The Ever Morphing Trip Report

[GeminiAngel]

So after AK we decided to jump on the bus to the Boardwalk, then take a boat over to World Showcase. I noticed on the ride over they looked pretty wiped out! :haha:

Nova, Heather & Tristan

Lorraine & Dawn

When the bus let us out for Boardwalk all were impressed with its beauty and charm. Lorraine just loved the smell and feel of the lobby.

Heather announced Tristan needed to be fed, with much relief we took a little sit down in the lobby. Here come the blurry pictures I promised you. :lol:

Tristan

Me & Nova

It was fun to watch everyone look around in awe as we exited the building and made our way outside to the actual boardwalk. I asked if everyone was ready for a snack, and suggested the Boardwalk Bakery. Then a better Idea
crept into my head..............

Dawn looks peaceful here

Entering France, We met Aurora. She warned Nova to not let the 7 dwarfs or Aladdin see her glasses or they might take them! (her glasses have colored rhinestones on the frame)

Here was my idea of a snack!

We ate most of it before I remembered to take the picture :lol:

Some random photos wandering through WS

When we got to America we all wanted to watch The American Adventure.
Dawn looked at the time and realized we missed the last show. :tantrum with stick: And Boy Oh Boy was it getting bitter cold!!!

Kevin called me. Him and Dad were ready to come over for dinner at Biergarten.

Knowing we had some time before the guys would get here, Sergio the Juggler was just setting up for his show. We stood out there, froze into Popsicles and loved every minute of his antics! This guy really is very funny!

After thoroughly checking out the Italy pavilion it was time to part ways for the day. Dawn, Heather, Lorraine headed to The Land pavilion to ride The Land & Soarin followed by dinner at Sunshine Seasons. Mom, Nova & I headed for our German destination.

I must say it was SUPER COLD in the waiting area of the Biergarten and the guys were taking forever! 6:30 was fast approaching and I thought Dad & Kev were gonna be late. They showed up just in time for our ADR. We were seated promptly, drinks quickly brought over, Food on the table! All was perfect until I looked at Kevin :haha: He was so tore up from golfing 2 days in a row.

BEER!

Nova & I seem to be the only ones that enjoy German food. Dad did not care for it at all. Mom made a face. Kevin was just happy to sit and rest.
Nova, me & Mom hit the dance floor for the chicken dance to conclude our meal. (no one thought to take a picture of this).

Bussed back to OKW, picked up some foodstuff at the market with Dad while the others took the bus onward to Miller's rd. When I get to the room I find out that Nova is staying at Mom & Dad's for the evening. Kevin the glutton for punishment that he is announces he will be golfing again, at Osprey Ridge on Monday! 3 rounds of golf in 6 days. We fell asleep immediately, finally ending Thursday Feb 5th.

Coming up: All of us spend our first full day at a park. Well almost all of us.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Friday February 6, 2009

magic kingdom today
possible meet with lara. (Sarilas)
ADR 5:05pm dinner at crystal palace


Ah! Just love these freezing cold Florida mornings! I should have booked our vacation for Alaska! :lol: I woke up just starving. I had a cup of instant oatmeal, Nova had cup of mac n' cheese. Kevin was waiting for his usual bacon and eggs over at Mom & Dad's. We arrived at about 7:45am and Nova made a beeline for the bacon on the table. I went to the patio to find the grass frozen over!

Dad sadly announced he wouldn't be joining us today. His neck was still just killing him. I made an agreement to meet him at the flagpole 4pm. :frown: Kevin, realized he was still tired didn't feel like rushing about, and said he would catch up with us after the morning welcome at MK. Nova, Mom & myself jumped the bus, & got a great spot right in front for the show.

What a great show! We have never seen it before. It seemed to be a good crowd today, just right. Mom turns and spots Daisy Duck at the fire house. I really was not happy with her location. Too much shade for a picture taking amateur such as myself. Mom & me were trying to think of a good spot to call everyone and have them meet us. I knew it would be somewhere here on main street, so we started to wander around aimlessly.

