Ready, Set, Let the Games Begin! - Link to new PTR/TR!

[franandaj]

It is a bummer about the scooter batteries. I wish Fantasmic seating was not so hard to get, so Fran could have sat with the rest of you. We rarely watch the show, because we do not like the seating situation and how much park time it wastes to get a crummy a crummy seat. I am thinking of doing Fantasmic on the 26th but only if we do not do a sit down for dinner. Doing both will take too much time out of our evening. I really want that Monte Cristo, so I am having a hard time deciding.

It looks like (other than the scooter issue) you all had a good time. I like how close the on property hotels are too. Glad PiO's DH rested and made it back in time. Whenever we leave, I have a hard time getting Crap back into the park. Therefore, we rarely leave until we're all done.

If you go to the second show of F! (if there is one), you spend a lot less time waiting, but with little kids that might not be an option. The Monte Cristo is very good! We had a great time, those two days. Looking forward to more!

Me too!

Hurray for a wonderful meet. Wonderful to see all of you. Thank you for the pictures.

I could really use a magical nose that puts me in DL or WDW today.

Twinkle, twinkle, twink. I'm at Walt Disney World!

Those firework pictures are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing

Brett takes great pictures of fireworks. See why I left it to the professionals!

I have caught up. The plans sound great and that night at Disneyland sounded like fun.

Hope it all works out on the home situation.

Have a magical time and cannot wait to read all about it.

Well, we didn't get a magical start, but I'm sure it will get better!

ok caught back up, and the food and good times were very nice to read/see. I know you all are going to have an amazing time in WDW.

I hope so!

Safe travels and have a fabulous trip!

Thanks! We have arrived safely!

Breathe friend and have a fabulous trip.I hate packing last minute too.

Wait, you got no sleep?


You're going to WDW!!!!!

Yes, no sleep! I don't ever remember pulling an all nighter!

Alison, hope it gets better soon!

thank you!

Have a fantastic trip! Get some sleep on the plane!

Jill in CO

I wish I could sleep on planes.

 

[franandaj]

I hope you can get some rest on the plane. Not the best start to vacation.

No, not the best start, but I'm dealing with it.

I am sorry that you ended up pulling an all-nighter. I hope that you get some sleep on the plane and that you have a wonderful time at Walt Disney World.

Corinna

At this point, I'll settle for sleep in the room once my bags arrive!

Get some rest on the plane and enjoy your time at WDW.

After a bath and some sleep, I'm sure I will feel better.

What a fun meet. Well except for the scooter part, UGH! Dinner looks SOOOO good, I need to go there in April, I have never been.

It was very fun and part deux is coming up quickly!

I tried to feel sympathy or compassion....

BUT I JUST COULDN'T FIND ANY

Have fun.

But we love it!

Safe travels! See you soon!!

Only a few days now!

Hopefully, you get some nice rest on the plane and in the room once you've arrived. We were so tired once, we put our plans aside and slept in the room.

Our plans were dinner and fall asleep in the room. Fran is already working on the second part and dinner is cooking.

 

[Dis_Yoda]

Nothing wrong with having a lazy night after a very long travel day.

 

[TifffanyD]

You are there?! You are only 50 miles away from me!!

 

[ACDSNY]

I'm happy to see you made safe and sound.

 

[franandaj]

So before I get on with the Trip Reporting here, I’m going to whine a little bit more. Saturday, we had a few things to get done as well as finish packing. Darcy came over at 9AM like she usually does, and we did normal chores and stuff, like feeding the cats, litter boxes, watering, etc. We needed to move some leftover fixtures from a garage so that while we were gone we could store a car in there, and we spent the latter part of the morning moving some stuff around there.

Fran stumbled upon a HS car wash fundraiser and for $5 per car she couldn’t resist getting all the classic cars washed. She started with the SUV, and I came over with the 68 Cougar, I took the SUV home and brought back the 59 Ranchero, she brought the 73 Cougar and then I brought the 70 Cougar, by the time I got there the 73 was all done and we traded cars so she waited for the 70 to finish up. By the time we brought the fifth car, they were cracking up at how many cars we had! We joked that there were several more, but since they closed at 2PM we couldn’t get them in in time. Little did they know we were serious!

While Fran waited for the 70 Cougar to be finished Darcy and I took boxes to New storage and then the lady who had bought our adjustable full size bed arrived and we hustled back to help her load it into her car. I don’t remember how we got that thing into our house 8 years ago, but getting it out was a pain in the a**!!!!!! That thing must have weighed over 100 lbs and helping this woman load it into her truck almost killed us.

Then Darcy and I had to go back to the garage and load blinds into the SUV to put them in the dumpster at the same building we moved them from two months ago!!!! By this time it was 6PM and I took Darcy home, but had to make a stop at Best Buy to figure out how to make our Sling box work on the TV at VWL and BCV, then I stopped by K-Mart to see if they had some unmetionables that Fran was looking for.

