disneygurlz2s

Every idea looks awesome!! I heard that there was going to be something Pixar-related at MGM, and Toy Story already has a huge presence there. I can see that attraction opening as a prequel to the proposed TS3 movie, which I so hope they do. I love all the Pixar movies, but TS and TS2 are still tops, in part because Sammi was so obsessed with Jessie. I am looking forward to getting our annual report book...thank goodness Sammi has those 3 shares! Shari

Trust me, if that had been Cincinnati they would have started closing schools. Seriously! This has been the weirdest winter weather-wise. We have had mostly 40's and 50's since Thanksgiving, here. No real "snow" yet, but so much rain this weekend I thought we were going to need to build an ark! Shari

^^ Ditto!! Hope you had a great day! Shari

Happy Belated Birthday, Soren.... Glad you had such a special Disney Birthday. Great pictures! Shari

Cute pic! You are not going to sue for him biting you, are ya?? Also, am I correct that that is NOT Donald, but rather one of the nephews?? Shari

We watched the video repeatedly last night, and to me it appeared as if the kid may have done something when reaching behind Tigger that the person in the costume had a "knee jerk" reaction to, causing him to swing around. He doesn't knock the kid over, so I doubt it was such a "hard" hit. The father reminded me of your typical jerk and the kid too. I don't think it was intentional and it certainly wasn't an assault. It's easy to forget that there are normal human beings inside those costumes and that we all respond to being grapped, pushed, etc in some way or another. Shari

Hey! I'm just trying to keep the conversation lively!! No, seriously... I have complete and total respect for Robb and Elissa and appreciate their standards here. This IS fun place for all ages to come and share things related to rides, amusement parks, our lives, whatever. And I agree that if you want to be a part of this or any online community you should know the rules of the road and the expectations of the people in charge. I just disagreed with the fact that every response seemed to be pretty negative. Sorry to sound so "corny", but I guess I thought a simple "Hey dude, we can all appreciate your wanting to know what's on the horizon for Cedar Fair, but you really might want to work on your letter-writing skills before you do that again" would have been sufficient. I agree with everyone that younger people need to learn the proper way to communicate in writing whether it's a thank you note to Grandma or a letter to an executive. Unfortunately, far too much of our population is truly illiterate, and the electronic age is doing nothing to help that. As the parent of an elementary school-age child, I can tell you that all kids are being taught now is what they need to know to pass the State testing to fund the schools, and not what they need to be functional young adults/adults in the grown up world. If I had a $1 for every foolish post I have read on the internet, I would be a rich girl! Unfortunately kids growing up into today's world, they don't remember the days before chat rooms and the internet (like Robb and I and so many of the rest of us do!) and I agree with Julie in that, while some might have thought that the electronic age would improve communication and "letter writing", that's not always the case! Shari "Didn't mean to start a firestorm!" Shoufler

If you went to the movies over the weekend, or anytime over the holidays, you probably saw some of the previews of the possible Summer 2007 blockbusters. Which are you most looking forward to?? For me and Sammi: Spiderman 3 Shrek 3 Pirates 3 (May is going to be a busy month!) Ratatouille My husband got all excited about "Transformers"... I said, "Have a good time". Shari

I rarely get to see anything that isn't G, PG in the theater (with an eight year old), so my list pretty much consists of only two Pirates 2 and Cars!!! Oh, I did see "Click" though, and thought that it was very touching...kind of a modern "Wonderful Life" Shari (I don't get out much) Shoufler

OK.... maybe it's just because I am in a real mood today, but I have read this thread twice today and I feel like having my say... I get that the letter/email (whichever it was) was perhaps not the most well-written piece of communication, but I personally think everyone's being a little hard on this KID. My opinion: 1) He's a kid. 16. Do some of you remember being 16? Especially you guys? Let's get real here. 2) At no point did I read that he was writing to express the feelings or opinions of TPR, ACE or any coaster/theme park enthusiast group. In fact, I don't think he even mentions in exact words being a coaster enthusiast at all. So, near as I can tell, other than posting his letter and response here, he is not in any way aligning himself with any such group, nor does he say that he was writing it to represent "us" here at TPR, etc. To accuse him of giving coaster enthusiasts a bad rap seems a bit over-the-top to me. I know it's important to you to keep TPR respectable and well represented, and with all the crap out there on the internet now, (and as somebody who isn't a kid anymore herself by any stretch of the imagination) I really appreciate that. I have always thought it's great that you hold your members, including and especially the young kids, to a standard of conduct on this website, including appropriate posting, grammar, etc. At the same time however, a lot of the posting I read now seems to be from a lot younger crowd than when I first joined, and sadly (and the internet, all the shorthand, texting etc has gone a long way toward promoting this) the "younger generation" has NO CLUE how to write a proper letter nowdays. I agree it was silly for anyone to write such a letter to Cedar Fair, but I bet they get hundreds and hundreds from kids just like him. However, since near as I can tell he didn't say that he was writing on behalf of Theme Park Review, etc, I don't really see the need to give him so much crap. Just my two cents, Shari

With the exception of an awesome week at WDW and a great new position at my company, 2006 sucked...... I am so happy that 2007 is here and am hopeful that it will be better! Shari

Soren, Have a fabulous time! As for musicals, I can't believe that no one has mentioned the Disney trifecta: Beauty and the Beast Lion King Mary Poppins Unless you are totally trying to escape Disney for the weekend, I highly recommend these. Poppins is brand new and has gotten good reviews from what I've read. I have seen B&B twice and LK once and they are amazing. If you like the theme park versions, you will be blown away by the Broadway versions. Some great shops to check out besides Macy's FAO Schwartz.... Huge, amazing candy store Dylan's Candy Bar... Ralph Lauren's daughter owns this giagantic candy store Also the Hershey store, Disney Store, Tiffany's, and all the other fancy famous department stores! Shari

