"Practically Perfect In Every Way!" Grand Floridian-Oct 2008*New 12/23 Our Last Day:(

[BippityBoo]

Hey guys! I am back and trying to navigate my way through all of the updates from your Trip Reports that I missed! We had an awesome time at the beach! I plan on including some of the pics and experiences in my PTR that I will start this coming up weekend

So..can't wait to catch up again and hopefully will continue my AK day tomorrow! Abby has been called to the set of "Father of Invention" for a scene with Kevin Spacey in New Orleans! Her cousin acts and we have recently contacted his agent. I don't want her to do too much, but this local movie will be a great experience. I think she plays a kid at a park so I will make sure to let you know if the scene is included when the movie comes out!

Meanwhile, enjoy some of my beach pics

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Katie,

I have been missing in action and had a lot of reading to do. I'm not sure where to begin. Those pics of Aiden are priceless. I think you really enjoyed AK. Love the children's tee shirts. So very cute. We did Bugs Life too. Even my 10 year old grandson wasn't crazy about it, but we endured. I am so excited to see your pic on EE. Your eyes were closed tho so you have to go back and do it again.

I finally got an update done also. Seems like I have been too busy these past two weeks. I must slow down.
Ginny

 

[ladybugmom]

Welcome back Katie!! I've missed you! Glad you had such a great vacation! Your pics are beautiful!!

That is so neat that Abby will be in a movie! How exciting!!

Can't wait to read more of your TR!!

 

[DisneyJo]

How cool Abby is going to be in a film, hope she makes it onto the big screen

Those beach photos are beautiful

 

[DWGal210]

Hi Katie, welcome back!

I LOVE the b/w picture of you and your kids on the beach - just darling! That one is frame-worthy!

Take care!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Wonderful beach pictures. I love the beach but we never had such nice pictures taken. Good job. Congrats for Abby on the movie bit also. How fun.

 

[BippityBoo]

Katie,

I have been missing in action and had a lot of reading to do. I'm not sure where to begin. Those pics of Aiden are priceless. I think you really enjoyed AK. Love the children's tee shirts. So very cute. We did Bugs Life too. Even my 10 year old grandson wasn't crazy about it, but we endured. I am so excited to see your pic on EE. Your eyes were closed tho so you have to go back and do it again.

I finally got an update done also. Seems like I have been too busy these past two weeks. I must slow down.
Ginny

Thank you so much Ginny! Look for the update tonight---you will be glad to know that I do ride again---eyes open this time Thanks for the compliments as well! My DH and inlaws took the beach pics w/ my camera...they did a great job

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

Thank you so much Ginny! Look for the update tonight---you will be glad to know that I do ride again---eyes open this time Thanks for the compliments as well! My DH and inlaws took the beach pics w/ my camera...they did a great job

They did do a great job with your camera. I have to have a point and shoot cause I don't see well enough to focus. Even then they are a little off. At least I don't cut heads off like my grandma did. We always had to guess who was in the picture by looking at their clothing. There were only parts of faces.

 

[BippityBoo]

Welcome back Katie!! I've missed you! Glad you had such a great vacation! Your pics are beautiful!!

That is so neat that Abby will be in a movie! How exciting!!

Can't wait to read more of your TR!!

Thanks Becky!! She had a great time---Kevin Spacey did not show at the set b/c it was raining What a sissy However, it was still really exciting to see behind she scenes.

 

[BippityBoo]

How cool Abby is going to be in a film, hope she makes it onto the big screen

Those beach photos are beautiful

Thanks Jo!! We had a great time and the movie set was a neat experience

 

[BippityBoo]

The DIS ate my post! Ugh...when will I learn I think I am going to do my posts in a Word document and then copy and paste from now on. Unless anyone has a better idea?

I will re-post Animal Kingdom Part 2 tonight after the family has our dinner and a movie night! We will be watching two movies actually...

Return to Neverland AND Tinkerbell

They are on the Disney Channel tonight starting at 6pm! We are going to kick off our "Disney Dinner and a Movie" tradition we will be starting once or twice a month...more on that later!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

The DIS ate my post! Ugh...when will I learn I think I am going to do my posts in a Word document and then copy and paste from now on. Unless anyone has a better idea?

I will re-post Animal Kingdom Part 2 tonight after the family has our dinner and a movie night! We will be watching two movies actually...

Return to Neverland AND Tinkerbell

They are on the Disney Channel tonight starting at 6pm! We are going to kick off our "Disney Dinner and a Movie" tradition we will be starting once or twice a month...more on that later!

How fun. My DH goes to bed at 9:00 pm and sometimes I switch over to find a good Disney movie. Even at this age they are still good.

 

[AZBeth]

Here I am planning a November trip to DLR and got interested in WDW, so started reading TR... Love your report... your's and others have definately inspired me to look into a trip to WDW... this is all very addicting!!

Can't wait to hear more!

 

[ladybugmom]

The DIS ate my post! Ugh...when will I learn I think I am going to do my posts in a Word document and then copy and paste from now on. Unless anyone has a better idea?

I will re-post Animal Kingdom Part 2 tonight after the family has our dinner and a movie night! We will be watching two movies actually...

Return to Neverland AND Tinkerbell

They are on the Disney Channel tonight starting at 6pm! We are going to kick off our "Disney Dinner and a Movie" tradition we will be starting once or twice a month...more on that later!

