We want to remember it all!!! Dec.11-19 2006- UPDATED Feb.21,Day 9

[Katy Belle]

The cast....
Me..Katy 38 MOM
DH..Scott 41 DAD
DS11...Jacob-Loves all things Disney
DS9...Nathan-Daredevil-huge imagination
DS6...Matthew-getting braver every minute

Pre-trip Background Stuff
This is our second trip to WDW. First one was meant to be a "Once in a Lifetime" trip (how many times have you heard that????), it was Feb. of 2004. It was supposed to be Nov. of 2003, but got cancelled 16 hours before our exit time....really...no joke...work troubles. So that ended up being a really special, great trip after the big disappointment. Anyway, we all loved WDW and KNEW we would return. Then in Jan 2005 we moved overseas...to Doha, Qatar, the Middle East. Spring Break came and we headed to Paris, and DisneyLand Paris!!! It was fabulous, but missing a bit of the magic that WDW holds.

So time passes and it is Feb. 2006, the 2006/2007 school calendar is published. Our kids are getting 5 weeks off for Christmas/Eid holidays. Dec.1-Jan.7. Hmmmm, like any good DisneyAddict, my thoughts are....VALUE SEASON, LOW CROWDS, MVMCP, HOLIDAY DECORATIONS, COOL WEATHER, BOYS ARE GETTING OLDER, OPPORTUNITY. I struggle a bit. Part of the reason for moving overseas was to see more of the World, the real world, not Disney World Since moving here we had been to London,Paris, Dubai,Oman, and were heading to South Africa for Spring Break 2006. I almost hated to ask DH, but couldn't help myself. I made a list of all the good reasons, really I did. I was ready to SELL this idea. So, I say, "Honey, the kids get 5 weeks off and I think it would be a great time to go to Disney World. We could go with low crowds and not have to pull them out of school." I took a breathe, ready to SELL and he says, "OK." Done deal...I start planning!!!! What a guy!!! I just love him, wouldn't you!!!!

There are soooo many decisions to make. We decide to fly into Nebraska, spend a few days with the Grandparents, then head to FL. DH needs more days at work, so we have fewer days in USA before FL than we wanted. We wanted to kick jet-lag before we visit Mickey, but it wasn't meant to be. Flight plan...Doha-London-Chicago-Omaha...arriving late Dec.8. Dec. 10 one night at hotel in Omaha and dinner out with cousins. Dec. 11 early flight to Orlando. Staying at POP Century, two rooms. We stayed at POR in 2004. Loved it, but it is small for 5 people. Since we travel so much the boys get sick of sharing beds. The 4 beds, two toilets, two showers, two tvs, won over wanting a nicer resort. DP...to do or not to do...did it. I added up what I thought we would eat/spend without. It was almost equal to the cost of the plan, but we'd still have to pay tips and taxes. Knowing this I felt if I didn't do the plan I'd try to really cheap out on meals. The fun of having an appetizer and dessert for each of us, well that was a big selling point. Getting to try TS places, sounded fun too. I was nervous about the time it would take and the flexibility it would remove. Did it anyway.

Booked MVMCP for Dec. 12. Made ADRs in June. Booked 5 Day Park Hoppers for 5. Planned an itinerary... Also booked 2 nights at Hard Rock Hotel and bought tickets to Universal Orlando, planned that itinerary. Ready to go!!!!

More tomorrow....Thanks for reading...Katy

 

[jamal]

Katy!! I caught your screen name as I opened up the TR page. I remember you, Qatar girl , from my TR!

I am so excited you made the trip and are writing a report. I am so IN!!!

Jami

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Hi !!
We were at Pop at the same time! (We were at OKW first) and checked into Pop on 12/15 (checked out 12/20). And we were at the Christmas party on 12/12 with you! I just started our report on the boards also! Can't wait to read more about your trip!

 

[Katy Belle]

Hi Jami! So nice of you to read along! I'll try to count my blessings in the report...you set a good example!

Hi Mary! I will find and read your report! Maybe we bumped into each other somewhere along the way! We checked out of POP on Dec.17 and moved to the Hard Rock Hotel, but we were there a couple of nights at the same time.
Looking forward to your story too!

Homework and bedtime here. More tomorrow....
Katy

 

[ckmommy]

Hi Katy,

I remember your trip in 2004--we were going at the same time and from the same "city"--except Cypress vs. Katy. Glad to hear you got to go a second time. Can't wait to read more.

