The Holidays Are Over So Let's Get This Trip Report Rolling!

[DL55]

What a shame you didn't get to see more of the park. We like it but we always love zoos and animals anyway. It was a good thing that your house was large. It would have been worse bunched up in a hotel room.

 

[Sherry E]

Well, the pages seem to be moving a little bit faster today, but they still either scroll too slowly or they creep along and then they suddenly scroll too fast and skip past where I want to stop!!

Anyway, the Country Bears were not that exciting of a show. I can remember the show well, and I was never thrilled with it as a whole, but it was a great place to go and rest for a while on a hot summer day (this was back when my friends and I went to DL in the heat of summer and I would get very, very bad sunburns - now we do not go in summer anymore!), as well as sort of always being there during my childhood. So I bet if it were still in DL, I probably would not go in and watch the show most of the time - I would take it for granted, as I did in the past - but I would like the idea of it being there IF I wanted to see it!

I told Bumbershoot/Molly that I probably would have ended up doing the same thing at WDW that you did - telling someone in my group that I would meet them at a location I was familiar with from DL, only to discover that it did not exist in WDW!!! I can see myself doing that in a frenzied moment. The real anxiety would come from not having the cell phone on me to make contact with the people I was meeting! Was there any place on Main Street in MK that even sort of resembled the Market House from DL? Worst case scenario - I suppose I probably would have just gone and stood near anything that could even pass for the Market House and hope that my group had the same idea!! Either that or just mosey on back to the car and leave a note or wait for someone to eventually arrive!!

That is such a shame that it rained buckets on your one and only Animal Kingdom day!! See, that would have really bummed me out because Animal Kingdom is one of the main reasons I want to go to WDW! They have their own special style of Christmas decorations and a unique Christmas tree (I saw a photo), and I would have wanted to study all of that and look in shops and things. Plus - the Safari! I would have not rested until I saw that! But I HATE being at DLR in the rain, so I am sure I would have hated being at WDW in the rain too. I am not one of those who can throw on a poncho and enjoy my day. I like taking pictures too much, and it can be so difficult to take photos when it is raining and not get the camera wet. Plus, I carry a big bag with me and it is a pain to dig things out of it when it is pouring. I hate it. Lots of other folks love DLR in the rain, but I can't hack it. I would have been so mad if rain ruined my only day in AK (or in Epcot).

It seems like I was going to comment on something else you said, but that may have been over in my TR. I will go over there and re-read your post and see if that is what I was going to comment on!

 

[Canyon girl]

Sherry,

The only problem with not being able to deal with the rain is that it rains SO MUCH in FL. It's not like SoCal where it rarely rains. Even in the "not rainy" months in FL, the rainfall is still a couple of inches per month. You really have to go with the determination that you aren't going to give up your vacation when it rains. In the summer, it rains every day like clockwork. You pray for that rain because it is so hot. Then, after the rain, it feels even more like a sauna. This is why I don't go to FL in the summertime. Since we homeschool, we can choose our time. I really feel bad for those that have to travel around school schedules. I know that, supposedly, a bad day at WDW is better than a good day anywhere else, but I can't stand the summer heat and humidity. While the rain chances are less in the winter months, the weather is so unpredictable that you can't count it out. We went with a plan to get a rental car and go to the beach on the Saturday that we were there, but we canceled the rental car and toured AKL instead. I'm glad that Marie had the house to go back to. I feel bad that things ended up the way that they did. It was a shame to miss out on AK.

Since we were only there a week with plans to go back this year, we didn't even make the attempt to add in AK. That is on the agenda for this November. BTW, I bought my plane tickets this weekend, so I guess this November's trip is definitely on! I just have to find a new raincoat for DS. He is outgrowing his.

BTW, Sherry, if you do go to WDW, go bagless. We used the travel vests. The best lines anywhere were the "no bag" entry gates. It seemed that the bag check lines at Epcot were always SO LONG!!!

Naomi

 

[CanuckDuck]

Marie,
Looking forward to the rest of this TR!! Thought I'd jump in to let you know that I'm reading too.

