Our Magical Mulligan Trip!!

[Lauralee131]

Well Hellooooo Stranger!!!!!

I have been busy with life and missed a couple days on the Dis, so I just realized that you posted.

Now I need to go back and read what you wrote!

Well hey yourself missy! Glad to see you here!! Hope you enjoy my trip - I sure did!!!

Look forward to "chatting" with you again soon!!

 

[Adi12982]

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss.

On to the TR - I LOVE how well you write TR's I especially love the surprise you pulled off on DH and DS. I did something similar in July. My DH actually did not know where we were going until the morning of and didn't know where we were staying till I pulled up to the AKL. Here's the report, in case you care. . . lol! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1242116&referrerid=&highlight= OH, and btw, DH and I LOVE the smell of the AKL - we always step in and take a deep breath - and say, ahhhhhhh, we're home! (we are VERY attached to the place, it was our first on site resort AND our honeymoon site)

Your trip is soundsing soooo much better than your first with DS. I am so glad you were able to enjoy EE, DH and I LOVE it!

You ladies night out sounded great! Glad you were able to have such a great time! I cannot wait to read the rest.

 

[Lauralee131]

So I practically beat myself up walking back to my room the night before…walked smack into the open refrigerator cabinet door in the dark and I really didn’t need the giant Jack & Coke I made myself when I got back to the room…I had the giggles, which became worse the more I told myself to be quiet because the boys were sleeping. Is it just me or do all seriously buzzed people “Sshhhh” themselves – out loud – when they’re trying to be quiet? Yep - I do that. And then giggle uncontrolably and Sshhh myself even more! Real mature huh?



Anywhooo…I could have sworn I heard music, etc. coming from the Magic Kingdom around 3 am!?!?! Or was it in my head?? Hmmmmm….



It turns out that a THIRD refrigerator had to be delivered to our room while I was out…yep - #3. Each one worse than the last, according to DH. This one was pretty beat up and wasn’t cold inside at all. Ok, I give up. Yes honey, you were right…we should have brought the cooler. What do I know? Next time, I will listen to you. Promise!



This day we went to MGM…or, as the signs now say, Disney Studios. Is this a sign of things to come?

It was pretty chilly and windy this day and DS wasn’t feeling so hot…low grade fever so I bought him some Tylenol melt-aways and brought it back down, but we took it fairly easy.

We went on Star Tours first and DS loved it. And yes, thank you AGAIN, Disney Marketing…we again had a hard time getting out of the store at the end of the ride. DS threw a TANTRUM because I wouldn’t buy him the Star Wars ship he wanted. Let me stop right here and say that I hung the stockings (with care, of course!) on the walls of our room and each morning he awoke to 2 gifts in it, yet was very DEMANDING in that he wanted something from every single store and stand we passed. Well, the Star Tours store was enough. He tried ordering me to buy it for him, can you imagine? Well, don’t you think he didn’t get a talking to outside the store. Oh and guess what – the ENTIRE day I heard about that stupid Star Wars toy. The fact that he wasn’t feeling so hot added to his mood, but to become the spoiled child that he does is really unacceptable.


So we left there and headed towards Muppets 3D and we heard this loud music…as we turned the corner we saw Lightning McQueen and Mater! Well, Mr. Pissypants didn’t want to get out of the stroller but that wasn’t about to darken my mood…I jumped right in, shoving small children and old ladies and got my picture taken!! Ok, so maybe I was exaggerating on the old ladies part. Maybe. Maybe they weren't so old as much as they were slow, ok?

Maybe you've noticed that this picture of me and Lighting McQueen isn't blurry...that's because a Cast Member took it! Love you honey, mean it, but I wanted this picture to be visible!

His royal highness wouldn't even get out of the stroller so we wheeled him into a picture with Mater...

Yeah, yeah, I know - the kid's not feeling good, cut him some slack. I did tell you all several times before that if anything I am NOT Mother-of-the-Year, right?

DS decided he didn’t want to see the Muppetts and was hungry so we decided to walk around for a bit and wait for Pizza Planet to open so we could grab something to eat. We came upon Al’s Toy Barn and Buzz and Woody so we got DS’s autographs and pictures out of the way and didn’t manage to get away from there without him asking for and I quote “Something small to hold on to” from the little merchandise cart right there by the Meet N Greet lines. Yep – strategic marketing yet again. We went back to Pizza Planet and grabbed a quick lunch (a bargain at only $35.00 for 3 personal pizzas and drinks). Yes, sarcasm is just one more service that I offer.

