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

[blessedby3]

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!

We definately had leftovers from our dinner and we snacked on them a couple of times! There are a couple of Giordanos nearby and I had a hard time figuring out which one would deliver to us. Neither one seemed to want to, but I can give you the numbers....
Lake Buena Vista....407-239-8900
Kissimmee.............407-397-0044
They also have a website.....www.giordanos.com
I went on and looked at their menu before our trip so I knew what everyone would want. I believe that the Lake Buena Vista one delivered ours, but I can double check in my other notebook to be sure.

And The Little Mermaid is fun..hope you get to do it on your next trip

 

[blessedby3]

So I left off with us walking the streets of MGM. We only passed a few people back there, and it was nice to leisurely stroll along.
Here is a picture of Kayla with the umbrella..

And a couple of the family...

Here they are trying to push the stroller up the hill....lol

As we came out on the other side we saw a couple of characters we have never seen before....and got a few pics

It was unbelieveably hot at this time and we wanted to get in some air conditioning. We decided to grab a bite to eat and relax. Cant remember the name of the place, but its right next door to Star Tours. It felt so good to sit and relax.
After lunch, Tony, Jonah and Olivia went over to do Star Tours since we were right there. Only a 10 min wait. Kayla and I decided to head over to Beauty and the Beast to grab some seats and the others would meet up with us after their ride.
We got some good seats and sat down trying to stay cool. Tony, Jonah and Olivia soon met up with us then the show started. I just love this show. Kayla's dream would be to play Belle in this show. She has sang at church since she was about 9 or 10 (not that she sings Disnesy songs there, lol, but she is a great singer) and has all these songs down pat. She is looking into the Disney College Program.....guess we will see. Here are a few pics from the show:

After Beauty and the Beast we decided to check out the TOT again since we were right there. We had fast passes from earlier, but didnt even need them
there was NO wait....we walked right into the pre show and only waited a few mins in the boiler room....Tony and Alexa sat out once again
What would we do next?? Would we ever get to ride TSM?? Would it finally get back up and running??? I have to run pick up the kids from school, so I will finish later!

 

[Shannon84]

I am jumping in and reading your report!!! How awesome to get family of the day, I did not know they did that at hotels. I have to tell you that I am terrified of the sound of balloons popping so reading your post about the balloons made me laugh

Did the umbrella work for you when you took a pic there (rain) it didnt for us and I must have looked like an idiot playing around it for 10 minutes at least lol

 

[ilovepete]

Great report!

 

[brookelizabeth]

That would be so amazing if she got to play Belle! What a dream come true that would be. I hope she is intrigued by, and takes the plunge for the College Program! I wish I had known about it, I would have done it in a heartbeat!

for no wait on ToT! That doesn't happen too often!

 

[blessedby3]

I am jumping in and reading your report!!! How awesome to get family of the day, I did not know they did that at hotels. I have to tell you that I am terrified of the sound of balloons popping so reading your post about the balloons made me laugh

Did the umbrella work for you when you took a pic there (rain) it didnt for us and I must have looked like an idiot playing around it for 10 minutes at least lol

Welcome to my report and I had heard of family of the day, but we never win ANYTHING so I never thought it would happen to us!
Glad to know someone else doesnt like balloons! People always ask me if I was traumatized by them when I was little...I dont remember anything like that, I just cant stand to hear them pop. And when little kids have them and they are squeezing them and making that horrrific sound-------YIKES
I never knew the umbrella rained! I guess you learn something new everyday. We were just playing around with it for pictures. I will have to try and make it rain next time. Is there a trick to it?

Great report!

Thanks so much and welcome to my report! Hopefully I will have time to post more later today

That would be so amazing if she got to play Belle! What a dream come true that would be. I hope she is intrigued by, and takes the plunge for the College Program! I wish I had known about it, I would have done it in a heartbeat!

for no wait on ToT! That doesn't happen too often!

Thanks Brook. Kayla (a junior) is actually a journalism major at Liberty University in VA. They are strict about their internships, and after talking with the Disney College program, I dont think they have an internship that would fall in her category. That said, if she signs up to do it after she graduates (she can do it after her spring semester of graduation) then it wouldnt matter because she would have done an internship already that would count towards her graduation internship. The DCP would just be a bonus one and wouldnt count towards her school anyway. We are still looking into that. The DCP is just an awsome experience that I would love for her to have. She wants to do it so badly, but it just wont fit in her college schedule and have her graduate on time. We are hoping it will work for her post college. I never realized you could do it the semester after graduation until after we went to their seminar.

