Shhh! Super Secret Winter Warm Up Girls Only February Get Away (from the snow)

[Katie & Glen]

I'm so glad you too are off to a magical start. By the way - you look Amazing! So proud of you for reaching your goal!

Can't wait to see more!

 

[jenseib]

OOH! Love the update!

 

[PoppyGirl]

Sounds like you had great timing for nearly everything! Glad you got your room requests!

That's great that dd was able to get her homework done on the plane and enjoy all the fun at WDW!

How was the temp of the pool water? When we stayed at POFQ in Dec we found it freezing!! Ended up at the theme pool at POR which was much warmer, we were very thankful for a sister resort!!


Too bad about DD's shoes. I'm sure she looked great in her "Italian" clothes despite the wrong shoes.

We had alot of teens at POP too. But they didn't seem to speak English, so if they used bad language it went right over our head. That is a shame that their words were foul.

Sounds like you had great seating at Tony's to see the flag retreat and Move it Shake it!! I didn't realize Tony's has asparagus soup. That sounds great! Your dessert looks wonderful!

Disney sure did a great job with the HM queue! It is alot of fun!

"Random Laughter" sounds like you both had a wonderful trip. Look forward to reading more!






Wow! Great picture!!

Thanks! DH bought this new camera--just a point and shoot--sort of on a whim at Sams Club. It was on clearance. I LOVE it! I didn't feel like bringing my DLSR and this one takes really nice photos for a point and shoot. I'm really happy with it!

I'm so glad you too are off to a magical start. By the way - you look Amazing! So proud of you for reaching your goal!

Can't wait to see more!

Thanks Katie! I'm actually still about 15 pounds from my goal...or maybe a few more after this week at WDW! I'm uploading photos to write a report from today....stay tuned! The wi-fi connection is a little slow.

OOH! Love the update!

Thanks Jen!

 

[PoppyGirl]

"Practically Perfect" Day Two at the Most Magical Kingdom on Earth!

We woke up to beautiful weather today--mostly sunny with highs in the low 80's and a nice breeze with no humidity. It was absolutely gorgeous. Now THIS is why I come to WDW!!!

Waiting for our bus:

DD and I headed out around 8am to make it to MK prior to Opening Ceremony. I ADORE Opening Ceremony. The song makes me so happy. So DD agreed to get up early....oh wait, did I mention our night last night? Who ARE these people who are yelling outside our door at 11:30....12:30....1:00 ....5:00am...6:30am? I turned on the AC to try and drown them out! I decided that if it's that noisy again tonight I'm going to ask to be moved. Even DD was awakened by these noisy people...and she sleeps through nearly anything!

But somehow we both woke up in a happy mood. I'm sure that has something to do with the sunny weather.

We left our fun mousekeeping envelope with our tip and headed out the door. (This will be important later so pay attention).

Our biggest "issue" (nice psychotherapist term, right?) was our tendency to arrive at any bus stop just as our bus was pulling away. *sigh* This led to increased relaxing as we waited for the next bus. But I do have to say that POFQ has been regular with the busses! We never waited more than 20 minutes for the next bus.

The sight that greeted us when we arrived at MK:

First order of business at MK (after Opening Ceremony of course): Buzz LIghtYear Space Ranger Spin. We both love this ride. I don't know why, but DD wanted me to drive. Hmmm....some new strategy on her part?

DD's score:

MY score:

Then it was off to the teacups. Thank goodness neither of us had a very big breakfast because DD wanted to make it spin....FAST! I was seriously dizzy by the time we finished.

Next up was Winnie the Pooh. There was no line so we took our time through the queue. That was fun.

(In fact, there were no lines for anything! We walked onto every ride with no wait until later in the afternoon when it was 20 minutes for HM! I was so happy that I followed the advice on easywdw that today was a best park day for MK)

Somewhere along the line we decided to start collecting a little "pre-Disney trip care package" for my brother and his family. They are coming for the first time in about 10 or 11 years this summer. I was going to get him maps from all the parks and then DD and I thought it would be fun to get him a map from every park....in every language! hahahahaha.... So we started collecting them. We also picked up a luggage tag and lanyard. We will attach some pins for trading and send that out to them for their trip.