After lunch we did the Backlot Tour. By this day the weekend crowd had thinned and Backlot Tour was virtually abandoned. Of course the cold weather can’t have helped park attendance either. We had a very amusing CM that we chatted with who was stalling for more guests to arrive I guess, but he kept saying, “I take requests – anybody want to hear ANYTHING?” So being the Neil Diamond fan that I am, yelled out Sweet Caroline! And sure enough he started belting it out so DS and I sang along and happily passed a few minutes waiting on line during the little pre-show video on the making of Pearl Harbor. He made me take 2 pictures of him to be sure I caught his best side. I love CM's like this - they just add to the magic. I SOOOO want to be a CM someday...

The rest of the day, we just wandered around slowly…we headed over to take DS on Tower of Terror for his first time and I ran over to RockNRoller Coaster to grab a couple of FP’s (still holding out hope that DH will swap with me). We had MAYBE a 10 minute wait for ToT and DS loved the ride, but wouldn’t go back on again. Nope…did that one already. I wish my scanner was up and working cause I’d scan the ride picture…I actually BOUGHT this one because it was SO cute…DS had the biggest laughing look on his face in it! Wish I could share with you all.



After ToT I again tried to persuade DH into going on RNR, but no go. There I was again with TWO FP’s to use! I went on while they waited and it was AWESOME. First time I’ve been on it – can you believe that? The FP line was actually kind of slow so I had a bit of a wait, but I got on it and it was awesome! There was another “single rider” who ended up next to me who was scared to death before the ride even started. I told him (thanks to my fellow Dis’ers) to make sure he kept his head back against the head rest and off we went. Well, he screamed like a 5 year old girl the whole time while I was singing at the top of my lungs. It was awesome!!



Since the wait was so long I decided to skip out on using the 2nd FP – didn’t want to press my luck with my “free time ride” so I went out and met up with my guys. We decided to call it a day and get DS back to the hotel and unfortunately, we decided we needed to cancel our date night (Flying Fish and Jellyrolls) and Michael’s reservation at the Neverland Club. As we walked down the street I grabbed a guy that was walking by himself and gave him my FP for RNR and told him to enjoy it on me.



We did actually get to see Lights, Motors, Action as well as meeting some Power Rangers which DS really enjoyed.

I don’t know what happened to this picture of Michael and the Red Ranger…but guess who took it? Nope…it was ME. Don’t know what happened…pineapple flashback perhaps, who knows. The Red Ranger is his favorite (just my luck) and I haven't had the heart to show him that I screwed up his big shot!

By this point I think the boys shutter with fear when they hear "OOOH - Photopass person - come on!!"

DS’s cough was becoming persistent by the end of the day and he felt pretty warm again so it’s just as well that we were canceling our plans, but gotta tell you guys, I’m a lousy mother as I felt bad that my baby was sick, but was super bummed out about canceling the night I worked so hard to plan. A couple of times I caught myself feeling DS’s forehead thinking “he’s not really THAT warm – maybe we can still go?” But, in the end, motherhood won out and I cancelled all our plans and we stayed in and watched TV and got burgers from Captain Cooks.


I’d booked the Jester Cruise for DS for the following day, but it was going to be chilly and I didn’t want to take the chance on sending him out on a boat in really cold weather, so I cancelled that as well. We also have tickets for the MVMCP the following night as well…will we make it? Will we cancel?



I did manage to watch the fireworks from the beach on my (long, windy) journey to Captain Cooks.

I sat on the beach and took a few pictures and went to get dinner. Doesn't this one look like someone just blew up the Magic Kingdom?

I ordered a bunch of burgers and chicken tenders for DS, and side orders of fries. I brought along our mugs as I didn’t want to make two trips so you can imagine the sight I was with a tray full of food boxes stacked 3 high, refillable mugs, condiments, orange juice, silverware, etc…What a pain that was, being such a long walk. It beats spending $32 or whatever it was for a piece of chicken through room service though.

I forgot to mention that throughout the course of the day, DS asked for the Star Wars toy..."Mom, if I ask the right way, can I have it?" and even went to bed saying that he now knew the right way to ask for the Star Wars toy...UGH...LET IT GO already!!


Oh did I mention that I brought along a pedometer to see how far I walked each day? More for morbid curiosity because I always wanted to know how much I walk there each day. This day at MGM I walked 15,078 steps or 4.28 miles. Little bit of useless trivia for ya’s.



After dinner I wrote out a few postcards and hit the sack early. Who knows, maybe a nice quiet night and an early bed will be good for me.



