Some people ARE worth melting for ….. 40 Disney days – the trip of a lifetime updated October 10

[Pinkocto]

You SURE will beat our verandah! Those are HUGE!!!!!!! But I love that you are aft - this means we only have to run down three decks to visit you. Pam is ALL the way forward - it's going to be a hike for them.

We'll find you guys!

 

[WDW Fan]

Sounds like a wonderful evening in the MK! I'm really enjoying your TR!

 

[purplelover88]

Just finished reading what you've got so far and this is a great trip! This sounds like the vacation of a lifetime but completely understand wanting to make use of the long expensive flight as much as possible. We were also there around the same time in August. Can't wait to read about the cruise and Disneyland. Two of my bucket list trips!

 

[curiouserandcuriouser1989]

I've lurked on people's trip reports but never commented before now, but I had to tell you how awesome this trip is so far! It sounds like the dream trip! I would love to be able to do something like this someday. (I would also love to visit Austria again since I only got one day in Vienna at the end of my study abroad program)

 

[slykrab]

Checking in- hope you're doing well!

 

[Pinkocto]

Happy Birthday!!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Happy Birthday!!!!

I am just following Pam, but don't want to miss out on wishing you a very happy birthday!!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!!​

 

[franandaj]

Darned European date format! I know your birthdate, but I keep thinking it's in November from the way it was typed! Hope it was a happy one!

 

[Flossbolna]

Darned European dyaes! I know your birthdate, but I keep thinking it's in November! Hope it was a happy one!

Haha! I actually used that to my advantage on my visit to California when I was 20: my birthday was coming in November, but Americans read it on my I.D. As if I had already turned 21 in June.

 

[franandaj]

Haha! I actually used that to my advantage on my visit to California when I was 20: my birthday was coming in November, but Americans read it on my I.D. As if I had already turned 21 in June.

Funny! That's awesome!

 

[dizneeat]

Okay, AGAIN it has been a while since I was able to update......... where does the time go???

But in my defence I can add that I only went back to school for 3 days after our Easter break, then I took my class of 15 year olds to Vienna for a week. They were pretty good, but taking kids that have grown up in a tiny 3000 people village to the capital city is no small venture. Even getting them onto the underground was something else.
After getting back I needed to get the finances (of the week) in order and take over a few more lessons from the 4 teachers that are on sick leave. Even though we are what is considered a bigger school, having to take over 4 full teacher positions is quite something. It took away my morning off and added to some afternoons (I had to take over 5 lessons). We all hope that our collegues will recover soon and life goes back to normal.

I needed to do some catching up on emails as well, but at the moment I am all caught up on everything and eager to get a few updates done.

So let's go ........

Fabulous update! I find space mountain to be difficult too. I only ride it because of nostalgia.

We used to love Space Mountain, but with age it got more and more painful. It was just lucky that the FP opened up and so we can at least say we gave it one more go.

I have to settle for my 1Disney Trip a year , with P & P but seeing as it is free not much to complain abou t.

At least you GET a trip to Disney, Rosie! I really hope you will post a little about it, as I really love to read about your P&P trips.

t is possible we wilbe going as a family aganext year IF we can alcrape up enough money Kyle turns 16 in January , but all are scared of the weather for flights from Buffalo , I am lookinn All Star suite As if we all go there will be 5 and Brayden !I yried convincing them to stay off sight no hey are used to on site !!! bout mid April ( after Easter and spring Breaks )

Wow! It would be awesome to go as family with your great grandson! And I cannot believe Kyle already turns 16 in January. Where did the time go........ wasn't it just a short time ago that we met?
I would really recommend to go AFTER Spring break as when we went in the spring the place was so crowded!

Free dining would be wonderful

Has there ever been Free Dining in the Spring? I only know about it in the fall .......

It was meant to be!

Deck 9 aft? I need to look on the map. We have 8504.

Yes, I think it was! We really loved that stateroom from the very beginning (esp. since it has 626 in it )
But for OUR cruise we will be pretty far apart. You are on the other end of the ship - but then it will give us some exercise to walk off those calories.

