Turn Around and See What Happens -- It's Whoopi Time and that's a wrap 3/31; F&G add

[KatMark]

I'll finish responses tomorrow. I hope to get an update done on Friday at work before we go to Northwestern University to watch them wrestle the University of Iowa. A dear friend of our family wrestles for the University of Iowa (he stood up at our son's wedding) and this will be our first chance to see him wrestle live since high school.

Many of you know this from Facebook, but if you could keep our son, Mark, in your good thoughts, we would appreciate it. He is having shoulder surgery on Monday in Iowa City. He has a partial torn rotator cuff and a fully torn labrum. He will be out of work 2 - 6 weeks and need at least six months of rehab. They have told him straight up no wrestling for 5 - 7 months. He is NOT a happy camper. But he can hardly lift his arm above his head and as his wife and I told him, if he wants to be able to hold his future baby and throw a ball to him/her, he needs to have this done now and NOT later.

 

[Tiggerrn2]

Caught back up again. DH and I tried Jiko in 2004. Can't say we were big fans (of the food or the price! ) Sanaa was sooooo much better. I will stick to lunches, though. Much easier on the wallet.

I think my next resort stay may have to be the Boardwalk. Though I think I will be renting points from one of the MDs I work with. His family has points at AKL, BC and now GF!! They didn't realize they could rent their points out until I was talking to him about looking into that. He said he'd be glad to rent us points. 2015 Mom's only for MNSSHP and MVMCP and a little Food and Wine!! Going to try to make it work to do all 3!

Your breakfast at WCC looks really good. Glad you enjoyed it. What I wouldn't give for a Mickey waffle!! I did think the resort looked very beautiful for the holidays. We stayed there in 2006 for a few nights. I wasn't wowed. Not sure what it was.

Your plans sound awesome for March. Oh to just get away from here for a few days!! So tired of the cold and snow. Hope you have such a wonderful time.

 

[MeMom]

We had a Whispering Canyon breakfast ADR in December. Trent loves to eat there. I was hoping they would all go ahead and keep it, even though I couldn't go, but I found out later that they didn't go. I wish they would have. They could at least have shown me WL pictures. I enjoyed seeing yours.

I hope you'll share pictures of your morning view on March 5th. I am excited for you!

We have had 'strangers' approach us, as well, in the parks. One time, we were shopping at the Disney Store here in Nashville, and a lady came up and said she read our reports. I don't remember her DIS name, though. All the DIS people we have met have been so nice...... and thankfully, normal.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Great pics at WL - glad you were able to give WCC a try for breakfast. We've not eaten there (nor stayed there) yet. I think my girls would enjoy it - since they love ketchup!
I love how beautiful it is at Christmas time -we visited once in December 09.
Cool that you got recognized! I always hope I'll see someone from the TR boards! Sometimes I do, but usually it's planned.
Emmysmommy is also famous - I just heard on the podcast that she was one of the top 10 threads for 2013!!! Congrats! I better go read that one, huh?

Okay, now I had my break, have to get back to work. I feel like I can take more breaks working at home! Sorry that we're sending you such crappy weather this weekend! Stay safe and warm!

 

[that's nice]

Not quite; crazy that we won't be there in 2015 at all.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuure you won't.

 

[maddiebee]

ooooo I would love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge some day! What a gorgeous place!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Definitely will be keeping him in our prayers! Like you said, doesn't he want to hold a baby and play with him/her one day. Can't do that with a bum arm.

 

[teekathepony]

Sending lots of good thoughts to your son for his surgery! I hope all goes smoothly and well.

 

[KatMark]

Great update!

Thanks.

I'm so glad you liked WCC better this time! That huge Mickey waffle is just epic. Waffles are my favorite, I've never seen a Mickey one that big.

We still won't go back for dinner, but we would go for breakfast ina heartbeat. That Mickey waffle rocked!

Your March plans sound wonderful! Someday I will stay at AKL.

I can't wait to be back at AKL.

Love all your holiday photos from AKL and WL - we never made it over to either one to take photos

I'm surprised since you were there a lot longer than us.

We had dinner at Jiko back in 2011 when we stayed at AKL and did their safari, was a family style so we were brought platters of food for the table of about 20 people, which worked out great some like certain food that other didn't and was a great way to try each dish, we enjoyed it but probably wouldn't got back.

We are doing a safari, but I'm not sure ours includes dinenr.

Breakfast at WCC looks yummy, only done dinner there which has always been fine!

Loved breakfast; hated dinner (Mark was so ill that night after eating there).