Oh, I’m sorry, did I mention having a QUIET night? This reminds me…I don’t know if it was this night or the night before, but I just remembered that I wrote this down on a separate piece of paper…I seem to think I may have told Pat and V this story so if I did, it happened earlier, but here’s the story:



First of all, I woke up around 11:45 as I fell asleep without stuffing the stockings so I took care of that. I felt wide awake so I sat out on the balcony for a bit and listened to what I figured was the fun at the Magic Kingdom that was going on for MVMCP. Sure sounded like Christmas music anyway. I thought of going for a walk on the beach, but it was just too cold so I bagged that idea and went back to bed.



At 2am I was awoken by a baby’s blood curdling screaming from the room connected to ours. Great. New people must’ve checked in. I forgot that I saw the couple next door leaving this morning. Crying infants don’t usually phase me. Been there, done that, bought the t-shirt, but this baby was screaming like it was on fire. It was heart-wrenching. It was LOUD. By 2:15 DH had woken up and asked if they were ever going to feed that baby at all. I’m sorry, but it was no hunger cry. At 2:30 it was STILL going on. Finally I started getting worried, thinking the baby was left alone in the room. I started to panic. The mother in me wanted to pick the baby up, do SOMETHING…so I got dressed and just as I put shoes on, the baby stopped crying.



Things were silent for a good 15 minutes, so I figured all was better now and got undressed and went back to bed. Then again at 3:30 it started again and lasted until nearly 4:15. This time I also heard the parents yelling as well. Now they were running water…a bath maybe? It lasted quite a while. Oh, and another complaint about the Poly I have…when the room on the connecting side ran their water, it sounded like they were in our bathroom. Very loud. And let me tell you…that baby’s crying was DEAFENING so it must’ve been in a crib right next to the connecting door as there was like NO barrier between us and the crying.



And guess what? Yep – it started again at 5:00. I finally gave up trying to sleep and just laid in bed staring at the ceiling. I eventually fell asleep and woke at 7 to DS’s coughing so I got up and put on a pot of coffee…



What a crappy night. I grabbed a cup of coffee and went out in the little seating area to read the paper and shortly after I got there the screaming baby’s dad came out of his room. He looked very mean and nasty and unhappy. Yeah, well that makes 2 of us now, buddy. Thanks for nothing. He was pretty eery looking too. I could swear I’ve seen his picture somewhere…Post Office, FBI’s most wanted, terrorist alert, something, but he looked like a bad, bad man. I chose not to say anything about his burning baby…THIS TIME…



But will it continue???

And will DS ever stop asking for that Star Wars toy???

Tune in tomorrow Mousketeers...

 

[swankybeth]

I'm loving your report-from the drama of planning to the actual trip. And I have to say, it sounds like a MUCH better trip than the last one!

 

[Lauralee131]

I'm loving your report-from the drama of planning to the actual trip. And I have to say, it sounds like a MUCH better trip than the last one!

Thanks Swankybeth! It's good to have you here!! Yes, this trip was MUCH better than the last one! Looking forward to writing more!

 

[Lauralee131]

We took it easy this morning…lounged around the room, read the paper and watched TV. This was difficult. I have a hard time just sitting around when there are rides to ride and feel like time’s a wastin’. I felt like I spent the morning pacing the room like a caged animal. Finally I decided to take a shower and put on my game face for the day. Tonight we were going to MVMCP and I was determined to get our family Christmas picture – if it killed us all.



I have already mentioned that I bought us all matching Mickey Christmas sweaters for this picture. The mere thought of having to wear this sweater made the veins in his forehead bulge. He was not happy about this at all. I don’t know if I’ve mentioned this before, but it’s kind of funny to see. When DH is not happy he makes this tortured face, clenches his teeth and kind of strains his neck in a circle…like an imaginary top button on his collar is cutting off his circulation. It’s hard to describe, but seriously funny to watch.



It was a pretty nice day out so I packed all 3 sweaters in our backpack to ensure they made it into the MK with us. Wouldn’t want anyone “accidentally” forgetting his sweater now, would we?



My one big plan for the MVMCP was to get this picture done so it meant taking extra time to get ready. A lot of extra time – in the shower and out. Shampoo, deep conditioning, leave in conditioning, keratin spray, silk therapy, blow drying, more silk, heat glide, iron guard and then finally the straight iron and liquid glass spray. For those of you who were blessed with straight hair, can I just tell you how lucky you are? People tell me that they spend hundreds of dollars to get their hair curly, I spend $1,000 a year to get it straight. Guess no one is truly happy with what they’re given. But anyway, I’m getting way off track here.



I painstakingly did my hair and carefully applied my makeup, spending well over an hour in the bathroom. I wondered if anyone would look at me and think I was crazy for going to the park all made up, but hey – these pictures are going to last a lifetime, right? I take bad pictures to begin with so every last bit of war paint on my face can only help.

