TheNeverEndingPTR! Sept2010...no, November...WAIT! January?Ugh. maybe September 2011!

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Friday, Sept. 12, 2008
DHS EMH

We crashed late, I'm an early bird and even more so at WDW when I'm excited! I was up before the wake-up call, I believe I walked up to the food court and got coffee (I did most days, but they are all jumbled up and I can't remember if I did this day) My notes say we all got up at 6:30am so we could get to DHS by rope-drop. (EMH)

I have no idea how we thought we could continue to do EMH and stay up late every day, but you can ask my slave driver, M.A.! She even admitted that she rode me like a pony (isn't that what you said yesterday?) LOL. I was happy to be ridden though, I saw more than most on my first trip to the world.

We arrived in time and they let us through the turnstiles a few minutes early. I thought this was strange,(ahem...noob) but then realized why. They put up an actual ROPE across the "street" and everyone had to stop there. Duh!

We had our plan all worked out. They gave me their tickets and I was to speedwalk ahead and get FP's for Toy Story, for later. M.A. and the girls were going to head straight to the ride, itself, and ride.

I liked the rope drop show and it enabled me to get some good pictures of the sorcerers hat up ahead without a ton of people in the pic.

The rope dropped and we all followed the CM's to the FP turnstiles.
I got the FPs to ride Toy Story later and went to find M.A. and the girls, but it was too late, they were already inside. No problem! I walked around DHS and got some great pics, the place was virtually empty!

I even saw Donald Duck!

I really liked DHS. I thought before going to WDW that this would be my least favorite park. I've never been an old-hollywood type, but DHS won me over. I loved the look/feel of the place. I also liked that it was the smallest park we went to! Now, if they would only sell some FOOD I could eat! Both times I've been there, I've had issues finding anything even remotely vegetarian and certainly nothing vegan.

After I met them coming out of TS, which they ranted and raved about, we headed back over near "the hat". We saw Pluto coming out and were the second in line to get pics with him! Savannah was beside herself, she loves Pluto & Minnie.

After getting their pics with Pluto, we walked over to a stand and found their mickey-head hairbands, which they wore almost the remainder of the trip! I even wore them to the Halloween party. She's still wearing them after getting home, so they were a good purchase I guess! It turns out they don't sell them anymore and when we went back in 2009 EVERYONE, even CM's in stores were asking where we got them. I'll have to thank Max, our Boxer, for chewing up the first pair just days after we got home, so I called up and ordered 3 pair just in case. Now they don't sell them anymore at all!

We headed towards The Muppets and M.A. said she had never seen it so empty.* More picture opportunities for Karen! (non-crowd pics for you Hope!)

Ah the Muppets...way to make a girl feel old! Savannah virtually had no idea who they were, except what she's seen on Disney lately where they have been trying to introduce them to the younger crowd!

It was a really funny show and Savannah liked it a lot! Great 3D effects, I don't remember 3D working so well in the past, it looked like stuff was right in your face during the show. When we got out of Muppetvision, we headed back towards TS to use our fastpasses. On the way, when we were walking by the hat, who should come out but Minnie and Daisy! Savannah was SO excited!!!!

It was so cute b/c she pointed at the girls shirts, which had Minnie on them and made a cute gesture. I thought Savannah wouldn't get into character meeting b/c she's getting older, etc. but she LOVED it!

Off to Toy Story we went! The ride was great, one of my favorites!

We got another set of FP's as we came out of Toy Story. They weren't until much later in the afternoon, so we headed off for lunch!

On the way, we ran into Mulch, Sweat, & Tears. They are a hilarious and GOOD band that drives up, parks, and plays. The lead singer was HILARIOUS and when I kept taking pictures, he raised his eyebrows and said "you just can't get enough of me, can you? And what a lot of me there is!" The girls thought we were nuts, standing in the middle of the road with these guys, singing and clapping.

We ate at Pizza Planet. It took a while to get a salad without cheese, they had to bring it out to me. It was standard Mcdonalds type salad to be honest...and I mean Mcdonalds from way back when I used to actually go to Mcdonalds, not these fancy salads I've seen they have now. The food issue was annoying, but honestly, it's hard to aggravate me for long in WDW, so I just dealt with it! The TS places were SO good about getting me stuff, I just decided that when we went back, we would have to do the dining plan or free dining so that I could get 1 meal a day at least that wasn't so stressful.

