Our 2nd Trip to Disney! Did it Measure Up? (w/pics) **THE END**

[earthfaries]

The military lifestyle suits me very well as I love to travel. I'm not sure if I mentioned it, but Connor was born in Australia. I think it's so cool that he'll always have that special connection with a country that I adore.

I'd love to be stationed in Englad so that we could travel around Europe cheaply!

That is so cool

I loved traveling too, although we didn't move too much while I was growing up. Just England, CA, and Alaska pretty much.

Because of my dad being in the AF he had instilled a love of travel in me too

We just seem to be in a WDW phase the last few years, which he can't understand Once was enough for him.

My mom on the other hand is obsessed with it!

Not only is she going on her transatlantic cruise in April, now she will be touring Italy and France for 30 days after her 17 day cruise!!! And she'll be alone too, which kinda worries me.

Anyway, It is so neat you lived in Australia! Trevon wants to go there so bad one day, there and France. Hopefully we will

​

 

[liznboys]

My gosh, your dad is a WDW STAR! What a great sport he is! He sure is a magnet for attention!

Oh and that was funny about Sully getting out of the stroller... LOL Poor kiddo!



p.s. keep up the great work!

 

[carissanboys]

A few more photos before we headed on to France:

Sully surprised me quite a few times on this trip by asking me to take his picture!

On to France!

Owen called this the "Irish Tower"

I love all of the details.

When we got to France, we ran into another Cub Scouts family from our pack. We knew they were going to Disney World the same time we were, but had no idea what their schedule was or anything. So it was kind of cool that we ran into them accidentally.

When we first got there I headed to the crepe stand. I thought I was getting the one with chocolate and raspberry preserves, but it only ended up having chocolate. It was good. My memere use to make crepes on special occassions. She'd make a HUGE stack and we'd devour them. I love them with brown sugar or applesauce and then rolled up.

When in France, one MUST visit here:

My dad got to use his French when ordering. I mentioned early on that we're French Canadian (I think I did anyway). My dad grew up speaking French in his family. Unfortunately, the next generation (me) wasn't as lucky. It would have been so much easier to learn French in school if my dad had spoken it to me as a kid. I heard it a lot from my memere, but she also spoke English most of the time.

My dad told me after that a woman near him in line told him to go ahead of her. She said, "After you, Your Majesty"

I had a chocolate croissant, Chuck had a piece of chocolate cake and my parents shared a Napoleon. The boys had those HUGE chocolate chip cookies (which were wicked good). A very yummy snack.

Next it was Morocco. I decided to get some lunch here. I forgot to take a picture of the food until we had eaten most everything. Here's what was left:

None of us was impressed with the food. Just not our thing. But, it was neat to try.

We went looking in the shops for a bit.

Where's Aladdin?

Notice the pimple on Owen's chin? Ouch!

Here's Aladdin!

It was here in Morocco that the boys decided they wanted to make the masks. Well, Owen and Sully did anyway.

Sully was looking around the store trying to find inspiration for his mask.

Connor was getting tired.

While I was outside with Connor, I spotted the real Aladdin. Owen really wanted to meet him so I got him and went to stand in line. He told me he didn't want to see Jasmine (who was with Aladdin). I guess because she was a girl? Not sure about that one, but I convinced him to do it anyway. Pepere ended up joining us in line. I wonder why that was?

You notice that Jasmine is holding Owen's hand. I don't think she gave him any choice. Somehow, he lived through it.

Also, you see my dad had a bunch of pins on his hat? Those weren't his. Connor didn't want his pins on his own hat so Pepere nicely wore them for him.

Up Next...Day 7 - Part 4

 

[liznboys]

oooh, another update while I'm on here!

Sully is definitely warming up to having his picture taken! Look at that smile emerging!

Irish Tower LOL!

Wow, running into the cub scout friend, such a small world!

"After you, Your Majesty"

 

[carissanboys]

That is so cool

I loved traveling too, although we didn't move too much while I was growing up. Just England, CA, and Alaska pretty much.

Because of my dad being in the AF he had instilled a love of travel in me too

We just seem to be in a WDW phase the last few years, which he can't understand Once was enough for him.

My mom on the other hand is obsessed with it!

Not only is she going on her transatlantic cruise in April, now she will be touring Italy and France for 30 days after her 17 day cruise!!! And she'll be alone too, which kinda worries me.

