jenseib

I did forget to add that besides the crazies on the flight home, a storm was coming and the Captain had gotten on and told us that we may be delayed from taking off because it was really bad. Luckily they gave us the go ahead and off we went, but it was a little bumpy for a while. I had heard from others that it really poured hard that evening. As promised, here is all the loot I brought home. The next day I tried to take pictures of everything. Claire was all too glad to help. The potato head parts were a huge hit with her and she played with them for days. Now she brings them out every so often, but I think next time I might get her some more, because she does have a good time when she gets them out. I have posted some of these during the report, but I’ll post everything again. I think this rice crispy was from one of the vendors on the last day. I ate it, and enjoyed it! That last trip to Mousegears gave me enough purchases to add on a watch for a “cheaper” price. I do love this watch as well. These were all given out by vendors. I have the graduation Mickey on my car antenna. Claire was amazed by this when I put it on. She was so worried it would fall off. It’s still there though. I actually got 2, so I do have a spare one. I love the post its too. I use them quite a bit. We each got a “graduation” pencil. And this is my lanyard. It has all the pins I earned from the College of Knowledge, the ones given to us during the course of classes (we got one each day) the one I bought at MK and the one that Karin had given me from Disneyland Paris. Also there is a Mickey paper clip. We received those when we would answer questions. (I think Brook ended up with several) The Adventures by Disney thing there is to put on a luggage/bag strap to make it more comfy on your shoulder. Those were from the Adventures Vendor. My unused rain poncho! I had bought a child sized one for Claire last spring, plus the one I bought at Poly, so now we have a matching set for the whole family. The new suitcase I bought to bring home the extra weight! A bag from one of the vendors. Tissue holder from Tom and Karin. Pot holder, cookie mix and tissue pack holder from Tom and Karin. Candy and picture CD from Tom and Karin. Claire modeling her new dress and a few potato heads all dressed up. As you can see the dress is a bit large, but I wanted to be sure it would last for at least a year. I can hike up the straps for her if they are too big when she needs to wear it. More potato head parts. And a few more parts and the other side of the pot holder. The silly bands were from a vendor. Claire’s parasol from China. The giraffe watch. Another bag from one of the vendors. It is HUGE!. I haven’t used it yet, but I think I will store some seasonal clothes in it. The cup from La Nouba and a CD case we got at graduation as well. The 2011 sweatshirt. The “Mine, Mine” tanks. The purple one is drastically smaller than the white, even though they are labeled the same size. The tote bag we received during classes. Some helpful books we got. Each day we had a pad of paper waiting at our seat and a pen. I collected these pens over the course of the trip. The skittles (as well as a pack of M&M’s that Claire already ate) came from a vendor. Baby Dumbo and Eeyore. This was a map of the world on a handkerchief. It was cute. Rita said you could wear it around your neck and if anyone asked where something was, you could just whip it out and show someone……of course, in the real world none of us would wear it. But it was cute. Claire’s glass slipper. The tank and shorts. I also got Claire some princess tattoos, but I guess I didn’t take a picture of those. I might’ve missed posting a few other pictures, but I am too lazy to go looking for them now. I thought I took a picture of the caramel apple that Patty made us, but I can’t seem to find it. Let me just tell you this was pure heaven…I think about it often. I ate it over the course of a few days, as it was huge. I had to keep hiding it, as I kept finding Skip taking slices off of it too. I would re-hide it and he kept finding it!...That bugger. I also shared the black and white cookie Brook had brought us with Claire, and we both enjoyed that quite a bit too Thanks everyone for reading along. When I get my next one started, I'll post the link here..

I boarded the bus and there were only like 1 family and one other guest on it. We had a fun bus driver who goofed around the whole time. Sadly, we had to make SEVERAL stops to pick up others. I started to get a little worried….again the time was ticking away. I did take a few last pictures on the journey to the airport. I caught this guy red handed!!!! Good bye Disney….boo hooooo!!!!!! I pulled out my grapes and started eating them….sadly they weren’t very good. I had them in our mini fridge for 2 days and they lost their firmness. I could only eat about half of them. And that didn’t fill me up at all. I also had another pounding headache, and the ibuprofen was packed away. Our driver made the trip fun. He joked about the music playing. It’s on a loop and he said how he used to like the songs, but now they drive him nuts. He did little dances with his shoulders and bobbing up and down for some songs. I was on the bus long enough for the loop to come full circle. We made it to the airport and I headed off to pay for my extra bag and check them in. Luckily this was a fairly easy process and I had a great gal from Spirit who helped me along quickly. I then made my way to security……Nightmare would be the best way to describe it. The line was unbelievably long. I have NEVER seen a line this long at an airport in my life! It was now only an hour before my flight and I was really getting worried. I needed to get some food and use the restroom before I boarded. We slowly went through and they made us take EVERYTHING off. I think they would’ve been happy if we stripped naked. I have never been asked to take my belt off before, though I know many people do. They even asked me to empty tissues out of my pocket, which I did. I still got flagged. UGH! She told me to feel through my pockets to see if I had a stray tissue, but I didn’t find anything and she wanded me and gave me the go ahead. I quickly got my stuff and everything back on and hit the first food spot I saw. I got some sort of sandwich and drink and paid a ridiculous amount of money for it and headed to the fake monorail and then to a bathroom. I made it to the gate!!!!! I started digging in my backpack to see if by chance the ibuprofen was in there, but it wasn’t. I started talking to an older couple, and they said the flight was delayed, due to storms in PA…….wait…I’m not going to PA. I look at the gate number and I was across the way from my real gate. Thanks goodness they said something. I got up and headed over to my gate and they started loading. As I waited, I reached in my pocket, without really thinking and pulled out a tissue…..the tissue that had me flagged. There was one there after all….ooops! We slowly loaded and a family of several “foreign” people started arguing about the size of the one ladies personal item. Spirit is very strict with this policy. If it is too big, you have to pay for the carry on. This lady was really arguing about it. Not a smart thing to do, given that she looked to be middle Eastern. (I am not prejudice, but I know enough that even though they aren't supposed to do racial profiling...it is done at times) Most of the family boarded, but they made her stay behind and talked to her. I got to my “middle” seat and rested. A father and son came and said they were in my row on either side of me, and asked if I would mind moving to the end so they could sit next to each other! YES!!!!!! This was a blessing! I stood up to move out into the row to let them in and I stood on the ball of my foot…the foot with a huge blister. I felt it pop and a wet ooze went all in my sock….YUCK. Nothing I could do about that though now. I started talking to the guy in the row across the aisle and to a couple next to him. They were all very nice. We complained a bit about Spirits prices on everything. I think we all swore we wouldn’t be flying with them again with the nickel and diming and the smaller seat space. The guy then said to me “you must’ve been born and raised in Michigan your whole life?” I sad, well no, I live in Ohio, but right at the border….why? His reply…”You have that Michigan accent.” LOL! I must really talk plain, because people tell me this all the time randomly. I don’t think I talk any differently than any of my family members, but I always seem to be the one who is asked about it. As we were waiting to take off, some of the “foreign” family was seated directly in front of me. A flight attendant came back to talk to the guy. I really tried to listen in on the conversation, but I only got bits and pieces. But it sounded like they gave him the option to get off and take another flight. They told him his wife may not make it on the flight. I think they sent her back up front to pay for her personal item and her sister went with her. The guy didn’t seem concerned and said he was staying on with his kids. I kind of thought that was funny. The lady did make it on just as we were about to taxi out. She was nasty and her sister was too. They were getting loud and obnoxious. Again, I thought they came close to getting kicked off. The husband did tell her to shut her mouth or they would be kicked off and a nephew was getting mouthy too. Luckily they all calmed down and kept quiet for the remainder of the flight for the most part. I worked on my notes, did a crossword puzzle and dozed a little. Again the flight seemed extra-long without my family with me. I was very happy when we landed and made my way out with the herd. I stopped off for a bathroom break, pulled Eeyore out of my bag for Claire, and called my Mom. She, Claire, and my Dad were picking me up. Skip was at a tractor pull…the biggest one of the year, the Grand Nationals, which is only 30 minutes from our house, so I didn’t dare ask him to pick me up. LOL. Soon my Dad pulled up (they were waiting in the cell phone parking lot) and my little girl came running out to greet me! It was very nice to see my little girl after 6 days. I did miss her a lot while I was gone. We loaded up the car and took off. They were all hungry and I wasn’t going to refuse food at that point either (the sandwich was ok, but not enough to get me through the night), so we found a Big Boy and had a bite to eat before heading back home. Skip called me and told me something major had broken on his tractor and he was packing things up and heading home too. I knew it had to be something big if he was going to miss the rest of the weekend (he has since built a new motor). Skip pulled in the driveway about 10 minutes after we got home. Again, I had missed him too, and it was nice to see him. Of course, Claire wasn’t about to go to bed till I looked through my suitcases to fine her some more gifts. I pulled them out and she was very excited with everything. We all hit the sack tired. I knew the next day would be a lot of unpacking and laundry…..what fun! And that is the end of Day 6!