One of DD's favorite rides is Small World, and again...no line! So we headed there, stopping along the way to try out the sword in the stone. DD said, "I couldn't figure it out mom. There has to be a trick to it!"

DD is taking tons of photos on this trip and a big part of the fun for her is seeing how good she can make her pictures.

DD was craving Disney popcorn, so we stopped in Frontierland for a popcorn break....and then hair wrapping somewhere in there (I'm forgetting the exact order of our day....) and then went on to Jungle Cruise catching a few minutes of Pirate Tutorial on the way. DD was afraid of being picked to be in the show and kept hiding behind me so we didn't see the whole thing. She kept asking me, "What IS this ride mom?" We hadn't been on it since our first trip in 2007 so she couldn't remember. We got a super skipper (super funny and sarcastic) and so DD enjoyed it. You just have to go into these things with the right sense of humor!

DD wanted a sweet cream cheese pretzel for lunch. She was so happy! And I had Cosmic Ray's pulled pork sandwich. It was very good. I must have been really hungry because I downed that baby!

Then we decided it was time for Philharmagic. I love this show...and it was fun to be surrounded by kids who I think had never seen it and listen to their giggles and laughs through the whole thing. I really enjoyed the 4-D part of it this time with the scents and even being sprayed with water.

I caught this photo of the castle from the Fantasyland side.

After missing the bus (AGAIN!) we were finally on our way back to POFQ for some afternoon swimming and sunning...oh, and of course, "water yoga" (I actually think DD made that up....)

So, when we came back to our room after lunch, there was a note from our mousekeeper saying how much she LOVED our little Mickey pants "envelope" with the tip and could she please keep it. We wrote her back a little note saying, yes of course and we had made it for her. So when we came back from the pool, she was walking by our room and saw us going in (we have magnets on the outside of the door) and she got all excited and said, "Oh my goodness,...you are amazing....I love that thing! Can I please keep it? it's so cute!" And just gushed and gushed about how much she loved our little envelopes. Bwahahaha! She will be so surprised tomorrow when we give her the next one! It made our day! She's really cute too and had a sweet accent.


We took our time and still made it back to MK with time to shop before our dinner with Pooh at Crystal Palace. I love the Mediterranean chicken, fire roasted spoon bread and all the desserts!

Here's DD with her favorite Disney character (oh, and Eeyore too)

We decided to go ahead and come back to the resort so we'd have time for the hot tub and relaxing for a long day tomorrow so we left MK early. DD is desperately trying to learn French (all on her own) so she played on the computer translating phrases to practice with the CM's in the France pavilion tomorrow while I relaxed in the room. We went to the hot tub, had a snack and DD is asleep while I'm catching all of YOU up on our day.

Tomorrow: Epcot! Yay!

 

[PoppyGirl]

So....confession time....I actually ate all my desserts....and then realized I didn't take a photo of them, so I went back and got a few more so I could post a photo of them....

Loved the banana cream pie tart and the raspberry fruit tart (raspberry and custard in a cookie tart with fruit--YUM!), chocolate hazelnut cannoli and espresso mouse something or other. I also had the banana bread pudding with some sort of amazing sauce on top, but it wasn't that pretty so I didn't indulge in another helping just for this photo to share:

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

How cool is this. A trip report being written during the trip. Fantastic idea. I know some people who still haven't finished their trip reports for vacations that happened months ago. I won't mention any names though.

 

[jenseib]

Another great day!!!

 

[Tinkermom76]

I can't believe you are doing a live TR so jealous

How cool is this. A trip report being written during the trip. Fantastic idea. I know some people who still haven't finished their trip reports for vacations that happened months ago. I won't mention any names though.