I'm sooo sorry you lost your post--that stinks! I just copy and paste several times as I'm writing my post.

LOVE the Disney Dinner and a Movie idea!! We just finished watching Return to Neverland, too!

 

[BippityBoo]

So, we made our way back to the safari ride. The line was really short and soon, we were boarding our vehicle! We saw lots of animals and Aiden was really enjoying that! Although, judging from some of your picturs, morning is definately the way to go! I tried to tell everyone but hey, what do I know! Thats ok because we actually have a great attraction right by our house that is very similar except you can actually FEED the giraffes, etc. It is absolutely amazing, they come right up to your vehicle! Here are some pics from the Disney ride---

After the ride, it was about 4 PM (I think It's been so long!)
We decided to go to the parade! We ended up joining in right at the beginning of Asia. We LOVED this parade! I highly reccomend it! I do not know if it is because of the music or the INCREDIBLE animal "floats" that real people are driving (I am sure that sounds nuts if you have never seen it!) It was great. Here are a few pics---

The parade was over pretty quickly and we noticed that everyone was clearing out of the park because it was about 30 minutes until closing. I had read in a guide book that it was a great time to ride Everest! So, we decided to try to take advantage! After a MAD DASH through Asia (and a quick stop for a Photopass Pic) we made it to EE! **Side note: Isn't Asia beautiful? I totally want to go back and be able to have time to look at all of the interesting details!**

Ok, back to EE! Of course, if you have been reading, my only other roller coaster ride (in my LIFE) was Thunder Mountain. So, I was not totally sold that I was ready for such a monster as EE. I was shaking because I was so nervous! The wait was truly non-existant. We just walked right in! It was kind of a bummer (crazy, huh?) because there is so much to see before the ride actually starts that we just wizzed by.

When we loaded the ride, we sat behind a 10 yr. old with a broken arm and his Dad. Also, two other 10 year olds behind us. I joked with the broken arm boy and asked him if he broke it on Everest! He said no (of course) but that it was his 5th time riding. The boys behind us were on it for like the 100th time! I was totally being outshown by a bunch of kids!! I could not let this happen! SO, I strapped in and off we went!

WHAT AN AMAZING RIDE! The ride of my life, really. Unfortunately, I kept my eyes closed most of the time, so I missed the Yetti!! Chris and I had seen the TRAVEL CHANNEL special before, so we were looking forward to seeing him. Chris did not see him because he said it was too fast. Here is our pic if you haven't seen it already--notice the broken arm kid---with his ARMS UP! I am the only on hanging on for dear life!!

I was shaking so badly when we got off. Of course, I handed over the $20 for the picture (gulp!) and went to meet my in-laws. They encouraged us to ride again (no wait!) SO WE DID! I kept my eyes open this time, and kind of saw the yetti at the end. I have to ask...should you sit in the middle or back to see him well? We were in the very front and I think he swoops down right as we pass. Any suggestions would be welcomed

As we were leaving the park, they had a really cute goodbye show. All of the characters were there in their safari gear. A great way to end a great day!

I love the AK! It feels so relaxed and is so detailed. We really loved it!

**UP NEXT--Do we make it to our ADR at Boma and FINALLY get to see AK Lodge OR do we decide to relax at the Grand Floridian pool and beach? Also, Mickey Mouse sends our family our very own bus back to GF!

 

[BippityBoo]

I'm sooo sorry you lost your post--that stinks! I just copy and paste several times as I'm writing my post.

LOVE the Disney Dinner and a Movie idea!! We just finished watching Return to Neverland, too!

We just loved both movies! We have never seen Return to Neverland and have always had to stop Tinkerbell part-way through. I LOVED it! So pretty! Now we really can't wait to meet the fairies! Return to Neverland was precious as well!

 

[ladybugmom]

Ooooh--I'm intrigued by this bus Mickey sent you!! And totally impressed that you rode EE! We didn't get to ride it due to all the rain when we were there. I LOVE the pic!! You look terrified! Can't wait to read more!!

 

[ladybugmom]

We just loved both movies! We have never seen Return to Neverland and have always had to stop Tinkerbell part-way through. I LOVED it! So pretty! Now we really can't wait to meet the fairies! Return to Neverland was precious as well!

It was the first time for us to see Return to Neverland--it was really cute. We own Tinkerbell so I can't tell you how many times we had seen that!! So are you going to elaborate at some point about the Disney Dinner and a Movie idea?! I'd love to hear all about it!!

 

[aaaateamsgrandma]

I think that parade is one of the best in all of Disney. The animals, the cm's everything about it is just great. We found a perfect spot in the shade to watch. That was about the only time the sun was even out that day. Now to EE. I am so glad you got to ride it twice. I so wanted to close my eyes the first time but since we were between storms I knew I only had the one chance. I think that is the best ride ever. I can't believe I just said that. I'm glad you are learning to like the rides at a younger age than me. I can't believe I missed out on so much in my life. I have a lot of catching up to do.

I loved Abby's face painting. That was just too cute.

Congratulations on another good update.

Ginny

 

[mickeystoontown]

My goodness Katie,

I was 7 pages behind. Yes, 7 pages. For some reason, I didn't get update email notifications.

How in the world do you guys continue to look so fresh and perky after a long day in the parks? We look like a bunch of sweaty, tired folks at the end of the day. Seriously, great pictures, great updates, great everything.

Lisa