Oh the Places We Go, The People We See Photo TR

[jenseib]

Abby had a sailor dress on too for dinner! It was so cute and she loved matching up with Claire, and Claire loved it too.

 

 

 

 

Jude loved to color each night at dinner. I tell you that kid is an angel. Katie says he has lately been a terror though. It’s hard to believe, but recently they went to a waterpark nearby overnight and he decided he wasn’t going to sleep and she said it was so bad and he was not quiet about it, so she ended up leaving and driving him home to sleep.

 

 

We made our orders, and I’ll try my best to remember what we got. I think this is Claire’s soup, and I think its chicken noodle. Claire hates veggies in her noodle soup, so I usually have to eat those out of it for her.

 

 

I got the Black Truffle Pasta Purseittes; Pasta purse filled with truffle scented cheese and coated with a delicate champagne sauce. I LOVE this stuff!

 

 

Honestly the menu here is not my favorite either and I should’ve ordered like 2 or 3 of these.

 

Geoff had some sort of fancy drink.

 

 

For my salad course I had the Vine Ripe Tomato Salad; Bell peppers and onion, topped with micro greens and herb dressing.

 

 

Alexis was really feeling poorly now. She didn’t want to eat and she looked green. I told Gail to order her some ginger ale, but Gail said by the time Rasheeta got it to us, we would be done eating. So I used my pull with her. Remember, she really liked me. I flagged her down and asked for some and let her know Alexis was feeling very sick. The ginger ale came out immediately. Sadly that didn’t help a whole lot and Rob took her back to the room. Animators Palate is down on a lower deck and you can usually feel the sea more there, plus you feel more enclosed. She just wanted to get some air and feel better.

 

If I remember right, Rob told Gail to get him and Alexis Mickey bars though. LOL I think Gail also took his food to his room, but I could be wrong and maybe he ate his main meal before leaving.

 

Claire went wild with her main course tonight and did NOT get chicken strips. She got the macaroni and cheese instead.

 

 

But Jude went with the chicken strips.

 

 

Mom went with the Lemon-thyme Marinated Organic Chicken Breast with sour cream mashed potatoes, roasted root vegetables and grain mustard jus. I have had this a couple of times before and it is very good.

 

 

I was not that hungry. Really it felt like we were eating ALL the time. I was half tempted to skip the main course, but instead I got the dinner portion of the appetizer of Wild Mushroom Risotto and Porcini Twist, Served with parmigiano-reggiano. I really don’t think it is much bigger than the appetizer size, but it was enough for me and good as well.

 

 

We made our dessert orders and then the show started. This is really fun, especially for kids. Crush comes on the screens and gets everyone involved chanting along with him.

 

Rasheeta picked Dad to buddy up with, which is kind of funny.

 

 

He finally felt the spirit of the fun and got into it, which was pretty hysterical.

 

 

She tried to get Abby into it too, but Abby wasn’t so sure about it.

 

 

That was fun! Time for dessert! I ordered Cookies and Cream Sundae; Vanilla ice cream, chocolate wafer cookies and whipped cream. Now you know this is good when it has the wonderful chocolate chip cookies that they serve all over the ship. There is just something about those cookies that I just LOVE!!!!

 

 

Jude had the mickey bar once again and thoroughly enjoyed it.

 

 

I think Gail then left to check on Rob and Alexis. It seemed like she was gone for a while and we were getting worried. I think in reality the time that went by was only like 10 minutes, but it seemed long. I headed off then to check on them. When I got to the room I saw a bowl outside their door with 2 Mickey bar sticks. I knocked and no one was there. Ok, maybe they went out for air somewhere.

 

I headed back to the dining room and I think Gail was back then. Though I don’t think she stayed long and headed back out. Alexis was feeling a bit better, though little Abby was now feeling sea sick as well.

 

Tonight we paid our tips to our servers as well. They now charge it to your onboard account unless you tell them otherwise. I typically let them do that and then add more if I feel they deserve it. Well I always add more, it’s just how much will depend on the service.

It was kind of funny as most of the family asked how this was done and I told them you just kind of know when to do it at the end of the meal. And they also wondered about the head server. Now he did check on us each night, but I told then, he WILL show up tonight for sure, you’ll know it when he comes and then he’ll be extra friendly. LOL And sure enough right on cue he did show up and we all handed him our tip envelopes. I will just say everyone did get a little more added, but some did not get much more at all. I just couldn’t reward bad service, but I felt bad about not giving her a least a bit extra.

 

We did have some play time again. I don’t remember what this trick was, but Claire was happy to have it all to herself tonight. I don’t remember if Jude was still there or if he had left at this point.

 

 

 

Once again we did not get bills at the table like we should. I don’t think we had any specialty drinks tonight (well Claire and I that is), but we just never got a bill ever. We headed out and I ended up checking my account on the TV to be sure it was right and then I also checked at guest services and made sure my account was pretty much paid off.

 

I took a few pictures as we left.

 

 

 

The had sanitizer stations.

 

 

The bathrooms are just outside the entrance.

 

 

 

We then headed back towards our room. I think Claire wanted to change.

 

 

I was shocked to find a new towel animal on our bed.

 

 

I guess we got an extra one earlier because he had been gone all week. But we never lacked in service what so ever. I had also asked him earlier if I could have an extra shampoo and conditioner because I just love the stuff and he made good on that too.

 

 

I started to put tags on our bags. Sadly it would soon be time to have our bags out in the hallway. BooHoo.

 

 

And the chore of taking off all my magnets. I hate to do that. I love coming to our room with all of them there, plus it makes it easy to find.

 

 

 

It was now time to head to the last show of the cruise. Tonight’s show was Believe. Another good one to see at least once. We all enjoyed it. I wish I could show you pictures. I hate the new rule about no picture taking. It’s so hard for me.

 

Dad wanted to go to the adult show this night and wanted me to go. I debated, but in the end I just wanted to finish up packing and hang out. I did however have to walk dad to the area because he had no clue how to get there. LOL

 

 

Look at Geoff and Mary’s cute towel for tonight.

 

 

I think Dad actually had the time wrong and was really early if I remember right.

 

After that we did some more shopping around. Gail had decided to purchase the CD of pictures, plus print package and did so that afternoon. We debated on me getting one as well for an additional amount, but really the price was very high still, something like $150 more. In the end, we had noticed that most of my pictures were showing up on her account from facial recognition. I think because we had so many taken together, or at least the girls did, they put us all together. So we were on a mission. We needed to find any of the prints that had not been put in her folder earlier. I believe they told her she could come back and find them. So I was sly. Yep, any other pictures I found that had us in them I put in her folder too. Not all of our pictures ended on her CD, but most did, so it was only a few more. And I might have grabbed one or 2 of Geoff as well.

The one picture we could not find was the pirate group shots. I had a CM come up to me, …. I think he was watching me get pictures and put them in the folder …and asked if I needed help. I said well yes, my sister bought the CD/print package and we are looking for her prints but we can’t seem to find a group one. I also slipped in that she had the receipt on her if he needed to see it. Well he was not super helpful or really friendly. Let me take that back, he was fake friendly. He said not all pictures are printed. I don’t believe that. They print so many pictures and they decide not to print the posed professional shots? Well he was no help and I just looked a bit more and gave up.

In the mean time they were having the till we meet again party. Abby saw the characters out and started throwing a fit. Gail said she was going down to the atrium to meet some more one final time.

 

Geoff and I finished up looking for pictures and then just watched from above. (Now that I think about it, I think Alexis and Claire were with Aunt Mary playing games in her room.)

 

I tried for a few shots, but they were pretty awful. I spotted Gail and went down. Abby had gotten to see several characters, which was good. What was bad was that they now closed all the lines and Abby had not seen ALL of the characters that were out, plus she felt the need to see some twice. A melt down came soon after Gail told her they were done. Abby is one kid who needs a nap and she was not getting them, so the days were pretty long for her. Gail swooped her up and said good bye and headed back to her room.

I decided I wanted to see a little bit of the show. I think I spotted Geoff upstairs and went to find him, but if I remember right, he was gone by the time I got there. I happened to run into another facebook friend then, Bill. I don’t remember if Bill is on any of the boards I frequent, or how we became facebook friends, but I knew we both were sailing the same cruise, but he was involved with the podcast group. He had also stayed at AK prior to the cruise, like I did, but I never did run into him there. He had recognized me and introduced himself and we said hellos and he told me what a great time they were having. I asked him if he had seen Richard Sherman and he did. He said his get together was fabulous and he had played some music and talked. I was so jealous. I had been really hoping to see Richard somewhere on the cruise, even just a run in, but I never did. I just had to settle for Rob Sherman.

So I just stayed put and watched the show a bit. My pics aren’t great as all I had on me was my point and shoot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A few individual good byes as well.

 

 

 

 

 

I then made a quick last night stroll outside.

 

 

 

 

I wish I could’ve stayed out later, but it was getting late and I needed to find Claire.

 

 

I ended up finding her in Geoff and Mary’s room. It was funny because Geoff and Mary were in bed pretty much, or at least ready for bed. Alexis and Claire were right there chatting up a storm. Neither of them looked one bit tired. Gail’s room was all quiet next door too.