Really Mike???? Go bug Tracy

 

[PoppyGirl]

I can't believe you are doing a live TR so jealous



Really Mike???? Go bug Tracy

I thought he was talking about himself.....

 

[PoppyGirl]

An Internationally Spectacular Day (also known as Day 3...EPCOT day!

DD and I were a little slower in getting out of bed this morning. We both slept really well last night and no one was awakened by the noisy people until after we were awake already. Then we discovered, by listening at the wall, that the noisy people were not outside as previously thought but actually next door to us. And they weren't really that noisy, just the product of poor insulation between the rooms.

In any case, we took our time a little more today before heading out for Epcot.

First order of the day was Spaceship Earth. We had a lot of fun "creating our own future."

Then it was on to Soarin' (oh there was the funny security lady who was checking this woman's bag--a HUGE bag full of tons of stuff....the woman says, "I have 3 kids....lots of stuff to carry and walks on into the park...after she walked away, the guard mutters to me..."that's why I never had 3 kids...too much stuff to carry around.")

Even though we were late getting to the park, and by "late" I mean 9:15 there were no real lines to speak of. Score one for following easywdw's advice. Once again we arrived at the bus stop just after the bus we needed pulled away. Then there were four (count them FOUR) Animal Kingdom buses while we were waiting for ONE measly Epcot bus....oh well.

There was still only a 10 minute wait for Soarin. I thought it looked like screen had been repaired. I only noticed one small dark spot throughout the entire show. We waited for the front row of section B to get the best seats in the house.

Then we decided to ride Living with the Land. It was really interesting and DD and I both enjoyed it. The Mickey shaped tomato and watermelon weren't there any more though. What's up with that???

We then walked over to Test Track to get a fast pass and stopped in MouseGears to shop a bit. DD got one of the blank vinylmation dolls to have characters sign. Of course she doesn't really want to MEET any characters....

DD had been talking about Kaki Gori all morning so we strolled quicky through WS Canada, UK, France and over to Japan for some shaved ice. Cherry. Yum! DD really enjoyed it. On the way, we messed with the people at the phone booths in Canada by calling them when people were standing there. Sometimes they just looked confused. One lady did talk to me though. Another lady answered but was from Argentina and did not speak English. That was a short conversation!

One of the clerks in the UK shops noticed my Dr. Who earrings and DD's Dr. Who necklace. He told us we were "brilliant" (DD loves that word--especially when said with a British accent) and our word of the day became "Allons-y!" (look it up if you aren't a dr who fan!)

We stopped for a photo with Marie (DD calls her "creepy cat"). I told her that we have 25 cats and if Disney ever kicks her out, she is welcome to come and live with us.

It was almost time for our lunch at LeCellier so back to Canada we went, checked in and were seated almost immediately. We had a fabulous waitress there and sat next to a lovely lady dining alone as her husband had to leave their vacation to go home and take care of his mother. I had the cheese soup (I forgot just how good it was!) and the filet mignon and maple creme brulee. All was delicious! Anna had pretzel breadsticks, salad and chocolate mousse.

I just love those gardens in Canada, UK and France. I think it's so beautiful. We also enjoyed the garden in China.

At some point we decided to make today our long day and not go home (back to POFQ) for a swim, so that meant we could really take our time around WS and shop in each country.

After lunch we continued around WS. We HAD to see the World Showcase players in UK. I've seen that show so many times, but I absolutely love it and it makes us laugh every time!

I got my first (but most certainly NOT my last!) Grand Marnier Slushie in France. OH. MY. GOODNESS. That thing was amazing! No wonder everyone talks about them! DD has had the health unit recently in school about the dangers of alcohol...so of course I got a bit of a lecture about drinking. Really? How much alcohol is even in those things? I'm a complete lightweight and I barely felt it. Anyway....

