Will You Chill Out if I Sprinkle You With Pixie Dust? The End p136 *New TR Link* p138

[englishrose47]

Yay!!For the cruise !!I think it is the same one (different dates) I will be going on in May!!!

 

[MEK]

:

I have an aft stateroom booked as well and am very excited about it. People say the views when leaving port are just beautiful. Be careful though, a couple have very small verandahs which people have been very upset about. Have you checked the reviews on your stateroom yet? If you haven't they're right here on the Dis, just click the cruise link at the top and then staterooms, and from the dropdown menu pick room reports. It was very helpful choosing my room. If you find you have been given a room that seems unsavory you can always change it. Sorry if you aready know all this and it's a repeat.

Thanks Pam. I knew I had seen stateroom reviews before, but I really wasn't sure where to find them. I read through a whole bunch of them last night. I didn't find one for my specific room, but I did find some neighboring stateroom reviews. I actually read some awesome reviews from the other side of the ship, so I emailed my TA this morning with some other possible choices.

II'm always amazed when I see the prices continue to go up.

What a bonus you had such a low deposit.

I was surprised, because I thought the deposit was going to be higher. The nice thing is, as I continue to get my rebate certificates over the next year I can just send them to her to start paying down the remainder. I love using my credit card.

II'm sorry you're having to reschedule your HHI trip. Have you been able to pinpoint dates that will work?

I was going to see if he is OK with me changing it to the first or second week of April. The points for a studio go from 10 to 15 a night, but what else can I do? I wanted as many points as possible for October 2013, but I guess I will just borrow.

II did some trip shopping today which really made things seem real. Starting to get really excited! Thanks!

There is nothing better than trip shopping, especially when all the summer clothes are on clearance!

I love that you made rope drop...again! I can never do that with my family...well rarely. they like to sleep for some dang reason.

Darn family wanting to sleep! That sounds like Nick. He is all about the sleeping, too!

The rope drop both days really made a nice difference in our approach to the parks. The two parks that my brother's family like best with HS and Epcot - both parks where we got there at opening.

I am so happy you booked the cruise too. I know all about long waits for a cruise. I think we booked our upcoming Nov. one last Oct. It seems like it's been being planned forever and it will go so fat once it comes.

Isn't that the truth. So funny to book and plan so far in advance for something that is over a year away. Oh well. I rather be well organized then go into something blindly. I am very excited!

YAY for booking a cruise! How exciting!
I giggled a little when I read that instead of cancelling next spring, you're thinking about going with your bro!

Yeah, I had a momentary lapse of sanity when that thought went through my head. Actually, I am just going to move HHI into April. There is no way Denny can be denied a vacation by the time April rolls around.

I am very, very excited about the cruise. This is HUGE!!!!!!

I have so enjoyed your trip report. I live in MD. The neighboorhood around U of MD is horrible and crime ridden. I suggest looking at Towson University. My students that went to Towson and Salisbury have loved it.

smga1 Ok - I can't remember, did you post once before? So sorry if I am welcoming you twice, because your name does sound familiar.

Anway - its funny that you should say that about Maryland, because I was reading some reviews that say the same thing. It is pretty scary to be so close to a crappy area.

We considered Towson briefly.

As far as Salisbury - my older son, who I haven't mentioned at all in this TR, is actually a student there. He completed his freshman year and is now enrolled part time. He is commuting for a weekly class (long story) and taking some courses at the local community college (Del Tech). He hopes to get back on campus in the spring and go back to a full time status.

Anyway - he really likes Salisbury and I have been impressed with the school and everyone I have been in contact with down there. They seem to really have their act together. For example, he had a decision on whether his Del Tech classes would transfer in about 5 days and that was using snail mail.

Salisbury as a city has some really crappy areas as well, from what I understand. I was going to have Nick apply there because I feel pretty certain they will offer him academic money. However, they don't have engineering, just a 3/2 program. They do have an acturial science program, as does Towson, which is something he has toyed with briefly.

