Welcome Gurley Family--you are FAMILY OF THE DAY!!

[mickeystoontown]

I would have made use of the club level lounge too. From your pictures, it looks like there were quite a few breakfast offerings.

Man oh man, what I wouldn't give for a crowd free day at the Magic Kingdom. You guys were able to do a lot of stuff in just a little time.

 

[brookelizabeth]

I'm here! I got your link to work that you PMed me. I hope what I wrote back makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't.

I still have to read, but wanted to get you on my subscriptions. Gotta play with the little man now, be back later.

 

[blessedby3]

I would have made use of the club level lounge too. From your pictures, it looks like there were quite a few breakfast offerings.

Man oh man, what I wouldn't give for a crowd free day at the Magic Kingdom. You guys were able to do a lot of stuff in just a little time.

We did get our use out of the lounge!! Im sure the CM's thought--we see that Gurley family more than the families that are staying on this floor The offerings were pretty good. They would change them up a little every other day, so the 1st, 3rd, 5th, etc. would have one set of foods, and then the 2nd, 4th, 6th, etc. would have another set of foods.

I loved those crowd free mornings....the family would thank me for getting them up early then! We were able to do so much in the am in just a couple of hours

I'm here! I got your link to work that you PMed me. I hope what I wrote back makes sense. Let me know if it doesn't.

I still have to read, but wanted to get you on my subscriptions. Gotta play with the little man now, be back later.

Thank you SO much Brook!! I'm glad you were able to help me. I thought I was going to lose my mind. Things that should be easy are always a problem for me! Now I have my TR link and my ticker back! No more stress for me-lol. Have fun with Henry! I need to get off and play with Alexa too...its her 3rd Birthday today and we need to have some FUN!

 

[blessedby3]

Since today is my baby's 3rd birthday, I just wanted to share a couple of pictures from Alexa's birthday party from this weekend Sorry some are a little blurry

 

[blessedby3]

So I left off with us having enjoyed the carosel. We wanted to get in Space Mountain before it got crazy, so Kayla, Jonah, Alexa and I headed that way while Tony took Olivia to ride BTMR and get fast passes for Splash. Kayla and Jonah rode SM first, and practically walked right on. Maybe a 5 min wait. They didnt even get to play with the new electronic game area for while you wait! I waited with Alexa in the dump shop. Alexa had a snack and I got our yorkie poo (whose name is Lilo) a dog tag made in the machine. We got her a Stitch one
I didnt think the kids would be done so fast and took Alexa into the game room. Kayla and Jonah came off the ride and didnt see me in the shop and went outside looking for us. They finally found me and I couldnt believe how fast they were in and out of there! Kayla sat with Alexa and then Jonah and I rode.....I love this ride!
Tony and Olivia then showed up after riding BTMR and getting our FP's for Splash. We decided to head over to Buzz and then did Monsters Inc. So funny. I wish my DH would get picked sometime to be in the show. He would be so good!

After Monsters, we decided to get some lunch and headed over to Pinocchios (sp) Village House. We got 3 kids pizza's, a meatball sub and chicken nuggets. It was your regular Disney fare and we left full.
We ventured over to the Haunted Mansion and it was a walk on as well. Alexa had fallen asleep during lunch so that worked out well as I was sure she wouldnt like this after not liking Pirates the day before. The rest of us enjoyed it We decided to go to Splash to use our fastpasses.
She woke up on our way to Splash and we found a friend to have a picture made with:

I also snapped a pic of my family

Once we got to Splash, we discovered that it was broken down. We decided to wait for just a bit and let Alexa play on the playground beside it

She loved this play area and played on it many times during our trip. Once it opened back up we took turns riding with the older kids and used the baby swap. Afterwards we went back to BTMR (we really love this ride) and baby swapped it too. Cant remember the exact wait time, but it was 20 mins or under.