Sherry, if you do go to WDW, go bagless. We used the travel vests. The best lines anywhere were the "no bag" entry gates. It seemed that the bag check lines at Epcot were always SO LONG!!!

Naomi

Wonderful advice (from my wonderful wife!) - we zipped into every park while everybody else got in those llloooonnnggg security lines

 

[travelmel]

I haven't had time to read yet (American Idol is calling me!) but I am so happy to be here!

 

[mariezp]

Good evening readers. I am glad to see some of you staying with me! Looks like I might get another installment in tonight if all goes well. First, I better make a few replies!

Canyon girl, my head is spinning with all those resort abbreviations. I thought I was going to have to go back to my WDW studying! I think I got it all figured out. Very nice pictures! You had a wonderful view! We had a lovely view out our backdoor but never saw even a sunset that beautiful.
You could be right about my back problems. I have had problems over the years with a bulging disc so I just assumed the extra activity might have triggered it. However, the Florida weather very well might have been the culprit. It certainly ran a gambit of changes while we were there.
Sounds like you have gotten some good use out of your rain coats! We would have been out of luck at the CP if it had rained. We did not get in line early enough to end up under the shelter. It was cold but thankfully no rain. After the show started I pretty much forgot all about being cold.... but I was still glad we had gloves and hoodies! I loved Steven Curtis Chapman as the speaker. We had seen Andy Garcia before but I really like SCC even better. Such a horrible and tragic accident their family went through. The good Lord is bound to have been the only thing to have gotten them through it.
I cannot imagine even wanting to do to WDW in the summer but so many sure seem to do it. Way too hot for me! We are like you and homeschool so fall is our season of choice. I know many do not have that option so I guess they just have to go when they can. Also, thankfully we had 2 weeks on our trip so I was able to rearrange and redo a few days. Unfortunately, that ended up taking away from our MK days which was our favorite park.
Congratulations on the November trip! I am hoping we hit DL then too.

Aaaaah! Sherry has done it again! She has brought another reader for me! None other than the famous Bumbershoot! Welcome!!! Yes, indeed our dear Sherry has a talent for shining a bright light on a little old trip report. I hope you enjoy and that I do not disappoint. I will be heading over shortly to see what plans you have in the making. If you think of anything a first time WDW tripper/DL lover might be able to help you with be sure to just drop me a line and I will be glad to help if I possibly can. First thing to keep in mind... THERE IS NO MARKET HOUSE ON MAIN STREET IN WDW!

DL55, just so you don't feel too sorry for me I am going to throw a little spoiler out for you..... DD gets another try at AK! She loves animals, and, yes, zoos too so I just knew she would love AK so I couldn't lether go home without getting a second chance for a better day.
You are right. We probably would have drove each other batty if we had ended up spending so much time in a hotel room. As it turns out we had company over one night so the additional space came in super handy!

Hi Sherry!!! You must have felt your ears burning! Is there any chance that I just have so many darn pictures that you are scrolling before they all get loaded? I know I get in a hurry sometimes and have the same problem you describe but that is usually what my problem ends up being.
The CB are not the only attraction that are like that. There are several things at DL that I am perfectly happy doing only once per trip but would probably miss even more if it were gone. I guess they have to give up things sometimes in order to bring in the new. Would not be so bad if the new was always a huge improvement or at least as good. Unfortunately, a lot of us who lean to the nostalgic do not find the new stuff to be any good. (ie, the new Tiki Room experience at WDW ) Guess you need to be a young wipper-snapper to appreciate a lot of the new age stuff!
If or should I say when you make it to WDW at least you will have a warning to not look for Market House! You will just have to come up with your own little boo-boo to rival my stupidity! Some of the buildings look pretty much the same but I figured my best shot to find them was where there was coffee or food.
Like I mentioned above we will get another shot at AK. Even then we did not explore as much as I would have liked. Hopefully, when you go you can make it a long trip so you can see more than I did. AK was NOT fun in the rain! We have been to DL in the rain and enjoyed it but the rain did not even last very long. As soon as it stopped the skies were clear again. The weather seems to be much more reliable in California.