The girls played some games and took their picture in one of those booths, then we headed outside and Isabella decided to get one of those string things put in her hair. I forgot what they were called, we used to do them when I was a teenager. Savannah didn't want anyone messing with her hair so she decided on a tattoo. Bella wanted one too so they picked matching tattoos. They didn't last as long as I thought they would, I'm glad we took a pic, they were gone by our last day

So, now it was 1-something in the afternoon and it was HOT. I think I coined the term HOT MESS in this picture!

We couldn't go back to Toy Story until 2:50pm. Luckily, as we were trying to decide what to do, they came out and started setting up for Highschool Musical. The girls wanted to see it, it was the last performance of hs musical 2 before they switched over to hs musical 3.

They really enjoyed it, afterwards we were SOOOOOOOOO hot, they got ice cream. I got a cold diet to cool off.

We still had some time, so we went on the Great Movie Ride. Little did we know they would have technically difficulties during the ride and we would get stuck in the room with TARZAN. Yes, that's right. For 10 minutes we sat there and listened to Tarzan go ON AND ON AND ON "Ahhhhhhhh-eee-aaah-eee-ooohhhhh-eeee-ohhhhh" What a hysterical memory for us, I can still make the Tarzan call and Savannah will burst into laughter.

She didn't know all of the movies, but when the ride started back up, we headed into a pretty little scene and I leaned over and told her that she knew what this was. It took a few seconds, but when the munchkins popped up and started to sing, her eyes lit up like you wouldn't believe. I wish I could have taken a picture!

When we came out, it was about time to head over to Toy Story. When we got there, we had a little time and right across from the ride was Woody and Buzz!!!

Finally it was time for our last ride on TS. We actually got stuck for a bit on this ride too, but it was fun b/c the things kept shooting (only confetti instead of balls) and we didn't have to wait too long.

After the ride we headed to the bus stop! Back to Pop (and a plethora of towel animals) for a quick swim and time enough to get ready for Mickey's Not So Scary Halloween Party! Yep, spent most of the day at DHS and then headed to the party...are you tired yet???

 

[-Hope-]

Whew! I AM tired! you guys got so much accomplished! I can't believe how empty some of those street pics are- I'm not going to count on that but I know it would make Robbie happy. And I LOVE all of the character pics with the girls. I know I said this yesterday but I really do have to keep reminding myself that this was only two years ago. Both of them just look like little kids compared to the young ladies they are now.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

MNSSHP...

I LOVED IT! I think it is one of my favorite things at WDW. I love the parade and the fireworks, the decorations, the music...love it! Loved how empty the park was, loved going on the rides at night! The girls had such a great time. It was fun seeing all the different costumes everyone had! I can't imagine how hot some of them must have been though, in longsleeve costumes and thick outfits!

When we arrived we got our bracelets and they gave everyone treat bags. We headed down mainstreet and took a couple pics in front of the castle with photopass. Kind of a crowd shot for Hope:

When we got up to the castle, they started the Dreams show, which we had missed when we were at MK our first day, so we sat down to watch it, M.A. got some popcorn. I took lots of pics, it was a cute show, M.A. thought I was nuts for trying so hard to get the mouse kiss. I did finally catch the shot I wanted!

After the show we headed over to Cosmic Ray's. They close many of the food places during parties and we figured this was one place we knew I could get something to eat. Wrong-o! They had closed the side of the counter service that had the veggie wraps! The ONLY thing available for me was a veggie burger sans the bun(I don't normally eat bread, makes me sick) So, I ordered it and went over to where the condiments were and loaded up on some sauteed onions & mushrooms and some tomatoes. M.A. was pissed that I had to eat condiments for my dinner and there were no options for me.

We sat down where the stage was and they were having Stitch's Dance Party! The girls loved it and even got up and danced. They handed out candy when the party was over. It was fun, I even got out there when they started doing the Macarena! Too bad I don't really know how to do the Macarena!

We left Cosmic Ray's and headed to Fantastyland. We were going straight to barnstormer but looked over and saw that Minnie was dressed in her Halloween costume and taking pics with people in her gazebo! We got in line.

