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

Thank you. So far, everything is going well. Jacob seems to be doing fine in school, but the first two weeks are always a honeymoon period with him, so we will see.
[/I]I am glad to hear Jacob is doing well in schoool. I am a school nurse and started back to work on the 18th. I'd rather still be on vacation at Disney. :)

I found this info on All Ears Net from Jan 07:
The Treehouse Villas opened as part of the Disney Village Resort in 1975. In 1996, they became part of the Disney Institute and were available for guests to rent until the Institute closed for good in February 2002. Most of the Institute was razed to make way for the construction of Saratoga Springs Resort and Spa. The Treehouses were not destroyed at that time because of an interesting loophole: They sit on an area of protected wetlands, and if they are taken down, nothing can be rebuilt in their place. Further, they cannot be rented to guests because they are not up to current accessibility codes, and because of their unique design, it would be difficult to bring them up to code by installing ramps and/or elevators.

The Treehouses sat empty for months, being used mostly for storage, and then sustained a bit of damage during Hurricane Charley. They have since been repaired, and are being used to house College Program and international Cast Members. As private residences, they are not required to adhere to the same codes that buildings rented to the public are.

I took the opportunity to rent a pontoon boat last week to get a close look at the Treehouses. They're unfortunately looking very shabby, and are in need of a coat of fresh paint. Some of the decks were sagging a bit, window coverings were in need of replacement, and woodwork needed repair. Since several of them are in full view of guests who rent boats or take water taxis in this area, I hope someone in charge takes note and gives them the rehab these venerable old buildings deserve as part of Walt Disney World's early history.


So, it looks like they are doing a rehab. I am wondering if they will be available for guests or if they will be for employees. I'll going to keep researching. I did find another note from this same person "Anita" on AllEarsNet.com, but she just mentioned they were being torn down.

Thank for posting all your research on the Treehouses. I hope they fix them up

Oh, I just remembered I had taken a picture back in 2006 when we were there:

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It would have been fun to stay in one.

I'll finish that horrible travel day later! Everyone stay safe with the crazy weather out there.[/QUOTE]
 
Sounds like a nightmare - dread to think how it coulod have gotten worse. At least you won't have that problem now - no more flights just to see the mouse!
Lx

Exactly, I never want to fly again. Hopefully the family will all want to come here so I don't have to.:rotfl:

[/I]I am glad to hear Jacob is doing well in schoool. I am a school nurse and started back to work on the 18th. I'd rather still be on vacation at Disney. :)



Thank for posting all your research on the Treehouses. I hope they fix them up




It would have been fun to stay in one.

I'll finish that horrible travel day later! Everyone stay safe with the crazy weather out there.
[/QUOTE]

You are welcome. I enjoyed doing it. I have always loved doing research. Actually kept meaning to look this up myself, so you gave me reason to stop and do it.

Have to head out and help the hubby with the garage. Maybe tonight we can get both cars in the garage!:thumbsup2 When I get back in the house, I want to post a mini-TR about our trip to Epcot yesterday! Rain, rain, and more rain!
 
Exactly, I never want to fly again. Hopefully the family will all want to come here so I don't have to.:rotfl:

If I were your family member, I would be down there every other week! :lmao: You'd be begging me to leave!
Yeah, I say that after every airline flight. :sad2: But, I always seem to forget and get back on again!
 
So, hadn't been to see Mickey in a couple weeks, so I got to thinking I wanted to go since it was a 3 day weekend. JS wanted to stay home and study for a class he is taking. So, where should Jacob and I go. Well, Irky416 had posted in her TR about a Sombrero at Epcot in Mexico she didn't buy for her friend Jack and she was wondering what the cost of the said Sombrero was since she found another on cruise for $4 and wondered how much it was in Epcot. I had told her next time I go I would check it out. So, due to Irky416, I decided to go to Epcot. Told Jacob we would travel around the world.

Jacob had told me he didn't want to leave for the World until a couple of hours after waking up, but he wanted to wake up early. So, at 7:30, I tried. 7:45, 8:00, 8:15, 8:30, 9:00, finally 9:15 he listened to me got up.