We left the room around noon-ish to head for the park. My DS was slightly warm…not enough to be alarming, and had I not known he was sick, he may not have felt warm to me, but I gave him some Tylenol just in case. He was in pretty good spirits though, so my hopes were high that we’d have a great day (and night)! Our first order of business, of course, was to take Photopass pictures on Main St. I again told DH that I wanted to take FULL advantage…and was pleasantly surprised to see a photographer at the Partners statue!! DH vetoed that…”I just got my picture taken”…ARGH…Oh, and for the record that was THE only time I ever saw a PP photographer there, before or after this day…bummer…Ah well…moving on…

In sticking with my bizzarro non-planned plan, we went left into Adventureland. We had a couple of hours to kill before our 2:25 ADR at CP. DS wanted to go on BTMR before anything else, but we took our time to stop a couple of times. We toured the Treehouse, which was fun. I haven’t done that in YEARS and DS enjoyed it.

After that we took one more detour to POTC, which was busy but the line moved pretty quickly so it really wasn’t even a noticeable wait. POTC has always been one of my favorites and I’m thinking that I really like the new and improved version. Who wouldn’t really? Looking at a very lifelike Johnny Depp? But I’m glad they didn’t totally revamp the whole thing. This was a very cool effect!!

I have always loved the amazing amount of details throughout this ride. One great example that I for some odd reason I enjoy looking at, is the guy on the bridge with his leg hanging over the side. I have always been amused by the hair on his legs and the mud on his foot. Details like that make everything so…so….real. There always seem to be details that you catch each time that you may not have seen before…that’s always fun.



Anywho…still on our quest to do BTMR first, heh heh, we stopped in front of Splash Mountain and noticed there was not much of a wait. We decided to ride so while DH was parking the stroller I ran and got FP’s for BTMR, which also didn’t have too much of a wait.



While on line I suddenly found myself torn between having a great time (I love this ride) and remembering that I had a very important picture I wanted to take. What about my hair and makeup?? I’d worked so hard on it. Well, I don’t usually get very wet on this ride anyway. In fact, most of the time, the wettest thing is the seat in my boat when I sit down. I get a little wet, not soaked.



Confidently I went on about my way and proceeded to board the boat when it was our turn. Hmmm…the seat was awfully wet. Ah well…my jeans will dry. No biggie. Well, we didn’t get very wet on this ride.



Nope. We got absolutely freakin’ SOAKED. And know what, we were soaked BEFORE we went up into the mountain and down the big drop. We must have been in the (not so) right place at the (not so) right time…just as a boat came down the big drop, we got nailed with the aftermath. I saw it coming…instinctively ducked my head down in an effort to protect my deep conditioned-keratin sprayed, silkened and heat glided, flat ironed hair. Which, looking back on it now, was probably not the brightest thing to do. I was now soaking wet from back to front and basically only the hair right around my face didn’t get drenched. Immediately however, my only semi-dry hair around my face began to wither and fall. My face felt wet…Oh man…the makeup…Ah well…I can probably fix it later. My husband has seen me looking MUCH worse than this, trust me. And besides we were having fun.



As the boats arrived at the disembarking spot and we were getting out, DH said something about seeing “one of those guys in a plaid vest”. When we arrived at the world I told him to make sure that he kept his eyes peeled for plaid vests. Why? Where there’s a plaid vest, there’s usually a celebrity of some sort nearby.

Well, I see the “escort” and ask DH to wait so we could see who he was waiting for…but he wanted to get out of there so down we walked to where you could view your pictures. DH and DS walked a bit ahead while I stopped to see our picture. Ok, they didn’t walk on ahead. Poor DH hasn’t yet gotten a side or rear view mirror for his baseball cap and the poor guy never knows when I’m going to stop. Every couple of minutes he just turns to look to see if he’s lost me or not. I looked at our picture but chose not to buy ours as the guy in the seat in front of us had his arms up and covered DS’s face. No sense in buying that one. I couldn’t even take a “redneck photo” of it. DH had the camera in the backpack.



Oooh…speaking of camera…I’d almost forgotten to turn and see if I could spot someone famous getting off the ride…I turned around in time to see…GASP…Mario Freakin’ Lopez coming right towards me!! He and his friends (1 other guy and 2 girls – none of which appeared to be Karina by the way – maybe that ship has sailed) went to see their ride photo. I walked, no RAN over to DH who was waiting further down the walkway and yanked the backpack away and maddeningly unzipped it exclaiming “Give me the freakin’ camera!!! NOW!!! It’s Mario Lopez!!!” I quickly snapped one of him looking at his ride picture as DH tells me he is going to tell him he was robbed on Dancing With The Stars.

A minute later, Mario and his gang came walking our way. Just as they got by us, DH said something like, “Hey Mario…You were robbed…You should have won that!”


