Who knew choking each other would earn us fastpasses?

[mickeystoontown]

Great Update!!!! I too am terrified of heights but for Soarin I am willing to make an execption.

Can't wait to hear more.

I can handle the heights on Soarin' pretty good with the exception of flying over the tops of the mountains.

OK- I finally have to chime in. I lurked on the shoe/pee TR and I have gotten sucked into this one. I think that I have read another one of yours too but I am not sure? I always subject DH to my summary of every installation.

We drove down to WDW on our last trip (12 hours) and it rained on us also (seems like it does somewhere along the drive everytime) and I was sure that we would see a horrible wreck too. (We have seen a wreck every time we have driven.)

It is so strange because I feel like I know your family and your boss. I love the personality of Huter and Lacy that show through in their photos. John often reminds me of my DH on our trips. (inprompttu naps and work phone calls) We have stayed at CBR twice and loved it but now we are DVC and LOVE our home resort AKV.

I am also excited to see how "mama" fairs on this trip because we have often talked about taking the MIL and FIL to WDW but did not know how they would hold up. They are in their 70s but VERY active and social. FIL has had double knee replacements but gets around like a 20 yr old.

I look forward to seeing what new adventures await

Welcome and I'm glad that you've decided to make yourself know to us all!

It makes me feel good that you've come to know my family so well and that you share my reports with your husband.

The similarities of our driving experiences are too funny.

My deceased Daddy used to make us take serious pictures but then we could take silly pictures. I am always telling my kids that their Papaw would be upset with them for never taking serious pictures first. They do let their personalities show though.

I hope that your in-laws decide to join ya'll on a Disney trip one day. It's a total different experience but it's a fantastic experience.

I just knew Mama would love Soarin'. I keep asking my grandmother to come with us on a trip. She of course is now a great grandmother and in her 70's but maybe someday.

My mother is a great grandmother too! I am soooo glad that Mama went with us. She had the best time hanging out with Hunter.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I'm glad your mom loved Soarin. It's one of my fav's but I also have a fear of heights, so I'm fine with being in the second or third row!

Terri

Do you know that we have NEVER gotten on any row but 1? Wait, I think we may have been on row 2 once but I'm not sure. I do know that we always seem to go really really high!

check out momma tackling the moving platforms with no problem!! sounds like you had a great start to your first day!

I know! She did much better than I thought she would. I was proud as heck of her.

Great update! fun day so far. I just love your sayings! Yay for dates for your next trip. I hope you can squeeze in a trip before then. Say Sep when we are there I am not sure about our spring trip. Avery gets out really late next year. Hmmm.

We do have some silly sayings in our family. I thought ya'll might get a kick out of a few of them so I try to throw one in every now and then.

I would love to go back to Disney later this year. It's not totally out of the picture but the pictures pretty fuzzy right now.

For our 2011 trip, we'll be leaving the day school lets out. No resting for Hunter!

 

[haleofafamily]

Your description of Mama enjoying Soarin and John's reaction to her brought a tear to my eye. I love when newbies love something at WDW as much as I do!

We took a girl from our church a couple of times to help with the kids. She had never been to any Disney park despite having grown-up in CA. Her first ride ever was Soarin. She loved it so much she said nothing at WDW would be able to come close to it. Later she realized Disney does everything great and she loved a ton of other rides just as much!

 

[MHTeacher]

Great start to your day! I love the picture of Mama after she tried the Beverly. I laughed out loud!

So glad Mama liked Soarin', and I think it's so sweet how John was so happy for Mama!

 

[Bridora]

Way to go on getting to Epcot early and getting those Soarin' FPs!

I'm glad your Mama isn't having trouble with those moving platforms.

I love that fountain!

And hooray for a great ride on Soarin'!

 

[3LittlePirates]

Great update!! We were at Epcot that day also...although we didnt arrive at Epcot until about 1pm. That was our first day at Disney...had to finish the drive in!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Still trying to work my way through the posts and make replies. But, in the meantime, check out the latest ticker.

Yep, Mama sealed the nail in the coffin when she said she simply loved the Caribbean Beach Resort grounds and would like to stay there again. We know that she feels comfortable at the resort and can find her way to the food court, store, etc. We know that she knows how the buses run at the CBR too. So, we're going back there again.

This time, we may book a pirate room but I'm not sure of it. They are about $300 more than a standard room. A preferred room would be about $150 more than a standard room. If we book preferred, we'll ask to be placed in Trinidad North since we haven't stayed there yet. If we book standard, we'll ask for a room in any village except for Jamaica and Martinique since we've stayed in both of those multiple times.

So, that's a little update for you guys and gals. Now I've got to get back to work.

 

[teacher1717]

Sounds like you guys had a great start to your first day!

 

[Cafeen]

You know, I'm just waiting for the picture of John asleep while on the phone at some random Disney location... there's gotta be one of those somewhere .

And a big WOOHOO on the next trip!

Also glad to hear that your mama is making it out great so far. I know you were concerned earlier with how she would do.

OK- I finally have to chime in. I lurked on the shoe/pee TR and I have gotten sucked into this one.

I gotta say, that shortening of Lisa's previous TR's name made me chuckle .

 

[rndmr2]

Great Update! So glad your mom loved Soarin'! We have been hoping to get my MIL to go and my SIL/BIL have invited her to go with them next year and she said yes! Not sure if DH and I will be going or not, (hope so! ) But Soarin' is one of the ones we all have told her about that we think she will love.

 

[spender]

Great Report....love reading it. Can't wait for the rest.

 

[jordanyosh]

I hope I am as spry as your mom when I'm her age..