Happy Thanksgiving and Happy Anniversary R & E. Kids menu? Seriously? Now I know you guys are picky eaters (well, maybe not Robb) but are you really having hot dogs and chicken fingers for dinner? This would be what it would be like if I took a cruise with Herb and Sammi. "Screw the gourmet food, bring on the chicken fingers, hot dogs and cheese sticks!!" Thanks for the fun update. Glad there was no video of the projectile vomiting, I am still full from turkey day dinner. Shari

I know at WDW the "Cars" move through the park and are in the "Stars and Motor Cars" parade, so I agree about the E-stop and the fact that the "pusher" shouldn't have pushed. However... if the vehicle was not in motion at the time, what did it hurt? Surely the cast member involved could have handled it a bit more politely? Shari

I am soooo jealous.

Samantha already stated previously that she would like you to use her name, so to make it official, Samantha Shoufler votes: Samantha Marie Alvey I agree 110% with you on all your name logic as my criteria was exactly the same (although in the digital print-your-own-name age there's less of a problem now than there was when I was growing up in the 70's with S-H-A-R-I) and recommend for the child's sanity, stick with a traditional spelling as well. (ie, a girl at my work spells her name Jenniffer-two n's and two f's). So excited that it's a girl!!! And I had to laugh that you were thinking Ryan for a boy, as that is what Sammi's name would have been! Shari

First of all, I needed a good laugh tonight... and thanks to Robb, Lou and YetiBall, I had one. PS...we love Skippy and one of the Dgurlz (the one who is 8 and already asleep) voted Stitch her favorite attraction at WDW. Go figure. Great PTR Robb!! Shari "love the Yeti" Shoufler

Awesome Dallas! Great job. I sooo wish I would have had my camera last night, as Sammi and I saw the greatest jack-o-lanterns ever! One was pretty big and carved so it had a good sized mouth. In it's mouth was a smaller pumpkin. Like he was eating it... a cannibal pumpkin! The one next to it had a wide open mouth-like an O-with all of it pumpkin guts coming out of it onto the sidewalk, like he had just hurled! Halloween is such a blast...glad you had fun! Shari

We went this morning, although I did not realize until we got into the parking lot that they didn't open until 11. WTF? I called my hubby who works in the cash control office and asked him why he didn't tell me, being that it was about 10:08 and I not only had Sammi with me, but her friend Olivia too. He said "Oh, I thought you knew"! When the rope dropped at 11 the place was completely empty and the girls wanted to ride the Vortex. I was a little concerned it might be too cold for Vortex to be open, but it was and I let the girls (both 8 and just tall enough to ride this year) go it alone, as Vortex is not my favorite ride. After that we did Beast twice (still so empty you could just stay on the ride), several of the flat rides and the girls did Adventure Express and Racer. The line for Delirium was the shortest I had seen ever, so I asked the kids if they would mind if I went. I was on in two cycles, but I have to say that ride is a very slow load and unload which explains why the line is always so long. By the time we hit Nick Central after lunch, the crowd was pretty heavy and we made a quick circuit just so the girls could get the free "treats" being given out. When we left I was STUNNED to find the Season Pass processing line (last day to get free parking pass for next season) was just huge. It stretched all the way across the park's front entrance. It had to be at 1+ hour long wait. Glad I got one last trip in.... with no Winterfest to look forward too it will be a long winter......... Shari

Wow! Young Mr. Alvey has joined the TPR gang! It does suck when you get to the park and they are packed and things aren't what you think they are going to be! But at least you are brave enough to go to that sort of thing in the first place. I wouldn't set foot in any park's haunted anything and my daughter is the same way! Have a happy Halloween Shari

It's just too freaking cold and windy for me..... although we're still debating whether to go over tomorrow for a little while or not. Shari "if it's under 75 degrees, it's probably too cold for me" Shoufler

I just read the news on the Holiblog..... I am soooo excited! The waterslide looks awesome and we love their other two raft rides. But, I am most excited about the Tilt-O-Whirl..... (I knew that was coming...I am getting good a deciphering Paula's hints) I really missed the Virginia Reel last June when we visited. I am also glad they will have the Cafe done. I was disappointed that it wasn't open this year as I would have liked to have had something more than pizza and chicken fingers. Can't wait to visit in '07 Shari

lol.... well, I guess it's a good thing I didn't interrupt him then, as I would have mispronounced his name. Shari

DEFINITELY!! You will want to call for an ADR (advanced dining reservation) at (407) WDW-DINE. Also, be advised that you may have to pay a parking fee if you are not staying on property (does anyone know if this is still the case??). I remember having to do that once, but that they reimbursed it at the front desk upon presenting my dinner receipt. If you are going at a time of year when they are running the Electrical Water Pageant, it might be fun to go out to the MK boat dock and watch the pageant from there (you can check with the concierge or front desk to confirm what time it comes by). It's also fun to hop the monorail and visit the other resorts. On the Saturday night we ate at Chef Mickey's we did this, and there was an orchestra playing in the Grand Floridian. You can also view "Wishes" from anywhere around the loop, including the Poly, if they are presenting it that night. Shari

Sammi wants to know why you can post your trip report in a day, and I am still finishing mine, like, two weeks later...... She also wants to know how you get to take pictures on the rides (Space Mountain). I told her you were "special". Glad you got to see Soren.... maybe he wasn't as busy as he was that night we stopped in at the Candy Shop. We are jealous.... we want to to back right now!! Shari and Sammi