After BTMR it was getting close to closing time. This was an early close day (open 9-5) as there was a private party that night in the MK. We decided to head back to BLT and were hoping to enjoy a swim. We jumped on the monorail since we were going to the lounge to check out the evening offerings. Got there around 5pm and we really didnt like what they had. We arent adventureous people and food seemed strange. We tried a couple of things, but the kids were definately not eating anything. We decided to go to the Contempo Cafe. We really liked this on our last trip. We werent disappointed. We got 2 roast beef sandwiches, a pasta flatbread, an alfredo pasta and a kids chicken nuggets. After eating we headed back to the room and collapsed on the sofas
We were feeling the pains of the day and talked of getting in the pool. After going back and forth on what to do we decided to swim. Problem is, that by the time we were suited up, it started pouring rain.
We decided to just take it easy. I threw in a load of clothes, everyone got showers and we just relaxed.
Right before 8pm we decided to check out what the lounge puts out for desserts. We walked back over to the CR and headed upstairs. Oh boy, this was our time of the day as far as that lounge goes!! The desserts were to die for. We sampled lots:

It was all so good and we headed back to the room afterwards, but made a stop in the gift shops on the Concourse. It felt so good to get back and in the bed. I knew that morning (and early morning at that) would be here so soon! We had ressies for Ohana at 7:50am.....I would have to blast them out of the bed in the morning!

 

[brookelizabeth]

All caught up now!

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXA!!! 3 is a fun age, isn't it? They are learning so much, so quickly!

Loving the TR - how incredible that you got access to the lounge all week!!! I would just love that. And those MK crowds, Peter Pan a walk on?!?! That doesn't happen very often!! I hope that mojo continues throughout the week.

 

[blessedby3]

All caught up now!

First things first, HAPPY BIRTHDAY ALEXA!!! 3 is a fun age, isn't it? They are learning so much, so quickly!

Loving the TR - how incredible that you got access to the lounge all week!!! I would just love that. And those MK crowds, Peter Pan a walk on?!?! That doesn't happen very often!! I hope that mojo continues throughout the week.

Thanks for the Birthday wishes for Alexa....I am loving this age. Just sad that I will never have a 2 year old again

It was incredible having access to that lounge
We definately used it AND enjoyed it!

 

[blessedby3]

Day 3...Monday

Today we had a 7:50 ressie for Ohanas. It was awfully early to get 6 people up, dressed and out the door to be at the Poly by 7:50, but hey, we had the monorail to hop on--no problem I wanted to be able to get to Epcot as early to opening as possible! My mom had made my 2 younger girls Lilo dresses and they looked so cute!
We headed over to concourse to board the monorail and wouldnt it be just our luck--the monorail was not running!!! They were having technical difficulties---UGGHHH!! We were pushing it as it were to get to our breakfast on time and now we had to do quick thinking! We decided to go to the van and drive over since we were right next door. It was raining this morning, so we threw the kids and the stroller in the van and Tony dropped us all off under the covered area at the Poly. The kids and I went in and upstairs to get checked in. We werent too late, maybe 10 mins and we were seated right away We have eaten at the Poly for breakfast for the past 6 years. We really love this- its delicious and the character interaction has always been good. I also love that it is served family style so you dont have to worry about missing the characters while going back and forth to the buffet table. They bring all the food right to you! Here are a few pics:

The picture they take before you eat

Olvia and Stitch

All the kids with Stitch

Lilo with Olvia and Alexa

Alexa kissing Plutos nose and Kayla

Here is a picture of Pluto signing my photo mat. The past 2 years I have taken a mat out of a photo frame and we have had the characters sign it. It makes a nice keepsake

We had seen Lilo, Stitch and Pluto, but Mickey never came over (and he had been to all the tables around us). We were wanting to get on with our day, so we asked a CM if they could see what was up with Mickey. The CM went and fetched him and brought the big cheese over. Mickey was very rushed with us and we only got 2 pictures total. I have never had a problem with the character interaction at Ohanas, but guess there is always a first. I got him to sign our mat and snapped one pic while he was doing that. Then a lady at the next table offered to get a family pic with Mickey. We got that pic, and when I went to get my camera from her and take some of Mickey with my kids he was gone
Oh well, guess we will see Mickey (hopefully in a better mood) somewhere else in the parks! Here are the 2 pics we got with Mickey

They also brought out a cupcake for Jonah as we were celebrating his birthday

We ended another delicious meal (I dont know why I dont have pictures of our plates--I thought I took them) and headed back to the van. It was about 9:15. We had to drive back over to BLT and park the van, then get on the monorail to Epcot. The girls changed their clothes in the van and we headed back up to the monorail. We had seen it going by when we left the Poly so we knew it was working. We arrived at Epcot at 10.....what would we go to first?????