Ugh - its all too much for a mom.

 

[MEK]

Yay!!For the cruise !!I think it is the same one (different dates) I will be going on in May!!!

Cool! I did not know you were cruising in May! You better take tons of pictures. Now I have Cynthia's cruise TR to look forward to AND yours!

 

[vamassey1]

Congrats on booking your cruise! So many trips to look forward to in the next year or so.

 

[mickeystoontown]

First off, congratulations on booking your cruise! My one tip: Don't pack an iron or you may need to see security.

Second, thanks so much for reminding me where your Hilton Head and Savannah reports were. I've forwarded the links to my sister and she's already started reading.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I know I read about your cruise yesterday, but must not have posted.
Congrats on booking!!

You are going to need a LOT of memory cards, my friend!! There are SO many cool things to photograph. You'll be insane!

I'm glad you did the 4 day not the 3 day. Just not enough time on the 3 day.

 

[saintstickets]

I wasn't referring to the bags themselves as much as what it appeared you might have been doing while taking that picture.

I'm just saying'.....that picture was taken from a very low angle!

Just now catching up. I was thinking the exact same thing.

OMG - I laughed more today than in the last two weeks! I'm so glad I don't have an office mate to ask me what's so funny. And I'm glad no one else is home right now.

Well, to tell you the truth, I really don't remember what was happening when I took that picture, but your height observation and the fact that I always have that camera around my neck made me conclude that.....oh well.....never mind!

Between you and Glenn I may really need to take another break from the DIS. I can't stop laughing!

Thanks for the much needed laugh break everyone! It's been a roller coaster few days for us...8/18-wedding, 8/23-funeral, 8/28-anniversary, 8/29-hurricane! Whew!! I'm reminded of an old commercial byline, "Calgon take me away!" I don't use Calgon but the DISboards works just fine!! Keep up the great TR MEK!

 

[eandesmom]

Cool! I did not know you were cruising in May! You better take tons of pictures. Now I have Cynthia's cruise TR to look forward to AND yours!

Yep, ours was the exact same cruise except our days were in a different order (nassau, at sea, castaway cay)

 

[FiveBoys]

I just found your trip report and I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait to read about the rest!

 

[MEK]

So, I started doing replies last night while my cat was sitting on my lap, which means one handed typing, so he doesn't fall off. Well, I thought I closed the window by accident, but here it was open for me this morning. So I'll carry on. I am off today. Woo Hoo!

Congrats on booking your cruise! So many trips to look forward to in the next year or so.

I am very excited about the cruise and both of my upcoming trips. They are all spaced about 6 months apart, so I think that will work well. I just have to get the dates on the HHI trip pinned down a little better.

First off, congratulations on booking your cruise! My one tip: Don't pack an iron or you may need to see security.

One thing I can assure you of is - I will NOT pack an iron. I am weird about packing. I start ironing stuff like 3 weeks before a trip. Denny never irons and always has the ironing board out in the room. He's always pulling it out and I am forever putting it away.

Second, thanks so much for reminding me where your Hilton Head and Savannah reports were. I've forwarded the links to my sister and she's already started reading.

Glad you found them and I hope they help your sister. Both of those cities are so incredibly easy to visit. I hate to drive and I hate looking for parking even more, but both have great public parking that is easy to find. Savannah was free and Charleston was a parking garage at the edge of the historic district that was inexpensive. Good walking shoes are essential, because you can definitely do a lot of walking in both cities.

Is your sister actually going to stay IN both cities. I really would like to stay in Charleston the next time we visit. I thought we would do an overnighter on the way home from HHI. I did see a Hampton Inn in the historic district that looked like a good place to stay location wise and given the fact that usually Hampton Inns are cost effective. I bet there are a lot of inns and B&Bs to stay at.

I know I read about your cruise yesterday, but must not have posted.
Congrats on booking!!

Thanks! I am SO excited! This is really a big deal for me!