See how cold it was? I had a glove wrapped around my water bottle!
Behind us you see the Dapper Dans? We got to watch a guy propose to his girl! Then they were serenaded by the Dans. Just so beautiful, but the pictues weren't :no:.

The perfect meeting spot turned out to be down the little side street by Crystal Arts. I called Dawn and they were just getting off the bus. Called J&B and they were already here and wandering near Main Street. I couldn't wait to see them! No sooner I hang up with J&B a call comes from Kevin. He was on Main Street, I talked him over to Crystal Arts which made him first to meet up with me. Followed by a great reunion with J&B, hugs all around with them & up comes Dawn's crew. I introduced them to Jimmy & Barbara. Now 10 of us together and excited as can be.

What to do first? With everyone a little down with my Dad not being with us, we knew we still needed to take a group photo. Found a photopass photographer and took the picture minus one, which I'm still waiting for.

We headed for the Jungle Cruise. I swear I get the worst skippers every time I ride this thing. Whether it be here or DLR. :lol: Next up was POTC. Complete walk on! Way to score! The smokers needed their fix Mom, Lorraine, Heather, & Jimmy. While standing there I turn to realize Aloha Isle is right behind me. Mmmm. Dole Whip Floats.

Lorraine, Kevin, Nova, Heather

I hate that they smoke around the baby. I made Nova come over by me.

Kevin & Jimmy

Time was marching on, several of us were twitching for the Haunted Mansion.
My Mom is claustrophobic and really hates the stretching room. But she toughed it out and stuck with Lorraine who kept her calm.

Lunch was now on everyone's mind, and Columbia Harbor House was right there. No line made those fish & chips taste even better. Took the gang and headed upstairs.

Me and my better half

Barbara, Heather, Mom

Lorraine, Nova, Dawn

This was a good time to call Lara (Sarilas) and see where she is at. Turns out she was upstairs eating at Columbia Harbor House!! I walked a couple of tables over, and met her lovely family! I was so excited I forgot to bring my camera with me, which was sitting on the table over by the remnants of my lunch. That is a big ding dong moment for me! Nova was in love with her son Kyle for the next couple of hours :lol:. It was so cute. What a great family. I was wishing I could join them the rest of the day and leave my bunch of hoodlums far, far behind :hide:. Kyle took a picture of us together. So if Lara ever gets around to her TR maybe we will see the photo :whistle:.

Mom comes over to Nova & me with news that everyone is outside waiting for us :shame:. Impatient bunch they are :waiting:. Good byes to Lara and her brood, and off to Big Thunder Mtn.

Coming up: Waiting & Bird Poop.

 

[winkers]

Yay! A dis meet!

Your pictures are great!

 

[lizet313]

Pictures are nice love this thread

 

[GeminiAngel]

Yay! A dis meet!
Your pictures are great!

Thanks! It was fun meeting Lara and her family. My first Dis meet.

Pictures are nice love this thread

Thanks, and thanks for joining in! I'm having fun re-living it!



I just got my Photopass. I didn't order a CD for the one picture. So I took a text picture with my camera.

Kevin, Barbara, Jimmy, Me, Nova, Dawn, My Mom, Lorraine, Heather & Tristan

 

[GeminiAngel]

Friday Feb 6, 2009 - continued

Since I get motion sickness very easily I do not attempt certain rides unless I am at 100%. I was tired today, so I stayed behind with Mom & Jimmy to babysit Tristan. Jimmy said no way he was getting on a coaster.
Of course this sit out was done at the smoking area right in front of BTMR. I stood with Tristan on the other side of the bushes while Mom & Jimmy had their smoke(s).

Jimmy with a very devilish grin ready for verbal sparing.

I was getting pretty bored after about 20mins. Tired of exchanging smart remarks with Jimmy, and twitching to do something. I looked at Tristan and got really goofy with him.

