Our Magical Mulligan Trip!!

[betons42]

most coolest

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Okay, first because I know how hard it is to walk away from a WDW plan.

Now, because I was secretly dreading the crowds you were going to encounter during Spring Break. I know some folks do just fine with lots and lots of people at WDW, but the very thought of it makes me naseous.

Moving forward - Disneyland_Mama's getting me all confused. Is it Aug. or July that you're coming for Where's Waldo, The Sequel?? (check your PM's if you haven't already.) I would LOVE to shoot over for a Lapu-Lapu... or two... with you... and you

Where's Waldo, The Sequel hits theaters August 21.
Sorry for confuzzling you... could it be the last remains of the Lapu Lapu?

Lauralee: It's not called sweating... it's called glistening or something like that. I'll PM with you all the places that were "glistening"! You'd be surprised! Nothing that a little Lapu Lapu couldn't take care of, though!

 

[Lauralee131]

Where's Waldo, The Sequel hits theaters August 21.
Sorry for confuzzling you... could it be the last remains of the Lapu Lapu?

Lauralee: It's not called sweating... it's called glistening or something like that. I'll PM with you all the places that were "glistening"! You'd be surprised! Nothing that a little Lapu Lapu couldn't take care of, though!

Ah yes....glistening!! I recall that! So far, gotta be honest with you, you're not making it sound all that attractive to go in August...with the exception of course of your company!!

WHY, WHY, WHY go when it's so hot???? And is it that hot at DLR?

Well, I'm going to keep August 21st-ish in mind...might be nice to go for a few days before school starts or something. It'd be fun to get together with ya!

 

[Lauralee131]

cool

Why thank you....and Welcome!!

very cool

Why yes, I am!! Thanks for noticing!!

most coolest

Who's better than me? TWO of ME!!!

Welcome again to my TR! Glad to have you with us!

 

[PrincessV]

Listen, I saw a new post from you, Lauralee, and got all excited for a new installment. I don't see it....

Okay, I'll wait...

 

[Nurse_Mommy4]

Hey Lauralee,

Sorry to hear about your spring trip
But I'm with Disneyland_Mama, me and my tribe will be there late August also, so come on and Glisten with us!!!!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

Ah yes....glistening!! I recall that! So far, gotta be honest with you, you're not making it sound all that attractive to go in August...with the exception of course of your company!!

WHY, WHY, WHY go when it's so hot???? And is it that hot at DLR?

Well, I'm going to keep August 21st-ish in mind...might be nice to go for a few days before school starts or something. It'd be fun to get together with ya!

DLR is hot in August, but not Africa hot, like WDW. We avoid DLR in August, because it is crazy crowded and since the park is much smaller than MK everyone just walks around like cattle. If you decide to do DLR, I would suggest late January - early May or the fall, we love October, the crowds are super low and the weather is excellent.

I hate HOT! HOT sucks..... but it really wasn't unbearable last Sept.

 

[Lauralee131]

Listen, I saw a new post from you, Lauralee, and got all excited for a new installment. I don't see it....

Okay, I'll wait...

I know, I know...I gotta get my butt in gear here...

I was going to spend the afternoon getting my Christmas cards ready to mail out, but working on my trippie sounds like more fun, so I'm off to writing...back later Gators!!

 

[mlill]

Just for the record - I'm waiting, too!

Get busy!!!

-Michelle

 

[Lauralee131]

I slept late…I didn’t wake up until 6am and even then it was thanks to the Burning Baby. Hmmmm…we BOTH slept in this morning. Go figure. I took a walk to Captain Cook's again to soak in the sights before we have to leave...Have I shown you guys this picture of the volcano pool that I took? I can't remember what day it was, but I really enjoy this pool early in the morning before anyone else is out...

I like this picture better than the last one, even though you can (barely) see the crane behind the castle..It just feels so...far away from the real world....


We’re going to go to Epcot on this, our last day. Mainly because it’ll be easier to buy our Photopass CD if we’re already in that park, but we all want to hit Soarin’ and TT again one last time.

