We love Donald Duck, oh yes we do! - Link to the PTR - COMPLETE

[Lovemy3babes]

My shoes are CROCS! So yep, very comfy for walking and a nice basic gray/silver color. I wear them all the time...I cannot remember the style...Ah Google to the rescue, it's the Malindi: http://shop.crocs.com/pc-825-4-malindi.aspx?navcategories=3,142

Thanks Brook!!!

 

[Gabes_mommy]

I just finished reading your report and I enjoyed it so much. Henry is so cute!

My DS was about Henry's age on our last trip and it brought back so many wonderful memories.

 

[thegreggersmom]

What a great report -- and a fantastic day at MK! And let me be the 107th person to say what a cutie Henry is....

When in December will you be there and where are you staying?

 

[brookelizabeth]

Does anybody ever want to leave?
Not us!
We walk slowly, and in my mind, as I am taking my last pictures, I am saying goodbye, light post and goodbye, balloon man and goodbye, little Disney duck....we will be back as soon as possible!!!

I have enjoyed all the pictures - Main Street, Henry and Zurg, pretty views, mint chocolate chip ice cream....just everything. It's nice to have a way to enjoy 'being there' through each others' reports when we are not able to really be there.

We are the same way..."Bye gift shop. Bye Casey's." Sigh. And always a "See you real soon!" as I exit.

I'm with ya on enjoying others TRs when waiting between trips. Tides me over!

You are going back? Wow, how on earth did I miss that?? Well, hooray for you and Joe and Henry!!! How old will Henry be by then? I will try to write a TR when I get back, from those I've read, I don't know how I could compare! I will look for your PTR, or will you be posting it in your siggy?

YEP! We are going back! I've already got 2010 plans going through my mind as well. Please share a link to your future TR when you get back.

And I will put a link to my future PTR in my siggy, and also post it here as a last post.

I also went on BTM by myself and they gave me the seat by myself.

I loved it hehehe

It would be fun to ride alone I think! I wonder if that is what would have happened if I had stayed where I was put...

So the order goes : Memom (July), MeMom(isn't she going in October??), BrookeElizabeth (December), MeMom (December) and then FINALLY k_reile (Feb 2010)!

Wow...that looks wierd that memom will have 3 possible trips in before mine! Ahh...makes for some reading to pass the time....9 mos I keep on telling myself is not really that long! But it seems like FOREVER! (Edited to add since its now 9 mos today...that its like a pregnancy...my pregnancy seemed like it went by really fast so maybe this 9 mos will too!)

I can't remember if MeMom is going in October too. PROBABLY. Not fair! And she said this year would be a "light" Disney year. Whatever!

My pregnancy went really fast too-so maybe if we keep it in mind that this is like a pregnancy and you are going to give birth to a magical Disney trip it will help. I always think of it in seasons too. It's BARELY getting warm here and I keep thinking, "It has to get COLD again before I can go."

Brook, your last day was wonderful! I loved that you could just jump onto rides and there was little wait time.
Henry looked like such a big boy sitting across from you on the TTA. Does he still do "the look"?
Your pictures you took as you left MK were so nice... I could imagine the smell of chocolate chips cookies coming from the bakery, I could imagine the sound of the music that plays on Main Street and children laughing, I could imagine the feel of the warm sun and think why am I not there?? Someday!
I am looking forward to your new PTR! Keep us posted as to when you start it. You might have to share some "Henry growing up this summer" pictures.
Thanks for taking us all on your amazing trip!

Henry doesn't do "the look" anymore. He only did it for about 2 weeks total. It was adorable.

Oooh, the chocolate chip cookie smell. Ah. I also love the music on Main Street - I just might have to upload my video of us walking down Main Street. It's really long, so I have to edit before I can upload...we'll see if I get to it!

And yes, someday (hopefully soon) you will be back!

I will be sharing some pictures from over the summer. We'll be doing quite a few fun things this summer, so mini-TRs along with just random fun life stuff will be shared. I'll try to relate it all somehow to Disney.

It is so sad to see your TR coming to an end. I look forward to your future ones!

We just got back from WDW Sunday night. I didn't end up taking as many pictures as I wanted to (as usual). It is so hard to keep up with the kids, I forget to take pictures. I hope it gets a little easier when they get older. I did post a link to a slideshow of the pictures I did take.

