We're off to see the World! A Wish TR w/ pics from BigGive, Days 1-7, and PhotoPass!

[Tnkrbelle565]

Ok well now that I'm crying about the Fred part....

What a great TR so far. Looks like you guys had so much fun! Can't believe that you are the mom of teenagers though!!!!

 

[tinkerbeth]

Loving your trip report so far!!!

I am looking at the pictures with ds6 and he is impatient to see all the pictures so I have to go back and read it all. I will catch up after I put him into bed.

 

[tinkerbeth]

Okay, put Gabe in bed and then came down and read through the TR so far. I cried like a wee baby when I read about Fred. That is one of the nicest things I've ever heard of. And good for you for writing Universal to commend him. Isn't it amazing how you can change people's lives with just a little kindness? He could have done his job and just been friendly and polite but with just a little extra effort, he made a memory that your family will always remember. I hope I remember to do that in my life too. What a great lesson.

Looking forward to reading more but sad that the end is coming!!!

Beth

 

[GoofyDoo]

Ok well now that I'm crying about the Fred part....

What a great TR so far. Looks like you guys had so much fun! Can't believe that you are the mom of teenagers though!!!!

Aww, thank you!! I got an early start at age 22!!

Loving your trip report so far!!!

I am looking at the pictures with ds6 and he is impatient to see all the pictures so I have to go back and read it all. I will catch up after I put him into bed.

Okay, put Gabe in bed and then came down and read through the TR so far. I cried like a wee baby when I read about Fred. That is one of the nicest things I've ever heard of. And good for you for writing Universal to commend him. Isn't it amazing how you can change people's lives with just a little kindness? He could have done his job and just been friendly and polite but with just a little extra effort, he made a memory that your family will always remember. I hope I remember to do that in my life too. What a great lesson.

Looking forward to reading more but sad that the end is coming!!!

Beth

You are so right. The many kindnesses we experienced while meeting the characters was so moving, but for Fred to go above and beyond like that truly was the experience of a lifetime and the highlight of the trip! My hope, same as you, is to remember what a little kindness can mean to someone else.

Don't worry--I will have to drag it out to the end until I finish since I'm back at school. But I'll post about EPCOT here in a few...

 

[oklamomof4boys]

What a wonderful trip report! We've been on vacation and just got home last night so I read the entire thing tonight. Such wonderful pictures- my favorite is still the one of the twins looking at the castle. And the story of Fred is just so magical. Maybe we'll spend our extra 1/2 day at US. I hate to hear that you encountered cranky CMs-especially on a wish trip. We've never seen a cranky CM at DL- even on a regular trip. Maybe it was the heat- it sure gets hot in Florida in the summer.

I cracked up at the picture of Ty carrying Clay. Tucker carries Nathan all the time when he was tired, so when I read the caption, I expected to see Ty carrying his little brother like Tucker does- legs and arms wrapped around him. Then to see him carrying him over his shoulder and Clay just as relaxed as can be- just made me laugh out loud.

I wore crocs all 8 days at DL and not a single blister- but I wear mine when I go walking and everything. William, Sam and Nathan wore theirs most of the time without any problem ( well, Nathan got some blisters but never felt them. I think he has a high pain threshold). David bought some just for the trip, wore them one day, got blisters and went back to his tennis shoes. Of course, Tucker thinks he is way too "cool" for crocs!

I can't wait to show the kids pictures from GKTW- they are going to get so excited!

Thanks for taking time to write a trip report. Now I want to go find some more TRs to read but I really need to do some laundry and finished getting things unpacked and put away before we start school.( We don't start school until next week, but I have to go back on Monday- I'm a speech pathologist in the schools).

 

[GoofyDoo]

Today was EPCOT day! After we'd had seen EPCOT, we'd planned to go to Magic Kingdom again for the late afternoon/evening. I was really excited to see EPCOT since I'd never been on my previous two visits to WDW. I knew we wouldn't get to spend tons of time there, but I there were a couple of rides I really wanted to do in Future World, and I wanted to at least walk through the World Showcase and see if we could find a few characters. I also thought it would be cool for my kids to see the different "countries". Shay Lynne was going to wear her Minnie outfit from Denise/mytwotinks (Denise had told me how much she loves EPCOT, so I thought this was appropriate!), and Clay was going to wear his Pirate Mickey outfit from Lisa/LisaZoe. He'd been anxious to wear it! We were so excited!!