We have a 6pm ADR at Narcoosee’s and then a 9:30 sleigh ride at the WL so if we spend the day at Epcot, get our photo CD at then end of the day we can just hop on the monorail to the GF. While DH loaded our suitcases in the car, I ever-so-slyly packed our dorky sweaters – you know the ones I’m talking about – into our backpack. Maybe we can get some more pictures taken at the GF when we go see the gingerbread house and their Christmas tree.

But of course, we’ll need them later on when it gets cooler. Fun-(ny looking) AND functional! Luckily it’s much warmer today than it was yesterday!

It was 8:00 by the time we left the Poly and headed to the All Star Sports to check in for our last night. I tried a couple of times during the week to get a room at the Poly for this last night so we wouldn’t have to leave, but no luck. No room at the Inn.

I was dreading going to the ASSp after spending our time at the AKL and at the Poly. Not because I’m so much a hotel snob. Well, I am, but I’m not. If I’m on 95 for example, and I had a choice between the Super 8 and a Marriott, I’d go with the Marriott. OR, I would continue driving if there were no good choices and risk sleeping in my car at a rest stop.
Let’s just say I had a horrifying experience at a Knight’s Inn in Ohio once and now I can’t even stay at a Holiday Inn Express without sitting awake all night, listening for things crawling in the night.

Anywhooo….we pulled into the check-in area of the ASSp and it was mobbed. The line of people checking in was actually out the front door! I got a scary lump in my throat. And since I’m being honest, the outside of the place didn’t exactly excite me about staying there either. I thought the pictures I’d seen made it look delightfully tacky in a Las Vegas-cool kind of way, but up close and in person, it certainly didn’t rock my world.

I had a bad feeling about this one. I went to go wait in line to check in while Tony got our overnight bag from the back of the car and gave it to the luggage guys out front and took Michael for a look around. The check in line was slow. No. That word doesn’t do it justice. It was slower than slow. Painfully slow. The lobby was filled with loud, raucous teenagers. Pop Warner, Cheerleaders…whoever they were. I saw little to no supervision around these kids in the lobby just while I was standing there waiting to check in. They were running amok, yelling, screaming, wrestling each other…it was really annoying. I’m already dreading this decision, even if it’s only $59/night and basically free, with my Disney Rewards.

The guys came walking towards me from the food court area and I could see the look on DH’s face. He was SO not impressed with this place and looked generally disgusted. The thing is, I wasn’t worried about the cleanliness of the room. Hey, it’s Disney, so I’m sure it’ll be clean.

Finally a CM started walking through the line, trying to break it up a bit…asking that anyone who had a credit card on file and was waiting to check out, get out of the line. Well, that only removed about 2 people…but they added a 3rd CM to check people in and that helped pick up the pace a bit.

Finally around 10:15, I finished checking in and got the number to call for our room number later on and we dropped our car off in the parking lot. We would be staying in the Center Court tennis-themed section.

We walked to the bus stop, which was a hike from our building, as was the food court, etc…but we were finally on our way to Epcot. The bus ride wasn’t too bad and before we knew it, we were walking into Epcot. By 11am, the TT FP return times were between 2:45 and 3:45.

We went to Universe of Energy as we didn’t get there the other day. We had about 8 minutes before the next show and we were the first ones to get on line...YAY, our own personal rope drop! Tell you what, with the sun shining on all those mirrors, it sure makes you feel like french fries under the heat lamps at McDonalds while you're waiting on line. But back to U of E...I really like that attraction. The dinosaurs, I think, are awesome, but I wish there were more of them or that their particular part of the attraction was longer. I haven’t been on this one in years and hopefully DS learned a thing or two.

We had plenty of time to kill before our TT FP return, so we went to grab hot dogs. The cart we stopped at was all out of chips so all they could sell us was hot dogs, but that was fine. DH was aggravated though…he’s a big chip fan. We stopped for a butt break and that’s when I noticed the “look” on DH’s face. You could clearly see, in fact anyone who looked at him could have seen, he’s had enough. Enough Disney as one man should be forced to take. Enough lines, enough waiting, enough walking. You all have surely seen “the look” on your non-Disaholic spouses, right? He looked like a man with a migraine that no amount of medication could cure.