The weather was beautiful! We stayed at Beach Club for 6 nights. We drove 4 days, yuck!!! Beach Club was amazing! The pool was fantastic, the lake beautiful and the location was wonderful!!!. We went to Epcot almost everyday. The flower and garden festival was so beautiful! I could take a walk through Epcot every day!

We went to the Magic Kingdom and the studios both twice. Once we walked through Epcot and took the monerail to TTC, then to Magic Kingdom (and back). It was a long journey! We also walked to the studios and back. My legs were so sore by the end of the weak.

We ate at Beaches and Cream. The food was good, but the table was to small for all of it! I wish we had room for dessert, but the kids couldn't sit down that long anyway. Later that evening we ate at the restaurant in Mexico. DH didn't like his food, my soup and salad was good. But the kids were too antsy to stay seated very long, despite my best efforts. We had to leave our unfinished Margaritas behind. After that we decided not to go to anymore table service meals again.

We did go to Cape May Cafe for the character breakfast. It was my favorite meal. DS loved the characters, DD was scared of them.

DS loved going on all the rides. DD liked the play areas the best, but went on every ride with no problem.

The drive back was difficult. DS threw up in the car just past Atlanta. He must have eaten the wrong food or something. He was fine afterwards, but the smell wasn't so great the rest of the trip.

My favorite parts of the trip were the location, cinnamon sugar nuts, ice cream sunday at MK, all the rides and flowers. My least fav parts were the tantrums, long stinky car ride, too much fast food and not being able to go table service meals.

Vacation time goes by way to fast! I look forward to our next trip in October. We will be traveling with my parents, sister and her family.

Thank you for the review! The BC sounds AWESOME. Afte we explored there a bit I really want to stay there-I hear so many good reports of it too! It's so pretty, and that pool is just amazing.

I love that you were able to go to Epcot so much too. I would be trying new food from all the countries on a regular basis if we ever stayed so close!

I've heard lots of mixed reviews about the food in Mexico. I want to try it sometime because of the atmosphere, it's so pretty in there.

Sorry to hear about the incident on the way home. Ick! Glad he's okay though. All those sick mishaps with kids are no fun.

I agree that vacation goes by too fast! It's soooooo far inbetween trips and then it's over in a blink.

I looked at your pictures-they were beautiful!! I loved all the flowers in Epcot. Your kiddos are so adorable...and boy, they both look like they have grown quite a bit between the pics from your SSR trip (from your siggy) and this one!! Esp DD!

WHEW! I just got caught up again. You've been a posting fool! LOL!
Great pictures. What a wonderful way to end your trip. I wish my DH would like to linger like that. On the day we left, DH sprung out of bed all excited to be going home. He slept in on all other days. He has a good time, don't get me wrong, but he just hates being away from the farm very long. I swear it's farmer mentalility. My dad is the same way.

I love the karate chop sleeping pose. I always laughed at each of my kids doing that.

My sister's ex-husband was a farmer.
They had to plan their wedding and reception around COWS.
There had to be a break between the two so the family could go home and milk the cows.
I still find that HILARIOUS.

I love the karate chop sleeping poses too. They are so cute.

Thanks for the super long update. I loved your pictures of Main Street....I love exploring all the nooks and crannies there.

CONGRATULATIONS TO YOU AND YOUR NEW LITTLE ONE!!!!!!!!!! She's so adorable! I love that you are back on the DIS within just a couple days. The hospital gets kinda boring though-I was on my computer too! The nurses kept asking if I was working.

I finally got to read your latest installment with the pictures.

I can't believe the difference in Henry in the Zurg pictures!

I can't believe you didn't get the corn dog nuggets at Casey's!

The last day at Disney is always so bittersweet.

I can't believe I didn't get Corn Dog Nuggets at Casey's either. I'm glad I tried something new, but really...I miss those CDNs! Dipped in ketchup. Ah.

Brook, you made some comment about me finishing two trip reports before you go again. You know how long I take to finish a report. You must not be going again until Henry is in kindergarten!!!

you always seem to pull it off and wrap up just before you leave!! Are you going in October too?

 

[brookelizabeth]

Thanks Brook!!!

You're welcome!

I just finished reading your report and I enjoyed it so much. Henry is so cute!

My DS was about Henry's age on our last trip and it brought back so many wonderful memories.