Anyway, It is so neat you lived in Australia! Trevon wants to go there so bad one day, there and France. Hopefully we will

​

I'm torn a lot because I love to travel to new places, but I also love going to Disney World (especially after this last trip). I try to deal with it by taking smaller trips in between the Disney trip and solo trips. I went to Alaska by myself (to visit a friend) last year (and might be going again this year since she may be getting married) and a trip to VA. We're planning on doing some camping trips this year as a family.

It's so awesome that your mom is doing so much traveling! That's what I'd love to be doing once my kids are grown and on their own. I think traveling alone is a LOT of fun and very relaxing.

My gosh, your dad is a WDW STAR! What a great sport he is! He sure is a magnet for attention!

Oh and that was funny about Sully getting out of the stroller... LOL Poor kiddo!



p.s. keep up the great work!

Thanks! He IS a star! My parents have had fun showing off all of his pictures from this trip.

oooh, another update while I'm on here!

Sully is definitely warming up to having his picture taken! Look at that smile emerging!

Irish Tower LOL!

Wow, running into the cub scout friend, such a small world!

"After you, Your Majesty"

I'll have another update soon too. I'm trying to get this day finished. There's not a lot left after this day though Which is sad, but I'll also have less of a pull to be on the computer once my TR is finished!

 

[Liz]

I can't believe your dad got picked again!!!! What a great time you all are having!!! And the pics are awesome!!!!

That's funny about running into the Cub Scout from home! We ran into my DH's aunt in Epcot once years ago. We knew she'd be down there but never expected to see her. Then another time we ran into two families at the same time from our hometown in front of ToT. Funny how things like that happen!

I don't believe I've ever noticed that detail in France where it looks like an artist has been painting.

It makes me want to go in January seeing your lack of crowds and beautiful weather!

Oh and Jeff and Kelsee will be sad they passed up the Morocco "Aladdin" hats!

I'm enjoying your report so much!

 

[carissanboys]

While we were standing in line for Aladdin, Chuck and Memere took Sully and Connor over to watch the Japanese Drummers. We'd seen them on our last trip so I decided to take this moment to go and look for my pearl!!

For those that read my PTR from the beginning, you know that I planned on doing the Pick Your Own Pearl and having a mother's ring made from it (Owen's birthstone is pearl and Sully and Connor are both emerald). My parents wanted to watch as well (and decided to also get one). I'd decided to let Sully pick out the pearl for me. I went to a counter and asked where it was because I couldn't see it in the store. Of course, it was just a few feet away! But, the manager said I could pay for it at that counter (since there wasn't a line) and then just hand the ticket over at the oyster/pearl counter.

There was no one ahead of me so I didn't even have to wait.

Here's Sully picking out the oyster:

My pearl ended up being 7.5 mm (and a golden color), which I guess is considered big enough for her to play the drums! Memere's ended up being "only" 7 mm and they didn't do the drums for her. The girl was so fast and I missed a picture of the drum playing. It was cool though.

I looked through their different settings, but they didn't have a huge selection. I couldn't find anything with an emerald so I decided to hold off. I'd heard that there was a place in DTD that had a better selection. I just wasn't sure I was going to have a chance to get back there.

We headed outside to see if Miyuki (a.k.a. The Candy Lady) was out yet. Chuck was already standing behind the rope with Owen and Connor (good on ya, mate!). Sully and I took an open spot by the rope (not next to Chuck) and soon after she came out. She is just so funny to listen to! I love the way she talks as she's making the animals. And her talent truly is amazing. She makes it look so simple, but I have no doubt that it's much harder than it looks.

My favorite was the giraffe she made:

She kept choosing kids that were standing next to either Sully and I or Chuck and the boys. I was afraid she'd think we were with them and seeing as she only does one per family, I didn't think our odds were looking good.

Sully knew if he got chosen he wanted her to make a wolf. Shortly after that, she chose Owen (Owen's ended up being the last one she did). Sully knew this meant he wouldn't get to choose so he left to go sit with Memere and Pepere.

Owen chose a blue dinosaur.

You can see Owen watching her make his in this picture:

And then, somehow, the blue dinosaur turned into a fire breathing dragon

I then took Owen inside to pick out his Pokemon item. Of course, as I suspected, Sully was upset that he didn't get to pick any Pokemon item I'd even told him when he picked the legos that he wasn't to get upset when we got to Japan and he didn't get to pick anything. Oh well. Pepere took Sully (and Owen's mask) to the KidCot station and they got their names written in Japanese. That was neat.

While in the store, I had to take a picture of the Monchichis! I'd forgotten all about these guys until someone mentioned them in their TR (Winkers, was that you?).

