That's the first time we had to wear a poncho in Disney! A Mar./April '11 TR DONE 9/5

[cbg1027]

Love that photo from the top of Splash Mt!

That band was pretty funny - cheeseheads AND Lady Gaga?

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

great splash pic!!!!!!!!!!

Sad..no more MK and MORE STORMS?! Geez!!!! Hopefully you made the most of it

I saw Cars 2 yesterday and haven't seen the first but my brother had a free ticket so I went..AND LOVED THE TOY STORY SHORT!!!!!! Cars was cute too but I loved the Toy Story part!

 

[Nermel9]

I can't wait to finally see the new Winnie the Pooh queue! I feel like the last person in the world who is going to see it!

Great shot from Splash Mountain! I always take pictures on Splash, but never at the top, I'll have to try that next time!

Mmmm, Casey's looks so good, I really want to try those corndog nuggets!

 

[IheartDDuck]

Your Splash pic turned out really good!

I love the new queue at Winnie the Pooh. I think the honey wall is definitely my favorite. Can keep you entertained for quite some time.

The corn dog nuggets at Casey's are really good. Makes me want some right now.....

 

[jwwi]

Nice picture from Splash. I wondered what that building was in the upper Right hand corner, but then someone said it is BLT. Really interesting to see the perspective from that angle. Thanks taking the picture.

Don't work too hard, it is finally so beautiful here, you don't want to miss these few nice days in WI. Did you go to the downtown fireworks last night. We watched from the rocky area on the lake side of Summerfest. It was so beautiful. Wish I would have brought my ipod with some Disney fireworks music, then it would have been a 10!

I did get in on the 80.00 airline deal, going for the 1/2 marathon with my DD. I had really been watching the rates and jumped on the cheap airfare.

 

[Jennifer48]

band groupies

Great shot from the top of Splash!

 

[dawnbu40]

We finally got our electricity back so I was able to get caught up. I love the pic from Splash Mtn I'd be too afraid of dropping the camera to try that

Lunch with the castle show sounds great!

 

[meeko_33785]

The new Pooh queue is pretty fun.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the corn dog nuggets at Casey's. We were thinking about trying them again in May, but decided to try something new instead. Someday we will go back for more nuggets, though.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I think I liked the Toy Story short better than Cars 2 as well! I did like the movie too though, it was pretty cute.

GREAT pictures from Splash Mountain! I'm always too afraid to bring out my camera on that ride.

 

[tinkgurl]

Hey girl! I absolutely love the pic you got on Splash Mountain of the MK view! I love that view as well.

 

[PirateKate]

I love the picture going down Splash Mountain. Great view.

Lunch at Casey's with the Castle show going on sounds perfect. Were you able to actually see the show very well from there? I'm wondering if it would be entertaining for my boys during one of our meals next trip.

 

[not_Joanna_eggs]

Okay so waaaay back in the day when I was in high school, my band director's brother was the band director for Mauston, and we did tons of stuff combined - like even a Packer game!

Anyway, that video made me laugh so hard, because he is still the director (or at least I saw him in the video so I assumed), and I knew it the SECOND I saw the "choreography" (and since I was in color guard we had the exact same flags and dresses too! except ours had red in them. They did it so we could look cohesive) we used to have to do crazy things like that too. Though in my day we were doing "Mmmm Bop" and "Rump Shaker" (wow, I totally just dated myself didn't I )

Anyway, bummer you didn't go back to MK, but at least you got a lot done! That picture from the top o' splash mountain is awesome!

 

[Angies1274]

Love your Splash Mountain pic!! Wow! What a view! I always want to take my camera out but I just haven't been brave enough yet....

Can't wait to see the new Pooh queue!! Pooh is one of favorites at MK!

 

[kmrein]

Hi, there! I'm a bit late to the TR party, but just saw your signature picture with Aaron Rodgers on another thread and had to follow him over and subscribe! I am looking forward to catching up later this weekend. Hi from a fellow Wisconsonite!

 

[wdwgirl03]

That is a great shot from the top of Splash Mountain...great job! I love the corn dogs at Casey's but I also love the regular hot dog so I get that and Jasmine gets the corn dogs and we share....works good for both of us

Can't believe only 7 weeks until you move your sis...how exciting!