As I headed back to my room for one last time, I did take a few last pictures. I went to the room and packed everything up. I did a final scan and found anything that was missed and anything of Brooks that was missed, I set near her bags. I hate to say it, but my luggage was HEAVY. Spirit has a lower weight maximum limit than other airlines and I was a bit worried. My carryon was so packed and full and heavy, so I couldn’t even add to that if I wanted to. I grabbed my bags and started rolling them down the hall. Remember we were in the furthest room away possible from the lobby and this was not an easy chore. I heard Brooks voice down the hall, so I stopped and rested and waited for her to come by and then said a final goodbye. It was so wonderful to meet her and she was a prefect roommate. I kept on then and got to the lobby. I went out to luggage services and weighed my bags. Just as I had feared…. I was about 71/2 pounds too heavy, if I remember right. There was no way to make it lighter, so I checked the bags in and let them know that I would be buying another suitcase and bringing it back. Off to the gift shop I go and look at the suitcases. Those little buggers were all $100.00!!!!! Well I pulled the one down that wasn’t a hard cover and that one was $50. What a bargain….. So that was my new suitcase…another gift for Claire. I rolled it out and handed it to luggage services. I would tackle putting stuff in it when I came back and grabbed all my bags. I texted Patty that I was on my way and set off for Epcot. We met near Test Track. The park was MUCH busier today than it had been Monday. The FP line and the single rider line were both kind of long. We got in line with our FP’s and Patty kind of worried that we wouldn’t get through in time for her to leave. While in line, Patty offered the couple in front of us the left over FP’s that she hadn’t used. I dug around and had a few too, so I gave them mine as well, but kept my Soarin’ one. I still planned to try and get on it before I left. We finally got on the ride and had a good time! When we got off, we said our goodbyes and Patty took off at a fast pace back to the YC to catch ME. Time seemed to be really speeding up this day. I made my way over to Soarin’ and stopped for a photopass on the way…again, ….I look like crud. I did stop in Mousegears and did some of that last minute shopping that I really didn’t need to do. I was debating on a t-shirt I had seen all over the parks, but it was like $30, and I just couldn’t bring myself to spend that much on a T…but I walked out with a bag of other things. I like this shot! I got in line for Soarin’ and prayed that the FP line would move fast…and it did for the most part. I got to my seat and it had a puddle on it. I told the CM that it was wet and could they clean it and they had the nerve to tell me to just sit on it as it was just water. It would dry fast….Um no, I told them I was heading to the airport after this ride and they didn’t seem to care. One gal wiped it with a towel, but it wasn’t dried completely so she went looking for a towel, and after several minutes she came back and said she couldn’t find one. I just sat there and wasn’t too happy. I would’ve reported them, but I was now limited on time myself. The ride was nice, but my rear was slightly wet. I left and made my way back to the Yacht Club, taking pictures along the way. I had hoped to have enough time to get a bit to eat, and perhaps walk along the boardwalk side, but time was ticking, so I just went straight back to the YC so I could get my luggage situation taken care of. Did I mention it was hot? Oh my!!!! It was another scorcher! That wet rear was long forgotten, as I was dripping in sweat all over now. I finally made it to the back entrance/exit. I pretty much was in zombie mode at this point. I was really kicking myself for not staying another night. I would’ve enjoyed going back over to Mk and seeing the fantasyland expansion “walls” in day light. I barely even noticed them at all in the 2 short trips I had made over there. I took a quick rest near Storm Along Bay before I headed in to retrieve my bags. Look what I spot…Do you see the “hidden Henry”? I believe it was about 2:20ish now. I think my ME was scheduled for 3:15. I retrieved the bags and just plopped them on the sidewalk in a secluded spot and transferred some of the “bulk” into my new bag. I was very classy. LOL! It looked like the weight was now distributed better and I zipped everything up and noticed that the lady at the gift shop never took off the security tag thing….UGH! So I had to roll my 3 bags (which I got creative with) and a back pack on my back, back over to the gift shop and asked them to remove it. It was quick and painless, but I worked up a sweat doing that. I was getting very hungry now, but I knew it wouldn’t work for me to drag all these bags over to the food court at the Beach Club and get something, and time was ticking very fast. I had a package of grapes in my back pack, so I figured when I got on the bus, I would pull those out and snack. I still had a bit of time to kill, and I wasn’t about to wait outside, so I stacked my bags against the wall, near an outlet, fished out my phone charger, and plugged my phone in for a little more charging before leaving. (I am so glad I now have a portable charger…..my phone tends to run out of juice fairly fast when I use it a lot, so now I can just plug it into that and not worry about outlets so much). When the bus arrived it was a sad, but happy moment. If I couldn’t spend any more time at Disney, I was ready to get this journey home on its way.