And the TOT ---- yep, I love that ride

 

[blessedby3]

So, I left off with Kayla, Jonah, Olivia and I just getting off the TOT
I was hoping that we would get to ride TSM and that it was back up and running. The CM at the TSM fastpass machine had told us earlier that we could have any CM call and check to see if it was back up. That's just what we did--once off TOT, we walked into the dump shop and asked the CM to check and see if TSM was back up. She looked at me like I was crazy, but I explained what the other CM said and after conferring with another CM they made a call. IT WAS UP
We made a beeline straight over to TSM and got in the fast pass line. We were on after waiting about 10 mins. We had a great ride! Only a couple of pics from this for some reason

Afterwards we strolled back over towards the Art of Animation. My kids love to do the drawing class and we always get to have a nice souvineer! On the way over we met this dude and Kayla and Jonah got a picture with him

While Tony took Jonah and Olivia to the Art of Animation, Kayla and I decided to take Alexa to Playhouse Disney. We met Handy Manny before getting in line for the show (continued in next post--my computer has a mind of its own and keeps posting my threads before Im done)

 

[blessedby3]

Here is Handy Manny with Kayla and Alexa

Next we went and got in line for Playhouse Disney...Alexa loved this and it was her first time seeing it. I find it hard to sit through since you have to sit on the ground. Not too easy for a plus size 43 year OLD mom!

Kayla and Alexa enjoying the show

Once we were out Kayla, Alexa and I headed over to the Art of Animation building and waited for Tony, Jonah and Olivia. They were in line to take the class again, but Olivia got out of line to meet the Incedibles. Afterwards Kayla, Alexa and I relaxed and sat down for a break while we waited for everyone else.

After the second drawing class was over, we decided to get a snack. We strolled over near the big hat and took our yearly picture of the kids in the same spot we always get one

We got some delicious popcorn and nachos along with a few cold drinks and decided what our plan of action would be from there. We voted to walk through a few shops and head back to BLT from there. We looked at lots, but only Kayla made a purchase. She had been eyeing a D & B purse, but I was having a hard time with the price. It was $180 and I have never paid anywhere near that amount of money for a purse She had her own money, but I still had a hard time giving my blessing on that one, even as cute as it was. I went ahead and said okay, and she was beaming....she spent quite a few minutes trying to pick just the right one. The pattern was a little different on each one and she wanted just the right one. She picked the one that would be hers and off to the register we went. I wish I had a picture of the CM who rang it up. He was so funny....he scanned the ticket and didnt pay too much attention. When he hit the total button, he did a double take and didnt say anything. He just looked inside the purse (like there MUST be something else in it--lol) and was very quiet. I told him "I know, that was my reaction too". He obviously hadnt sold any of them so far
I told him I thought he needed to take off the sensor and he proceded to try and cut the thing off with scissors I told him I thought it probably had to come off with some tool. He asked a female CM who said, NO you cant CUT it off! She took care of it and off we walked with one very expensive purse
Oh yeah, we did get another $18 off the cost....I put it on my Disney Visa and got 20% off. Kayla just paid me back.
I dont know why I dont have a picture of this purse. You would have thought I would have take one for insurance purposes if nothing else
We left the park at 6pm and drove the van back to BLT
Have I mentioned how much I LOVE BLT?????? Anyway, we heated up our Giordanos leftovers for dinner and a couple of the kids had cereal. We changed into our suits and headed to the pool for some down time....continued in next post...

 

[blessedby3]

Here are some pictures of our fun times in the pool
Jonah and Alexa in the pop jets

Alexa

Alexa

Olivia

Olivia coming off the slide

Jonah loving on Alexa

Kayla and Jonah

We enjoyed the water until about 8pm, then headed back up to the room. Those desserts would be calling our name in the lounge
After getting dressed, we took the skybridge over to the CR and up to the wonderful club lounge. We were just loving the fact that we were blessed at check in with this. We grabbed some lovely snacks and desserts along with some sodas and took a seat.

Carmel and apples-yummmmm and some pb&j

These potato chips were homemade and SO delicious

After we were there for a short time, it was time for Wishes
We loved watching Wishes from the Club Lounge!!

What a lovely end to a wonderful day. We packed up our kids and headed back to the room. I threw our clothes in the dryer that we had washed before we left and we were off to bed. I loved having that washer and dryer
Tomorrow was a MK day-----our FAVORITE!