I decided we should look for penny press machines while we were at it. Since we would be there by ourselves and would be traveling the world and everything. So, then I got the bright idea to print out the list of pressed coins and check off what we already have. Ok, silly me decides 16 pages is too many to carry (yes, the checklist is 16 pages) so I print it 4 to a page. Now I need a magnifying glass to read the thing, but after an hour finally got them all checked off. :woohoo: Except for one Mickey. Couldn't figure out where it came from, but I will remember it (forever embedded in my memory after staring at it for so long) so I know I will recognize it when we see that machine again.

Finally got Jacob to eat some breakfast and take his medicine. Before he takes his medicine, and for about 30 minutes afterwards, he can drive a person nuts. We finally get in the truck and head to WDW!:yay: It rained on us off and on the whole way. I just kept thinking, "maybe it won't be so busy with the rain".

Get to WDW about 1:00. Catch the tram and just as we get out of baggage check, the rain begins. We get the ponchos out and I decide that since there is no line at Will Call, I will get our MNSSHP tickets. While waiting for the CM to print them out, I took these:

100_9557.jpg


100_9558.jpg


Got our tickets. Very disappointed because they look just like our AP's. Thought they would be something special.:confused3

We make it to the ticket gate, waiting on the people in front of us. I notice this young couple run towards us and the girl jumps in front of us. :mad: I step inbetween her and the guy. She turns around to see me standing there and not her man. She leans over and asks him for her pass, I wasn't going to move. I was so irritated and obviously the guy realized what she had done. I'm sorry, not very Disney friendly, but I get so tired of people thinking you have to crowd the people ahead of you. But we finally get through the gate and are off.

Jacob wanted to do Mission Space so we headed that way in the pouring rain. It had not let up one bit. The sign said 20 minute wait but we walked right on.:woohoo: Green side for me. Remember, can't take spinning. While watching the pre-show, ponchos came off. Now, the first time I rode this, it broke down so I finally got to see the whole thing.:cool1: I love Gary Sinese!

From there tried to get Jacob to do the game, but he wouldn't. Then noticed the penny press, so we got our first 3 of the day!:thumbsup2

Now, went into the store. Normally, we try to hurry Jacob up, but today was a day to explore and take our time, so that is what we did. While Jacob shopped, I took pics.

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Now, I had never taken the time to notice any of this. Even when I showed JS the pics, he asked me where that Mickey was located.

So, after MS, Jacob wanted to head to the world. I took my time and took some pictures.
100_9563.jpg

Ok, folks, this was about 2:00pm, not in the evening. That is how dark the skies were.

Oh, and just had to take a pic of the fountain with no kids:
100_9566.jpg


Stopped in the world and took some pics:

100_9569.jpg


I hadn't really noticed this before, but I think it is kind of :sad2: that you can see the Swan and Dolphin from inside WS.

Oh, and is this ToT in the background?
100_9570.jpg


First stop, Mexico. We looked around, found the Sombrero and checked out the price. Looked around to make sure there weren't more. Oh man, it smelled so good in there. I had a salad before we left the house, but I was hungry. Just as we left Mexico it started to rain again, Poncho's On!. I had wanted a Margarita, but decided against it since it was raining and I would have to drive later on.

If I remember correctly, China is next. Now folks, we have never, never explored the individual countries. So, we went into shops in everyone this time. Jacob was wanting to check out the swords in China, because they must have swords. And they did! Then he found the magnet rocks. He has some, but for some reason these probably work better. Goofy kid!

It had stopped raining again, Poncho's off, while in China. But by the time we made it to Norway, it had started again. Poncho's On! I went ahead and just wore my poncho on Maelstrom. Love this little ride, but log flumes are my favorite rides. Got off, and the rain had stopped again. Poncho's off! Found another penny press machine. We visited all of the countries except Italy. Jacob didn't want to for some reason. Oh, saw this and thought it was so sad,
100_9574.jpg


As we got to America, the clouds opened up yet again. Ponchos on! Stopped in Japan and Jacob couldn't believe they had Transformers, Yu-Gi-Oh, Pokeman, and Bakugon (that last one is probably not spelled correctly). I had to explain Anime to him. Rain had stopped again. Ponchos Off! Then off to Morocco. I loved this area. Again, we had never explored the countries.

100_9585.jpg


When I showed this to JS, he asked where it was. I had to remind him how every time we have gone with him, we haven't really taken the time to explore. Found another penny press machine.