It wasn't too long before we made it through the line. All evening people had been calling Savannah's costume a witch, but Minnie knew right away that Savannah was a monster and held her arms out in front of her like Frankenstein and motioned for Savannah to do it too. It was CUTE!

Savannah made a comment as we walked away that was so sweet and made me realize she was still only 7 years old. She said that Minnie must have recognized them from earlier in the day when they saw her at DHS!

After seeing Minnie we were off to Barnstormer (their favorite rollercoaster). M.A. and I waited at the exit and let them go on their own. They went twice and wanted to go more, but we had so many more things to do and see!

We headed over to Alice's trick or treat party and there at the entrance were Tweedle-dee and Tweedle-dum. I had my pic taken with them, they were funny as hell, kissing my hand and fighting over me.

Alice's trick or treat party on the back path between Toontown and Tomorrowland was cute, lots of characters in costume. The Queen of Hearts was hilarious, she looked down on the girls and they curtsied (we thought she might like them if they did that! LOL) and Alice was very proper and confused by Savannah's costume...she kept asking if she was the Mad Hatter! (Hope, in 2009 at the party, the Queen and white rabbit were NOT on the trail, not sure if it was the wrong timing or whether they aren't having them greet on that trail now? We did see them in front of the teacups in 2009 instead.)

After the tea party we had some time before Hallowishes and the parade. We took a ride on TTA and then headed over to mainstreet. We watched the Villian's show in front of the castle, found a spot for the fireworks and parade and I went to get some Tofutti ice cream! MMMM!

OMG, WHAT AN ORDEAL! This was probably my only really bad experience, in both my trips, to WDW. I had the manager actually say "Oh, so it's a choice not to eat dairy, you don't have an alergy?" in this higher-than-thou tone. I thought he might not even get me any b/c I was CHOOSING to eat it. Sigh. I about lost it, but this was the happiest place on Earth, so I just waited. and waited. and waited. It took 15 minutes to get that tofutti (I'm not exaggerating. They served so many other people while I waited for them to go get it!) but it tasted good, so who am I to complain? Oh yeah, I'm me. I complain a bit sometimes, so there ya go.

The girls had ice cream AND they had tons of candy. The sugar helped keep them up...

I was finally armed with M.A.'s camera for the fireworks and I got some better pictures. I loved Hallowishes just as much as Wishes!

After the fireworks, we stayed in the same spot (I believe this is ACTUALLY when I went to get tofutti, but you know how stuff gets jumbled up when you remember it, right??)

Then we waited. For The Headless Horseman! I used M.A's camera again (grumble) b/c I knew I only had one shot. He goes pretty fast and you can really only get one shot! The horse knows the way, it's really cool!

After he rides down mainstreet, the parade started! LOVE LOVE LOVE this parade. I want to dress as one of the dead/white dressed/dancing women (no clue what to call them) for Halloween some time!

After the parade we still had time before the party was over, so we headed to the Haunted Mansion. My favorite ride at MK!!!

As we were coming out we passed a small cart and they had stuffed Minnie's dressed in her Halloween costume. I bought one for Savannah and she squealed she was so happy. (She still plays with her Minnies and the pluto she got on that trip, she wants to collect all the different ones)

After trick or treating at a couple places (where they knew that the place was closing and dumped MASSIVE amounts into their bags b/c they had so much leftover) we headed to...duh, duh, duh, duuuuuhhhhhhhhhhh...Splash Mountain. Where else?

We walked right on and got in...as we started to float away, we realized that without thinking, M.A. and I had gotten in and the girls had gotten in together right behind us. None of us were really thinking. Thinking back on it, it really wasn't a big deal, Splash is safe, but when you have little girls sitting alone you tend to wonder if they will fly out! LOL.
I guess it made it all the more exciting. We all screamed down the hill and of course the girls thought it was so cool that they went sitting together without us (they were right behind us).

It was almost midnight so we headed over to Alladin, one of the rides that we hadn't been on yet. We got right on. This ride was similar to Dumbo, where you can make it go up and down. Only difference is that M.A. and I, who sat in back (it seats 4) could control leaning forwards and backwards and the girls didn't realize it. It was hilarious when we tipped the whole thing forward, they looked shocked!