Thanks! I am glad that it turned out. We like to share our food too. It's nice to try a couple different things.

I know, it is crazy how fast it is coming up.

I'm excited to try both the new Pooh and Haunted Mansion queues. We were thinking about skipping Pooh but with the new fun line, I think we're going to have to ride it! (Have you seen the new previews for the Pooh movie? I think it looks adorable!)

That is a really good picture. I love how you can see BLT in the background.

Glad you liked the corn dog nuggets-can't believe you never tried them before!

I'm curious to see the HM queue too since they were working on it when we were there. It looks pretty cool. They had a trailer for the Pooh movie when we saw Cars 2. It does look adorable.

Believe it or not, I was never really a huge fan of corn dogs. But I liked those corn dog nuggets!

AWESOME Picture! What a great view of MK! Sorry you didn't get to go back. I have a feeling you'll be be soon though!

Good Luck to your sister on her job requests!

Thanks! It did sort of stink we never got to go back, but it was mostly because we wanted to see the other parks without rain.

I am so mad they are taking Flynn away!! I'm glad I got to meet him at least once though as well. That is so awesome that your sister is doing the CP! I can't wait till I can finally do it now that I'm in college. Great picture on Splash, I would be nervous to take that too. Oh man, I know which storm you're talking about for the next update, that was the big one.

I really can't believe they took Flynn away already. Really a bad decision. The CP sounds like a blast. I sometimes wonder why I didn't do it myself. Oh well.

B-bye Magic Kingdom! :'( Wait, I wasn't on this trip LOL I love your pictures on top of Splash Mountain. The view from there is great. I would love for the ride to break down just before you got to the slope so I could take a picture as good as thought. You can see Cinderella Castle PERFECTLY That's so funny the cheeseheads ended up playing Bad Romance I guess the song is so popular it has ended up in High School band repertoires... this will be interesting when it makes it to my high school... I must try those corn dogs, if you say they are so good when I go to Casey's for once LOL Can't wait to read about your Downtown Disney adventures!

haha, that would be funny if SM broke down right before the drop. You should try the corn dog nuggets. I am definitely going to get them again sometime!

Love that photo from the top of Splash Mt!

That band was pretty funny - cheeseheads AND Lady Gaga?

I know, they were amusing. It seemed like the crowd liked them too. Maybe I was biased, but I think they were the best out of the three.

great splash pic!!!!!!!!!!

Sad..no more MK and MORE STORMS?! Geez!!!! Hopefully you made the most of it

I saw Cars 2 yesterday and haven't seen the first but my brother had a free ticket so I went..AND LOVED THE TOY STORY SHORT!!!!!! Cars was cute too but I loved the Toy Story part!

Thanks!

Yep, more storms. Just wait until I get to Thursday and our breakfast at Chef Mickey's...

The TS short was awesome. Can't wait for another one.

 

[wdwgirl03]

I can't wait to finally see the new Winnie the Pooh queue! I feel like the last person in the world who is going to see it!

Great shot from Splash Mountain! I always take pictures on Splash, but never at the top, I'll have to try that next time!

Mmmm, Casey's looks so good, I really want to try those corndog nuggets!

haha, I feel like I'll be one of the last people to see the new HM queue.

Yeah, as I've said before, after taking so many trips you start to end up with a bunch of very similar looking pictures, so I thought I'd try something I hadn't done before!

I could sure go for some Casey's food right now. Yum.

Your Splash pic turned out really good!

I love the new queue at Winnie the Pooh. I think the honey wall is definitely my favorite. Can keep you entertained for quite some time.

The corn dog nuggets at Casey's are really good. Makes me want some right now.....

Thanks! I love how it turned out. Makes me want to ride it.

The honey wall is really the only thing we got to do since the line was so short. But it was fun trying to spot the characters.

Nice picture from Splash. I wondered what that building was in the upper Right hand corner, but then someone said it is BLT. Really interesting to see the perspective from that angle. Thanks taking the picture.