Let's get this report finished!!! I have had it written up for a while now, but just haven't been finding time to post it. And I have an announcement. We wil lbe heading down to Universal Studios in 13 days! We will just have 3 park days, but I am excited. I haven't been there since 1999, and I've never been to IoA.

I always wanted to as well. but it just seems like I never have enough time, thats what made this trip great...it was on the schedule and I couldn't stray away from it.

Maybe someday. For us there is just never enough time or the extra cost.....But hopefully someday we can get there.

Day 6~ August 19, Friday I have no notes for this day. I guess I gave up writing, thinking I would remember……that was foolish. I do know I forgot that the previous night when we were leaving MK, I had picked up a cinnamon roll at the bakery to have as a snack. I took one bite of it the night before when I got back to the room and picked at it this morning…..sadly, it wasn’t that good. I had high hopes for it. I think my problem was it wasn’t fresh anymore. I think our morning was like all our others. We got up and showered and got ready for our last day. This day we were having a graduation ceremony. I had pretty much gotten most things packed the day before, and stuffed the rest in the bags before leaving the room for the most part. We had another buffet breakfast in the convention center…this time with Mickey Waffles!!!!! I took pictures of the buffet before loading up a plate for myself. They had several vendor type tables set up all around, so we all roamed a bit and talked to some of the people. They had people there who specialized in group activities and special needs to name a few. I would say about 10 tables set up. And we got freebies from them too! I’ll post them at the end of the TR. After we were done, it was time for a little more talking. The hot topic was that the new website was going to be revealed soon and we got a sneak peak at it. It did look nice and now that it is in use, it is nicer than the old one….BUT it still has many flaws and we asked if certain things had been addressed, only to find out that none of it was, they just changed the look and actually took away a few options too. UGH! There was a lot of complaints…but as of yet, none of those issues, that every single agent agreed was an issue, has been addressed. I took many pictures of the screen they showed with the new website look, but I’m not sure if we are allowed to show that website, so they will remain in my folder. I know at the time they had asked us to only show them to our fellow agents. We were addressed by another celebrity from the College of Knowledge. The girl showing us the website was also another cast member in the cheesy online classes. I think her name was Shanna. I didn’t get a picture of her, I guess, but here is one of Tommy. We did have one more celebrity visit us! Mickey!!!!! We heard a knock at the door and in strolled the Big Cheese, himself. He was here for our graduation ceremony. Ironically, Mickey was wearing the same colors that are of our local high school too. You would’ve thought it was a room full of children. We were all excited and oohing and ahhing and taking a ton of photos. They called our names 1 by 1 and we got to go up and get our certificate from Mickey and have a photo opportunity as well. I must say, I look HORRID. The dress I wore was not flattering at all. I should’ve looked in the mirror that morning a little better. I was bloated and puffy as well. I had another dressed packed, and I should’ve worn that. After all the names had been called, Rita and Tommy stood for some photos as well. After the ceremony we were free to leave or stick around for an extra discussion group. We quickly grabbed Tommy and asked if he would take a picture with us. He said yes, and we headed out the hall to do that. Patty left then to get her bags together and check out. She wanted to head to Epcot before she had to catch the ME bus. I told her I would text her when I got there, as we wanted to use our fastpass for Test Track together. While we waited for the discussion group lady to set things up, I took this random video. It’s not too interesting, you can hear Mindy and Brook talking in the background. Soon the discussion started. It was supposed to be over in plenty of time for us to be able to check out, but it went VERY long. It was about the call center and what we thought and how to improve it. Let’s just say, no one is impressed with the call center….it is NO better for us TA’s than it is for the public….get false info and clueless CM’s. What was supposed to be a ½ class was turning into something much longer. The lady conducting it was new to this position and was amazed at the complaints. As time ticked away, some of the agents left. I decided to go as well. I did want to get to Epcot for a little bit before I had to leave and to be sure all my stuff was packed and taken to luggage services too. It was becoming very clear that nothing was going to be done about the situation yet, as the girl seemed a little clueless. They did record it and I do hope she shared it with someone who matters. Don’t get me wrong, she was nice and seemed interested, but I just didn’t see the problems getting addressed by her. I left and Brook and Mindy remained.