CanuckDuck, I am glad you spoke up to let me know you are here with us! Always encouraging to know folks are reading along.
It is good advice to go with as little baggage as you possibly can. I went to DL one year with just what I needed in my cargo pockets and my camera around my neck. It was wonderful. I really need to get back to that! My DD is the only reason I carry a bag now. She always comes up with something she needs me to carry..autograph book, extra camera, etc. I will be glad when I can count on her to tote her own stuff without whining.

Hi travelmel! It is nice to run into you again! I hope you enjoy..... as soon as you get your American Idol fix!

 

[mariezp]

Day 4, December 5, 2009
Woke up this morning and it was raining again. Not a nice gentle misty sort of rain but a continual steady rain. Not exactly the day I was hoping for but what can ya do? I decided I would try to go with the flow and just enjoy a quiet morning again. I knew the guys would never complain if I let them sleep late again. It was to be our first day at Epcot but I did not have any definitive plans until 3:35. Strange time for lunch I know but that was the available ADR time for Garden Grill as part of our Candlelight Processional Package. Anyway, I did some catching up on the computer, added to my trip notes, worked on another jigsaw puzzle and just rested.

We finally got moving and decided we were in need of a store to find DD a pair of shoes to wear that would keep her feet warmer and dry. I had read that this was NOT supposed to be the rainy season so the only shoes I had brought for her were crocs, with the holes in the toes. Again we put DH’s "evil I phone" to use and located a Walmart a short distance from the house. My guys seldom ever go shopping with me so looking back it was a pretty funny event to have them helping us pick out shoes. They picked out shoes left and right but nothing they found met with her approval. We finally found her a metallic magenta pair of boots that she just “had to have”. They ended up working out great cause she decided she could tuck in her pants that were too long and keep her feet dry at the same time. We finally made it out of the store and arrived at Epcot at about 2:00.

Thankfully, the sun had decided to shine briefly for the day. We decided it would be a good idea to locate the restaurant and stay close by since it was not long until out ADR. DD spotted the Living with the Land boat ride so we decided that it would probably take up just about the right amount of time. There was a pretty long line but it did move pretty fast so before long we were whisked away exploring things we never imagined we would find at WDW. DS opted to sit this one out cause he was just too cool. I think DH and I were a little concerned that it might not be something that held our interest very well either but I have to say that we were pleasantly surprised. There really were some interesting experimental projects they were working on. I thought it was neat that they actually use the food that they grow inside the restaurant. I must have been really entranced because I did not think to take a single picture.

When the ride was over we had just enough time to get over to the Garden Grill. They gave us a little light up pager so we took a seat near the entrance. While waiting we struck up another conversation, this time with another Texan, just down the road in Midland. We were there in time for the first seating of the day so we ended up only waiting about 5 minutes. The food was fair. The fish was dry and the sides were okay. We did really like the rolls and the salad but the blueberry buckle was the very best part of the meal. Our waitress was very attentive and took good care of us. She also made a point to cut up with the kids which always makes for a lot of fun. She teased my son because he ate all the fish and had to bring seconds. She told him the second batch was NOT for him.

We found a hidden Mickey!

The restaurant itself was pretty cool. It had just about made a full revolution by the time we finished our meal. We saw Mickey, Pluto, Chip and Dale. They made it around multiple times but we were so hungry we didn’t actually end up taking full advantage of them. They were very cute with Emma and put on a good show in front of the camera and video camera.

At one point our waitress was cleaning our table before bringing dessert. She headed off with a big stack of plates down her arm. When she was well past the next table DH quietly said “Listen, she’s going to drop them.” When she came back with the dessert she said “For the record, I did not drop anything.” He was pretty embarrassed. The rest of us cracked up that he had been heard. We asked her how in the world she heard him and she told us listening was her job.

When we finished up we decided to start making our way towards the back of the park. We started strolling towards Germany since my son has a fairly newly interest in German culture. BTW, I am quite proud of him. He is currently teaching himself to speak German. Anyway, the weather was cooling off so we ducked in a door and explored a little Viking building. After the brief detour we continued on our way. We made our way through the crowd til we finally found Germany. DH grabbed a German beer for our son to try. I am not much of a drinker but I also had a small sip. We all agreed that German beer tasted no better to us than American beer. We ended up throwing most of it away and grabbed a cappuccino instead.