Don't work too hard, it is finally so beautiful here, you don't want to miss these few nice days in WI. Did you go to the downtown fireworks last night. We watched from the rocky area on the lake side of Summerfest. It was so beautiful. Wish I would have brought my ipod with some Disney fireworks music, then it would have been a 10!

I did get in on the 80.00 airline deal, going for the 1/2 marathon with my DD. I had really been watching the rates and jumped on the cheap airfare.

I am glad we've had some better weather lately. I was starting to think summer was never going to come. We did not go to the fireworks at the lakefront...we usually just go to the ones where we live. They're really good!

I'm jealous you have another trip planned. That'll be fun doing the 1/2 marathon.

band groupies

Great shot from the top of Splash!

Thank you!

We finally got our electricity back so I was able to get caught up. I love the pic from Splash Mtn I'd be too afraid of dropping the camera to try that

Lunch with the castle show sounds great!

You just have to hold on really tight (and it helps that my camera has a wrist strap!).

The new Pooh queue is pretty fun.

Glad to hear that you enjoyed the corn dog nuggets at Casey's. We were thinking about trying them again in May, but decided to try something new instead. Someday we will go back for more nuggets, though.

I am glad I tried the corn dog nuggets. They were good.

I think I liked the Toy Story short better than Cars 2 as well! I did like the movie too though, it was pretty cute.

GREAT pictures from Splash Mountain! I'm always too afraid to bring out my camera on that ride.

I agree...but then again, anything by Pixar can't be too bad.

Glad you liked the SM pictures!

Hey girl! I absolutely love the pic you got on Splash Mountain of the MK view! I love that view as well.

Hi tinkgurl! It is an awesome view, isn't it?

 

[wdwgirl03]

I love the picture going down Splash Mountain. Great view.

Lunch at Casey's with the Castle show going on sounds perfect. Were you able to actually see the show very well from there? I'm wondering if it would be entertaining for my boys during one of our meals next trip.

I'd say you can see the show pretty well from the tables near Casey's. I think your boys would like it.

Okay so waaaay back in the day when I was in high school, my band director's brother was the band director for Mauston, and we did tons of stuff combined - like even a Packer game!

Anyway, that video made me laugh so hard, because he is still the director (or at least I saw him in the video so I assumed), and I knew it the SECOND I saw the "choreography" (and since I was in color guard we had the exact same flags and dresses too! except ours had red in them. They did it so we could look cohesive) we used to have to do crazy things like that too. Though in my day we were doing "Mmmm Bop" and "Rump Shaker" (wow, I totally just dated myself didn't I )

Anyway, bummer you didn't go back to MK, but at least you got a lot done! That picture from the top o' splash mountain is awesome!

HAHA, that is too funny! Love that you did Mmm Bop. Speaking of that, Hanson is going to be playing at Epcot during the F&WF. I wonder if my sister is going to plan on going...

Love your Splash Mountain pic!! Wow! What a view! I always want to take my camera out but I just haven't been brave enough yet....

Can't wait to see the new Pooh queue!! Pooh is one of favorites at MK!

Thanks! I figured if I can take a picture on the climb up Expedition Everest, I can do it on Splash Mountain too!

Oh, you will like the Pooh queue. It is so cute!

Hi, there! I'm a bit late to the TR party, but just saw your signature picture with Aaron Rodgers on another thread and had to follow him over and subscribe! I am looking forward to catching up later this weekend. Hi from a fellow Wisconsonite!

Welcome! Glad to have another Wisconsinite (and Packer/Aaron Rodgers fan) joining in!

 

[wdwgirl03]

Wednesday, March 30, 2011 cont'd (part 3)

After saying good-bye to the Magic Kingdom, we returned back to our "home" for a little bit. I got a random shot of the view from our room's balcony...

Exciting, huh?

Since it looked like the weather was going to cooperate for a while (or so we thought...), we decided to go visit Downtown Disney. The nice thing about being right across from the Hospitality House is that the boat docks are right behind there too, so it's not too far to go at all.

Fortunately, we didn't have to wait too long for a boat to arrive and we were on our way to DTD. I was looking forward to the ride since a lot of people say it's a nice ride. It really is! So peaceful. Here's another random shot of the resort...