Just as we got off the monorail the skies totally opened. I mean hard, constant rain….and guess what?......Right before I left our room, I took out that free poncho they had given us on our first night. I had been carrying it in my bag all week and yet to need it, so I took it out to make the bag a little lighter…..DUMB..Dumb..Dumb! We stood on the ramp and waited. Some people braved it and ran out, but it really was coming down. There were puddles already everywhere and we knew our shoes would become wet and stretchy too…something I hate…and Patty mentioned the same thing. We could hear the CM’s making announcements, but we couldn’t understand a word they were saying because the rain was pounding so hard on the roof. Of course, monorail after monorail was coming and unloading too, so it became very crowded. Finally a CM came down the ramp and said that no one was allowed to stand on the ramp, so we either had to brave the weather, or get back on the monorail and ride it around till the weather broke. We decided we would get on the resort monorail and take it over to the Poly and get dinner there. We both still were after a dole whip and we knew they had them there. Of course the monorail was crammed full, but we squeezed in. We made it in one piece over to the Poly and got off and found Capt. Cooks. They have the computers there to order off of, so we had to play around a bit to understand how it works. Right away we were unimpressed with the selection. Very little to choose from, and not much that was striking my fancy. I decided on the grilled cheese and a dole whip. We made our orders and paid…and to tell you the truth, it was confusing to us…but we did make it through. We waited for our meals and then picked them up when our buzzers went off. This sandwich was not like any grilled cheese I have ever had. It was kind of deluxe with some different cheeses. It was just OK. Almost too much though in flavor. I think half was enough, but after eating the whole thing, it was just ok. I doubt I would get it again. Then it was time for the dole whips. We both again were kind of clueless. Patty went up first and we laughed at how it was in her cup…Not very pretty like the “experts” do. I went up and mine was no better. We did notice that mine was lighter in color than hers. After a while we figured it out. I had a swirl…which I am happy that I got. I like pineapple, but again, the full pineapple taste would’ve been too much for me. The vanilla tamed it down for me enough…without giving me that tongue canker sore thing going on. I am glad I tried it, but I don’t know if it will be on the top of my list to get again. I think I will try the orange one at MK next time. After we were done eating, it was still raining out, so we looked around and browsed through shops. I pulled out the boys and took several pictures of them here. They were getting really wild! LOL We moved on and looked around some more. We just kind of sat here and waited. There was a family nearby and the child was crying because it was their last night there and they couldn’t go anywhere….I know the feeling! It sounded like the rain had let up now, so we made the decision to head out. I purchase another rain poncho…boy that hurt to shell out about $8 for another poncho when I had one sitting on my bed back in my room, but what are you going to do? We hopped the monorail and headed to MK. Boy that was one heck of a ride. We had to stand and there was a group of a bunch of young guys in our car. I would say they ranged from 16-24. They offered to let us sit, but we declined. They were sooo funny! From what I remember, 1 or 2 were CM’s and they had friends and family with them for the day. They were cracking jokes and talking with us. We all laughed and I swear they were hitting on us. It surely made this old gals day! Once we got off, Patty and I laughed about them and she said the same thing…”I think they were hitting on us”. I said they probably thought we were old women and trying to make our day. Or maybe…just maybe…we are 2 hot mommas out on the town….Look out world! We entered the MK and it was still drizzley and our feet did get wet. We decided we would shop around for a bit and make our way into the park via the stores. It was crowded, but needless to say, I found some things to buy…Lucky Claire! I got this cute shirt with a couple of pairs of shorts. I also bought myself a pin. It was cute, a pair of ears with the 40th anniversary. I had several in my hands and put them back. I wish I would’ve gotten more now. I also got some of those lockable backs for pins and some postcards. After an eternity of shopping and our hands full of packages we headed towards the tiki room. I wanted to check out the new version…..and guess what? It closes at 9PM, so we missed it. I didn’t take my camera out much this evening as it was wet and we just went and had some fun. Here are a few of the pictures I took. My notes have ended here, so I can’t remember the exact order of things, but I know we rode the jungle cruise and had a great time. We had a fun captain, who actually was from a town near me. Brook texted us every so often, they were at Epcot, and even though they thought Illuminations had been canceled, it ended up going on at a later time and she said it was fantastic! At one point she also texted me and let me know that once again she left her KTTW in the room. LOL! She was just going to go to the desk again and get a new one made. We rode pirates, which is always a favorite of mine. Patty said she had only rode it like once or twice before because her son screamed though it the 1st time they rode it, so they haven’t been back. We also rode Splash Mountain. Hey, we were wet already, so why not ride a water ride? I believe this was another first for Patty? I can’t remember for sure. And I have disobeyed the almighty law here…again, something I NEVER do, and HATE when others do it. I took 2 flash pictures……but we were the only ones around…only 2 on our boat and no one else in sight, so I didn’t bother anyone else. When we got off, a CM was standing there with a big Mickey hand, so I wanted to take a picture…well he wanted to do one better than that, and another CM took a picture of all of us….Don’t we look great? I did take our redneck photo…BUT it was awful…I realized that the camera has some rain on it and every single picture (many of empty boats) looked the same. They were all just a big blur….they wouldn’t be selling any photos that night. I can’t remember if we rode BTMR, but I think we may have…. I know our last ride of the night was the Haunted Mansion…..again, this “might’ve” been a first for Patty….I can’t remember anymore. We were in the last group of the night. They actually gave us something to carry in to where we boarded our doombuggy. I assume it was to let them know we were the last group. They had the new hitch-hikers working this time around (it was under construction in April) and that was pretty cool. I can barely remember what happened, but I think they did some switching of heads. Sadly, the park was now closing. We made our way back to the YC. I don’t remember lingering around or doing anything, so I must’ve went straight to bed. I think Brook had fallen asleep with every light blazing and a book in her lap, so I turned everything off (the mother in me. LOL) and went to sleep myself. And that is the end of Day 5.

I only wanted to do a few things at DHS, and Patty didn’t have much she “had” to do either. We did have an ADR for Prime Time later that evening, but we were thinking about canceling it. We also wanted to go the Magic Kingdom again and do a few last things there as well. We took the boat over to DHS and I took pictures on the way. And then we made our way to the entrance. We stopped for a photopass picture. I asked the photographer to take some with Phineas and Ferb in them and she told me she couldn’t as they don’t allow dolls or extras in pictures……Um whatever….I told her I had done it several times already and she reluctantly did so, warning me that they would most likely not show up on my account…well they were there. We talked about how I needed to do airline check in for the next day, so I tried to bring up spirit on my phone while we walked, but it was slower than all get out. We then headed off to use 1 of the 2 fastpasses we had for Hollywood Studios. A Few pictures on the way. If I remember right, the stand by line wasn’t really all that long either, but FP was faster. Does anyone remember? Did this used to have water in it? I swear it did, but it might just be part of the abandoned theming too. I rode ToT several times in 1997 and 1999 and then only once since then in 2009, so I can’t remember it all now. I do know things have changed around there since 1999. It’s much lusher now. Back in the 90’s there weren’t that many big trees. I tried for a few shots while in line, but it’s so dark in there, it’s really hard to get anything. Soon we were on the ride and I found out that this was Patty’s first time ever on it! WE laughed so hard when we went up and down. It was good fun. After we were done I took the redneck photo. We’re in the back! And I tried for a shot in that area as well….didn’t come out too great. When we walked out, I checked my phone to see if it loaded the dang spirit site, and it was still trying to think…UGH! We had 1 more Fp to use, but it was for Rockin Rollarcoaster. I have only rode this ride once…and it was OK, but I really don’t like the takeoff. The actual ride is fun, but the takeoff really took my breath away, so I declined riding that one. Rita had said we could ask at Toy Story Mania and see if they would let us ride there with that FP, so we headed that way. No such luck for us. The CM said that for a ride that popular they wouldn’t allow for a switch….darn it! Patty and I debated on going over to Prime Time and seeing if we could get in early, but we decided against that….and I did something I NEVER do…I skipped the ADR and didn’t call to cancel. Mostly because I was still trying to get on my phone to do airline checkin…which turned out to be a long process. With that decision made, we decided to head out of the park and transfer over to the Magic Kingdom. After messing around with my phone while walking towards the front of the park, and just about walking into several people, I decided to call my Mom and have her do it. She said she wasn’t sure, but I told her I would give her directions. So first she had to turn on her laptop, then she couldn’t find the spirit site… Then she had to go into my email and find the info about my flight…so that took a few steps and tries for her to log into my email and find the folder I had it in. In the meantime, Patty and I had exited the park and headed for a MK bus that was sitting there, just waiting for us. We got on the bus, sat down, and I continued to give my Mom directions. My mom is usually really good on the computer, but today it just wasn’t clicking for her. She was getting frustrated with me, and vice versa. She finally got to the spirit page that allowed you to log in and check in…which she had a lot of trouble finding…and logged me in. While we were talking the bus started to pull away and the bus driver started talking…and talking…and talking….I have never heard a bus driver talk this much EVER and I couldn’t hear a thing on the phone, nor could my Mom hear me. I swear the bus driver was doing this on purpose! Finally my Mom yelled in the phone something like “Tell that driver to SHUT UP!” Patty looked at me and we just started laughing so hard. I think she heard my Mom, and we were silly tired, and hot, and I was frustrated, and it was just so funny. The bus driver finally did shut up and mom got me checked in. Funny thing..the flight number had changed….no wonder ME couldn’t find it anywhere. And then Mom told me my seat number…which I knew to be a middle seat. YUCK. I was hoping for an end seat, or a window, just not stuck between 2 strangers….Oh well. That’s what you get when you don’t pay to pick your seat. I told Mom thanks and that I would see her tomorrow. I would just print out the ticket at the airport when I checked my luggage in. So that was taken care of…sigh of relief. Soon we arrived at the TTC and we walked towards the monorail. I rarely come here, so I took a few pictures along the way. We zipped over towards the MK and I shot a few pictures out the window. After I took those few pictures, I reviewed them…..and then realized what I took in the Grand Floridian picture…..go back and see for yourself… ….. …. ….. …. Do you see that sky……where it looks like a sheet of rain coming…um yeah…I wasn’t too happy about that. I pointed it out to Patty and many other people noticed the sky too.

