We invite you, if you dare Summer plans 08/04 Day 25

[annmarieda]

You definitely got some great pics! I love the Tea Party area...that is so cute!!

 

[michelle9343]

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KARIN!!!!! I hope you had a truly magical day!!!
I love the photo of Fantasyland it is great to see it so empty even if you could not go on any rides.
The table full of French food looks like heaven to me. I think Vito and I would have finished off one entire baguette before even leaving the bakery!!!All of the cheeses and meats YUMMY!!!!!

 

[HowieHowie]

Love the feast you had. The baguettes, cheeses and meats look so good. Congrats on an extra 6 months on your AP...always nice to get a surprise. Love the photos of Fantasyland.

 

[eandesmom]

what magical updates! Villa ready, an amazing spread of yumminess (I could really go for meat, cheese and baguette right now, yum!) 18 months on your AP...talk about serious pixie dust. And well deserved dust at that!

Happy Belated Birthday!

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Karin.

Until wedding is over, I'll be reading, but may not have time to post.

 

[englishrose47]

Great updates, Karin.

Until wedding is over, I'll be reading, but may not have time to post.

Both the trip and the wedding are getting close Kathy!!!

 

[dizneeat]

Such beautiful theming there.

Yes, Disney does an awesome job with their parks.

Wow. It looks like you had the park all to yourself. Your photos are beautiful and I really appreciate all the wonderful theming. Too bad you couldn't ride IASW, but it still looks like a lovely evening.

It looks like the park is empty, but that is just because they closed it due to the fireworks and were within the last people NOT in any line.

I know this might be shocking for some of you, but we no longer go to the parks for the rides. It is just the easy going way of life the parks hold for us. We will hop in a line if it is short enough, but we won't queue up for more than half an hour.
And we really enjoyed the evening.

You definitely got some great pics! I love the Tea Party area...that is so cute!!

Thank you, Ann!
The Alice area is so nice. They have the most fun maze, with lots of fun surprises. I am sure Zoe would love it there.

HAPPY BELATED BIRTHDAY KARIN!!!!! I hope you had a truly magical day!!!
I love the photo of Fantasyland it is great to see it so empty even if you could not go on any rides.
The table full of French food looks like heaven to me. I think Vito and I would have finished off one entire baguette before even leaving the bakery!!!All of the cheeses and meats YUMMY!!!!!

Thank you, Michelle!
We actually didn't mind to much about not going on rides. We have been so often, and not going on rides gives us time to take in the little detail.

One of the reasons why we love going to Paris and staying in the villa is that we have a fridge there and can sample a lot of the food. And trust me, that baguette is heavenly!

 

[dizneeat]

Love the feast you had. The baguettes, cheeses and meats look so good. Congrats on an extra 6 months on your AP...always nice to get a surprise. Love the photos of Fantasyland.

The food is part of why we love going to France so much.
The extra time on the AP was just an awesome surprise. Especially since we plan on spending about 8 - 10 days there in the summer.

what magical updates! Villa ready, an amazing spread of yumminess (I could really go for meat, cheese and baguette right now, yum!) 18 months on your AP...talk about serious pixie dust. And well deserved dust at that!

Happy Belated Birthday!

Thank you, Cynthia.
We had a lot of pixie dust that trip ..... the AP being the most "valuable" of them all.

Great updates, Karin.

Until wedding is over, I'll be reading, but may not have time to post.

Thank you, Kathy!
The wedding is coming up so fast, unbelieveable. Wasn't it just yesterday, that Mark proposed?
I completely understand that you don't have much time to post, especially with your girls trip coming up.

 

[dizneeat]

Sorry for the long absense, but as you might have heard on the news, several countries in Europe experienced a "centennial" flooding in the last few days.

While Tom and I were not personally affected, it did have an impact on our lives as bridges and streets were closed and some people (well, quite a few) people lost about everything.
It kept both of us away from the DIS, but now that life is slowly getting back to normal, I wanted to let you share a little of our experiences. Tom and I took some photos of the area where we live.

These pics are from June 3rd ........













we loved that family of ducks, the ducklings are so cute



Now, this is when we thought this was just "a flooding", has happened before and we were not concerned .......... YET!!!!!