We got to ride this 3 times in a row without getting off b/c the park was closing and we knew we had no time to get to anything else. Around 5 min. after midnight they shut the ride down and we headed for the gate.

The line wasn't too bad for Pop and we actually got to SIT on the bus ride back! We crawled into bed at 1am. I made only one mistake. I woke up the next morning at 5:30am. 4 1/2 hours of sleep and we were headed to Epcot...my bad.

Tomorrow...Epcot with no sleep...Karen has a meltdown.

 

[crazyforgoofy]

Karen, great remembering! Where did our babies go?


Meltdown? I don't 'member no meltdowns.

 

[-Hope-]

I have the Halloween party on the brain so this was perfect! I've read that the Queen and White Rabbit are by the teacups but can't figure out if that's where they'll be with the teacups closed? I HAVE to figure it out because the QoH is THE character Kya MUST meet at the party.

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Well, IF she's not there b/c the teacups are closed, check on that back "hidden" path between Toontown and Tomorrowland. Maybe they will put her back here this year? If all else fails, you can see her at the Villain meet and greet after the villain show in front of the castle, I think...BUT, there will be a horrendous line, so hopefully you can find her at one of the other places!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Saturday, Sept. 13, 2008
Epcot

I have no idea what possessed me to wake up at 5:30am after being up until 1am at MNSSHP, but I did and was wide awake. I went to the food court for coffee and sat by the quiet pool and wrote up our previous day. This is the ONLY reason I have so many details of what we did, I wrote it down each morning! It was actually scribbled on pieces of paper I had, in 2009 I got smart and made a journal to take along, which worked like a charm!

Everyone finally got up and out the door to Epcot by 10am. They may have gotten more sleep, but I wasn't the only one dragging! You can tell from the pics of the girls on the bus and when we first arrived at Epcot that the energy level was low after non-stop WDW the past 2 1/2 days!

When we arrived, M.A. went for fastpasses on Soarin' while I took the girls on Spaceship Earth. They liked it a lot. Some people don't like the screen and stuff they have added, but I thought it was fun and the girls did as well.

We met up with M.A. who said the FP was really early for Soarin' b/c there were no lines and we could get another FP soon, so I headed for Test Track to get a FP while M.A. took the girls to get their pics taken with the characters. (for Hope...this is at around 10:30am)

I got back to them right as they were getting their pics taken...

How amazing that Minnie was at Epcot too! After that, we head for Soarin'. M.A. Told the CM that we had never been and asked if we could be in the front row and they sent us to a row that was in front! LOVED Soarin', although my mind played tricks on me and my stomach was in my shoes a couple times. What can I say, I'm a wuss...I was gripping the arm rests. Savannah was leaning forward and not scared in the least!

After Soarin' we had lunch right there at Season's. Not much trouble finding food there, Epcot is SO Earthy and natural...less junk food even! Out of all the parks, Epcot was the easiest for me to eat at...BUT, as I'll talk about later, it was not so easy for Savannah, who is a very picky kid and a vegetarian! Almost all the kid menu's have meat in each meal.

Savannah lived on mac-n-cheese at WDW. LOL

My lunch...Mmmmmm

After lunch we were headed to Test Track! Loved this too! I guess I should just stop saying every ride I loved, b/c I love them all.

I was getting really tired at this point, but I muddled through. I kept thinking about how we hadn't even gotten to World Showcase yet and how large it was.

We went back to The Land and went on Living with the Land. Right up my ally! I loved it!... As much as I loved it, I would have enjoyed it better if I had more sleep. We went to some show with Simba? It was about living in our world with other species, etc. I really have no clue b/c I kept falling asleep!

That was when I knew I had to have a break. We sat down for a snack and I decided Savannah & I would go back for a break/nap. My legs were on fire and I was a walking zombie. So, after a snack, I told M.A. that Savannah & I were going to go back to Pop and then we would come back and meet them again.

We separated, but Savannah was really unhappy. She didn't want to leave. AT. ALL. Then I felt guilty. We only had a few days to do this and she wanted to stay. I wasn't sure what to do.

Savannah & I went into one of the stores and looked at everything and shopped for a bit. We decided to stay, but then I couldn't get M.A. on her phone and pretty much just broke down crying. I called Rey and the man is a saint, he talked me down like he always does when I'm being a drama queen.