The Life Guards were playing a game. After I took the 1st picture of them, they asked if I wanted to join….but I declined. I kept going, being sure to get every square inch of Storm Along Bay. My favorite feature at any pool! I love the sand areas. I continued on, making sure I had a picture of everything!!!!! Isn’t this so cute? I started making my way back to the room. I was trying for an artsy shot here. I then switched over to my point and shoot…not sure why I did that…maybe the battery was dying on my SLR? But in some you can see the smudge spot on the lens. I did try to fix them as best I could. I got back to the room and Brook was still there. I think she was relaxing a bit and waiting on her guys. I called Magical Express. I had gotten a notice that morning that they didn’t have my flight time or number. I called and gave them my number once again (from memory as I later found out that I left my paper on my desk at home) and they still couldn’t find it, but gave me a pick up time for the next day anyways. I then used the 2-way on my phone and beeped Skip and talked to him a bit. Skip, for some odd reason prefers to talk on the 2-way rather than the actual phone…I know, he’s weird. I told him to behave and not say anything rude, because Brook was in the room. I asked him about laundry. He only had 3 pairs of work pants at the time. I refuse to spend money on pants that get totally ruined by cow poo and bleach and grease, among other things, so I usually buy him pants at garage sales during the summer. Well he has complained that he doesn’t like what I pick for him, so he would buy some new ones for himself…but yet has he done so. Well he informed me that he was doing fine with pants….wearing the same pair ALL WEEK!!!! YUCK! Brook laughed at that one. And just so you know, I have picked him up some cheap pants since then, so he doesn’t do that again….well at least I hope he doesn’t. I freshened up and I believe Brook left with her crew. I really contemplated a nap. I was tired, and it was so hot, and it felt so good in the room, but I knew this was my last night, so I needed to go do a few more things. I texted Patty and we met up to head off to Hollywood Studios.

Back to the Yacht Club we went. Brook was heading straight back to the room. She was going to meet up with Joe and Henry for the rest of the day. Mindy’s family had arrived for the start of their family trip, so she was going to go meet up with them and get them settled in at their resort. Patty went back to her room and told me to call her when I headed out. I went for a stroll. I wanted to get as many Yacht Club pictures as I could. I know I had taken a lot already, but there were many areas I hadn’t even taken a single picture of, plus I wanted to get some of Storm Along Bay as well. Looks like we need a little Disney maintenance going on here. Into the building for a little cooling off. And a tour of the gift shop. A CM told me that this boat was going to be removed the next week, so get all the pictures of it I wanted now. I haven’t heard if it actually was moved or not. I loved all the pretty little suitcases….little did I know, one of those would be coming home with me. That’s the sweatshirt that I had bought a few days earlier. I always love the sucker stands. I made my way out and towards the pool. There were a ton of lifeguards watching the pool.

We had 1 more stop today. This one I was really looking forward too as well……Blizzard Beach. I had never been to a Disney waterpark. I, personally am not a water park kind of person. I had an “incident” many years ago when Paige was little at a waterpark. She went down a big slide before me and was given strict instructions not to go anywhere and to wait. I went down and opened my eyes, only to NOT see her anywhere. I also had a 2 piece on and lost half of myself out in the open, so as I was adjusting myself and looking frantically for her, I got up and tripped over the side and scraped my knees really bad. I kept going and with the rest of our gang we searched for Paige. She had wandered over to a kids play/spray area, but it took us about 7 minutes to find her….the longest 7 minutes ever. Why she did this, I have no clue and she was hugged and yelled at all at the same time. After finding her, I realized I was in pain and looked down to find blood dripping off both knees. I had to go to first aide and get bandaged up and it took a REALLY long time to heal. Ever since then, I am just not a fan of water parks. Slides are just not that fun to me, especially when my suit likes to rearrange itself while going down. Now Claire on the other hand…she LOVES them. I did want to see the park and perhaps someday we will take her here. We soon arrived and there is also one of the putt putt courses right here as well. Tommy and Rita said that we didn’t have to get off the bus if we didn’t want to. It was going to be a fairly quick tour and those who had been here before could skip it. A few did stay on, but most got off. I also took many pictures of Phineas and Ferb here as well. The theming was just fantastic here. I really liked this…it was really open and you could see in the store. (if they had some sort of window there, I couldn’t tell.) As we moved along, Tommy told us more about the theming and the different areas. It was a perfect day to be at a waterpark. It was VERY HOT! I thought this guy was cute. This water really was dripping….very cool. We kept moving and I kept taking pictures. I really thought this place looked fun and that is saying something…. But I still don’t know about spending the extra money and a day or two away from the parks. If we came in the summer as a family, I would probably do it, but we usually come in the spring, and the weather is unpredictable and our time is always so limited as it is……but we’ll see in the future. This is more my speed….a lazy river. Definitely not my speed! As you can see, it was pretty busy here today. Before long, we started heading back towards the front. We had the funniest conversation. One of the TA’s was from Montreal and she made a comment about seeing beer for sale in bottles. She wondered how they could do it and I told her I bet they were cans that looked like bottles, as I have seen those at resorts before, but she said they looked more like a bottle. Another TA said they were plastic. I agreed that could be, though I hadn’t seen one. Mindy said she never heard of the can or plastic version and this conversation went really weird. It was almost an argument on whether there was such a thing as plastic bottles for beer. We went by a stand that was selling them and Mindy ran over to touch one on display….sure enough they were plastic bottles. LOL! It was kind of funny. We were just kind of innocently talking about them at first, then several people joined in to put their opinion in…so now you all know, they have plastic bottles of beer at Blizzard Beach! A few more shots before we left. I loved the snowman family….too cute. And back out to the bus. Rita had told us prior to going in to Blizzard Beach that they had these wonderful little mini donuts, and if we ever got a chance, to go and try some…..well she had a surprise for us on the bus. She had gotten some of the donuts and we all got a few. And yes, they are pretty darn good. Not the best I have ever had, but I would probably buy some if I went to BB for a day. We headed back towards the Yacht Club now, with a stop at Hollywood Studios for anyone who wanted to go there now. I did, but I also wanted to freshen up and put a little more deodorant on before going, so I stayed on the bus.