 

[Katy Belle]

Hi Amy! I remember you too! Looks like you've been to WDW a few times since Feb. 2004. Lucky you! Good to hear from you again.
Katy

 

[Katy Belle]

The cast....
Me..Katy 38 MOM
DH..Scott 41 DAD
DS11...Jacob-Loves all things Disney
DS9...Nathan-Daredevil-huge imagination
DS6...Matthew-getting braver every minute

OK...here we go.

Travel....This takes days
Our flight was to leave Doha at 7:30am, Dec. 8. That is 10:30p.m. Dec. 7,Omaha Nebraska time! So a driver came to take us to the airport at 5:30a.m, 8:30p.m. Omaha time. Unfortunately DH and I got to bed at 2:30a.m. and up at 4:30a.m. Not a good way to start a 3 week trip and to head into jet lag, but what can we do. He was at work and had to get all loose ends tied up. I was at home, I was supposed to be packing. Guess what I was doing... I was tie-dying Mickey t-shirts!!! For two days before we left I was dying and washing 9 Mickey shirts!!! They were great. They were worth not sleeping that night.

Anyway...fly to London, fly to Chicago,delay in Chicago-two hours, fly to Omaha. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up at the airport and drove us to their farm in Nebraska. We arrived there at 3a.m. So, DH and I got out of bed 31.5 hours ago. It was a LONG day The boys did great on the flights. Everyone slept a little, no one slept over 4 hours total. We were tired.

We spent the 9th and part of the 10th with both sets of Grandparents. It was great to see everyone again! Then the 10th we drove back to Omaha, met my DSIL and the nephew and neices at our hotel to swim and have dinner. It was so great, glad we did that the night before we left.

Early flight out of Omaha, on Continental. We were not late, we were late-ish. They were starting pre-boarding when we got to the gate. The Omaha airport is tiny, it takes no time to get anywhere. Flew to Houston for a layover. No problems. Then onto Orlando!!! Now, most people get excited at this point, I get stressed. I stay stressed until we are in a PARK. I tried to enjoy the moment. I swear I did. The good news is I kept most of it inside and tried to be patient. No problem on the flight. Arrive at Orlando and need to find the Magical Express. Finally located it. Once you find it the rest is easy! We board our bus to POP Century and a couple other resorts. They wait for it to fill up and away we go. Yup, I'm still feeling stressed and impatient. POP Century is the first stop...THANK GOODNESS. We check in. No problem but our check in girl, Tequila, I am not making that up, that was her name, seemed new. We finally got through everything, which really took only minutes, but I'm impatient, and we were heading to our two rooms. It really is great having no luggage, Magical Express makes me happy .

Our room was....I have no idea. Sorry. A confession. I took no notes!!! I tried to. I was so tired every night, I couldn't. Our room was in a building with a big Jukebox outside of it. How's that! We walked past the bowling pin pool to get to it! See, I DO know where we were, I just don't know the building name or room #. I think it was one of the farthest buildings, but it was fine for us. No one is in a stroller and all are troopers, for the most part, about walking. Anyway...we walk into room one. First reaction . I think we were all a bit surprised. They were nothing special. We knew it was going to be this way. We made this decision. POR rooms are not much better. But first impression was pretty Motel 6ish and I'm being stressed and impatient anyway. Then we looked at the 2nd room and it was identical! It was supposed to be! They were fine. Really they were. After the initial reveal we never thought about it again. They served us very well for the 6 nights we were there.

OK, so I literally dump out the contents of one of our carry-on backpacks and stuff in our jackets and some light up toy thingies that I brought along. Oh and I strap on my so very unfashionable fanny pack. I tried to purchase a lime green cool looking fanny pack from Amazon.com. I waited too long. I had to go to tiny Wal-Mart in tiny Nebraska town. They had one type of fanny pack. I found it in the hunting gear section. Yup. Camoflage. I didn't care. I strapped on the ugly thing and was ready to head to a park. DH flops down on a bed. If I would have had a whistle I would have blown it. Poor family with impatient mother. They will thank me later I swear! I kindly convince everyone that we need to MOVE, GO, EXIT. They do, we board the bus to MGM.

End of travel day installment. I will write about the evening at MGM in the next installment.