You are going to need a LOT of memory cards, my friend!! There are SO many cool things to photograph. You'll be insane!

I so laughed when I read that last night. You're right - I probably will go crazy. I'll be stopping every inch to get a picture of something. Fortunately, I have started taking more and more pics with my phone. That should help, but I would really like to get a water proof camera as well.

I'm glad you did the 4 day not the 3 day. Just not enough time on the 3 day.

I considered the 3 day, but thought - heck if I am spending all this money, I might as well spend some more and stay an extra day. Then if I love it I will move up to a longer cruise. And I have a feeling we might become addicts after this one.

Just now catching up. I was thinking the exact same thing.

In retrospect, I probably should not have posted that picture. It has caused quite a stir!

Thanks for the much needed laugh break everyone! It's been a roller coaster few days for us...8/18-wedding, 8/23-funeral, 8/28-anniversary, 8/29-hurricane! Whew!! I'm reminded of an old commercial byline, "Calgon take me away!" I don't use Calgon but the DISboards works just fine!! Keep up the great TR MEK!

But it did provide great comic relief.

So how are you holding up with the hurricane? I don't really know where you live in relationship to the worst part of the storm. I hope everything is OK and that its not affecting your plans for Hawaii, which I think is coming up VERY soon!

BTW- Happy Anniversary!

Yep, ours was the exact same cruise except our days were in a different order (nassau, at sea, castaway cay)

I wonder why they change it up? I guess it must have something to do with the schedules of other cruises? Really not sure. I am looking forward to CC the most, I think. I am really curious to see what you did on your "at sea" day.


QUOTE=FiveBoys;45987234]I just found your trip report and I'm really enjoying it. I can't wait to read about the rest![/QUOTE]

FiveBoys! Thanks so much for joining in! I am glad you are enjoying my TR and I hope to update again today! Now, I must ask - do you really have 5 boys? If so.....

OMG - you do - I just looked at your ticker. Wow! That's a lot of testosterone in your house.

 

[MEK]

Soarin High

I am off from work today. Woo Hoo - so excited that I am off for the next 5 days. So I am going to try to get a quick update in this morning before I go running. Then I have to put all my furniture and pictures back. I had new blinds installed, which meant painting a bunch of windows and that turned into painting a bunch of walls and rooms. The painter has been done for a couple days and now I have to rehang everything.

So when I left off last we were finally heading to Soarin. My brother had gotten his panties in a bunch earlier in the morning because we didn't head there first. Now he was finally starting to relax.

Oh, and I remember I said I didn't have any pictures of Living With the Land. I lied. I actually found a few crappy pictures I took on my phone.

Bad picture, but visual proof that I WAS there.

OK - All my pictures really stink, but I am a sucker for bananas

And for some odd reason, the pictures from the beginning of the queue turned out.

Alrighty then, I am not going to bore you with anymore of these pictures because I actually took some "real" ones later in the trip. And truthfully, who hasn't already seen a ton of LWTL pics?

Finally we made it to Soarin and the excitement was obvious:

I will admit, this is a cool queue

We ended up making the right hand turn to the theatre. It seems that I end up turning left more than right. Just an observation.

I can't even tell you what section or row we were in. I think it was row 2 because there were feet. Brilliant deduction, I'm sure.

I got a little picture happy and started taking preshow photos (no flash)

Here's a place I would really like to visit

As many times as I've seen this pre show.......

I always have to chuckle at this part

I took this picture with my cell while on the ride and then I got nailed for taking pictures. Non-flash pictures. I knew it had to be me because the CM said, "the person in row 2. No pictures please". Oops. Again - please make the rules clear - is it NO pictures or NO FLASH pictures? My bad.

If you are going to sneak a few pictures on Soarin, wait until after the first scene to do it.

Soarin was a huge success. Everyone loved it and there were no motion sickness problems.

