That's it, moved to FL to be closer to Mickey! Update 2/4 Kidnapped at WDW 10/03/09

[jmskinner]

Great pictures of the Star Tours line! I'm glad I never noticed the birds!

I love the pins! Especially the hat one. I also like how you have them displayed. That's something like I want to do. Getting it autographed is awesome!

I had to tell you, my opinion of birds may change. Today we were walking and just as we got close to a tree (new trees here so it was just a little higher than my head) two birds took off and scared us.

I couldn't resist getting a pin autographed. The 'ol days of comic books taught me that.

Hey Melissa

Like what you have done with the pins, I only have enough to fill a picture frame at present but I am sticking to theme of villians only, otherwise I would be spending too much future Disney trip money

Will you be off to the Star Wars weekends?.......if so I want to see lots and lots and lots of pics

Gordon

Hi Gordon. I only started with one of those boards. So after your next trip I am sure you will have more.

Of course we are going to SWW weekends and of course we will get lots of pics. One down, three more to go. I want to get pics with all of the characters. Trying to figure out if I can work it out where I can get photopass pics at SWW and use the same CD for our July trip. I think between the 30 days the pics will stay on the cards and then the 30 days to order the CD I can get it done.

 

[Dr_Finkelstein]

Hi Melissa!

All caught up now! Great photos as always - I can't believe how quiet DHS was! You look like you had fun anyway!
The SWW sounds like great fun - i can't wait to read about it!
We hope to have a countdown ticker soon (fingers crossed!), we're now thinking of Oct 2010, hope you'll still be living in Florida, I'm looking forward to our meet at DHS to see Grumpy's acting debut!

Di x

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Was listening to a podcast today about the SWW and it sounds amazing.....have watched Youtube clips and the sight of all those Stormtroopers marching in a parade gives me goosebumps.....they were always the coolest, insanely jealous you get to go as I doubt I will ever be over in May when the weekend is on....apparently if you turn up early the stormtroopers are out front acting as security and keeping the crowds in line......still as Di says October 2010 here we come, fingers crossed.....I will get to see a Headless Horseman!!!!!!

 

[SimmerBaggins]

An ode to an Empty Park:

I shall be saying this with a sigh
Somewhere ages & ages hence
Four parks converged in a state and I
Took them all in the month of July...
(and thus they weren't empty).

Sigh.

Well, I'll be glad to be there, nonetheless!!!

Looking at those pics, it just makes me want to run and "do it all" -- because you can!!! I tell you, girl, keep taking those pics, because you'll be looking back one day with a sigh...! Love ya.

Vickie

 

[jmskinner]

Hi Melissa!

All caught up now! Great photos as always - I can't believe how quiet DHS was! You look like you had fun anyway!
The SWW sounds like great fun - i can't wait to read about it!
We hope to have a countdown ticker soon (fingers crossed!), we're now thinking of Oct 2010, hope you'll still be living in Florida, I'm looking forward to our meet at DHS to see Grumpy's acting debut!

Di x

OH, If we end up moving next summer I will yank the kid out of school and fly or whatever it takes to make Grumpy's acting debut.

I would just like to meet you guys. I sure hope the Oct 2010 works out, you will so love MNSSHP!

Was listening to a podcast today about the SWW and it sounds amazing.....have watched Youtube clips and the sight of all those Stormtroopers marching in a parade gives me goosebumps.....they were always the coolest, insanely jealous you get to go as I doubt I will ever be over in May when the weekend is on....apparently if you turn up early the stormtroopers are out front acting as security and keeping the crowds in line......still as Di says October 2010 here we come, fingers crossed.....I will get to see a Headless Horseman!!!!!!

Ok, more for Oct 2010. We saw the Stormtroopers last June. They were cool and Jacob was very excited to see them there.

I've been debating about going back or not for the parade this weekend. It is so much fun. Just heard from JS that he has to work Saturday night, so maybe Jacob and I will head up for the day. Got t-shirts to buy.

An ode to an Empty Park:

I shall be saying this with a sigh
Somewhere ages & ages hence
Four parks converged in a state and I
Took them all in the month of July...
(and thus they weren't empty).

Sigh.

Well, I'll be glad to be there, nonetheless!!!

Looking at those pics, it just makes me want to run and "do it all" -- because you can!!! I tell you, girl, keep taking those pics, because you'll be looking back one day with a sigh...! Love ya.

Vickie

You are the writer of this pair so why am I the one with the TR? I'm pretty sure July will not be as bad as Spring Break or Christmas. I know July 4th in 2006 wasn't that bad. We are going to have a blast in July and I can't wait to see you.

You are exactly right, I am taking it in as much as I can because you never know when we will move and if we will ever make it back. Even though I have been researching homes in the Orlando area a little.