Geoff told me that Amanda (my other sister) had emailed him and told him to let me know that my car that was sitting at her house had a flat tire. She had AAA (as do I) and if I wanted she would try to get it fixed. I told him to tell her yes. Ugh. This was not what I wanted to hear. Skip already wasn’t happy that I drove to Columbus for a flight. He has some weird ideas about going to “other” airports. He thinks we should only fly out of Toledo, but Allegiant didn’t even fly that month, so that wasn’t even an option. Well nothing I could do about it then, but I will tell you now, this flat tire ended up being a big pain in the rear end later on.

 

I collected Claire and headed off to bed. I was tired, as was Claire, but we did watch a bit of TV before going to sleep. She had a new little “girl stuff” type book from my Mom and she was into looking through that before bed as well.

 

It was another wonderful day. I tried some new things again and met some wonderful people as well.

We sailed in the Bahamas area for most of the day. No islands today, just beautiful blue waters.

Oh the places we go.

 

I met Bill today and it was such a pleasure. He really is a nice guy. I also met our stateroom host finally and he was a great guy as well and I hope his health has improved.

Oh the people we meet.

[TBpony414]

Pizza for brunch? Sign me up!! Seriously, everything looked DELICIOUS at Palo this time around. I remember your other TR when you went there for dinner and the pictures didn't even look that great so I'm sure the food was so-so. Of course, I'm reading this right before bed and now am craving the most delicious pizza and chocolates and mickey bars and so on

 

I have cruised twice before: once on Radisson Seven Seas, which is now called Regent, and once on Princess. Radisson was outstanding and by far the most amazing experience of my life. Everything was included in the price of the cruise and catered to individual needs. Definitely a once in a lifetime trip! Princess was quite different, it was OK but the food overall was not great. I'm not a super picky eater but nothing was fresh and it just was sort of bland. The Disney cruise food certainly seems a lot better. Now for my question: Do you have to pay per meal on Disney? If so, is there a cost difference when you eat at Animator's Pal. vs. Enchanted Garden? When you order 2 appetizers, are you charged for both? Or are all meals included in the cost of the cruise (minus upcharges like Palo) and you only have to pay extra for specialty drinks? I'm just curious how that works.

[jenseib]

Pizza for brunch? Sign me up!! Seriously, everything looked DELICIOUS at Palo this time around. I remember your other TR when you went there for dinner and the pictures didn't even look that great so I'm sure the food was so-so. Of course, I'm reading this right before bed and now am craving the most delicious pizza and chocolates and mickey bars and so on

 

I have cruised twice before: once on Radisson Seven Seas, which is now called Regent, and once on Princess. Radisson was outstanding and by far the most amazing experience of my life. Everything was included in the price of the cruise and catered to individual needs. Definitely a once in a lifetime trip! Princess was quite different, it was OK but the food overall was not great. I'm not a super picky eater but nothing was fresh and it just was sort of bland. The Disney cruise food certainly seems a lot better. Now for my question: Do you have to pay per meal on Disney? If so, is there a cost difference when you eat at Animator's Pal. vs. Enchanted Garden? When you order 2 appetizers, are you charged for both? Or are all meals included in the cost of the cruise (minus upcharges like Palo) and you only have to pay extra for specialty drinks? I'm just curious how that works.

 

My goal is to get on a princess cruise in the next 2 years. i have a freind who loves them

 

With Disney the meals are included and you rotate between dining rooms each night. But Palo and Remy are the up charge restaurants on the Dream and Fantasy and just palo on the Magic and Wonder. Palo is only a $20 upcharge, so it's not so bad, but Remy is $75 per person. Way too steep for me. All soft drinks are include in the dining rooms at if you get them from the drink station. If you order them from room service or a bartender there is a charge. And specialty drinks are at a charge as well. Disney really does include quite a bit. And yes you can order 5 appetizers and 6 entrees if you chose and you do not get charged extra.

I think with Disney food, it's OK. Probably not the best line for food, but better than others.I have a few things I have found I really like and then sone things that are just not so great to me.

[jenseib]

Nov. 8, Thursday, Day 8

 

All good things must come to an end, and today we were ending our cruise. Now we weren’t super sad as we still had a trip to Disney World. The family was staying till Sunday and Claire and I were staying till the next Wednesday!

 

I believe I woke up around 5:30 AM…yes you read that right! I know, what a fool I am, but I woke up and instead of rolling over I decided to look and see if we were in port yet. I ran out to the balcony and saw we were in the process of docking, so I quickly found my camera and took a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

I then got dressed quickly and ran up top to watch.

 

 

 

 

It seemed to be quite a bit chillier this morning.

 

 

 

After a good look around I headed back to the room and got ready. We had decided we would skip the dining room this morning and go to Cabanas. It would let the kids be able to sleep in slightly longer and we could eat and get out fast.

 

Claire was good about getting up for the most part this morning. She knew we still had a lot of fun ahead of us.

 

Geoff and Mary took a few pictures of the luggage being loaded. Many are blurry, but I think they had actually spotted their luggage going off.

 

 

 

We all headed to Cabanas and had a quick breakfast. We kind of trickled in and out, not all of us eating at the same time. The selection was less than other mornings and I think only one side was open, but there was enough to keep us happy. After we ate we headed down to the atrium. We had no real plans to meet up, but luckily everyone found us and we gathered around. Of course there were bathroom stops needed and the bathroom closest to the atrium was pretty full, as in a line out the door. BUT we got smart and found out that the one down a ways near the Walt Disney Theatre was virtually empty.

 

 

 

Finally we all were gathered. There might have been another bathroom break in there as well. We have a family of nervous bladders.

Mom also appeared to be coming down with sinus infection. She is not like the normal people who get them after an extended cold. She gets them right off the bat and she was worried how she would be feeling the rest of the week.

 

 

It was time to say goodbye to our home for the last 4 days. I think we started the process of getting off around 9.

 

We headed down the stairs and the porters were waiting. I had told the family that it might be wise to get one to help with the luggage, but every one of them ignored them as they walked by and looked lost. I wasn’t sure how they missed them or why they were walking by, but when Claire and I got down, the porters once again asked if we needed help and I said yes! Mom came out of her haze then and realized what I was doing. The porter told her he could get all our bags. The other families followed suit. I think we had 2 to 4 porters working with us if I remember right. Our guy was nice. He told us how he was going to be sailing with his daughter in a few weeks and that he planned to work that morning and make some extra money and then have her Mom drop her off and they would sail and he would be back to work again that day they got off. He was very excited about going.

 

We made our way through customs and when it was our turn the porter told us that we had a great customs officer who wasn’t too strict. We headed up and I gave him my passport and Claire’s birth certificate and my parents did the same. The officer then asked Claire what Feb 14th meant to her. My parents both at the same time said “it’s Valentine’s day”! Um, hello, mother who gave birth to me …… I told the officer that Claire probably didn’t know what it meant, but my parents surely should and that’s when they went oh. Yep that’s my birthday! But the first thing they thought of was Valentine’s Day. Oh brother!

 

We all headed out to the shuttle pick up with the help of our porters. They dropped our bags off and we tipped them.

We had a little wait, but not long at all.

 

 

 

Before we knew it the Residence Inn shuttle arrived. This time it was not a big bus, but a little bus with a trailer attached to the back for luggage. Luckily none of us lost our vouchers for the return trip. Once again Claire and I got the front seat.

 

 

And then we were off. It was so sad to see our ship one last time. But I still can’t get over how big she is.

 

 

 

All too soon we were back at the Residence Inn.

They unloaded the luggage and Claire and I went off to pull the van up to get it packed.

 

 

Everyone was impressed with how smooth this whole process went. I was glad we had no kinks.

 

Once our vans were loaded we were all heading off to our next resort. We all had different ones. Gail’s family was staying at the Art of Animation in the Little Mermaid rooms. Katie’s was staying at the Animal Kingdom Lodge. Pete and Vicki were heading to Pop Century, via Aunt Mary and Geoff dropping them off and Mary and Geoff were going to stay offsite at the JW Marriott.

 

And us, well I had a resort in mind right from the beginning of the planning of this trip. The thing is, it was an expensive resort. But I REALLY wanted to stay there. I did all sorts of figuring and scheming and research and I finally was able to get it for a decent price. At the time of booking it, it was just going to be for Claire and I.

Where is this dream resort? Well the Beach Club! Well I ended up finding a fabulous deal for the Beach Club Villas. Still more than I wanted to pay, but let’s just say I saved a TON of money on this room. And since it was just Claire and I, I booked a Studio. Well several months later, other family members decided they wanted to extend their stay as well, and started booking rooms. Mom did not want to stay at Pop again. She didn’t like the double beds. She looked at some options, but she just wasn’t sure she wanted to pay the price for the Beach Club or other deluxe resorts. I had mentioned that they could stay with us, but I was in a studio and that they would have to have the pull out couch. At first that was a big no, but after a while she decided it wasn’t so bad after all.

 

So off we go! It’s not a long drive at all, but when people drink coffee in the morning …ahem, mom …..They can’t go an hour between bathroom breaks and we had to make a stop.

 

Soon we pulled into the Beach Club and I went in to check in.

 

 

Once again our room was not ready and they said they would text us when it was. I will tell you now I never got that text either. We drove over the villas and parked the van.

