Resorts, Relatives & Restaurants - and a 3 day cruise!

[Monny2AE]

Look at you and all your Snowbird meets! How fun!

I love this picture of your girls! So sweet!

Reading your TR really makes me want to go at Christmas and see all the decorations! I just won't show DH the pics you took of all the crowds or he'll never want to go that time of year!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Great update!

Awesome photopass pics on Main Street.

How cool that you got to see all of those neat parades. WL looks beautiful all decked out for Christmas! BLT looks so great too. I know what you mean about the list of resorts you want to try growing longer and loner.

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

Reading your TR really makes me want to go at Christmas and see all the decorations! I just won't show DH the pics you took of all the crowds or he'll never want to go that time of year!

I know a great time to go and see most of the Christmas decorations and have none of the crowds. . .

 

[RinkyTinkyTinky]

I know a great time to go and see most of the Christmas decorations and have none of the crowds. . .

ME TOO!!!

 

[Momof2Disneyboys]

ME TOO!!!

Sshhh let's not tell anyone our little secret. . . .

 

[Lovemy3babes]

The picture of the boys holding Tink is absolutely hilarious!! Willderness Lodge tops my list for my favorite deluxe resort. Maybe some day we could stay there. It's so gorgeous! What a fun way to end the night in the MK.

 

[stace208]

My SIL Donna (the blonder one) and her hubby (the one with the beard and the baseball hat) live in Gloucester with the two teenage boys. He's the guy who works at Northrup Grunman (or whatever it's called) at the shipyards. Designs submarines. MIL also lives with them.

Ok. I'll have to show my hubby a picture that he is in. Unlikely he knows him since my DH designs aircraft carriers but ya never know!

Wow! You got some fantastic pictures! Some of my faves were the family ones on that candy cane bench in the MK! I also love your Santa Mickey hats-too cute!! Did the nephews willingly pose for their Tinkerbelle magic shot?? LOL!

Wilderness Lodge is so wonderful. I didn't have a magic cookie bar when we stayed there before. What is it like?

As for the pool lady, this is why I make it a point to either have on my cover-up or stay at least waist deep in the water. When I exit, I exit quickly!

 

[manntra]

Great pool shots at BLT.....I have always had mixed feelings on this resort but I am really starting to like it.....as long as I don't show up wearing my bathing suit in someones TR!!!
That was so cool you saw an old neighbor now CM! I always look to see where everyone is from too

Tracy

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Thank you for sharing the WL pics!!! They are beautiful!!! I cannot wait to stay there when it's all decorated for Christmas!! How fun that you ran into a CM that used to be your neighbor! What a small world!! Your castle and Spectro pics are amazing!!

I knew I would have a ton of pictures! I figured I might not get back there during the holidays (anytime soon at least), so I wanted to remember all the details!
It was fun to run into our old neighbor. We didn't know them real well when they lived here, but it was cool to re-connect!

It's a small world afterall...

Great update!

Denise

Thanks! I was thinking of singing that song when I wrote that update!

Love the last 2 updates. Before they changed the name, my family used to eat at Alfredo's on every trip to WDW. The food was soooo good and all the waiters used to hit on my older sister! One of them told her they were going to take her back to Italy with them!!! Your dessert there looked right up my alley. Little bites of different things. Yummy!

I love the pics of the Castle all lit up. It makes me want to cry! I also love the matching shirts. They're adorable! How awesome that you ended up seeing a CM that you actually knew. That must have been so much fun.

I had heard good things about it when it was Alfredo's too. Oh, don't get me started with the waiters. What is it about Italian men? OOOH! I can say that because I married one! The castle all lit up gives me the chills and that happy feeling that shouts "DISNEY MAGIC!!!".
I made those shirts for our January trip - got the design from the DISign threads.

I LOVE, LOVE, LOVE your pictures. Love that the boys held Tink and love the photopass of your girls together. OMG.. so sweet.

Loving reading updates today since we are still stuck in the snow. No school tomorrow again! That pool and 82 degree weather sure sounds great.

Thanks! The photopass pictures were a lot of fun. We had the boys do that because their mom wasn't with us and I thought she'd appreciate it.
I wish I was allowed to stay home for snow. We got a few inches overnight and I had an hour and 15 minute commute this morning that normally takes me 35 minutes. It really wasn't that bad of conditions, but it was slippery. GRRR! I'd rather be at WDW!