Love your plans for March, looks like you will be eating round the world sure you will enjoy getting away from the cold and snow!

I wish we were leaving tomorrow; another 6-9 inches on the way this weekend.

WCC is one that we keep talking about but we never seem to pull the trigger. Since we're staying at FW in March, maybe we'll just do something last minute, since it seemed like there wasn't much of a crowd when you went for breakfast. That giant Mickey waffle looks AH-mazing!

I think if you go early enough for breakfast that you might have a shot at getting in without an ADR; dinner...probably another story.

The March plans look great! I really love the first week of March there and we've always had good luck with crowds and weather (fingers crossed). It looks like our plans don't have us crossing paths, but you never know! I'll definitely give you a shout out if I see you!

We've never done Disney in March (I've been in January, April, May, June, July, August, September, October and December. Please do shout out if you see us...would LOVE to say hello.

Your getaway plans for March look great! See, this is the kind of trip I would enjoy. I love road trips! DH is not so crazy about them. For him, the trip starts at the destination...for me it starts the moment you leave work!

I don't think I could EVER drive from home to Florida again (well, except when we move there), but I enjoy these road trips. Mark loves driving so they don't phase him at all. I'm with you...the moment I leave work for the last time prior to my vacation, the trip has started!

AKL savannah view!!!! OH, I cannot wait to see your pictures!! And such great restaurant choices!

Thanks; for only two nights, I probably should have gotten the cheaper room, but since it is coming out of my pocket and not the company's, I want to be able to see my giraffes.

Former lurker, just wanting to say hello! Love your TRs. Glad you enjoyed your breakfast at WCC, its one of my favorites.

former lurker. Thank you for joining us. I hope you'll stick around...always love having new friends join. We really enjoyed our breakfast at WCC.

Great Plansfor March a little business a little Disney and a little Nikki !! Perfect !!!

It is perfect, isn't it?

I want to stay at WL one day.....but I haven't been able to do so yet. I hate the price. It does look pretty with the decor.

It's a beautiful resort, just not for us. But I do like going to visit it.

Your March trip looks to be a nice little getaway. I am going in March too, but at the very end of the month.

Darn...we will miss you again.

I am glad you liked your breakfast but can't believe there were only 2 tables there!!!!!!!!!! That would make for a nice quiet one. I have a funny reaction to WL. If it was here, at home, I would adore it and go there all the time. But because it is there, it is like going somewhere here and while I can appreciate it's beauty I do find myself a bit meh about it. I actually like the hotel side better than the villa side and it was one of our pool view favorite balconies ever. I would love to see the holiday decorations though, it does look stunning.

What was the difference between the hotel side vs. the villa side? I will say the holiday decorations were beautiful.

 

[KatMark]

Right off the top of my head, I would say a few I haven't tried yet that I really want to get to soon would be

Boma breakfast
Rose and Crown
Biergarten
Chefs de France
Coral Reef
Trails End

But there are plenty of others I really enjoy. At least a few of those go on the list each trip, so getting to new ones can take a while since I don't want to just do all new ones.


Love Boma, Rose & Crown, Chefs and Coral Reef. We are no longer fans of Biergarten and we've never even considered Trails End? Is that at the Ft. Wildnerness Campgrounds?

When I go to a Disney restaurant that serves food unique to different cultures, I am one who wants to take that opportunity to try something distinctly authentic. At Raglan Road for example, I always try something that seems to be distinctly Irish and they specialize in, that you really can't get anywhere else. I'm not someone who frequents French restaurants, but when I look at the menu for Chefs de France there is only maybe one item on the entrees that I would definitely not order, and everything else is a possibility, so I have choices depending on what I'm in the mood for when I get there.

I would rather have someone else try it and I sample it from their plate; I am not adventuresome at all.

Haven't done breakfast at WCC. Sounds like I need to put that one on my list. I am one who loves WL and look forward to staying there in the future.......hopefully soon! It is definitely a fantastic place to visit when it is all decked out in its Christmas finery. Maybe it's the huge lobby with the all the decorations and that inviting fireplace that makes it feel just right for Christmas.

The breakfast and the Christmas decorations were definitely worth the visit. We will be back for breakfast.

Your photos definitely hit the highlights, and you got some really good ones. And for a surprise DISmeet!

I tried to get the things I thought people would like to see. Yes, a "surprise" DISmeet...always fun.

Your quickie May business/Disney trip sounds like a whirlwind, but lots of fun. A stay at AKL with the animals is always a great plan. Nice that you get to meet up with MEK and Denny.

March business/Disney trip (May is the girls trip) will be lots of fun. I'm really looking forward to seeing MEK and Denny again.