 

[blessedby3]

So we entered the gates of Epcot and headed straight for Soarin---just like the masses do. Thankfully it was still fairly early so the crowds werent too bad. I sent Tony in to get fast passes for us and took the rest of the Gurley Gang over to Nemo. It was a walk on, so we waited for Tony to get back and we walked straight through to loading area.
Alexa loved this ride

Olivia and her daddy

After we got off we went over to Turtle Talk. They must have just let a group in, because we there was only one other family waiting besides us. We looked at all the fishies and waited. We got into the next show and as always, it was funny to hear what the kids say.
After leaving this we got a picture with Dory out front

We decided to head over to Mission Space. Kayla doesnt ride this because she cant do simulator rides, so she sat with Alexa while the rest of us rode. It was a 20 min ride for the non spinny side.
After MS, we headed to Test Track and got fast passes for that. Cant remember the standby time, but we didnt wait so it must have been 30 mins or more. We decided we wanted to get some Mexican food and headed that way. Alexa needed a change, so we made a stop at the Baby Care Center. I love those centers! They are so nice and of course the air conditioning is a bonus! We came out of the BCC and walked right into Mexico. The Counter Service was down for refurbishment, but there was a small stand that was selling a few things. We got 2 orders of Nachos to share and some sodas. Delicious!! I cant wait to see the new Counter service when we go back in May. We always enjoy eating there!
After our snack, we headed over to Innoventions to get our Disney Visa pictures made. I got in line and Olivia walked around with her dad to kill time. Alexa was asleep (unfortunately) in the stroller. I didnt want to wake her so we would have to go with pics of her asleep. There were about 5 or 6 families in line ahead of us, but this moves pretty fast.
Once inside we had Minnie and Goofy waiting on us.

This one is so cute. Minnie has her finger over her lip to say shhhh, baby is sleeping

and one of the whole family

We left Innoventions after Olivia played a couple of games and headed to Soarin. Alexa was still asleep and in the stroller so we could only bring it in to the upper lobby area. Tony took the kids down (we were using our fast passes) and rode and then I rode with Kayla and Olivia afterwards. This is SO my favorite ride in Epcot
We decided to head back to BLT and relax a bit.
We picked up our Disney Visa pictures on the way out. Here are a few pics as we left

Kayla in front of a giraffe topiary

and Kayla holding up the "ball"

It started raining on our way out of the park, but we were able to get on the monorail walkway and in before getting soaked. We were hoping for a swim....would the rain subside? Will we get to finally swim after trying twice? Stay tuned

 

[brookelizabeth]

I want to try the Ohana breakfast sometime, it was on the "possible" list for this upcoming trip, but didn't make the final cut. Maybe next time! I think Henry would really enjoy meeting Stitch. Love the girls' Lilo dresses too!!!

Looks like a very fun day in Epcot! We tried the little Mexico stand and thought it was delicious as well. The new CS is getting great reviews so far. It's a TS at night and that is also getting great reviews! I'm looking forward to trying it!!!!

 

[blessedby3]

I want to try the Ohana breakfast sometime, it was on the "possible" list for this upcoming trip, but didn't make the final cut. Maybe next time! I think Henry would really enjoy meeting Stitch. Love the girls' Lilo dresses too!!!

Looks like a very fun day in Epcot! We tried the little Mexico stand and thought it was delicious as well. The new CS is getting great reviews so far. It's a TS at night and that is also getting great reviews! I'm looking forward to trying it!!!!

