our non-rushing (sorta) disney anniversary w/ PICS & VIDEO! new TR link - p. 136

[troobabiee7]

Have fun in TN! I'm also so upset about Will going home. I'm not as attached to the people this season as I was the last two seasons but they're much more talented as a whole this time around. I was pissed that Kerrington (sp?) went home last week instead of Comfort but she had no chance of winning anyway and I'm glad Comfort went home this week. Of the girls left, I LOVE Katee! She's amazing but Chelsea's also really good. I'd be surprised if Courtney was't the next to go even though I like her. Of the guys it's so hard! I really thought Joshua and Will would be the top two guys so it made no sense for Will to go home. I love Mark but I have no idea how he made it thorugh. My top two right now are definitely Katee and Joshua, they've been amazing from the beginning! What's funny is that I don't think Joshua's solos are anything special but I'm blown away any time he does anything out of his "comfort zone"... the way he moves during the latin/ballroom dances is crazy! Go Josh!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Have fun in Tennessee!!!

As promised, here is the photo of Aladdin with my SIL and me (I'm on the left). It was in December, 2004 and when we found him, we knew we had to have our picture made with him. I am not sure what my hair was doing, but since we had been touring commando style since 8:00 in the morning, and it was probably around 7:00 by then, I probably didn't even care what it looked like.

I wish we had all been looking at the same camera at the same time.

Check out Aladdin's great smile!!!

 

[PrincessPeyton]

I have been lurking for a bit, but I loving reading your TR....It makes me so excited for my trip! Can't wait to read more!

 

[ArielSRL]

Okay...I am now all caught up. I read your entire Pre-TR with comments and then your TR (no comments) today and tonight...well this morning really. I wanted to read the comments but I would be here until next week if I did. But now, since I am caught up, I can read the recent ones when I get back on the DIS...tomorrow, since I need to update my TR! Anyway, it has been great so far. Seems like Ray has really caught the Disney Spirit! You are now set for life and can prolly convince him to do DVC in a couple of years!

Looking forward to the next update!

 

[punkin413]

Ah all caught up. Great as usual. Thanks for the pics from your sisters trip. On to Marco, so i will catch up again when i get back. Love it.!!!

thanks!!! i will tell her you said so.

Have fun in TN! I'm also so upset about Will going home. I'm not as attached to the people this season as I was the last two seasons but they're much more talented as a whole this time around. I was pissed that Kerrington (sp?) went home last week instead of Comfort but she had no chance of winning anyway and I'm glad Comfort went home this week. Of the girls left, I LOVE Katee! She's amazing but Chelsea's also really good. I'd be surprised if Courtney was't the next to go even though I like her. Of the guys it's so hard! I really thought Joshua and Will would be the top two guys so it made no sense for Will to go home. I love Mark but I have no idea how he made it thorugh. My top two right now are definitely Katee and Joshua, they've been amazing from the beginning! What's funny is that I don't think Joshua's solos are anything special but I'm blown away any time he does anything out of his "comfort zone"... the way he moves during the latin/ballroom dances is crazy! Go Josh!

last season my favorites were sabra, nick and lauren, so i was happy with the results! the year before i liked travis and he came in second. then the first season i don't remember who i liked but i was happy nick won. right now my favorite girl is katee, but i love both chelsie and courtney. and my favorite guy now is twitch (i think he moves SO WELL with the music, unlike the other two guys) but of course i love joshua and mark too! it's so hard to pick a favorite!!!!!

Have fun in Tennessee!!!

As promised, here is the photo of Aladdin with my SIL and me (I'm on the left). It was in December, 2004 and when we found him, we knew we had to have our picture made with him. I am not sure what my hair was doing, but since we had been touring commando style since 8:00 in the morning, and it was probably around 7:00 by then, I probably didn't even care what it looked like.

I wish we had all been looking at the same camera at the same time.

Check out Aladdin's great smile!!!

GREAT picture!!!!! i think your hair looks cute!