 

 

 

The family was heading off to Animal Kingdom today. Katie had planned a pool day, but since it was so cold she ended up adding a day to her ticket and going to AK as well. Geoff and Mary had also planned on only 2 park days, but they also decided to add the 3rd day as well.

 

Mom and Dad headed off on their own. I told them that I wasn’t sure if we would see them there or not. It depended on what we decided to do once we got there. But first, Claire and I had something we had to take care of. Tickets!

Now I had said Claire and I were staying longer than the rest and on Sunday when everyone was leaving, we were switching over to Art of Animation to the Little Mermaid rooms. I was one of the lucky ones who got a pin for free dining. So that meant I had to get tickets with that package. So today we had to go over to the International Gateway and pick up our tickets early. (For those who don’t know, you can pick your tickets up, up to 3 days earlier than when your package starts).

 

We made our way over. I must say we had a slight skip to our step. We were excited to be back at Disney World again. The day was a little chilly though already. I was hoping for it to warm up, but for now it was sweatshirt weather.

 

We got in line at Guest Services there. I had done my research about this a few times and even had a print out on how it worked if the CM told me it couldn’t be done. I believe only 2 windows were open and one window had some clients that seemed to be having a major issue as they never left. Finally we made it to the other window and I told the CM what I wanted. He knew it could be done, so that was a plus. But he said it might take him a bit because it had been awhile since he last did it. That’s ok, we can be patient ….well sort of. He then realized that this system at the International Gateway was still an old system while all the park front ones were on a new system, so he had to make some calls and get it all figured out. He apologized several times, but I was just thankful he was doing it with a smile. Sadly the other window still had the other people, so the line behind us kind of grew and I did feel bad for the people behind us. Finally our tickets printed! YES! We were so excited. We now could go and play for 7 more days.

 

We walked off to the side to get situated and I took a picture of Claire with our tickets in hand!

 

 

And then we made our way back toward the Beach Club!

 

 

On our way back the Beach Club I took a few pictures.

 

 

At times the sun would come out and really warm you up and we would take our jackets off, but it would fool us and chill back up again. It still was a nice day and better than being at home.

 

 

 

 

We then cut through the lobby of the Beach Club.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

And we made our way to the bus stop. We were going to Animal Kingdom for a few hours.

 

 

Now I had debated what we would do this afternoon. A lot of it depended on how fast we got to the Beach Club. We had thoughts of having lunch at Beaches and Cream, but basically once we got there and tickets in hand, we both just wanted to get to a park. And Claire also wanted to catch up with Alexis. I never planned to tour with the family all day long each day, but I did feel that this may be the only trip that Claire and Alexis would make together and I wanted her to enjoy the time with her cousin.

 

 

We made it to the stop and had to wait a bit. This is my number one complaint about Deluxe resorts. The bus system is AWFUL. They seem to be slow and then they make about 500 stops at other resorts as well.

 

 

This became the start of our bad bus mojo of the trip. I think we counted several of each of the other parks buses come before and AK bus arrived. It seems like no matter what park I pick, I can’t get the one that has many buses flowing.

But eventually a bus did arrive and we made our way to Animal Kingdom.

 

I am always glad not to ride the tram. I think those are worse than the buses. But that’s just my opinion.

 

 

OH MY GOSH!!!!!!!! This was not expected at all! The tree is up. I had been told and researched that the Christmas décor goes slowly up in the beginning of Nov. but that my chances of seeing a lot of it, besides at the Magic Kingdom was pretty slim, or spotty. I was shocked and excited to see the AK tree up and ready to great us.

 

 

 

I made Claire go get in front of it.

 

 

One more shot before we head in.

 

 

Let the Memories Begin!!!!!

 

 

 

We slowly walked in through the Oasis. Well I wanted to explore and soak it up, but Claire was more worried about me calling to find out where Alexis was, which I did as well.

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

We continued our walk through the Oasis.

 

 

 

We found out where the family was (I believe back near Africa) and started to make our way there. I was also getting hungry. I am one of those people who needs to eat more in the day time or I get headaches and less than pleasant in nature.

 

We made our way back, but not before getting a few tree pictures.

 

 

And my worst fear …it was crowded.

 

 

When we first started planning this trip the crowd predictions were low. VERY low. But as time went on they got higher and then we found out it was Jersey week as well. UGH. But we couldn’t change the dates because the cruise was booked and family had vacation dates set.

I figured it couldn’t be nearly as bad as spring break time. Now I haven’t been here during the week before or after Easter, but I have been here in the spring break season and it can get really crowded. And sadly I was wrong. The crowds we encountered this week were very similar and even worse than spring break at times.

 

I didn’t let the crowds dampen my spirits too much though. I was so excited to be seeing Christmas décor all over the park!!!!

 

 

Well there’s an empty area.

 

 

 

 

 

We stopped for a photo moment for Claire.

 

 

 

We found the family. I think they had gone to Flights of Wonder and then came the “what do you want to do’s”. EAT!!! I am hungry. Now I really need to start saying this about an hour before I want to eat, because it always seems like we get side tracked and then I am about to die of hunger …..Yep, I may be in my 40’s, but some days I feel like I may die of hunger.

We did stop and get Safari fast passes. The time was for about an hour or so away, so that would be a good time to sit and eat. Of course deciding what to eat is a whole other discussion.

I had heard of Tamu Tamu by many people and I saw it, so I went and looked at the menu. It would work for me, but not Claire. It consisted mainly of sandwiches and Claire is pretty much anti sandwich.

So a decision had to be made before I died of hunger pains. Some people liked the Tamu Tamu menu and stayed. I think that was Mom, Gail, Alexis, and Abby. Dad, Rob and Claire headed off with me. Pizzafari was not too far away and I knew Claire would eat there.

 

 

 

 

It was fairly crowded in there, but several lines were open. I asked Dad if he knew how to use the dining plan, and of course he had no clue. And I asked if he had his kttw with him and he said no. UGH. Well then it hit me. He was in MY room so his credit and my credits were all connected so I could order and pay for him with my card. We made our decisions and I told Dad what he was allowed to get. I think our pizzas came with a Caesar salad and Dad didn’t want one, but I told him to get it and most likely someone else would eat it.

I think for desserts Claire got a chocolate chip cookie and I got cheesecake and we would share both.

 

 

 

We got our food and Rob got his and a meal for Gail as well. We then walked back to the area we left the family and sat some tables.

Well Rob was nice to get Gail food, but what he hadn’t realized was that she also was getting herself food at Tamu Tamu. We had a ton of food at our table.

We did the best to polish it all off as well as the extra meal that Rob got for Gail.

 

 

 

When it came time for dessert, let’s just say I barely had a bite of mine. Actually I only got a bite because I insisted on it. Claire had big eyes and not for the cookie. I think I saved that for later.

 

We were now super full. I spent most of this vacation feeling full and that might have been one of the last times I had felt hungry. After that I just seemed to be eating ALL the time.

 

We decided to head back towards the safari to use our fast passes.

 

First we had to take a picture of Dad’s new shoes. If you remember way back to the start of the cruise, Dad had complained about his feet hurting and Mom had tennis shoes in the suitcase …the one that had been left at the airport. Well those tennis shoes were new and they hurt his feet as well, so on the ship mom bought him a pair of crocs. We just found this so funny, because Dad doesn’t wear stuff like this, but his feet felt great in them and he wore them every day. In fact on our recent Williamsburg trip he packed them along and wore them then too.

 

 

Time for a Safari ride!

We had fast passes and we arrived a few minutes early so we had to wait till the time ticked right. We got in line and even the fast pass line was pretty busy today.

 

 

Luckily we didn’t wait too long and we were in line for our truck.

 

 

 

We got in and you know how bumpy those trucks are …we took off with a huge bumpity bump and Abby just started laughing so hard. This was her kind of ride.

 

 

 

We had a really good driver/guide. She reminded me so much of Brook (my friend and co-worker. I have traveled twice with her, and she has shown up in 2 of my past trip reports). She didn’t look like Brook so much, but the way she talked really reminded me of her. The newer spiel is better too. Kind of joking a bit in there and no more hunting for poachers and Red.

 

I took a ton of pictures on the journey. BUT the sun was not my friend, so some came out, but many are washed out or shadowed. And of course with a bumpy ride, I have some nice blurry shots too.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a TON of trucks out on the safari today. Many times we had to stop because of a jam up. On top of that, there were many active animals, some who decided to stand on the road and not move out of the way.

 

 

And here is one such animal. As we sat there waiting for the jam to clear up, Mr. Giraffe decided to cross the road, taking his own sweet time. I must admit, it was really neat to see.

Now remember way back on my first day at Animal Kingdom Lodge, when I went into Flamingo overload with pictures. Well now we are going to have giraffe overload!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Here comes another one to cross the road.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This guy was all by himself.

 

 

Um, we’re not supposed to go here. It says the road is closed!

 

 

 

I think this was the only elephant shot I could get today.

 

 

 

Now how cute is this baby rhino?

 

 

Way back there is a glimpse of the cheetah, which was actually up and moving around.

 

 

If course the lions were not up and about. They are always lying on those rocks.

 

 

At least they were awake today.

 

 

 

 

 

Here are Alexis’s favorite animals …The Geebras! Well that’s what Abby calls them.

