Who knew choking each other would earn us fastpasses?

[MissLiz]

Hey Lisa! Glad you found the graduation pics!

We skipped the Laugh Floor this trip because every time we'd go by, the crowd was terrible. We do enjoy it, though.

Our big family saying is (in Roz voice): "I'm watching you, Wazowski! Always watching" I'm sure people look at us like we are nuts, but hey, we are.



That's awesome that they picked Hunter's joke! I'm sure he was thrilled!

 

[aprilisis]

Great update! I'm so happy that you found the graduation photos!

 

[kupperman]

I have to say I'm really enjoying your report! You guys know how to have fun on a Disney trip just like we do! I feel like I'm there when I'm reading it. Keep it commin! We love the CBR too!

 

[Believeinfairytales]

So glad that Hunter's joke was chosen! Amazingly, I've never visited Monster's Inc Laugh Floor before, but it is on my to do list next trip! Always something to look forward to.

I love it that John has a monster crush on Roz. There's just something about her.

 

[KatMark]

Glad they used Hunter's joke...that's too cool. John and his women! I don't know what to say.

 

[3princesses+aprince]

That's great that Hunter's joke got chosen. when we went last May we didn't know you could submit jokes, we'll be ready next May. That must be exciting to have yours chosen!

I love that show, it's just so funny!

 

[deedeew80]

Hi Lisa! Love the Laugh Floor!!! Always a fun thing to do & get cooled off! LOL! I'm assuming John stays awake for this since he likes it!?! That is great that Hunter's joke was chosen. I can never think of one to text! HA! Well, can't wait to read some more and see Lacey's grad pics!!!! Have a nice day!!!

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good to hear

Oh wow that's great they weren't lost!

I'm so glad the graduation pictures weren't lost! I can't wait to see them!

Terri

Thanks! I can't believe my luck with cameras.

 

[mickeystoontown]

thanks for making me laugh . what a great family.

You're quite welcome! I hope that you'll stick around. We have many more laughs to come!

All caught up! I do not like Stitch's Great Escape at all, but I am not a fan of having someone burping in my face. So glad you found Lacey's grad pics!!!

John can't stand Stitch! Just can't stand him at all....especially when he burps on you.

I'm in! I've seen your trip reports on another board. I just found them on here and saw there were pictures and just had to take a look. Can't wait for more of your TP!

Welcome! There are many more pictures to come!

Hey Lisa,
I just wanted you to know that you brought me out of lurkdome with your awesome trip reports. You have a sweet family who obviously loves to have fun!
Thank you for taking the time to share your adventures and pictures, for making me laugh (and at times get misty) and for helping me pass the time to our next trip!

I can't wait to read more now that I'm all caught up!

I must say that your reports make me homesick for CBR. We are staying at Pop in a few days for the first time. We've stayed at all the moderates in the past and CBR is my favorite. I'm going to miss it, but am grateful to be going to WDW!

Have a great weekend!
Beth in NC

Hello there! Glad that you're here. We are a family that loves to have fun and goof around especially when at Disney.

Please let us know when you have started a trip report. I know I'd love to read it!

Hi!!! Just wanted to say I started reading and i'm LOVING it!!!!

Hey Pam! Glad to see you back on the boards and posting again.

 

[mickeystoontown]

I've been reading along and keeping up on the TR. Just no time to post. You and your camara "issues" are something. I'm glad you found Lacey's graduation pictures. And CONGRATULATIONS to Lacey YES IT IS!!!!!!!!!

I totally understand the not having time to post comment. It's been busy around our house lately.

I have a love/hate relationship with cameras. I love to take pictures but I hate it when I can't find the ones I took.

Great MK update. So glad that Mama had no trouble getting on the bus.

I am also glad to hear that you found Lacey's graduation pictures. That would have been such a bummer if you had not.

Can't wait for more.

Mama did really really well getting on and off the buses and attractions. We were actually surprised.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Glad you found the pictures Lisa. Can't wait to see them!!!!

I was soooo relieved to find those pictures. They aren't very good pictures because it was dark and I was sitting off to the side but at least I have pictures.