It was almost time for the Candlelight Processional to begin so we decided we had better all make a pit stop. We asked a CM standing out front of the American Gardens Theatre where we could find the restrooms. She started out by pointing and saying “Well, you go down there by the bushes…..” We all cracked up thinking we were going to have to go behind the bushes. She was a good sport and laughed right along with us. We recovered from our outburst and made our way down by the bushes to some strange portable restrooms. They did end up being nice enough on the inside but they did seem very out of place in a Disney park. I am assuming they were just in place for the CP.

With that important mission taken care of, we headed over to take our place in the long line waiting to get into the theatre. The line moved pretty quickly and we were soon allowed in to find ourselves a place among the crowd. Nothing down close so we settled on a 4 person bench situated towards the back. It was cold. Thankfully, DD and I had gloves and three of us had hoodies. I have no idea how DH kept his ears from freezing. I guess he is just tougher than the rest of us.
DD not too impressed with waiting in the cold.

Guys being silly while waiting for the show to start. They look like they are up to something, don't they?

We have been to one other Candlelight several years ago on our trip to DL in 2007. We had front row seats and our guest speaker was Andy Garcia. I’ve got to say that I really enjoyed sitting farther back so I could take in the whole show. And, while Andy Garcia gave an excellent reading I REALLY enjoyed Steven Curtis Chapman’s presentation so much more. He was so humble and so down to earth. The fact that he is a very outspoken Christian may have also made a difference in my opinion. For me, it made so much difference to know that he totally believed in the story he was telling. I got such a kick out of watching him while he was not speaking and the choir would sing. He would sing but at the same time turn around and look at everything. He seemed to be really enjoying himself.

At the end of the performance he addressed the crowd with a little reference to Crush from Turtle Talk. Then in regards to the show he said “Back in Kentucky we have a saying, If that don’t light your fire your wood’s wet.” Loved it! My very favorite part of the show was when they began singing "Silent Night" and the audience joined in. I got goosebumps all over and this time it was not because I was cold. The entire performance was fabulous. It was a wonderful start to our holiday season.

This is the one lone shot I took with my camera. The rest are from our video camera. I loved the way they kept changing the colors on stage.

 

[mariezp]

Continued.......

We slowly made our way out of the crowd and began our long walk back towards the front of the park. We love Soarin so we decided even if it was the only thing we did the rest of the night we would be satisfied. It was a good thing we did not have high expectations of getting much else done. The wait was 40 minutes. Thankfully, the games in line proved to be entertaining for the kids. DH and I were kept in conversation with a Christian man who was there to attend the late showing of the CP. He had previously been a Navy Seal and kept us busy with tales of the good old days. Oops! DH forgot to turn the camera off.

Afterwards we were all ready to go home. We picked up Taco Bell for supper and turned in for the night. Great! As we were heading to bed, DD informed me that she had a sore throat.

 

[Pikester]

Sure, you stand me up at Epcot and then don't even mention me in your TR!

Sounds like your day turned out better then it started. I really hope that the weather got better for you. I didn't pay much attention to what the weather was doing there once we got back home.

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

Hey Marie - found your TR, better late than never! I am hoping to get mine rolling this weekend!

 

[mariezp]

Pikester, you know how it is... once a bum, always a bum! Seriously, I felt really bad to not meet up with you. I hope you can see from my day that we just did not have much wiggle room anywhere. I did call and leave you a voice mail later in the day, after CP, but I bet ya'll had already left by then. I guess you could have stood in line with us for 40 minutes waiting for Soarin.That was about the only time we had not doing anything! Of course, the fact that we did not get to the park until 2:00 did not help.
Also, honestly, at this point I was secretly feeling a little gloomy. I was so annoyed that our days were not going as well as I had hoped that I probably would not have been very good company anyway. Eventually I just had to say oh what the heck and forget about a lot of what I had in my mind. I had to toss aside lots of the notes I had taken and just concentrate on keeping the family happy even though I was disappointed.
The weather remained hit and miss throughout our trip. One day it would be rainy, the next might be cold and by the time we left it was downright hot. We managed okay but I gotta tell you that we have never had a vacation with this much mix of weather. I had to go to the door every morning to check the temperature to know what sort of clothes we needed to dress in for the day. Thankfully, I had packed quite an assortment.

