*UPDATED* PrinceSton/Meets his future SIL (see post #34)

PrinceSton,
I have thoroughly enjoyed your pretrip reports and look forward to hearing all about your first Disney experience. I hope you enjoy your quality time with CKay.
 
Hey PrinceSton fans... It's ME!!! (hold your applause!) ~ Did yah miss me???

I know many of you have wondered… Can frog’s fly? The answer: YES! (If we are packed into CKay’s purse and she is flying U S Air!) :thumbsup2 Guess who took us to the airport? Yes. You got it. KScott… THE DH. Now he was kind enough to take pictures of me and CKay (his soon to be ex-wife… due to circumstances totally under MY control) ;) Here is a picture that he took of CKay and me. We were early getting to the airport, so we spent some time hanging out at the Charleston International Airport in Charleston, SC.

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Isn’t CKay the most wonderful thing in the world… look how gentle she is with me… :hug:

BTW, I kind of felt sorry for KScott. Believe it or not… bean bag frogs do have feelings (some good, most bad). KScott had the sad “I’m going to miss CKay” look on his face. Or maybe he figured out my diabolical plan to split up their relationship and actually had the “Whoa... I’m REALLY going to MISS CKay” look on his face. :laughing: KScott walked us to security, wished us well, kissed CKay (blech!) and went home.

Now, LET THE FUN BEGIN!!! :banana:

Let me tell you… security was strict! They poked, prodded and even x-ray’d me. Holy Cow! I am a bean bag frog… what kind of damage can I do? Throw beans at someone? I did enjoy the ride on the conveyor belt on my way through the x-ray machine!! *wee!*

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U S Air does not have seatbelts small enough for me… I had to hang on for takeoff!! Watch out Mickey… here we come!!!

We actually took two flights in on the same day. So, not only can bean bag frog’s fly… they can fly twice in ONE DAY! The first flight was from Charleston, SC to Charlotte, NC. This was the better flight out of the two. WHY you ask?? On the second flight (Charlotte, NC to Orlando, FL) *insert dramatic music here* we had to sit next to a mother and her OUT OF CONTROL (OOC) 18 month old boy. *insert louder drama music here* You know the kind… kicking CKay, screaming in CKay’s ear, slobbering on CKay’s brand new jacket, going through CKay’s bag under the seat in front of her, etc. The OOC boy got a hold of her bag and was rummaging through it... ARE YOU KIDDING ME? :confused: The mother of the OOC boy got mad at CKay! She continually said, “Tisk, he’s not hurting anything…” “Leave the nice lady alone.” “She’s getting mad.” “She doesn’t want you kicking her anymore!” “She keeps giving me dirty looks, so you need to stop now!” “Blah blah”. “Blah blah”. CKay and I listened to this for 1 hour and 40 (very long) minutes. :headache: After that flight (and the mental and physical abuse)… CKay vows to drive to Walt Disney World next time. Such a shame… it put a damper on the start of our “romantic getaway”. Shucks! Darn OOC boy!

We FINALLY get to MCO (Orlando) and I hope I can cheer her up soon. In fact, she looks so frustrated she could cry. :sad1: What am I gonna do???? It crushes me to see CKay so upset...

We walk from the plane to a monorail (BTW, I LOVE monorails) and I am thinking to myself, “I’ve GOT to cheer up CKay”. Well, do you know the fastest way to make her smile??? Is to SEE A CAST MEMBER WITH A HUGE WHITE STUFFED HAND MOTIONING US TOWARDS MAGICAL EXPRESS!!! :woohoo: This is all it took. The nightmare flight was behind us… onward we go to Walt Disney World!! :yay: My loving wife (I guess shouldn’t call her that until she’s divorced and we’re married)… anywho… she is smiling… all with the world is right again…

NOW LET THE FUN BEGIN!! :banana:

We check-in at the Magical Express counter and are IMMEDIATELY taken to a bus for Port Orleans – Riverside!! AWESOME!!! We landed at 1:10PM and we were on the ME bus by 1:35PM. Holy Cow! Let me tell you, this is a very organized group. When boarded the bus, started down the highway towards POR and watched a wonderful introduction to ME and WDW movie. I got to watch Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc. But, I did not see any frogs. :eek: I need to contact someone about that. *NOTE TO SELF* Contact Imagineers and request a frog character. Kermit is not a character that gets to greet people at the Parks… I want a frog with a “Character Meet and Greet”!!

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This is me on the Magical Express bus. It was my first time on a bus!!! High five!