When we exited the ride we made our lunch plan. Well, actually I made our lunch plan. I wanted Sunshine Seasons. It was right there and I figured it would be a good place to eat on the QS plan.

So Nick, Denny, and I went to get our food before the lines got crowded.

Obviously, this was not a good choice for SIL. I think the fact that there were so many stations and there wasn't pizza. nuggets, or fries (well, maybe there was and she couldn't find it), sort of put her in overload mode and she said, "the kids don't want to eat here. We are going to find someplace else to eat".

OKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKKK

Seems I messed up again. When my SIL says the kids don't want to do something, I think it really means that she doesn't want to do something. Just sayin'

I suggested they go to the Electric Umbrella and we would meet up with them after we finished.

So what did I get for lunch? Well, I knew exactly what I wanted and it was in the form of this tuna/noodle salad.

Yum! It was very good and a nice CS option. If you look at the far right corner of my tray you will see that I also chose the infamous strawberry shortcake. It didn't deserve its own picture because the CM gave me the smallest piece on the tray. There were some lovely pieces available, but he served me up what appeared to be a sliver in comparison to the other pieces.

OK, so I am exaggerating, but I was just a little miffed. On the other hand, I knew I didn't need the extra calories that the bigger pieces held, but I still had to fight the urge to say, "can I have a big one please?"

Surprisingly, I also photographed Denny and Nick's choices. I don't know who had what or even what the names of these entrees are. And, I am too lazy to look them up right now, so pictures is all you get. I hope you are satisfied!

Too much white rice on this plate for my liking

Yum - this looks pretty good

After we finished, we headed over to Electric Umbrella to pick up the rest of the gang.

Here is Nick - obviously trying to recuperating from eating too much white rice or asian noodles.

Since I was just a casual observer at the Electric Umbrella, and no longer a diner, I couldn't help but notice the theming detals

A view from the window

After we sat at the Electric Umbrella for what seemed like an eternity, I convinced the troops that perhaps we should free up our tables for other costumers.

And out we went, into the bright sun.

Continued in Next Post........

 

[MEK]

Continued.........

I had our next stop already picked out.

Yup - Nemo!

And I can honestly say that the line reached to the end of that seemingly endless queue. Once we got inside I thought, "ugh - how am I going to do this?"

So I just decided to turn my pain into gain and take photos.

Clearly not all that impressed with the length of the queue

Moderately informative

Hard picture without a flash

Cool touch

I guess it was really too dark to get anything of interest in the queue and, after what seemed like an eternity but was probably only 20 or 25 minutes, we entered our clam shell.

My thoughts on Nemo?

Why, can't this ride be cooler than it is? I mean, it should be. Long queue to build up the anticipation, cool clam shells to ride in and then *thud* it just sort of falls flat. It's just not interactive or immersive enough.

Once our of Nemo we went to see the wonderful tanks

I tried to work the camera, but everything looks so flat and colorless.

However, I did find this little treasure.

This looks surreal. Kinda cool

Continued in next post........

 

[MEK]

Continued.........

I always stop by to see the manatees

See this hole

I arrived just in time to see the last manatee making his exit

How does a 1400 lb manatee make himself look so flat?

Next I tried my luck at photographing some of the small tanks. My results? Well, you can judge for yourself. It could be worse is all I'm going to say.

I love the way the clownfish really does borrow into the foliage

Come on out little fella

Ok, Psych - there weren't any fish in that picture. Haha!

Real or fake? You decide!

And with that, I gotta run - literally. It's going to be hot outside today so I gotta get a move on.

In my next update we visit one more attraction before calling it an Epcot day. Any guesses?

Oh, and being the savvy vacationers that we are, we did pick up a set of Soarin FPs for later in the evening.

 

[englishrose47]

Great Update !!Soarin' is my favorite ride !!! Love it !!I agree I tend to go left more often !!Love SS myself but the family was not happy anf Kyle had a melt down there last year !!Soooo we did EU next time we were there !!! Have to say the Strawberry Shortcake is a favorite too!!!