Hi MadilynnsMomma! Glad you found me! Hope you had a good trip. I'll have to go check out your report when you get it going.

 

[CanuckDuck]

I REALLY enjoyed Steven Curtis Chapman’s presentation so much more. He was so humble and so down to earth. The fact that he is a very outspoken Christian may have also made a difference in my opinion. For me, it made so much difference to know that he totally believed in the story he was telling. I got such a kick out of watching him while he was not speaking and the choir would sing. He would sing but at the same time turn around and look at everything. He seemed to be really enjoying himself.


At the end of the performance he addressed the crowd with a little reference to Crush from Turtle Talk. Then in regards to the show he said “Back in Kentucky we have a saying, If that don’t light your fire your wood’s wet.” Loved it!

I couldn't agree more Marie!! The CP was a wonderful highlight to our trip too. It's hard to imagine anyone doing better than SCC, and he seemed to be enjoying it just as much as the rest of us (maybe more)!

 

[mariezp]

Day 5, December 6, 2009

This ended up being one of those not exactly what I planned for days. In my original plans we were heading to MK for our first day. When the day got here we actually ended up heading to Dade City.

First, I’m guess I am going to take you back a little into my trip planning history. As some of you may already know I have taken several trips to Disneyland. It’s become the destination for my family’s annual fall vacation. Every year I start planning for the next one almost immediately when we return home. Well, this year’s plan was not anything I would probably have ever come up with on my own. However, my son never ceases to amaze me with the ideas he can come up with. One day up out of the blue he suggested to me “Why don’t we go to Disneyworld this year?” Of course, there was an ulterior motive. He has some friends he has known online for years who just happen to live in Dade City, Florida, which just so happens to be about a 45 minute drive from WDW. I guess I have always had the thought in the back of my mind that we should see how WDW compared so it didn’t seem like too crazy an idea to me. We presented it to dear Dad who wasn’t quite as thrilled about the idea but agreed to give it a try.

From there I went into a fact gathering frenzy that lasted the better part of a year. When it came time to think about tickets I realized that 10 day tickets were the most number of days you could buy without moving up to APs which were definitely not going to be cost effective for our one trip. We would have 14 days total but I decided 10 parks days could work okay. We could definitely make do and see other sites in the area on the extra days. Generally, I am in charge of all the planning and no one in the family has any idea of what we are doing. Under the circumstances of how the trip came to be to begin with, my son began to show a much greater interest in this trip. I clearly remember one day he asked for some of the details. As I started rattling off some of my plans he said “You mean we are going to be there 14 days and only in the park for 10?!” I had just imagined that I was the only one that preferred to spend all my waking moments in the park. Well, with another family member expressing such a desire to be there every day I decided to purchase additional tickets for the additional days. Actually, I ended up getting additional 2 day tickets. Three day tickets were quite a jump in price. I knew that having a few days off on the weekend would work fine for a break from the crowds… and I already had a few things I really wanted to see. So 12 days in the park was the plan.

Now…. fast forward to today. Today, in my plan, was supposed to be our second Magic Kingdom day. After actually making it to Florida my son was really, really excited and anticipating meeting up with his friends AND their family. Since several family members had to work during the week we had made plans to get together with them on our second weekend. We had the CP already scheduled for our first weekend and I thought it would be better to be able to spend 2 days with the family so that is why we were going to wait until the second week. DS just couldn’t wait so he requested that we get together with them TODAY. So that is what we did.

Long about noon we hopped in the car and took a little drive to Dade City. Of course, wouldn’t you know it, the day we give up for the parks turned out to be beautiful, bright, sunny and no rain. When we arrived, there was homemade pizza in the kitchen just waiting for us. It was a great day. Of course, DS was having a blast with the 2 brothers that are his friends. It didn’t hurt any at all that they also have a beautiful teenage sister. They also had another daughter that was just a couple years older than our DD. They hit it off great. And, even DH and I apparently had found new friends. They were a wonderful family and we had so much in common. The real kicker is that their father loves Texas and is hoping to move here. DS has been talking up Texas to him and had even went all out to make a PowerPoint presentation which he presented to him singing the praises of Texas. It was quite impressive! We left a copy with him when it was time to leave.

