next post isn't too big/bad
Okay off to do some more
and packing, my traveling date got moved up a day 
so I've got to get crackin'
Oh and isn't a balcony just lovely!Your towel Mickey is awesome and so elegant
I've never had dinner at Chef Mickey's, but have always enjoyed breakfast there. How many times did you get to twirl your napkins around?
Hope the problem in your next post isn't too big/bad
Okay off to do some more
and packing, my traveling date got moved up a day so I've got to get crackin' 
teentoddlermom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 9, 2003
- Messages
- 944
We were able to book GF in 2003 when they had the same 4/3 offer! We decided to try concierge, and we did it again the next year with the same deal at YC, but then we decided that I was too much of a planner to really use the IPO, and there was just too much food at concierge (which really kills the diet willpower), so we now think it is over the top. Don't get me wrong, I splurge on food and forget the diet at WDW, but the concierge offerings are just more food than we need. We spent a lot of time at the parks anyway, so it felt like we were missing the 'free food' anyway!
We are looking forward to the next trip, and will request the marina view! Thanks for the info!
If you are not big breakfast eaters that I am sure you will like Chef Mickeys for dinner. I think we realized on this trip that when it comes to buffets, we like breakfast more and for dinners we prefer a sit down meal better.
I agree, the room was beautiful. Good luck with the weight loss. Just take it one day at a time and just focus on little goals like losing 5 pounds at a time.
OMG - you look at least 5 years younger than your picture in 2005. So that makes you look.....9 years younger!Seriously - what a big change in your face - you look great!
BTW - I love your DH's mickey shirt. too cute!
Thanks for the nice compliments. That was the only day they wore mickey or Disney Shirts. My kids used to have more Disney shirts when they were younger but now they wont wear them outside of Disney World anymore so I stopped buying them. The people DH work with gave him a hard time about his Mickey shirt, they did not like it. LOL. I will tell him my friends on the DIS appreciate it.
I am enjoying your TR ....I love the before and after pictures! Congrats on your weightloss. I need to lose weight but not very good with sticking to a plan.
We did Chef Mickey's last year for dinner and loved it. My DS's fav guy is Donald and just loved all the crazy stunts that Donald was doing throughout the meal.
looking forward to more!
As far as the weight loss goes, just try to stick to it for one day. Then the next day try to stick to it again. Sometimes we look at the big picture and we feel overwhelmed. Breaking it down to smaller goals helps with that. Good luck, it is not easy but it is worth all the hard work. We love all the characters at Chef Mickeys but Donald was really interactive. Thanks for reading along.
The boys did grow up so much . Such a big difference 5 years can make. Hopefully I will be able to post more today.Loralie Really enjoying your TR! and the before and after pics are great....
Looking foward to your next installment...
Yes, all the details at the GF make it so special. I would love that Mickey lamp too but the price tag is a little too high for me. We did twirl our napkins but sadly my boys were not as into it as when they were younger.Oh, I can not wait to return to the Grand! Last time I was there was for my sister's wedding--we did a split stay and were there for the time leading up to the wedding. I love that picture of the bookcase/shelves they have as well as the gorgeous lace curtains! I wish I had the extra $250 to buy that mickey lamp, but my pics of it will have to do
Your towel Mickey is awesome and so elegant
I've never had dinner at Chef Mickey's, but have always enjoyed breakfast there. How many times did you get to twirl your napkins around?
Hope the problem in your next post isn't too big/bad
Okay off to do some more
We still had fun but I missed them being younger in WDW. Wow...you will be in WDW next week. Have a great time.I heard that if you do concierge than you should not do the dining plan because you will never be hungry.We were able to book GF in 2003 when they had the same 4/3 offer! We decided to try concierge, and we did it again the next year with the same deal at YC, but then we decided that I was too much of a planner to really use the IPO, and there was just too much food at concierge (which really kills the diet willpower), so we now think it is over the top. Don't get me wrong, I splurge on food and forget the diet at WDW, but the concierge offerings are just more food than we need. We spent a lot of time at the parks anyway, so it felt like we were missing the 'free food' anyway!
We are looking forward to the next trip, and will request the marina view! Thanks for the info!
Hopefully you get the marina view on your next trip.Thanks to everyone for reading along and the nice compliments. I am going to try to post the end of day one later on today. Have a great day everyone.
Loralie
Great trip report, its almost as if I was there with you!All kidding aside, I am looking forward to reading the whole report. It was fun watching you with your journal making notes at the end of each day.