With no luck on that front, we moved the 70 Cougar over to the garage that Darcy and I cleared out so now all our vehicles would be off the street during our vacation. At this point Fran graciously took me out for a wonderful dinner, and stuffed to the gills, we came to home to resume packing.

Even though I broke the rules and had began packing several days before it still took me at least another five hours to get the last remains together. Fran had mentioned that she was going to wake me between 3AM-4AM to get ready to go to the airport, and here it was that time and I had still not even begun loading the car yet!

Needless to say, I never laid down in bed last night, and I can’t even say that I’ve ever pulled an all nighter even in my wildest days! As a party girl I usually still went to sleep by 5 or 6AM and here I was on the way to the airport at that time. It’s very surreal as I sit here on the airplane writing this. Even with no sleep last night I can’t find it in me to take a nap. I’m pretty sure I will go to bed early tonight as soon as dinner is over and I take my bath and will have adjusted to East Coast time!

Now it is that time and I'm about to take my bath and go to bed. 10PM perfect bed time for our breakfast reservation tomorrow!

 

[franandaj]

Nothing wrong with having a lazy night after a very long travel day.

That's usually our plan when we get to WDW even if we did sleep the night before!

You are there?! You are only 50 miles away from me!!

just about to get into my Jacuzzi and then go to bed. Every part of me aches.

I'm happy to see you made safe and sound.

I'm glad I made it too. need some rest and go to bed.

 

[ACDSNY]

Back away from the computer and go get some REST!!! Good night Alison!

 

[jedijill]

Glad you made it...now go get some sleep so you can enjoy your trip!

Jill in CO

 

[lisaviolet]

Twinkle, twinkle, twink. I'm at Walt Disney World!

:

STOP TAUNTING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a horrid day - with my mom - well that sounds AWFUL. You know.

(My mother in her later stages of dementia since I'm totally insecure about sounding awful. )-

I certainly could have used that magical power, Alison.

But VERY HAPPY you have it!

Nothing wrong with having a lazy night after a very long travel day.

Well for me, at WDW, there's nothing wrong with having a lazy night in general.

I'm happy to see you made safe and sound.

Yes, I was so excited at getting off my bus to get to here and see! Thanks Alison for keeping us up to date. Much appreciated.

Fran stumbled upon a HS car wash fundraiser and for $5 per car she couldn’t resist getting all the classic cars washed. She started with the SUV, and I came over with the 68 Cougar, I took the SUV home and brought back the 59 Ranchero, she brought the 73 Cougar and then I brought the 70 Cougar, by the time I got there the 73 was all done and we traded cars so she waited for the 70 to finish up. By the time we brought the fifth car, they were cracking up at how many cars we had! We joked that there were several more, but since they closed at 2PM we couldn’t get them in in time. Little did they know we were serious!


!

Priceless Fran strikes again!

Have a wonderful day tomorrow Alison.

And here's to a great sleep.

 

[kmedina]

What a busy day! I bet you are resting soundly right now.

Sent from my iPhone using DISBoards

 

[Pinkocto]

You're at Disney World!!!

 

[franandaj]

Back away from the computer and go get some REST!!! Good night Alison!

I did! I feel much better today!

Glad you made it...now go get some sleep so you can enjoy your trip!

Jill in CO

Seems my body doesn't want to sleep, I woke up at 3:30AM all ready to go!

STOP TAUNTING ME!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I had a horrid day - with my mom - well that sounds AWFUL. You know.

(My mother in her later stages of dementia since I'm totally insecure about sounding awful. )-

I know what it's like or I should say Fran knows what it's like. I went through it by her side. Is your mother at home or is she institutionalized?

I certainly could have used that magical power, Alison.

But VERY HAPPY you have it!

Well for me, at WDW, there's nothing wrong with having a lazy night in general.

Yes, I was so excited at getting off my bus to get to here and see! Thanks Alison for keeping us up to date. Much appreciated.



Priceless Fran strikes again!

Have a wonderful day tomorrow Alison.

And here's to a great sleep.

Yes, Fran does find the bargains! Good sleep can fix almost anything!

You're at Disney World!!!

And I have a whole week until I have to leave!

 

[kid-at-heart]

Oh ouch! I cannot do all nighters. I hope you are well rested and enjoying being on the east coast now. Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Kate

 

[lisaviolet]

I did! I feel much better today!

Seems my body doesn't want to sleep, I woke up at 3:30AM all ready to go!

Good sleep can fix almost anything!

:

Great to hear Alison. LOVED the woke up at 3:30 AM all ready to go!