That one sucking his thumb reminds me of Connor

The kids were really starting to get tired and whiny, so I thought we should think about heading out, even though there was SOOOOO much that we hadn't seen yet (never got to do either of the boat rides ).

We did go to Germany and Pepere took the boys to the KidCot station. Memere did a quick walk through while I sat on a bench with Connor.

We simply walked through the rest and didn't stop for anything. Next time we'll have to start on the other side!

We did do Spaceship Earth on the way out. There wasn't much of a wait and I was anxious to see the newly refurbished SE. I love the part where your car turns and you see the earth. So cool. And I liked the new ending, with the computer screen. We all thought that was fun. Memere and Pepere really enjoyed the whole thing. It would have been nice to check out the stuff at the end, but we were tired and we needed to get going.

If you remember from reading my itinerary, Chuck and I were suppose to return to Epcot for our dinner at Le Cellier and then Illuminations.

Up Next...Day 7 - Part 5

 

[carissanboys]

I can't believe your dad got picked again!!!! What a great time you all are having!!! And the pics are awesome!!!!

That's funny about running into the Cub Scout from home! We ran into my DH's aunt in Epcot once years ago. We knew she'd be down there but never expected to see her. Then another time we ran into two families at the same time from our hometown in front of ToT. Funny how things like that happen!

I don't believe I've ever noticed that detail in France where it looks like an artist has been painting.

It makes me want to go in January seeing your lack of crowds and beautiful weather!

Oh and Jeff and Kelsee will be sad they passed up the Morocco "Aladdin" hats!

I'm enjoying your report so much!

Are you sure they didn't get pictures with the Aladdin hats? I thought I saw pictures of them with that hat on.

January was a great time to go!! And since our school's schedule is set up that they only have 2 half days that week, it really worked out well.

I'm glad you're enjoying my TR because I'm loving yours

 

[earthfaries]

What a wonderful time you guys had

I was wondering about the nemo pin on your dads hat

You got a nice pearl, that looks fun.

What pokemon toy did he pick out anyway? My kids all LOVE pokemon!!! (So do E and I ) I can't believe we didn't look for pokemon stuff!!!

Thanks for the updates and great pictures ~ I really enjoyed them ​

 

[carissanboys]

What a wonderful time you guys had

I was wondering about the nemo pin on your dads hat

You got a nice pearl, that looks fun.

What pokemon toy did he pick out anyway? My kids all LOVE pokemon!!! (So do E and I ) I can't believe we didn't look for pokemon stuff!!!

Thanks for the updates and great pictures ~ I really enjoyed them ​

He just got a tin of cards. Sully and Owen got into Pokemon sometime last year. I still don't get it at all. Chuck has looked up game info online so that he and the boys can play properly

 

[carissanboys]

We headed out of Epcot and back to the townhouse. The original plan was for us to drop my parents and the boys off, change, and then head back to Epcot for our evening out.

The problem was, I was pooped. The thought of walking all the way back through Future World and over to Canada made me tired just thinking about it. I really wanted to try Le Cellier and see Illuminations and get my Henna tattoo. But, we decided to do something else instead. I thought maybe we could pick a restaurant in Downtown Disney and then see about getting a setting for my pearl. I began racking my brain trying to think of good restaurants in DTD. I checked the DIS and my UOG. And then it hit me. Raglan Road! I remembered hearing great things about it. (I've been so excited to share this meal with you all! )

So we got changed, said goodbye to the boys, and headed to DTD. It began to rain on the way, and we began thinking our idea to skip Epcot might have been a good one. We found a parking spot and had to walk a bit to the restaurant.

That picture was actually taken after we ate. It was still light out when we arrived.

It was early, probably only 5 p.m. at the latest so there was hardly anyone there.

It's very dark inside the restaurant, and it IS a pub, but it's very elegant. My only complaint was that some of the tables (the ones that are a booth and table together, which is where we sat) are too close together. You don't really get much privacy. Most of the meal we were alone, but towards the end two guys were seated right next to us.

On with the food porn!!!

A must have at an Irish Pub

That was THE best Guinness I've ever had. Straight from the tap and so smooth and creamy. I would have loved a 2nd one, but I knew I would be too full.

First, they gave us some bread. It was very different, kind of like brown bread, with lots of grains in it and a sweet taste. It was served with a dish of olive oil and a bit of guinness mixed in (the server said he tried to make Mickey Ears out of the guinness and you can kind of see it in the picture). THIS WAS SO GOOD!!!!!!!!!!!!!