 

 

 

 

And it was nice to not have to deal with Red and the whole poacher scene. This ride had a few more jokes, but also informative. I liked it much better. It did take us a bit to get off the truck. There was a backup, so we had to wait to get to the unloading dock. I think we had to wait a good 5 minutes or more to get there and off.

 

 

 

I had Claire stop for a picture, but she wasn’t too smiley for it.

 

 

Alexis popped in to have some fun and lighten the mood.

 

 

 

I thought this flower was pretty.

 

 

And we saw a group doing the African safari trek. I really wanted to do this, but Claire was just shy of 8, the age you had to be to do it.

 

 

 

We picked up the stroller and then made some decisions on what to do next.

[jenseib]

We decided that those of us braver souls were going to get a fastpass for Expedition Everest. Claire has talked about doing this ride for a couple of years, but we haven’t been back since she has been tall enough. The thing is, Claire can be a chicken at times. BUT when you have your brave cousin with you, you might become a little bit brave yourself and Claire decided she would go.

We all headed that way.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

That sunlight was really not camera friendly.

 

 

 

We stopped off a minute to check these guys out.

 

 

And we decided to stop and get a photopass picture of our family.

 

 

At this very moment my Dad decides to turn his cell phone on and check his messages. We all kept yelling at him to get over here, but he totally did not hear a word we were saying and proceeds to stand there and call people back. Now if we had not stopped to get a picture done, he would’ve been left behind. He was totally oblivious to the world around him at that moment. Oh well, we’re not going to hold up the photographer.

 

 

Notice that Abby is missing from the first one. She wasn’t too sure about this. She decided to get in the 2nd one.

 

 

 

But there was NO WAY she was going to give a thumbs up.

 

 

 

On we went towards Everest.

 

 

 

 

 

We got our fastpasses and had a bit of time before we could use them, so we separated. I am not sure what the chickens, …..um I mean rest of the family did, but we made our way to dinoland to kill some time.

 

 

 

 

We saw a turtle swimming along.

 

 

We entered Dinoland USA!

 

 

We decided to get in line for Triceratop Spin.

 

 

 

While in line, Claire and Alexis had a discussion about where they would sit and who would be driving. We figured out the best seat for each and I think they each got a front seat, while Rob and I were in the back seats. I think it was important to them to be able to lift us up and down.

 

 

 

I took pictures around the area before we got started and once in the air, I took some more.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Weeeeeeeeeee!

 

 

 

 

After that they decided to do Primeval Whirl. That’s not something I like. I hate spinning, it makes me sick, so I walked around while they got in line.

 

 

 

 

 

It looks like this dino is going potty!

 

 

 

 

I browsed the store for a bit.

 

 

Took a peek to see if I could see them.

 

 

 

 

I think Rob texted me that they were getting on and I ran over and waited for them to come by.

 

 

 

It was really loud there and I think I shouted several times before they even noticed I was standing right there.

 

Off they went and I only got one more glimpse of them and then lost the way they were tracking.

 

 

After that it was time to head back to Everest. Rob mentioned on the way over that his muscles had been very sore ever since he had been in the hottub the day before on the ship. He said usually he’s feels so much better, but this time he was so achy. I said that perhaps he cought a bug. Boy, I hate when I am right…..

 

The FP line for Everest moved pretty quickly.

 

 

And then we were off!

 

 

 

The view as we climbed.

 

 

The thing about taking pictures while on a rollercoaster …..it’s bumpy and hard to hold the camera, let alone focus.

 

 

 

I did try to explain what would happen to Claire as we went along, well from what I could remember.

 

It was a hit. She and Alexis both were all smiles when we got off.

 

 

In fact, it was so much fun that the girls wanted to ride again, and luckily the line was pretty much nonexistent at the moment.

 

 

They both joked about getting the front seat and how scary it would be. We ended up with 2nd and 3rd rows.

 

 

 

 

The backwards part soon became the favorite part of the ride.

 

I got a quick glimpse of the Yeti.

 

 

And another redneck shot of us.

 

 

I have tried to take a picture of these lanterns several times, but they always come out blurry and fuzzy.

 

 

 

The girls wanted to ride again, but it was now getting close to parade time, so we headed back to meet up with the family.

 

 

They had a spot saved and we all settled in. It was time for a snack and an ice-cream cart was very nearby, so I ran and got a Mickey bar for me and Claire a sandwich.

 

 

Geoff, Aunt Mary, Pete and Vicki had entered the park now and we texted back and forth to let them know where we were. They ended up just stopping along the way to watch the parade before catching up with us.

 

I took a few pictures while I waited for the parade to reach us.

 

 

 

It looks like we have a little pre-show entertainment.

 

[TBpony414]

Loving the latest Animal Kingdom installments! AK is my fav. Disney park. When I was there about 5 years ago I spent 2 whole days there riding the Safari and Everest! The Safari is so much fun, I am an animal lover and each ride was so different with the animals walking around. I just couldn't get enough of it! We got really close to the giraffes on one of the rides and also had ostriches and some sort of oxen blocking the road. The new zebras are really great and look to be a nice addition to the experience. Looking forward to riding it again in the future and hearing the new spiel as well - I never cared for the Red/poacher storyline.

[jenseib]

Loving the latest Animal Kingdom installments! AK is my fav. Disney park. When I was there about 5 years ago I spent 2 whole days there riding the Safari and Everest! The Safari is so much fun, I am an animal lover and each ride was so different with the animals walking around. I just couldn't get enough of it! We got really close to the giraffes on one of the rides and also had ostriches and some sort of oxen blocking the road. The new zebras are really great and look to be a nice addition to the experience. Looking forward to riding it again in the future and hearing the new spiel as well - I never cared for the Red/poacher storyline.

 

It is a fun park. I have since heard the the zebras are not playing well with others. Actually I heard it has something to do with their grazing habits and that most have been taken off the safari. I am not sure if they will bring them back or not. I just heard bits and peices here and there on other trip reports.

[jenseib]

I had been telling the family how much I LOVE this parade. This is my utmost favorite Disney parade currently running. My all-time favorite is Spectro Magic, but that seems to be dead now. So as we waited I kept telling Gail about this parade and how great the music is, and it’s just so fun. I think I had her excited to see it as well.

 

Soon the parade made its way to us!

 

 

Here is something I had not noticed right off the bat. But something was different today.

 

 

 

It didn’t take long for me to realize the music was slightly off. I have this on CD and listen to it quite often and when it changed I noticed it immediately.

 

 

HOLY COW!!!!!!! It’s the Christmas parade! I was so excited. I have never seen this version before. I even researched before I came to see when the first Christmas one started, but according to the history I found, I didn’t expect to see it at all during our trip. It had dates like the 16th or 18 of Nov. This was the 8th! I later talked to a few other people who said that this week was the first showing, and actually the parade I saw this day was most likely the first one of the season.

I quickly told Gail that this was the Christmas one, and though similar, it wasn’t completely the same.

 

 

 

 

 

Awww, isn’t his tail cute?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The girls got a little attention. Mostly Alexis and Abby got attention and I think Claire was slightly jealous. But she has gotten plenty of attention on past visits, so I reminded her of that. I do think where we were standing kind of made her left out though a bit. We were next to a tree and the other kids were more visible from the floats than Claire and I were.

 

 

 

 

 

Darn it Goofy! Look this way!

 

 

 

 

Abby was so cute. She loved the parade.

 

 

 

 

 

 

What’s coming next?

 

 

Well it’s Terk and Timon. Do you see Terks necklace?

 

 

OH NO! It Broke!!!!!! I have no clue what happened, but in a blink of an eye it just went flying everywhere.

 

 

 

Poor Terk.

 

 

Claire felt so bad for her.

 

 

She cheered up fast though and posed for us.

 

 

Timon could not be outdone.

 

 

We got kisses from him.

 

 

Donald!!!!!!

 

 

 

It’s snowing! It doesn’t take much to impress me.

 

 

 

 

Seeing Disney through a child’s eyes ….so wonderful.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Bye Mickey!!!!!

 

 

 

Geoff, Aunt Mary, Pete and Vicki were standing at a different spot and here are a few of Geoff’s pictures. They were before us in the parade route.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[jenseib]

After the parade the girls wanted to go on Everest again. It was a new favorite for both of them. Rob, Claire, Alexis and I headed that way once again. As we walked, we ran into Geoff, Mary, Pete and Vicki. We said hellos and I asked Geoff and Pete if they wanted to join us and neither really knew what we were talking about, so I point towards Everest and they said yes and followed along. The girls were all excited to have fresh meat ride with us and were talking a mile a minute about the ride, explaining just how “scary” it is.

This time we had a little bit of a wait, so I took pictures as we walked through the queue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

It wasn’t too bad of a wait and soon we were ready to roll. This picture is REALLY bad, but so funny. Pete was acting all scared and both he and Geoff were asking me what I had gotten them in to.

 

 

We laughed and screamed and had a great time. It was really funny listening to Geoff and Pete behind us scream like girls!

 

We survived though!

 

 

It was now time for Claire and I to leave. She was disappointed and really wanted to ride Everest again. I believe Rob and Alexis got back in line and that was a touchy subject for a bit, but I reminded her that we would be back again this trip, but this was Alexis’s only day to be at AK. We had an ADR to get to and another meet later in the evening. I had not heard a word from the Beach Club yet, but we were hoping our room was ready so we could change before dinner.