Just hearing his voice helped and as I was sitting there having a meltdown, bawling like a baby, M.A. and Isabella walked by and we got their attention. They were happy when we told them we were staying and we decided to head over the World Showcase (and hit Mexico first for margarita's!) JUST the medicine I needed!

On the way we stopped in the soda tasting shop, Flavors Around The World. I had heard to never try Dorothy but no one told Isabella!

We headed out to World Showcase, Mexico was first!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

I took pics of the other countries from across the water though, and in some cases, that's as close as we got. We didn't get all the way around the world, next trip!

Margarita's were cold and refreshing, but you can see that I'm a mess still!

We went inside Mexico where a woman was hand painting wood carvings,we went on the ride, I bought Rey the coolest skull. I knew he would love it and I was right! I think it is the first thing I have ever gotten him that he was excited about! (he's picky)

My little Mexican girl fit right in, my MIL loved the pics I got here. (unbelievably, it was one of the places I really wanted to take her on our 2009 trip and we never even made it IN any of the countries with my IL's. World Showcase eludes me, I must do something about that next time!

The girls made masks in the Kidcot station

We finally left Mexico. I did this reluctantly, I could have stayed there the rest of the evening, but it was 4:30 at this point and we had to see other countries.

Next up was Norway. We rode Maelstrom, the girls liked that b/c it had a little area that reminded them of Splash Mountain. They stopped at the kidcot station and Savannah & I had our picture taken with the troll, but forgot to pick his nose.

The girls were starting to get hungry and tired, I must have gotten my second wind, but I was hungry too.

We headed towards China and watched the young acrobats. The girls liked it and they were very good. I was amazed at their talent!

We headed through an area where they sell stuff and the girls were accosted by a woman trying to get them to buy stuff. That pissed me off, but by the time I got back over to them they had handled it well and we were off to the kidcot station where they got their name written in Chinese. We were all getting hungry by this point and there was only chinese food, which I didn't think Savannah would eat, so on we walked.

We went past Germany, Italy & America. We didn't stop at them, we were just looking for food for Savannah.

Stopped in America thinking there would be something there to eat (never go hungry to other countries unless you are willing to eat new foods! Ack!) NOTHING in America except PB& J for a vegetarian kid. She doesn't like PB&J On we walked! I believe Japan was next and finally we stopped in Morocco b/c I thought we could find something at a counter service restaurant. There was a vegetarian platter for me (couscous, hummus, tabouli, etc.) Mmmmm! It was good!... but for Savannah only some french fries. We sat down to eat and listen to the music.

I loved the feel of Morocco, I wish we had more time there, but it was 6:00 or so and it didn't look like the girls would make it until 9pm. We headed back in the direction we had come and stopped in Japan to watch the drummers. These women were AMAZING! I have no idea how they could beat on these drums for so long. They were having so much fun, I'm glad we got to see this on the way out.

We decided it was too hot and we had been there all day, it was time to go back to the hotel and skip Illuminations. We thought we would go Monday night after Animal Kingdom. We took the boat back to the front of World Showcase, that saved my feet a bit!

At this point I called my mom to check on the boys and she was acting weird. She made a comment about how sweet Rey is b/c he called to see if my Mom had talked to my aunt and did my cousin still live in Houston and was he ok. ??? This confused me and when I started to ask her why he wouldn't be ok in Houston it hit me.

IKE had been headed towards the Texas coast. I had to bully her to tell me about Galveston, Rey had told her not to tell me (sweet, he didn't want my trip ruined, but NOT.)

She told me Galveston was gone, it was under water and I just stopped dead in the middle of Epcot and started bawling. Seriously?

Now, this won't make sense to most of you reading. Our first family vacation ever was the previous year to Galveston beach. We went with my IL's and only had 3 amazing days there, but it was so special. We had planned a week long trip in the same house for just FOUR WEEKS after Savannah & I were to return from WDW. It wasn't just the trip though, I loved the place so much and regardless of whether I could go there in 4 weeks, I was horrified that it wasn't there anymore.

I just got pics from the owner after getting back. Here is where the house was that we stayed in...You can't even see where the house was, but it was where the water is now.

