"You're not making good choices, Phoebe!" A July 2015 Trip Report *completed 1/2/16*

[ariane37]

So.....potential kid-free trip next year??? YES!!! OMG do it!!! Have you guys been without the kids before? DH and I are going alone for the 2nd time in January Plus you'd stay at the GF??!! That would be so awesome!!!! I hope you get to go!

 

[xlsm]

Cute Snow White ears!!!

Thank you!! They're from the EarBowtique on Etsy and Instagram. She also made my Vera Bradley ears I'm wearing in some of the photos. I highly, highly recommend her if you're ever looking for custom ears. They're so well made.

My only regret is that I didn't get to meet Snow White while wearing them!

Just finished reading through the whole thread and have really enjoyed reading about your trip and family

Thank you so much!!

So.....potential kid-free trip next year??? YES!!! OMG do it!!! Have you guys been without the kids before? DH and I are going alone for the 2nd time in January Plus you'd stay at the GF??!! That would be so awesome!!!! I hope you get to go!

YES!! I'm so excited by the possibility. We've never gone without kids before, and being at the Grand would just make it even better. I really, really hope he gets sent to that conference!! It'll be fun for me because I'll have the days to wander around the resort or parks taking pictures or whatever I want, and then when DH is finished for the day, we can enjoy the World together. My fingers are CROSSED.

 

[xlsm]

Ugh. This report has become an embarrassment.
I can't believe I've gone so long without finishing this thing off!!

My goal is to have it completed by the time winter break is over on Jan.4

Here's hoping!

Merry/Happy Whatever You Celebrate!!

My kids are ready for Christmas, and I'm ready for fudge and cookies and eggnog...(who am I kidding? I've been ready for it ALWAYS and have already eaten/drank the things already)

 

[missangelalexis]

Happy Holidays to you and your family!

 

[xlsm]

Here it is...finally the finale! I am really sorry it took so long to wrap up this report.

Chapter Ten...it ain't over 'til it's o-over

So, let's see. When I left off a gazillion and half days ago, I'd finished up our last day at the Magic Kingdom.

Now it's time for check out day. Boo. I hate check out day!!

We got up, showered, packed our last few things, double checked the room, and headed down to the lobby.

Where the kids sat around while DH made sure all charges were paid and taken care of.



Lazies.

We also took our customary last-day-sad-faces photo:



After DH came back, we decided we were hungry, and thought we'd try to go walk up at Whispering Canyon for breakfast. They were serving breakfast in Artist Point because they were doing something with the floors in the actual Whispering Canyon. Before us, a huge group was there. We had the joy of hearing their whole craziness happen live in front of us.

The original reservation that they had was for one family of four...but *plot twist* they were traveling with their extended family, and they showed up with NINE people instead.

Now, the issue was not space, because the place was pretty deserted at this time of day (around 10:30/10:45 if I recall). The issue was, after they were seated and after their drink order was placed and served...one woman in the group decided that where they had been seated was unacceptable. She didn't want to sit near a wall, she wanted to sit more in the center of the restaurant.

Because the WC crew was moving back to their home base for lunch service, they were cleaning the empty tables that were not in use and trying to keep the guests in one area. To me, this made sense. This woman was being unreasonably obnoxious, and actually told one of the CMs that everyone seemed unhappy with her request, and they'd better start smiling. The hostess at the stand had the self control of Mother Teresa, because she handled it with much more grace that I would ever, ever, ever have been able to.

They actually reopened a section of the restaurant, moved all of their drinks, and all of the people to a table the woman deemed suitable.

I have never seen anything like it in my life.

Because of this, it took quite awhile for us to be seated, but I can't say we weren't entertained with all of that insanity!

We had the BEST CM for our server. She was beyond spectacular. I'm pretty sure her name was Wendy.

Once we were seated, and the kids were coloring their menus, our drinks and orders placed, she came and got them and took them over to look for the hidden Mickey in the painting on the wall



that's her pointing. You can also see a couple of other CMs there absorbing her knowledge.

Our food came, and we all enjoyed on of our favorite meals this trip.

DH got the pulled pork bbq eggs benedict. It was spectacular, and I don't care for barbecue sauce. The sauce on this didn't bother me at all. It was so good! (we shared the biscuits and gravy) and I had the banana bread french toast. Holy smokes, folks! That stuff was incredible!!



I can't remember what the kids had! If I have to guess, based on their eating habits, X probably had potatoes and fruit. Actually, I feel like he must have had scrambled eggs as well, because I'm fairly certain I remember him asking Wendy if he could have cheese on them. L probably had pancakes, because the kid loves himself some pancakes.