 

[Shannon84]

Great update I used to work at the playhouse disney show as well as living with the land at EPCOT for one summer after I graduated college. After that my parents made me get a full time job in my major

I know those dooney and bourke purses are outrageous in price, but I have to tell you that I have had the same dooney and bourke since 2005 and use it every single day and it is in pretty good condition still so at least it can make up for that price

 

[wlake]

Family of the day! How lucky! We had a not-so-good experience with Mickey at Chef Mickey's in Aug. -- maybe it was the same Mickey!

Do you like your Disney Visa? I'm seriously considering one, but we won't be going back for at least two years, probably three -- I worry about the points expiring.

 

[taymorel]

I am really enjoying your trip report. It has me wishing I was at Disney right now.



caroline

 

[Shannon84]

and I have to say that the club level looks amazing!!!

 

[jstack]

I am watching the Redskins game and reading your wonderful trip report. We are a family of five and usually get two rooms at POR. How many bedrooms did your room have?

 

[blessedby3]

Great update I used to work at the playhouse disney show as well as living with the land at EPCOT for one summer after I graduated college. After that my parents made me get a full time job in my major

I know those dooney and bourke purses are outrageous in price, but I have to tell you that I have had the same dooney and bourke since 2005 and use it every single day and it is in pretty good condition still so at least it can make up for that price

How exciting to have been able to do the CP. My daughter wants to so bad, guess we will see how it works out for her!

She doesnt carry her purse everyday since she is at college, but she loves it so much. She does say that it is heavy, though.

Family of the day! How lucky! We had a not-so-good experience with Mickey at Chef Mickey's in Aug. -- maybe it was the same Mickey!

Do you like your Disney Visa? I'm seriously considering one, but we won't be going back for at least two years, probably three -- I worry about the points expiring.

Maybe it was the same Mickey. I was disapppointed with him, but thankfully that has only happened that one time. Usually we get great character interaction.

We really like our Disney Visa, and pay ours off each month. I dont know if it is so great if you dont do that. They do have the 6 mos no intrest if you book a package. That is a nice perk. That is the only time we make payments. We just build up money inbetween our trips and it is a nice bonus. They often have bonus deals for signing up. They have even offered up to $200 for a new account!! Wish I could get one of those and I would sign up for another card. The points have a long time before they expire. I think they are on for like 3 years. Then when you put them on a rewards card, I believe you have up to another year to use them. It works for us

I am really enjoying your trip report. It has me wishing I was at Disney right now.



caroline

Thanks...it has me wishing I was back there too!! Looks like your ticker is about the same as mine--a long time away...but Im sure it will be here before we know it!

and I have to say that the club level looks amazing!!!

That club level was amazing....especially since it was a bonus!!

I am watching the Redskins game and reading your wonderful trip report. We are a family of five and usually get two rooms at POR. How many bedrooms did your room have?

Our room at BLT was a 1BR. It had a bedroom with a King bed and a nice full bath. It actually had a jacuzzi tub AND a shower. NICEEEEEEE! The common room had the kitchen, dining room, living room (which had a sofa and a chair that folded out into beds). This would work for a family of 5. It also had another FULL bath in the hallway as well as a balcony that could be accessed from the den or master bedroom. It was SOOOOOO nice. I really love BLT!! Oh yeah, and that wonderful washer and dryer!! It was in another room with TONS of storage.

 

[brookelizabeth]

so glad TSM was up and you all could ride!!! It's such a fun ride, isn't it?

Playhouse Disney is so cute too - I love watching all the kids sing and dance in there.

I'm so excited to stay at BLT! I'm sure we would never get chosen to be Family of the Day since we'll be staying on points, but man oh man, I would LOVE access to that lounge sometime! My stomach is growling just looking at those pics!

 

[sk8jdgca]

I never knew the umbrella rained! I guess you learn something new everyday. We were just playing around with it for pictures. I will have to try and make it rain next time. Is there a trick to it?



[/COLOR]

There is a metal square that you need to step on (looks kind of like a square manhole cover. We found it on our trip and my son had to sing "singing in the rain"
you can see it in this picture-which is the Dancing in the rain portion of the song

Great report-We got upgraded to conceirge at the Hyatt in Chicago-we loved it"

 

[blessedby3]

so glad TSM was up and you all could ride!!! It's such a fun ride, isn't it?

Playhouse Disney is so cute too - I love watching all the kids sing and dance in there.