Ok, No more lurking for me! I love reading your TR's. I found the is one and had go back and read the other one. I laughed, I cried...LOL.
So glad you found your pictures of your daughters grad I am a fanatic picutre taker and I would have just died to have lost my pictures!
Can't wait to read the rest of this TR. Have a great weekend!

Carey

Hey Carey! Glad you decided to post. I love meeting new people here on the Dis.

Wasn't the Stop Making Me Laugh report hilarious! We had more silly things happen to us on that trip.

Hope you'll stick around and continue to post your thoughts.

It was so nice you to take the time to return the memory card. Who knows how many people walked right passed it.

I sure hope that the family thought to go to Lost & Found to see if anyone had turned the card in.

All caught up! I'm so glad you found your pictures!

Can't wait to hear more!

Amanda in TN

I hope to have more posted very soon!

WOW!!! What a trip report! 43 pages and we are just getting to day 2! I read your "stop making me laugh, tooth" trip report and I loved it! So happy to have found this one....even if I did just get here on page 43 Our family is back in planning mode for another Disney trip and what better way to get in the mood than read a great TR! Your family is a hoot and a half! Can't wait to read more and congrats on your grown up baby girl!

Hey there! Better late than never, I always say!

Do you have any idea where you're going to stay next trip? When are you traveling?

I'm soooooooo glad you found the memory card with Lacey's graduation pictures. I know you were scared they were gone forever . I can't wait to see them .

I also can't wait to see upcoming pictures .

I was very very happy when I put that last memory card in the reader and the graduation pictures came up. I almost peed' my pants.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Hey Lisa!! I love the laugh floor!!! They use alot of the same jokes, but it's still always funny!!!! My Dh has never been "that guy" but we were on the screen once, they put me up there saying that I kissed a monster, and then Chris as the monster!! HAHA

I was on the screen once too but only as Hunter's Mother.

Oh, we love Laugh Floor! We haven't been "that guy" yet (though if my dad would ever come back with us, it would be him!!!), but Will was the "something cute" that they showed at the end of the show once. At least, that was the end of one of the routines they did in 2008. We saw a completely different show this summer. Too funny that John likes Roz so much!

Glad you found the pictures!

I love the Laugh Floor too! I could definitely see Will as the "something cute".

I'm with John. not a Stitch fan but love Roz-she is hilarious!

John would say that great minds think alike.

Hey Lisa! Glad you found the graduation pics!

We skipped the Laugh Floor this trip because every time we'd go by, the crowd was terrible. We do enjoy it, though.

Our big family saying is (in Roz voice): "I'm watching you, Wazowski! Always watching" I'm sure people look at us like we are nuts, but hey, we are.



That's awesome that they picked Hunter's joke! I'm sure he was thrilled!

Maybe you will get to see the show eventually because it's really cute.

On a separate note: What did you guys end up doing the weekend of the 17th? I know you said ya'll might go huntin' for gold.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Great update! I'm so happy that you found the graduation photos!

Thanks! It was short but that's all I could squeeze in before I left work yesterday.

I have to say I'm really enjoying your report! You guys know how to have fun on a Disney trip just like we do! I feel like I'm there when I'm reading it. Keep it commin! We love the CBR too!

I'm glad that I'm keeping you entertained. We love spending time together and there's no better place to do it than Disney!

So glad that Hunter's joke was chosen! Amazingly, I've never visited Monster's Inc Laugh Floor before, but it is on my to do list next trip! Always something to look forward to.

I love it that John has a monster crush on Roz. There's just something about her.

You definitely need to put The Laugh Floor on your "to do" list. It's really cute.

John and his monster crushes.

Glad they used Hunter's joke...that's too cool. John and his women! I don't know what to say.

There's really nothing TO say about John's love of Roz.

 

[MissLiz]

We actually did go gem grubbin' on the 18th! We were in Cleveland just for a few hours. We figured we'd head out early to get a start on the heat.

Isabella found a bunch of gems and she chose a blue topaz to get cut and mounted in a necklace. We have to go back in a couple of weeks to pick it up.

Even our little one (15 months) had a great time. She enjoyed picking up the rocks to see how they tasted. Ewww!

 

[mickeystoontown]

We actually did go gem grubbin' on the 18th! We were in Cleveland just for a few hours. We figured we'd head out early to get a start on the heat.