The first thing we did was walk back toward Nemo. We rode it, and although it wasn't a thrill ride, we did think it was cute. I had kind of wanted them to get to do Turtle Talk with Crush, but when we came out they were between shows and we chose not to wait for it. Lance, Ty, and Shay Lynne went and looked at the aquariums afterward while Madison, Clay, and I looked in the giftshop. There was a very rude CM there, I remember. We'd asked her where to enter the ride with Clay's button when we'd first come in, and she was very abrupt and snotty about where to go. We just didn't have a good feeling. We still enjoyed the ride, though.

Next, we moved on to Soarin'. It was AWESOME!!! We absolutely loved it. I loved how it felt cool in the wind and you could smell the orchards. I thought it was just phenomenal. Definitely one of my faves. On the way to Soarin' we'd passed the EPCOT character spot, and once again, we passed it on the way back over to the other side of Future World. Oh, it was hard to pass those characters up. It had been so much fun to see them and their interaction with the kids thus far. That truly ended up possibly being my favorite part of the trip.

But we moved onto Mission Space. I'd read about everyone saying to stay away from the more intense version, so I took Clay on the milder version while everyone else did the extreme ride. Clay was upset about that until I explained that we were going on the same ride without the spinning. Once we got in there, he loved it and he wasn't upset anymore. I was just worried about all that spinning with him. We don't want another seizure! After the ride, Lance said he knew Clay would've been fine doing the extreme version, so I was kind of bummed that we missed it. Oh, well. The other was still really fun. I'm pretty sure these pics came from the Mission Space store. I can't believe Shay Lynne had her shirt tail out!! Don't worry--I fixed it for later.

Outside Mission Space...

We rode Test Track after Mission Space, but there was a problem with the ride and we went really slow all the way through until the end. We were bummed about that, so at the end, we asked if we could ride again and we did. It was much better the second time, although to me it doesn't compare to the better rollercoasters and other thrill rides. I thought it was a bit jerky.


These next pics came from the entry/exit of Test Track.

They really look like they're driving, don't you think? HAHAHAHAHA!!! But they thought so at the time.

Here is a pic of Madison waiting in line. She thought the guy in front of her was hot, so she wanted her pic taken with him. He wouldn't turn around, though. She wouldn't let me ask him to--not sure why.

Onto the World Showcase!

Day 6, Part 2-4

 

[bex271]

love the update. Your such a cool mom taking the picture of Madison with the hot guy. The pics of them in the cars are cute too.

becca

 

[Robin+5]

I love your TR. Madison is so funny. My teenagers would do the same thing. They love watching the olympics because of the hot swimmers, . Isn't wonderful to have teenagers. I loved soarin' when we went there .

 

[AmberGreenawalt]

I am LOVING your trip report!!!!!! I've been getting on every day to read the updates. I haven't wrtten anything so far because it seems like I am always nursing or have a toddler on my lap at the time --like I do right now. Siennah keeps kicking the key board! Ugh! Anyway I had to write because the picture of Madison with the "hot guy" gave me such a good laugh! Thanks for starting my day off with a smile!

 

[jham]

LOVING your TR so far! Fred rocks! And that picture of Madison and the hot guy made me laugh. You have no idea how many photos I have JUST LIKE THAT from when I was her age. Good memories!

 

[Tnkrbelle565]

Well you got a lot of the highlights of Epcot done there!

 

[mytwotinks]

I'm getting sad for you that your trip is almost over.

I can't wait to see the world showcase pictures! Those are some of our best days (which I guess I already mentioned!) when we just eat and walk around and talk about how much fun we are having on our trip! There is always so much fun stuff to see in the world showcase.

 

[HeatherSue]

Little-spender Lance, huh? I like it! I'll have to call Henry "Hoarding Money Henry"

The last time I was at US was when I was 16. I think E.T. was the only ride that was open! I was unimpressed! I'll have to go again one of these days!

While we were waiting at the airport in Arizona once, we found some old shows for Tessa to watch on the computer. One of them was Woody Woodpecker. She's loved him ever since!

Oh, I got all teary seeing pictures of Clay with Fred. What a sweetie that boy is!

You have VIDEO!! YAY!!! Oh my gosh, LOOOVE the video!!!