Driving to Beach Club from Epcot??? Wonder if there is a way to park there in the morning and just head into Epcot through the IG?

I don't like doing that as the parking is for resort guests and I am one who is a stickler for following the rules. We could walk to the BC from Epcot and then back to get the car. But Mark wants to head out right after lunch...someone is in a hurry to see his girlfriend.

I can't believe you just had to work in some Nicki time.

I wouldn't go if I couldn't work in Nicki time.

I'm caught back up Kathy..I think. I loved WL, dh enjoyed cs there more than wcc ahhh that man of mine.

I'm not sure if we've ever done the CS at WL...maybe once when it first oepened. I don't blame him if he didn't like WCC for dinner.

I love your March plans! Akl is on the radar for summer, we loved it! But it's hard to beat bc location! But giraffes and coffee can't be beat. Okay, back to homework before I decide to change LOL

LOVE LOVE LOVE AKL. I would live there if I could. The problem I had with the BC (well, I had a few, but the main one) was the bus service. Absolutely the worse I've ever had. You change your plans? NEVER.

Another great update

Thank you.

It is funny how you think that WL is like being in WI. I so get the Colorado vibe or Wyoming. I do love the look of it during Christmas with that huge tree

It's that Great Wolf Lodge or whatever it is (and all of those buildings) around the Dells and in Baraboo. Just reminds me too much of them and COLD weather. And I don't want ANY reminder of cold weather after this winter. Their tree is awesome though...I agree there.

I still have never eaten at the Whispering Canyon. It made it to the short list this past trip though that's the closest it's come! I'm glad to hear you had a nice breakfast, and I'm totally drooling over your Mickey waffle!

I would definitely recommend trying it for breakfast!

The Disney portion of the business trip sound lovely!

Sent from my iPad using DISBoards

Yes, it does. We don't get all four parks, but at least two (and I'm thinking if we get done with our business soon enough and can get to Disney earlier, I might try to change our Raglan Road ADR to an earlier time and hit the Studios. Just don't tell Mark.

So that's where you get an adult Mickey waffle. I'll have to remember that. Melody said she is done with WCC but I guess I could convince her to go for breakfast someday. Love all the decorations in the lobby!

Have you and Mel done it for breakfast or just THAT dinner? The lobby was beautiful.

Oh, are you sure Mark was a willing participant in that totem pole picture? HE doesn't look too happy.

He hadn't had his coffee yet.

I'm still here Kathy
Haven't been posting much as work is keeping me too busy!
I'm trying to cast my mind back to December 5th. We were staying at the Lodge so we may well have walked past Whispering Canyon on our way out somewhere whilst you were having breakfast

Linda. No worries...we have to work so we can go to Disney...I totally understand. I wish we would have met in December.

We LOVE WL at Christmas! Great pictures!

It really is beautiful; thank you.

and, as many times as we have stayed there...we've never eaten at WCC - glad you liked it!

Definitely enjoyed breakfast...give it a try.

 

[KatMark]

Wow, I am all caught up again. I did warn you I would get behind, I just never thought it would be this far behind. I'm not going to comment much due to being so far behind. I have been and will continue to pray for your brother. Was nice to hear he is doing better and able to go back to work. Your plans for your March trip sound great. That's it for now. Will try to keep up.

Good to see you again; and don't worry about it...you get here when you can. I appreicate you being here to begin with.

Keeping up with the chatter Kathy!!!

Hi, Rosie.

Caught back up again. DH and I tried Jiko in 2004. Can't say we were big fans (of the food or the price! ) Sanaa was sooooo much better. I will stick to lunches, though. Much easier on the wallet.

It is a tad pricey; but most signatures are. Sanaa is on our bucket list.

I think my next resort stay may have to be the Boardwalk. Though I think I will be renting points from one of the MDs I work with. His family has points at AKL, BC and now GF!! They didn't realize they could rent their points out until I was talking to him about looking into that. He said he'd be glad to rent us points. 2015 Mom's only for MNSSHP and MVMCP and a little Food and Wine!! Going to try to make it work to do all 3!

That's how we stay at the Villas is by renting points. I certainly couldn't afford Disney's prices. We really have come to love the Boardwalk (and I thought I would hate it ).

Your breakfast at WCC looks really good. Glad you enjoyed it. What I wouldn't give for a Mickey waffle!! I did think the resort looked very beautiful for the holidays. We stayed there in 2006 for a few nights. I wasn't wowed. Not sure what it was.