Totally gone. But, I've mourned over this and mourned for Galveston and I have to let it go. Someday we will go back, it won't be the same, but we'll go back after they have rebuilt.

We headed back to Pop and M.A. felt sorry for me and loaded me up on top shelf margarita's! The girls played in the pool and made some friends with some girls. After 4 margarita's I was feeling better and went to bed giggling (and eating a little candy) *gasp!*

BTW, M.A. is a hoot when she's been drinking. She speaks with an English accent!

no pictures to share as I was too busy drinking!

 

[-Hope-]

So glad we're doing the party on our last night and can sleep in the next day- hopefully we'll all avoid meltdowns.

Love the pics especially in Club Cool. Crowds still very low- I really hope we have similar crowds though I have a feeling there may be a few more people there for us. Maybe not since they extended FD. I'm keeping my fingers crossed!

I know how you feel about Galveston. It's exactly how I felt when I saw pics of oil washing up on Dauphin Island. I was just devestated (and MAD) and I still get a lump in my throat when I think about it.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Thanks for the food porn, Karen!!! I especially love the mac & cheese. I've been so sick for the last few days that mac & cheese looks sooo yummy!! At least I'm sick this weekend and not next. My wedding is in ONE WEEK!!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Sunday, 2 years ago...

Sunday I woke up earlier than anyone else (duh) and went up to get a newspaper and read about Galveston. The pictures in the newspaper were awful, but I didn't want to pretend it hadn't happened. I enjoyed my coffee, read the paper, and relaxed.

So, today was our *rest and relaxation* day! I was looking forward to it. I'm not sure WDW's idea of rest and relaxation is the same as me though! We had breakfast at Pop and headed over to Typhoon Lagoon at 10am when they opened.

The place is HUGE! We took a disposable water camera.

When we arrived we found a spot where we could leave our towels and come back to. This is not the type of place you can just let your kids run off and play. Too big and the wave pool is dangerous if you aren't careful. (first inclination that it's not going to be a "relaxing" day!)

We headed to the wave pool and a small kids waterslide next to it. Savannah tried her luck with this first, she has had bad luck with waterslides and gotten water up her nose. Once she realized that wouldn't happen here, she was crazy about it! They loved the wave pool although I can't stand how rough the ground is and they really get knocked down by the wave pretty bad! I had to stand out the girls so they didn't get banged up!

We went on the family raft ride, that was a hoot, we had fun! Then on the lazyriver which goes all the way around the park. It took about 30 minutes to float around the whole thing.

We went for lunch and got lost. We also didn't have our shoes on and our feet burned like mad! Ouch!

M.A.'s knee was bothering her, so I told her to go back and the girls and I would go on a few slides and meet back up with her. Not so easily done! We got lost, the signs were horrible and ended up in places where we had to backtrack. (like the top of a large, fast slide we didn't have the guts to go down!) We took it all in stride and laughed the whole way. Finally we just got in the lazy river to get back to where our chairs were b/c on land we couldn't figure out how to get there!

We found the tube slides that they wanted to go down and we went on those. The girls loved them, I thought they were great too. We headed back to our chairs and the girls played in the sand for a bit. I felt overheated, we had been there hours at this point and I knew I was getting sunburned, even with sunscreen on.

We went on the family raft one last time and in the wave pool before leaving around 4pm. Exhausted once again! Tonight...DTD!

Back at Pop we got all showered, cleaned up, and semi-rested.

We decided to head back to Downtown Disney since we didn't want to use any park tickets this day.

First thing we did was head to Wolfgang Puck's restaurant for dinner. Yum!!!!! Squash soup and veggies on a bed of greens (that was my concoction).

Savannah loved the soup too and shared it with me, she didn't care that much for her pizza. It was a nice dinner, we sat outside on the patio.

We headed across DTD to legoland. The things they can make with lego's! The girls played there while the sun was setting.

We decided to go to Disneyquest!
We had to walk through Pleasure Island to get there, I was glad to at least get a glimpse of it, they shut it down a few weeks after we were there.

Took some shots, but then, as usual, my camera didn't want to work b/c it was dark.

The girls had a great time, they really liked the games and played all kinds of things. There was a game where you actually drove little cars and shot balls at each other, that was their favorite.I even got in a game of Ms. Pacman.