And OH MY GOD…he stopped and turned and looked and thanked him and said he appreciated it and the rest was a giddy schoolgirl-crush blur…but I did manage to ask for a picture. His friend graciously offered to take the picture and I jumped at the chance! Ok, I admit it…I had the biggest CRUSH on him when he played AC Slater on Saved By The Bell…and here we are how many years later? And I’m drooling and giddy as a teenager again!! I seized the opportunity to put my arm around him and can I tell you guys, and Honey, I know you’ll be reading this so please, please, please, don’t get mad, but the guy’s body is tight as a drum ladies!! Sigh....


As his friend is taking the picture, DH said “I’m gonna get lucky tonight!” (Much like the part in Finding Nemo where Bruce yells “I’m having fish tonight!!!”) Everyone got a giggle out of that! Sigh…I thanked him we said take care and walked on. We passed the 2 girls he and his friend were with – they walked further down the path and sat on the fence waiting and laughing. I was so excited and so giddy – and DH, who understandably was NOT excited and giddy – had to tell SOMEONE! So I did the only thing I could think of and JUMPED in front of a small group of girls – probably Pop Warner Cheerleaders – and said "Oh My GOD – you guys LOOK!!! It’s Mario Lopez!!!"



Well, they shrieked as only 15 year olds can and took off running in his direction!! Just gotta tell you all, the guy was very sweet, even more adorable in person than on TV, but looked smaller than he does on TV. DH said that the camera must really add 10 pounds because he looked really skinny in person – not as built as he looked on TV. And he looks HOT soaking wet after a water ride ladies!! Sigh ….and then reality bit me in the butt…the camera adds 10 pounds…and OH….MY…..GOD…..MY HAIR!!! OH NOOOOOO!!! I looked at the picture in my camera and wanted to die....Only the hair right around my face was dry...the rest of it was dripping wet. Maybe I shouldn't have stuck my head down in the boat like I was in an air raid drill! Add to the bad hair the fact that I take bad pictures anyway and...well, folks, it ain't pretty!

Sadly, Oh Yes…look at this…

DH then proceeded to call me all kinds of names and said he was nice enough to stop and take a picture with you and you set him up…”I HAD to tell someone” I said, “YOU weren’t excited!!” Of course he wouldn’t be excited. I should have expected that. I should have known he wouldn’t be. But I needed to share!! I gave up on defending myself and we grabbed our stroller and went to take a butt break before going on BTMR.



Lucky me…I was planning on seeking him out and the Magical Mulligan vacation Gods smiled upon me that day, my friends! Until of course, I looked at the picture and saw what I looked like…big, heavy sigh…ah well…too late to do anything about it now.



We were finishing our butts as we saw Mario going to BTMR…hmmmm…maybe he’s stalking ME?? Ha…that’ll happen. In my dreams…



We saw him one more time as we breezed through the FP line towards the cars and then I had a strange thought…there he was on the platform, waiting to ride while people on the standby line were snapping pictures of him, etc. By the way, he was cool about it, unlike a certain other celebrity I saw in February, but I won’t mention Kelly Ripa’s name. Oops, I said it, it’s out there now. A very unfriendly celebrity version of the casual, funny and seemingly approachable Kelly Ripa we see on television. But anyway, I got to wondering if celebrities get grossed out at the thought of people like me wanting pictures and putting our arms around them. In my defense, he had his arm around me too (sigh again…), but to those of you who have children, remember when you were pregnant and total strangers wanted to touch your belly? That skeeved me to no end. Do celebrities feel like that? Well, I guess that's why they make the big bucks, so ugly wet chicks can grope them at Disney World!



Now DH, being my wonderful DH, knew all about my plan to seek out Mario and quite possibly Johnny Depp as I’d heard he be in the World that week as well, has handled my immaturity very well. Maybe I’ll have some fun with him though and dummy up the picture of me and Mario to look like the picture I’ll be sending as our Christmas card this year! Tee hee tee hee!!



I was dying to call V and tell her about my little encounter, but alas, my cell phone was back at the hotel…bummer!! The only one I have to share my excitement with is DH and he's not excited!! As a side note, throughout the day I kept asking him, "Do you wanna see the picture of me and Mario??" and "I met Mario Lopez!" and he still wasn't getting any more excited. I'm guessing he's pretty secure in the knowledge that I'm going home with him tonight!! Love you baby!! MEAN IT!!



Anyway, BTMR is, without a doubt, DS’s favorite ride and this time was no exception. He loved it. And as much as I love the ride as well, I love it even more as there’s NO STORE at the end!! YAY!!! After we rode it was time to head to CP for our early dinner.