You are so sweet. I love you.
Loralie
O.K...I am back. We left off finishing a yummy dinner at Chef Mickeys. Then we decided a perfect way to end our first day at WDW would be to take the monorail over to the MK and watch wishes. We got there with a little extra time so we headed on over to Pirates of the Caribbean 
. I love the new additions to the ride. I know it is not so new to everyone else but it has been 4 years so it was new to us. Then we went over to get a spot in front of the castle and wait for wishes to start.
This is where the little problem comes into play. Since we just came from the pirates ride, we were walking towards main street but we were still over by Frontier land. The area where Main street and Frontier land meets. I see a whole bunch of people waiting for wishes to start. Some people were standing and some people were sitting on the floor. So wishes is about to start in 10 min. and we are standing there and this lady behind me starts complaining that we are standing right in front of her, blocking her view of the castle. I turn around and she is sitting on the floor. I did not realize that the people who were sitting on the floor were going to sit for the whole fireworks show. I thought they had been sitting there for a while saving a spot so that once the show started they would stand up to watch it. I told her that I see other people standing and thought we could stand there. She said that I could stay there as long as we sit down. I did not want to make a big deal since wishes was about to start in 3 min. so we sit down. Wishes starts and guess what happens? That's right, the people right in front of me who were sitting down, stand up and partially block my view.
PLUS...they have a stroller with a giant balloon tied to it that is now flying in the wind and is also getting in our way. Now if I stand up then I am going to have to argue with the lady behind me again and I really just want to watch wishes which is now starting so luckily we were able to move over to the side a little so we had a better view. Then the people in front of us finally noticed that their balloon was flying around too much so they tied it down better so it was not getting in our way so it all worked out.
After the fireworks I remembered reading that you can still go on a few rides as everyone else is fighting to get out of the park so we went over to Buzz Lightyear and we rode it 3 times in a row. The kids had a blast and I even beat their score one time. So after Buzz Lightyear it was time to go back to the room. It had been a long day and we were ready to go get in our jammies and get some rest. I read on the GF board that you should take the monorail to the MK but going back to the GF you should take the boat because the GF is the first stop. We make our way over to the boat launch and we get on line and the boat is filling up. The line stops right in front of us and they tell us we have to wait for the next boat. No problem. We are waiting and I notice on the other line someone is wearing a Grand Floridian T-shirt. I am a little confused 
but soon the next boat comes. The CM tells us to get on the boat and I hear him say this boat is going to the Wilderness Lodge. I say wait a min. I thought this line was for the GF. He tells me we have been waiting on the wrong line and he tells us to wait in front of the GF line. We wait there while he loads the Wilderness Lodge boat and then he comes over to us and tells us that we now have to get in the BACK of the GF boat line. Of course now the line for the GF boat probably has 200 people waiting for it. I asked if the people who were in the front of the GF boat line would mind if we went on the boat and the CM tells me it is not fair to the people on the end who will not get on the boat because of us. He said if the line was shorter he would let us go but that he could not do it this time. I was so upset because we waited so long already. I know it was my own stupid fault that I did not realize that I was in the wrong line but it was not like I cut the whole line without waiting at all and expected to be first on line. So instead of waiting on the end of the GF boat line we decided it would probably be faster to get on the monorail even though now the GF is the last stop. We lucked out that as soon as we got to the monorail it was waiting for us and we were back at the beautiful Grand Floridian in no time. When we got back to the room we saw this.
Turndown service at the Grand Floridian is just a really nice little treat at the end of the day. You walk into the room and the lights are dimmed, the curtains are drawn. The bed covers are turned down and they fix the pillows nicely and leave you a nice little piece of chocolate. It was a great way to end a wonderful first day. Sure there was a couple of little problems at the end but we were in WDW and we were not going to let the little things get us down.
That's it for day 1. Day 2 has us going to Hollywood Studios, Epcot World Showcase and Le Cellier for dinner.
Loralie
. I love the new additions to the ride. I know it is not so new to everyone else but it has been 4 years so it was new to us. Then we went over to get a spot in front of the castle and wait for wishes to start.