We spent most of the day getting to know our new friends while the kids were off doing their thing. And, of course, we discussed plans for the next weekend. I am not sure how long they have lived in Florida but with the exception of the oldest son none of them had ever been to WDW. We knew they were in for a treat. I knew we would do our very best to help make the most of their first time visit.

So, although it was not a big day in one of the parks, it was a good one devoted to visiting friends who were really the only reason we had ended up in Florida. We made our way back to the house and got ready for the next day back at one of the parks.



Just in case you are wondering.... since this was such a short day I am currently working on the next day and have high hope of finishing it up... with pictures and everything.... soon!

 

[mariezp]

Day 6, December 7, 2009

Today was set aside to be our Hollywood Studios Day. We arrived at the park at 11:30. When I saw that it was going to be another day of getting started late I called and changed our ADR to the Prime Time Cafe from 12:15 to 2:45 so we would have time to do something else before heading straight to the restaurant. I knew it was a good idea to head straight to TSM so we headed there first.

Of course, there was a long wait at TSM we decided to grab a fastpass. Apparently, the early birds get the FPs because they were already gone for the day. As we stood in front of the machines pondering whether to get in line for a long wait a woman approached us and gave us 3 fastpasses that were good after 5:15. Problem solved we moved along to see what else we could do.

The Great Movie Ride was right around the corner so we headed there first. Unique ride but I don’t think it made anyone’s favorite ride list. We were only planning to spend one day in the park so we decided at this point to split up with our ride buddies. DD had spotted Voyage of the Little Mermaid so we went to that part of the park while the guys set off to points unknown. When we arrived the wait was pretty long until the next show so we zipped into the Beauty and the Beast show which was just beginning. Loved the Chip character and beast was sure handsome! Good show and as you all probably know they lived happily ever after.

When the show was over we headed back to VOLM. We both really liked this one even better and probably would have watched it again if we had had more time in our day.

DD loves to draw so we went to the Animation Academy. While we were standing in a CM asked us if we had been to the show before and what we had drawn. I told him we had been on several occasions and we had drawn Minnie, Mickey and Pluto. He disappeared for several minutes. When he came back he said he had talked to the artist and asked him not to do any of those. The artist agreed and said that he would draw something else so we would be getting a new character, Louis, from the new Frog Princess movie. As always, we had a great time watching the artist’s amazing talent and we enjoyed making a feeble attempt at drawing ourselves. (Sorry about the crummy pictures. I was being a good girl and turned my flash off.)

Next, it was time for lunch at the PTC. We met the guys and after a short wait in the living room we were seated. Our waitress was Aunt Lorraine. We tried to be very good so she would not have to punish us. We saw a couple kids who helped carry their dishes to the kitchen but aside from that we did not see any more of the silliness I had read about. Their chicken was very good and more than I could eat. Lucky for me I have 2 men with me who have hearty appetites so my extra chicken did not go to waste. I left just enough room for dessert. I was glad I did because the sugar free cheesecake was delicious.

I wanted to make sure we had enough time to do the Backlot Studio Tour so we did that next. I was very glad we were not picked from the audience to participate in the boat scene. If their rain gear did not work well those poor women got drenched!

 

[mariezp]

Continued......

We really enjoyed the tram part of the tour.

From there we stopped in and watched the Indy Stunt Show. I must have been very entertained because I ended up taking a whole 2 pictures... both nice and fuzzy.

When we were done I am not sure what got into me but I agreed to ride RRC while DH took DD to the Honey I Shrunk the Kids play area. NEVER AGAIN! I liked the intro where Aerosmith is talking to you and you get to listen to some of their music but after that….. NEVER AGAIN! They could have at least played one of their songs I knew to help me be distracted but Noooooo. The only things I had to concentrate on was whether or not I was going to be sick or come out alive! I spent the entire time hands, and teeth clenched, hoping it was ending soon. Yep, no doubt about it! I am a roller coaster weenie! When we got off my son thought it was great. All I thought was how much I was glad I was off of it. For me, there was absolutely nothing fun about it…. Well, maybe the fact that DS got such a kick out of taunting me and seeing me in my nauseated induced shade of green.