I have been lurking for a bit, but I loving reading your TR....It makes me so excited for my trip! Can't wait to read more!

thanks!!!!! and thanks for coming out of lurkdom. have a blast on your trip!

Okay...I am now all caught up. I read your entire Pre-TR with comments and then your TR (no comments) today and tonight...well this morning really. I wanted to read the comments but I would be here until next week if I did. But now, since I am caught up, I can read the recent ones when I get back on the DIS...tomorrow, since I need to update my TR! Anyway, it has been great so far. Seems like Ray has really caught the Disney Spirit! You are now set for life and can prolly convince him to do DVC in a couple of years!

Looking forward to the next update!

i hope so!!!!! i need to get over on your TR and get caught up. i think i'm not too far behind.

 

[punkin413]

i have loads of work to do but i just don't feel up to starting on it tonight, so i figured i'd finish out our time at WS! lucky for you guys.

when we left you ray and i were having fun in morocco. next up was japan, which i think is ray's favorite country in WS. he could spend all day looking around that huge store in japan! we bought a big pokemon pillow for our nephew and had it sent up to the front of the park so we wouldn't have to carry it around all day.

we had fun watching the pearl lady in this store. see the little girl sitting on her daddy's shoulders? that was the one that was in front of us in line meeting aladdin and jasmine that was so cute!

as i walked by the door i saw this guy on a bench outside the store snoozing away! it was around 3:15 so i'm guessing it was past his nap time!

the japanese storyteller was starting her show when we came out of the store. she was teaching kids how to count in japanese. it was cute!

we decided it was time for another refreshment. we found a stand that sold the kaki gori shaved ice and saki. what a combo!!!!!!

that kaki gori was really good! we got cold saki because i can't stand it hot. it was strong stuff!

on to america we went. ray stopped at a pin station there and got his epcot park pin. now he had all four!

i really want to see the american adventure sometime, but that day we decided to skip it. something i will do either in september or december! they were doing an afternoon flag ceremony (or something like that) as we walked by so we stopped and watched. it was really inspiring...made me proud. there was an idiot walking by that was making fun of the way the soldiers were walking. he wasn't from the US and it really made me mad. i understand that he probably doesn't know anything about our country's history but i would never disrespect another country's heritage that way.

onward to italy, a country i hope to visit in real life someday soon! we poked around the stores in italy for awhile. i thought this was pretty.

have you guys checked out the candy area in one of the stores there? we stocked up on all kinds of different candies from there and everything was SO YUMMY!!!!!! we just kind of munched on the candy we bought the rest of the trip. ray loved the amaretto cookies we got. he was even reluctant to share them with me! i've gotta get him some of those in september.

we watched the players in italy for awhile and they were really fun!

next was germany, where i found a cowbell!!!!!!!!!!!

i'm a huge SNL fan and the cowbell skit with will ferrell is one of my favorites, so unless you've seen that you wouldn't "get" this picture. lucky for you, i have found a video of the skit. if you read my pre-TR you've already seen this. if not, be prepared to laugh.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZhSkRHXTKlw&feature=related

although the cowbell i found in germany is not the same kind as is used by gene frenkle, it's still pretty cool that i found one.

(completely unrelated side note......speaking of will ferrell, we went to see "stepbrothers" this weekend and it was SO FUNNY!!!!!!! although do be aware it's very vulgar so don't take your younger kids. the language is horrid and there are some graphic scenes. but i haven't laughed that hard at a movie in a very long time!)

we also saw dopey in germany. i've never met him and i want to one day, but the line there was crazy so i just snapped a pic as we walked by. hi, dopey!!!

next was china. they had some really pretty bonsai tree displays there for the flower and garden festival. our ex-roommate is a bonsai enthusiast so we took lots of pictures for him, but this one is one of my favorites.

ray found a spot in the shade near the water and went to take a break while i got in line to get one of those green tea plum wine slushies. ray snapped some pictures while he waited on me.

notice me walking towards him in this picture......i look mad!!!

my green tea plum wine slushie. it was okay, but i probably wouldn't get it again. the plum wine was a little bit too strong. i would've rather tasted the green tea more. ray helped me with this one too!