 

[Captain_Oblivious]

I am off from work today. Woo Hoo - so excited that I am off for the next 5 days.

I'm jealous!

Alrighty then, I am not going to bore you with anymore of these pictures because I actually took some "real" ones later in the trip. And truthfully, who hasn't already seen a ton of LWTL pics?

Well, you have a point there. On the other hand, we all keep reading these TR's!

We ended up making the right hand turn to the theatre. It seems that I end up turning left more than right. Just an observation.

Interesting. I don't think I've ever turned left in there.

I took this picture with my cell while on the ride and then I got nailed for taking pictures. Non-flash pictures. I knew it had to be me because the CM said, "the person in row 2. No pictures please". Oops. Again - please make the rules clear - is it NO pictures or NO FLASH pictures? My bad.

Busted! No Dole Whips for you.

Seems I messed up again. When my SIL says the kids don't want to do something, I think it really means that she doesn't want to do something.

That does seem to be the pattern.

After we sat at the Electric Umbrella for what seemed like an eternity, I convinced the troops that perhaps we should free up our tables for other costumers.

Why would you want to go on rides when you could sit at a table?

My thoughts on Nemo?

Why, can't this ride be cooler than it is? I mean, it should be. Long queue to build up the anticipation, cool clam shells to ride in and then *thud* it just sort of falls flat. It's just not interactive or immersive enough.

I agree. I think the effect of seeing the characters in the actual aquarium is really cool, and I kinda wish the whole ride was like that.

How does a 1400 lb manatee make himself look so flat?

Black is a slimming color.

In my next update we visit one more attraction before calling it an Epcot day. Any guesses?

Not...Journey into Imagination??

 

[Stringbean&Wingnut]

Yay for a 5 day weekend!!!

Boo for your sad little Strawberry Shortcake slice!! I can't say I wouldn't have asked for a larger one! (Hey, it's fruit! How can that be unhealthy???? )

I must say, I have never ever seen the Nemo queue that long!! I agree, the ride could be MUCH cooler than it actually is!

 

[dawnbu40]

I love the expression on your nephew's face in the fast pass pic. Too cute!

A 20-25 minute wait for Nemo?! The park must have been really busy that day because I think it's been years since we've ever stood in that queue. It's a cute little ride but not worth waiting for IMO

I love the manatees too

And for the cruise!

 

[SoonerGirl]

Glad everyone enjoyed Soarin! I don't get the no pictures thing in there, I mean, no FLASH pictures, yes, but no pictures period?

You guys had the much better lunch

I haven't seen a wait for Nemo since right after it opened! I'm guessing the park was really busy that day.

 

[FiveBoys]

Soarin is one of my favorite rides, but we've only been to WDW once, so the many dozens of times I've ridden this ride were at California Adventure in DLR. I miss living in Southern California, annual Disney passes were a must have.
I probably wouldn't have asked for a larger piece of cake either, but I would have been miffed.
I also agree with your assertion that your SIL uses her children as an excuse. It annoys me and I'm only just reading about it!

I really do have five boys, and yes, there is a distinct lack of estrogen in our home; even the cats, dog, and rabbits are male, but my horse is female so I get a break when I go to the barn. We tend to attract attention when we are out and about which is another great thing about Disney. So many people travel with extended family that no one even looks twice at our crew!
Hmmm, what could your final ride be? Another go on Soarin?

 

[dawnmichele]

You could not be more right about the Nemo ride! The first (and hopefully only) time I rode it, we got out of the clam shells and I just though "Huh, that was it?" It is really lacking. In fact, I think the queue is more interesting.

I'm glad everyone loved Soarin' though. It's a great ride and for some reason I'm always a little sad when someone doesn't love it.

And so true! about the no pictures/no flash rule. Make it clear, people. There's a giant difference between the two. I am, at least at Disney , a rule follower - but if I don't know what the rule is, I'm going to have a hard time following it.