WARNING: This is my worst whiny, nasal'y voice ever!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q8j_6KS64D8 :shame:

All of a sudden a bird poop falls from above and misses the stroller by about 2 inches. Close call for Tristan and his ride! Finally everyone comes back all pumped up. Nova and Heather want to ride Splash Mtn. The rest want to ride BTMR again. N & H head off to Splash, Barbara talks Jimmy into BTMR. And off everyone goes again leaving Me, Mom, Lorraine behind. N&H return with FP's standby for Splash was too long.

The whole thing turned out to be too long! Before we knew it, Nova & Heather's FP time was upon us. They were getting ready to go ride as everyone else was coming out of BTMR. Jimmy was just flyin high! It was his first coaster ever and he loved it so much!

I told Nova we would meet them at the exit of Splash. Nobody else cared to ride it, we don't like to get wet. We start to get our stuff together, I kneel down and put my jacket in the basket of the stroller. Finally it was getting warm out! When I stood up, I realized I kneeled right in the bird poop :tantrum with stick:!

Kevin waiting for his little girl

Country Bear followed up Splash Mtn. Now I know this show is very dated but we all just love it so much. Mom, Lorraine & me were so heart broken when they took it out of DisneyLand to make way for Winnie the Pooh. It was so nice to see the show again and I almost left with tears in my eyes. All clapped and foot stomped. A great time was had by all.

Time was starting to fly by and we had to meet Dad at 4pm. Kevin figured we should go over to tomorrowland for a while until it was time. I led them all to Monsters inc Laugh Floor. When Kevin, Nova & me went on our first trip to WDW in 2007 this had just opened. Mike Wazowski made Kevin dance! :haha:
This time, no one was picked on. We just laughed and enjoyed the show.

Across the way sits the worst attraction I have ever seen. Just pitiful, Stitch's Great Escape. Nova was too afraid to do it in 2007 but was ready now. Mom, Lorraine, Dawn & Heather sat out and fed Tristan.
Jimmy, Barbara, Kevin, Nova & me went in. We walked outta there shaking our heads. We warned Dawn & Heather who were now ready to go in, and they still wanted to try it. Meanwhile Jimmy, Kevin & me went to go find Dad at the flagpole up on Main Street.

There he was waiting right on time. Jimmy snuck up behind him and big hugs were had. They hadn't seen each other yet. Dad seemed to be a little more livelier than before. It was clear Dad was finally feeling better :thumbsup:.
Finally, the whole group together.

Coming up: A great dinner, and a great evening.

 

[winkers]

ewww.....bird poop!

my kids wanted me to do splash but it was to dang cold to be getting wet!

 

[GeminiAngel]

ewww.....bird poop!
my kids wanted me to do splash but it was to dang cold to be getting wet!

I hit Tristan's baby wipes hard!
By Friday afternoon it was beautiful out. So I gave Nova the OK.
Thanks for reading along Cherie.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Friday Feb 6th, 2009 - Day 3 conclusion

Everyone was starving just in time for Crystal Palace. Jimmy and Barb went off elsewhere for dinner. And I was wondering if CP was going to have a problem adding one more to my ADR. It was made for 7 people months ago. Us 5, plus Dawn and Kelly.

It turned out to not be a problem at all. In fact we were given a huge area with two tables right by a fire exit so no one was in our way at all. I had mentioned our anniversary when I made the ADR & found a heart made of Mickey confetti on the table, Kev and I got a cupcake at the end of meal too. It was a nice ending to a great meal.

Coming from the land of buffets (Las Vegas), We found the food better than average. Top of my list was the much raved about Ancho Chile Salmon. I have to find the recipe for the rub. Nova had so much fun with Winnie the Pooh and friends!! For some reason all the characters loved Lorraine!
She was the only adult out of our group they went to.

Tristan loved Tigger!!

Tigger loved Lorraine!

Lorraine getting love from Pooh! Notice Tigger in the background! He's sliding on his belly!

Kevin was so full. He didn't even want a taste.

After dinner we wandered over to Fantasyland and just about walked on to Peter Pan then Small World. 8pm fast approaching and we grabbed a spot in the street just in front of Casey's Corner for wishes. Everyone was so moved. Kev, Nova & me were the only one's who had seen it before. Dad lit up like a kid when Tinkerbell flew by!