It was a very good waffle and I could go for one right now. Let's leave work and get on a plane and have one tomorrow morning before all of our snow comes back. What do you think?

Your plans sound awesome for March. Oh to just get away from here for a few days!! So tired of the cold and snow. Hope you have such a wonderful time.

I'm with you; wish we were going sooner. I can't beleive another 6-9 inches on the way and a deep freeze again in another week.

We had a Whispering Canyon breakfast ADR in December. Trent loves to eat there. I was hoping they would all go ahead and keep it, even though I couldn't go, but I found out later that they didn't go. I wish they would have. They could at least have shown me WL pictures. I enjoyed seeing yours.

Awww...they probably didn't want to go without you. I'm glad I could make it a little better by having some pictures to show you.

I hope you'll share pictures of your morning view on March 5th. I am excited for you!

Trust me...lots of pictures from my favorite resort will be posted.

We have had 'strangers' approach us, as well, in the parks. One time, we were shopping at the Disney Store here in Nashville, and a lady came up and said she read our reports. I don't remember her DIS name, though. All the DIS people we have met have been so nice...... and thankfully, normal.

It's funny...both my boys used to make fun of me. They'd ask how I could meet someone from the internet that I'd never met before. They'd say they might be a whacko and stab me or something. Then Andy met Nicki (who I met here on the DIS and is my bestest friend in the whole world) and Mary and the girls and he understood.

Great pics at WL - glad you were able to give WCC a try for breakfast. We've not eaten there (nor stayed there) yet. I think my girls would enjoy it - since they love ketchup!
I love how beautiful it is at Christmas time -we visited once in December 09.
Cool that you got recognized! I always hope I'll see someone from the TR boards! Sometimes I do, but usually it's planned.

That was part of the problem with our dinner. There were NONE of the antics they talked about. We were stuck in the back room (six tables), but we didn't even hear anything going on in the main room.

Emmysmommy is also famous - I just heard on the podcast that she was one of the top 10 threads for 2013!!! Congrats! I better go read that one, huh?

She's much more popular than me. And we get to see her and meet her hubby in September. She has a great report going on...she got to tour Cinderella's suite in the castle.

Okay, now I had my break, have to get back to work. I feel like I can take more breaks working at home! Sorry that we're sending you such crappy weather this weekend! Stay safe and warm!

I hope you don't have to shovel too much.

Suuuuuuuuuuuuure you won't.

Seriously, we have no plans to go in 2015. We are doing Phoenix/Anaheim/Vegas for two weeks, probably in April of 2015, and then we will do 10 days on Marco Island in September.

ooooo I would love to stay at the Wilderness Lodge some day! What a gorgeous place!

It really is pretty and a lot of people love it.

Definitely will be keeping him in our prayers! Like you said, doesn't he want to hold a baby and play with him/her one day. Can't do that with a bum arm.

Thank you, Lisa. He probably should have had this done two years ago. But men are SO STUBBORN!

Sending lots of good thoughts to your son for his surgery! I hope all goes smoothly and well.

Thank you so much...really appreciate it. Alisha will update me throughout the surgery on Monday and I will post an update here after all is said and done.

 

[KatMark]

I have a little time to get in an update as the boss is at a Board meeting for a bit.

Before I move on to the update, two things:

First, Andy was up at 3 a.m. this morning to go online to get tickets to see Garth Brooks. Now why would he be doing that at 3 a.m. and not at a normal hour? Because the concert is in Dublin, Ireland. It is Garth's first tour dates as he makes his return to the concert stage, and Andy LOVES Garth (he flew to Nashville to see him a couple of years ago) and Des loves to travel. Therefore, the two of them are going to Ireland for a week to ten days at the end of July and will see Garth Brooks while they are there. I am so excited for the two of them.

Second, for those of you who might wonder what my title means. Mark and I missed doing Spaceship Earth last August while we were at Disney. It was very upsetting to me because we went on the day of the 5-year anniversary of my father's passing away. It was my dad's favorite ride and I was devastated I wasn't getting on it (they shut it down for a week for a refurb and I didn't know it ahead of time ).

Okay, on with the udpate:

We left Wilderness Lodge and drove to



And I saw this and told Mark this is the FIRST thing we are doing



We were a ways back in line, but they were getting ready to open the gates shortly:





We were let in and I had to get a photo of this cute guy:



Mark understood my need to hit Spaceship Earth first and he led the way. Soon we were in our cars and on our way:























We finished our ride and I decided to head to the new Starbucks in Epcot and get a cappucino:





I got a text message that Mary and the girls were on the bus, so we told them we would meet them over by



since we had fastpasses for Soarin'.