_________________

(Mom is still home - miraculously - I don't know how we've accomplished that all this time - but we have - don't respond to me, okay. I want all your happy thoughts! But thank you. )

__________________

Hope you're having a fabulous day! Lovely to hear all about it. Envy is raging but I'm keeping it at bay. Smiling!

 

[Leshaface]

What a fun DIS meet!

So glad you made it to WDW (although extremely tired) and I hope you're having a fantastic day!

P.S. how's the weather?

 

[franandaj]

Oh ouch! I cannot do all nighters. I hope you are well rested and enjoying being on the east coast now. Looking forward to reading about your adventures!

Kate

I can't ever remember doing an all nighter, even in school (but then again I studied and took notes along the way, so I never had to do those last minute cram sessions). I felt awful especially at my age! I know your signature line says that you used to be a hippie, and now you're a professor. I used to be a hippie wanna be, and now I'm barely able to keep up with life!

I'm glad to be here on the East Coast, although it is very humid. I still have a couple more updates from DL before I get to WDW

Great to hear Alison. LOVED the woke up at 3:30 AM all ready to go!

_________________

(Mom is still home - miraculously - I don't know how we've accomplished that all this time - but we have - don't respond to me, okay. I want all your happy thoughts! But thank you. )

__________________

Hope you're having a fabulous day! Lovely to hear all about it. Envy is raging but I'm keeping it at bay. Smiling!

We had a very mellow day, in fact I actually took a nap and crashed hard, but power nap it was and I was back and ready to go again, more on that later!

What a fun DIS meet!

So glad you made it to WDW (although extremely tired) and I hope you're having a fantastic day!

P.S. how's the weather?

It's hot here, but not hotter than you're used to! The humidity is what is killing me!

 

[rentayenta]

Glad you're there and rested and enjoying yourselves!


I did plenty of all nighters during my undergrad. Maybe that's why it took me 6 years to graduate and not 4.

 

[franandaj]

Glad you're there and rested and enjoying yourselves!


I did plenty of all nighters during my undergrad. Maybe that's why it took me 6 years to graduate and not 4.

Ha! Only 6? I was on the 8 year plan!

Look Jenny! You got new tags! I told you strange things happen on the Boo Boo thread! Those are all things you said on Pam's TR!

 

[franandaj]

So back to our TR, if you all remember, we just spent the evening at DL with PIO's family watching M&tMMP, Fireworks and F! The next day was Monday morning, we were hoping for a lighter park crowd level and park opening was a bit later, 10AM today. Even though we weren’t there for park opening the day before, we heard that PIO’s DH was hoping that soon their vacation would kick in and they wouldn’t be getting up as early.

Fran and I were up and dressed by a little after 9AM and PIO family and Brett came by bearing gifts of Tam Tams (Australian delicacy) and homemade Caramel Corn (Sacramento delicacy). They admired our spacious villa, and then we were off into DCA through the exclusive guest entrance. We had to fast talk because after I showed my room key, they were kind of about to ask the others, so I said, “We’re all together.” And that stifled any questions about who was with who, and not more need to show room keys.

We decided to give the scooters another go, and see if the day before was just a fluke, but as soon as I went through the gates, the power meter was flickering and I was instantly down a light. Evidently our batteries were both down. Mine had been replaced earlier in the year, but evidently it had been used up rather quickly and required replacing. I decided to take the scooter back to the room and brave the day walking.

Since it was only one day, it wouldn’t put me out too bad. My problem is tendonitis in my left foot from a broken fifth metatarcel bone about 14 years ago. While walking through the parks for one day is possible, it leaves me rather sore and causes me to walk improperly favoring my right leg and front of my left foot. Eventually walking in such an improper fashion causes great pain in my left leg and hip and I’m not able to walk much for a few weeks while I recover. I have inserts for my shoes that have made it better, but if I want to do more than one or maybe two days of extended park touring, the scooter is a necessity to my happiness and those who are with me!

While I was taking the scooter back, PIO, family and Brett all went on the Monsters ride, which had been updated on the outside to reflect the new movie which has recently come out.





I caught up with them as they finished and we headed off to meet our guide for our VIP tour. I have a friend who has been very kind to me this year. As part of his Club 33 membership he receives a number of complimentary VIP tours. He knows how much I love the parks and that I have had lots of friends visiting this year. Not only has he obliged me in meeting out at the special members lounge, he has also allowed me to use some of his complimentary tours as we did today.

Thanks Jim, for taking this wonderful shot of us all before we started our tour!’



Our first stop with our human Fast Pass would have been Radiator Springs Racers, but the ride was down, so instead we chose Mater’s Junkyard Jamboree.



This side was just warming up and preparing for guests.



I love this old shack and the radios Mader has stockpiled here!



PIO and her DS rode together.



As RSR was still down, we headed over to the Little Mermaid. The only thing I do on this ride is take blurry pictures!















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