TimNDansMom
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Mar 23, 2000
- Messages
- 3,093
New Year's Day, Rudy, Dan and I went to the Polynesian Resort for breakfast at Kona Café (love that Tonga toast!) then Rudy went off golfing and Dan and I went to visit the resorts to see their decorations and then went for tea at the Grand Floridian. Tim chose to remain back at our resort. I love the decorations at Grand Floridian but I was also impressed with Wilderness Lodge and Animal Kingdom Lodges big Christmas trees and their themed decorations. I really enjoyed visiting AKL again, after staying there in July. Although a little cool, it was a nice day, after it being so dull the day before.
Just Dan and I went to Sea World on Wednesday and we all went to Universal on Thursday as both parks had a Canada @ par special. It poured with rain most of the day at Sea World, but stopped just in time for Dan and I to ride the big new Kraken roller coaster. Wearing our rain ponchos, we still enjoyed all the sealife exhibits, the shark reef, the Shamu Rocks America show and Dan fed the dolphins and patted the sting rays again. Wednesday was the last of the milder weather.
Our day at Universal was getting chilly and was overcast, but we still had a great time. In spite of long lines, we did Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park River Adventure (Tim wouldnt wear a poncho and got somewhat wet, but dried off on the roller coaster and Dan doesnt like flume rides), both Dueling Dragons and Cat in the Hat and had lunch at Margaritaville before heading over to US for Men In Black twice, Jaws, Terminator 3D and Earthquake. We left a bit before the early 7pm closing. DH loved the roller coasters and managed to go on Hulk before we went on as a family, mistaking the Express line for a singles line, while we were stowing our backpacks away in the lockers.
Our last day, Friday, was downright cold but sunny!! DH went off golfing for the day, Tim stayed back at ASMu to read his book while Dan and I went to MGM and AK. I really enjoyed the Walt Disney 100 Years displays and film and I rode RnR twice using Dans Fastpass as he doesnt like the fast start (I know, hes a fussy kid!!). We also went on The Great Movie Ride and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which is Dans favorite~he even got on the top 10 score board once. I had hoped to make a quick trip over to MK to see the Share the Dream parade, but both monorails went down when we got to the TTC and the ferry had just left, so it was pointless as the parade would have started before another ferry arrived. So we took advantage of this to go over to AK and really enjoyed the new Mickeys Jammin Jungle parade. We ended our day wandering around AK looking at animals before it closed for the day. I had wanted to go back to MGM to see the Osborne Family Lights again and show Dan. However, Dan, being a teenager, wouldnt believe me when I said it was going to be very cold that day and wouldnt wear a sweater under his jacket and complained he was cold. So we decided to go back to the room and have an early night before the drive home. I drank lots of hot chocolate in the food court, the last couple of days!
Having already packed the van up on Friday night, we left around 8am Saturday morning. It was a pleasant drive to our only stop in Knoxville, Tenn. We arrived home right on schedule on Sunday night. This was a big surprise considering the snow storm we drove through in Tennessee that day! Not pleasant at all. I think everyone else had driven right through to beat the storm as there was hardly any traffic on the I-75 on Sunday. I regretted making a guaranteed reservation as we should have driven well into Kentucky to get out of the mountains. We could have cancelled before 6pm but hindsight is twenty-twenty, isn't it. It basically snowed all the way home on Sunday with some almost dry patches in Michigan. The border was a snap going through although we did have to show our photo ID (I have passports for all of us)~funny we didn't on the way into the US. We noticed that there were lots of Ontario license plates during the trip, as we also noticed last March Break.
The weather was a bit of a disappointment, I must say! I had hoped for some really warm weather to help get me through the next few months. It started out nice and warm and got progressively colder as the week went on. It was odd to see everyone wearing winter coats, hats and gloves in Florida! But now that I'm home in this frigid Ontario weather, I'd rather be enjoying the "cold" of Florida, although it was forecast to warm up the day we left and then drop down a bit again. I couldn't believe people still swimming in the heated pools at ASMu and then having to get out into the cold air. The water was like a steam bath. Reminded me of hot springs in Europe! It was quite remarkable to see all the steam rising in the early mornings.