We made a pit stop to ride the carpets and saw another escort with a few women and children...anyone recognize these people??

I didn't recognize them, so I decided that I'd take pictures anyway and post them and see if anyone knew who they were...


DH was getting really good at spotting escorts throughout the parks - we saw a few others but none except the last one we saw looked "famous"...I think it was Steven Curtis Chapman on our last day, but believe it or not, I didn't get a picture of the guy. Plaid vests totally turn me into paparazzi!!

We arrived at CP around 2:15 and even the line to check in was mobbed! The place was PACKED.


We finally got seated close to 3pm. Our server was awesome, although for some reason I forgot to write her name down. She was very nice and we enjoyed chatting with her. The food was good too! We tried a bit of everything. I have never, in all these years, been to CP for anything BUT breakfast before and was very pleasantly surprised. It took what seemed like forever, but finally the characters started coming around.

It was kind of cute when Eeyore came around…DH kept calling him Igore…gave me the giggles. Love you honey, mean it. DS was totally loving having the characters there and for some reason was now totally into getting autographs so I gave him the autograph book that I’d been using for my journal so far this trip. I’ll need to get him his own book. Cruella bought him one last trip, but he scribbled all over each and every page so I left it home.

It took forever, but we finally saw all four characters. I don’t think we could have eaten more slowly, more often or had more coffee and dessert trying to kill time waiting for Pooh and his friends. Finally though, when we’d seen everyone and DS had all of his autographs.



After we paid the bill we left to get our wristbands for MVMCP and headed toward Tomorrowland. DS and I rode the Indy Speedway and my neck still hurts! He drives like ME!! It was like the object of the ride was to continually hit the rail. Each time I’d tried to grab the wheel he’d push me away. Then, when we got to the end, we were in line waiting to pull up to exit and all of a sudden he started slamming his hand on the steering wheel where the horn should be and yelled at the top of his little lungs “OH COME ON!!! MOVE!!!” and kept beeping this invisible horn! Yep, told you he drives like me!

 

[Lauralee131]

We went on Buzz for the first time with luckily very little wait. Our enjoyment was watching this poor defenseless father on line in front of us with 4 of the most wild, out of control little girls you’ve ever seen! He so obviously drew the short straw with his wife. He lost one somewhere on line and the other 3 (all under the age of 7 by the way) were out of control…watching him was like watching someone trying to herd cats. They were everywhere, climbing everything and beating each other up pretty good. They were completely out of hand and DH and I were grateful that we just had one child. The ride was fun though, but for our first time our scores were pretty crappy and no where near maxing out the thing like Utahmama or Mel HappyHaunt that’s for sure!



By the time we got out of Buzz it was beginning to get dark. We rode TTA and were literally the only ones on it. I love that ride – you get a great view on it. And come on, who doesn’t love “Paging Mr. Morrow…Mr. Tom Morrow…Your party from Saturn has arrived. Please give them a ring”…cracks me up every time! I wonder why no one rides it anymore? Even when I see the cars go by from the ground, they usually look empty.



After TTA, DS and I went to ride Astro Obiter and were lucky enough to be up on deck for a fabulous view of Wishes!

We even got to stay there to watch the whole thing and then went for our ride. It was awesome. I love riding Astro Orbiter in the dark, watching the lights of the park whiz by me. Kind of makes me feel like I'm really in space!

After that the park started emptying out in herds…kind of weird to be staying while everyone else is leaving, but I think I could get used to the idea!!



We went off to the smoking area for a butt break to let the crowds thin out and I pulled our sweaters out of the backpack. DS’s sweater went on without a fight. DH, however was a different story. This was so obviously pure torture for him – you’d have thought I was asking him to get a 2nd vasectomy the way he was acting! Sheesh...But, he finally put it on after much face making and neck straining. Ahh…the things that man will do for me. Love you honey, mean it! But your behavior is going in my report!! That was one of my most overused phrases all week, "This is going in my report". Only 2nd to "OOOhh...look!! Photopass!!"



We headed towards Toontown and DS wanted to ride the teacups so he and I went on that. It was fun…we love that ride and we spun it around and around as hard and fast as we could and by the time we got off DS was stumbling around dizzy. Too cute! We giggle like little kids on this ride. Wish it didn’t make DH sick…it’d be so cool if we could all ride it together.



We went into Toontown and right on Barnstormer. From where we were, the park was virtually empty. It was awesome! We were allowed to stay on Barnstormer and ride it 4 times in a row! By the last time, DS was riding it with his arms straight up in the air. He is now an Official Coaster Maniac and declared that when we rode BTMR later, he would ride it “arms up” too.