DH must have though I deserved a reward after that so he agreed that he would sit out TSM while the 3 of us used the FPs we were kindly given earlier. As always we had a blast. Love this ride. I just wish the line wasn’t always so long. I got the higher score!

It was getting cooler outside and threatening to rain so I think everyone else just wanted to go home but I was determined to see the Osborne Lights before leaving the park so I drug them in that direction with the promise of leaving after the brief detour. It was very pretty but also very crowded so we did not stay long.

When we left the park we had our first ordeal in the parking lot of losing the car. I had a pretty good idea of where it was but I wasn’t sure enough of myself to really take charge. Ya see, my DH is usually very good about knowing where he is at. I am not sure what happened in Florida because he stayed directionally challenged the entire 2 weeks. After 10 or so minutes wandering around I finally took charge and led us straight to the car and we headed home.

Here is where I have got to make mention of the best ever tip I found during all my reading and researching. CAR WINDOW FLAG! When you actually had an idea of where you car was this little baby was a real time saver when it came to finding your car in the parking lot. We could see Smiley, as he was dubbed, from way off. It became a fun part of our parking lot venture each day. It turned into a game to see who could find the flag and then make it to the car first. After we were almost stranded overnight in the parking lot DH made sure to find an evil I-phone application for locating your car in a parking lot. Still, the flag led us to the car faster every time!

 

[DL55]

Sounds like you had a fun day even if you rode RRC. I always wonder if I'm going to survive take off. After that it's fun. I've never drawn any of the characters, DH isn't interested so I don't make him wait for me. I think those drawings are great. I recognize them as alligators.

 

[MadilynnsMomma]

We did HS the night before you and Osborne was CROWDED!!!

 

[ladybugmom]

What a fun day!! I love the B&B show!! And the Animation Studio is on our list of things to-do on our trip in May!! How neat that you got to draw Louis from Princess and the Frog!! The Osborne lights look AMAZING!!! Beautiful!!

 

[JOCAmom]

Marie!!!!!!!!! I found you. I finally got a chance to read everything.

I'm sorry things didn't seem to go as you planned. As a planner, I know how disappointing that can be.

We got to see the Osbourne Lights for the first time in 09 and I thought they were truly breathtaking even with all the crowds.

I am loving all your pictures. I can't wait to read more.

And don't forget, I've got that DL trip in mind within the next few years so I'll be bugging you for more advice.

 

[mariezp]

DL55, it's good to know that I am not the only one who thought I was going to die when RRC took off. At least you enjoy it after that.
I am very glad you can tell what our drawings were! You really need to drag your DH into the Animation Academy! You never know. He might enjoy it more than he imagines. DD and I always make it a point to visit. It is fun to see how you can turn simple lines into a character with a little guidance. Besides, it is a nice place to rest your tired tootsies.

MadilynnsMomma, HS seemed pretty crowded all over when we were there. I guess there are lots of people who pay attention to "least crowded day" charts. Won't be long before everyday is crowded!

ladybugmom, glad you dropped in and let me know you were here! I loved all the shows. They do not have nearly as many at DL.
Louis was fun to draw. Now we just need to get around to watching the movie so we will know something about him!
The Osborne lights were beautiful. Disney absolutely knows how to put on a good show for the holidays. Their decorations are all always fabulous!

JOCAmom, yeah! another of my TKer buddies has arrived!
I love making all our plans but you are right.... sometimes a glitch in the plan can really be disappointing, especially after you have put in so much effort. I think I will go for less planning next time.
Glad you like the photos.We do tend to get carried away. Still, I did not take nearly as many pictures as I have in the past. I guess I was too busy discovering all the new stuff.
Bring it on baby! I am so here for you if you need more DL advice! It's one of my favorite subjects so don't ever think you will be bugging me.