DD bought a french book of phrases in France. She was practicing the rest of the day. She tried out all the perfumes in Italy. We have a giant collection of those little strips of paper with the different scents on them.

I find it interesting that the American pavilion is sort of the least interesting of the countries. It's sort of sad.

DD picked a pearl in Japan and then added it to the two from last year that she carries in her purse. She doesn't know yet about the 2 pearl cages I bought for her. Can't wait to give them to her.

Norway was fun. I made DD come with me to try some Laila perfume and I added to our collection of little strips of paper. But the Laila ones went in my purse. Then....well, I'll let the photo speak for itself....

I wish they would do more with the African outpost, but we met this great CM there who talked to DD for a long time and was quite entertaining.

I asked this guy in Mexico to give me his best "sexy" look...he was fun too. I bought my vanilla in Mexico (If you haven't tried this vanilla and if you bake at all...it is the BEST!).

Then it was back to future world and Test Track (DD's favorite ride at Epcot). We used our FP's and were informed by the CM that next month they will no longer accept late FP's.

Ok...here's the deja-vu moment of the day. February 2009 we took a trip to WDW and then a Disney cruise with my friend Debbie and her family from CA. Her neice C. was in the intern program at WDW but on her days off she toured the parks with us. She had a friend Jarrett who worked at Test Track and got us in once to the front of the line and then let us ride twice (super fun!). C. left when she finished the intern program, but is still friends with Jarrett. I think he went back to college and graduated.

So we are entering Test Track and there's this guy (the one who tells people which line to get in to board the ride) who looks JUST LIKE JARRETT. And (twilight zone music) his name tag says JARRETT. (Now I remember all this because my friend and I thought that C and Jarrett made a very nice couple and we teased her mercilessly about it...plus he got us in the back door....) so when we got up to the front I asked him if he was C's friend....the boy lit up like a Christmas tree and said "Yes! She didn't even tell me you were coming down!" Well, that's because I see her maybe once a year and that was in October and she's 23 and has a life apart from me! But anyway, what a funny thing!

Ok, so where was I? Test Track and then....oh yes, DD wanted to visit Club Cool. I'll let the photos speak for themselves again....

We decided to head over to The Seas. We rode the Nemo ride and then....DD discovered the fish tanks....and that was all she wrote. I practically had to drag her out of there! We saw the dolphin and she was completely enchanted. There was a diver in the tank with a guide and her husband was filming her, so we chatted with him for a few minutes and DD decided that she definitely wants to do that when she's old enough.

Then it was time for our dinner at Rose and Crown. We had stopped by earlier to ask if we could request a patio table and the very nice lady told us to come at 7:30 to check in (early for our 7:50 ADR) and she would do her best to get us a patio table. SCORE! Right in the middle of the patio! Perfect for viewing Illuminations! DD had never seen this show and she was enthralled. Oh wait, I skipped over the eating part...DD had the bangers and mash and I had the fish and chips. We both ended up having the sticky toffee pudding for dessert YUMMO!

DD took a bunch of photos of Illuminations, but none of mine turned out.

Here's our last view on our way out of the park:

What a great day! Tomorrow is AK day...and Boma for dinner. I can't wait! (I hope I'm hungry again by then...I'm so full now I can hardly think about food...!)

 

[Katie & Glen]

Lenora, I am so glad you and Anna are having such a great time! I am really enjoying following along with the nightly updates!

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Really Mike???? Go bug Tracy

How do you know I meant you? I didn't mention any names, I could have been talking about someone who takes alot of pictures, someone specific from Canada, a pair of travelers from Canada, all of the above....

 

[Katie & Glen]

How do you know I meant you? I didn't mention any names, I could have been talking about someone who takes alot of pictures, someone specific from Canada, a pair of travelers from Canada, all of the above....

Give it up Mike... we all know who you are talking about.

 

[Tinkermom76]

Give it up Mike... we all know who you are talking about.

Don't you start too

 

[PoppyGirl]

What a WILD and WONDERFUL Day (Day 4 of our Winter getaway!)