I promised Jami I would count my blessings This post sounds a bit negative, but I swear I realize there were blessings. Here they are...
1. our only delayed flight was our last one, so it didn't mess up all the rest!
2. DHs parents are sweet to drive 3 hours to pick us up at the airport. Boy it feels great to have someone there when you arrive.
3.Spending the first two days in the USA with family was great fun.
4.Magical Express.
5.Four beds, two toilets, two tvs, two rooms!
6.Scott, Jacob, Nathan, Matthew!

 

[jamal]

The cast....
Me..Katy 38 MOM
DH..Scott 41 DAD
DS11...Jacob-Loves all things Disney
DS9...Nathan-Daredevil-huge imagination
DS6...Matthew-getting braver every minute

OK...here we go.

Travel....This takes days
Our flight was to leave Doha at 7:30am, Dec. 8. That is 10:30p.m. Dec. 7,Omaha Nebraska time! So a driver came to take us to the airport at 5:30a.m, 8:30p.m. Omaha time. Unfortunately DH and I got to bed at 2:30a.m. and up at 4:30a.m. Not a good way to start a 3 week trip and to head into jet lag, but what can we do. He was at work and had to get all loose ends tied up. I was at home, I was supposed to be packing. Guess what I was doing... I was tie-dying Mickey t-shirts!!! For two days before we left I was dying and washing 9 Mickey shirts!!! They were great.

They were worth not sleeping that night.

WOW!! Um, nothing is, in my opinion. well, I didn't see them, so maybe they were!Anyway...fly to London, fly to Chicago,delay in Chicago-two hours, fly to Omaha. Grandma and Grandpa picked us up at the airport and drove us to their farm in Nebraska. We arrived there at 3a.m. So, DH and I got out of bed 31.5 hours ago. It was a LONG day The boys did great on the flights. Everyone slept a little, no one slept over 4 hours total. We were tired.

We spent the 9th and part of the 10th with both sets of Grandparents. It was great to see everyone again! Then the 10th we drove back to Omaha, met my DSIL and the nephew and neices at our hotel to swim and have dinner. It was so great, glad we did that the night before we left.

Early flight out of Omaha, on Continental. We were not late, we were late-ish. They were starting pre-boarding when we got to the gate. The Omaha airport is tiny, it takes no time to get anywhere. Flew to Houston for a layover. No problems. Then onto Orlando!!! Now, most people get excited at this point, I get stressed. I stay stressed until we are in a PARK. I tried to enjoy the moment. I swear I did. The good news is I kept most of it inside and tried to be patient. No problem on the flight. Arrive at Orlando and need to find the Magical Express. Finally located it. Once you find it the rest is easy! We board our bus to POP Century and a couple other resorts. They wait for it to fill up and away we go. Yup, I'm still feeling stressed and impatient. POP Century is the first stop...THANK GOODNESS. We check in.

No problem but our check in girl, Tequila, I am not making that up, that was her name, seemed new.

What was her mother thinking? Or was she??? We finally got through everything, which really took only minutes, but I'm impatient, and we were heading to our two rooms. It really is great having no luggage, Magical Express makes me happy .

Our room was....I have no idea. Sorry. A confession. I took no notes!!! I tried to. I was so tired every night, I couldn't. Our room was in a building with a big Jukebox outside of it. How's that! We walked past the bowling pin pool to get to it! See, I DO know where we were, I just don't know the building name or room #. I think it was one of the farthest buildings, but it was fine for us. No one is in a stroller and all are troopers, for the most part, about walking. Anyway...we walk into room one. First reaction . I think we were all a bit surprised. They were nothing special. We knew it was going to be this way. We made this decision. POR rooms are not much better. But first impression was pretty Motel 6ish and I'm being stressed and impatient anyway. Then we looked at the 2nd room and it was identical! It was supposed to be! They were fine. Really they were. After the initial reveal we never thought about it again. They served us very well for the 6 nights we were there.

OK, so I literally dump out the contents of one of our carry-on backpacks and stuff in our jackets and some light up toy thingies that I brought along. Oh and I strap on my so very unfashionable fanny pack. I tried to purchase a lime green cool looking fanny pack from Amazon.com. I waited too long. I had to go to tiny Wal-Mart in tiny Nebraska town. They had one type of fanny pack. I found it in the hunting gear section. Yup. Camoflage. I didn't care. I strapped on the ugly thing and was ready to head to a park. DH flops down on a bed. If I would have had a whistle I would have blown it. Poor family with impatient mother. They will thank me later I swear! I kindly convince everyone that we need to MOVE, GO, EXIT. They do, we board the bus to MGM.