Our next destination was All Star Music. Once again, we got off the bus and waited in the lobby while Tommy went and got a key. I ventured around and took pictures. And I peeked into the food court. We walked outside and waited a bit more. I think it was taking Tommy a little longer than usual so they told us to look around out there…..and it was HOT! I just kept taking pictures while we waited. Some tried to get out of the sun. Tommy came back and we made our way to a suite. We were all going as a total group this time. I forget the reason why. I think once again we were running behind, so we needed to get the tours done for the day. I used to play the trombone back in my school days! I was 1 of the 1st in the room. Rita explained a bit about the room. I have never seen one of the suites before, so I did try to take several pictures, as best I could, as it was very busy with us all trying to see everything. After I took several pictures and looked around, I headed back outside to make room for others to look around. I headed back towards the front with the others to wait to leave. Soon we were all there and ready to head out.

Our room tour was going to be in the 70’s, so we headed that way. And into a room. I didn’t take a ton of pictures because I have a lot already of Pop, but really I should’ve taken more. The curtain track overlaps so as to keep out more light. (or to keep passer byers from looking at your naked booty!) Tommy said there is a good chance that the Values would be getting mini fridges. Many people have asked, and Disney tries to listen. He also said that there had been talk of free wifi eventually….BUT Disney has become accustomed to making money off that service, so it may take a while. Since we have come back, I have heard that many resorts now do have free wifi. I think all the Deluxes do now and perhaps the moderates as well. Sadly, it was time to leave. I had actually hoped we would walk back by the lake and take a peek at Art Of Animation, but we didn’t. On our way back we met a CM who had a different name tag. Tommy explained that she was one of a very few who had been honored for their service. I can’t remember all the details, and I didn’t write it in my notes…..but it was a very big honor for this CM to achieve. Back on the bus we now made our way out again. We passed by AoA and you could get glimpses of it through the trees. We all tried to take pictures…and mine were awful. Rita said how Disney really tries to hide the construction of things away from the guests….but to those of us who are true crazy Disney fans the hiding was an angry intrusion. I forget her exact wording, but it was hilarious and so true!

Pop is just home to me. We have stayed there 4 times now and I just get that special feeling everytime I walk through the doors.

After our tour of the room, it was time to head out and to our next destination, which also included lunch…and happens to be a favorite of mine….. I love the little streets at POFQ. And there is the bus stop. Bye Bye Port Orleans! . . . . ….. …. …. And Hello Pop Century! While on the bus, Rita explained what we could get for lunch, an entrée, a side, a drink or two (with the exception of the refillable mug) a dessert and also something for a snack later on. Basically we could totally pig out! I had that “ AHHHHH” feeling….I am home. The first thing we were going to do was have lunch, then tour. Of course I took pictures along the way. Pop has one of the best gift shops! We went into the food court area and all scattered. They were going to have one register open just for us to go through. I saw this tower of refillable mugs. They had different color lids, so I asked Rita if they had started doing the chip thing on these cups here at Pop now. She had no clue what I was talking about. I told her that AS Sports now had chips on their mugs and you were limited on how fast you could refill them and also the amount of days they could be used. She said she had not heard of that, and it must be a rumor. Another TA was standing near me and confirmed what I said. She said there is video out online showing how it works, but Rita still was convinced it was a rumor and not actually happening. As far as I know, no other resorts have started this practice as of yet, and I’m not even sure if AS Sports is still doing it. WE had read later, that Brazilian groups were breaking the machines to actually get their drinks faster, as they all tend to share cups…from what I heard. I chose a line, and Diana, another TA who used a scooter asked if I would get her meal as well, since it would be too hard for her to maneuver through the queue. I got the chicken, the same as I did at AS movies on my first day, but this time I went with marinara sauce. I had a heck of a time carrying the tray with 2 plates and drinks and all the rest and some of Diana’s meal slopped off the side, so when I checked out, I asked if we could get more noodles for her meal, and they went back and did so. Diana also asked if they would give her extra alfredo sauce, but I guess they didn’t hear her, because only noodles came back. We sat down and ate throughout the food court, with our foursome at one table. It was good and we all had different things and I put my camera down, so no more pictures of food. I totally pigged out though. When I got done, I headed off to the bathroom and then made my way around the gift shop. I took more pictures, but most came out pretty bad. Diana asked if I would purchase something for her so she didn’t have to weave through the gift shop and line, so I said certainly and got in line with her KTTW to pay. Of course, for the first time EVER, they asked to see my ID with the card. No one has ever asked that in the past. I told the CM that it wasn’t me, but she was over there in the scooter and yelled over to Diana to wave, and they let me then pay for it. We gathered in the lobby and I found out I had missed out when they passed out bags to carry our extra water and snack, so I got one then so I didn’t have to be loaded down so much. I hadn’t mentioned it, but the backpack I had been using at the beginning of the trip was just too bulky, so I started going with just the tote they gave us for AEP, and I would leave that on the bus when we toured most of the time. I took more pictures while we stood in the lobby. And then we moved outside.

Yes, many hotels do have smaller pools. pops pools are actually pretty big. Now the cruise ships...those a really dinky.

I was sad that some of my pictures came out so blurry. A peak at Scat Cats. We then headed outside. Again, I was just in love with this place. I believe this is the bar. Creepy, yet fun…… I think the pool looks fun. I loved the buildings and the “streets”. We headed to the boat landing and talked a bit about the easy transportation to DTD. Also we talked about Port Orleans Riverside and the new princess rooms being put in there. Before long we saw this boat coming down the river. Tommy talked about the river transportation and then as it started to pass, he said, well I guess it’s not making a stop here….and then we heard a bunch of yelling…..Very scary I might add! It was a pirate cruise, and all the little pirates were yelling at us. It was so cute. I can just imagine as they were coming down the river, how the captain had saw us, and planned it all out for them to yell at the perfect time! They really believed they were pirates. We continued on and I took more pictures of the pool. On towards the rooms. I think this is a light fixture in the room…..but I can’t swear to it. And the all important ceiling fan. The lighting wasn’t great in there for pictures, and the bed pictures aren’t as nice as I had hoped. I did like the rooms here. I loved this piece of art. You can’t see it very well at all, but it says “pirates of the Caribbean” on one of the buildings…more cross advertising. I loved the floor.