Now, we got to France and when we were there in June I had seen this drink called Nuvo. It is a sparkling vodka. The sign showed a bottle (and they have a bottle on display) with a price of $15, so I thought I would buy it and take it home. Come to find out, it is $15 a glass!:scared1: But the CM told me I could buy it at the local liquor store. I thought it was something exclusive to WDW.

From there, we decided to go see the World Traveler store and did the penny press there. Then on to England and checked out those shops. Now, why doesn't the Scottish shop sell soccer jersey's like every other country shop?:confused3 JS is of Scottish heritage. As we leave, it starts to pour again, Ponchos On!

Then on to Canada.
100_9594.jpg

Another penny-press there. Stops raining, Poncho's Off! Tried to get Jacob to do the Oh Canada in 360, but he didn't want to.

At this time, Jacob wanted to go home. I tried to get him to do HISTA, but he wouldn't. Figment? No.

Then I remembered something I saw in another TR. Pumpkin Mickey Heads. So, I mentioned this to him and would he like to see if they are there. He is interested, so off we go to The Land. It was basically a walk on, tried to see how long the line for Soarin was, but couldn't see the sign, but I could see people in line from our line. Here are the pumpkins:

100_9617.jpg

100_9618.jpg


Jacob really enjoyed this, didn't remember it from when we rode it two years ago.

So now Jacob was ready to go, so we headed out. But wait, I had finally gotten my FL drivers license, I could get our money back now for the difference in AP and FL resident AP's. So, off to Guest Relations. Rio was very nice. I ended up getting $368 back. :yay: (I had more dancing and cheering smilies here, but had too many to post)

So, we made it back to our truck w/o having to put Ponchos back on, had our MNSSMHP, and money in my pocket (ok, credited to my credit card). So, even though it rained, we had a fantastic time!!!

Hope everyone is still enjoying my TR. I am thinking about keeping this going and just posting with all of my little TR's. What do you think? If I do, I think I should rename it though, any ideas?

I appreciate everyone being onboard for this crazy ride with me. Next time I will post that horrible end of the flight home!
 

I enjoy it very much! You are in my subbed list, and I check your thread for new posts at least 3x's a week! Keep up the good work!
 
So, hadn't been to see Mickey in a couple weeks, so I got to thinking I wanted to go since it was a 3 day weekend. JS wanted to stay home and study for a class he is taking. So, where should Jacob and I go. Well, Irky416 had posted in her TR about a Sombrero at Epcot in Mexico she didn't buy for her friend Jack and she was wondering what the cost of the said Sombrero was since she found another on cruise for $4 and wondered how much it was in Epcot. I had told her next time I go I would check it out. So, due to Irky416, I decided to go to Epcot. Told Jacob we would travel around the world.

Yay!!! I'm glad I was able to help you make a decision! Thanks again for checking out that sombrero price for me. It was really nice of you! :goodvibes


Got our tickets. Very disappointed because they look just like our AP's. Thought they would be something special.:confused3

Our P&PP tickets were the same as regular tickets, too. I was disappointed also.


We make it to the ticket gate, waiting on the people in front of us. I notice this young couple run towards us and the girl jumps in front of us. :mad: I step inbetween her and the guy. She turns around to see me standing there and not her man. She leans over and asks him for her pass, I wasn't going to move. I was so irritated and obviously the guy realized what she had done. I'm sorry, not very Disney friendly, but I get so tired of people thinking you have to crowd the people ahead of you. But we finally get through the gate and are off.

That was rude! :headache:

Jacob wanted to do Mission Space so we headed that way in the pouring rain. It had not let up one bit. The sign said 20 minute wait but we walked right on.:woohoo: Green side for me. Remember, can't take spinning. While watching the pre-show, ponchos came off. Now, the first time I rode this, it broke down so I finally got to see the whole thing.:cool1: I love Gary Sinese!

I'm glad you got to see it all!

From there tried to get Jacob to do the game, but he wouldn't. Then noticed the penny press, so we got our first 3 of the day!:thumbsup2

Were you looking for any specific pennies or just ones that caught your eye?


So, after MS, Jacob wanted to head to the world. I took my time and took some pictures.
100_9563.jpg

Ok, folks, this was about 2:00pm, not in the evening. That is how dark the skies were.

Wow! That looks really bad. Was it really busy?