Once we got checked into the resort… Hold it… Wait a second… Go back… Can I just say how wonderfully awesome this resort is? BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL BEAUTIFUL!!!

Okay, anyhow… Once we got checked into the resort... we trek to our romantic bungalow in Parterre Place. I say trek, because we were walking & walking & walking from building to building… took us longer to find the room, than it did taking a bus from MCO to POR!! :rotfl: We ended up in the back, parking lot view, 3rd floor, 9908, standard room and very clean. Now, I heard CKay say it was the cleanest room she’d EVER been in at WDW. Now that says a lot. She has stayed at MANY of the resorts… so this is a HUGE compliment!! :thumbsup2 BTW, she used to manage a Hampton Inn, so she knows what CLEAN is!!

CKay drops off her carry-on bag. Organizes her TUMI (her daily travel/Park bag) and off we go!! Just like that!! Now CKay takes her “Disney” seriously! I couldn’t believe how quickly she was out of the room. In a flash… HOLY COW! She’s a professional “get to Parks” kinda gal… another one of the many reasons I love her! :lovestruc By now it is 2:25PM. CKay and I have only one hour to get to the bus stop, catch a bus to MK, catch a monorail to Polynesian/Tambu Lounge and find a group of DISers (a.k.a. strangers we have never met before, who just happen to listen to DIS Unplugged and write on the DISboards… wish us luck!).

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Here is the TUMI crossbody bag she uses… it is an AWESOME bag! You’d be surprised how much you can fit into one of these babies...

BTW, I forgot to mention… the temperature is a zillion degrees and I am HOT! Not just hot, but HOT! :scared1: I’m gonna request our next romantic getaway be in the Alps in the springtime. This heat is crazy heat.

Next? PrinceSton goes to the POLY!!! :goodvibes

Stay tuned...
 

Woohoo! You're home. Let the Trip Report continue. Looking forward to hearing all about the trip and whether or not you stole CKay's heart. ;)
 
We check-in at the Magical Express counter and are IMMEDIATELY taken to a bus for Port Orleans – Riverside!! AWESOME!!! We landed at 1:10PM and we were on the ME bus by 1:35PM. Holy Cow! Let me tell you, this is a very organized group. When boarded the bus, started down the highway towards POR and watched a wonderful introduction to ME and WDW movie. I got to watch Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Donald, etc. But, I did not see any frogs. :eek: I need to contact someone about that. *NOTE TO SELF* Contact Imagineers and request a frog character. Kermit is not a character that gets to greet people at the Parks… I want a frog with a “Character Meet and Greet”!!


You could have met Princess Tiana, she was once a frog. :)

-nat
 
Woohoo! You're home. Let the Trip Report continue. Looking forward to hearing all about the trip and whether or not you stole CKay's heart. ;)

I am going to (hope to at least) add more tomorrow... keep your fingers crossed for me! I can't really cross my fingers (they're webbed you know...) :laughing:
 
On you marks… get set… GO! CKay got on the bus with MP3 player in hand and ear buds in ears, arrived at MK, got off bus, scurried around people onto the monorail and waa-laa… we somehow ended up at the Polynesian resort… at the Tambu Lounge… 3:30PM on the dot! :woohoo: Good gosh… I am exhausted!

NOW LET THE FUN BEGIN!! :banana:

We were there to meet up with a group from the DISboards. The event/DISmeet was called the Mo-Jee-Toe Mission. This is where everyone is to have one drink at each of the 3 monorail resorts (Polynesian, Grand Floridian and Contemporary). Back to the Mission… CKay is not a shy person (at least I don’t think she’s shy!). But… she seems really apprehensive about meeting 26 strangers at a lounge. After 5 minutes of leaving and returning, leaving and returning, she grabbed a bottle of Smart Water, bites the bullet and introduces herself to a group of strangers. Now personally, I wouldn’t be able to jump in head first like that… but CKay did and is GLAD she did! :yay: These strangers (Hold it! DISers), I mean DISers welcomed her with open arms. OMG… these people were boisterous! It was awesome crazy! They were from all over the United States… and they were all SO nice! CKay looks forward to meeting up with them again sometime… it was THAT much fun!