So much good stuff here! Where to begin.............

Well, the boys holding Tinker Bell..... Hilarious! Yes, they looked very happy about that!

An 82 degree pool is sounding really good right now. So funny about the picture of the lady. Before I even read your caption, I thought "Oh that poor lady. I would be so humiliated if that was me posted on the internet!" Then I read your caption and !

All your pics in the Santa hats are great. Love the ones on the white bench, at WL, and at the candy cane area at MK. Just beautiful! I'd have one of those framed!

WL looked so warm and fuzzy! You really did some resort hopping didn't you? How did you get your girls to go along with that without whinning? Maybe when my DD is a little older she will be more cooperative.

I was a little leary about posting the picture of the lady in the pool, but I never got out there when it was empty. Oh well!
DH was the one who got us to go over to Santa's spot for pictures with our hats and we used one for a picture on our Christmas card.
The girls were okay with seeing the resorts I think mostly because there were a lot of decorations and once Sarah got the Hidden Mickey book, we could play that game everywhere! It's worth the money!

Hey girl!! love all your pics!!! How weird that you knew that lady!!!! It's a Small World after all!!! yeah, for the next update and a visit with me I reaaaaaally need to catch mine up, but it's been crazy with Mikes knee surgery--I have been driving around everywhere...back to Houston tomorrow! Oh..I loved the girls' bathing suits! And of course, I think I told Sarah I have those same crocs!

Hey! It was weird especially because I didn't recognize her at first, and then it was like "hey, I know you!"
Don't worry about your TR, we'll wait!! We know that a busy life can interrupt DIS time. I think the girls' suits were from the Land's End Inlet we have nearby. They love tankinis and bikinis.
Yes, you will have a big role in our next update!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Oh my gosh, that lady in the pool!
I won't tell her.....

Thanks for keeping that on the QT!

Look at you and all your Snowbird meets! How fun!

I love this picture of your girls! So sweet!

Reading your TR really makes me want to go at Christmas and see all the decorations! I just won't show DH the pics you took of all the crowds or he'll never want to go that time of year!

Thanks! It was fun to keep meeting up! Just don't show him those pictures, only the pretty decorations!

Great update!

Awesome photopass pics on Main Street.

How cool that you got to see all of those neat parades. WL looks beautiful all decked out for Christmas! BLT looks so great too. I know what you mean about the list of resorts you want to try growing longer and loner.

We usually miss a lot of parades. We still have never seen the AK one.
Dang Disney and their fabulous resorts! I'm a sucker I guess.

Sshhh let's not tell anyone our little secret. . . .

I won't tell!

The picture of the boys holding Tink is absolutely hilarious!! Willderness Lodge tops my list for my favorite deluxe resort. Maybe some day we could stay there. It's so gorgeous! What a fun way to end the night in the MK.

Yeah, I was being the bossy aunt and made them do it just for kicks. Truly I think they liked it! LOL! I've seen a lot of great pictures of the rooms at WL too. Lots of cool activities to do there. I really enjoyed spending our last evening at MK watching Wishes!

Ok. I'll have to show my hubby a picture that he is in. Unlikely he knows him since my DH designs aircraft carriers but ya never know!

Wow! You got some fantastic pictures! Some of my faves were the family ones on that candy cane bench in the MK! I also love your Santa Mickey hats-too cute!! Did the nephews willingly pose for their Tinkerbelle magic shot?? LOL!

Wilderness Lodge is so wonderful. I didn't have a magic cookie bar when we stayed there before. What is it like?

As for the pool lady, this is why I make it a point to either have on my cover-up or stay at least waist deep in the water. When I exit, I exit quickly!

You're right, it's possible! My dad worked for 3M for almost 30 years and it never ceased to amaze me when he actually knew people that worked there. Such a big company. Just last year I found out a friend of a friend grew up near me and her dad knew my dad from working at 3M - 35 years ago!!! They remembered each other. Too weird.
The magic cookie bar is so yummy! Graham cracker crumb crust, coconut, chocolate and butterscotch chips, nuts and I think it's held together with sweetened condensed milk. There's usually a similar recipe on the can of Eagle brand sc milk that I buy.
The boys were okay with the pictures, although I had to "encourage" them to do the Tink one! The older one has a girlfriend/fiance who I think he wanted to show pictures to, so he was more willing. Their mom sure loved them!
Pool coverings are essential in my book too! The santa mickey hats were pretty fun. The girls left theirs on quite a bit (thank goodness, so I didn't have to carry them!)