Thank you for reading-and glad you enjoyed it! It was a very fun age to bring our little man to the park. This next trip he'll be two. And already has more of an opinion, so we'll see how that one goes!

What a great report -- and a fantastic day at MK! And let me be the 107th person to say what a cutie Henry is....

When in December will you be there and where are you staying?

Thank you!! It was a great day at MK. I couldn't believe the lines. I looked my notes yesterday and during the middle of the day Dumbo had only a 20 minute wait. 20 minutes! That's NOTHING for Dumbo! We should have done it, but we didn't.

I haven't spilled my December dates yet...they are special. (I'm sure everyone is anxiously waiting ) We'll just say the later half of December...




Tomorrow I get to go see my Mommy! I haven't seen her since Christmas, so I'm very excited to spend an entire weekend with her. And in case I haven't already said it, my Grandma will also be around, so I get to see her beautiful self as well!

I am planning on getting a post up today/tonight before I disappear for the weekend.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

I haven't spilled my December dates yet...they are special. (I'm sure everyone is anxiously waiting ) We'll just say the later half of December...

Ummm... yes, I am anxiously waiting! Tease! Hmm... let's see... second half of December. Is there anything special that happens in the latter half of December that could be special?

Tomorrow I get to go see my Mommy! I haven't seen her since Christmas, so I'm very excited to spend an entire weekend with her. And in case I haven't already said it, my Grandma will also be around, so I get to see her beautiful self as well!

I am planning on getting a post up today/tonight before I disappear for the weekend.

Have a great weekend!!!

 

[Flossbolna]

Have a wonderful weekend!!

 

[tinkerbells mum]

hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family xx

 

[princess&her4princes]

Have a wonderful weekend with your Mom, Brook!!! And Happy Mother's day to you!!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!!

 

[IWISHFORDISNEY]

Finally all caught up. We were in Disney the last 10 days. Have fun with your mom!! I loved your perfect MK day. Cant wait to hear the rest.

 

[SoonerGirl]

I haven't spilled my December dates yet...they are special. (I'm sure everyone is anxiously waiting ) We'll just say the later half of December...

Oooooo, Ooooooo, Ooooooo - are you going to be there the same time as us??? It's time for you to start that PTR missy, and spill the beans!

 

[brookelizabeth]

We left off leaving MK after a wonderful quick dip into the park before our flight.

Back at SSR, our bags had been checked that morning and our carry-ons were left with Bell Services. Henry had woken up on the bus ride back, so we stopped at AP and he had a bite to eat-I didn’t photograph it, so I can’t tell you what though! Most likely some sort of processed meat, fruit, or cheese.

After a little meal, we wandered out to the pool. Henry went from not liking the pool to wanting to DIVE in. Thankfully he settled for just dangling our feet in. We did that for a bit while Joe literally fell asleep in a poolside lounger.

Does vacation get any better?

Then we said our good-byes to Dut Dut. I think Henry gave him about 8 hugs.

Excellent stroller-bed-head.

"I love you Dut Dut!" This is a favorite. I love how bright red his hair looks in it too.

Eventually we moseyed up to the ME pick-up.

Joe and I joked about “What if our flight got delayed until tomorrow?” “What if ME forgets about us?”

You know, joking about all those things that you hope happen, so you can spend one more minute at Disney, but usually don’t? (and it seems your flight only gets delayed after you get to the airport!)

The bus rolled up and we boarded. My heart was wistful and we left the SSR grounds.

It had been an adventure of a trip.

COLD weather, baby vomit, a very non-relaxing afternoon tea, AK at night!, baby vomit, coffee that made me melt, many “firsts”, fireworks, baby poop, Corn Dog Nuggets, sickness, relaxing, Brazilian tour groups taking over the parks, baby poop, birds that steal food, seeing my hubby geek-out more than usual, GHETTO GAS/baby poop, meeting Flossblona!, Magical Moments, Dut Dut, pool time, more relaxing, the best possible view at SSR (in our opinon ), wrapped up with short lines, Caseys and ice cream at MK!

Despite the mishaps, it was a GREAT trip. What trip wouldn’t be complete without some bumps? Especially when traveling with a toddler?!

The bus ride to MCO was fairly uneventful. Joe and I juggled entertaining Henry and chatted about when we’d be back. We knew we’d be going back in 2009, but “when” was the question left unanswered at that point.