Isabella found a bunch of gems and she chose a blue topaz to get cut and mounted in a necklace. We have to go back in a couple of weeks to pick it up.

Even our little one (15 months) had a great time. She enjoyed picking up the rocks to see how they tasted. Ewww!

It's too bad we didn't run into each other. We went to Dollywood on the 18th. Way to go Isabella! When you get the topaz necklace, please take a picture of it so I can see.

We went gem grubbin' on our first trip to drop off Lacey in Cleveland. I found some gems too. Now that I think about it, I need to go find the bag of gems. Some of them may be suitable for cutting and mounting.

 

[mickeystoontown]

That's great that Hunter's joke got chosen. when we went last May we didn't know you could submit jokes, we'll be ready next May. That must be exciting to have yours chosen!

I love that show, it's just so funny!

Oh be sure to remember a joke so you can text it in. It's really neat when they call out your child's name.

Hi Lisa! Love the Laugh Floor!!! Always a fun thing to do & get cooled off! LOL! I'm assuming John stays awake for this since he likes it!?! That is great that Hunter's joke was chosen. I can never think of one to text! HA! Well, can't wait to read some more and see Lacey's grad pics!!!! Have a nice day!!!

Ah yes, the air conditioning at Disney is almost as wonderful as the attractions. Yes, John stays awake during the Laugh Floor. Probably just so he can feast his eyes upon the lovely Roz.

 

[Pikester]

I thought I had lost you forever! So glad someone replied on your previous trip report which allowed me to see the link to this one.

So far so good but I've GOT to get back to reading!

 

[mickeystoontown]

I hope that all of my Dis friends don't mind if I go off track a little here. You all know that Lacey graduated her third year at Mission Georgia Master's Commission. The program is intense to say the least. The students commit themselves fully to the program and to spreading God's word. They work hard each and every day. In all honesty, I don't know if I could do all they do. They are some dedicated young people.

During her three years in the program, Lacey has done many many things and gone to many places. Not only has she traveled to various States attending and participating in conferences but she has also worked in a homeless shelter in Atlanta, been a counselor at a Summer camp for children with Autism, helped with a baseball team for the mentally and physically handicapped, lead children's church and a whole lot more. She is an amazing young woman if I do say so myself. I am proud of her and her accomplishments.

So, please indulge me and allow me to post a mini-trip report of our recent trip to Georgia to see her graduation.

According to Map Quest, the drive from our house to The Bridge Church in Cleveland, Georgia would be about 9 1/2 hours. For a lot of people, 9 1/2 hours equals a lifetime. For us, 9 1/2 hours is not bad considering we drive 16 hours to get to Disney. That's not to say that we were looking forward to driving that long or through the Atlanta traffic.

We were scheduled to leave as soon as I got off work on July 16th. I had my desk all cleaned off and my temp set to fill in for me on the 19th. As soon as the clock struck the Noon hour, I was out the door. The night before, we had ordered two pizzas. Two large pizzas for just three people? We wanted to have leftovers so we eat them for lunch and we wouldn't have to stop on the road.

I got home and heated up some pizza while John and Hunter put all of our stuff in the trunk of the car. Mama had already brought bag over so that it could be loaded in too. While they were loading, I was walking through the house making sure everything was unplugged, turned off, etc. all while eating.

Mama hadn't made up her mind if she was going to go with us or not until a day or two before we were set to leave. She was afraid that she would be in the way and that we wouldn't get to spend any "family" time with Lacey. Uh.....a grandmother isn't family? Anyway, we told her she was welcome to go and her sister and cousin threatened to come whip her behind if she didn't go. With our assurance and the threats looming, she agreed to come along.

Then, I did THE call. You all know THE call. The "did everybody pee?" call. About that time, Mama walked over and we were set to go. At 12:55 p.m., we were on the road. The ride was uneventful all the way to the Mississippi State line where I remembered to start taking pictures:

The Mississippi River.....Ole Miss.....Old Man River.....Deep River My Home Is Over Jordan. Some on, ya'll sing along with Clark Griswold.....I mean, John.