Day 5 ~ Aug 18, Thursday Another bright and early morning for us. I got up first again and showered and again it was finicky, but I got smarter this time. The minute I got up, I started running the water as I gathered my clothes. When I was about half way ready, I went outside and called home once again. When I came back, Brook was done and she left and I finished getting ready. Again, I took the stroll outside to get to the Convention Center. There was a guy in there and he waved to me! I cut through the lobby. And back out front. Into the Convention Center. We were in the Hampton Room today. The breakfast buffet was set up and several were already in line to get food. I didn’t waste any time getting mine either. I did not take pictures of the buffet today. After breakfast, we started class once again. We talked about tickets, and pricing and options. We also talked a little about Adventures by Disney. Tommy showed us some of his pictures and WOW!!!! We all wanted to go on one ourselves. We also went over our homework (each day we had a sheet to fill out and it was fairly easy) While we are in class they have soft drinks ready for us, so we could get a drink at any time when needed. We also usually took a bathroom break about half way through, and had a few minutes to stretch. Soon it was time to load on the bus once again. Our first resort today was Port Orleans French Quarter. We were greeted by a very friendly CM. This place was beautiful as well. I really think this was my favorite place of all. I REALLY want to stay here in the future….hopefully sooner than later. We took lots of pictures while Tommy went and got a key. We headed off to the food court next. I just loved everything in here. It looks like a lot of fun.

thanks. I have more written up, but I have been busy with work...which I can't compalin about, so I haven't had much of a chance to actually get on here and post. Now don't get me wrig...I do like chocolate, jsut not chocolate icecream...and not a big fan of chocolate cake either. But give me a good candy bar and I'm all in.

Patty asked if we could stop in the Lego store. One of her sons is a huge Lego enthusiast, so she wanted to get him a set. I just strolled around and took a ton of pictures. I am amazed at the stuff they have on display here. It was really hot and crowded inside, so I told Patty I was going to wait outside. She was in line to pay and that line was horrid. This was a cute interactive area for kids (and parents) to play. Patty came out and we went over and tried Wolfgang Pucks…it was insanely packed. We decided to head back to the Yacht Club and see how Beaches and Cream was, after all the other night when we went in to fill our mugs it didn’t have a wait that we saw. We headed to the bus stop and soon got on a bus. We had a fun time chatting. Patty and I have a lot in common and we “might’ve” had similar experiences in our younger wild days. LOL We arrived at the Yacht Club and headed to Beaches and Cream. Well it wasn’t so easy to get in tonight. The wait was an hour. Patty and I tried to think of what to do, and I suggested we go to the marketplace and get something to eat, but put our name in at B&C to get ice-cream later. We both had this on our list to try, so that sounded like a good plan. We both got a flatbread pizza if I remember right…..but they were huge and we wished we had gotten the child’s version. A note to remember next time. We found a table near B & C and ate our pizzas. They were pretty good. Nothing fabulous, but it did the trick and I was happy with it. We talked quite a bit. We told each other about our families and life. Some of it was kind of personal, so I’ll leave out that info…now you want to know…don’t you? LOL This night was actually much cooler than other nights too, so it was enjoyable being outside. Not super chilly, but livable. After I finished up, I looked at my watch and saw our time to get called should be soon, so I ran to the bathroom quickly. As soon as I got back we were called in. We were seated at the counter, which was fine by us. We both order the No Way Jose, but with vanilla Ice-cream. Our server told us that was the best way to have it. We talked some more, and I took a few pictures. I hadn’t realized it, but at some point I got a smudge on my camera lens and you can see it blurs in some of the pictures. I never actually figured this out till a few weeks after I got home and kept getting a blur in the same place on my pictures. LOL! I have now wiped it clean for future use! I was amazed at how many kitchen sinks were being ordered. I would love to order one…except I don’t think I would like it. I am not too adventurous with ice-cream. I like vanilla and a few other flavors, but not many. I don’t do chocolate. Basically they would have to make it with all vanilla for me to appreciate it. While waiting, I got a text from Brook. She had left her key in the room and wondered where I was at. I told her and said she could come get mine, but she decided to just go get a new one at the desk. This was the trip for losing keys. There’s our sundae’s!!!! This was the BEST sundae I have EVER had. I do plan on getting one again in the Fall when we go. The decision is…will I share it with Claire, or make her get her own……LOL Ok, in all honesty, Claire will have to share with me. This thing is huge and filling, but oooooh so good. The waitress took our picture. She noticed the first one looked weird and took another, which wasn’t any better….that dang smudge was right over my face. We paid our bill…which I might add is an awful big bill for just ice-cream, but it was darn good….and headed out. I had to get a picture of the cute tables outside. We decided to call it a night. I guess we parted ways. I think she went back inside and to her room that way and walked outside. I ran into Mindy, who was with another TA coming back from DTD. We talked a few minutes and then we all headed back to our rooms. It was time to call it a night. It was about 11 PM and I was happy to have an early night and to get some sleep. Brook was still up when I got back and we started talking….maybe a little gossiping too? LOL! It was just like we were high school girls at a slumber party. We had fun and talked about an hour or so and then finally went to sleep…so much for that early night. And that is the end of Day 4!