First stop, Mexico. We looked around, found the Sombrero and checked out the price.

I'm still really surprised it was the same price!

Come to find out, it is $15 a glass!:scared1: But the CM told me I could buy it at the local liquor store. I thought it was something exclusive to WDW.

:scared1:

Then I remembered something I saw in another TR. Pumpkin Mickey Heads. So, I mentioned this to him and would he like to see if they are there. He is interested, so off we go to The Land. It was basically a walk on, tried to see how long the line for Soarin was, but couldn't see the sign, but I could see people in line from our line. Here are the pumpkins:

100_9617.jpg

100_9618.jpg


Jacob really enjoyed this, didn't remember it from when we rode it two years ago.

I love the pumpkin Mickey heads! Glad Jacob enjoyed the ride.

So now Jacob was ready to go, so we headed out. But wait, I had finally gotten my FL drivers license, I could get our money back now for the difference in AP and FL resident AP's. So, off to Guest Relations. Rio was very nice. I ended up getting $368 back. :yay: (I had more dancing and cheering smilies here, but had too many to post)

:banana: :yay: :cheer2: (I posted some for you!)

Hope everyone is still enjoying my TR. I am thinking about keeping this going and just posting with all of my little TR's. What do you think? If I do, I think I should rename it though, any ideas?

I like that idea. :thumbsup2 (Even though I will have to hide my jealousy, I love hearing about all your trips!!)
 
great update and pics

i love epcot
 
I enjoy it very much! You are in my subbed list, and I check your thread for new posts at least 3x's a week! Keep up the good work!

Thank you. Just realized you live in Greenville, SC. Jacob was born in Sumter, SC. I didn't get to see Greenville except for driving through it once. I loved SC though.

Yay!!! I'm glad I was able to help you make a decision! Thanks again for checking out that sombrero price for me. It was really nice of you! :goodvibes

I kind of felt like it was a scavanger hunt.


Our P&PP tickets were the same as regular tickets, too. I was disappointed also.

Guess the MVMCP are the same also.


That was rude! :headache:

Sometimes I will just step aside and think "guess they need in before me", but for some reason I wasn't having it.

I'm glad you got to see it all!

I realized we didn't check out France that closely.

Were you looking for any specific pennies or just ones that caught your eye?


No, trying to get them all. Figure if we are here for two years, we should be able to do it.

Wow! That looks really bad. Was it really busy?

When we first entered the WS, it looked really busy because the rain had stopped and everyone was out and about. Actually, a lot more were heading towards, leaving WS then were going into it.

I'm still really surprised it was the same price!

I am also. Took Jacob to see Disney on Ice one time, and everything was a lot more expensive than it was at WDW.:confused3

:scared1:
Ok, I wondered if that was a normal price for a Vodka. I don't drink a lot.


I love the pumpkin Mickey heads! Glad Jacob enjoyed the ride.



:banana: :yay: :cheer2: (I posted some for you!)

Thank you!

I like that idea. :thumbsup2 (Even though I will have to hide my jealousy, I love hearing about all your trips!!)

Thank you. JS was telling me the other day how one of his co-workers planned on finishing up his years elsewhere, but his family loved it here so much they were staying. I picked out this house thinking, it might be a nice place to retire (part of the reason I wanted one story).We will see, might have to leave in two years.:sad2:

great update and pics

i love epcot

Thank you. I never really enjoyed Epcot on our long vacations, but this time I really did. I think it is hard to take in when you are in a hurry, trying to do everything. JS and I both disliked it at first because it didn't have that much greenery, but I'm starting to see it's beauty!
 
Just thought I'd say I'm loving all the mini TR's and think it's a great idea having a thread with them all in it:thumbsup2 .

BTW the Scottish shop probably doesn't have any Scotland football jersey's because we've not got a very good team:headache: ...don't tell my DH I said that:rotfl2:
 
I've been reading your report from the beginning and love it! I think it would be a great idea to keep it going! My DS (7) has been asking if they would have Baukugon?? (however you spell it) at Epcot in Japan...I can't wait for him to wake up so I can tell him! He has been so good to save his money for our trip....he will be thrilled! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!
 
Just thought I'd say I'm loving all the mini TR's and think it's a great idea having a thread with them all in it:thumbsup2 .