This is where the little problem comes into play. Since we just came from the pirates ride, we were walking towards main street but we were still over by Frontier land. The area where Main street and Frontier land meets. I see a whole bunch of people waiting for wishes to start. Some people were standing and some people were sitting on the floor. So wishes is about to start in 10 min. and we are standing there and this lady behind me starts complaining that we are standing right in front of her, blocking her view of the castle. I turn around and she is sitting on the floor. I did not realize that the people who were sitting on the floor were going to sit for the whole fireworks show. I thought they had been sitting there for a while saving a spot so that once the show started they would stand up to watch it. I told her that I see other people standing and thought we could stand there. She said that I could stay there as long as we sit down. I did not want to make a big deal since wishes was about to start in 3 min. so we sit down. Wishes starts and guess what happens? That's right, the people right in front of me who were sitting down, stand up and partially block my view.
PLUS...they have a stroller with a giant balloon tied to it that is now flying in the wind and is also getting in our way. Now if I stand up then I am going to have to argue with the lady behind me again and I really just want to watch wishes which is now starting so luckily we were able to move over to the side a little so we had a better view. Then the people in front of us finally noticed that their balloon was flying around too much so they tied it down better so it was not getting in our way so it all worked out. After the fireworks I remembered reading that you can still go on a few rides as everyone else is fighting to get out of the park so we went over to Buzz Lightyear and we rode it 3 times in a row. The kids had a blast and I even beat their score one time.
So after Buzz Lightyear it was time to go back to the room. It had been a long day and we were ready to go get in our jammies and get some rest. I read on the GF board that you should take the monorail to the MK but going back to the GF you should take the boat because the GF is the first stop. We make our way over to the boat launch and we get on line and the boat is filling up. The line stops right in front of us and they tell us we have to wait for the next boat. No problem. We are waiting and I notice on the other line someone is wearing a Grand Floridian T-shirt. I am a little confused but soon the next boat comes. The CM tells us to get on the boat and I hear him say this boat is going to the Wilderness Lodge. I say wait a min. I thought this line was for the GF. He tells me we have been waiting on the wrong line and he tells us to wait in front of the GF line. We wait there while he loads the Wilderness Lodge boat and then he comes over to us and tells us that we now have to get in the BACK of the GF boat line. Of course now the line for the GF boat probably has 200 people waiting for it. I asked if the people who were in the front of the GF boat line would mind if we went on the boat and the CM tells me it is not fair to the people on the end who will not get on the boat because of us. He said if the line was shorter he would let us go but that he could not do it this time. I was so upset because we waited so long already. I know it was my own stupid fault that I did not realize that I was in the wrong line but it was not like I cut the whole line without waiting at all and expected to be first on line. So instead of waiting on the end of the GF boat line we decided it would probably be faster to get on the monorail even though now the GF is the last stop. We lucked out that as soon as we got to the monorail it was waiting for us and we were back at the beautiful Grand Floridian in no time. When we got back to the room we saw this.
Turndown service at the Grand Floridian is just a really nice little treat at the end of the day. You walk into the room and the lights are dimmed, the curtains are drawn. The bed covers are turned down and they fix the pillows nicely and leave you a nice little piece of chocolate. It was a great way to end a wonderful first day. Sure there was a couple of little problems at the end but we were in WDW and we were not going to let the little things get us down.
That's it for day 1. Day 2 has us going to Hollywood Studios, Epcot World Showcase and Le Cellier for dinner.
Loralie
And that's why I LOVE turndown service.
There's something extra special to me about coming in after a long busy day and finding the room ready for night time. Makes me feel like a true 
And I bet it helped you completely forget all about that stinky boat line and the wishes people.
wannago2disney
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Apr 25, 2007
- Messages
- 497
that is really unfortunate about the boat line. But the turn down service sure made a welcoming scene when you got to your room.
I could just crawl right through my computer screen and right into that bed right now...it looks so comfy
I could just crawl right through my computer screen and right into that bed right now...it looks so comfy
mindystar
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Aug 12, 2005
- Messages
- 1,449
I still remember our first time watching SpectroMagic and how we were behind this family (I was 14, my sisters were 13 and 7) and the mom turns around and starts talking to my mom and before we know it the mom has made her older sons go behind us and let us stand right in front! She had been there many times before so would tell mom when/what to get ready to take pictures. The next time we went I was 17 and we made sure we were there extra early so this time we'd be at the front. Right as it starts we can hear this commotion going on behind us and these two parents are pushing through the sea of people with their little kids and push right up to the front. We let the little girls stand in front of us, and I got the dad shoving his camera right next to me to take pics. There really are people who spread the disney 
and others who take from it. All that just to mention sorry for the not so great experience during Wishes! but glad it turned out fine in the end.