I will check out the menu, perfect! 4 months is no time at all

I have already planned for the Brown Derby Lounge for us! I am pretty sure you'll enjoy it as much as we did. So looking forward to it.

I just found your trip report and am loving it! I want to be you when I grow up

to our world!
So, you want to be me when you grow up - are you really sure you want to look after a class full of teenagers?

I've already asked my husband if we could do something similar when our kids are out of the house and he said yes! I'm holding him to it In 9 years, we'll go on a 40 day Disney adventure! I can't wait to read the rest!!!

No, honestly, it was a great trip and so many wonderful things happened, it was unbelievable. For us it is a given to take longer vacations as airfare in the summer time is just so high that we need to squeeze the most out of a visit. 40 days was a rare thing for us, but we really hope to repeat it some time in the future.

 

[dizneeat]

That is now 1 of the only 2 smoking sections in the MK. They took away all the others, so it is always full of smoke. I am not sure why they did away with the rest...I now see people just smoking at other spots because they don't know where to go or they just don't want to walk so far to get to the 2 spots which are both at extreme ends of the park. Disney wasn't thinking that one through when they did that.

Ah, that makes perfect sense!
Since I don't smoke (Tom smokes cigars now and then, but not within a park) I have never given it a thought.
We used to really like that walkway, as it used to be quiet and peaceful, but not this time.

Hope you had a very Happy Easter! In Pennsylvania we had some of the nicest Easter weather we ever had

Thank you! We did have a nice time. We spent the week before Easter in Italy and it was SO nice. It was way before the summer season starts, so it was quiet and nice, but the weather was already warm and we lucked out as the apartment we got was way bigger than the one we had paid for and had a huge patio. We loved to spend our evenings out there.

I agree on Space Mountain, I hate the bumpiness and the dark gets my equilibrium all out of whack!

As I mentioned before, we really used to love Space Mountain, but our backs can't take as much as they used to. And then add Tom's bad knee into the mix and one ride of it was more than enough.

Glad you got to see the Electrical Parade, the pictures made it feel like we were there too

It was bitter sweet, as we have always loved the MSEP. I think our emotional connection to it comes from the fact that it was the only parade my mum was able to watch at DL and she LOVED it! So, we just HAD to see it one more time.

What a great trip report. You make me so excited for our upcoming trip to WDW in April/May 2 days, then 7 day cruise on RCCL out of Orlando and 7 days at Beach Club concierge floor with dining plan!!! Love to see all the restaurant pics and menus

Thank you!
I guess your trip is almost over by now, and I really hope that you had a great trip. Concierge rooms are awesome and the service is undescribable.

I've been reading along your fun journey while I'm at work (gotta do something during conference calls, right?) and finally logged in from home so I could post a note.

Happy to entertain you during work!

I was happy to see that your husband is a fellow geocacher. Considering how popular the WDW caches are I've been surprised not to see more reporters mention stopping for a needed hint or photo. Looking forward to hearing about the rest of the trip.

He has only started geocaching a year ago, but has really started to get into it. Wherever we go he needs to find at least one to add to his page.
It gave us something to concentrate on during our cruise and our time at DL as well.

Oh, regarding American cereals: once you're past the age of ten they taste better eaten dry like a snack food and not as a traditional breakfast with milk.

I agree - I guess it is something you need to grow up with. When we were kids cornflakes were as exotic as it would get. We like to try new and local things, so these were just to try some American kids' favourites.

 

[dizneeat]

Sounds like a jam packed day. I have given up on Space Mountain at MK, the DL version is just too cool.

It was, but it was so much fun as well. And I could not agree with you more on DL's Space Mountain. That was SO MUCH fun to ride! Would I have to rate them, then DL would come first, followed by DLP and WDW last. DLP is wild as well but not as bumpy as WDW's version.

I'm sorry that they are removing the Hyperspace Mountain overlay June 1. I really enjoyed that.

That was so cool - we really loved it.

So cool that you scored a 7DMT FP+, and that Caprese Flat bread looks awesome!