It was a fantastic meal, and we were just over the moon about Wendy, because she went out of her way to make our meal fun and in keeping with the Whispering Canyon style even though we were in a nearly empty Artist Point dining room.

We left and resumed our lobby sitting, although I got up and took a zillion lobby and detail photos.







There's just a sampling. I have pictures of fireplace details, light fixtures, you name it! We won't be back to the Lodge to stay for quite awhile, so I need the photographic memories!!

Much too soon, it was time to head outside to wait for our ride.




The Magical Express pickup location cracks me up. They shun you. You are way up front out of the view of any guests. Probably so you don't depress them with the realization that soon, their trip too will end.

At least there's a fun view:



and a fun trash can



I think it's for throwing away your tear soaked tissues

Before long, our bus arrived



Sad faces again



We got through airport security pretty quickly if I recall, but they weren't doing any of the quick screens, everyone had to take off shoes and go into the big walkthrough scanner things, even little kids.

We waited...for a long time. Rain delay. Again. This is nothing new for us.



What are those faces?? Weirdos.

Bye, Florida.



I also have this gem:



but I have no idea if it's in Orlando or Atlanta...cause surprise, there was a rain delay there too.

We got to Atlanta and even though we were hungry, we skipped the food courtish area that we braved on our arrival flight, and went straight to our gate. There were so many places to eat the first time, we were sure there'd be places this go around, and we didn't have a ton of time before our flight was scheduled to take off because we'd been delayed in Orlando. Welllll....we were wrong. There were a few vending places and some of those sketchy sandwich cooler things. L and I went to explore. We picked up a sandwich to share and some hummus with carrots. The sandwich was horrible, so it was an expensive donation to a trash can. X had some chips, and DH ended up with this awesome yogurt parfait. He always finds the good stuff.

We decided to wait until we got home and grab something from a drive thru on the way home from the airport.

A nice extended family of inlaws, parents, grandparents, kids, and grandchildren came over and sat near us. Turns out they lived near us, and were coming home from a visit to Mexico. It was nice talking to them while waiting.

Boarding began, and because of our Delta perks, we get to board a little early. We stood up and got in line when our level was called, and this older guy shoved in front of me in line, and boarded. The phone rang, and the agent walked away. The guy behind us was making comments about how rude that guy who'd cut the line was...and then, karma. Boarding was suspended for a storm. We had more space, Shovy McShoverson got to sit in the cramped plane. Ha.

The storm eventually passed, and we were boarding and on the flight home.



See ya, Atlanta. (Wait, this might be our home airport, not Atlanta...it was raining at home too. My pictures got mixed up in photobucket again!!)

The flight home was pretty cool, because we could see the storm in the distance. The lighting was amazing. I took a video of it...some of my finest work, lol, a silent video of lightning out a window with that wooshing interior plane noise in the background. The next Scorsese, right here.

We got home late, the last flight to arrive at our home airport. We panicked a little because it seemed like everyone but us had already had their bags come down the chute. Finally found ours, managed to remember where we parked, stopped at the McDonald's drive thru, and walked into our home sweet home to happy, yappy, jumping dogs. They were so glad to see us, and we were so glad to see them. I hate leaving the doggies behind on our trips!! I'm glad we have my inlaws to stay and take care of them for us. They have a 5 or 6 hour drive to get here, but they embrace their job as pet sitters to their granddogs.


Coming up...Final Thoughts!

 

[xlsm]

Jerry Springer's final thoughts...


This trip was amazing!! We had so much fun and enjoyed so many new experiences. I'm even going to go back and re-read my own report to relive the whole thing a little bit.

Disney World is so precious to me, and sharing it with my family is one of my greatest joys. I can't even describe how happy I am that they love it too!

I'm also really glad we took the time to visit Universal/IOA! It was a heck of a day, but looking back, I'm really excited to make a return trip at some point to slow down and enjoy all it has to offer.

Our next scheduled trip to the World is in December...only 11 more months!! That's nothin'! haha!!

We're heading to California in June (at least that's still the plan!) and I can't wait to visit Disneyland and California Adventure for the first time!! It will be my first trip to California, too. I've never been farther west than Oklahoma City! We'll be spending time in Santa Monica, in LA doing touristy things and visiting my SIL who lives there and works across the street from the Chinese Theater, then go to Disneyland/CA for three park days, and end up having a day or two in the Long Beach area, maybe San Diego. We haven't finalized that part of the plan yet, although we REALLY need to buy plane tickets pretty soon.