I knew by my research the GoodNight Kiss was supposed to happen tonight.
J&B, Kevin & Dad called it a night and headed for the buses. Mom, Lorraine, Nova, Dawn, Heather & Tristan stayed for the GNK. I thought it was weird that everyone seemed to be leaving before that happened. So I went up to the CM standing in front of the castle with a vending cart and asked about the goodnight kiss. He had no clue what I was talking about .

Heather wanted to smoke and found the smoking patio that's right off of Main Street. Its really pretty sitting along the waterway there. With the whole place to ourselves, we took off our shoes, laughed talked & recapped our day. Very relaxing and peaceful.

Heading back to Main Street to make our way out. The castle lit up and the announcement was made, we got our Goodnight Kiss! It was beautiful.

On the bus. Nova turned from a bouncing, chattering little girl, into a zonked out zombie! What a great day.

Coming up: We have a wild time at AK!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Saturday Feb 7, 2009 - Day 4 (of touring, I don't count the 2 travel days)

animal kingdom
time: 6:40pm dinner at fulton's crab house @downtown disney
evening: shopping & fun at downtown disney

7am'ish. Nova is tired and moving very, very slow. I microwave my cup of oatmeal and Kevin is already showered. Then I hear a low growling of "Mom, I'm hungry" coming from the lump of blankets on the bed. So what's a good Mom to do? Why microwave up some Mac n' Cheese for her breakfast! Vacation Traci lives by microwave. :biggrin:

Moving on to Mom & Dad's we learn Dad still seems to be having issues. Lots of pain in his neck. He didn't say and I didn't ask, but when we are at home in Vegas he always has trouble with his hips too. So I think that's why he was avoiding all the walking. Even though he was not going with us to AK, Dad still made sure Kevin was fed a real breakfast :lol:! I suggested that he should get out today and maybe ride the ferry around because it was going to be beautiful outside. That's what Dad did. Went to DTD then Checked out Saratoga Springs a bit.

Jimmy and Barbara decided to tour EPCOT today and meet us tonight at DTD.
The rest of us were off to have a wild time!

On to the bus! While waiting, Nova started to rub her left eye. I took a little peek, and it was so red! She said it was itching her. Now I'm praying she didn't somehow get pink eye. Well, here comes the AK bus. Let's see how this goes.

Nova and Daddy, I LOVE this photo!

Walking to the entrance

All of a sudden Nova wants to sit. Oh no, whats wrong?!
Turned out to be nothing at all. She just wanted to sit a minute :thumbsup:.
I notice the eye is cleared up. Never another word about it.
Double :thumbsup::thumbsup:

Mom wants to stop and look at some hats at a shop near the entrance.
Time to goof off a bit.

Kevin nor Nova would partake in our antics. The stuffed shirts that they are!
Nova did make away with these ears though. I think they are from the Pirate and Princess Party? Anyone? Notice the Peep! (that's for JordanJosh over on DisBoards)

I'm stalling, hoping to hear from Dawn soon. Kevin is getting crabby on me & wants to get on a safari truck now! So off the the safari we go. The animals were out in full swing today! The weather was perfect! We ended up being held up for 10mins due to a baby giraffe sticking his head into the truck in front of us. Just too cute.

The little one and its Mom.

Getting off the safari, Dawn calls to tell me they are just leaving CSR. I told Dawn to just go straight to the safari when they get here, due to the activity of the animals and call me when they are done. She was gushing when I told her about the baby giraffe.

All of a sudden I see this wonderful fruit/snack stand. Its the one right outside the safari entrance. I grabbed a fruit & cheese tray, crunchy cheetos, juice, grapes, water, and 2 big pretzels. Kev, Mom, Nova & me sat down on some benches next to the stand and just pigged out!

Turns out we were seated at the Harambe School. Nova got to ring the school bell to start the class. It was about conservation. Very short and enjoyable. Kevin, now decides its time to get crabby again and wants to get moving along.

Okay... So let's move along in here

This way, I knew we wouldn't have a hard time meeting up with Dawn. Right at the exit to the safari . Crabby ole Kevin.