Okay, now I'm not just teary-eyed, I'm crying. Fred took Clay to ride the Mummy, OH MY GOSH!!!

After the picture of you and Ty with the oranges in your mouths...I am sure we are kindred spirits.

I gotta say, the Whos are a little freaky!!! But, you and Madison are gorgeous, as usual!

I have always had the opinion that other people have taken better pictures of various scenery than I have, so make sure there's a person I know in the picture! Otherwise, buy the postcard!

It must have been so scary for you when Clay went under the water.

I love the pic of Madison and the "hot guy". He is pretty cute! I can't imagine why she didn't want you to ask him to turn around!

I love Dr Seuss too. Probably my favorite book is Sneetches. I love Too Many Daves and "Pale Green Pants" (I'm not sure if that is the name) One of my very favorite lines in all children's books is in that story--"I do not fear those pale green pants with nobody inside them, I said and said and said those words. I said them but I lied them!" I read the entire book to any child who will sit down with me anytime, anywhere. My grandkids know that I can read most of it by heart so they think I'm cheating when I read it to them.

I am so excited to hear more!
Denise

Those are my favorite Dr. Seuss stories! I know "What Was I Afraid Of" by heart, too! "Well, I was walking in the night and I saw nothing scary. For I have never been afraid of anything. Not very." Tessa gets a big kick out of the Dave that should have been named Oliver Boliver Butt. I love the message behind the Sneetches. All vastly underrated Dr. Seuss!

 

[bigdisgrandma]

Little-spender Lance, huh? I like it! I'll have to call Henry "Hoarding Money Henry"

The last time I was at US was when I was 16. I think E.T. was the only ride that was open! I was unimpressed! I'll have to go again one of these days!

While we were waiting at the airport in Arizona once, we found some old shows for Tessa to watch on the computer. One of them was Woody Woodpecker. She's loved him ever since!

Oh, I got all teary seeing pictures of Clay with Fred. What a sweetie that boy is!

You have VIDEO!! YAY!!! Oh my gosh, LOOOVE the video!!!

Okay, now I'm not just teary-eyed, I'm crying. Fred took Clay to ride the Mummy, OH MY GOSH!!!

After the picture of you and Ty with the oranges in your mouths...I am sure we are kindred spirits.

I gotta say, the Whos are a little freaky!!! But, you and Madison are gorgeous, as usual!

I have always had the opinion that other people have taken better pictures of various scenery than I have, so make sure there's a person I know in the picture! Otherwise, buy the postcard!

It must have been so scary for you when Clay went under the water.

I love the pic of Madison and the "hot guy". He is pretty cute! I can't imagine why she didn't want you to ask him to turn around!



Those are my favorite Dr. Seuss stories! I know "What Was I Afraid Of" by heart, too! "Well, I was walking in the night and I saw nothing scary. For I have never been afraid of anything. Not very." Tessa gets a big kick out of the Dave that should have been named Oliver Boliver Butt. I love the message behind the Sneetches. All vastly underrated Dr. Seuss!

My son who is an English Literature major says you can learn all of life's great lessons by reading Dr Seuss. He should know, he is my oldest and heard them all many, many times over in his childhood. The Sneetches book truly is a great message.

 

[2cutekidz]

Catching up. Wow! The whole ride with Fred was awesome!! Is Clay still talking about that?

 

[t-beri]

I LOVE the pic of Madison. Her face tells the story!! Of course, hooker that I was, at her age I would have tapped him on the shoulder and said, uh, could you just look right over at that camera for a minute And had you ready to snap the shot before he knew what hit'em! Though I must say I was not as pretty as your daughter.

YOU MADE HER TUCK IN HER SHIRT???? What kind of horrid mother are you? You've had us all fooled this entire time
...t.

 

[GoofyDoo]

Thanks for taking time to write a trip report. Now I want to go find some more TRs to read but I really need to do some laundry and finished getting things unpacked and put away before we start school.( We don't start school until next week, but I have to go back on Monday- I'm a speech pathologist in the schools).

You work in the schools, too? Then you understand why I'm in mourning right now!! There are so many great wish trip reports--just be careful. It's addicting.

love the update. Your such a cool mom taking the picture of Madison with the hot guy. The pics of them in the cars are cute too.

becca

I was really doing it to aggravate her, but then she got into it and posed!!!