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26527124&postcount=1327

 

[punkin413]

we just sat in the shade by the water and people watched for awhile. i love this picture because of the world showcase banner in the background.

as we were sitting there this group of people on scooters came whizzing by. i just thought it was a funny site!

then a few minutes later they came back and headed towards the big building in china. i guess they had changed their mind about where they were going. only this time they had added a couple of scooter-speed-demons to their pack. here they are riding off into the sunset!!!

we finally got up and looked around the little kiosks near the water in china. it was apparently time to model some hats!

norway was next.....

we decided to ride maelstrom since we didn't last time. i don't know if i've ridden this or not. was it there in 1992? if so, i probably did. just don't remember!

the ride was pretty cool. i didn't expect the part where you look like you're going outside! but it's not something i have to do every trip, that's for sure.

here's the freaky troll peeking at me!

of course we had to pose with the troll on the way out!

that tricky troll has captured another maiden in distress!!!!!!

i love my husband.

i think the beer/grey goose/saki/plum wine combo was showing its effects with him!

i wish i could get green grass and pretty flowers to grow on my roof!

on we go to mexico!

you know, we never went into the mexico pavillion.....and i don't know why! i think the sun was getting to us at that point and we were just tired. it was about 5:30 at that point and we were running out of gas. so that's something i definitely want to do next time! i hear it's really cool.

we decided we were hungry and went to the CS in mexico. we split a margarita (what else???) and the cantina nachos. i wanted them with no beans and the sour cream on the side (i'm hate beans/sour cream/mayo/ranch dressing.....i know, it's wierd!) but the CM said they were all premade so i had to pick around the things i didn't like. i'm glad i don't like beans because those look gross!!!

this was okay but i've had WAY better nachos.....and made the way i want them.

the birds at this place are RIDICULOUS!!!! i thought casey's was bad but this place was horrible! this was the one time i got mad at ray during the trip because he decided he would go and feed the birds. i had to get up and walk away so i wouldn't cause a scene. i was really peeved. when i finally came back after the birds had cleared away he said he was trying to throw it far away so they'd leave us alone. but those birds pay attention to the SOURCE of the food and then they start stalking you!!! needless to say, not a pleasant experience for me.

it was around 6:00 when we got finished eating. we were both BEAT!!! it had gotten pretty hot after lunch that day and we just needed a break. so we decided to forego our evening plans (which included illuminations) and go back to SSR. now, this means 2 things:

1. we did not eat dinner at spoodles. because we had had lunch at rose and crown and had spent a good bit of money shopping and drinking in WS, we had decided earlier that we wouldn't be going to dinner there. that also means that i didn't get any photos of the boardwalk area, which i had meant to do on this night. oh, well........there's always next time. i was too excited to be enjoying the WS with ray to worry about it though.

2. we did not see illuminations. neither of us have ever seen this show to this day. yes, it's true. i was kinda disappointed but my exhaustion won over my disappointment. if it wasn't for the fact that i'm coming back in september AND december, then i think i would've insisted on seeing it.

soooooooo........we headed for the exit. on the way out we stopped for some SE pictures......

i don't really like this one....my butt looks wierd!

we swung by the package pickup on the way out and got my tink bird bath and our nephew's pokemon pillow, then we headed for the buses. this ended up being the LONGEST wait for a bus we had the entire trip. we waited at least 40 minutes for a bus. the sun was BEAMING down on us the whole time. we almost called a cab!!! here's ray being miserable in the sun. he HATES being hot.

i called anna while we were waiting - they were already on the road and on their way to disney world!!!!!!!

continued in next post: http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=26527138&postcount=1328

 

[punkin413]

we finally made it back to SSR and crashed for awhile. i'm pretty sure we both took at least a 30-minute nap. flat beana and flat mattica were tired, too!