Dawn calls, and we are in the aviary section. They got held up due to a rhino in front of their truck!! How cool is that! I make sure to take my time looking at the birds and taking photos so they can catch up.

My Ears are so big! :shame:

Finally we meet up with all of them. Kevin getting cranky, yet again.
Off to bigger and better things.

Which way to go?

Coming up: what is it with me and birds?!

 

[GeminiAngel]

Saturday Feb 7th, 2009 - Continued

We decided to head towards Kali River Rapids for some real action, Kevin was being a little restless again (damn kids):lol:. Kevin, Nova, Mom & Heather jumped into the standby line. Lorraine, Dawn and Me babysat Sir Tristan.

Dawn and I headed off the restroom, the one with the fountain outside of it.
Dawn had me take pictures of her with the fountain, then she took many pictures of the fountain. I have no idea what the fascination was :lol:. I was mocking her the whole time of course.
"Make love to the camera my fountain", "Smile for me baby", "Yes! you are the one my fountain!"

And of course, I get mine. Right outside of that little enclave, is a ground fountain that comes up and soaks you. Yup, I stepped right on it.
Now Dawn is mocking me. See you B***H! "Make fun of me!" Ha, Ha!

Silent and humbled, I step aside to watch the cute little monkeys and their antics. Even they were active today, swinging about. Of course no pictures of that. I return to Lorraine and Dawn sitting quietly and just looking around. All of a sudden..... Wings everywhere! A bird flew right into my torso! One of those big white ones with the curled beak. Dawn and Lorraine burst into hysterics :lol:! Dawn proclaims karma was not done with me.
I was just dying laughing!

After reunited with our soaked clan & sharing my karma come to get me experiences. We headed off to Maharajah Jungle Trek.

Kevin told me this guy opened his wings really wide, after I left the viewing
area. Typical.

Big Kitties!

Kevin was too wet to rub up against!

My new career!

Nova wants to do EE. Dawn & Heather agree. Kevin decides not to ride, too intense for him. Off we go. Enroute I notice Anandupur Local Foods and make a mental note to grab lunch there later. N-D-H head for standby which said 35 minutes, not bad. Kev-Mom-Lor head for the viewing area while I figured I'd head back to ALF to get some beer for Kev and me. Now, these beers are very full. And I have quite a way to go with them back to the viewing area. So to be safe from spilling any on myself, I must drink off the tops of them :thumbsup:. It was a tough job, but someone had to do it :lol:.

Upon my return, I find everyone including N-D-H. What the heck? done already? Turns out the 35 min time was very wrong. It was more like 50 min.
Nova was upset and FP was out. Its now 1pm, looking at my show guide I see Nemo starts at 1:40. Kevin and Me sit out. Alone time finally!

Coming up: Lunch and I get frenzied!

 

[winkers]

where's the pictures of you with the fountain??

 

[GeminiAngel]

where's the pictures of you with the fountain??

I did not have my camera with me. Lorraine had my bag when we went to the restroom.

 

[lizet313]

Tristan is so cute. Where did you see the Tigers and bats I was looking for them but didn't find them Nova and her Daddy look like they are enjoying themselves I like that picture too.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Tristan is so cute. Where did you see the Tigers and bats I was looking for them but didn't find them Nova and her Daddy look like they are enjoying themselves I like that picture too.

Tigers and bats are on the Maharajah Jungle Trek. Just past Kali River Rapids.
Its my favorite trail. Nova is such a Daddy's girl

 

[ShannonMB]

I finally made it over to check out your trippie! WOW, you guys are hoppin' maniacs!!!! It's so much fun to see how others "get their Disney on", isn't it? hehehe

Okay, it's settled, I HAVE to check out Rafiki's Planet Watch, because I MUST see Jiminy Cricket! How cute is he? I also have to put Biergarten at the top of my ADR list for next trip -- it looks really fun!!! Not too sure about German food, but I like sausage, so I should be set! hehe

So sorry your Daddy wasn't feeling too good a lot of the time so far. I hope he's better for the rest of the trip! You guys are troopers! My feet would have been killing me after day 1!!!!!