I love your TR. Madison is so funny. My teenagers would do the same thing. They love watching the olympics because of the hot swimmers, . Isn't wonderful to have teenagers. I loved soarin' when we went there .

Teenagers...what can you say? Putting up with, I mean parenting them is so different than it was when they were little!

I am LOVING your trip report!!!!!! I've been getting on every day to read the updates. I haven't wrtten anything so far because it seems like I am always nursing or have a toddler on my lap at the time --like I do right now. Siennah keeps kicking the key board! Ugh! Anyway I had to write because the picture of Madison with the "hot guy" gave me such a good laugh! Thanks for starting my day off with a smile!

LOL! Madison is a mess! She cracks me up all the time. I cannot even imagine how busy you must be right now. I hope everything is getting settled for you and you are all into a routine. Going by what I know about you so far, I am certain you have it all under control. Still, I hope you're able to get some rest so you'll have plenty of energy to play with those cuties!

LOVING your TR so far! Fred rocks! And that picture of Madison and the hot guy made me laugh. You have no idea how many photos I have JUST LIKE THAT from when I was her age. Good memories!

That's so funny. Do you have a daughter? If so, you'll have to make a little photo album of all those pics that will inspire her to put together one of her own. Or maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea after all....

Well you got a lot of the highlights of Epcot done there!

That was all we could really have hoped to do. I would've loved to have ridden Soarin' again, though! And the extreme version of Mission Space.

I'm getting sad for you that your trip is almost over.

I can't wait to see the world showcase pictures! Those are some of our best days (which I guess I already mentioned!) when we just eat and walk around and talk about how much fun we are having on our trip! There is always so much fun stuff to see in the world showcase.

I know--I'm sad it's almost over, too. I feel like I'm reliving it all as I've typed it all out. I felt like this when I was almost finished with Harry Potter, Book 7. But like I told myself then, I can always go back and reread...and in this case, look at the 2,000 pics!!

Little-spender Lance, huh? I like it! I'll have to call Henry "Hoarding Money Henry"

The last time I was at US was when I was 16. I think E.T. was the only ride that was open! I was unimpressed! I'll have to go again one of these days!

While we were waiting at the airport in Arizona once, we found some old shows for Tessa to watch on the computer. One of them was Woody Woodpecker. She's loved him ever since!

Oh, I got all teary seeing pictures of Clay with Fred. What a sweetie that boy is!

You have VIDEO!! YAY!!! Oh my gosh, LOOOVE the video!!!

Okay, now I'm not just teary-eyed, I'm crying. Fred took Clay to ride the Mummy, OH MY GOSH!!!

After the picture of you and Ty with the oranges in your mouths...I am sure we are kindred spirits.

I gotta say, the Whos are a little freaky!!! But, you and Madison are gorgeous, as usual!

I have always had the opinion that other people have taken better pictures of various scenery than I have, so make sure there's a person I know in the picture! Otherwise, buy the postcard!

It must have been so scary for you when Clay went under the water.

I love the pic of Madison and the "hot guy". He is pretty cute! I can't imagine why she didn't want you to ask him to turn around!

Oh, so you have a "little spender", too? Not a good thing in Disney!! I loved ET and thought it was really cute, but I wouldn't have thought it was so cute if it was the only thing there to do!! But I do love Universal nowadays, though. There is tons to do there now, and I think you could make an entire trip just to Universal. About the video--yes, I am trying really hard to provide you all with a multi-media experience. The videos are so short, there's not much to them, but Photobucket will only allow short ones and I haven't felt like messing with YouTube lately! I hope to post a really cute one of Shay Lynne with Mickey and Minnie. You have oranges-in-the-mouth-pose pics? You are my best friend!! And THANK YOU for not saying we look like the Whos!!

Catching up. Wow! The whole ride with Fred was awesome!! Is Clay still talking about that?

He is, and he wants to wear his Mummy t-shirt every day that I'll let him!!

I LOVE the pic of Madison. Her face tells the story!! Of course, hooker that I was, at her age I would have tapped him on the shoulder and said, uh, could you just look right over at that camera for a minute And had you ready to snap the shot before he knew what hit'em! Though I must say I was not as pretty as your daughter.

YOU MADE HER TUCK IN HER SHIRT???? What kind of horrid mother are you? You've had us all fooled this entire time
...t.

