Over the river and through the woods to Mickey's house we go: The Remix

[mickeystoontown]

Saturday, May 28th: Our second day in the parks and this day we are visiting Epcot! And, as an added bonus to this day, we are meeting up with Dana (racefanof88) and her family. They are annual passholders and have decided to visit WDW for a few days!

Dana and I met on the Disboards a couple of years back and have remained friends every since. She and I have a lot in common....we are good old Southern girls....our children are close to the same ages.....her daughter is getting married soon, etc. We text and email back and forth quite a bit just checking up on each other. I am excited to get to see her and her lovely family again even if it is just for a little while. I know they will want to utilize what little time they have at Disney World.

We have a dinner ADR at Coral Reef. I debated where to eat this night as we aren't very adventurous eaters. At first, I booked an ADR at Via Napoli but didn't really think that a meal there would be a good use of a table service credit. I know that the pizza there is specialty pizza but I couldn't make myself be happy with an ADR there. So, I searched for another restaurant and found an opening at Coral Reef. We have always had good food and good service there so why not.

Sunday, May 29th: Hollywood Studios and Star Wars Weekend

This will be our second time to go to Star Wars Weekend. I have absolutely no knowledge at all about anything Star Wars related. Hunter, on the other hand, knows his Star Wars stuff. I am excited about another SWW because he is excited about it.

I know we'll be at the park way before official opening so that we can get in line to get Fastpasses for the various celebrities. Hopefully, we will get there early enough to get Fastpasses for more than one person.

I really wanted to book a Fantasmic Package dinner but could never gt a reservation online. I subscribed to the May ADR Cancellation thread and just happened to see that someone was canceling their Mama Melrose package. I immediately went to the Disney dining reservations site and was able to pick it up. It's for 5:00 p.m. which is pretty early for dinner but I figure we'll skip lunch so that we'll be hungry at 5:00 p.m.

This is the first time we have ever booked the Fantasmic Package and I hope it works well for us.

Monday, May 30th: Nothing planned except for a dinner ADR at the Grand Floridian. I'm not sure what we will do this day but we do have several options should we want to "do something".

1) Go swimming;
2) Rent a surrey bike or some sort of watercraft;
3) Lounge around on the beach;
4) Go to Downtown Disney;
5) Go resort hopping....I'd like to get a look-see at several resorts including the Animal Kingdom Lodge, Port Orleans and Coronado;
6) Play mini-putt.

John and I have eaten at the Grand Floridian Cafe before but Mama and the kids have not. We celebrated our 25th wedding anniversary there while Hunter and Lacey ate dinner at Planet Hollywood and then went to Disney Quest. We made plans to meet them at DTD after our dinner so we didn't get to look around the resort much.

I'm thinking we may go down to the beach and watch the fireworks if the timing is right.

Tuesday, May 31st: Animal Kingdom day

I have a real feeling that Mama is going to want to skip the Animal Kingdom all together. Last year, she got over heated there and then, while standing in line waiting for the Festival of the Lion King, got thoroughly soaked by the misting fans. That caused her to lose her voice and she started feeling yucky.

In all of our visits to the Animal Kingdom, we have never seen Flights of Wonder. I want to try and work that into our park day this year. Other than that, I want to see it all with the exception of the Nemo show. It does absolutely nothing for me and I totally miss Tarzan Rocks!

We have a dinner ADR at Ohana which is a new restaurant for us. I have heard so many good things about it and have read lots of great reviews. This is one ADR we are all looking forward to!

Whew! I got more done than I thought I was going to. I need to get a bit of paperwork off my desk and I hear the fax machine ringing in so let me go see what that is.

 

[PirateKate]

Lizard eggs, that's really bizarre. I'm glad you figured out the what the smell was.

I'm not really a fan of the Finding Nemo musical, either. I liked Tarzan Rocks. I do like the air-conditioning in Finding Nemo. That's a nice touch.

Have a great trip!

 

[3LittlePirates]

Have a great trip!! I keep thinking this time last year we were getting ready to go to Disney November seems so far away!! I cant wait to read your next trip report!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Lizard eggs, that's really bizarre. I'm glad you figured out the what the smell was.

I'm not really a fan of the Finding Nemo musical, either. I liked Tarzan Rocks. I do like the air-conditioning in Finding Nemo. That's a nice touch.

Have a great trip!

Yep....lizard eggs! Those suckers were everywhere!

John hardly ever makes comments like "I really like..." or "Why don't they have this....anymore?" but, this weekend, he said he wished they would have kept Tarzan Rocks around because he really liked it. The last time we sat down to see the Nemo musical, he kept falling asleep (like that's news ) and was about to fall over on the person next to us. He finally left and went on a bench outside (where he promptly fell asleep).

Have a great trip!! I keep thinking this time last year we were getting ready to go to Disney November seems so far away!! I cant wait to read your next trip report!!

I wish you didn't have to wait until November to go back either. But, at least you're going back.

 

[charming23]

Happy Birthday to Hunter!!!

That stinks (haha) about the lizard eggs. I would have been freaking out all over the place.

Have a safe trip and I can't wait to read all about your adventures.

 

[johnsonmatt3]

Have a safe trip there and back.I cant wait for a TR from you. Have fun. I think that is about it on my part. cant wait to have you back and I will probably go read the TRs before the last 1 or 2 that you did in a few days as school will be out.

 

[TinksThree]

We will be at MK and AK on the same days!! I love Animal Kingdom (ok, I love all the parks--I feel each are special in their own way!!) and want to "do it all" too!! We plan to try out Fights of Wonder also since we have not before. And I just have no interest in Nemo. I love the movie but I just don't have a hankerin' to see the Nemo show at AK!!