Ugh, and what fun at the end of a long day to try to take the fast route and then having to take the long one to get back "home."
But don't you just
that turndown service! I was telling my mom a few days ago about how I'm looking forward to that again at the end of the day--how it just seems more homey.
Okay, I'll stop babbling, after all it is YOUR tr
and others who take from it. All that just to mention sorry for the not so great experience during Wishes! but glad it turned out fine in the end.Ugh, and what fun at the end of a long day to try to take the fast route and then having to take the long one to get back "home."
But don't you just
that turndown service! I was telling my mom a few days ago about how I'm looking forward to that again at the end of the day--how it just seems more homey.Okay, I'll stop babbling, after all it is YOUR tr
This was our first time ever staying at a resort that had turndown service and we loved it. Before we had it and I had just read about it online I thought I would not really care if I had turndown service or not but now I know I love it.And that's why I LOVE turndown service.
And I bet it helped you completely forget all about that stinky boat line and the wishes people.
It's gonna be hard to stay anywhere else next time. that is really unfortunate about the boat line. But the turn down service sure made a welcoming scene when you got to your room.
That would be so cool if we could climb through the computer
What an easy way to get back to WDW. 
I still remember our first time watching SpectroMagic and how we were behind this family (I was 14, my sisters were 13 and 7) and the mom turns around and starts talking to my mom and before we know it the mom has made her older sons go behind us and let us stand right in front! She had been there many times before so would tell mom when/what to get ready to take pictures. The next time we went I was 17 and we made sure we were there extra early so this time we'd be at the front. Right as it starts we can hear this commotion going on behind us and these two parents are pushing through the sea of people with their little kids and push right up to the front. We let the little girls stand in front of us, and I got the dad shoving his camera right next to me to take pics. There really are people who spread the disney
Ugh, and what fun at the end of a long day to try to take the fast route and then having to take the long one to get back "home."
But don't you just
Okay, I'll stop babbling, after all it is YOUR tr
That is such a sweet story about the other family that let you go in the front to watch Spectromagic and how the mom was helping your Mom with the pics. That was some nice
for you. I am going to try to post day 2 later on today. Thanks to everyone for reading along. Writing the TR does take some work but it is a lot of fun and it helps with the post vacation blues.
Loralie
disneydreamertoo
Mouseketeer
- Joined
- Mar 25, 2007
- Messages
- 160
Enjoying your TR! I followed you over here from the other thread you are posting on! I am very much enjoying your before and after pictures!!! Hope we are going to get more of those--same poses different weight! It is very inspirational. I have 3 boys around your sons ages and am looking forward to seeing how they enjoy Disney. I also have a "been there, done that" kid!
I will try my best to finish by June 9th but I am not making any promises.I'll look forward to reading the rest of your tr when I get back. You have til June 9--you can do it by then right
No pressure, have fun writing!!!
You must be so excited the trip is almost here. 
Thanks for following me over here.Enjoying your TR! I followed you over here from the other thread you are posting on! I am very much enjoying your before and after pictures!!! Hope we are going to get more of those--same poses different weight! It is very inspirational. I have 3 boys around your sons ages and am looking forward to seeing how they enjoy Disney. I also have a "been there, done that" kid!
Yes I do have a few more before and after pics that will be in the next few posts coming up. Hopefully you guys will enjoy them. 3 boys must be tough, I know what a handful 2 boys can be. They did enjoy Disney, even my "been there done that" little one....but it was not as exciting for them as when they were younger. That made me a little sad but don't get me wrong, they still had a blast.Loralie
Day 2 is here. We woke up this morning early so we can make it to Hollywood Studios by rope drop. Before we left for HS I went to Gasparilla Grill to grab some breakfast for the gang and bring it back to the room. This is not a dining report but I did want to show you a picture of one food item.
This is an apple danish and I had it a few times during the trip and it is so good and fresh and yummy. I them. I know I am showing you before and after pics of how much weight I lost and everything but when I am on vacation I eat what I want and enjoy myself.