I'm so excited to stay at BLT! I'm sure we would never get chosen to be Family of the Day since we'll be staying on points, but man oh man, I would LOVE access to that lounge sometime! My stomach is growling just looking at those pics!

I know, we were so glad that TSM was up and ready to ride We would have loved to ride it a few more times....but there is always next May

You will SO LOVE BLT!! You never know, maybe you will be the Family of the Day! Just plop cutie pie Henry down on the counter when you are checking in and they wont be able to resist him I know we will never see that lounge again....so I will just have to look at my pictures over and over

There is a metal square that you need to step on (looks kind of like a square manhole cover. We found it on our trip and my son had to sing "singing in the rain"
you can see it in this picture-which is the Dancing in the rain portion of the song

Great report-We got upgraded to conceirge at the Hyatt in Chicago-we loved it"

Thanks for the info on making the rain come! We will definately try that on our next trip! Your son looks so cute singing there

And I guess I never thought about getting upgraded anywhere else but Disney. Guess they have conceirge at other hotels too--my mind is always on Disney mode. Congrats on your upgrade in Chicago

 

[mickeystoontown]

Just wanted you to know that I'm still here and now I'm caught back up again. I understand your reluctancy of blessing Kayla's purse purchase. My daughter bought a $70 purse at Cirque de Soliel and we almost fainted when the teller rang us up.

 

[blessedby3]

Wed, park hours 9-9, green TGM day
So I left off with us watching Wishes from the lounge and heading to bed. We were starting to get tired from the busy trip, and I had to force everyone out of the bed early again. We were up at 6:45 and got to see the sunrise once again. We all dressed and packed up the stroller and headed up to the lounge for the lovely breakfast. (I had ordered lots from garden grocer, but I figured that we could haul that food back home and take advantage of the lounge while we were there--especially since we will probably never get to see one again!) We hopped on the monorail after eating and were at the park by 8:40 for the 9:00 opening.

Before long the train was pulling into the station and we were watching the opening show

Alexa is in awe

Hey....I thought we were the Family of the Day (or week according to us), but this family thought they were

While the show was going on, there was a guy named Matt in front of us that must have been a "regular". He knew every dance move and song and did the whole show with the CM's --right in front of us! It was hysterical and we enjoyed watching him have fun just as much as the characters at the train station! I thought I had pictures, but they must have been on Kayla's camera.

We headed straight over to Space Mountain after entering the park and got FP's and then Kayla, Jonah, Olivia and I got in the standby line. It was a 10min wait
After we got off, we went to ride Buzz with the whole family. A total walk on
Once we were done with Buzz (where I got the high score) we headed over to the Indy Cars. This is such a slow loading line that I like to do it early. It is also ALWAYS so HOT while waiting. We only had a 10min wait for this one too. Olivia always likes this ride since she can "drive" by herself.
After riding the cars, we headed over to Toon Town to get some Princess pictures. Kayla, Olivia, Alexa and I got in line for the Princesses while Tony and Jonah hopped a ride on the Train over to Frontierland. They were getting fast passes for BTMRR. After getting them, they would meet up with us again in Toontown. We only had to wait 10 mins for the Princesses. Here are some pics:

Alexa loved the Princesses and we got lots of good pictures
We were deciding if we shouldget in the Faries line, but didnt do it at that time. The wait was just too long.
We did see this when we came out....and thought about buying one...but didnt

We walked over to Mickey's house to see how long the wait was for pictures with him. About 25 mins, so we passed on that too. We came back out on the street and decided to take Alexa on Goofy's Barnstormer. I didnt know if she would tolerate it or not, so I said we could look for a reaction as we waited in line. Problem (or not) was that there was NO line. We literally walked straight on to the ride, so we were hoping for the best. Alexa didnt cry, but Im not sure how much she actually enjoyed the ride. Hopefully she will enjoy it more next year. We went over to the playground area to let Alexa play while we waited for Tony and Jonah. They called and had decided to walk back over and were in Fantasyland. I told them to stay there and we would head that way.
We met up with them in front of Winnie the Pooh and waited standby for that (15 mins). Alexa really enjoys this ride-its so cute
We headed over to Frontierland after WTP and rode BTMRR in the standby line (20 mins). We were holding on to the FP's for later in the evening when it would be much more crowded. Ater BTMRR, we got FP's for Splash and then decided to grab a bite to eat. We went over to Pecos Bills for lunch. We got 3 Taco Salads, a Chicken Wrap, Chili Fries and a kids meal.
Continued in next post