 

We headed to the bus stop and arrived there just a few minutes before 5.

 

 

While we headed off for our next adventure, the rest of the family stayed at AK.

 

I believe that Pete and Vicki headed off to find Katie and family and the rest hit up Dinoland USA. Here are a few pictures from Geoff’s camera to document what they did.

 

I believe Rob and Alexis were still on Everest at this point, but Gail and Abby went for the triceratops spin.

 

 

 

 

That was fun!

 

 

 

They then got in line to meet up with Santa Goofy and Pluto.

 

 

Crazy kid ….with creepy eyes.

 

 

Alexis and Rob made it back in time to join the fun.

 

 

Notice that Abby has a death grip on Goofy’s leg.

 

 

Time to pry her off of him.

 

 

 

 

Group shot.

 

 

I have to say I am disappointed in the photopass pictures. They didn’t take any pictures of the interaction at all.

 

 

 

Now I am not sure what they all did after that. I am thinking that Gail’s family might have stayed a little longer, but Mom, Dad, Geoff and Mary might have left around this time.

 

Gail has these photopass pictures, which appear to be dusk and I assume she had them taken when they were exciting the park.

 

 

 

 

Here are a few of Geoff’s pictures of them exiting the park. Being that it looks a little lighter in his pics, I am thinking they left before Gail’s family.

 

 

I have no idea what my Dad is doing here. Always the life of the party.

 

 

 

Claire and I left you off where Claire and I had made it to the bus stop. The bus came fairly quickly and within 15-20 minutes we were back at the Beach Club and were given our room number. YAY! But I did once again mention that I never received a text. I got the deer in the headlights stare. Almost like they never knew they were supposed to. Well then why tell me that you are going to then?

By the way, Gail was staying at Art of Animation and received her text very early in the day that her room was ready. For some reason, the resorts just don’t like me I guess.

 

We made our way over to the villas and started grabbing luggage to take to our room.

 

 

Once again we had a very far back room. I honestly could never figure out exactly where we were in the building. I will have to look at a room map (and remember my room number) to find exactly where we were. There were a lot of twists and turns to get to it.

 

Once we got all the luggage I called Mom to let her know the room number. I just got her voicemail though.

I then took a few quick pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Mom and Dad’s bed.

 

 

Our view to the left.

 

 

Our view to the right.

 

 

And straight out.

 

 

I think we were looking at the road that goes around the Beach and Yacht Club, or a service road that led out to it, but I never did find out for sure.

 

We got ourselves changed. It was really cooling down and I did the one thing I NEVER do at Disney. I put jeans on. I am always of the thought that it has to be warmer here than home, but today, it wasn’t and I knew once the sun was gone, it was going to get darn chilly. I think only on one other trip have I actually worn jeans at the parks and that when the temps dipped into the 40’s. I am usually ok with shorts and a sweatshirt.

 

Once we were changed and freshened up we headed towards Epcot.

 

 

It had gotten dark out pretty fast. Claire was very impressed that we could actually walk to Epcot. I explained that we were special and had a back door entrance. LOL. Ok it sounds good to a 7 year old.

 

 

We didn’t get too far in and I was in for a major shock. I have NEVER seen crowds like this in my life at Disney. It was wall to wall people. It was almost scary. We merged in with the people and soon spotted a photopass photographer and I asked for a picture. She rudely informed me she was done for the night. Ok then. I guess she had a long busy day herself. She did tell me there was another one just a bit down, so Claire and I went to her. She told me she was also done for the night, but she did take a couple of real quick pictures for us.

 

 

 

We then made our way to Norway. I had originally planned to take it leisurely and take pictures, etc., but that wasn’t going to happen. It was just too darn crowded. I grabbed Claire’s hand and we went on our way. It took forever to get there. I couldn’t walk fast because people would just walk right in front of you, or stop suddenly. I think we ran into quite a few people on our trek over there. And then we got a group of scooters who were NOT allowing people to pass them. It was so frustrating. We did eventually make it over to Norway and had a seat. We had a little bit of time before our ADR time and we just rested and chilled out.

 

 

I think we may have called Skip and I texted a few people, including my Mom to let her know our room number since she hadn’t called back. I think Claire was a little bored there, but we just couldn’t really do anything else with so many people there. I guess they were all trying to get in the last little bit of the Food and Wine festival.

[TBpony414]

That's too bad about the Geebras causing trouble although I'm not surprised since the herd looked very large in your photos. A smaller group of 3-4 would be more appropriate. Hope the folks at AK can get it sorted!

[jenseib]

That's too bad about the Geebras causing trouble although I'm not surprised since the herd looked very large in your photos. A smaller group of 3-4 would be more appropriate. Hope the folks at AK can get it sorted!

 

I know. You would think after years of having them at the lodge they would kind of know their grazing patterns too. But I guess they don't have that many out at one time.

[jenseib]

After chilling out near Norway for about 20 minutes or so, we decided to go and check into Akershus for our dinner. The line was darn long there too, but it did move fairly fast.

 

 

After checking in we waited probably less than 5 minutes for our name to be called.

 

 

We then got in line for Belle.

 

 

 

 

I decided this time I was going to be in the picture as well. I usually just have Claire do the photo ops, but I decided I needed to be in some here and there too.

 

I look pretty decent in the first one, but unfortunately Claire is looking away. This is the one they gave us in print form.

 

 

The 2nd one is much better of Claire, but I blinked ….darn it.

 

 

I walked away while Claire got her book signed and I was happy they took this one as well.

 

 

I tried to get one more pic, but it was pretty awful.

 

 

Belle really liked Claire’s outfit, which of course made her happy. This was another borrowed outfit from my friend Janet. I am so grateful for all the things she loaned us.

 

We were then seated and we made our way up to the cold bar and got a few items.

 

 

As we sat there I noticed that Cinderella had different hair. I quickly texted my friend Janet and tried to take pictures on my phone from afar. They weren’t great, but I gave her the idea at least. I know people are mixed about the hair and dress, but I really like the new hair.

I also found out that the wifi worked much better inside Akershus than anywhere else in the park that night.

 

It wasn’t long and Cinderella had made her way to our table. I eyed her hair quite a bit, and I really like it.

 

 

 

Aurora was on her heals and we had a meet with her next.

 

 

 

The music started and Aurora grabbed Claire’s hand. They were going to do a parade around the restaurant. I was happy that Claire actually joined in. She did kind of hem haw around about it at first.

 

 

 

 

 

When she came back, our food was served. She went wild again tonight and got a hotdog.

 

 

I had the Traditional Kjottkake. I had this last time too and I enjoyed it. It kind of has a kielbasa taste to it. However this time around it wasn’t quite as tasty as the first time. I enjoyed it still, but it seemed to be a little lacking this time. It didn’t lack later on though, where I continued to re-taste it for the rest of the night.

 

 

Ariel came next, another favorite of Claire’s.

 

 

 

 

And then Snow White, who really liked Claire’s red bow.

 

 

 

 

After our character visits we enjoyed our dinner.

 

 

Claire’s birthday is in Dec and this was the closest we have ever been to Disney to that date, so I had noted her birthday on many of our reservations. They brought her out a cupcake.

 

 

And the dessert.

 

 

The chocolate mousse was delicious; the rice stuff just isn’t our thing. I don’t remember what the 3rd thing was. All ears lists it as something apple, but I don’t remember if that is what it was or not. Nor do I remember if we liked it or not.

 

After we ate and paid we made a bathroom stop and then Claire wanted to head towards Spaceship Earth. While walking I think I texted our friend that we would be meeting up with for Illuminations.

We spotted the Cranberry Bog on our way.

 

 

 

 

 

We had just enough time to ride Spaceship Earth so we got in line.

 

 

I took pictures while on the ride, but they are basically the same ones I always take and these didn’t come out as good as some of my past ones, so I’ll skip posting those.

We did however have fun taking pictures of our silly pictures. I made a dumb face, but Claire went for the smile.

 

 

 

 

 

After we got off we went and looked for our pictures.

 

 

 

I emailed myself the video, which I don’t think I ever watched, but I might have. It’s been so long ago. I know I saved this picture off the email though.

 

 

We were running short on time now so we made another bathroom stop and worked our way towards world showcase. We saw a photopass photographer and made a quick stop.

 

 

 

 

Then we headed to find our friends. Tonight we were meeting up with my Dis/facebook friend Tim and family. (That’s nice is his Dis name) He has a daughter named Juliana who is a year younger than Claire and Claire has been dying to meet her as well over the years. They also have a son Christopher who was on his very first trip to Disney. Tim’s wife, Mel and his mother were also on this trip.

We texted back and forth and he told me where he was standing. I can’t remember for sure, but I think it was near the Greece food booth.

We arrived in the area and I kept looking and just didn’t see him. Finally I saw him. He’s pretty tall and I had seen a guy that looked similar to him but he didn’t have the “right” family with him, so I was pretty sure he wasn’t him. LOL.

We walked over and said hellos and he introduced us to his Mom and Juliana. Mel and Christopher were tired and had gone back to the resort.

 

Claire had taken off her Mickey ears, but Juliana had a pair on, so I noticed Claire going through the bag quickly to put hers back on.

Soon Illuminations had started, so we stopped talking and enjoyed the show.

 

Illuminations!!!!