The skies were starting to look cloudy but, so far, we had lucked up and and hadn't gotten into any rain yet.

The Welcome to Mississippi sign. Yeah, I know it's in the distance but squench your eyes so you can read it:

A little further down the interstate, we could see "our McDonald's". The McDonald's that we have stopped at every year on our way to Disney. I couldn't just let us pass it by without taking a picture:

John just riding and acting silly. He had on his eyeglasses with his sunglasses over them. Crazy man! You'll also see that he has on his Disney hat with a Mickey sticker underneath the brim.

Between Vicksburg, Mississippi and Jackson, Mississippi, there's a building that reminds us of Spaceship Earth. This time, I remembered to take a picture of it:

We drove another 10 miles or so and it started raining. Shoot! I hate driving in the rain. Jackson, Mississippi really isn't a hard city to navigate your way through..........normally. It is when it's pouring down rain and there is construction all around you. There were several times when we were driving 10, yes I said 10, miles an hour. At other times, we got up to a whopping 20 miles per hour. And, then at other times, we were sitting still which always scares me. I don't like sitting still on an interstate in a torrential rain storm. One of the places we drove by was the exit that we would take on our way to Walt Disney World. Had I not been going to see my baby girl, I would have been tempted to take the exit and keep on going.

Eventually, we made it through the tangled up construction mess and took the exit we needed that would take us out of town and on to Alabama. Trouble was, it was still raining so hard you couldn't see two cars in front of you. After about a half hour, the rain slacked up and we decided to pull over and get gas and tinkle. The skies still looked pretty bad but at least it wasn't pouring down rain any more. Mama, Hunter and I went in the store while John pumped the gas. While in the bathroom, the electricity flicked on and off. I told Mama I was hurrying up and getting out of there. I didn't want to be in some strange bathroom in an unfamiliar town without any electricity. She agreed. Hunter was waiting outside the Men's room for us. He was a bit freaked out too and pointed outside.

It was raining like nobody's business. Mama and Hunter paid for their drink and snacks while I ran outside to tell John I'd watch the pump while he went inside. He said I'd get wet and to just get in the car. He'd run inside in a minute. Oh, wait, I forgot to say that this was a large covered gas station but the wind was blowing so hard, the rain was blowing underneath the awning. About that time, Mama and Hunter came out and jumped in.

I took these pictures from the car:

Here's poor John huddled behind the gas pump trying to stay dry:

John ran in to take his pee break and we stayed in the car. All sorts of cars were pulled underneath the awning. That didn't make me feel any better. I figured they were local people who knew what weather station to listen to and they were told to take shelter because of hail or damaging winds. Crap! I turned my camera on video and took a video of the rain pouring down and the wind blowing. Problem is, I didn't know that I couldn't rotate the video so it's sideways. Oh well, turn your heads way to the left or turn your computer screen way to the left and watch.



The white bucket that is sitting on the ice machine eventually blew off because the wind was blowing so hard. It was crazy! We sat there for another 20 minutes or so. The wind and rain eventually died down a good bit and we decided that we may as well get back on the road. If the weather got bad again, we'll pull off somewhere.

Thankfully, the weather got a little better. Mama decided to call her sister and tell her where we were. She was also supposed to report in and let her sister know what had happened on Bold and the Beautiful since my aunt was going to miss that day's episode. There was no answer so Mama said she'd call her again later.

We traveled on and it rained on and off all the way to Alabama. Here's what John and Hunter did. John would probably kill me if he knew I posted the next picture. His shirt got soaking wet from the rain and he had it hung on the back of the seat.

Actually, I take that back, when John woke up, he asked me if I had taken any pictures and I said "yeah, one of you sleeping" and he said "I guess you're going to put that in your trip report." To which I replied, "of course".

We could see the traffic starting to slow down again and, since it was raining again, we figured it was a wreck up ahead. Instead, we saw this:

You may not can tell from the picture but an 18 wheelers truck tires had caught on fire. I thought about Missy's trip report where she had posted a vehicle on fire.

***Continued in next post

 

[mickeystoontown]

At some point, we crossed into Alabama. This is where Mama and I got confused. Mama was the official map reader and Map Quest woman. I was the driver and John and Hunter were the....were the.....were:

Surprised that John was napping and then talking on the phone? I figured you weren't!