I have heard so many good things about Ohana and plan to try it soon. I can't wait to hear how you like it!

 

[MissLiz]

Look at you doing new things this trip! Nice!

We've never eaten at Coral Reef or Grand Floridian Cafe. We've thought about it, but we just have a hard time getting rid of our favorites in order to try a lot of new restaurants. We hit one or two a trip, but that's usually it.

We are trying Via Napoli in September. We are meeting some friends of ours for dinner so it will be a huge group and then we are going to watch IllumiNations. It's on our "off" day, so it should be fun.

I love Ohana, but only if I can sit in the main dining area. Last time, we were off on the side behind the cooking area and I felt like we were missing out on the fun.

One of these days, we are going to fit Fantasmic in again. We've pretty much skipped a lot of the nighttime things the past few trips because of my little one. Now that she's the Terrible Twos (okay, not really, but she is 2), we are going to try to add a few night things back in.

I can't believe you leave in just a couple days!!!! I'm so jealous! (Edited to change: oh heck, I didn't even realize what day it was! You get to leave NOW!!!!) Drive safely!

 

[kaileighbug]

Happy Birthday Hunter. Have a safe fun trip....

 

[melnbil]

Happy Birthday Hunter. You guys have a safe trip tonight and tomorrow, hopefully we will see you down there!!

 

[deedeew80]

HAPPY BIRTHDAY HUNTER!!!!!

Have a safe and fun trip!!! Can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!!!

 

[ddstratton]

I've been away from the DIS boards for a little while, and totally missed you starting a PTR!!! I hope you guys have a great trip, and I look forward to hearing all about it when you get back. Now I've gotta go catch up on your last trip report, that I have gotten so far behind on...

Lacey's dress looks just gorgeous! I love the style.

Happy birthday to Hunter!

 

[jenseib]

When I read about the egg I about freaked. I worried it was snakes and I was crawling out of my skin!!!! Even lizards give me a bit of the heebie jeebies! Thanks goodness you got it figured out. I can't beleive Lacy and Hunter were looking at the eggs. I would be running....far far away!!!!!


Have fun! I can't wait to hear all about it. I bet you are a busy gal today!

 

[jenseib]

OH! And Happy Brithday Hunter. I can't even imagine a better way to spend it!

 

[laashley]

Lisa, have a great trip!!! Happy Birthday to Hunter!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good morning all my Dis friends! I hope to get back in a little while to reply to everybody. Just in case I don't, thank you all for the safe travel and birthday wishes for Hunter!

We were up until around Midnight last night getting all of the last little things packed and organized. I don't like leaving my house in a mess so everybody was pitching in to straighten things up. Well, at least straighten it up as best we can when we have boxes and boxes of wedding stuff sitting in every little nook and cranny. Most of that is in the bedrooms though so at least the living areas look nice and neat.

When I got up this morning, I threw the last load of clothes in the washing machine and one in the dryer that I washed last night. By the itme I was ready to leave, I had one load dried and the other one was drying. Lacey and Hunter will take care of getting it folded and put up.

I also left Lacey and Hunter a "to do" list:

1) Take my rolled coins and deposit them at the bank;
2) Go to our other bank and make the loan payment that comes due while we are gone;
3) Clean the litter box;
4) Fold the load of clothes that I left in the dryer;
5) Put the "we don't need that" luggage back in the attic;
6) Make sure they have all of the movies, MP3 players, games, etc. packed up and ready to go;
7) Help John put the stuff in the van when he gets home from work.

As you can see, their list is pretty easy and they can get all that accomplished in no time at all. I think their plan is to maybe go for a swim and let Oddball run around outside for as long as he wants. My sister and niece will let him out while we are gone but not for as long as we normally do.

On the work front, I've gotten just about everything done. The few things that are on my desk are things that can't be completed without additional information from our clients. I offered to put the documents on a memory stick so that my boss can work on them while I am gone but he said not to worry about it since nothing has a deadline. He has absolutely nothing on his calendar today and decided he'd sleep in this morning. I don't blame him one little bit. He's been moving for a couple of weeks now and he's sold his vacant lot and trying to sell his old house. He's had a lot on his mind and says he's exhausted. Fine by me....stay home and be exhausted so you can't pile loads of stuff on me today. Just make sure you come in some time to sign my paycheck.

We've decided to change up our normal travel routine a little bit. We usually jump in the car as soon as I get home and drive until we get to the McDonald's in Vicksburg, Mississippi. This time, everybody is going to eat before I get there and then I'll eat a sandwich or something while changing clothes and taking a potty break.

We are still going to stop in Vicksburg but not to get something to eat. We want to see how high the Mississippi River is. We've seen pictures of the river and the flooding on television but we want to see it for ourselves. So, we're planning on stopping at the Visitor's Center which sits right on the river. After taking a few pictures, we'll get back on the road and drive as far as we possibly can before stopping.

Oh well, I've got a few telephone messages I need at write down for my boss. Hopefully, I will be back to post replies.

 

[KatMark]

Have a great trip, Lisa.

 

[longing2Batdisney]

sounds like you guys are ready!!! have a great trip! can't wait to hear all about it when you get back!!!!

magical wishes and for a wonderful time!!!

Connie

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Have a safe trip!!! Can't wait to hear how your trip went when you get back

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Have a wonderful, safe trip. Happy Birthday to Hunter!! Enjoy yourselves. Can't wait for the return TR!!!