BTW the Scottish shop probably doesn't have any Scotland football jersey's because we've not got a very good team:headache: ...don't tell my DH I said that:rotfl2:

Thank you. Who knows, maybe one day they will be. Stranger things have happened.

I've been reading your report from the beginning and love it! I think it would be a great idea to keep it going! My DS (7) has been asking if they would have Baukugon?? (however you spell it) at Epcot in Japan...I can't wait for him to wake up so I can tell him! He has been so good to save his money for our trip....he will be thrilled! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

Thanks. They had a whole display. Good to hear that your DS has saved his money. Now, if I could just get mine to clean his room, he might earn some!
 
I totally agree that you should keep this on and post your mini trip reports. You can't leave us now!!!

It sounds like you had a great day at Epcot. I think most people miss out on many things round WS - I know we probably do. I also have to admit to not really exploring round the shops.

Lx
 
Great Photos. I want to move to Fla. too, my 3 y/o daughter loves Mickey. She calls him "my boyfriend".
 
I totally agree that you should keep this on and post your mini trip reports. You can't leave us now!!!

It sounds like you had a great day at Epcot. I think most people miss out on many things round WS - I know we probably do. I also have to admit to not really exploring round the shops.

Lx

I have to admit, that is the great thing about living this close and taking the time to really explore. I have a hard time not going commando though.:lmao:


Mini Trip reports - Agreed... keep it going.

Thank you. The more I think I about the more I want to. Must finish the report from the June trip and I also need to figure out how to post the chapters in my original post, so hopefully others will join us on this wild ride.

Oh, got the garage finished and guess what. The truck won't fit!:mad: Well, it will fit, but the way we did it, we can't go through the garage door into the house.:lmao: So right now, if there is a major storm heading our way we can get it in there, unless of course we are evacuating and then it doesn't neet to be in the garage. The lady across the street saw us try and couldn't help but laugh at us. I couldn't get mad at her because I was laughing also. Just another day in my life.

Now trying to get Jacob's room clean. We have about 20 tubs with different toys (about 5 are transformers). He had taken all of them out and dumped them looking for something. So I am trying to sort through them all, and label all the tubs. Oh, while cleaning the garage found the large tubs with all of his Star Was ships and his drum set. Oh well. Two more tubs out of the garage. Well, guess I should get back to work. I figure we will be done about the time to move again!

Hope everyone had a great Labor Day, or for those of you not in the States, hope you had a great day and hope everyone is staying safe with this crazy weather. Hannah, Hannah, please stay away! And my prayers are with everyone in the path of Gustov!
 
Great Photos. I want to move to Fla. too, my 3 y/o daughter loves Mickey. She calls him "my boyfriend".

:lmao: That is cute!

Oh, and sorry for the double post but you posted while I was trying to do my last post and I didn't want to not respond.
 
Yah! I made it to the end of your report...ready for more now. How about some photos of the house now that it has lovely new stuff in it?
 
great TR! i just joined in and was able to get to know ya! what a pleasure!! looking forward to hearing more... great writing too!:thumbsup2
 
Yah! I made it to the end of your report...ready for more now. How about some photos of the house now that it has lovely new stuff in it?

I will be glad to do that once all the boxes are out of here. JS is really starting to freak out that the house still isn't finished, but there is only so much I can do and he is always tired.

great TR! i just joined in and was able to get to know ya! what a pleasure!! looking forward to hearing more... great writing too!:thumbsup2

Thank you and welcome!. I have never considered myself a writer, so that totally surprised me.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by 2ScottishPrincesses View Post
Just thought I'd say I'm loving all the mini TR's and think it's a great idea having a thread with them all in it .

BTW the Scottish shop probably doesn't have any Scotland football jersey's because we've not got a very good team ...don't tell my DH I said that
Thank you. Who knows, maybe one day they will be. Stranger things have happened.

Very strange things!! Hell will freeze over before Scotland have a good football team :rotfl: We excell at playing well (well, playing ok) against brilliant teams (ie, Brazil), then losing 5-0 nil against diddy teams that no-one has ever heard of (Faroe Islands). :rotfl2: And darnit, we're PROUD of it - we're magnificent losers!! ;) :lmao:

Enjoying the updates! How wet was epcot! Never seen it like that before!

Better not tell DS that Jacob has 5 boxes of Transformers - he only has 3! :rolleyes1

Di x
 












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