MapQuest said we had to take a loop around Birmingham, Alabama. It gave the highway number that we would have to take but Mama couldn't find it. She looked and she looked and she looked at the Alabama map. I read the MapQuest directions and knew that there was no way that we had gone the wrong way. Mama said that we had to go through Tuscaloosa first. I knew that but there wasn't anything on MapQuest saying that. After much going back and forth, Mama found the loop around Birmingham. Then, after the fifty thousandth reading of the MapQuest directions, we realized that we were going the right way, we just read the mileage wrong.

I really like how MapQuest tells you what exit number you have to take and how many miles you go. I'm a landmark kind of person. Give me a landmark or tell me a town I'm going through and I'm good to go. But, MapQuest doesn't do that. It just says go 330 miles and then exit. Anyway, we got it figured out and we were good to go.

Somewhere in Alabama, we came to the Boys Scouts of America building. There's a big Statue of Liberty outside of it:

Mama decided to try calling my aunt again and she got her. They talked about how much rain we had gotten and then started talking about Bold and the Beautiful. It's funny how they talk about "the stories". Every day when the Bold and the Beautiful goes off, my Mama's phone will ring within one minute. It's my aunt calling to talk about what happened. Mama told her that she'd call her when we got to the hotel in Georgia.

And, then, it was back to Mama doing this:

And me doing this:

It started raining really really hard the closer we got to Atlanta. My nerves were shot to heck and back. First off, I don't like driving in six lanes of traffic. Second, I don't like Atlanta traffic even if it is light traffic. I said silent prayers every five minutes. God was probably sick and tired of "Dear God, please watch out for me and my family." "Dear God, please keep us safe." "Dear God, please make these fools driving behind me not cut in front of me and force me off the road." "Dear God, please make that dumb butt behind me get off my tail." Well, you get the drift of how I was praying.

Finally, finally, the rain slacked off again but, by this time, it was almost 11:00 at night Georgia time. John called the hotel and told them that it would be another hour before we would arrive. They made a notation in the system and said to be careful driving. All along the way, we had talked to Lacey to let her know where we were. She called right after we made the loop around Atlanta to see where we were. We told her that we were going straight to the hotel and wouldn't stop by because it was too late. She said she would call us in the morning.

A little after Midnight, we drove through downtown Helen, Georgia. This was the first time we had ever been there that we hadn't been stuck in traffic. We pulled into the Hampton Inn and John stayed at the car while the rest of us went to check in. The garage elevator will only work at night if you have a room key which we, obviously, didn't have. We walked to the front of the hotel and climbed the stairs to the night window where we waited and waited and waited. There was no bell or buzzer or anything. I called John and told him to call the hotel number and tell somebody that we were waiting to be checked in. After a few minutes, a lady came and apologized that we had we wait. She checked us in and gave us our room keys.

We met John back in the garage and took all of our things up to our rooms. Our rooms were right next to each other on the third floor with a view of the Chatahoochee River. Here's pictures of our room. Notice the lumpy weirdo bedeirdo comforters. They looked very uncomfortable but they weren't. I guess they were meant to look that way?

I walked out on the balcony to see our view. You can't see if very well but we could see the pool and then a little further down was the river:

I walked over to Mama's room to make sure she had towels because we noticed that we didn't have any. She had towels but her balcony door wouldn't lock. We fiddled with it and it would lock when open but wouldn't lock when shut. I told her I'd send John over to look at it. He came back a little while later with towels and said that he had fixed Mama's door by slamming it shut. He said something must have been stuck on the latch or something or other.

We hit the bed early and were soon sound asleep with visions of Lacey in our heads. We would see her the next day. It had been over two months since we had seen her!

Up next: Graduation and a stroll around Helen, Georgia

 

[KatMark]

[

Surprised that John was napping and then talking on the phone? I figured you weren't!

All I can say, like I did with "ROZ", is I just don't know what to say.

I'm sorry you had to drive through all of that awful rain. I hate driving in rain and I hate when I'm in the car with someone who is driving in the rain. And driving through Atlanta is the pits -- no matter the time of day or the amount of traffic.