I got the guys into Innoventions to kill some time and do something different. In air conditioning. It was getting pretty warm out. Nice change from the last couple of days.

We spent a good amount of time in Innoventions. We toured the house of the future…note to self: add the bathtub with the plasma screen tv to my Christmas list! We played the games at the fire hazard house and lost miserably to other teams. DS was shining his flashlight on everything BUT the stuff we told him to!

Michael enjoyed playing the video games – he doesn’t get those at home. So when he got picked to participate in a pre-school video game against other kids, it was downright embarrassing! He had fun though he didn’t know what in the world he was doing. The object of the game was tagging other characters (DS was Donald Duck) and then picking up ice cream cones throughout the game. The game “host” spent more time helping Michael get Donald moving than he did anything else.

There DH was, clearly disappointed at our young son’s performance when he is the one who refuses to allow Michael to play video games in the first place. I’m taking one for the team here when I gently remind DH of that fact…Oops…should have kept my mouth shut. Time to go!

On our way through Innoventions, we walked by a line of people by a virtually unmarked entryway, but as I was passing, I noticed a Disney Visa sign. Ooooh!! HONEY!! The pictures!! We gotta get our pictures taken!! I explain to the love of my love that thanks to the good folks at Disney’s Visa, we were going to get a free 5x7 photo with one or more Disney characters. I insisted on this one. I got in line and wasn’t moving. DH and DS wandered around and played some games while I stayed in line and held our place. It was not a long line, by any means, but it wasn’t moving either. We assumed that the characters were on a break as the line wasn’t moving at all. For a long time. DH would occasionally do a fly-by expressing his unhappiness at having to wait to get yet another picture taken and his mood was taking a turn for the worst at each “visit”.

There was a family in front of us that I ended up chatting with…I found them amusing. Very nice people…the husband reminded me of DH…he was quite angry about having to stand in line for another picture as well…They had 3 kids and a live in teenager that cared for them and accompanied them on their trip. The kid was gorgeous…absolutely stunning and could be a model and he she was taking care of their kids. The wife was going on and on about how lucky they were to have live in child care and the hubby had a goofy look on his face about it as well….Hmmmm…what do you suppose THAT was about!? Funny thing was, the kids only wanted mom and dad so the parents couldn’t have a free moment if they wanted to.

Anywhooo…DH joined us and was now very angry about this whole waiting on line thing and by that time I was aggravated myself. At the same time, the hubby and wife team in front of us were going through the same arguments. Finally, just about the same time, both of us ladies pretty much told our hubbies that they could just go ahead and leave, but we were staying and were going to get our pictures taken. The guys settled down, but let me tell you – you could have cut the tension with a knife!

Finally the family in front of us got their turn and disappeared behind the velvet curtain for their personal photo shoot with an unspecified Disney character. They were in there for several minutes and DH was just irate by now. Now I was striking back. I’d had enough as well. Now, because you’ve made me angry, give the nice man your Visa card…since we have two accounts, we can now get TWO pictures taken and will now be here twice as long. So there! ANY QUESTIONS?!?!?

After several minutes, the curtain opened and out came the hubby first…and he was gleaming! He went in very angry and agitated and here he was like a 5 year old! We asked if it was worth it and he gushed about how personal it was and that the wait was totally worth it. It was so cute. So in we went and it was just us…and OOOH honey! Photopass!...and Mickey and Minnie!!

If you have a Disney Visa and have not yet taken advantage of this photo offer…DO IT! I can’t even describe how fun it was…it was very personal, not at all rushed or hurried thorugh and we had as much time as we wanted to take. This is one of my favorite pictures EVER!!

Minnie and Mickey were awesome. They were so much fun…The photopass people took tons of pictures, both with their cameras and ours, which was awesome.

All three of us had a blast with them and it was one of the most special moments of my trip…right up there with meeting Mario and getting my DH to not only wear the Dork sweater but to participate in that little photo session as well, just to make me happy. Love you baby!! Mean it!!

After our photo session, we left a bit more refreshed and feeling like we’d just had a magical moment all our own. Next up…Test Track! The standby line was nearly 2 hours and even the FP line was a bit slow, but moved pretty well. We ended up asking the CM if we could sit in the front of our vehicle and she said sure, stand behind this group right here – you’ll be in the ride after them.