We could not believe our luck to be able to do so. That flatbread was super yummy. It was funny as we had not been to Pinocchio's Village House in a long time and then Michelle took us there at the beginning of the trip. The food was so good that we had to return.

Sounds like a wonderful evening in the MK! I'm really enjoying your TR!

It was another wonderful and beautiful day. And thanks for reading and not giving up on me.

Just finished reading what you've got so far and this is a great trip!

It was such an awesome trip. Everything worked out so well and we had so many magical experiences. It was truly the trip of a lifetime.

This sounds like the vacation of a lifetime but completely understand wanting to make use of the long expensive flight as much as possible. We were also there around the same time in August. Can't wait to read about the cruise and Disneyland. Two of my bucket list trips!

We usually stay at least three weeks to make the most of the airfare. But this was an extra long vacation, even for us. And there were so many awesome parts to it. The WDW portion, Las Vegas, DL and the Panama Canal cruise. Wish we could do it again this summer, but unfortunately this year's trip is just three weeks long.
DL is awesome - we have been before and it was as awesome as earlier visits. The Panama Canal cruise was a lot of fun, especially since we found such great friends.

I've lurked on people's trip reports but never commented before now, but I had to tell you how awesome this trip is so far!

Thank you for coming out of lurkdome. It is an honour that you decided to do so on my TR.

I would love to be able to do something like this someday.

Remember - if you can dream it, you can do it! Go for it, planning is so much fun and then experiencing it is the icing on the cake.

I would also love to visit Austria again since I only got one day in Vienna at the end of my study abroad program

Ah, welcome to my home country. We would love for you to come visit and let me tell you, there is much more to see than just Vienna.

Checking in- hope you're doing well!

Thank you for checking in - it's been another busy time, but I hope that soon it will get a bit more quiet and I can be here on a more regular basis.

 

[dizneeat]

Happy Birthday!!!!

Thank you, Pamela!

I am just following Pam, but don't want to miss out on wishing you a very happy birthday!!

Alles Gute zum Geburtstag!!​

Thank you, Magdalene! It was a lovely day.

Darned European date format! I know your birthdate, but I keep thinking it's in November from the way it was typed! Hope it was a happy one!

Yeah, it is confusing, but thank you for your birthday wishes. I had a lovely day. First our first formers sang to me (my class had an all day exam and I did not even see them, but they made up for it the next day), my fellow teachers celebrated with me and showered me with gifts, Tom and I went out for lunch and went for a walk in the afternoon as it was so nice and sunny.

Haha! I actually used that to my advantage on my visit to California when I was 20: my birthday was coming in November, but Americans read it on my I.D. As if I had already turned 21 in June.

 

[dizneeat]

Day 14, August 16

Perfect hospitality - Part 1


We slept in a little, then decided to have a brunch with some of the leftovers in the fridge. Tom had some of the cereal he had bought that he had wanted to try, so picked up the

Honey Nut Cheerios, we had some bread, ham and cheese and we still had some

Mozzarella Sticks, which we heated up in the oven. It had taken some time to get everything prepared and now we sat down and had a feast.
At around 10.30 after cleaning up we headed out

and drove over to Animal Kingdom.
This time we were lucky and scored parking close to the tram line and within a few minutes we were sitting on the tram and moving towards the entrance.
It took a few minutes to get through security and to scan our Magicbands at the entrance, but soon we were on our way up the hill. We didn’t get far before we ran into Divine.

A small crowd of people had gathered to watch her move slowly and took photos and so did we. Then we went on our merry way over to Expedition Everest. Standby line was about 40 minutes, so we were happy to scan our Magicbands again and head through the FastPass line. We soon made it to the last waiting area and scanned the posters to see our names and low and behold one of them said Thomas on it.

I was quick enough to snap a photo and then we were ready to see the Yeti. Tom had asked for front row again and within a few minutes we were seated and on our way.

Again, it was a fun ride and over much too soon. Once we had left the area, we walked around a bit

and hit the stores. There were a few ones which we had not been into and so we did some window shopping. The other thing we wanted to do was complete some of Tom’s geocaching missions. So we wandered around and followed some clues, took some photos of clues and finally finished them.