I’m going to let you in on a secret. I like Illuminations, but I don’t LOVE it like many people do. I also don’t love Wishes. Ok stop throwing things at me!!!

I like them but they are not must sees. I do enjoy them when I see them though.

Here are a few of the pictures I took of the show this evening. We were under a tree, so it made it hard to get some photos and of course, without a tripod you can’t get decent ones anyways.

 

 

 

 

 

 

After the big finale we all talked some more. I had a little gift for Juliana and I gave that to her and she opened the bag and checked out her goods. Claire and she seemed to be kind of at least interacting a bit. That was a nice change.

 

Tim then told me a bit of big news. Mel was pregnant with their 3rd child. I felt so privileged to have some inside info. I want to congratulate the happy family who recently gave birth to Gabriella! She’s a real cutie! And he is a very busy dad these days too.

 

We then decided it was time to get a picture. We had his mom take them and it did take her a few minutes to get the hang of my camera, but she did a good job!

 

 

Juliana started playing with some things from her bag and she invited Claire to play along. It was so nice to see them getting along so well.

 

 

What was also nice is that Claire wasn’t bugging me about leaving. She was having too much fun.

 

I think we chatted for about 20 minutes or so and then we decided it was time to get heading out. Epcot was thinning out fast. The girls didn’t want to leave, which was a nice change, but they did come along and we all said goodbyes.

 

I was really happy to meet Tim. I have been following his TR’s for a few years and we have been at Disney at different times, but sometimes only missing each other by a few days. He was one of those people I had on my bucket list to meet. He’s a super nice guy and has a great family.

 

Claire and I then headed towards our backdoor exit.

 

 

 

We stopped and sat on a bench as I was going to call Skip again. We noticed fireworks in the distance. At first I wondered if they were MK fireworks, but the timing was not right and then I wasn’t sure if that was even the right direction. Then I figured it might be something from Fantasmic. I have never seen it myself, so I wasn’t sure. It was actually today while editing these pictures that I realized Hollywood Studios had closed that day at 4Pm for a private event. I bet these fireworks were something for that event.

 

 

 

 

I took a few pictures of the window nearby too. So cute!

 

 

I was excited to see Christmas décor at Epcot as well.

 

 

We both talked to Skip a bit. Claire is a daddy’s girl and she was missing her Dad. Thank goodness we didn’t have any major issues. Over the past 2 years she has come home from a few overnight stays around 11 PM because she can’t sleep without Daddy’s kiss. I’ve kissed the guy a time or 2 and I don’t think it is THAT special. LOL

 

 

We then headed back to the Beach Club. I tried calling my parents again. I had not gotten any response from them at all and I wanted to be sure they knew which room we were in. It went to voicemail once again. I then called Geoff and asked if he had seen them. Yes he had and they were dropped off at our hotel quite a while ago after dinner. Ok, then. I am assuming they got my messages and were in the room.

 

We made the trek back to the room and sure enough they were there. Dad was watching tv and mom was sleeping. Mom wasn’t feeling the greatest either. She was pretty sure she had a sinus infection.

I got Claire ready for bed and then myself. Now this is embarrassing. I took my jeans off and noticed a tag. You know the kind that has the size that is kind of sewn on the waist band or pocket. These jeans were new and I guess I missed taking that off. Oops. Hopefully my shirt and jacket had covered that up all night long. Thank goodness I didn’t have the tape thing that runs down the leg with your size on it left on there. That would’ve been way more embarrassing.

 

I settled in bed and surfed facebook for a bit while Dad watched TV till late in the night. Well actually he falls asleep while watching it. I think I took over the remote to turn it off at some point in time.

 

It was a very long day, but we had so much fun. We woke up on a ship and now are back to another resort, my 5th pillow of the trip. Oh the Places We Go!

We met up with Tim, Juliana, and Tim’s Mom. It was a wonderful meet and it made my day. Oh the People We Meet!

We had another busy day coming up and I soon drifted off to sleep.

[TBpony414]

When I read your reports before I actually get in bed (and start snoozing with my laptop open) I can actually comment! Ha. What is different about Cinderella's hair? I'm not a princess follower but the only thing I can note is it looks like she has bangs sticking out of her headband now. Ariel's hair looks off to me though, can't put my finger on it.

 

Guess I'll join you for the stoning: I don't care for Illuminations either. What is so special about it? The globe is kind of cool but spins around slowly and the projections aren't very good, the fireworks are lackluster and the whole thing is sort of boring. However, I do really love Wishes! The fireworks shooting off at the exact precise second really adds to the experience. How come you've been to WDW so many times but have never seen Fantasmic?! That seems like a crime LOL.

 

"We both talked to Skip a bit. Claire is a daddy’s girl and she was missing her Dad. Thank goodness we didn’t have any major issues. Over the past 2 years she has come home from a few overnight stays around 11 PM because she can’t sleep without Daddy’s kiss. I’ve kissed the guy a time or 2 and I don’t think it is THAT special. LOL"

 

^LMAO!!! Your comments are often hilarious but this one takes the cake!

[jenseib]

When I read your reports before I actually get in bed (and start snoozing with my laptop open) I can actually comment! Ha. What is different about Cinderella's hair? I'm not a princess follower but the only thing I can note is it looks like she has bangs sticking out of her headband now. Ariel's hair looks off to me though, can't put my finger on it.

 

Guess I'll join you for the stoning: I don't care for Illuminations either. What is so special about it? The globe is kind of cool but spins around slowly and the projections aren't very good, the fireworks are lackluster and the whole thing is sort of boring. However, I do really love Wishes! The fireworks shooting off at the exact precise second really adds to the experience. How come you've been to WDW so many times but have never seen Fantasmic?! That seems like a crime LOL.

 

"We both talked to Skip a bit. Claire is a daddy’s girl and she was missing her Dad. Thank goodness we didn’t have any major issues. Over the past 2 years she has come home from a few overnight stays around 11 PM because she can’t sleep without Daddy’s kiss. I’ve kissed the guy a time or 2 and I don’t think it is THAT special. LOL"

 

^LMAO!!! Your comments are often hilarious but this one takes the cake!

 

 

Here is an older picture of her hair, not the best, but it's more like the movie.

 

 

Here's a side view.

 

 

The newer style is more softer and kind of more modern. it actually looks more natural to me. But I know die hard movie fans get upset when it doesn't look exactly like the movies style.

 

 

Now I love my husband, but I can certainly go to sleep without his kiss!

[jenseib]

Nov. 9, 2012, Friday, Day 9

 

I woke around 6ish this morning. I just can’t sleep in while at Disney. I took a quick walk outside and took some pictures with my point and shoot, but it was still fairly dark and they all came out really blurry.

I then took a shower and got myself started for the day. I left the makeup for later and went out to find the laundry facilities and started a load.

 

By then it was about 7:30 and I went out for a stroll while the others slept. I am pretty sure Mom had gotten up, but she might’ve went back to bed for a bit.

 

I then went for another walk to take some pictures.

 

 

Awww. Some Duckies.

 

 

 

 

 

This is the Villa pool.

 

 

 

 

 

I headed back to the room and took care of the laundry and then got Claire up and ready to go. My parents aren’t ones who get up and go early and they kind of slow us down at times. Claire is not an early riser at all, but we only have so much time and we really needed to be on our way.

 

We got a few texts. Rob was sick. So sick he was staying in the room and Gail was going off on her own with the girls. She had a reservation at Hollywood and Vine that morning and was headed off. Gails phone also stopped charging she had noticed when she got off the ship, so if we needed to contact her, she was carrying Robs phone. Her phone would only work if it was actually plugged into the charger, but would not charge. (Ironically when she got home it worked fine, but Rob bought her a new iPhone for her b-day in Dec.)

 

By 8:50 we were heading down to get some breakfast.

 

 

By 9 we had it and found a table outside to sit at.

 

I got the breakfast sandwich and potatoes, as did Mom.

 

 

I think Mom got this for Dad.

 

 

Now Claire will not eat any of this except for bacon and I don’t have a picture, but I am thinking we got her a muffin to eat.

 

The view from our table.

 

 

I think Dad forgot his hat and had to go back and get it. We weren’t going to wait though. I told my parents how to get to Hollywood Studios and Claire and I headed off.

 

 

Of course the friendship boat was leaving just as we walked up.

 

 

We waited around a bit.

 

 

 

 

 

I am not known for patience and I didn’t see a boat anywhere close to coming so we decided to walk.

 

 

 

The nice thing about walking was we got some nice views of the Boardwalk and the Swan and Dolphin.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Oh look! We could see Tower of Terror peeking over the trees.

 

 

 

Let me just say this walk is NOT short. I knew it was probably kind of long, but it was even longer than I thought. But we did walk fairly fast and I felt better actually moving than waiting for a friendship boat.

 

Look!!!!! The tree is up there too!

 

 

And as we got closer we could see ToT peeking some more.

 

 

 

Of course I took a ton of pictures of the tree.

 

 

 

And then I told Claire to go stand in front of it.

 

 

Look how huge it is. The ornaments are as big as her head.

 

 

I was just loving all the Christmas décor!

 

 

We had entered the park about 9:45. A little later than I had hoped, but still not too bad.