Great pool shots at BLT.....I have always had mixed feelings on this resort but I am really starting to like it.....as long as I don't show up wearing my bathing suit in someones TR!!!
That was so cool you saw an old neighbor now CM! I always look to see where everyone is from too

Tracy

Yeah, there are pluses and minuses about BLT. The location cannot be beat! I really was nervous about posting that lady's picture on the TR!
Next trip I'm going to have to keep an eye out for her and her hubby again.

Thanks for reading everyone and for the compliments on the pictures. Do you think they're too big? I always forget about resizing them.

 

[Charleston Princess]

What a lovely relaxing afternoon you had by the pool and exploring the Wilderness Lodge -- it just seems to scream Christmas to me when I see pictures of it all decorated.

How neat to run into a past neighbor! I want to work for Disney!

The perfect end to a night: castle lighting, Spectro, and Wishes (and that Dole Whip )!

 

[JoBird]

Oh my word, I had 5 pages to catch up on! Whew!

Okay- Wonderful Epcot Pics, and the review of Tutto made me very hungry.

The Osborne pics were stunning. I want very badly to see them in person- I'm sure that I'd never want to leave either. Glad you saw Fantasmic without being drippy, and I like the seats closest to the back of the theater best.

The pics of WL are awesome--- beautiful resort.
The tshirts you had made- they are adorable. Love the pic of your DD where she has her foot out and her hands clasped like a Princess. So sweet. Good Photopass pics!


The lady coming out of the pool- bless her heart, she'll never get in a pool again-

Spectro looked like it was extra special that night--- and Cinderella with her superb taste in decorating the castle....


Loved it all.

Thanks for taking us along on your trip with you--

now- we need to know what the surprise is....

 

[Northern Disney Girl]

I am finally caught up!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE all the great pics!!!!! Ken will surely be drooling over the Christmas pics of WL!! He is near desperate to get back to his beloved Lodge! I loved POFQ but he is definitely a deluxe snob!

Can't wait to hear about the "secret"

 

[Mndisneygirl]

What a lovely relaxing afternoon you had by the pool and exploring the Wilderness Lodge -- it just seems to scream Christmas to me when I see pictures of it all decorated.

How neat to run into a past neighbor! I want to work for Disney!

The perfect end to a night: castle lighting, Spectro, and Wishes (and that Dole Whip )!

As much as we ran around to see stuff, it was really quite relaxing. It was fun, and no one was really whiny (which is a big deal in our family!)

Oh my word, I had 5 pages to catch up on! Whew!

Okay- Wonderful Epcot Pics, and the review of Tutto made me very hungry.

The Osborne pics were stunning. I want very badly to see them in person- I'm sure that I'd never want to leave either. Glad you saw Fantasmic without being drippy, and I like the seats closest to the back of the theater best.

The pics of WL are awesome--- beautiful resort.
The tshirts you had made- they are adorable. Love the pic of your DD where she has her foot out and her hands clasped like a Princess. So sweet. Good Photopass pics!


The lady coming out of the pool- bless her heart, she'll never get in a pool again-

Spectro looked like it was extra special that night--- and Cinderella with her superb taste in decorating the castle....


Loved it all.

Thanks for taking us along on your trip with you--

now- we need to know what the surprise is....

I think everyone should get to go at Christmastime to see all the cool stuff! I really enjoyed it. DH said we should go back every year. I may have to hold him to that! LOL!
Sarah was big into posing this trip. Wait until you see the cruise pics! Those shirts were so cute, I had to make them! I hope they don't outgrow them too soon!
I'm starting to feel kind of bad about the pool picture. Maybe I should remove it?
The surprise will be coming soon. I have been so distracted this week. I hope to either get to an update tonight (not likely) or tomorrow since I don't have to work. Just going to volunteer at school for a while in the a.m.

I am finally caught up!!!!! LOVE LOVE LOVE all the great pics!!!!! Ken will surely be drooling over the Christmas pics of WL!! He is near desperate to get back to his beloved Lodge! I loved POFQ but he is definitely a deluxe snob!