Thank you so much to everyone who stuck with this thing and crossed the finish line with me!!

Love ya'll, and see ya real soon!!

 

[ariane37]

Happy New Year So nice to come on and see your report finished up Departure day has to be the yuckiest day to write about, but at least you have TWO Disney trips planned for this year!! Very exciting that you're heading to CA. I went to Disneyland waaaaay back in 1995 lol, so I remember basically nothing.
I actually just finished downloading some pictures to photobucket so if I can figure out how to upload them here, I should hopefully be starting my very first TR of our Thanksgiving visit in the next couple days!! MAYBE.......MAYbe........maybe. Probably shouldn't open my mouth until I do something Anyway loved reading along as always!

 

[missangelalexis]

Glad you were able to have an enjoyable (and entertaining) last Disney meal!

Going home always stinks

You are going to have such an amazing time in California! And your next trip to WDW will be here before you know it!

I really enjoyed your TR, thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the next one

 

[LadyGrimm]

Not to be a total Creepy McCreeperson, but I seriously hope your Dec. '16 trip coincides with ours. This is, by far, one of my absolute favorite TR ever. If I do see you, I promise to not be scary and only squee at minimal volume.

 

[xlsm]

Happy New Year So nice to come on and see your report finished up Departure day has to be the yuckiest day to write about, but at least you have TWO Disney trips planned for this year!! Very exciting that you're heading to CA. I went to Disneyland waaaaay back in 1995 lol, so I remember basically nothing.
I actually just finished downloading some pictures to photobucket so if I can figure out how to upload them here, I should hopefully be starting my very first TR of our Thanksgiving visit in the next couple days!! MAYBE.......MAYbe........maybe. Probably shouldn't open my mouth until I do something Anyway loved reading along as always!

I would be so excited if you did a report!! It's fun, and I enjoy writing them, and I hate that this one got away from me for so long!!

I'm both thrilled for and terrified of Disneyland/DCA. I do better with extensive planning, and it just doesn't seem like I have to put that much effort in. We still haven't booked, lol, I don't know why! Well, I know partially why...we know what we want to do until the Disneyland portion is over. Then we just sort of blank out. I have an idea in my head that we must stay in an oceanfront hotel, but holy cow, the prices make the Grand Floridian look like a Super 8. So, expectations must be lowered.

Thank you for sticking with me again!!

Glad you were able to have an enjoyable (and entertaining) last Disney meal!

Going home always stinks

You are going to have such an amazing time in California! And your next trip to WDW will be here before you know it!

I really enjoyed your TR, thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the next one

Thank you for reading along! I've enjoyed your WDW TR as well, even though I am still behind on my reading. I need to read your Disneyland one!! I feel really unprepared for California, and yet I have so much planned already for December, LOL!!

Not to be a total Creepy McCreeperson, but I seriously hope your Dec. '16 trip coincides with ours. This is, by far, one of my absolute favorite TR ever. If I do see you, I promise to not be scary and only squee at minimal volume.

LOL!! This cracked me up!! You are not a Creepy McCreeperson. I'm so glad you enjoyed this TR! It was a long, long, labor of love...and a little bit of hate when I started getting behind on my writing!

It would be fun to have a DisMeet if our trips overlap! Have you seen the December 2016 thread yet? It is HERE

 

[ariane37]

I would be so excited if you did a report!! It's fun, and I enjoy writing them, and I hate that this one got away from me for so long!!

I'm both thrilled for and terrified of Disneyland/DCA. I do better with extensive planning, and it just doesn't seem like I have to put that much effort in. We still haven't booked, lol, I don't know why! Well, I know partially why...we know what we want to do until the Disneyland portion is over. Then we just sort of blank out. I have an idea in my head that we must stay in an oceanfront hotel, but holy cow, the prices make the Grand Floridian look like a Super 8. So, expectations must be lowered.

Thank you for sticking with me again!!

Um, well, I did start my report last night. It's had some views but nobody following yet Probably b/c it's BORING, and my pictures are HUGE and I can't figure out how to make them smaller I think it's annoying when pictures are really big so I'm sure others do, too. I also haven't yet figured out how to put the link to my TR in my signature........ugh, I'm so bad at technology!

We want to do CA. soon too but I've never looked at hotel prices. Are they really that expensive? I'm used to expensive being in NY but I guess the one place that's more expensive is CA......and I feel you on the planning. Even when Steve and I do kid-free WDW trips there's less planning and I start to freak out that I've forgotten something!
I'll be on the lookout for your Dec. PTR

 

[LadyGrimm]

LOL!! This cracked me up!! You are not a Creepy McCreeperson. I'm so glad you enjoyed this TR! It was a long, long, labor of love...and a little bit of hate when I started getting behind on my writing!