End of travel day installment. I will write about the evening at MGM in the next installment.

I promised Jami I would count my blessings This post sounds a bit negative, but I swear I realize there were blessings. Here they are...
1. our only delayed flight was our last one, so it didn't mess up all the rest!
2. DHs parents are sweet to drive 3 hours to pick us up at the airport. Boy it feels great to have someone there when you arrive.
3.Spending the first two days in the USA with family was great fun.
4.Magical Express.
5.Four beds, two toilets, two tvs, two rooms!
6.Scott, Jacob, Nathan, Matthew!

This is an amazing start Katy! Gosh your family has stamina! Are we going to get pictures???

 

[Katy Belle]

Stamina....never thought of it like that...craziness....strange need to vacation....Stamina!!!! I like that better! Thanks Jami you made me smile.

Pictures....another confession. I don't even know how to download from the camera to the computer. Jacob may be able to help. I will try. No promises. I would like you too see our Mickey Head Tie-Dye shirts!

Thanks for reading Jami!
Katy

 

[ckmommy]

Great Job Katy!!


I do not know if I could have handled all that flying and jet lag with virtually no room to catch up on my sleep. I bet your boys were wanting to see their friends when you were at IAH???

Loved to see the blessings part at the end. Hope you can figure out how to post pictures. Can't wait to read the rest of the report.

 

[Lovemy3babes]

Great report so far!! I'm glad to hear good things about the Omaha airport. That's where we'll be flying out of on our next trip.

 

[Katy Belle]

Oh! Thanks so much for the kind words! You are encouraging! I will forge onward!
Lovemy3babes, Omaha airport is tiny and easy! They do seem to delay flights out of there on a regular basis, but so does Ohare in Chicago....actually maybe Omaha is delayed waiting for those delayed planes from Chicago! Other than that, tiny, small, easy. Enjoy!

ckmommy, YES, the boys thought it unresonable to be so close to their buddies yet so far! One fun thing...you know that bronze statue of George Bush Sr.? We took photos on our 2004 trip of each boy with that statue and we ran into it again, so now we have cool "start of the trip" photos to show their growth!

Thanks for reading!
Katy

 

[Katy Belle]

The cast....
Me..Katy 38 MOM
DH..Scott 41 DAD
DS11...Jacob-Loves all things Disney
DS9...Nathan-Daredevil-huge imagination
DS6...Matthew-getting braver every minute

I Guess this is Day 1. Dec. 11, MGM evening

OK, so we are on a bus to MGM. We arrive, 4:10. Our plane landed at 2:30ish. We are doing great, time-wise. I am still stressed. I swear, it only lasts until I am IN a park, then I chill, I swear. So we arrive. Scott stops at a stand outside to purchase something, I do not remember what, but I remember feeling stressed, impatient and slowed down. I tried to chill and made a purchase myself. Three autograph books for my three boys. Times have changed. In 2003 I hunted for el-cheapo notebooks, bought el-cheapo stickers from the Dollar Tree and made these cute, el-cheapo autograph books. We used them in DisneyLand Paris too. They are full. This time, I threw money at it and bought them. They are cute, they took NO time to create and we are happy!

Our tickets work! First time doing the finger scan thingy. DH is joking about Disney having not only all his $ but his DNA too. I am IN a park. MGM. I am happy, relaxed and patient.

We head to RRC. Mentally preparing everyone that lines are probably long and fastpasses are probably gone. WRONG! I don't remember exactly how it worked, but we easily got on RRC and TOT! Actually, Matthew and I shopped and talked while the rest went on TOT. He wasn't feeling brave enough to do this yet. It is one of my few regrets of the trip. I wish we would have forced, oh I mean encourgaed, him to do it. I think he was ready, just didn't know it. Anyway, he blew $3 on a rubber skull that has worms inside when you squoosh it. Way cool. Scott and the big boys come off TOT. Loved it! This was Scott's first time on it, he really loved it. Jacob and Nathan did too, but we already knew that! Nathan has $. When Nathan has $ he must spend it. He chooses a skull necklace. DH shoots him down. He chooses another necklace. Cool. Silver, chain inside, cool. He spends! He's happy and cute. He has really long hair and now a really cool necklace. Cool.