Ohana is really good....and thats where I get my Mickey waffle fix!! I know you just tried them for the first time on your trip They are soooo delicious! They also have a parade that will happen a couple of times while you are eating, and the characters lead the kids around and they give the kids intruments to play while they circle the restaraunt. Hopefully you can try it on your next trip---especially since you will have SO much time (Im just green with envy)
So you are saying that the Mexican place is the CS and TS?? I didnt know that. I thought they just redid the CS. Cant wait to try it whatever the case may be! Thanks for reading.....I think I have lost some of my readers/posters

 

[brookelizabeth]

So you are saying that the Mexican place is the CS and TS?? I didnt know that. I thought they just redid the CS. Cant wait to try it whatever the case may be! Thanks for reading.....I think I have lost some of my readers/posters

Yep, it's CS during the day and TS at night. I imagine it will be a wonderful place to watch Illuminations from during dinner!

I hope you didn't loose anyone, maybe they just aren't caught up with their subscriptions! I generally try to read anyone's PTR/TR that reads my reports, and then a few extra - go "pimp out your TR" on others that you read! Generally people don't mind the shameless plug.

 

[blessedby3]

Yep, it's CS during the day and TS at night. I imagine it will be a wonderful place to watch Illuminations from during dinner!

I hope you didn't loose anyone, maybe they just aren't caught up with their subscriptions! I generally try to read anyone's PTR/TR that reads my reports, and then a few extra - go "pimp out your TR" on others that you read! Generally people don't mind the shameless plug.

That sounds really cool. Cant wait to try it!
Maybe some lurkers will post soon...

 

[blessedby3]

I left off with us making an exit out of Epcot in the rain...and was hoping the rain wouldnt last long! We made it back to BLT and decided to order some pizza from Giordanos Pizza. They were recommended on the dis and we usually order pizza at least once on our trips. My oldest doesnt eat much pizza, so she got a turkey club sandwich. We also ordered a large pepporoni pizza and an order of fettucini alfredo. Tony went down to the lobby to meet them and we were eating in no time! It was delicious and after we had stuffed ourselves and cleaned up we noticed it had quit raining. The kids put on their suits, but Tony and I decided we werent up to swimming and went to watch the kiddos. They all had a great time. They loved the pool slides and Alexa loved the zero entry pool, as well as the pop jet area. Here are some pics:

Alexa

Alexa and Olivia

The view of BLT from the pool

The fun slide

The kids had so much fun, but we wanted to get back to Epcot so we headed back the room so they could change. We got back to Epcot at 7:30. We wanted to try and watch Illuminations. We had time to go to Test Track and use our fastpasses. We had no wait at all in the fastpass line so we split up and did the baby swap too. That way all the kids (except Alexa) can ride twice. This ride is so much fun
After TT we headed over to Mousegear. We love this store and were hoping to get to look around for a while. My oldest, Kayla, found a purse in there she wanted to get. It was a Doney and Burke (sp) and I have never seen purses that expensive I told her we would think about it and they would have them at other stores.
We ended up getting Alexa a Piglet stuffed animal. She had discovered she loved him beyond measure and had to have one!!

Alexa was quite happy to have a new friend!

We were so tired and didnt feel like walking across to the lagoon to get a better view of Illuminations. We watched for a bit on the Future World side, then decided to head back. The little ones were antsy and we didnt want to get caught in the fleeing patrons....so off we went to the monorail.
We decided on the monorail ride back that we would go up to the lounge for a quick treat. They finished serving them at 10:00. Of course, nothing goes smoothly for us, so we got stuck on the monorail at 9:40. We were just past the Grand Floridian, but before the MK. We sat and waited for a bit, and then were moving again--thank goodness! We got up to the lounge at 9:55 and grabbed some delicious desserts and drinks. We were just in time for Wishes I dont have any pics--guess we were rushing and made it in the nick of time. After watching Wishes from the balcony, with the music piped in, we headed back to the room for a good nights sleep!
On the agenda for tomorrow-------Disney Hollywood Studios.....or as I still refer to it, MGM

 

[mickeystoontown]

I hated to read that Mickey didn't stay at your table long while you were eating at Ohana's. Guess he was in a rush to get somewhere.

It certainly sounds as if you guys had a good time at Epcot. I am anxious to try the next Mexico counter service next May too.

We just got our Disney Visa and I am looking forward to the photo opportunity at Epcot. I didn't even know about it until I read someone's post on the Dis. Gotta love the Disboards!