We were close to It’s Tough To Be A Bug, so we decided to head inside and watch the show. We had just missed one show so we waited inside, checking out the different posters. Soon it was our turn to enter the theater and we found a seat a bit further off to the left, and noticed some obvious first timers in the row ahead of us. Now, that is always a lot of fun to watch, so while enjoying the show we concentrated on having an eye on the new folk. They reacted just fine and it was so fun to see them all jump out of their seats when the bugs left the theater. Once the show was over we left the theater and decided to have some lunch.
Since Flametree is just nearby and we both love that restaurant, that was where we went.
We got in line, only one till was open and there were only a few people ahead of us. Now, one of the families seemed to have split up and they were on both sides. And guess what, while they had been chatting back and forth when it was time to place their order they started to think about what to eat. Both parties took forever to decide and once they had finally placed an order they started to change it around. Ended up that a manager had to come out and sort out their order so it could be completed. Then it was our turn and we quickly placed our order and got in line to pick up our food. Food on a tray we walked down to the seating area near the water, found a table, Tom went for napkins and sauces and we sat down to share our lunch. We had ordered the

Ribs, Chicken and Pulled Pork Combo, smoked ribs, chicken and pulled pork served with baked beans, coleslaw and Jalapeno cornbread and an

onion ring basket and enjoyed it very much. After we had finished our lunch we sat there for quite a while, chatting and enjoying the surroundings. But then it was time to leave, as we had one more adventure ahead of us. So after clearing the table we strolled over to Kilimanjaro Safaris, saw the long regular line and headed for the FastPass line.
Didn’t take long and we got to the point where the two lines combined and waited to be sent to a row. They filled the rows pretty good and there were four of us to a row. Soon we went on our way and enjoyed the many different animals that were out on the savannah.

Our driver was a lot of fun and also pointed out a lot of the animals before they even got into plain sight.
Unfortunately even the best safari had to come to an end and we had to get off. We checked the app, but there weren’t any FastPasses that tickled our fancy, so we decided to end our visit to the Animal Kingdom and head back to our villa.
On the way out we strolled through some of the shops again and finally said goodbye to the park for the summer. Hopped on the tram and soon we found ourselves in our car and on the way back to the Old Key West.
We had a little time left before we needed to head out again so we rested a bit and packed a bit more of our stuff before we got ready to head to our invitation for the evening.
Our friend Michelle had offered to drive her family to Old Key West and bring dinner. After we had accepted her offer we started to think about it and it seemed that it was a bit much to have her come to our villa to invite us to dinner. So we asked if it was more convenient for them if we drove to their house and they were happy we had thought of that as it made life and the invitation easier to handle.
So by late afternoon we got ready to drive to Michelle and Vito’s house in nearby Clermont. But we needed to get to the Boardwalk before we could start our drive as we had offered to get dessert and had ordered a Mickey Head cake at the Boardwalk Bakery.
So once we had gotten in the car we made our way to the Boardwalk, where I just got out of the car at the main entrance, Tom found a spot to park nearby and I rushed down to the bakery, picked up the cake and headed back to the car. We stowed the cake and off we went. The drive took us about an hour to get there and we managed to drive right past their house the first time we went down the road.
Turned around and then finally turned into their driveway and down to their house.
We were greeted by their son Vito Jr and his girlfriend Hannah and by Vito and Michelle and their sweet daughter Angelina. I was stunned to see Angie out of her wheelchair and while it was hard for her to move around, she did it. Michelle showed us all around her house and explained all the things Vito had made himself and we got to have a look at their Disney and Coke collections, there was time to play with Angie for a while and then it was time to sit down for dinner.
The table was nicely decorated and there was a huge plate of antipasti in the middle. Huge chunks of Mortadella, cheese, olives and pickles. Then Michelle brought out the rest of her appetizers, potato skins, her version of jalapeno poppers and stuffed mushrooms. We all filled our plates and dug in. Everything was just too delicious. We continued on for quite some time, until Michelle cleared the plates and we got ready for the main course.
Again, Michelle had outdone herself.
She had made the most delicious salad with a blue cheese dressing and for the main course she had made penne alla vodka and a rolled flank steak, filled with blue cheese and spinach. Boy, this was so good, even Tom, who steers away from blue cheese loved it.
We had such a good time that we had missed the fact that Angie had finished her pasta and was now on the way to get herself some more.
When we finally looked at our watches we were surprised that we had been at Michelle’s house for four hours already.
We took our time before having dessert, but before it got too late we needed to have dessert. Vito showed Angie the cake and she seemed to really like it as she was trying to have it all to herself.
But in the end we all got a piece and it was really nice and moist and chocolatey.
After dinner we stayed for some more time, but around 10pm we needed to say our final goodbyes for this trip and a few tears were shed, but we were sure we would meet again the following year.
Once we were on the road again, we were in a really good mood and Tom cooled down the car really low on the way back to Old Key West.
Around 11pm we arrived back at our villa, packed up the rest of our stuff, as we were to change resorts the next day and then fell into bed.