i decided to go for a quick dip in the quiet pool near our room while ray relaxed some more. i only stayed down there about 15 minutes, then got in the jacuzzi for a few minutes. it was nice! the water in the pool was warmer than i had expected. the sun hadn't quite gone down yet and the view of DTD from the pool was just awesome!!! i wish i would've had my camera.

we decided to go back to DTD marketplace to pick up a few things we hadn't gotten yet so we wouldn't have to worry about it on our last day and just enjoy ourselves. it's so nice to be able to walk to DTD in 10 minutes instead of having to wait on a bus!

we basically just spent a good hour looking around world of disney. ray spent a lot of time in the jewelry area trying to find a watch he liked, but he never found one. i took some pics in here......

poor, unfortunate souls......

she rocks.

we stopped by wolfgang puck express to get a pizza to take back to the room. it was around 10:00 by this point and we were getting hungry again! ray went to goofy's candy company to get his nephew a make-your-own rice krispie treat while i waited on the pizza. our snacks from there had kept so good that we decided it would be fine to get one made that day (thursday) and give it to him on saturday when we went by their house to pick up our doggies. anyway, i ended up waiting at least 30 minutes for the pizza. i had to ask a server about it and then the manager showed up with it, apologized for my wait and gave me a free drink for the trouble.

we got a margherita pizza and it was SO GOOD!!!!!

here's ray with all our stuff laid out on the bed. clockwise from left: our throw, bags with stuff in it....i think our nephew's pillow and some other stuff i can't remember, my husband laughing: ), 2 boxes of christmas cards, a mini plush eeyore and pluto for eli and sherman (our doggies), 2 picture frames - one for my office and one for the living room, a beer glass with mickey heads on it for ray, and my tink bird bath! phew!!!

we also got our pirate mickey ears for the party the next day at the world of disney that night. you will see plenty of pictures of those in future updates!

i have to share these. when we got home and gave the boys their gifts, they loved them! especially eli. the plush eeyore squeaked and we had no idea when we bought it that it did that. but he squeaked it so much that it no longer squeaks. i have to get him a new one next trip!!!

sherman napping with pluto......

eli with his new pal eeyore.....

aren't they cute????

if i had to guess, i would say that the picture below was taken sometime around 2:00 a.m. that's when anna, chris and luke arrived in orlando. they stayed in a hotel near disney (as not to wake us up in the middle of the night). anna made chris point to the disney sign as they passed it......you can see how tired he looks!

if you didn't read my pre-TR you may be wondering who anna, chris and luke are. they had originally planned to go on the entire trip with us, but it just didn't work out that way. they decided that they couldn't pass up the opportunity to take luke to a pirate and princess party, so they planned to drive down thursday night, attend the party with us on friday night, then head to the beach for a couple of days on saturday. fun!!!!! if you want to meet them, go to the first installment of my pre-TR:

http://www.disboards.com/showpost.php?p=21189910&postcount=1

next up........OUR LAST DAY. i would normally insert a little teary-eyed smilie here, but i refuse to because this was to be the absolute best day of the trip!!!!!!!

oh, and also i finally ride this........

 

[ArielSRL]

i hope so!!!!! i need to get over on your TR and get caught up. i think i'm not too far behind.

Believe me, you are definitely not too far behind. I posted two updates last week and am working on another one right now. So, whenever you get some time.

 

[Eventer98]

we decided it was time for another refreshment. we found a stand that sold the kaki gori shaved ice and saki. what a combo!!!!!!

I had that $$ version of a homemade Sno-Cone last year and they were yummy!!!

i really want to see the american adventure sometime, but that day we decided to skip it. something i will do either in september or december! they were doing an afternoon flag ceremony (or something like that) as we walked by so we stopped and watched. it was really inspiring...made me proud. there was an idiot walking by that was making fun of the way the soldiers were walking. he wasn't from the US and it really made me mad. i understand that he probably doesn't know anything about our country's history but i would never disrespect another country's heritage that way.