Because we rode ME, we had PLENTY of time at MCO to waste. I think it’s part of the contract with MCO that they have to be that early because how many families out there end up eating and shopping? <Raises hand>

Before we happily forked over our money to an overpriced airport eatery, we went shopping to none other than the Disney store!

Recall the bag we bought back at the Poly? The cheapy one?
It’s cheapy for a reason.
Not sure if I mentioned this, but it had split down the side by the next day. Thankfully it did warm up later in the week and we weren’t required to lug quite so much stuff with us into the parks.

Since we had not brought our "$20,000 DVC bag" with us (never again will we forget it), we did need a new bag. And we needed one quickly-our stroller was packed full of random things, our carry-ons were bulging.

After some debate we found a HUGE plastic Disney shopping bag. It was on Clearance (score!) and fit all of our stuff without a problem. Perfect!

Now onto eats. We opted for Chili’s this time.

It was….alright. Nothing fantastic, but it was fine. The Macaroni Grill is better (which we did in November).

We made our way through security check without an issue (I LOVE those family lines!) and got to our gate.

Our every-single-seat full flight had Joe and I in separate seats.

With a toddler.

Uh-ya, not having that.

They did some juggling and we ended up in the very last row next to the bathroom.

All well-at least we are together!

I was a bit bummed we were stuck in the last row, and that every-single seat was full, knowing that Henry was going to be fairly antsy and feeling bad for whoever ended up next to us…but, it turned out to be the BEST seat on the plane!

We became quick friends with the very sweet woman who sat next to us. After speaking with her for the entire flight back, I realized, this woman was me in 30 years. (i hope!)

This woman used to live in Minnesota. When they retired they thought to just take the plunge to go live near Disney since they loved it so much. At first they thought they would be snowbirds, but they found themselves not wanting to leave ever. Now, her and her husband live just outside of Orlando. They walk through Epcot “4 or 5 times a week”. They bring their grandkids down for 2 weeks at a time and hit all the area attractions. She LOVES kids, and loved Henry..and Henry loved her! She would pull random stuff out of her bag-like an AK map-that would thrill Henry. It was wonderful chatting with her.

Aside from this, THANKFULLY our flight was basic and uneventful. No shoeless woman driving us in a bus all over the airport this trip!

Back in Minnesota our luggage even arrived. HALLELUJAH!

Our wonderful Park N Fly bus pulled up within 5 minutes and we were off to our car. We sat across from a very talkative woman, who when arriving at her van it didn’t start. Stinkin’ cold Minnesota weather. Poor gal. The driver was incredible though, he had her get back on the bus and after he dropped everyone off, he would jump her car.

This Park N Fly service just plain rules. It’s Disneyfied!

Thankfully our car started without a problem and we buzzed right out of the lot. We were getting very tired and by this point were just ready to be home.

We live just over an hour away from the airport. The road we take home is considered a highway, but it’s a country highway. It’s very dark.

It was snowing.

Suddenly, about halfway home, I see three white tails DIRECTLY in front of the passenger side. 3 deer! I couldn’t see them because they were running down the road in the same direction as we were traveling, and since it was snowing-it was white out, and if you’ve ever seen a deer, you know their tails are white.

I swerved into the oncoming lane (there were NO cars out), and slammed on the breaks some. I thought for a split second I was going to avoid them when suddenly one decided to hang a left directly into our passenger side by the front wheel.

A LOUD thud, but we kept going.

I was shaking, but everyone was fine – Henry didn’t even wake up for it! Then I started to laugh. I've been driving in Minnesota, in the country, since I was 18 and had never hit a deer. I was finally a true Minnesotan.

The next town was less than a mile away, so we pulled over so I could gather myself. Joe got out to investigate the damage.

“WHOA!” is all I heard and I saw his jaw drop.

We had a Saturn. Saturn’s are plastic. Which resulted in big ‘ol holes in the side of our car!

These were taken in our garage the next day:

Our blinker hanging out...and yes, that's deer hair sticking out! Ick!

Joe did some deeper investigation to see if he could tell if any parts were hanging off or anything like that-it all looked okay enough to drive home.

So we did!

We drove around in our “holey car” for quite a while. Our taxes came back and was more than we expected…so…we decided it was now time to buy a car!