 

[deedeew80]

Good Morning Lisa!!! Great update! I just LOVE Epcot! Odd how I use to dispise the place when I was a kid! Now it is one of my favorite parks!!! Soarin of course is a great ride!! My DH is also afraid of heights, but he loves this ride! Glad to hear your mom liked it and doing well on the moving platforms! They scare me sometimes! Well, can't wait to read some more about your day at Epcot and your Dismeet!!

 

[KatMark]

Great start of the day at Epcot, Lisa. So glad that your mom enjoyed Soarin' and John was smiling about it. Too funny about the phone call in the room; can't wait to see one of him "snoozing."

I KNEW you'd end up going back to CBR. Like me, you are very comfortable with what you are familiar with. And I think it is best for your mom as she will knkow where she is at, where she is going, etc.

 

[jenseib]

Yay! I am caught up! I was abou 10 pages behind. I will admit I skimmed alot of it to catch up though.
I had read a few years ago that Pop had for the most part stop carrying resort only themed things as well because of costs. Disney is eventually going to all Disney themed things.
Your trip is sounding really fun. Yay for the Dismeet with Dana. I would love to make ropedrop someday too. Claire just likes to sleep in and if we don't let her, she could become very nasty. LOL!
I am so glad your Momma is/was having a good time and wants to go back.

 

[Angies1274]

Great update Lisa!! Yay for making it to park opening!! I know that when I ran for FP's last year for Soarin' they only had the one side of the escalators/ stairs opened too and I remember thinking how much easier it would be if both sides were opened. How cool that you got row 1 of Soarin' and I'm so glad Mama loved it! It's such a fun ride and even better when you are showing someone for the first time how wonderful it is!!

 

[jordanyosh]

Great to have your resort picked out.....

 

[mickeystoontown]

Let's see, when I left off, we had ridden Soarin' and John was tickled pink that Mama had enjoyed it so much. As we exited the ride, we could see that there were people standing around everywhere! We could hardly make our way through the people. I finally wormed my way through the crowds and turned to see that the rest of my group were following me. I cut through the sitting area of Sunshine Seasons to get to Living With The Land.

The last time we were in Disney, we were disappointed to find Living With The Land was closed. This was one of the other things that we really wanted Mama to see. My daddy's parents and his brother were farmers so these kinds of attractions are interesting to us.

As we approached the line, I could see that it went all the way out to the "wait time" sign. Uh, could this really and truly be only a 10 minute wait? We went ahead and got in line and hoped that the time was accurate. I could tell that the line had totally changed from before. It seemed to extend further out into the pavilion and you now wove your way behind a wall.

I spotted the same hidden Mickey that we found many years ago. I was glad to see that they hadn't painted over it when they made the changes.

Hey! Wait a minute! Why isn't that hidden Mickey picture in photobucket? Gosh darn it! I know it came out because I looked at it. Well, just for a moment, all of you close your eyes and imagine that you have just gotten in line for Living With The Land. You walk to the end of the first little chained off line. Straight ahead of you there is a mural on a large wall. Look down about waist high at the blue bubbles. No, you're not looking low enough. Now, look a little to your right. SEE! See the Hidden Mickey in the bubbles? Still don't see it? Well, I guess I'll have to go back and see if I can find the picture again and upload it to photobucket.

Because this was a semi-continuous loading attraction, the lines was almost always moving. It would stop for just a minute or two and then we've move again. We read some of the saying painted on the mural. Soon, it was our turn to board the boat. Stepping down into boats was another thing we were a bit worried about Mama being able to do. I certainly don't mean to make ya'll think she is a total invalid but after having her surgery last year (she had semi-emergency surgery on a main artery in her neck), she has lost a little of her balance.

I got in the boat first so she'd see what the best way to step into the boat was. Mama got in next so I could hold her arm and balance her and John stood on the platform ready to catch her if he needed to. Mama stepped right on to the seat and onto the bottom of the boat like a teenager. No stumbling or nothing! Way to go Mama!

As soon as we were all seated, I snapped a picture of another hidden Mickey which is on the mural beside the boats:

We floated along and listened to the recorded narration. As we got through parts of the rain forest section, we noticed that they had added some new scenes. While we enjoyed the ride before, it's always nice when they add something new for us "repeat" guests. We continued past the farm house with the chickens and dog. John just loves those chickens and the dog for some reason. He pointed them out to Mama.

Then, we were headed outside and into the gardens. This is the part that we like the best. It's simply amazing to us how they grow these plants in very little soil. Here are some pictures:

Next was the fish/seafood/alligator section. Aren't sturgeon some of the ugliest things ever!

Lookie! There's a hidden Mickey in one of the tanks:

After leaving the redness of the aquarium (is that right?) section, we were back at looking at more crops:

I am a lemon lover to the max so I was excited to see the 9 pound lemons again:

Here's Disney growing different types of lettuce (or is that lettuces or lettucesssssss ) for my favorite food....the salad:

Isn't it neat how they work a Mickey into the lettuce displays!

More pictures:

All too soon, our boat ride was over. Mama had handled getting in the boat but how would she handle getting out of the boat? Like a champ! She gave one little grunt when she stepped up but that was it!

**Up next, let's get something to eat! I'm starving!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

I enjoyed the update on LWTL and thanks for spotting those hidden Mickeys! I've never been very good at looking for them.

I can't wait to see the changes they've made to the attraction. I am like you, I like it when they change things up a bit to make it fresher for people who visit frequently.

 

[MissLiz]

Wow, an actual line for Living With the Land?!?!? I've never seen that!

We love that ride! It is one of our favorite rides in all of WDW!

Glad that your mom did a great job! I have a hard time with some of those boats myself.