We ended up behind a family with …dum dum dummmmm….a plaid vested escort! The husband looked familiar, but I couldn’t for the life of me place his face. I came thisclose to tapping him on the shoulder and saying something silly like “Excuse me, you look very familiar, but…” I didn’t. Off they went and our turn was next. Another great spin on TT. We love that ride! As we got to the area where you can view the pictures, there was the family again. Now it was really bugging me. Not only did they have their escort, but another CM to seemingly guide them through the area to view their ride photos.

I asked the CM if she knew who he was and told her that he looked familiar, but she said she didn’t know. Would you tell me if you did?? And she coyly smiled and walked away. Time to celebrate with a margarita! Off we strolled to World Showcase. I should have snapped a photo to add to my TR, but I didn’t. DUH. Turns out by the way that it was Stephen Curtis Chapman and he was narrating the CP that night.

The internet is a wonderful source of information, don’t you think? And if you ask me, he looks more like a ballplayer than a gospel singer, but who am I to say?


Sitting in the front on TT is much much better in my opinion...Oh and since I'm giving my opinions out, I love, love, love that you can get your TT ride photo on your photopass card and am, even though you can't see it, jumping up and down enthusiastically in favor of them doing it everywhere!

Thanks to Disneyland Mama, I now scan the entire photograph and not just the subjects of said photograph and found myself wondering about the woman in the middle of the back seat...I wonder if she was actually photo-shopped in somehow...she's virtually emotionless and hey - her hair isn't even MOVING? Strange....Anyway, after our private photo session and a near brush with yet another celebrity, we were feeling great. Ok, I was…I don’t know about the boys, but I felt great!

Time to celebrate! With a margarita!! Off to World Showcase!!! It was nearly 3pm so we had time for a walk around the world prior to stopping at the camera shop for our CD and then heading to the GF for dinner. We got a couple of margarita’s and continued on. We stopped outside Norway and I was going to take DS on to Maelstrom. Ah, I said to myself....Self,

Stop.

Think.

You have a fresh, very yummy, full margarita in your hands…don’t throw it out. That would be alcohol abuse. Don’t sit it aside and go on the ride. It could be melted and watered down by the time you get back. That too, would be a form of alcohol abuse.

And hey - look who's smiling again!!!

Sorry kiddo…we’ll ride Maelstrom next time! Promise!

We kind of “window shopped” throughout the World Showcase, enjoying our last afternoon at Epcot, when it was time to say good bye and head out. Oooh…Honey!! Photopass!!! Ok, so we had to stop a couple of more times for photopass shots before we left! Ha ha…poor DH probably thought that he’d escaped that!

OOOH...Honey LOOK!!! ANOTHER Photopass person!!! Turn around!

I went in to the camera shop to buy our CD and DH waited outside for me. I had a great time actually with the photopass people…they’re awesome. Lots of fun and very friendly. And THEY, as opposed to DH, were VERY thrilled about my meeting Mario and even after I walked out, sent someone outside to get me to ask for me to show them the pictures. AH HA…see Honey, it’s a chick thing, I’ll admit, but they were very excited as well!

Ok, CD obtained…time to head to the monorail!

Sniff…sniff…here come the blues again…Look away, I don’t want you to see me cry!

 

[Lauralee131]

Just for the record - I'm waiting, too!

Get busy!!!

-Michelle

TA DAAAAAA...One more, hot off the presses!!! Hope it was worth the wait...It wasn't a particularly exciting day, but still magical...

Enjoy!

 

[Lauralee131]

Hey Lauralee,

Sorry to hear about your spring trip
But I'm with Disneyland_Mama, me and my tribe will be there late August also, so come on and Glisten with us!!!!

Wow - you'll be there too?? Glistening suddenly sounds like it could be fun!!!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

I was going to spend the afternoon getting my Christmas cards ready to mail out, but working on my trippie sounds like more fun, so I'm off to writing...back later Gators!!