I was dead tired. I’m used to busy trips at Disney, but not used the extreme heat. I had thought to myself that if this wasn’t “La Nouba” I would probably skip out and take a nap. Funny thing is…Brook said the same thing to me, and I told her I had just thought it too. We rushed around and changed fairly fast and headed out to the bus. Mindy and Patty were already on and Brook decided to sit with Mindy so Patty came back and sat with me, which worked out great, as Patty and I really had a good time together too. I only brought my point and shoot with me. You cannot take pictures at La Nouba, so I decided not to lug the big camera around. Soon we were loaded up and on our way. As we got off the bus we were each handed a ticket. Rita had told us that we may not all be sitting together as they just get whatever tickets are available for the show. When we got off the bus, we were handed our ticket and Patty and I were happy to be sitting next to each other. Brook and Mindy did not have seats next to each other though. We went in and got a snack and drink for the show before finding our seats. It was jammed packed in the concession area too. I got a lemonade in the souvenir cup (which I figured Claire would like) and I think I either got a pretzel or glazed almonds. I didn’t write it down. Patty got this HUGE drink with alcohol. We kept joking about it and it was so funny. It was really strong she said, and hard to drink out of the straw. After the show she ended up dumping a large portion of it out Patty and I were in the 3rd row back, Mindy was directly in front of us and Brook was in the first row, further down. Of course about 1 minute before the show is to start, my phone beeps, meaning my husband is contacting me via the direct connect. I told him I couldn’t talk and would call him after the show. Now I had told him that morning when I talked to him that I would call him when I had time as we would be in and out and very busy that day….just shows you how well he listens….. The show was nice. I have to say it wasn’t my favorite thing, but I am glad I did see it. I do know it would not be Skips’ cup of tea, though I think Claire would enjoy it. I highly suggest getting seats further back. Sitting up front is not prime seating. You have to crane your neck to see up a lot of the time. The place is also very small, much smaller than I thought it would be. Seating in the back row would still be a good seat. I was so tired and at times part of the show dragged, or was just plain weird. The beginning was VERY weird in my opinion. I have never been to a Cirque show, so I wasn’t totally sure what to expect. I have seen bit of it on some of the Disney Travel channel shows, so I knew what some of the acts would be, but it was still very different than what I expected. My favorites by far, were the little girls who did the spools. They were fantastic and they would just suddenly flip over and it was so fast they were like a blur. They were excellent. The bikes were kind of neat and one guy came right to the edge of the stage and right up to Brook and she screamed as it looked like he was going to fly off the stage right onto her. I have to say at some in point in time, I debated on leaving. I was feeling antsy in the chair, and tired, fighting sleep. My neck hurt from looking directly up at some of the performers, and it just wasn’t super fascinating. I did stick it out and I am glad as the Trampoline guys came out at the end and they were good and full of excitement. After it was over we headed out. I knew that Brook was going to find Joe and Henry, so we didn’t bother waiting for her, and Mindy said she was going to go to Disney Quest with some other girls. Patty and I headed outside and I wanted to call home. Patty seemed to agree with me on the show…just ok, but not something we would rush back to do. Now, don’t go by my judgment. Almost everyone else LOVED the show.So do give a try if you are interested. I talked to Skip a bit and then Claire again and then Patty and I tried to decide what to do. Food was on the list. We just started walking and decided to see what we could find. I, of course, took pictures, but they aren’t great, as they are with the point and shoot. I have never been to this side of Downtown Disney before, so it was really neat to see all the places I have read about. Downtown Disney was packed! My theory was that none of the parks had evening Extra Magical hours this night, so everyone must’ve decided to come and hang out there. Patty and I went in and out of stores and also checked a few of the restaurants along the way. I had heard of some of these places where you could get in fairly easily without an ADR…..but it was so busy that the wait times were really long. We kept walking on, and I kept taking pictures. We also would stop every so often to see if any restaurant had an opening, but we gave up on it soon. There was a long line to get a picture with the statue lady, but luckily I got a shot off between people. T-Rex was crazy busy. There were 2 lines out the door. I think one was checking in for ADR’s and the other might’ve been walk ups waiting? I have never been inside, so I decided to run in and take a few pictures. I am actually thinking of making an ADR here next fall for Claire and I. I had to go to the bathroom, so we went inside the Pollo Campero. This is the restaurant that was put in McDonalds old spot. I took a few pictures…..of course. We debated eating here. We looked over the menu and nothing was hitting home with either of us. I let the decision be with Patty, but I really didn’t want to eat here. I have also heard some not so nice reviews of the place. Patty said no, and we kept moving on.

I took a few pictures while we waited. We were once again behind schedule and actually were going to quickly tour and leave. Again, this place is just BEAUTIFUL !!!! And a dream place to stay, ….but I must say I think the rooms are rather ugly. But I would still stay here. We started our walk to tour a room. Tommy explained things along the way. I do really like this next picture a lot. See the castle? We entered one of the buildings and headed towards a room. I personally did not like the look of the rooms. It’s just not my style. I would, however, stay here in a heartbeat. Time to head out. We still had one other thing on our list to do yet today. We got back on the bus and made our way back to the Yacht Club. We were originally supposed to have about 1 ½ break here (I think). Time to freshen up. We had tickets to La Nouba…Disney’s Cirque Du Soleil. But we had run so far behind that now we were only left with about 20 to 30 minutes to get ready. Brook headed straight back to the room. I let her get a jumpstart on getting ready and I walked back through the outside way. I stopped and called home to see how Claire’s first day of school was. I talked to her, but couldn’t get a hold of Skip. When I got back to the room I changed…and for some reason, I guess I felt the need to take a picture of the bed again. LOL

We headed out and over towards Bay lake tower. There is a bridge that connects the two places. Here is the observation deck at the Contemporary. For some reason, I think we had to wait a few minutes before going over. I don’t know if were waiting for the other group to get done, or if we had to wait on some of our party coming off elevators…but at that time I ask Tommy about taking a bathroom break. All that lemonade was starting to hit me. LOL! He said we would wait and take one when we arrived at the next resort…..OK, I think I can wait. LOL! But then because I knew I had to wait (and saw no bathrooms near by) I swear my eyeballs started floating. We finally made our way over to the tower. And a look out the window at the pool and sites. And on to a room. These rooms were really nice, but did already show a little wear and tear, which is a shame. Brook told me about how these rooms had to be redone because there were some problems with the original design and enough people complained about it. And the chair opens up to a bed! Do you hear the angels singing for this? I’m a fan of doing laundry on vacation now. I used to think it was dumb, but now I can pack less and do a load or 2 fairly easily. If I had one in my room, it would be easier yet. On to the bathroom. I looked at it longingly! I was half tempted to use it! The bedroom looked to have a nice comfy bed in it. And time to head down to Bay Lakes little Lobby. This was cute, much better than the Contemporary’s. We had to wait for the bus, so I had my eye open for a bathroom nearby, but I didn’t see one, and with my luck, I would miss the bus while in there. LOL! And off we go! So do you ever have to go so bad, that you are about to do a dance and sing a song about it? I was at that point. And I swear the bus was going in slow motion! But soon we saw this. The Grand Floridian was in sight! And even though my eyes were floating, I was still able to catch a few shots as we walked in. Luckily I am familiar with the lobby in there and made my way quickly to the bathroom to beat the mad rush of gals. BUT….do you ever have to go so bad, that it takes time to actually go then. LOL! I know, I’m a weirdo, but I was like beyond having to go bad! And then Mindy comes in and goes “Jen, you in here? Do you feel better?” LOL! Ah yeah. So without being too graphic (and I know I have already given you way too much info) I could only go a little bit. My bladder was better, that’s for sure, but now that Mindy had called me out, I couldn’t go anymore, I got the nervous bladder going on. I bet you never thought you’d read that in a TR! Back out the Lobby.

It didn’t take long for Tommy to get our key…and guess what, they had a room open over in Bay lake Towers too, so we were going to tour over there as well. This reminds me of an airport terminal. We headed straight over to the Wave. This place looked really cool. We talked about the Wave a bit and headed onward. The healthy people took the stairs…the Majority took the escalator. LOL Tommy grew up in Orlando. He told us how every time he comes to the Contemporary he thinks of his prom….that’s right,…. HIS prom was held here! How cool would that be? We saw the check in desk for the California Grill You check in here and then take the elevator up. As Tommy talked about the resort, I did my usual….taking lots of pictures. A look out the window at the pool. A little cross selling Here’s the 5 legged goat. Chef Mickeys! We headed off to a room then. Funny thing…It was the same room another TA had stayed in on her last vacation! I really liked these rooms. They did have a modern feeling and were nice and crisp. And look at that view!!!!!!! And you walk out of your room and then see this!