You know it's going to be a good Disney day when the bus pulls up just as you arrive at the bus stop! We walked right onto the Animal Kingdom bus this morning and were on our way to one of our favorite places.

Hello Animal Kingdom!
I did NOT like that they let us through the turnstiles and then held everyone at the entrance to all the park areas inside....it made it very chaotic and people were so rude, running ahead and pushing people to get to the front.

But....we were still on the first ride out for Kilimanjaro Safaris and we had the BEST safari ride EVER with a GREAT CM. We saw every animal!! They were all out and active and it was just the best safari. Anna and felt so thrilled.

Our safari jeep got stuck a couple of times because there were animals in the middle of the ride track blocking the way. But it was kind of cool because it gave us time to really watch the animal behaviors. We watched the baby elephant for about 10 minutes. Loved it!

We did Pangani forest trail and again saw lots of active animals. I think Anna was in heaven with all the animals.

We walked around Africa for a while and shopped in the African store (we both LOVE that store!) , got some popcorn to share and headed over toward Asia for some more shopping.

By then it was time for our lunch at Yak & Yeti. We were the first ones in the restaurant and our hostess asked us where we wanted to sit and put us by a window.

We had these yummy egg rolls

Anna got the kids vegetable lo mein and I got the Bourbon Chicken. We both really enjoyed our lunch. And then we ordered the Fried Wontons for dessert. OH. MY. GOODNESS! They were SO yummy! After they were gone, Anna looked at the plate and said wistfully, "Mom, remember when they were still there?"

Here are our fortunes:

After lunch it was time for the Maharajah Jungle Trek. I love this walk! It started to drizzle while we were in there, but the clouds were moving away as we got done, so it was all good. And we got to see these beauties:

We spent some more time walking around and then we wanted to see Flights of Wonder. Again, a brilliant show! Great CM's and the birds were awesome. Afterwards Anna told me that when she grows up that is the job she wants to have...training birds.

We debated staying for FOLK but decided we both felt like we had done the things that were most important to us and would rather go back to the hotel for a swim. It was a perfect afternoon by then and we swam and played in the pool for a while before getting dressed for dinner at BOMA.

This guy is always waiting for us when we return in the afternoons:

Boma is my favorite restaurant EVER...ANYWHERE. We had a lovely meal and a lovely CM as our waitress who was very sweet to us. And then we walked around the lodge a visited the animal viewing areas...guess what! Giraffes and Zebras! WHOO HOO!

Carrot Ginger soup--YUM! (the waitress asked the chef to heat up a bowl for me since it wasn't on the buffet tonight!)

Selection of desserts at Boma including the Kenya Coffee Tart (Anna's favorite) and the Bread pudding with vanilla sauce and rum sauce (my favorite)

Oh, and I ordered this....just for fun!

Hidden Mickey??

Overall, a wonderful day....and we came back to the resort after dinner. Anna watched TV and I fell asleep at 8:30pm!

Tomorrow: LaNouba!

 

[Tinkermom76]

What a wonderful day you had a AK. I have to try to be on the 1st safari once

 

[Daddy_of_Princesses]

Looks like you are having a great time. I see it's going to be a little chilly tonight down there. Hope that doesn't put a damper on things.

 

[PoppyGirl]

Lenora, I am so glad you and Anna are having such a great time! I am really enjoying following along with the nightly updates!

Thanks Katie! I'm enjoying writing it each night--it helps me remember! And Anna and I take a few minutes each night to fill out our journal about our day.

What a wonderful day you had a AK. I have to try to be on the 1st safari once

It was the BEST Natalie! I hope you can do it next time you are here. And then be sure to write about it so that DOP won't give you a hard time!

Looks like you are having a great time. I see it's going to be a little chilly tonight down there. Hope that doesn't put a damper on things.