Ummmm....sweetie.... you do realize it's January now, right? Either you're super late and should now just call them Valentines Day cards or your super early for next Christmas. Now, if it's the latter, than I am SUPER impressed.

I was dreading going to the ASSp after spending our time at the AKL and at the Poly. Not because I’m so much a hotel snob. Well, I am, but I’m not. And since I’m being honest, the outside of the place didn’t exactly excite me about staying there either. I thought the pictures I’d seen made it look delightfully tacky in a Las Vegas-cool kind of way, but up close and in person, it certainly didn’t rock my world.

Well, since we're being honest and all..... I, too cringe at the ASSp... infact, all the AS resorts make me cringe. They are just not my thang, baby.

OMG!! How cute is Michael? I love his nonchalant "Yeah, I'm cool!" pose!

[/COLOR]

Thanks to Disneyland Mama, I now scan the entire photograph and not just the subjects of said photograph and found myself wondering about the woman in the middle of the back seat...I wonder if she was actually photo-shopped in somehow...she's virtually emotionless and hey - her hair isn't even MOVING? Strange....

Insert whiney voice: Awwww.... but I wanted to poke a little fun at cardboard cut out girl!
It looks like her lips are sewn together or she refuses to crack a smile.
Hmmm... yes, strange. I still think she is a cardboard cut out.

 

[Lauralee131]

Ummmm....sweetie.... you do realize it's January now, right? Either you're super late and should now just call them Valentines Day cards or your super early for next Christmas. Now, if it's the latter, than I am SUPER impressed.

AH HA...I've been waiting for someone to ask, so I can go on a somewhat off-topic RANT!!

Here's the scoop...When we got home, I ordered Disney Christmas photo cards from the Photopass website (on 12/13) using the pic of all of us from the MVMCP. I ordered 60 cards, used some really cool, but dorky wording to match the dorky picture...you know, "Wishing you a magical holiday season", blah blah blah....And I paid an additional $40 for express shipping.

After a couple of emails inquiring as to their whereabouts and told, "they'll be there soon", they finally arrived, via Priority Mail, on the day AFTER Christmas. The worse part, is that they're BLANK...ok, well the picture is there, but there's a large white blank box where the dorky message is supposed to be. I'm FURIOUS!!!

They have yet to respond to my half dozen emails demanding that they fix their screw up....I'm furious. I think I'm going to call the Disney Visa people and dispute the charge for the cards...

So, now I'm thinking I'll have to bite the bullet and hand write all 60 cards out. I've done the typically dorky "year in review" letter to go along with them all, as my friends and family are scattered all over the country, and we've moved, etc...and now I just have to get working on my cards...

See - aren't you glad you asked???

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

See - aren't you glad you asked???

Actually.... I'm kinda scared of you now!




Just kidding!!!!

 

[OhMari]

How much is the photopass CD. And is Epcot the only place I can pick it up. We will be at Epcot our last day, so it won't be a problem, but I still would like to know in case I forget.

 

[PrincessV]

Have I shown you guys this picture of the volcano pool that I took? I can't remember what day it was, but I really enjoy this pool early in the morning before anyone else is out...[/FONT][/SIZE][/COLOR]

Ooooh, aaaah! This isn't really helping with my decision process re: a hotel for our May trip, though... I need to be convinced that the Poly is way out of my financial zone!

I was dreading going to the ASSp after spending our time at the AKL and at the Poly. Not because I’m so much a hotel snob. Well, I am, but I’m not. If I’m on 95 for example, and I had a choice between the Super 8 and a Marriott, I’d go with the Marriott. OR, I would continue driving if there were no good choices and risk sleeping in my car at a rest stop.

Listen, you know how I feel about the AS's... never, never, never again! I don't know what it is - I've stayed at plenty of budget hotels and been satisfied - but I just can't stand these places. I'm interested to hear more about your experience, though...

We went to Universe of Energy as we didn’t get there the other day. We had about 8 minutes before the next show and we were the first ones to get on line...YAY, our own personal rope drop! Tell you what, with the sun shining on all those mirrors, it sure makes you feel like french fries under the heat lamps at McDonalds while you're waiting on line. But back to U of E...I really like that attraction. The dinosaurs, I think, are awesome, but I wish there were more of them or that their particular part of the attraction was longer. I haven’t been on this one in years and hopefully DS learned a thing or two.