So after breakfast we took the bus over to HS. It was EMH and we made it there about 20 min. before rope drop. As soon as I could I walked very fast along with the majority of the crowd over to TSM to get fast passes. Then we went over to Rock N Roller Coaster. I had never been able to ride this ride for different reasons on our other trips and I was determined to ride it this time. My boys are chickens when it comes to the big rides so I was really excited
when my DS13 said he wanted to go on with me. We get on the ride and he is screaming that he is so scared. I know I should not laugh but it was so funny. When we first got in the seat and the shoulder harness was on us he kept trying to hold my hand. I kept telling him to hold on to the handles so I had to press my arm against him to make him feel better. He was screaming so much and I was laughing so much. We had the best time. We both loved this ride and I think he will be better on roller coasters because of it. It was one of the best moments of the trip for me.
Here is a pic of me and the boys in front of the big Hat.
After Rock and Roller Coaster we went back over to Toy Story Mania to see how long the standby wait was. It was only 15 min. so we waited and figured we can use our fastpasses later in the day. We LOVED TSM!!! It is such a great family ride that everyone can enjoy.
Here is some pics of us waiting in line for the ride.
You don't mind waiting in line for this ride because there is so many cool things to see. After TSM we went over to do Star Tours and see the Jedi Training show. My DS11 likes Star Wars so this was perfect for him. He was a little disappointed he did not get picked to be in the show but he still enjoyed it.
We decided to go back to TSM and use the fastpass and a wonderful thing happened. We used the fastpasses to get in the fastpass lane but they did not take the tickets from us. So I put them back in my beautiful fanny pack and a little later we used them AGAIN. That's right. We went on TSM 3 times that day.
We did a few more rides and then went over to Pizza Planet for lunch. Our plans for the rest of the day was to go back to the GF and rest and then go to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier and see the countries at WS. We were feeling alright and decided that we should leave HS and go right over to Epcot now and see WS and then eat dinner at Le Cellier and then call it a night and go back to the resort early so that it what we did.
I will write about Epcot in the next post.
Thanks for reading along,
Loralie
This is an apple danish and I had it a few times during the trip and it is so good and fresh and yummy. I
them. I know I am showing you before and after pics of how much weight I lost and everything but when I am on vacation I eat what I want and enjoy myself. So after breakfast we took the bus over to HS. It was EMH and we made it there about 20 min. before rope drop. As soon as I could I walked very fast along with the majority of the crowd over to TSM to get fast passes. Then we went over to Rock N Roller Coaster. I had never been able to ride this ride for different reasons on our other trips and I was determined to ride it this time. My boys are chickens when it comes to the big rides so I was really excited
when my DS13 said he wanted to go on with me. We get on the ride and he is screaming that he is so scared. I know I should not laugh but it was so funny. When we first got in the seat and the shoulder harness was on us he kept trying to hold my hand. I kept telling him to hold on to the handles so I had to press my arm against him to make him feel better. He was screaming so much and I was laughing so much. We had the best time. We both loved this ride and I think he will be better on roller coasters because of it. It was one of the best moments of the trip for me. Here is a pic of me and the boys in front of the big Hat.
After Rock and Roller Coaster we went back over to Toy Story Mania to see how long the standby wait was. It was only 15 min. so we waited and figured we can use our fastpasses later in the day. We LOVED TSM!!! It is such a great family ride that everyone can enjoy.
Here is some pics of us waiting in line for the ride.
You don't mind waiting in line for this ride because there is so many cool things to see. After TSM we went over to do Star Tours and see the Jedi Training show. My DS11 likes Star Wars so this was perfect for him. He was a little disappointed he did not get picked to be in the show but he still enjoyed it.
We decided to go back to TSM and use the fastpass and a wonderful thing happened. We used the fastpasses to get in the fastpass lane but they did not take the tickets from us. So I put them back in my beautiful fanny pack and a little later we used them AGAIN. That's right. We went on TSM 3 times that day.
We did a few more rides and then went over to Pizza Planet for lunch. Our plans for the rest of the day was to go back to the GF and rest and then go to Epcot for dinner at Le Cellier and see the countries at WS. We were feeling alright and decided that we should leave HS and go right over to Epcot now and see WS and then eat dinner at Le Cellier and then call it a night and go back to the resort early so that it what we did.
I will write about Epcot in the next post.
Thanks for reading along,
Loralie
tink1957
Proud Redhead
- Joined
- May 18, 2008
- Messages
- 3,400
Great report so far, I love the before & after pics. I followed you over from the weight loss thread & you are truly inspiring
to have lost all that weight & kept it off. I lost 55 lbs six years ago & it crept slowly back until I now weigh almost as much as I did then
It's alot harder to lose the second time around, but I'm trying my best.The turndown service sounds heavenly, I need to try that on our next, next trip.
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