Once we arrived at DTD our first stop was D-Street, aka vinylmation headquarters. I remember I wanted to go there because I was looking for a Sorcerer Mickey vinylmation but sadly they didn't have it anymore so I didn't get anything. But Claire and I had fun designing our own vinylmation creations! They have a table that's filled with all the different vinyls, serving as inspiration, so you can create your own design. Here's the beginning of Claire's artwork. She was going for a night and day theme which was pretty clever. Mine? Not so much. I guess I wasn't inspired enough.

I gave up on mine and instead kept browsing at all the different merchandise. If you aren't all that familiar with vinylmation, it really is amazing how much the craze has grown. There are so many different series! One of my favorites is this one...

Love the Buzz Lightyear one!

After D-Street, we walked over to the Marketplace and looked in the World of Disney, Tren-D, and Disney Pin Traders. I was still on my quest to find my Rapunzel pin but failed again (as you know I did eventually find one ). We also went into Once Upon A Toy. At some point Claire got a message from mom saying that there was severe weather on the way. It was still sunny, but there were a few dark clouds out in the distance. We ended up calling home to have our personal meteorlogists give us the lowdown on the storm. Since we didn't want to get stuck in the rain at DTD, we cut our visit short, went over to Saratoga Springs, and got a bus to go over to Hollywood Studios since we wanted to see the American Idol finale anyway.

Hello, Congress Park bus station!

Waiting for the bus brought back memories of our sisters-only trip (with Emma) last August. We stayed in the building that you can see through the bus stop. It was like deja vu too, because we had a not-so-good experience on that trip waiting for a bus to DHS. We ended up waiting close to 45 minutes I'd say. Well, the same thing happened again this time. I don't know how many buses we saw coming from the other parks/water parks but it was ridiculous. When we got home and got the card in the mail to complete one of those trip surveys, I made a comment about that. I just think it's strange that we had two issues like that at the same resort, going to the same park. (For the record, in all our other stays at SSR we've never had any problems with the buses).

Anyway, we did finally make it to Hollywood Studios. As we got there, the new Disney Channel Rocks! show was just getting started.

I would've liked to see it, but it got cut short with the storms approaching. Knowing the rain would be starting any minute, we hightailed it over to the Animation building so we could participate in another Animation Academy class.

So who did we end up drawing this class? Let's just say it turned into a big ordeal and we must've wasted almost 5 minutes trying to decide who to draw. See, the artist suggested Buzz or Woody, and of course we couldn't agree. Eventually we ended up doing Woody (which was kind of hard considering he's animated by a computer!). But even after all the disagreement we still had some extra time and we did the speedy version of Buzz. I think I got a little lost, so my Buzz is not quite finished. Here's how they turned out...not my best Animation Academy work. But hey, atleast we got do a couple new characters.

While we were in the Animation building, I think there might've been a brief downpour but luckily once we got out it had stopped, so we headed over to the American Idol Experience for the finale show.

Clearly I'm taking way too long to finish this TR because I don't even remember what any of the contestants sang! But as usual, the talent was pretty good. In the end, it came down to the final three.

And then there were two...

A soon-to-be mom (doesn't look like it, right?! She looked so young!) and a young local high school girl. Who was declared the winner?

The soon-to-be-mom!!! I have to say, she did have an amazing voice so it was well deserved.

Since the park was actually closing early that night, it was already time to go back to Old Key West. See ya later, Sorcerer Hat!

This new sign is pretty cute. I like how it lights up at night.

When we got back to OKW, I noticed that there were a lot of sticks/twigs/leaves on the ground which was sort of weird because it didn't seem all that bad at DHS. But I guess that was just a sign of things to come the next day...

up next: We sure picked a good morning for breakfast at Chef Mickey's!

 

[TinkerbellLuvr7]

I saw the new sign there today!!!

Looks like a good day even though it rained The "afternoon" thunderstorms that occur in the summer have decided to arrive between 5-8pm instead of in the afternoon lol.

 

[dawnbu40]

I'm sorry you had so much rain on your trip! Florida should always be sunny!

Your drawings are so good! I am artisically challenged so I am impressed