[jenseib]

After we entered Hollywood Studios, I texted Gail. She was just finishing up with their breakfast at Hollywood and Vine and was getting ready to pay. I told her I would work my way towards there. We spotted a photopass photographer and stopped for a few pictures.

 

 

 

 

 

We then worked our way towards the “hat”.

 

 

I am not really sure why I took this picture like this, but I took several of the same thing. Maybe I liked the palms with the hat?

 

 

I stopped and took this picture next.

 

 

And then I had Claire jump in.

 

 

Disney Channel Rocks was just starting so we walked over there to watch and I texted Gail to let her know where I was. I also texted mom and Dad as they had just entered the park as well and let them know where I was and where Gail was.

 

 

 

 

 

Everyone caught up with us and we stuck around and the girls enjoyed the singing and dancing, but eventually we pulled them away. We had a mission.

 

 

 

Yep, you guessed it. Fast passes for Toy Story Mania.

 

 

Now there was a conflict here. The current return time was for around 3:45 if I remember right. Claire had the Wonderland Tea Party scheduled for 2PM. Our plan was to go to the Magic Kingdom after the party. The park closed early that night for the first Christmas party and I figured we would be close and it shouldn’t be too crowded. Getting back to the Studios in time would also be cutting it close.

But plans change ……Claire said she just HAD to ride TSM. Now she has only rode it one other time in her life and I am not even sure she remembers anything about it. But the thing was she couldn’t let Alexis ride it without her. So we sat and discussed this. As we stood there a guy came over and asked if we were looking for a later time, as he had just gotten some and they were too late for him. We said sure and took them as well.

I eventually gave in and said we would be back. I told Gail that I would text her to let her know how we were doing on time so she would know whether to wait for us or not. If we didn’t make it back we would use the ones for the later window. I then had a happy girl again. And I really did want her to enjoy her time and she may never get back to the parks with her cousin again in her life, so I did want it to be special.

 

So then the next thing we decide was what to do next. Gail does not ride anything big or wild of any sort. Rob usually takes Alexis on that sort of stuff, but he was sick. So I said I would take Alexis on Tower of Terror. Claire was iffy, but I reminded her that she has done it before and did fine. So we said good byes and off we went.

 

We didn’t get far when we saw a photopass photographer out and I made us stop for a shot.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This photographer was great and asked if we each wanted individual ones. Sure thing!!!

 

 

 

I had taken this one of Alexis while she was getting hers done.

 

 

And then off to ToT we went!!!! I loved the street lined with stars.

 

 

The wait said 40 minutes, but it was practically walk on. Maybe 5-10 minutes tops.

 

 

 

Did this used to have water in it? I swear it did.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We went in and enjoyed the preshow. I had two girls clinging to me though. We headed off to wait in the next line. And as we came to the spot where the line divides a cast member was standing there and it only took me a second to recognize him. I asked him if he was on one of the travel channel specials and he said in his creepy voice that yes he was. Then I asked if the girls could have a picture with him and he agreed.

 

 

I told him that he probably thought I was pretty crazy to recognize him off of the show (which I can’t remember which one it is off hand) because it probably meant I have watched it several times and he said no, his mother has it recorded and watches it all the time.

 

We thanked him and went on our way. Claire was a little spooked, but Alexis seemed to thrive on it. We survived our fall and Alexis wanted to do it again and Claire agreed so we headed right back out and got in line again. This time the line was longer, closer to 20 minutes or so.

I took a few pictures of the girls.

 

 

 

Claire started to have 2nd thoughts, but Alexis still wanted to ride it again. I told Claire when we got up there we would ask them to take her out through the chicken exit. She was mad I called her chicken, but I explained that is just what it is called and adults even use it. She was fine with that. Once we got up there I told the CM’s she needed to exit and wait for us on the other side. They kind of went back and forth with each other because she was at the borderline age of going through herself or with a CM. A CM ended up walking with her. She told us after that she got to go down a “safe” elevator and a little bit back stage. She said she knew I would’ve loved to see it.

Alexis and I went on the ride and the weirdest thing happened. I have never had this happen before nor have I heard anyone else mention it. We waited and waited to drop and all of a sudden we went up ….FAST! That was a shock. Alexis and I just laughed and laughed. I never heard of it doing that before. I didn’t even know that was an option.

Of course we then fell. It was another fun ride.

I did take our redneck picture this time after.

 

 

I was waving and Alexis just looks like she is sitting back, relaxing.

 

We found Claire waiting with a CM and off we went.

 

It was time for a snack. I told the girls we were making a stop and I kept it a secret, so they were excited to find out what it was. I was too. Our stop was Starring rolls. I have never gone there, but after seeing countless pictures of other people’s cupcakes, we were going to join the club!

Boy those cupcakes are HUGE! We went in and I told the girls we were just going to share one and I was picking it out. No need for arguments and of course I already knew what I wanted.

We ordered the peanut butter and chocolate cupcake and took it outside to a table.

 

 

Doesn’t that look darn good?

 

I cut it in 3rds and there was plenty for all 3 of us.

 

 

I really can’t imagine eating a whole one by myself. It was good, but rich and with me eating a 3rd was just the right amount without getting sick of it. The girls were in love with it as well and ate every last bite they each had too. Of course the chocolate on top was a huge hit too. We texted pictures to everyone and of course I had to show Gail I was filling Alexis up with junk! LOL

 

We then made our way to find everyone else. The decision was made to ride Star Tours. I can’t remember who all rode this, but I think Abby was too small, so perhaps Gail took her somewhere else? I do know Mary and Geoff and Pete and Vicki were with us. I am not sure if Mom and Dad rode it too or not?

 

The line wasn’t too long at all, which was a good thing, because we would need to leave soon for the Wonderland Tea Party at the Grand Floridian.

We got a lucky spotting of Storm Troopers.

 

 

While in line Pete asked me if there was anything he needed to know about this ride and that I wasn’t tricking him like I did with Everest the day before. LOL.

 

 

 

We had a great time on this ride. It was so funny to hear everyone squealing and laughing. I was near Pete and he just kept going Whoa, heehee, wow, whoa! It was so funny. It was a big hit and they all wanted to ride again. Gosh, we would be cutting it close. If the line moved fast (and all the stars aligned right) we could do it. The line appeared to be even shorter and I made the decision to go one more time. Now knowing how things went …I should’ve told Claire no, but I didn’t and it is what it is …….

 

We had a great time once again. We all laughed and really enjoyed the ride. We had a slightly different scene the 2nd time around too.

But now we had to hurry and get out of the park.

 

We walked EXTREMELY fast to get to the front, but as fate would have it Claire had to go to the bathroom. UGH. Can you hold it? …. NO! Gosh darn it. So we made the stop and I “should’ve” changed her clothes then, but I was trying to hurry. We flew out of the park and towards the bus stop. There was a bus there and we RAN! And just as we got to the bus queue he pulled away. You have GOT to be kidding me! Another family had also been running to the bus and let’s just say they had a few choice words about the situation and I agreed!

 

I started to have an anxiety attack too. UGH, I was trying to figure out how long before another bus would come ….. IF it came with in at least 20 minutes and all went smoothly we would still make it. I did decide to go see if I could find the MK bus. Maybe that would be faster.

We walked back to find the sign to direct us to the MK bus.

 

 

 

 

I peered down the way for the MK bus and I didn’t see one there. Now if I was thinking straight, I should’ve just gotten a taxi and gone. Yes it would’ve been extra money, but I would’ve felt better. I did not make that choice however.

 

So we headed back to the GF bus stop and waited and waited and waited. My clock was ticking away. I texted Carey and let her know we were trying to get there, but we missed the bus. Claire and Kadence were doing the party together today.

It was now past 20 minutes. Did I tell you I am not a patient person? A guy came and he was going to be taking over the bus route. I mentioned that it was now close to 30 minutes and he said that was about right as the buses go about 30 minutes. Um ….. Where did he get his info? They are supposed to go every 20 minutes. The bus finally pulls up and the new driver goes, “no wonder it’s late, that guys a jerk. I hate him”. Seriously, he just said that? Then he turned and said, “Just kidding, we like to joke with each other”. But when that driver got off, I could tell that neither really cared for each other. I was really hoping a new driver meant faster, but I was so WRONG. He had to do an inspection and he was ANAL about it. Finally we took off. I am 99% sure this guy was new. At every stop he made, traffic light, stop sign, whatever ….he would stop, look, stop again, look and sometimes even stop a 3rd time. I was texting away to poor Carey. I kept telling her how we were trying to get there and now had the worst bus driver on Disney property.

Of course we had to make a zillion stops before getting to GF as well. I can’t remember which resorts, but I am pretty sure there were at least 2 before we got to GF. Even going over a speed bump was a slow challenge for this driver.

As the time ticked, 2 o’clock came. Carey told me that she told them at the check in desk we were on our way, but running late and would have Kadence save Claire a seat. We still needed to get Claire dressed. I did it on the bus. We just pulled her dress over her shirt and then took her skirt off. At least we were ready once we got there.

And yes, finally we did, at about 2:10 or so. We flew off that bus and RAN to the lobby and towards 1900 PF. They took Claire immediately in and I took care of paying for her. I just felt so awful that she had to miss part of the party. I am glad this wasn’t her first time doing it. But we will most likely do it again so she can get the full experience once more.