I've always enjoyed U of E! Wish I could get a certain someone in there... maybe someday!

You all have surely seen “the look” on your non-Disaholic spouses, right?

AND on our non-Disaholic parents! I'm quite familiar with THAT look, thank you.

Michael enjoyed playing the video games – he doesn’t get those at home. So when he got picked to participate in a pre-school video game against other kids, it was downright embarrassing! He had fun though he didn’t know what in the world he was doing. The object of the game was tagging other characters (DS was Donald Duck) and then picking up ice cream cones throughout the game. The game “host” spent more time helping Michael get Donald moving than he did anything else.

My DS doesn't play videos, either, and was equally clueless at the Innoventions games. DOn't worry - they don't knwo the difference - they'll have fun regardless! Just wait till you hear about Zippy the Monster.

There was a family in front of us that I ended up chatting with…I found them amusing. Very nice people…the husband reminded me of DH…he was quite angry about having to stand in line for another picture as well…They had 3 kids and a live in teenager that cared for them and accompanied them on their trip. The kid was gorgeous…absolutely stunning and could be a model and he she was taking care of their kids. The wife was going on and on about how lucky they were to have live in child care and the hubby had a goofy look on his face about it as well….Hmmmm…what do you suppose THAT was about!? Funny thing was, the kids only wanted mom and dad so the parents couldn’t have a free moment if they wanted to.

Werever does one get one of those? I could totally use one!

Sorry kiddo…we’ll ride Maelstrom next time! Promise!

Y'know, I hear it's a Fast Pass...

 

[PrincessV]

AH HA...I've been waiting for someone to ask, so I can go on a somewhat off-topic RANT!!

Here's the scoop...When we got home, I ordered Disney Christmas photo cards from the Photopass website (on 12/13) using the pic of all of us from the MVMCP. I ordered 60 cards, used some really cool, but dorky wording to match the dorky picture...you know, "Wishing you a magical holiday season", blah blah blah....And I paid an additional $40 for express shipping.

After a couple of emails inquiring as to their whereabouts and told, "they'll be there soon", they finally arrived, via Priority Mail, on the day AFTER Christmas. The worse part, is that they're BLANK...ok, well the picture is there, but there's a large white blank box where the dorky message is supposed to be. I'm FURIOUS!!!

They have yet to respond to my half dozen emails demanding that they fix their screw up....I'm furious. I think I'm going to call the Disney Visa people and dispute the charge for the cards...

So, now I'm thinking I'll have to bite the bullet and hand write all 60 cards out. I've done the typically dorky "year in review" letter to go along with them all, as my friends and family are scattered all over the country, and we've moved, etc...and now I just have to get working on my cards...

See - aren't you glad you asked???

Okay, that's way more messed up than my Unicef cards that I ordered in early Oct. and received a week before Christmas. I'm so sorry! Here's hoping they do the right thing and make it right.

 

[mlill]

I'm so bummed your TR is coming to an end! I've really enjoyed reading it! We must be related in another universe. I made my family endure the same exact torture with the Disney Visa picture line - twice, and all of the PhotoPass stops. They tried to rebel, but I always won! I'm glad I got our PhotoPass CD, but I don't plan on buying any pictures from them. Sorry to hear about your Christmas card fiasco! I hope you get it resolved soon!

That volcano pool picture is awesome. I hope we can stay at the Poly someday! The closest I've gotten so far is eating at Kona Cafe and watching Wishes from the boat dock. Maybe next time... sigh...

Don't cry too much as you write your last chapter...

-Michelle

 

[Lauralee131]

How much is the photopass CD. And is Epcot the only place I can pick it up. We will be at Epcot our last day, so it won't be a problem, but I still would like to know in case I forget.

I paid $99 for it, but totally worth it if you add up the cost of buying individual pictures. DH was catching up on reading my TR last night and said he didn't realize how sensitive I was about getting those Photopass pictures taken and that next time we can do as many as I want!!! I won! I won!!!