Oh great, it is now raining here again. When it rains the school does a rainy dismissal which means it takes another 30 minutes on top of the usual 15-30 minutes to get Jacob. They walk them out to the cars under umbrellas. It is very nice, but they don't stop the kids that walk home from heading that way in the rain.

Finally after several weeks of trying, Jacob's playroom and his bedroom are clean. Managed to knock one of his closet doors off the hinge, but got it back on. I really hate the accordian (spelling?) doors.

Hope everyone's week is going well, it is almost over!!!

 

[cinderella73]

Your son has such a cute little face. Love all the pictures.
I guess I should go back now and figure out where I left off!

I might be moving back down to Fl as well. Wont be till after January though. I miss it so much! Looking at your pics makes me homesick.

Im off to go catch up!

 

[jmskinner]

Your son has such a cute little face. Love all the pictures.
I guess I should go back now and figure out where I left off!

I might be moving back down to Fl as well. Wont be till after January though. I miss it so much! Looking at your pics makes me homesick.

Im off to go catch up!

Sorry I haven't replied yet. Welcome to my crazy TR. I just subscribed to your TR, so I'll have to play catch also. So, does it tell us about moving back to Florida?

Update coming up folks!

 

[jmskinner]

So, I knew for Mothers Day I wanted to go to WDW. All I wanted for a gift was for JS to drive so I could have a few drinks at Epcot.

Then there was the deciding whether to do lunch. Since January I have wanted to go to Biergarten to try the wine sampler on the menu. The problem, Jacob doesn't eat the food, so we end up paying for 3 when only 2 eat. Then there are the people that give us the funny looks for not feeding our child. Finally I decided, it's my day, we are going to do it. I also realized we could at least get a discount if I purchased the Tables in Wonderland discount card, but wait, it isn't honored on Mothers Day.Well, we will just go on Saturday before Mother's Day instead. Actually this works out better because JS doesn't like to go to the parks and then have to go to work the next day.

I thought I would do this MTR a little different and let you see some of the road trip once we get on I-4.

This is for Carissa:

We love us some Cracker Barrel!

We pass several camping trailer/RV sites along the way and this one always cracks me up because when my parents were here, every time we went by this my Mother would almost yell at my stepdad, "Dale, look at the trailers!!!!"

We have been here a couple of times. It makes for a nice relaxing day. I never did post pics of it, but I think I lost them all in the great February computer crash.

Obviously water skiing is huge here:

So, we were trucking along, making great time when we see it. Brake lights. Lots of brake lights. Then we see the helicopter. Is it a news chopter, nope it is the medical one. Well, I thought they would quickly load up the injured and fly out. JS says, nope this is going to take awhile. We were right at exit 48, WDW is exit 62. See how close we were. We were all the way in the left lane and the exit was on the right. I told JS, why don't we got off I-4 and try another route. We have the GPS, isn't that what it is for? So, along with several other cars in front of us, we squeeze through two lanes of traffic and take the exit. I don't think we could have done this if we had been in the truck. And I never heard about the accident, but I hope everyone is now ok.

JS wanted to go left, I said go right. It just made sense to me. WDW is on that side of the interstate, why go the opposite way. So, JS goes right but I can tell he is just dying to tell me I was wrong when we end up in NC.

But it turns out I did good because we finally see this:

This is Champions Gate. You can see it from I-4 on the way to WDW, so we were on our way.

Now, the Mickey Head electrical pole is how I always know we are there. JS asked why I was taking a picture of it because I already have one. "I haven't taken one with this camera!" He knows I'm nuts.

One day I am going to stop like everyone else, get out of the car and get a pic of this sign.

And we made it to:

We waited for the tram for a second and then thought, it's not that long of a walk so we decided to walk it:

Now, I just realized I never posted pics from our day of playing miniature golf at WDW. I'll have to do that, may have to sideline this MTR for that because it does become a factor in this day.

Next up, do I enjoy the wine sampler?

 

[ScotsMinnie]

ooooh wine sampler??? That sounds right up my street! Can't wait to hear about it!

Saw some of those places when we went to Clearwater last year. Wondered what the dinosaur place would be like.

Also where is the Mickey shaped electrical pole? I don't think I have ever seen it?
Lx

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Ah, you had me at Biergarten! tikka, tokka, tikka, tokka.....hoi, hoi, hoi!

Gordon

 

[jmskinner]

ooooh wine sampler??? That sounds right up my street! Can't wait to hear about it!

Saw some of those places when we went to Clearwater last year. Wondered what the dinosaur place would be like.