Yay for getting to finally swim! The kids looked like they were having fun.

 

[blessedby3]

Day 4.....MGM
I was up at 6:45 and rousting everyone out of the bed. They were getting more grumpy about having to get up early...but we had to do it!! You get so much more done early at the parks
We all got dressed and headed up to the lounge for breakfast. It was delicious as usual and after we ate we went down to the car to drive over to MGM. We usually dont have a car and take the busses, but since we drove down we decided to take advantage of not having to endure extra smelly bodies (riding the busses) and drove ourselves over to MGM. We left BLT at 8:30 and arrived at MGM at 9:00. Their hours were 9-7 and it was a green TGM day
We entered the park and headed straight for TSM. The fast passes were for 10:50 and the line was a bit of a wait so we decided not to do standby, but come back later and use the fp. On the way to TOT, we saw Pooh and Piglet out, and since Alexa discovered that Piglet was the best thing since sliced bread, we had to stop
Here are a couple of pics of the kids with Pooh and Piglet

They were so cute
Then we proceded over to the TOT. My older 3 kids and I just love this----Tony, not so much! He offered to sit out the first ride with Alexa and so Kayla, Jonah, Olivia and I headed in. NO WAIT, a complete walk on--woohoo
We rode and came off uber excited and I told Tony I would sit with Alexa so he could go with the kids. He said he didnt think he wanted to ride---scaredy cat--so I said, you dont have to say it twice, and off we went again. NO WAIT again--yipee!!! After coming off the ride for the second time, we decided to head over to The Little Mermaid. I knew Alexa would love this show. On the way over, Olivia decided to press a couple of pennies. She loved doing this.

We then made it over to The Little Mermaid.

We only had to wait about 5 mins for them to let us in for the show. Alexa was a little apprehensive at first, but then quickly got into the show and loved it as I thought she would. After coming out of TLM, we headed over to the Animation building to get some character pictures. We were introduced to Lotso. TS3 was not out yet, and the CM said that Lotso was the villan. I just couldnt believe it as he was so cute and cuddly.

Of course we found out later that he indeed was a villan---but he is SO cute

We ended up leaving there and headed back towards TSM to use our fastpasses. Upon arrival we knew there were problems. The ride was broken down and they didnt know when or if it would be back up. It had been down twice already, they said. YIKES!! This was our ONLY MGM day and we really wanted to ride TSM!! We decided we would check back in later. We took a couple of pics

We decided we would get pics with Buzz and Woody, which was close by. The had a cute que area:

And then we finally got to meet Buzz and Woody

 

[blessedby3]

We decided to walk throught the back streets and take a few pics. I had never really been back there for any amount of time, but we enjoyed the quietness and got some cute pictures:
Kayla and Oliva on the steps of apartments:

 

[blessedby3]

Whoops, hit the wrong button..I have to get Alexa some lunch, so I will finish the post later.

 

[blessedby3]

I hated to read that Mickey didn't stay at your table long while you were eating at Ohana's. Guess he was in a rush to get somewhere.

It certainly sounds as if you guys had a good time at Epcot. I am anxious to try the next Mexico counter service next May too.

We just got our Disney Visa and I am looking forward to the photo opportunity at Epcot. I didn't even know about it until I read someone's post on the Dis. Gotta love the Disboards!

Yay for getting to finally swim! The kids looked like they were having fun.

Hey Mickeystoontown
I hated that Mickey didnt stay long either! We have never had a problem at Ohana's with that. Oh well.....
The Disney Visa picture is great. We actually have 2 Disney Visa's- one in my name and one in Dh's name. We always get to pick 2 pictures and they are 5 x 7 size. Its a nice perk and we never have to wait long for it. Also, they only take your family in so there is no one else in there with you
And the kids were excited to get to swim

 

[brookelizabeth]

I took down Giordanos Pizza for my trip notes on a place to order pizza from! That is a great idea, and then if there are leftovers it's so easy in the Villa to store them. I love that!

Great updates! I sure hope TSM comes back up long enough at least for you to ride it!!!! We hate yet to do the Little Mermaid, but I'm making it a priority for March, everyone says it's great!