I went on the virtual raft game and nearly threw up though! Basically you get on this inflated raft in front of a big screen. You have paddles with rollers on the end of them and you have to use them or you won't move. We start going and I'm not sure if it was the motion of the raft or the screen but I had to keep turning away and closing my eyes b/c I was getting sick! I'll never live it down from the boys, they think it's hilarious that I got sick on a virtual ride.

We walked back to DTD and got ice cream before heading back and getting to bed at 11pm. The girls started falling asleep on the bus back!

Shew! I guess that's what a relaxing day looks like at Disney!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Love it, Karen!!! We've never been to Typhoon Lagoon or any water park for that matter. It sounds like a fun, "relaxing" day!!!

 

[-Hope-]

Another fun day! The girls look like they're having a blast.

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Help oh wise planning buddy......and Hope, too as I know she's reading this. Ok, well I will be spending the 25th in Epcot and I have to catch the launch for the Illuminations Cruise at the Yatch Club by 8:30pm that night. So, my question is..... what is the easiest, quickest way to get to the Yatch Club marina from Epcot. Is is within walking distance? Seems kind of pointless to go all the way to Future World to catch a bus, when the international gateway is right there by France.....I've been looking at the maps, but can a person actually walk from France to the marina? Do you guys know????

 

[-Hope-]

Ann, I don't know the answer to your question (Karen might though) but I can tell you that any time I've had a question about the best/easiest/fastest way to get from one point to another the folks on the transportation board have been EXTREMELY helpful! I usually do a quick search and if that doesn't turn up anything then I just post a thread with my question. I've done that twice and both times my question was answered within a few hours.

HTH!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Absolutely you can walk and it will be MUCH faster than a bus! Just go out the International Gateway. I believe there is actually a boat there as well you can take if you don't want to walk, either way is faster than a bus!

 

[lexmas]

Just wanted to pop in and say that I'm not caught up, but I will be. I'm just trying to catch up on all the PTRs of everyone who is leaving soon, and things are hectic here. But I am still reading, and I will be back!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

Thank you, oh Disney wise ones!!!

 

[Twoboysnmygirl]

Monday, 2 years ago, was Animal Kingdom/Homeschool Day, the reason we came in September!

We washed and wore our Mickey head tie dye's again b/c they got a lot of comments and attention the first day we wore them to MK. It's pretty easy to find each other too!

We arrived at AK a little after early magic hours rope drop. AK is right up my alley, I loved it! Trees everywhere, animals, everything is GREEN! It's gorgeous.

and there is was...The Tree of Life. I won't even count how many pictures I have of it. The carvings of animals all over it are beautiful, I think I got every angle throughout the day! Of course I have better shots from our 2009 trip b/c I had my camera, but you'll have to wait until October for my flashback 2009 TR!

We had time before the homeschool stations opened, so we went to see Festival of the Lion King! I took a ton of pics on the way and some of the show, although the pictures don't do it justice. It was a great show with wonderful performers!

It finished up right around 10am, when the homeschool stations opened. We ran right into the first one on our way out.

They basically had stations set up around the park and at each one there was a different activity. They were all related to animals/conservation, etc. and after finishing the activity, they got a secret letter. All the letters added up to spell a word.

The stations were cool, I think the girls enjoyed them and learned a lot. I know I learned a couple things. It was a little overwhelming though to be doing *schoolish* stuff instead of amusement park stuff that they had been doing non-stop the previous days and be surrounded by rides that we told them we would do the following day. We had decided to do homeschool stuff this day and the following day (our last) come back and do all the rides and really see the park.

Savannah was/is pretty shy, so she didn't talk a lot with the CM's doing the homeschool stuff, but we were used to that and she seemed to enjoy it.

OMG, it was hot, did I mention that? You would think lots of shade means cooler, right? Uh. NO. Think rainforest! HOT and HUMID. Were were soaked the whole day!

After the first station, we decided to grab something to eat for breakfast.

On towards Africa we went!
We had some trouble finding the hs station in Africa, but finally found it behind Tusker House (where we had late lunch reservations!)