That is hilarious! So you have the really good pics, huh? I should've asked him to turn around for her. She would have just been mortified. I am SO good at embarrassing my kids...I'm surprised I didn't think to do that. Yes, I do all sorts of horrid things to my kids like make them look presentable in public, brush their teeth, eat healthy stuff, etc.... I'm a witch that way. Still waiting to see you get forked on your wedding day!!

 

[GoofyDoo]

Next, we decided to take "a trip around the world in eighty minutes", as Madison later called it. I was looking forward to the World Showcase! But I did realize we wouldn't have a lot of time to explore each country. I don't remember the order of all the countries, but I'll highlight a few here. Those highly knowledgeable of the World Showcase may find the following recount disturbing! Pics are not guaranteed to appear in order!! (I don't know where half of them were taken, exactly--many European countries look the same to me.)

Our first stop that was memorable was in Norway.We loved the big ship and the quaint character of the village! We were SO hot by then, so we decided to go on in and ride the boat. That wasn't too exciting, but it was OK and nice to cool off.

The twins' mascot is the Vikings, so I thought this was a cool pic:

In the store following the ride, we ran into this troll. I just love trolls!! I had to airbrush a stranger out to the right in the pic, so the troll's foot looks kind of funky.

We saw China next...

Then we started trying on hats. We sooo had needed them for the previous pic, so I took a new one of Madison...

Not sure where this is from--I think between China and Germany--but I thought it was such a cool topiary...

Then once we were in Germany, we saw Snow White and Dopey!! I was so excited!!! I liked this Snow White better than the one we'd met at Cinderella's Royal Table...

The Photopass photographer was completely rude, though. We accidentally asked him where to wait instead of the CM, and he abruptly said "Ma'am, I don't make those decisions." Then, when the twins were getting their autographs, Madison was taking pics with her camera and the photographer rudely asked her if she was with "this family". It's hard to convey his tone in print, but trust me. He was rude. But it didn't stop us from loving Snow White and Dopey!

Germany was COOL. I've been to Germany for real, and I just loved this!

Is this Germany, too? Not sure, but it looks Asian to me. I think my pics are just out of order for some reason...

Part 3 coming right up!

 

[GoofyDoo]

Moving on through the world, I think we were in Italy for this pic...

I know this one was taken in France. The Eiffel Tower is a fairly strong clue...

I think we were still in France for this one...

And a random picture of Madison in front of EPCOT Ocean.

Another random pic...

Here is Ty being helpful to push the stroller for me...(he's so sweet...)...

The first time I posted this pic I think I said it was Germany confused3 ), but actually I think we're in Japan here...

Have no idea where this one was taken...

This was in Canada. Thank goodness for the "O' Canada sign"!!!

YAY! I know where we are here! Morocco...(or am I wrong now, too??)...

We LOVED meeting Aladdin and Jasmine!! Ty said Jasmine's outfit was his favorite. Don't faint!! He was bummed he didn't get a pic with her. He would've had to ask Aladdin to step out of the picture, though, and Ty didn't want to hurt his feelings.

And that concludes our tour through EPCOT. Like I said, I didn't even remember where half the pics were taken, and I'm pretty sure I got the countries out of order--what a crappy tour guide I am. And how embarrassing that I don't have better geography skills. But we had fun! Of course, I'd love to go back and really spend time in all the countries and let the kids do the KIDCOT stations. Or even better, I wouldn't mind going without kids! And husbands!!

It was so hot on this day, and I have never heard such complaining in my life--especially from Madison. Her blisters were absolutely horrible by now. I wondered how she would make it the rest of the day. Here we went toward the exit at EPCOT to get on the Monorail...

Oh, how nice it was to finally be cool on that monorail! Next stop, Magic Kingdom! (Scroll down...)

 

[jham]

That's so funny. Do you have a daughter? If so, you'll have to make a little photo album of all those pics that will inspire her to put together one of her own. Or maybe that wouldn't be such a good idea after all....

Still waiting to see you get forked on your wedding day!

OH TAG FAIRY!!!

My DD will be 11 on Monday, and now that you mention it, a couple of weeks ago we were at a neighborhood party and she and her cousin were taking covert cell-phone photos of the cute neighbor boy she likes.

Little-spender Lance, huh? I like it! I'll have to call Henry "Hoarding Money Henry"

Hmmm...I think I married "Money Miser Mike"

Love the Snow White photos! We like Norway too. Mmmm...Kringla bakery...