So, let’s start at the first stop. Polynesian Tambu Lounge. I actually witnessed a grown man drinking from a pineapple. I was tempted to try one of these drinks myself, but had a fear of falling into the pineapple to never be seen again (or slurped up by Jeff/OKW, the pineapple drinker :rotfl:). Tambu is where the DISers got to know CKay. They were extremely courteous and welcoming (funny too). You could tell that CKay was immediately relaxed… and was enjoying herself! :goodvibes

Next, Grand Floridian Mizner’s Lounge. Well? Mizner’s Lounge was closed. The end. While at the Grand Floridian… CKay participated in a group photo session with the DISers. She actually laughed until she cried. One MUST prepare one’s self for humor when ‘hangin’ with DISers. This has to be one of the funniest groups CKay has even met…

What? Not going to the Contemporary? Nope! Instead, there were enough people from our group who were staying at Bay Lake Towers to get us into the Top of the World Lounge… :thumbsup2 SO? We (a group of 27 DISers) showed up in the lobby at Bay Lake Towers, were immediately escorted to the elevators and up we go! It was the most beautiful view of WDW I or my fair lady, CKay, had ever seen. CKay finally let her guard down and had a Cosmopolitan drink. It was very strong and one was plenty. Can you say tipsy? *haha* Her is a picture of my Love by the elevators…

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There’s Space Mountain, Cinderella Castle, a little bit of the monorail (behind her) and a marvelous look at the parking lot! :laughing:

Well, it is 6:30PM and CKay hadn’t eaten all day (except for a protein bar around 4:00PM... while at Tambu)… so we headed to Magic Kingdom for dinner. Watch out Mickey, here “I” come!! Now, I don’t know how many frogs have made it through the gates/security at the Magic Kindgom… but I MADE IT!! Going through the entrance into the Magic Kingdom was more spectacular than I could’ve have EVER imagined. Magic Kingdom through frog’s eyes… who’da thought this would ever happen… and to ME! *yahoo* I am the “Happiest Frog on Earth @ the Happiest Place on Earth”. Life as a frog is good.

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I wore my ears (I DON'T consider ears a hat, so I like them!) the entire time we were at Magic Kingdom. I LOVE ME SOME MICKEY!

It rained on us. CKay put me into her purse, covered me (and my ears) with her jacket and we’re off to the Train Station! Here is CKay showing us the view from the Train Station (look how happy she is!).

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Even the rain doesn’t stop us from having fun!! :O)

We jumped onto the train… and off to Frontierland!! We immediately head to Pecos Bills for something to eat. BIG MISTAKE… poor CKay ends up with a giant Angus burger. This thing was HUGE! But? It was also pink in the middle. :mad: Now, CKay ended up eating the cooked edges… but couldn’t handle the pink stuff… *gag*. I felt really bad for her. Poor thing was starving…

Next? We headed to… now wait… now wait… PIRATES OF THE CARIBBEAN!!!! Yahooo!!! As you know, one of the only hats I like is my pirate hat. I am a Jack Sparrow fan and pirates are ‘me’ fav. Arghh!

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I reposted this picture as a reminder of how handsome I am in a pirate hat!! I even look BETTER than Jack Sparrow… wouldn’t yee agree with thee?

Now here is an FYI… CKay tried taking pictures of me during our trip, but unfortunately a majority of them turned out blurry. I guess it is hard to focus in on a bean bag frog with a cell phone. The pictures she took looked fine until she enlarged them for viewing. Blurry blurry blurry… BOO-HISS! So, she will be using pictures she took at home to fill in where the REAL pictures should have been. Sorry guys… CKay is an Accountant NOT a photographer. Maybe she should have let the PhotoPass photographers take them?? Hum. *Note to self* let PhotoPass guys take ALL pictures.

Back to the fun stuff!! We rode the following rides: Pirates for the Caribbean (twice), Jungle Cruise, Big Thunder Mountain, Haunted Mansion and back to Frontierland to catch the train back to the Main Train Station. Then we plan to go back to the BEAUTIFUL Port Orleans Resort (Riverside). CKay was totally exhausted! Poor thing was ready to fall over!

We finally arrive back at the Main Train Station, down the steps to Main Street and all of the sudden… THE Disney’s ELECTRICAL PARADE started right there in front of us!! It was SO exciting! CKay recorded the parade. I heard her whisper into the camera, “IT happened… my first ‘Magical Moment’…” :wizard: I believe I even saw tears in her eyes (but don’t quote me on that…). I couldn’t believe what I was seeing… before my very own frog eyes… Mickey Mouse. :goodvibes What a wonderful sight!!!

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See Mickey? He is on the upper left side of the drum. Ooo… Ahh… I love me some Mickey!!! Plus, Minnie is in front of the drum! *woo-hoo* I hope CKay and I can share more special/'Magical' moments like this, during our vacation. ;)

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This was an excellent way to end the parade!! Patriotic feelings came over me while witnessing such a wonderful float. Who’da thought a bean bag frog could feel such warmth over a flag? I am proud to be an American!!