Ray would have lost it on this guy since he is a vet!

onward to italy, a country i hope to visit in real life someday soon! we poked around the stores in italy for awhile. i thought this was pretty.

That mask to the right, center is a bit scary though!!!

then a few minutes later they came back and headed towards the big building in china. i guess they had changed their mind about where they were going. only this time they had added a couple of scooter-speed-demons to their pack. here they are riding off into the sunset!!!

2. we did not see illuminations. neither of us have ever seen this show to this day. yes, it's true. i was kinda disappointed but my exhaustion won over my disappointment. if it wasn't for the fact that i'm coming back in september AND december, then i think i would've insisted on seeing it.
here's ray being miserable in the sun. he HATES being hot.

Ray also hates the heat but usually doesn't complain..I can read it all over his face when he is though. We have also missed Illuminations on BOTh of our last trips...I hope we don't this time around!!

can't wait for your last day!!

 

[lmillercrew]

Your doggies are too cute with their babies! And, I've seen Illuminations and I don't think you're missing much. IMO. I enjoy Wishes. So, if you have time to see it in Sept, go for it, if not maybe you can catch a YouTube video of it. I had forgotten that your friends were joining you. Friends right?

 

[hlrababy]

Great update Dawn!!!!! Hmmm, you and Ray have me so excited about drinking around the world!!

 

[ArielSRL]

Great update! I was reading yours while I am supposed to be writing mine...lol! Those photos of your puppies are sooooo cute! My parents have 3 dogs and I am so weird, instead of calling them puppies, I call them poopies! When I go over, I am like, "Poopies, where are you?" or "What are you poopies doing?" Yes, I have issues!

 

[LMO429]

love the pic of ray and the troll in norway!!!!

 

[Charleston Princess]

Wow! What a great update!!! I, for one, am glad that you didn't feel like working tonight. Let's see where should I begin????

The kaki gori looks yummy. I have never had the nerve to try sake. What does it taste like?

Make a point to see American Adventure next time but bring kleenex -- the end especially will make you teary because it is a montage of stuff from our lifetimes!

Grrr about the insensitive man!

I always love those Venetian masks -- they are so expensive though!

Adding Italian candy to my list of ideas I have gotten from your TR!

The cowbell!!! Will Ferrell always makes me laugh!!!

The scooter speed demons visual cracked me up -- especially when they came back by with more!!!

FYI: if you make a big enough fuss they will prepare your nachos without certain things -- I insisted they leave off the tomatoes on Charles' this summer and they did. Their response after they tried to do the whole premade thing on me was, "It will take longer." It didn't really.

I've never seen Illuminations either . It will be on my must-do list the next time -- we never manage it for some reason. You would think we could last until at least 9:00. We are always exhausted though.

Your puppies with their plushies are too, too cute!

 

[MadiMouse]

I know I haven't been posting, but I promise I have been reading along. We are homegirls for LIFE. Okay, let me stop before you put a restraining order out on me. I love your reports!

 

[KatGarcia]

That plum wine slush is something I have to try....it's on my very long list of beverages to drink while shopping the WS. So glad Ray enjoyed WS so much! GREAT Update!

 

[dwheatl]

that tricky troll has captured another maiden in distress!!!!!!

i love my husband.

That same hat made it into my TR. DH REALLY liked it on me! Did you REALLY like it on Ray? Gotta keep the romance alive, right?

 

[IluvXU]

I need to re-read the WS part and write down all the yummy drinks you had.... next trip I hope to try some of them! So glad you enjoyed EPCOT... sorry you missed Mexico and Illuminations... next time!

 

[punkin413]

Believe me, you are definitely not too far behind. I posted two updates last week and am working on another one right now. So, whenever you get some time.

cool! i will get over there as soon as i can!

can't wait for your last day!!

yeah, your ray probably would've been highly agitated at the guy making fun of the soldiers. what a tool! and that mask was kinda scary, huh?

by the way, i love the new pic of ty in your signature!