After some research and test drives, we purchased a 2005 Honda Element (and for those of you who know our previous debt story-we paid for the car with CASH!). We LOVE our Element and it never would have been except for our trip to Disney World!

Or, maybe it would have been eventually, but not quite this soon.



And what report would be complete without some souvie pics?

Yummy chocolates from Flossblona

KSC stuff - shuttle magnet (Henry looks at this still and makes a "shhhssshhh" sound), the "ice cream", the coveted Space Pen, and a book of 33 postcards

An example of one of the postcards. They are all beautiful.

DELISH.

You will be mine, oh yes, you will be mine again Mickey Mouse Coconut Patty. (I bought these for my co-workers, but made sure to take one for myself so I could enjoy and get a pic!)

The Spinner Toy! Thankfully Henry has forgotten this exists and will think it's brand new when we pull it out again in December. He he he.

The cheapy bag. It's also the bag they now offer with the "Picnic in the Park" at AK. It's like a typical shopping bag. I'm sure it will carry food just fine, just stuffing it and unstuffing it several times a day can cause it to split! Who woulda thought it?!

The giant Disney bag. Nice sippy cup to show how big it is, eh?



Oh, this means we are at the end, doesn’t it?



Which would be a sad thing, except that we are going again...









OVER NEW YEARS EVE 2009!!!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m sooooooo excited! I love me some fireworks!! I can't wait to start planning!

PTR coming very soon (after Mother's Day)...and yep-I’ll post the link here!!

Thanks for reading everyone! See you real soon....on the PTR!

 

[brookelizabeth]

Ummm... yes, I am anxiously waiting! Tease! Hmm... let's see... second half of December. Is there anything special that happens in the latter half of December that could be special?

Have a great weekend!!!

I just spilled!....as you might have seen by the giant font in the post above.

Have a wonderful weekend!!

hope you have a wonderful weekend with your family xx

Have a wonderful weekend with your Mom, Brook!!! And Happy Mother's day to you!!!! Hope you have a wonderful day!!!

Thank you! I wouldn't care if we just sat on a couch and chatted the entire time...it will be wonderful spending time with those two amazing ladies! I also hope to finally get a "generations shot" with my GMa, Mom, me and Henry.

Finally all caught up. We were in Disney the last 10 days. Have fun with your mom!! I loved your perfect MK day. Cant wait to hear the rest.

Ooooh, how was your trip?! I hope it was WONDERFUL. Are you doing a TR?

Oooooo, Ooooooo, Ooooooo - are you going to be there the same time as us??? It's time for you to start that PTR missy, and spill the beans!

I can't remember what your dates are - you are there right over Christmas, right? It would be GREAT to meet you!

 

[SoonerGirl]

I can't remember what your dates are - you are there right over Christmas, right? It would be GREAT to meet you!

Just saw your BIG BOLD announcement! We will be there Dec 19-27th. I'm looking forward to hearing all about your plans!

I had a blast reading this TR, thanks so much for sharing. I'm so sorry about your car, I'd have been a nervous wreck after that. I guess you did get a new vehicle out of the deal though, so that's a plus!

 

[MaryAz]

Such a great report. Thanks for sharing all the highs and lows. Have a great time on your next trip!

 

[Vexorg]

Great trip report, I enjoyed reading it. I was actually fortunate enough to get a bit of overtime on my trip in December, but I'll discuss that when I get there on my own TR (which at this rate should be, oh... around December or so.

 

[torsie24]

Awww, I'm sad your TR is over - it was wonderful!!

Congrats on your upcoming trip! Can't wait for the PTR.

And I LOVE the photo of Henry and dut-dut, he looks so happy!!

 

[ClaireW]

I've really enjoyed your trip report and will be looking out for the next one! We took our daughter in Sept last year, just after her first birthday, so I have loved reading about your experiences with Henry (who is sooo cute by the way!).
We're planning on returning next year when our new baby (due in July) is about the same age.

 

[2xcited2sleep]

What a great ending! Wow- New Year's Eve. I've always wondered what it would be like in WDW on New Years. Now I'll know! Can't wait for the PTR!

on the deer incident but glad it ended with you getting a car you love. And for paying for it in cash!

I hope that lady on the plane is me in 30 years too (minus the Minnesota part- no offense!).

Have a happy Mother's Day!!!

 

[PopArtGal]

Yay!

Thanks for all the details.
And I love the last pic of Henry and DD.