Well, we TRIED to get in the pool today and if it hadn't been so windy, we probably could have done it, but it was just too cold with the wind! So we went to the hot tub instead. And we were a little cold walking to the bus stop after DTD...(see my post below) but other than that, we didn't let it bother us today. I think tomorrow is supposed to be cold but sunny and the wind is supposed to die down. Anna really wanted to do that Characters In Flight balloon ride at DTD today but they were grounded due to 35mph winds! (Whew! I was secretly glad because that thing scares me to death!)

 

[PoppyGirl]

Time for the SHOW! Day 5

Today was our "relax, resort, sleep in, DTD, LaNouba day. It was GREAT to sleep in. I fell asleep at 8:30pm last night and DD finally woke me up at 7:30am this morning. Whew!

We took our time getting ready this morning, ate breakfast in our room and took a few photos around the resort and then we were on our way to DTD. We were going to take the boat...but then the boat didn't start running until 10am, so we decided to take the bus...and then when we got to the bus stop, the bus had, OF COURSE, just left, so we decided that by the time we walked back to the boat, it would be nearly 10am and time for the boat to start running...or we could wait in the wind for the bus...hmmm...more fun to wait for the boat!

And there it was, just as we arrived.

It was pretty fun taking the boat to DTD. We walked around, visited Tren-D. (my favorite store in DTD) and of course World of Disney Store. We bought a couple of charms for our charm bracelet. We started it about 2 years ago and add charms every time we come. DD and I take turns wearing it. I bought a fun bracelet at Tren-D. They have the cutest things there!

Lunch was ice cream and chocolate covered strawberries at Ghirardelli. (Hey, we're on VACATION!) Anna had the chocolate covered strawberries and I had the chocolate peanut butter sundae. Ahh.....sooooooo good!

Anna enjoyed the Mickey's Pantry store and bought some tea and some coconut sugar. We went in that store twice. We shopped a little more and then decided to come back to the resort and try the pool. Yeah. hahahahaha. It was FREEZING! Even DD couldn't take it. So we ended up in the hot tub just trying to stay warm.

And did I mention yet our sweet mousekeeper? She's a doll! We just love her. So she was cleaning our room when we came back from the ski slope...I mean the hot tub. So we went to the food court and had some cheese fries for dessert. (Hey, I SAID, we are ON VACATION! Don't judge me!)

By the time we got back, she was done, our room was pristine again (I told Anna that I feel like I have a mother this week because someone is always cleaning up after me). Anna watched TV (she loves Disney channel--we don't have cable at home) and I wrote my TR from yesterday. Then we got ourselves all dressed up for our dinner and night at LaNouba!

We opted to take the bus to DTD rather than brave the high seas on the boat in the cold wind again. The bus was must less eventful. Plus they dropped us off at Pleasure Island instead of Marketplace so it was a lot closer to LaNouba and Wolfgang Puck.

Dinner was nice but not as good as I remember last year. DD had the spring rolls as her meal and I had the macaroni and cheese. Very good, but very filling. DD wanted Key Lime Pie for dessert but she mostly liked the crust (sugar, butter, graham crackers...what's not to like?)

But the piece de resistance was LaNouba. Oh. My. Goodness. It was amazing, wonderful, spectacular, worth every penny I paid. And the look on DD's face when she realized we were sitting in the second row was priceless. She was completely enchanted from the very beginning. I cannot count how many times it took my breath away. It was beautiful and moving and amazing. And funny! I was not expecting the humor at all so that was just delightful. I LOVED hearing Anna laugh during the funny parts. We both enjoyed every minute of it. I told her though that I felt like I needed to watch it 10 times in order to see everything that was going on. We have the DVD at home (which I purposely didn't watch yet because I wanted to be surprised) so we can't wait to watch it now.

Tomorrow is DHS day. Muppets and Art of Animation! Yay!

 

[Tinkermom76]

what a great relaxing day. I think I will have to make plans to see La Nouba. I have heard mixed reviews but I always like to judge for myself