Your doggies are too cute with their babies! And, I've seen Illuminations and I don't think you're missing much. IMO. I enjoy Wishes. So, if you have time to see it in Sept, go for it, if not maybe you can catch a YouTube video of it. I had forgotten that your friends were joining you. Friends right?

i think erica and i will be able to make it to illuminations at some point in september. at least i hope so! and yes, anna and chris are friends. anna's actually one of my best friends. it's rare that we don't speak at least once in a 24-hour period!

Great update Dawn!!!!! Hmmm, you and Ray have me so excited about drinking around the world!!

it was soooooo fun! just pace yourself and share things as to not get too loopy. it's no fun being sick on vacation!

Great update! I was reading yours while I am supposed to be writing mine...lol! Those photos of your puppies are sooooo cute! My parents have 3 dogs and I am so weird, instead of calling them puppies, I call them poopies! When I go over, I am like, "Poopies, where are you?" or "What are you poopies doing?" Yes, I have issues!

i call my boys, "bubbies." i don't do where i got that......it's just what comes out when i'm talking to them.

love the pic of ray and the troll in norway!!!!

isn't that great????

Wow! What a great update!!! I, for one, am glad that you didn't feel like working tonight. Let's see where should I begin????

The kaki gori looks yummy. I have never had the nerve to try sake. What does it taste like?

your kiddos would love the kaki gori. um........sake is very strong. it's not sweet at all. i feel like i'm shooting something every time i take a sip. but it gets your blood pumping.....that's for sure!

by the way, i just realized i spelled sake "saki" in my updates, which is funny because we have a friend named masaki and i think that's where i got that from!

Make a point to see American Adventure next time but bring kleenex -- the end especially will make you teary because it is a montage of stuff from our lifetimes!

wow......i will definitely try to see it then!

Grrr about the insensitive man!

maybe he had too many margaritas. or maybe he was just an idiot!!!

I always love those Venetian masks -- they are so expensive though!

i didn't even look at the price.

Adding Italian candy to my list of ideas I have gotten from your TR!

be sure to get a couple of amaretto cookies! giada de laurentis actually uses those cookies on her cooking show on food network. ray loves the food network so he remembered that!

The cowbell!!! Will Ferrell always makes me laugh!!!

my sister is a huge will ferrell fan and she could probably quote every movie he's ever done, especially "anchorman."

The scooter speed demons visual cracked me up -- especially when they came back by with more!!!

i know!!! ray and i thought it was so funny.

FYI: if you make a big enough fuss they will prepare your nachos without certain things -- I insisted they leave off the tomatoes on Charles' this summer and they did. Their response after they tried to do the whole premade thing on me was, "It will take longer." It didn't really.

i will remember that!!! i hate beans. ray can take them or leave them so i was gonna ask for no beans. ray must have sour cream so i wanted that on the side but they just said, "they're pre-made." i was too tired to argue!

I've never seen Illuminations either . It will be on my must-do list the next time -- we never manage it for some reason. You would think we could last until at least 9:00. We are always exhausted though.

EPCOT = Every Person Comes Out Tired and/or Trashed

Your puppies with their plushies are too, too cute!

i know!!!!

I know I haven't been posting, but I promise I have been reading along. We are homegirls for LIFE. Okay, let me stop before you put a restraining order out on me. I love your reports!

you know it! i need to meet you soon for lunch!!!!! grr...........having to work and not being able to go shop with disfriends stinks!

That plum wine slush is something I have to try....it's on my very long list of beverages to drink while shopping the WS. So glad Ray enjoyed WS so much! GREAT Update!

thanks! you may like that plum wine slushie more than me. it wasn't BAD...just kinda not up my alley.

That same hat made it into my TR. DH REALLY liked it on me! Did you REALLY like it on Ray? Gotta keep the romance alive, right?

ray in braids......... you have a TR??? link, please!