Also where is the Mickey shaped electrical pole? I don't think I have ever seen it?
Lx

I thought about you when I took those pictures and wondered if you would remember any of it.

The Mickey shaped pole is at exit 62, you can see it from I-4. Actually if you are still going to Celebration for July 4th (can't remember if you are staying onsite or not) you should see it. It is on WDW side of the interstate, but towards Tampa.

Ah, you had me at Biergarten! tikka, tokka, tikka, tokka.....hoi, hoi, hoi!

Gordon

I knew I would have your atention.

Well, we have sort of an update/change in our July trip plans. We were to head to WDW on July 17th to meet up with my friend Vickie, and we are still doing that but there is something special being done before that. Turns out Kara wants to come July 8-17th, she has something planned on the 18th. JS is a little miffed at her since we told her to set the 17-21 aside for WDW several months ago. But since she is coming earlier, we will take her to Busch Gardens, but also......Universal Studios!!!! So, the 14-16th we are planning on staying onsite at Universal. (I'll be apologizing to Mickey as we drive by WDW.) And then on the 16th moving over to WDW. Oh, and since Kara won't be with us at WDW, we are going to switch from Shades of Green to our favorite resort, POR!!! I had booked SoG since it had a sleeper sofa in the room, Jacob and Kara would have their own beds. So, no need to have that.

I haven't changed or booked anything because JS needs to make sure what days he can get off work. That is what he is most miffed about. He had planned on taking the 17th-24th off. He had a convention he wanted to attend on the 24th. And with him taking the previous week off, he may not be able to stay at WDW with us until the 21st, but he wants Jacob and I to stay since Vickie and her family will be there. I hope all that wasn't too confusing. I should know for sure on Wednesday when JS is able to look at his schedule at work.

Hope you all have a fantastic week and hopefully I will update tomorrow.

 

[scottny]

all caught up.

nice pics.

never ate a Cracker Barrel.

 

[Finkelstein's Hubby]

Shame to hear your plans are a bit skewy now but................POR, well thats worth it. Don't forget to pop down to POFQ to get some bignets

Gordon

 

[jmskinner]

all caught up.

nice pics.

never ate a Cracker Barrel.

If you drive down on your next trip you will have to give Cracker Barrel a try. It is good ol southern food. The price isn't too bad either.

Shame to hear your plans are a bit skewy now but................POR, well thats worth it. Don't forget to pop down to POFQ to get some bignets

Gordon

I'll have to remember about the bignets, if we have time.

Ok, plans are now set for July, everything is booked or cancelled as needed. Got Kara's flight booked, she will fly into Tampa on July 8th. We will go to Busch Gardens at some point, and she would like to see the Dolphins in the ocean so need to see which cruise we want to do. On the 14th we head to Universal where we will be staying at the Royal Pacific Hotel. Purchased an air bed for Jacob to sleep on. On the 16th, we check out and move to POR. On the 17th Kara flys out of Orlando. We spend time at WDW with my BFF, Vickie, and her family. We then leave on the 21st. I got SoG cancelled and the rate for POR was wonderful. $109-114 a night. Those AP's came in handy, even the CM that took my ressie (website wouldn't let me through for some reason) announced it was a great rate. Got a great rate at Universal also, probably 40% off. So I am super excited. This is the part I hate now. We have booked everything, nothing to do now, but wait. Oh, guess we can go to WDW.

Gordon and Di, I heard they were offering free dining to those coming from overseas.

 

[thecapells]

Finally followed your link over here.
Have fun on your July trip and I look forward to hearing about it.
For now, I'll have to read through the rest of these 39 pages in between my Trip Report updates!

 

[jmskinner]

Finally followed your link over here.
Have fun on your July trip and I look forward to hearing about it.
For now, I'll have to read through the rest of these 39 pages in between my Trip Report updates!

Thanks for joining. Now don't spend too much time catching up on mine, I don't want all of your readers coming after me. I've enjoyed reading yours. I've learned a lot from it, especially around the WS.

I will try to do another update myself today. Using the laptop right now since storms keep rolling through with a lot of lighning and I can just unplug it. I like to use my desktop for TR's. Have I mentioned I learned something recently. I had heard Florida was the lighning capital of the world. Actually, TAMPA is! JS said it was really pretty walking into work today watching the storm, but the static electricity in the air was making the hair on the back of his neck stand up.

Hope everyone is having a great day!

 

[thecapells]

I'm jealous you guys are so close!
How far a drive is it now that I assume you figured out all the shortcuts!

And too bad I didn't know you were around the 1st week in May!
I was in town for a conference and hit the parks 5/2, 5/3, 5/7, and 5/8.
I did end up meeting one DIS'er but it would've been fun to meet more!