We took a potty break before heading to the Judges Tent for our big picture and I tried the best I could to do something, anything, with my hair. Had I not had my big celebrity encounter there, I’d have been really regretting going on Splash Mountain right about now! Well, thanks the the liquid glass hair spray there was really no fixing the hair, but for the most part in dried in place. BTMR helped of course!



We went into the Judge’s Tent and got in line for what seemed like an eternity. Now I know why there was no one out and about in the park…they were all in here. Not really. I exaggerate. It seemed like a long line because for awhile it wasn’t moving. The characters were taking a break. Once we got inside, the waiting was more pleasant just watching Minnie & Mickey interact with the children that were on line before us.

After we took what I was hoping would be our Christmas picture, we headed on to ride Winnie the Pooh for the first time. And I need to go on record at this point and say that by this point in our evening we have received the first of what would be MANY compliments on our sweaters by the way! TOLD YOU Honey!! Who's better than me? Two of me!



Anyway, Pooh was cute, but it was no Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride From there it was on to Snow White and then Peter Pan, all of which we weren’t able to get to last time and all of which we walked right on. It was awesome! We had a 5 minute wait for Pooh and that was the longest wait we had that whole night.



Then we hit the carousel where we raced our horses. We were neck and neck the whole ride, but in the end it was a photo finish....I lost by a nose!

Ha ha - get it - by a nose? Notice the nose missing in my horse's picture??

Ba Dum Bum ...Thank you, thank you very much - I'm playing the DISboards all week. Don't forget to tip your waitress!

The CM’s at the entrance to the ride were pretty cool and joked with DH about how they were pretty sure it wasn’t HIS idea to ride this ride! He came on willingly though and participated in our little horse race. We must’ve looked like complete fools! LOVE IT!!


By the time we got off the carousel, the boys were beginning to run out of steam…I tried to keep ‘em going through Frontierland where we got some cocoa and cookies and went back to BTMR where DS did indeed ride it “arms up” like a pro!



After that we headed towards Main Street to call it a night. We were getting hungry and decided to catch Holiday Wishes and then grab some hot dogs at Casey’s. We had a pretty decent view of the fireworks and they were nothing short of spectacular. I could watch them every night! We grabbed a few dogs and a table outside of Casey’s and listened to a piano player tickle the Christmas ivories and were enjoying our view of the castle when low and behold who should show up? No, not Mario…a Photopass photographer!! DH really has grown to dislike the phrase “Oooh honey, look – Photopass!!” Even DS was complaining at that point about getting his picture taken. I just kept telling myself he was tired…my child couldn’t possibly NOT like to have his picture taken! He is usually such a ham after all. I’ll dismiss this attitude. But just this once!

After our hot dogs we headed down Main Street to turn in our stroller and catch the monorail back to the Poly. I loved listening to the Christmas music and seeing it snow – DS was so cute trying to catch snowflakes on his tongue. I wished the evening didn’t have to end. We saw people – although not many – lining up for the 2nd parade, but decided to skip it, which I now officially am kicking myself in the butt for. It’s one thing to watch it on TV Christmas morning, but on this night I would have liked to have stayed and seen it, but I didn’t have the heart to send the boys back to the hotel alone so off we went. I stopped and looked back one last time walking to the monorail and the park entrance looked absolutely beautiful...

We got back to the room around 11 and both of my guys were asleep before their heads hit their pillows.

I made myself a drink and sat down to work on my TR when the Burning Baby started crying again. No lie people, this baby cries so loud that I can hear her (we have decided that it’s a girl) out on our balcony! Needless to say, this went on and on and I didn’t get much, if any, sleep that night between the baby crying, the parents yelling and running their water, and I was still up at 5.


I think I might go to the Front Desk and ask that our room – or (preferably) theirs – be moved. By now I’m pretty angry that I’m wasting 2 years of points on this place. I feel like I haven't had a good night's sleep yet.



Well, that’s all for this installment. Another day is in the can!


Until next time….

 

[Lauralee131]

Is anyone else having problems posting these days??

Each time I post something, the screen goes completely white and I have to hit my back button and then hit submit again.

I stayed up until 1:30am this morning finishing up my TR and as soon as I hit submit, it went nowhere, white screen again but this time the website went down and I had to re-do it all again this morning!!

All day yesterday I had to continually re-write all of my posts as they were "disappearing" several times!!

GRRRRRRRRRRR......................

 

[swankybeth]

Great installment, I can't believe you met Mario Lopez! I'm having those same posting problems, I have to hit refresh and then I worry it's going to double post.

 

[tiggerbell]

I'm loving your report! Read the other one last night - I would have KILLED your sil! Patience is NOT one of my virtues!

 

[Lauralee131]

Thank you both - Tiggerbell and swankybeth - for reading and staying with me!!