Continued in next post

 

[KatMark]

Soon they arrived and we still had a little time before our Soarin' fastpass, so we visited the Land.

















It was then time for Soarin':



















We had a wonderful ride on Soarin' as always. And we did cheat a little...we doubledipped and got fastpasses with our AP's for later in the day.

Up next, the reason for the title of the TR...something I'm sure you've all been dying to hear.

 

[englishrose47]

Kathy that pix after SE where they show the pix , it looks JUST like me !!!???? Could we have been on the same ride ????? Yes I am waiting to hear the story behind the Title !!!

 

[MaryAz]

All caught up! Plans for March look fun. Quick but fun. Ah Epcot, wish I could remember what we did there LOL. And I am also curious for the TR title!!

 

[teekathepony]

Oh my, I HAVE to tell my DH that there are Garth dates out, he's been watching for them! He's a huge fan and has never seen a concert, so when GB came out of retirement I promised DH we would get him to a concert! (Although I can't see Ireland in the cards for us this year... )


Glad you were able to get right on SE. I really love that ride!
I meant to check out the new Starbucks but I forgot. I am not a coffee/tea drinker, but I just wanted to look. That holiday menu makes me want to like coffee.
Oh Soarin'! I could go for a ride on Soarin' right now!

 

[momabbate]

Prayers for Mark. It is hard not to do the things that make us who we are, he is be glad it is done after the healing. He has his whole life ahead of him to enjoy. At least that is what I tell myself went in for my hip.
Glad you were able to get on MS. I don’t know why we skipped it last trip.
Thank you for showing the menu for Starbucks. I missed all the winter drinks this year. The Cherries Jubilee looks like something I would have tried.
I love how Disney throws a little holiday touch here and there.
Don’t blame you for double-dipping. I’m going to have a hard time next trip as my hubby, Chris, informed me he isn't to crazy for us go on it again.

 

[Poolrat]

Many of you know this from Facebook, but if you could keep our son, Mark, in your good thoughts, we would appreciate it. He is having shoulder surgery on Monday in Iowa City. He has a partial torn rotator cuff and a fully torn labrum. He will be out of work 2 - 6 weeks and need at least six months of rehab. They have told him straight up no wrestling for 5 - 7 months. He is NOT a happy camper. But he can hardly lift his arm above his head and as his wife and I told him, if he wants to be able to hold his future baby and throw a ball to him/her, he needs to have this done now and NOT later.

I think I did read this on FB but again I wanted to offer my thoughts prayers and support for Mark.

I took 7 weeks off ( one week I was in Disney...) and even though my job is not physical in nature, it was even hard typing and doing paperwork. I am now 10 weeks out and starting to get much more range of motion back.

He will bounce back quicker than me because well, he is a good bit younger and didn't let hs shoulder go for like 30 years.

He will not WANT to wrestle for about that long. I am finding it pretty easy to follow the protocol of limitations. Sure I push it a bit but only if there is no pain, and so far other than the first 24 hours ( which S*CKED EGGS) I have been pain free. Only the weather has made me hurt.

Keep us updated and hopefully he can rehab at school if they have a PT dept.

 

[glaserjm]

I'm glad you made it onto SE...I too would have been so upset if I wasn't able to ride in on the anniversary in honor of your dad. I'm sure he was along for the ride!

I loved how Living with the Land was decorated. We went in early November so only got to see MK decorated, that's the closest we've been to Christmas, but we're going to have to do a trip later in December at some point to see all the parks done up.

That is so cool about Andy going to Ireland to see Garth Brooks; it's such an amazingly beautiful country they'll have a great time!

 

[Tiggerrn2]

It was a very good waffle and I could go for one right now. Let's leave work and get on a plane and have one tomorrow morning before all of our snow comes back. What do you think?

I think I am all for it!!! I could be packed and ready to go before the next big snowfall tomorrow night!

Glad you got to ride your SE this time around. And I won't do any hollering at you for Double Dipping. We did that as well with our MBs on the girls' trip. Only for Soarin' and Toy Story though, I think. Everything else we hit at rope drop on stand by and then our FP+ later in the day to get more than 1 ride in if it was something we wanted to ride more than once. But I think as people figure this out, Disney may find themselves putting themselves out of money. Why park hop if you arrange your FP+ for later but still want to get there at rope drop to have a second chance to ride?

I missed the Starbucks at Epcot. Or was it not open there yet in August?

Living with the Land was decorated nice for the holidays. You got some fun photos in there.

Well, need to head out. Going to try a Zumba class tonight.