I didn't stay for Mother's Day though - since I was flying solo and Mom had all 3 kids, I had to get home.
I did bring her back presents though...

 

[jmskinner]

I'm jealous you guys are so close!
How far a drive is it now that I assume you figured out all the shortcuts!

And too bad I didn't know you were around the 1st week in May!
I was in town for a conference and hit the parks 5/2, 5/3, 5/7, and 5/8.
I did end up meeting one DIS'er but it would've been fun to meet more!

I didn't stay for Mother's Day though - since I was flying solo and Mom had all 3 kids, I had to get home.
I did bring her back presents though...

What a great husband to bring back gifts.

We haven't been able to find any shortcuts, I keep searching but with all of the waterways, a lot of roads just seem to end. We have almost all interstate driving, so that is nice. It takes about an hour depending on traffic. It was quicker when we first got here because the traffic always seemed to go 90 mph or faster. Just about 12 miles to I-4 and then we enter I-4 at exit 9 and WDW is exit 62 for us. Not too far, but if gas prices keep rising I may have to cut back on the WDW trips.

 

[jmskinner]

So, we made it through security. I am always prepared, every zipper undone ready to go.

First up was M:S. Jacob loves it when JS comes with us, because then he can ride the Orange side. Of course I get called a chicken. The wait is a little long, plus we have our reservation to think about, so JS gets FP's.

I had never taken pics from this angle.

Since it was close to our ADR we decided to head to the W:S. JS was on a mission and it wasn't a Kim Possible mission. He kept saying he needed to stop in China. I kept asking him all week why, but he wouldn't tell me. Well, he finally told me and it was one of those things I wish I didn't know about. One of the guys that he works with was having a certain type of surgery. You know, the kind that stops the kids from coming. So, JS knowing we were going to Epcot this day told all the guys at work (I'm guessing it was all guys, surely none of the women would be involved in this) he would pick up a gift. It was a set of the concentration balls or whatever they are called. And yes, he got the "blue" set. I forgot to get a pic of them though. Oops.

So, while JS gets his blue balls, I took pics of the kiddo.

Those are those magnetic rocks. Of course, right after this pick, Jacob proceeds to drop them all and they go everywhere.

The kites hanging up were just beautiful:

We made our way over to:

tikka, tokka, tikka, tokka.....hoi, hoi, hoi!
(I copied that from you post Gordon.)

Got our little pager and waited, well of course I took more pics.

Germany is still my favorite to take pics of at WS. I just love it. I wonder if it has something to do with me having a little German in me?

Finally the pager went off and we were on our way. We sat with a couple and their mother and another couple of ladies. I can't remember what our waitresses name was (I need to start carrying a notepad around with me.), but I am sure she has been our waittress before.

I ordered my wine sampler. And I forgot to take a pic. I'm horrible with food porn. It is 3 3oz glasses of wines and they start sweet and only get sweeter. That is why I wanted to try them. I like sweet wines.

It wasn't long after we sat down that the entertainment began. We have been to Biergarten twice before and both times it has been the same band members, but this time was a different group.

My BFF Vickie (Simmerbaggins) will be seeing lots of this:

He did try to eat some of the food.

And it was that time again:

tikka, tokka, tikka, tokka.....hoi, hoi, hoi!

I love the cowbells:

And this was the first time I had seen two horns being played:

A group of high schoolers had a great time:

Guess I needed a little more wine to get me out there.

And of course I took more pics inside the restaurant:

It was actually now past time for the M:S FP's, so JS and Jacob take off. I stop for a Fiesta Margarita. I love these things and haven't had one since... has it been since the 2006 trip? It's been awhile.

Of course I take more pics as I walk over to M:S.

You know me, if there is a bird or animal somewhere I am going to take its pic.

And here is my drink:

I had found a semi-shaded bench and enjoyed my drink. One problem, 9 oz of wine, Margarita, and very hot sun make me.... yup you got it. I was BUZZED! Didn't stop the picture taking though:

Finally my boys were off the ride, and we headed out. Don't worry, my day wasn't over. Since JS doesn't go to the parks that often, I had asked him what he would like to do. I was just happy to eat and drink. He decided on MK, so we headed that way. First off was a bathroom break. So, I go in and then come out. My boys are no where to be found. I wait a couple of minutes and see their heads sticking up over some bushes. They were hiding from me, this is after I walked around the bush:

That's my boys. So off to the monorail. Which we get a nice surprise, can anyone guess what it was?

 

[thecapells]

We love Biergarten - it's such a blast and is definitely on our list for lunch next time around!

But it was so hot last time, we opted against the alcohol - didn't want to be more dehydrated than we already were.
That wine sampler sounds good though - what kind of wine was it and what was the pricetag?