The whole family rode RRC. Matthew's first time! I messed up here. When we got to the inside CM she asked, "How many?" I replied "two" because we had already split ourselves up and I was with Matthew. Turns out I should have said 5 and they would have arranged us all on the same car. First mistake ever Anyway, Scott ended up on the next car. Matthew was quiet the whole ride. I was hoping he liked it. He loved it. While crawling out he was yelling, "Yeah! WooHoo! That was awesome!" in this teenager-ish gutterall sound, he's 6. It was way funny. The CM there, male teenagerish looking dude, loved it. He told us to go again, through the back door! We stared to, then realized Scott would think we were lost. We had no way to contact him, he left his Blackberry in the room, believe me that is a good thing. Anyway, we waited for him and exited.

We walked to Sci-Fi Drive in Diner. We had a ADR here for 6, or sometime around that time, no notes, sorry! We got there a bit early. First time here. We checked in and sat down to wait. OK, this will probably not come out as funny as it was in real life, but I will try. While we waited different waitresses would come and call peoples names to seat them. There was one waitress that walked with kind of a feet shuffle kind of movement. She had a Santa hat on pulled way down over her bangs. She was cute. She walked across, staring straight ahead, away from all of us waiting...and said, in a nasal voice, much like the voice of Roz, #1, from Monsters Inc. OK, read this nasal-ly, "Ashley Sears, now seating Ashley Sears table of 4." We all just looked at each other. Was she trying to be funny or was this just how she really was? We giggled a bit and waited a bit more. Here she comes again. OK, read nasal-ly, "Billy Buttnuff, now seating Billy Buttnuff party of 2." Nathan leans over and whispers, in a not so quiet 9yr old whisper, "Is BUTTNUFF really someone's last name????" While he is whispering, the people sitting RIGHT next to him hop off and follow her! We BUST into laughter. It was funny. Maybe you had to be there, or maybe you have to be the mother of 3 boys, but it was FUNNY.

Someone else came and seated us, good thing . We were in a real car, we waited for one. Nathan and Matthew up front, Scott and I in the middle, and J in the backseat. First experience with Dining Plan. New kids menu. All is well. Both boys order tomato soup, Nathan the burger, Matthew the Mac-n-cheese, both the Sundae. Scott ordered onion rings, a cheeseburger, and hot fudge sundae. Jacob ordered BLT soup, Chicken Caesar Salad, and hot fudge Sundae. I ordererd Spinach and Artichoke Dip, Butcher Steak, and the chocolate tart. Right as the appetizers came, Matthew turned green I rushed him to the restroom, we didn't make it. He got sick right outside the door of the restroom. YUCK. Sorry if you were there, sorry. Cleaned him up, he felt better. I found someone with a mop. We went back to the table. Neither boy liked the tomato soup. They take tomate soup in their thermoses for lunch, but they wouldn't eat this. They did eat the rest, yes, even after getting sick he ate some. The Spinach and Artichoke Dip was just ok. Everything else was good. Too much quantity-wise, but good. I loved the chocolate tart.

Our waiter was fun. I do not remember his name, no notes... He joked with the kids, he was very accomodating and helpful. Brought beers and drink refills promptly. We were happy. I hope Billy Buttnuff and his wife were too

Back into the park. I have a plan. The plan is to see the night-time stuff tonight, so on our MGM day we can leave early and hop to another park! My plan worked! We went to Osborne Family Spectacle of Lights. We LOVED it. It is FANTASTIC. I'm so happy we got to see it. One thing about living in the Middle East, in a Muslim country, we miss Christmas lights, music, etc. We all loved it, even the soapy snow. It was all great and fun. From there we go to the HISTK playground. Closed. Bummer. Closes at 5 or something. Its ok, we have a full day planned at MGM. So we go to the Muppet Show. We've seen it before. We liked it before, we still like it. It is cute, funny, creative.

Then we head to Fantasmic. Woah! We are entering with several hundred of our Disney Friends. Woah. We get to the back of the stadium and they are saying, "standing room only." We decide to go for it anyway. Its the plan. We go to the left. There are lots of seats left. Lots. We sit, close to the front but not close enough to get wet. We learned last time! Fantasmic was FANTASTIC. Love it.

We are tired. Didn't we hold up well for jet-laggers??? I was impressed with us. I don't know what time it was, late, 10ish maybe. We hop on a bus to POP and spend night one!!!