To be continued ....​

 

[franandaj]

Sounds like a nice relaxing day at AK.

That dinner is a crazy amount of food. When you mentioned the appetizers I figured that was good with the cake you brought, with salad, pasta, and then rolled flank steak, that's a ton of food! Nothing better than relaxing around a nice meal with friends!

BTW, we had flank steak for dinner last night, but instead of stuffing it, I sliced it into 1 inch strips, rolled it up, and then wrapped it with bacon, and cooked it on the grill!

 

[MeghanEmily]

Tom had some of the cereal he had bought that he had wanted to try, so picked up the

Honey Nut Cheerios

Again, it was a fun ride and over much too soon.

Definitely one of your best cereal selections here! I'm not a fan of some of the others that Tom didn't like, like lucky charms, but honey nut cheerios are a good choice!

noticed some obvious first timers in the row ahead of us. Now, that is always a lot of fun to watch, so while enjoying the show we concentrated on having an eye on the new folk. They reacted just fine and it was so fun to see them all jump out of their seats when the bugs left the theater.

This is fun! I love watching first timers' reactions to ITTBAB. My fiance was hilarious the first time he saw the show. He was so mad I didn't warn him about the bugs leaving the theatre.

And guess what, while they had been chatting back and forth when it was time to place their order they started to think about what to eat. Both parties took forever to decide and once they had finally placed an order they started to change it around.

This always baffles me, when people spend time waiting in line only to start thinking about what they want once they get up to order. Oh well.

Sounds like you had a nice day at AK, and a really lovely dinner with friends.

 

[PrincessNelly]

This is pretty much my dream vacation... to bad my fiance would not have it!

We go to WDW or 10 days every year and he is ready to go by day 3!

 

[momof3princes]

Sounds like a fun Animal Kingdom day. I love Flame Tree, so yummy. Trying to get it across to my kids to not feed the birds is another thing though
How nice to have such a great dinner with good friends

 

[chunkymonkey]

We soon made it to the last waiting area and scanned the posters to see our names and low and behold one of them said Thomas on it.

That is super cool!

Now, that is always a lot of fun to watch, so while enjoying the show we concentrated on having an eye on the new folk. They reacted just fine and it was so fun to see them all jump out of their seats when the bugs left the theater.

Haha I do that too.

time to play with Angie for a while and then it was time to sit down for dinner.
The table was nicely decorated and there was a huge plate of antipasti in the middle. Huge chunks of Mortadella, cheese, olives and pickles. Then Michelle brought out the rest of her appetizers, potato skins, her version of jalapeno poppers and stuffed mushrooms. We all filled our plates and dug in. Everything was just too delicious. We continued on for quite some time, until Michelle cleared the plates and we got ready for the main course.
Again, Michelle had outdone herself.
She had made the most delicious salad with a blue cheese dressing and for the main course she had made penne alla vodka and a rolled flank steak, filled with blue cheese and spinach. Boy, this was so good, even Tom, who steers away from blue cheese loved it.

Aww sounds delicious and how amazing you got to see some friends and have dinner together while in Florida!