Can't wait to read the rest!

 

[GeminiAngel]

I finally made it over to check out your trippie! WOW, you guys are hoppin' maniacs!!!! It's so much fun to see how others "get their Disney on", isn't it? hehehe

Okay, it's settled, I HAVE to check out Rafiki's Planet Watch, because I MUST see Jiminy Cricket! How cute is he? I also have to put Biergarten at the top of my ADR list for next trip -- it looks really fun!!! Not too sure about German food, but I like sausage, so I should be set! hehe

So sorry your Daddy wasn't feeling too good a lot of the time so far. I hope he's better for the rest of the trip! You guys are troopers! My feet would have been killing me after day 1!!!!!

Can't wait to read the rest!

Thanks for coming by! We like hoppin all over, its fun to change scenery!
Our feet were fine, it was our legs that suffered. So sore.
Jiminy was the main reason for me wanting to go to RPW. I had read it on another TR. He was just great!

Just know The sausage at Biergarten is already cut up and mixed with
saurkraut. My Mom didn't like it like that. Not sure why it mattered? It still tasted great!

Poor Dad this trip . But he knows what to do different next one.

 

[DWFan4Life]

Great report coming here, I just finished reading it and enjoying the pictures, it's really awesome. Glad that you had a great time.

Have a nice day everyone.

 

[GeminiAngel]

Great report coming here, I just finished reading it and enjoying the pictures, it's really awesome. Glad that you had a great time.

Have a nice day everyone.

Why Thank you & Welcome! As Kevin said "It was the greatest vacation ever!"
Because everyone got to do everything they wanted.

 

[GeminiAngel]

SIZE="3"]Saturday Feb 7th, 2009 - Continued[/SIZE]

My, My! It was so nice to sit with my honey of almost 8 years and relax! I just LOVE AK, and now I could just sit in one spot for awhile and soak it in and breathe .

After about 10 mins of that non-sense, it was time for lunch! I left Kevin with the stroller, and headed all the way back to Yak & Yeti for some Chinese take out. On the way over I realized something that panicked me!

Festival of the Lion King was at 3pm! We will never make it! And that was my only request for today, we missed it last trip in 2007. I also realized nobody has eaten lunch yet and they would probably want to do that after coming out of Nemo. There would be no time!

Only one thing to do I thought to myself (my pace was quickening with my panic). I got up to the counter and ordered:
Kevin: Kung Pao Beef
Me & Nova (split): Honey crispy chicken
Mom: Chicken fried rice
3 orders of egg rolls for Dawn, Lorraine, Heather.
2 bottles of water, Nova & me needed new ones.

Now I ask you. How in the world was I supposed to carry this all the way back to the Nemo theater? On a tray of course! I wrapped up the egg roll trays with napkins, popped the water bottles in my purse. Carried waiter style up on my shoulder all the way back. You would not believe how many people were heckling me! " oh just leave that here.", " thanks for bringing lunch to us!" I'm not in the mood! I have a show to catch :lol:!

Honey Chicken, It was just OK

Kevin said the same about the Kung Pao Beef

Chicken fried rice, and 3 orders of egg rolls

I save half the chicken for Nova, and figure everyone can eat enroute to FOTLK. They finally let out, I think it was about 2:20!

I show them the food and say LET'S GO! Everyone just looks at me .
I apologized to everyone and said, I must go I really want to see the show.
Nova says she doesn't care about it and decides to take her time with everyone else! Kevin and I race ahead to FOTLK. Once inside the theater, seated in the lion section, my phone rings. Dawn tells me they are in the theater and can see me and Kevin.

So now I'm looking all over, looking for them waving. I said to Kevin, How the heck did they get here so fast? I mean this group was in laid back mode! Dawn insists that she still sees me and Kevin. All of a sudden, a tap on my back... They are all right behind Kevin and me!!! They are hysterical of course. I said to Lorraine how in the world did you catch up?

Lorraine coolly says, you forgot who you are with. Yup, she can commando when she wants to .