Blessings...
1.Scott's excitement about TOT.
2.Matthew's braveness and grown-up attitude following RRC.
3.Billy. He brought fun and laughter to us.
4.Christmas lights. Christmas music.

Now an apology...to Billy. Its all in fun. Please forgive me

Katy

 

[mlill]

...and said, in a nasal voice, much like the voice of Roz, #1, from Monsters Inc. OK, read this nasal-ly, "Ashley Sears, now seating Ashley Sears table of 4." We all just looked at each other. Was she trying to be funny or was this just how she really was? We giggled a bit and waited a bit more. Here she comes again. OK, read nasal-ly, "Billy Buttnuff, now seating Billy Buttnuff party of 2." Nathan leans over and whispers, in a not so quiet 9yr old whisper, "Is BUTTNUFF really someone's last name????" While he is whispering, the people sitting RIGHT next to him hop off and follow her! We BUST into laughter. It was funny. Maybe you had to be there, or maybe you have to be the mother of 3 boys, but it was FUNNY.

Now an apology...to Billy. Its all in fun. Please forgive me

Katy

You know it's gonna be a good TR when you spit coffee out because you're laughing too hard! GREAT start! I'm also amazed at how much you had to go through just to get to WDW! Now THAT's Disney love!

Can't wait to read more!

-Michelle

 

[MARY-IN-OH]

Hi Katy! you're trip report is goin' great!

You can do that picture posting thing if you want to! I didn't get up the nerve to figure it out till I started my report. Transfer your pics to your computer, Just go on photo bucket and get a login ID, browse for your photos. Choose message board size once and it should keep the setting. Open and Download! When the pic pops up, click on the bottom line (you'll set it) and copy/paste right to the line in your TR. I was so afraid to do it at first, and ended up really easy and a lot of fun! I did a test first on the test board, then previewed the post and was shocked that I did it!

If you get stuck, those folks on the Tech Board and Photography board are brilliant!
-mary

 

[tubachick]

loving your report!!! waiting for MORE

 

[Katy Belle]

Thanks Mary! It is weekend here now, Friday-Saturday. So I have DH and Jacob11, my tech support around. Maybe they will find time to help me! I do like the reports with photos.

Tubachick, Thanks! I will attempt to get another day out there this weekend. No promises. Baseball, soccer, playdates, adult dinner out, fighting for the computer. That is our weekend in a nutshell!

Stay tuned all....I will return!
Katy

 

[Bee]

Ok, I am in... When I read you were in my city... yes Omaha, I felt compelled to read your tr. The Omaha airport is nice, but small. It is really nice because you dont have to walk for miles to get somewhere.

Loving the report... and like any good Nebraskan I will now talk about the weather... sure was nice when you were here... but, now has dropped to below 0 and we have some snow on the ground.

Glad we could make the trip report. Cant wait to read more.

 

[Katy Belle]

Bee, I know its cold there now. We've been laughing at the weather. When we were in NE for Chirstmas it wasn't bad. Since we've returned home we've been freezing! We live in a dessert! Actually, its been in the 50s, but no heaters in the huge concrete houses makes it cold. At least in NE people are prepared for it!

I actually love the Omaha airport. It has everything you need. Bookstore and restaurants! OHare and both London airports drive me nuts!

Michelle, Thanks for the encouragement. I hope my memory holds out and I'm able to provide details for the whole trip.

 

[Katy Belle]

The cast....
Me..Katy 38 MOM
DH..Scott 41 DAD
DS11...Jacob-Loves all things Disney
DS9...Nathan-Daredevil-huge imagination
DS6...Matthew-getting braver every minute

Dec. 12- Pop Century food court, Disney Quest, Chef Mickey, MVMCP

OK, let's see what I remember. No notes, but I do have my photos!

We got to bed late. We were exhausted. We planned to sleep late. JET LAG. One annoying thing about jet lag is that even though you are tired, or exhausted, there are times that your body cannot sleep because it is convinced it is day time. We didn't do too badly, I think everyone slept until 5:30a.m. All were awake by 6:30. The bad deal, we are going to Disney Quest, which doesn't open until 11. The days we want to be up early, we sleep!