It rained HARD all night and this is what it looked like the next day!





The ducklings and their mother had fled to a saver zone.

















The Danube had flooded quite a bit of the city. Some of our bridges got closed (you can see how high the water is under the bridge in some of the pics), roads got closed, it was just heartbreaking to see.
The did put up some "flood fencing" but it cannot be put up all over the city, so the flooding was inevitable.

Here are some more pics I borrowed from the internet.















Okay, ............. next post ............. updates on our summer trip!!!!!!!

 

[dizneeat]

On a much lighter note ........


NOTICE MY TICKER???????????????
We are under two months. In two months time we will be spending time with Jeff and his family, having a blast. And in the evening we will go on another Wishes cruise with Jeff and his family and Michelle and her family. Can't wait to see ya all again!!!!!!!!!

I paid off the rest of our hotels today. To us it feels much better if everything is paid for up front, so I called the hotel in Key Largo, the Hilton in Lauderdale and the Southernmost to pay off the rest of our hotel stay. Feels good, to just have to count down.

And, in the true spirit of Jeanette and her resort changers, we changed our rental again.
If you think we changed so we could save a bit, then you are wrong! Let me explain. We were originally booked with Dollar. And while I like Dollar, their rental station in Port Canaveral is . So i have been eyeing Hertz all the while. A little while back (before the flood ) they had a special, means discount and they would let me rent from PC to MCO. The rate for the same kind of car (convertible ) was about a third higher, but we gave in and are now getting our car for the last 15 nights from Hertz.

Plus, the most exciting news ........

I did online check-in today!
60 days out and we are all set for the first three nights at OKW.

And now, I guess it will be time to get the trip planning going ......... (and finish Paris )

 

[Teri1]

I was wondering about you and Tom after hearing about the flooding on the news. I had searched the web for photos of Linz to see if you had flooding and saw some similar to yours but I could not find much info in English my German is very limited. Glad you are both ok but very sorry about the devastating flood for your city.

 

[englishrose47]

Glad you and Tom are okay !!! I remember similar flodding in my hometown many years ago !! Luckily my parents lived on top of the Hill so they were not affected , but you needed a boat to get to the Hill!!!

 

[eandesmom]

Oh Karin! Wow. I am SO grateful both you and Tom are ok and my heart hurts for all those affected. That is a LOT of water!

I love having everything (possible) paid for before we leave. It's painful enough once there

 

[Mom&RN]

Wow, unbelievable flooding! So sorry for all those that lost their houses.
Very excited for you that you are down to sixty days - hooray! I just booked a trip in September, a combo work/fun trip. I'm going to a three day convention for work at WDW but am going two days early for fun!! My best friend is coming along to keep me company as my husband opted to stay home (unfortunately he is not a WDW lover, thankfully he is ok with me visiting often) My best friend loves disney as much as I do so we are soooo excited and having fun planning!

 

[MiaBella05]

joining in

 

[annmarieda]

The flooding is unbelievable! I really am glad you are both ok!!!!

And yes, on a brighter note... so excited that your trip is around the corner. With payments made and online check in done, I am sure you are excited!!!

 

[Linda67]

Wow Karin, that is some serious flooding!

Happy to hear that you and Tom are both OK

Your summer trip will come around in no time and it sounds like it will be a well deserved break

 

[englishrose47]

Just checking in !! Showed the pix of the flooding to co workers ,they were all saying WOW!!!!

 

[jenseib]

Holy cow. Thats a lot of water. How awful. I am glad you are safe though.

Yeah for checking in.
hertz can be expensive. My SIL works for them and I get a family discount and it still is not always the cheapest option. I always compare up till the very end. We did get a great rate in April out of Richmond, Virginia for a week in a mid sized suv for $200. I couldn't find anything else close to it.

 

[HowieHowie]

So happy to hear that you and Tom are ok, but sorry to hear about the floods in your city. I know all too well about flooding and damage with hurricane Sandy here last yr.

YAY...for under two months! I know Jeff can't wait. Scott just came back from a 5 day WDW vacation. He went with a friend for Star Wars Weekend. He had a good time, but he said 5 days is way too short. I guess when he has gone for 18 days for the last 20 yrs, he is spoiled.