It would be fun to have a DisMeet if our trips overlap! Have you seen the December 2016 thread yet? It is HERE

DRAT! Our trips are off by a week (ish)!

 

[Princess Leia]

I have really enjoyed your trip report particularly given you were there during the same time as us. Congratulations on getting it finished. You have put me to shame - I am still on Day 3 of my trip report. I'll hopefully get to the Disney part soon! That's great you have some more trips in the near future.

Um, well, I did start my report last night. It's had some views but nobody following yet

Hi ariane 37! I didn't realise you had a trip report started! Of course I will read your trip report after all you came to join in on mine.

 

[xlsm]

I have really enjoyed your trip report particularly given you were there during the same time as us. Congratulations on getting it finished. You have put me to shame - I am still on Day 3 of my trip report. I'll hopefully get to the Disney part soon! That's great you have some more trips in the near future.



Hi ariane 37! I didn't realise you had a trip report started! Of course I will read your trip report after all you came to join in on mine.

I went over and got caught up on your report! I've lost track of so many that I was following. Real life is just not as fun as Disney life, and I wish I was living on Disney time more often!!

 

[Princess Leia]

It's so hard to get spare time. I find that with working full time, the children's instrumental practice and homework take up evenings. The children are so busy at weekends with their hobbies and at their age it means driving them there and collecting them. The pace of my trip writing at least means that people can catch up quickly.

 

[ariane37]

I have really enjoyed your trip report particularly given you were there during the same time as us. Congratulations on getting it finished. You have put me to shame - I am still on Day 3 of my trip report. I'll hopefully get to the Disney part soon! That's great you have some more trips in the near future.



Hi ariane 37! I didn't realise you had a trip report started! Of course I will read your trip report after all you came to join in on mine.

Thank you!! The more I write the more I'm getting the hang of it DH and I are in Disney now until Wed., so I'll get back to writing mine, and catching up on yours when we return!

 

[xlsm]

Hey gang!

Had to share because I'm soooooo excited...we FINALLY officially booked our California trip for June!!
We've decided to fly into SNA and use our Anaheim hotel as our home base for our SoCal adventures instead of moving from hotel to hotel like we'd originally wanted.

We'll be at the HoJo, and we have 5 day hoppers for DL and DCA. We'll be renting a car at the airport and taking day trips to LA to be touristy tourists and see my SIL (her office is across the street from the Chinese theater!), to the beach, and *maybe* San Diego. We had originally planned on 3 park days, but with these 5 day hoppers, if we get back from the beach or LA and want to go ride Pirates, we'll just go down the street and go to Disneyland!

I *might* do a pre-trip report as time draws closer, but I will DEFINITELY be doing a trip report when we return...it'll keep me going before my December trip to WDW.

Happy dance!!

 

[HomeSweetDisney]

I got so behind on the DIS and TR's and missed so much! Now you're already done!!

Loved reading about your family's adventures in WDW!

How exciting you may get to stay at the GF...KID FREE! That's so awesome! Hope that happens for ya'll

And yay for Disneyland!! I have only been once back in 2008 (pre- Cars land) but it was so much fun! It was amazing to see the original Disneyland, see where Walt walked and worked...it's very inspiring & a must do for any Disney nut! I hope you do a TR for it!

And hey, remember when we talked about booking for Dec 2016 and it was like...a million months away? Now it's only 10 months away!
Time is flying!!

 

[xlsm]

I got so behind on the DIS and TR's and missed so much! Now you're already done!!

Loved reading about your family's adventures in WDW!

How exciting you may get to stay at the GF...KID FREE! That's so awesome! Hope that happens for ya'll

And yay for Disneyland!! I have only been once back in 2008 (pre- Cars land) but it was so much fun! It was amazing to see the original Disneyland, see where Walt walked and worked...it's very inspiring & a must do for any Disney nut! I hope you do a TR for it!

And hey, remember when we talked about booking for Dec 2016 and it was like...a million months away? Now it's only 10 months away!
Time is flying!!

I will definitely do a TR for the DLR trip!!

I am SO GLAD that there is no longer a "one year and..." before the months on the December countdown!!

Thanks for following along on this adventure

 

[xlsm]

December 2016 PTR has been started if anyone is interested! Nothing much there but intros at the moment, but more is coming

It is HERE