Can't wait to hear about the "secret"

Welcome back my friend!!! There are far too many cool resorts that I must try!! Someday I will stay at all of the ones I like! I may be 75 years old, but what the heck!
Maybe you should go around the holidays to WL! Ken would be in heaven!!
I'll fill you all in soon!!!

 

[Dugette]

No way!!! I grew up in Oakdale and now live in Woodbury!! Love the eastside I am trying to "feel warmer" by reading trip reports!! Looking forward to an update!!

Well you really are a neighbor!! I'm in Woodbury all the time. Used to live there before I got married too. Do you know where Imation is? Hwy 5 and 694? I live about a mile from there.

Wow, hi neighbors! I too grew up in Oakdale and live in Woodbury now! Can't believe you drove down from MN! I love to drive, but wow, that's far.

Little late to this TR. I've been occasionally perusing it when I've had a chance and just caught up.

Love seeing all the Christmas at Disney pictures, especially that blue icicle-laden castle. So pretty! Also all the various resort tours are great. We're tentatively planning a couple short trips to take advantage of our new APs (and bounceback offer). Beach Club Villas for Food & Wine in early November and the Poly to see the Christmas stuff in early December, so this is a great report to get a preview of some of those things! Thanks for all the photos!

We just went to Teppan Edo on our last trip and it was very good. However, I think Ichiban in Minneapolis (which I've only been to once) set the bar pretty high for Japanese steakhouses for me. I think every experience is probably different though, depending on your chef. Teppan Edo was great, so I'm not complaining, but the skill of the chef and the amazing taste of the food at Ichiban were memorable too...try it sometime if you get a chance.

Look forward to hearing about the cruise. I like cruises and I like Disney, but have never combined the two. And $99? That's awesome!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Wow, hi neighbors! I too grew up in Oakdale and live in Woodbury now! Can't believe you drove down from MN! I love to drive, but wow, that's far.

Little late to this TR. I've been occasionally perusing it when I've had a chance and just caught up.

Love seeing all the Christmas at Disney pictures, especially that blue icicle-laden castle. So pretty! Also all the various resort tours are great. We're tentatively planning a couple short trips to take advantage of our new APs (and bounceback offer). Beach Club Villas for Food & Wine in early November and the Poly to see the Christmas stuff in early December, so this is a great report to get a preview of some of those things! Thanks for all the photos!

We just went to Teppan Edo on our last trip and it was very good. However, I think Ichiban in Minneapolis (which I've only been to once) set the bar pretty high for Japanese steakhouses for me. I think every experience is probably different though, depending on your chef. Teppan Edo was great, so I'm not complaining, but the skill of the chef and the amazing taste of the food at Ichiban were memorable too...try it sometime if you get a chance.

Look forward to hearing about the cruise. I like cruises and I like Disney, but have never combined the two. And $99? That's awesome!

Hi neighbor!! Wow, we should really set up a meet soon!!
Thanks for popping in! If you have any questions along the way, just ask!
I was actually contemplating going to Ichiban for Valentine's Day, but they didn't post prices on the internet, so I figured it might not be in my budget! LOL
We really lucked out driving down - great weather until GA - and we had kids that behaved and slept and watched movies!! They're better road trippers than I am!

This was such a fun trip - I'm having a great time re-living it on this TR, but I have gotten so busy, I've neglected it this week!
I'm really sorry - I hope to have a bit of time tomorrow at work to do an update. Problem is, I just got a notice from Photobucket that I have exceeded my bandwidth. So I won't have pictures showing until the 9th. GGGRRRRR!! I may just post an update and add pictures in on Tuesday. I was hoping it would hang on until the 9th, b/c I'm so cheap! Maybe I'll upgrade, who knows?
I want to get to the cruise before this week is over since I'm going out of town on Thursday night for a long scrapbooking weekend!

Thanks for hanging in with me everyone!

 

[Dugette]

I was actually contemplating going to Ichiban for Valentine's Day, but they didn't post prices on the internet, so I figured it might not be in my budget! LOL

Yeah, I think it's pretty expensive, but I'm not sure (someone else paid the time I went!) I'd love to go back again sometime, though!

We really lucked out driving down - great weather until GA - and we had kids that behaved and slept and watched movies!! They're better road trippers than I am!

Yea for good weather. I'd be scared to drive from MN in the winter based on how the weather is today!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Yea for good weather. I'd be scared to drive from MN in the winter based on how the weather is today!