We decided to splurge and have an appetizer (we knew the meal was going to be pricey so we figured why not go all out?). We ordered the Drunk Chicken, which was chicken kebabs in a whiskey and honey glaze. Very tasty

For our main courses, I orderd the Chicken Pot Pie, which was a flaky pastry filled with chicken, mashed potato, mushrooms and lots of other tasty things:

It was TO DIE FOR.

Chuck ordered the Bangers and Mash and said it was excellent.

I should mention here that our server was excellent. No issues at all.

We would have really liked to have dessert, but we were so full. Here's Chuck showing how full he was:

Our meal at Raglan Road was BY FAR the best meal of the trip. I felt kind of (but just a teensy bit ) bad that the rest of the family didn't get to enjoy the meal. I'm sure the place would be a lot of fun when it's busier and the entertainment is being performed. I'll definitely go back.

As we headed out, it was raining harder. But, I really wanted to get my pearl set! I wasn't sure where it was, but after asking a CM, we found it. It's an outdoor stand and the woman that was working there was really nice and helpful. I explained to her what I wanted and she showed me one ring. It was yellow gold (which I don't like) and kind of gaudy with a lot of small emeralds on it. Not to mention it was $234 I wasn't going to pay that for something I wouldn't even like.

I asked her what else she had. It was beginning to look like I wouldn't be getting a ring But, she had a very nice setting for a necklace and it had one small real emerald on it. I figured it was the best I was going to do so I went for it. And it wasn't that much money. It only took her a couple of minutes to set it for me. Here is my finished product:

I'm very happy with it And here's the bag she put it in (she chose green because she knew I had two emerald birthstone birthdays and only the one emerald on the necklace):

With my new mother's necklace in hand, we did a little shopping. It was so nice to be able to look around without the kids! I spent a bit of money in the Pooh store. I bought each of the boys a small stuffed animal, which they were really excited about.

We didn't spend too long in DTD as I was ready to head home and tell my parents about the amazing meal we had.

Important Info

*Raglan Road - $70

*Pearl necklace - $15 for the pearl, $45 (est.) for the setting, $20 for the chain (est. - for some reason I wasn't very good about writing down costs of souvenirs towards the end )​

Up Next...Day 8

 

[carissanboys]

~ Raglan Road ~

Food -

Atmosphere -

Overall - ​

 

[liznboys]

I love Owen's dragon!

Too funny that you noticed the Monchhichis!! I was in there (for the first time in awhile) and was excited to see them too. I had forgotten they existed, and I can't believe they are still being made.

Looks like you had a delicious and relaxing (kid-free!) dinner!

Your necklace is pretty, what a neat keepsake.

 

[earthfaries]

Oh my gosh that chicken pot pie looks so good!!!

Glad you guys had an enjoyable evening and a great dinner!

The necklace is beautiful, I'm so glad they had something you liked.

What a wonderful day and evening ​

 

[carissanboys]

I love Owen's dragon!

Too funny that you noticed the Monchhichis!! I was in there (for the first time in awhile) and was excited to see them too. I had forgotten they existed, and I can't believe they are still being made.

Looks like you had a delicious and relaxing (kid-free!) dinner!

Your necklace is pretty, what a neat keepsake.

I love my necklace It's like I carry a piece of Disney around with me

Oh my gosh that chicken pot pie looks so good!!!

Glad you guys had an enjoyable evening and a great dinner!

The necklace is beautiful, I'm so glad they had something you liked.

What a wonderful day and evening ​

It WAS good! I'd love some more

 

[dismagiclover]

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still here and loving your TR. You have some awesome pictures in Epcot. I didn't take many pictures the days we were there. I may have to lift some of yours for my scrapbook. Keep up the good work

 

[carissanboys]

I haven't posted in a while, but I'm still here and loving your TR. You have some awesome pictures in Epcot. I didn't take many pictures the days we were there. I may have to lift some of yours for my scrapbook. Keep up the good work

Steal away! I'm hoping my large number of pictures at Epcot makes up for my lack of pictures at DHS the day before (and my lack of pictures on our Animal Kingdom day ).

 

[winkers]

Holy crap you're fast!

It's great that your dad got picked again! He looks like alot of fun!

 

[carissanboys]

Holy crap you're fast!

It's great that your dad got picked again! He looks like alot of fun!

I think at this rate I'll be finished with mine before you finish yours

 

[Danielle25]

Sounds like a busy day 7! The necklace is really nice. I might have to look into that when we're there.