As soon as the parade ended… there was a stampede. :scared1: Seriously, there was literally a sea of running people headed right at us… HELP!! CKay and I stepped aside and let the herds of runners pass us by. Apparently, these people rush/run/push/shove innocent by standards out of the way in order to leave the Park… I guess they run in order to get a seat on a bus or a place on one of the ferry boats?? Good gosh! I can’t believe someone wasn’t hurt…

CKay was too exhausted to hang around for the fireworks. So, we WALKED CASUALLY to the bus and within a couple of minutes… we were on our way to POR (our home away from home for the next 7 days). The bus ride was uneventful and quite enjoyable! As soon as we disembarked… we headed for Fulton’s General Store. We picked up water, Tostitos and Entenmann’s chocolate chip cookies! YUM!

We get to the room and just like Disney Magic… there was the luggage we hadn’t seen since Charleston, SC!! CKay ate her cookies, put away her stuff, called DH for the 50th time since we’d landed at MCO :mad:, took a shower and off to dreamland :cloud9: .

Stay tuned …
 
What? Not going to the Contemporary? Nope! Instead, there were enough people from our group who were staying at Bay Lake Towers to get us into the Top of the World Lounge… :thumbsup2 SO? We (a group of 27 DISers) showed up in the lobby at Bay Lake Towers, were immediately escorted to the elevators and up we go! It was the most beautiful view of WDW I or my fair lady, CKay, had ever seen.


Wow, a very busy day! We're going to be staying at Bay Lake Tower in 47 more days and I can't wait to see the view for myself from the Top Of The World Lounge. :banana::cool1:
 
Today is a really BIG day for CKay!!! She got to spend time with her one and only sister (my future in-law)! They hadn’t seen each other in 4 years… to the day. Unfortunately, the last time they’d seen each other was when their brother passed away (he was 46, died in his sleep, from atherosclerosis). CKay really needed to see Kriss under better circumstances. What better place than Walt Disney World?!?!? Kriss lives in South Florida. So... she and her family came up for the weekend and met up with us on Labor Day! WE HAD A BLAST! :cool1:

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This is CKay’s sister and her wonderful family. CKay cried when they left… :sad1:

The main swimming pool @ POR… Who’da thought a swimming pool could be so much fun? We played monkey in the middle (well, I actually played ‘froggie’ in the middle) and slid down the slide and drank from refillable mugs and and and… I exhausted just remembering how much fun we all had. Life as a frog is good.

CKay, Kriss and her adorable daughter unknowingly took me to the Grand Floridian for High Tea!! This was supposed to be a ‘ladies only’ event, but I jumped into CKay’s purse (I still have Mickey ears on…) at the last second. Why would I want to go boating with the guys… when I could be surrounded by 3 lovely ladies slurping on herbal teas and eating fancy snacks? No brainer… I ‘m going with the LADIES!! :thumbsup2 We had a blast! This place was awesome… except for the HUGE PIECE OF MACHINERY in the middle of the garden!!! I felt like I was in the middle of a construction project during lunchtime. There was a silly screen that was supposed to hide this monstrous yellow excavator (see, I am a guy, I know what type of machinery it was!). I would suggest going here for tea, but only AFTER the garden renovations are complete. Ask before you schedule your reservation!! If you don’t… you’ll be sorry!

We returned to the resort to find the ‘men’ playing in the arcade. So we joined in!! Here is a picture of the gang playing…

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The kids are wonderful and very much like small adults… I can’t wait to become part of this family via wedlock to the unsuspecting CKay! ;)

Well, the time had come for Kriss and the gang to return to reality. It was wonderful seeing/meeting everyone and looking forward to seeing them again. Hopefully CKay won’t wait another 4 years to get together and I can hang out with them again (soon)! :woohoo: The gang pulls away and CKay rushes to call DH to share the wonderful news of her wonderful day. I just sit there and listen… I’d have to say… I agreed with every word! WE HAD A BLAST!

CKay decided to take it easy for the rest of the evening and get an early start the next morning. She grabs chicken strips and fries @ the Mill, takes it back to the room, eats, showers, calls her DH (for 75th time today *blech!*) and heads to bed… nighty night!

I know there wasn’t much DISNEY in this report, but actually it is ALL ABOUT DISNEY. This day, hanging out at Disney’s Port Orleans resort and having tea at the Grand Floridian was the BEST day CKay had this ENTIRE trip. *Note* Sometimes being at the resort is as rewarding as being at a Park… if not more rewarding when family is involved. Stop and smells the flowers! :flower3:

Stay tuned…
 


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