Doesn't this STINK!!!??!!
I'm leaving work early today.

 

[Dugette]

Doesn't this STINK!!!??!!
I'm leaving work early today.

Yeah, it's no fun. I couldn't leave early, so ended up having a nice, long bus ride home

 

[Mndisneygirl]

(I love alliteration in my titles!)

Okay, I’m back! Sorry for the long absence. I was going to post on Sunday, but when I found out my pictures wouldn’t show up, I figured I’d wait. Life has been busy and I’ve just been so tired! So, enough excuses…

When I left off, we had watched Spectro and Wishes and headed back to BLT. Shawna and I had been texting (again!) and wanted to meet up to see each other’s rooms. I had a little gift to give them too. So they were hanging in their room at the Contemporary, so we headed over there. The room seemed really BIG!!! They had a great view of MK too! We brought them a little MN Vikings football ornament. Turns out her DS is a huge football fan! We lucked out there! My girls and her DD were all chatty and her boys were so polite and talkative with us! Again, they are a wonderful family and I hope you all get a chance to have the pleasure of meeting them!

Then they joined us and we wandered across the bridge to BLT so we could show them our room. They checked out our view and the girls showed Gracie all their new toys and stuff! I could see that they would be fast friends and it was hard to break them up when it was time to go. Of course, Shawna and I had a hard time ending our chattiness too! We were thrilled that we got to meet up three times during our trip this year. Last time we saw each other twice!

After we said goodbye, we knew we had to get those kids to bed and pack. It was our last night at BLT and WDW! L At least we were going on a cruise, so we didn’t have to go right home! I re-packed our luggage so we weren’t taking too much extra stuff. It was only a three day cruise after all and we wanted to leave as much in the car as we could. I think we managed with two suitcases and a few carry-on bags.

We had one more thing to do at WDW before leaving.

Breakfast at Ohana!!! Our reservation was for 9:10, and we were up at 7 to shower, pack up those last few things and load up the cars. We got the scooter and wheelchair returned to the bell desk and drove over to the Poly. It was not looking like good weather. We had to wait for everyone to show up, so we wandered around the shops, I bought some Kona coffee to take back as gifts for my coffee-loving boss and court reporter, and when everyone arrived, we stood in line for our picture. I’d post it, but it’s one of those from the package you buy and it’s not scanned into my computer. It was nice to get one more picture of all 12 of us though. I can’t imagine when we will all be together again!
Breakfast was yummy!! They serve it family style, have good coffee and fabulous juice (I probably had 3 glasses). You get scrambled eggs, roasted potatoes, bacon, sausage, biscuits, fruit, MICKEY WAFFLES! Sorry, I don’t seem to have any food pics! (I know, what was I thinking?)

But these guys distracted us!

We told Lilo that she needed to take a picture with Andrew!

And look - he's smiling!!!




After breakfast, we hit the restrooms and I had one more special mission to complete before leaving. So I sent the gang off to look at other stuff and ran back down to the gift shop. Sarah will be turning 9 on 3/9 and she has been asking to have her ears pierced for some time. I’d told her that she would need to prove she was responsible enough to take care of her ears and earrings because I didn’t want her leaving her ears to get infected or earrings lying around for the dog to eat! I said that when I thought she was ready, I’d give her a pair of earrings. So I went to buy her Mickey earrings! I know she can’t use them as starters, but her first pair HAD to be Mickey! I found a pair with her birthstone and stashed them. I think I will give them to her for her golden birthday. I’m pretty sure I didn’t take a picture, but they are the same ones you see at all the gift shops, with gold and a light blue stone.

While we were in Ohana, it started raining!! POURING DOWN RAIN!!!
Once we said our goodbyes to Debbie and Steve (they were hauling their motorhome back to Ft. Meyers area), we raced to the car, stopped and got gas and headed to Port Canaveral!!! It rained most of the way, but we were hopeful that it would stop before the sail away party!!

We arrived at 12:30, DH dropped us off at the door and went to park. We walked right up to the Castaway Club check in (For previous guests!) and checked in, got our pictures taken for ID purposes and waited for the rest of the gang to arrive. Pictures will be coming in the next update.
Up next…our first day on the ship! A DIS FE Exchange meet, lots of Christmas decorations, food and fun!