Well, that's our trip. Disney was packed but we expected that. We basically knew what we wanted to do and how to do it, although there were some things that we still missed because it is hard to get my family going for the park openings and miss some of the crowds. I enjoyed seeing all the parks and resorts decorated for Christmas. New Year's Eve at EPCOT was fabulous! Now Im just waiting to get the photos back, so that I can relive it all again. The big question now is, can we still afford to go at March Break as we had originally planned before deciding to go at Christmas? I guess when the bills start coming (eeek!), well decide!
Just Dan and I went to Sea World on Wednesday and we all went to Universal on Thursday as both parks had a Canada @ par special. It poured with rain most of the day at Sea World, but stopped just in time for Dan and I to ride the big new Kraken roller coaster. Wearing our rain ponchos, we still enjoyed all the sealife exhibits, the shark reef, the Shamu Rocks America show and Dan fed the dolphins and patted the sting rays again. Wednesday was the last of the milder weather.
Our day at Universal was getting chilly and was overcast, but we still had a great time. In spite of long lines, we did Hulk, Spiderman, Jurassic Park River Adventure (Tim wouldnt wear a poncho and got somewhat wet, but dried off on the roller coaster and Dan doesnt like flume rides), both Dueling Dragons and Cat in the Hat and had lunch at Margaritaville before heading over to US for Men In Black twice, Jaws, Terminator 3D and Earthquake. We left a bit before the early 7pm closing. DH loved the roller coasters and managed to go on Hulk before we went on as a family, mistaking the Express line for a singles line, while we were stowing our backpacks away in the lockers.
Our last day, Friday, was downright cold but sunny!! DH went off golfing for the day, Tim stayed back at ASMu to read his book while Dan and I went to MGM and AK. I really enjoyed the Walt Disney 100 Years displays and film and I rode RnR twice using Dans Fastpass as he doesnt like the fast start (I know, hes a fussy kid!!). We also went on The Great Movie Ride and Who Wants to Be a Millionaire which is Dans favorite~he even got on the top 10 score board once. I had hoped to make a quick trip over to MK to see the Share the Dream parade, but both monorails went down when we got to the TTC and the ferry had just left, so it was pointless as the parade would have started before another ferry arrived. So we took advantage of this to go over to AK and really enjoyed the new Mickeys Jammin Jungle parade. We ended our day wandering around AK looking at animals before it closed for the day. I had wanted to go back to MGM to see the Osborne Family Lights again and show Dan. However, Dan, being a teenager, wouldnt believe me when I said it was going to be very cold that day and wouldnt wear a sweater under his jacket and complained he was cold. So we decided to go back to the room and have an early night before the drive home. I drank lots of hot chocolate in the food court, the last couple of days!
Having already packed the van up on Friday night, we left around 8am Saturday morning. It was a pleasant drive to our only stop in Knoxville, Tenn. We arrived home right on schedule on Sunday night. This was a big surprise considering the snow storm we drove through in Tennessee that day! Not pleasant at all. I think everyone else had driven right through to beat the storm as there was hardly any traffic on the I-75 on Sunday. I regretted making a guaranteed reservation as we should have driven well into Kentucky to get out of the mountains. We could have cancelled before 6pm but hindsight is twenty-twenty, isn't it. It basically snowed all the way home on Sunday with some almost dry patches in Michigan. The border was a snap going through although we did have to show our photo ID (I have passports for all of us)~funny we didn't on the way into the US. We noticed that there were lots of Ontario license plates during the trip, as we also noticed last March Break.
The weather was a bit of a disappointment, I must say! I had hoped for some really warm weather to help get me through the next few months. It started out nice and warm and got progressively colder as the week went on. It was odd to see everyone wearing winter coats, hats and gloves in Florida! But now that I'm home in this frigid Ontario weather, I'd rather be enjoying the "cold" of Florida, although it was forecast to warm up the day we left and then drop down a bit again. I couldn't believe people still swimming in the heated pools at ASMu and then having to get out into the cold air. The water was like a steam bath. Reminded me of hot springs in Europe! It was quite remarkable to see all the steam rising in the early mornings.
Well, that's our trip. Disney was packed but we expected that. We basically knew what we wanted to do and how to do it, although there were some things that we still missed because it is hard to get my family going for the park openings and miss some of the crowds. I enjoyed seeing all the parks and resorts decorated for Christmas. New Year's Eve at EPCOT was fabulous! Now Im just waiting to get the photos back, so that I can relive it all again. The big question now is, can we still afford to go at March Break as we had originally planned before deciding to go at Christmas? I guess when the bills start coming (eeek!), well decide!