We went to POP Century food court and had breakfast. Breakfast on vacation is a fun treat. We all enjoy it. We had usual breakfast stuff. Honestly, we didn't really try to "maxamize" the DDP. We just ate what we wanted. I had french toast that was yummy. We had lots of bacon and sausage. Pork fest. No pork allowed in our country, we pork out on vacation. We enjoyed it. Then onto the gift shop and Scott went to the room to get some work out of the way. We bought various necessities. Big Mickey hand gloves, pins, hats, and my $10 Tink Christmas watch, that I'm still wearing and its the end of Jan!

Then to the Concierge desk. I thought I had left all my paperwork, including ADRs and confirmation #s at my MILs. I found all of that when we moved to Hard Rock Hotel. I went to the Concierge desk and a very nice lady printed out all of my ADRs! I would do this even if you have your info. Then you know for sure everything is correct. I also bought our Disney Quest tickets from her. $ was flying out of my hands this morning. All of this took some time. Then back to the room to get Scott and the ugly camo fannypack.

We got on the bus to DownTown Disney. We have never been here before. Last trip we stayed at POR and really intended to go, but it never happened. We got there around 10. All the shops were open. We walked through some. I loved everything. I bought nothing. Until we hit the LEGO store. WOW. We loved that place. Nathan had already blown through his $. Matthew and Jacob were able to buy these little lanyard things with a pouch and build little lego dudes,aka mini-figs to go inside. Way cool for $9. They bellied up to the minifig bar and stayed there quite a while. Meanwhile I earned myself AUNT OF THE YEAR award. I foudn the LEGO CRANE. My nephew had this high on his wish list and it was sold out everywhere...except Orlando! I called his parents and of course they wanted me to get it. I had it sent to the room. AUNT OF THE YEAR. We bought some other little things...a kitchen timer in the shape of a mini-fig head, salt and pepper shakers, other needed items , all sent to the room.

Finally its time for Disney Quest to open. It was nice to have taken care of the ticket purchase at the hotel. We walked right in. LOVED IT. The boys were It is not cheap, but if you have 3 boys who love video games, then it is worth it. We did this on our MVMCP day as to not waste a paid park day. We did the CyberSpace Mountain many, many times. Nathan's were all 10s, on a fear scale, and I got a little motion sick riding with him. Matthew and I drew Mickey Mouse in an animation class. I bought his, not mine I'm apparently not as artistic as I thought I was. I'll blame it on having to hop up and help Matthew several times....that's my story and I'm stickin' to it. We LOVED Pirates of the Caribbean and did it two, maybe three times. It was really fun, even for Mom and Dad. Virtual Jungle Cruise - We did not really like this one. Maybe we didn't figure it out, but it was just a lot of paddling with little reward. Invasion! An ExtraTERRORestrial Alien Encounter - Fun, did it twice, switching drivers. Buzz Lightyear's Astroblasters - bumper car things...Scott, Matthew and Jacob did this one. They liked it, but it gave them a work out!

Ride the Comix - This is a virtual reality game where you wear a helmet thingy and fight off characters. We played this several times. Oh...this is funny. Nathan has long hair, several inches past shoulders long hair. He has been wearing his Mickey Pirate Hat, its red, not pink, he has his cool boy necklace, but today we are wearing our tie-dye Mickey shirts. His is blue, yellow, green, but maybe it contributed to the next scene. We were entering this game and the CM there says, "Come on in Pirate Princess." I said, "Actually, he's a Prince." She was so sweet! She apologized many times and said she was especially sorry because when she was a little girl people always thought she was a Prince! It didn't bother Nathan. He's used to it and still wants the long hair.

Mighty Ducks Pinball Slam - The boys and I did this one. Great fun! It was us and a Dad and his 7yr old daughter. The daughter Won! I got second. That gave me bragging rights for the day. This is a physical ride. If you are wanting some exercise hop on!

We also did lots of other stuff! It was great fun. It is expensive, but worth it, if its your thing. We also had lunch here. I had the Italian Panini. It was too moist for me. Everyone was happy with what they had to eat. One will NOT starve at WDW.

Oh, one more thing. Matthew did this thing where you design a toy, like the kid, is it Sid??, from Toy Story I. He spent his own $ to buy it. He liked it very much. I had Disney Quest ship it to the room, along with his drawing from the Animation place. That was a mistake. I'll get to that later.

I have to run! I will post this now and hopefully more tomorrow.
Katy

Oh..I'll do blessings at the end of Dec. 12 instead of the end of each installment.
Katy