I liked this station, they had the kids flap their "wings" for 30 seconds and count how many times they could flap them. Then told them how many times a hummingbird can flap theirs. They had them run to a wall and back and told them how many times a cheetah could do that in the time they did it just once. They also had them jump and showed them how far a lion could jump. It was cute and fun for the girls, I was happy to see that Savannah got out there and enjoyed it!

After that we headed towards Asia and stopped to enjoy some African music. The girls joined in too!

On we walked and up came Divine! She walked right up to Isabella and stuck her ??hand?? (looked more like a branch!) out to her and then kept going.

We stopped and watched Flights of Wonder on our way to the next station. It was a great show, lots of emphasis on conservation, real habitat, not birds riding little circus bikes, etc. and there was some comic relief in the form of a "tour guide" who was afraid of birds. He was funny. The birds were beautiful and I loved when they flew over our heads!

After that we headed over to the next hs station and the girls played a homemade game. They tried to reach their home (they were each different animals) and had to avoid all the environmental hazards to get there.

Off we walked to Discovery Island where there was another station where they guess which poop went with which animal! This would have been more fun had it not been sweltering! The heat was oppressive, enough to make our first 4 days look like a walk in the park. No pun intended.

We went to get drinks. M.A. got in line and we went to find a seat in the maze of seating areas around a lake. I thought she would never find us and she didn't! After about 20 minutes we thought she had lost us so we walked back, only to find her FINALLY getting the drinks. She had been in line the whole time! (this was at Flametree, but I don't know what time it was...lunch)

Dylan, Dallas, & Rey got their pics taken by the lake while we waited...with Expedition Everest in the background.

After having a drink, we headed to Kali River Rapids. We had gotten a FP earlier. I was rushed with my picture taking though, the lines to wait for rides have some great stuff to look at and take pics of. I missed out on that a few times at WDW b/c we used fastpass!

I LOVED LOVED LOVED the Tibetan prayer flags everywhere. I knew I would, had seen pics before going to WDW and took many pics myself. When we cam home we made some prayer flags and hung them in the back on our big tree.

Back to Kali...well, we thought we would get wet. Really. I just didn't realize that they would get wet and I would get SOAKED! Fun times! The ride is great and I noticed like many other things here, very well thought out. You are supposed to be on a river rapids in Asia. You actually go through a burning area where they show you what the forest looks like when it gets destroyed by humans.

Back to me getting soaked. There's a point where you splash into the water and if you are in the right seat, you get soaked. The whole back of me was completely drenched. Wet underwear! They laughed at me, but I got my payback the following day when we went again!

When we came out we saw some of the monkey's. I don't think they were monkeys. They were Tamarins, I believe. There were two that were snuggled that were mama and baby. We did learn that they are black the first 5 years of life and then the males stay black and the females turn blond. It was close to 2pm and time for our lunch reservation at Tusker House! 2pm was also the time that hs stations closed up for the day, so we had done all of those that we would do this day.

Tusker House is a MUST do for me at AK! Lots of vegan/vegetarian options that I enjoyed. I liked Boma better this first trip, but Tusker House is a MUST do for me at AK, not only b/c there's no vegan/vegetarian fare at AK (they must be giving it all to the animals???) but b/c it's amazing food that I can't get anywhere around here. A little food porn...

My wet butt left water on the chair, but being in AC and wet actually helped me cool down.

M.A. left her hat in the restaurant and by the time we realized it, they had sent someone to look for her and give it back. Amazing. He was this HUGE man, I forgot his name, but we had talked to him twice before going into the restaurant and when the waiter told him that M.A. had left her hat, he went out into the park to try and find us. M.A. said she was going to write a letter to WDW commending him. We encountered lots of CM's like this, willing to bend over backwards to make your stay special.

It was around 3:30pm and we were pooped already! We headed back to the hotel to swim and relax.

When we arrived back at the room, we found Savannah's stuffed animals all watching tv! I had set them all up facing the door that morning with the mousekeepers tip sitting in front of them. Savannah thought this was a hoot! (I did too)

We ended up passing on Illuminations at Epcot b/c we were beat. It will have to go on the list of things to see next time.

We had to pack up Monday night b/c we would check out Tuesday morning before heading back to Animal Kingdom. Boo!!!!!!!!

 

[Victoriasmom98]

KAREN! I just did online checkin for my trip!!! It's really coming!!!!