I hope I can keep you both entertained!!

 

[Disneyland_Mama]

O-M-G!
I'm still on page 12 but I had to sub to this trippie like NOW!

Ok, I thought I was crazy and obsessive and total trip planner mad woman, but you my friend.... are spectacular! I pass the crown to you!

I have too many times to even begin to quote this TR. I have even gathered my family into the office to read parts of your TR as I point to the monitor and say "SEE, SEE, I'm not the only one!"

I can't wait to see the photo of the Christmas sweaters. I have to tell you I told my DH about that and he made me promise I wouldn't make him wear one!

I can't wait to get caught up! I have to say... I love you! Not in a weird stalker, restraining order way. More of a I love your Disney OCD ways, sista!

Looking forward to many more

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Great Story Lauralee...

can't wait to read more

I'm loving ther pictures...your sweater shot with the fam and minnie and mickey is absolutely priceless!

 

[tiggerwannabe]

Oooh! And meeting Mario Lopez!!!

O. M. G. !

 

[Lauralee131]

O-M-G!
I'm still on page 12 but I had to sub to this trippie like NOW!

Thank you! Thank you! What an honor to have THE Disneyland_Mama here! Welcome!!

Ok, I thought I was crazy and obsessive and total trip planner mad woman, but you my friend.... are spectacular! I pass the crown to you!

Finally...someone who says "crazy and obsessive" AND "spectacular" in the same sentence!! People usually say "crazy and obsessive" like it's a bad thing!!

I have to say... I love you! Not in a weird stalker, restraining order way. More of a I love your Disney OCD ways, sista!

Awwww....I thought I had my first stalker there for a minute until I read all the way through!! Welcome and thank you, thank you!! I finally read Where's Waldo right before I left - and it was awesome!! In fact, were your ears ringing? V and I were talking about your TR and how great it was!

I can lend you our sweaters...I'm sure DH would wear it well!! Do what I did...tell him, "You only have to wear it once, for just a little while, just to take ONE picture"...Of course, don't remind him that pictures last a lifetime and you're going to mail them to 65 friends/family in Christmas cards and then broadcast it over the internet to 50,000 of your closest friends...And stay tuned because I made him wear it not once but twice!!!

I look forward to entertaining you more with my OCD ways!!!

 

[Lauralee131]

Great Story Lauralee...

can't wait to read more

I'm loving ther pictures...your sweater shot with the fam and minnie and mickey is absolutely priceless!

Thanks Colleen!! Glad you're still with me!!

 

[Lauralee131]

First of all, I am so sorry for your loss.

On to the TR - I LOVE how well you write TR's I especially love the surprise you pulled off on DH and DS. I did something similar in July. My DH actually did not know where we were going until the morning of and didn't know where we were staying till I pulled up to the AKL. Here's the report, in case you care. . . lol! http://www.disboards.com/showthread.php?t=1242116&referrerid=&highlight= OH, and btw, DH and I LOVE the smell of the AKL - we always step in and take a deep breath - and say, ahhhhhhh, we're home! (we are VERY attached to the place, it was our first on site resort AND our honeymoon site)

Your trip is soundsing soooo much better than your first with DS. I am so glad you were able to enjoy EE, DH and I LOVE it!

You ladies night out sounded great! Glad you were able to have such a great time! I cannot wait to read the rest.

Thanks Adi!! I'm not sure if I responded to your post yet...so if not here goes, and if I did, here we go again!!

I read that TR you sent me...it was awesome and I loved all the pictures! You guys are too cute!!

I LOVE the AKL smell!!! I really, really enjoyed staying there and if I knew then what I know now, I'd have changed my reservations and spent the entire time there. I can not wait to go back!!

I watched the travel channel special on the AKL before we went and really, TV didn't even do it justice.


"Chat" at ya soon!!!

 

[Lauralee131]

Oooh! And meeting Mario Lopez!!!

O. M. G. !

I know, I know!!! Me too!!! The poor guy was probably feeling a little squished and thinking "Does this crazy wet lady have to squeeze me so hard?"

 

[Adi12982]

Is anyone else having problems posting these days??

Each time I post something, the screen goes completely white and I have to hit my back button and then hit submit again.

I stayed up until 1:30am this morning finishing up my TR and as soon as I hit submit, it went nowhere, white screen again but this time the website went down and I had to re-do it all again this morning!!

All day yesterday I had to continually re-write all of my posts as they were "disappearing" several times!!

GRRRRRRRRRRR......................

Keeps happening when I post on any of these boards. . .

 

[Lauralee131]

I'm glad to know that the posting problems aren't just me...I did actually receive a few email notifications this morning, so maybe they're working on it...