 

I found Carey and John in the lobby and sat down and sighed a HUGE sigh of relief and then gave them a play by play of our ordeal. Thank goodness for good listening friends!

[jenseib]

I finally was able to calm down after the bus incident and Carey, John and I all chatted while the girls had fun at the tea party. It was so nice to just sit and talk to them. They are such nice people. I am so happy we had met on Dis and became friends.

 

While we sat and chatted, the girls were having a great time as well. The new addition since the last time we went is that they now have a photopass photographer in there. So even though we missed some of the party, we did get a few shots of the fun.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Sadly Claire did miss the entrance of the Mad Hatter and Alice, but they were still there when she arrived.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was time for us to pick up the girls now. We entered and they were ready. I think they did the same thing as last time and pretended to sleep when we walked in, but I can’t remember for sure anymore. They had flowers to take home again.

 

 

They had a really good time together.

 

I tried to take a quick picture of this, but failed completely there.

 

 

We had the girls go out and get a few pictures in the waiting area. I am surprised I only took 2 for some reason.

 

 

 

And I only took one of Claire.

 

 

We had to go up to the next floor to pick our photopass pictures to be added to our cards.

 

I attempted a couple of shots of Claire on the way up too. It looks like I’ve been drinking or something because they are tilted and just awful.

 

 

 

Carey allowed me to pick mine first since she knew we needed to get back to Hollywood Studios fairly fast. I picked out all the ones I posted. I was disappointed the Claire had been late, as it looked like they took quite a bit more early on of the kids.

 

We said goodbyes and headed down and out the front …..where we dawdled around instead of heading to the bus stop.

 

 

 

Now you would think we would know better by now, but we just aren’t always as smart as we look. Sure enough we walked to the bus stop and the Hollywood Studios bus was pulling away. SERIOUSLY????? UGH! I had had it with the bad bus mojo for the day. I told Claire we were taking a taxi this time around.

I went up and asked one of the CM’s where I could get a taxi and they called one over and we hopped right in and off we went. It didn’t take too long and we were being dropped off at DHS. It wasn’t cheap either. I think with the tip I paid $20. It might have been less, but it sure was worth it. I just couldn’t go through that wait for a bus again.

Strangely he dropped us off kind of in the middle of the bus/taxi area. I didn’t see an easy way to get over to the sidewalks. Maybe I was missing it, but we just carefully walked very fast across the roads to get to the nearest sidewalk.

 

I texted Gail that we were back and would meet them at Toy Story Mania.

 

We made our way back to Toy Story Mania and quickly found Gail and the girls. I think Mom, Dad, Geoff, and Mary had gone off on their own and Pete and Vicki had headed over to Epcot to spend some time with Katie and family.

 

We jumped into the fastpass line and if I remember right it wasn’t too long of a wait.

 

 

 

It was such a fun ride but my arm was killing me after I was done. I don’t know how people get such high scores because I think my arm and shoulder would fall off if I pulled any faster to shoot. The kids loved it too. Claire became obsessed with the ride. She wanted to ride it again, but there was no way I was waiting in the standby line.

 

 

We came out and located the stroller and got things together. Evidently when you mother isn’t looking is the best time to play in the trash can. Notice Gail’s hand is pushing Alexis out of the way to get to Abby.

 

 

And then when you get yelled at for playing in the trash can, be sure to wipe your hands all over your face and mouth so you can keep your newly found germs!

 

 

It was now around 4:15 and Claire and I had not had an official lunch yet today. I am one who needs lunch. I was running on low. Breakfast was LONG time ago and the cupcake from starring rolls had been a good treat to hold me over, but I was at the end. Claire had had a cupcake at the Wonderland Tea Party, but I don’t know if she actually ate it. She is usually one who only eats the frosting off. So we headed off in search of food. Gail made a stop somewhere to get snacks for the girls and her and would meet up with us. They had eaten lunch while we had been gone.

 

 

 

 

 

We headed down Sunset Blvd. and settled on Rosie’s All American Café. I was hoping for Starring Rolls, but it was already closed for the day. I got a cheeseburger and fries and Claire got chicken nuggets.

 

 

 

We had settled at a table right there and Gail found us right away.

 

It was good and hit the spot. The girls enjoyed their treats as well.

 

 

Abby was mad I was taking pictures of her messy face and she would try to hide under the table and I tried to get a few more, but they were just blurry blobs. We had a good time sitting there and relaxing and laughing about who knows what.

 

 

Alexis was trying to steal my dessert as I took a picture of it.

 

 

While sitting there we saw Aunt Mary and Geoff. They came over and joined us. Gail called Rob to see how he was doing and he was so sick. He said he has never felt so awful in all of his life. Gail decided to go out and get him some Sprite or something like that and maybe something to eat.

While we were discussing options, Abby decided this was the best time to just roll around on the ground. I picked her up and held her like a baby and told her she was going to need to be DIPPED in sanitizer and I would bounce her when I said dipped and she was just laughing so hysterically. She thought that was the funniest thing.

 

It was then decided that Gail and Abby would leave and I think Aunt Mary was leaving as well. Geoff was going to stay with Claire, Alexis and I for bit longer. We all had dinner reservations at Cape May that night. We actually had 3 different ones as I had made ours first, then Gail decided to go as well since Rob loves crab legs (that didn’t work out to well for him) and then while trying to figure things out for my parents group, I just settled on that one for them as well. The plan was just to meet at Cape May later on.

 

Alexis wanted a tattoo. I am not a fan of spending money on these types of things. Nothing wrong with it at all, it always just seems like such a waste, but she had her own money and her Mom said she could. Of course Claire then wanted one as well so we all headed towards Rockin’ Roller Coaster to the tattoo station.

 

 

 

We had a little wait. Who knew this was popular? The girls decided on their tattoos and I did have to limit Claire. She was looking at bigger ones and more expensive ones and I told her to stick in a certain price range.

 

Alexis was started first and Claire wasn’t too far behind.

 

 

 

 

 

 

They started Claire’s and didn’t like it for some reason and then cleaned the whole thing off and another person redid hers. I don’t know what the issue was but I really didn’t care. I was glad they were taking care to make it look right.

 

[jenseib]

While we waited for the girls to get tattooed, Geoff called the JW Marriott where he and Aunt Mary were staying. They had decided since Rob was so sick that they would get a 1 night room only for Gail and the girls. Rob is always paranoid about the girls getting sick, but this was a good choice. We sure didn’t want them to get sick at the happiest place on earth …or even worse, be sick flying home in just a few days.

 

Alexis’s finished product.

 

 

 

Claire’s finished product.

 

 

 

Of course now we had to decide what to do next. The girls wanted to ride Toy Story once again. We did have the fastpasses given to us by the other people earlier, but they were not ripe yet. We had a deep discussion about going. BOTH girls wanted to go, but we knew we would need to get to Cape May as Geoff’s reservation was earlier than ours. I told Claire if she got up early the next morning, we could head here and do it first thing. Alexis wanted to do that as well and Geoff said he would take her, but there was a problem with that ….she didn’t have a park hopper pass, and I knew Gail would NOT upgrade for just one day and 1 ride. In the end we decided to wait for Toy Story. It would be cutting it kind of close, but if we got on fairly fast, it would work.

Since we had a bit of time to waste yet, we took off walking.

 

 

 

 

 

I just love the Christmas decorations!!!!

 

 

Tonight was the first night for the Osborne Lights. I didn’t have plans to watch it, but I did want to nosey over to the area and check it out. It was already getting crowded and Mulch, Sweat, and Shears were warming up the crowd.

 

 

 

After getting my curiosity cured, we headed over to Toy Story.

 

 

Alexis was having shoe issues so we made a stop.

 

 

 

I love the twilight look in the parks.

 

 

 

 

And we made it! We got in line and it was a little slow going, but not the worst I have seen.

 

 

 

 

Someone is excited!

 

 

 

 

 

And we’re ready!

 

 

We had another fun ride and of course I killed my arm again trying to get a higher score. Claire was mad that I beat her again, but I think she had better accuracy.

 

 

It was now time to head back to the Beach Club for our dinner reservations.

 

 

I took several very blurry pictures on the way out.

 

 

 

 

I just love this tree.

 

 

 

I don’t think we had to wait too long for a friendship boat.

 

 

We got back to the Beach Club with time to spare. Geoff met up with the others. I think he was also going to go and add another day to he and Aunt Mary’s ticket while they waited to get seated. I can’t remember if Gail had arrived yet or not, but somewhere along the line I had extra clothes for Alexis to change into. I don’t know if Gail gave them to me earlier or if she gave them to me in the lobby, but at some point in time Alexis did change her clothes.

I took the girls to our room so we could get Claire changed (and most likely Alexis too). We had to stop and see Ariel first.

 

 

 

We did a quick change and Alexis had to check out our room too. We then headed back down to the lobby. Gail had checked us in and asked if we could be seated at the same table since Rob was not going to be with us. They canceled my reservation and seated us together. Ironically, we got seated immediately, while Mom and Dad’s group, who had an earlier reservation, were still waiting to be seated. We snuck past them though, because Gail didn’t want Abby to see Mom. She knew that if she saw them, she would want to sit with them and they wouldn’t have a relaxing meal then.

 

We got seated and hit the buffet.

 

 

When I saw who our waitress was, I had a little sinking of the heart. I was pretty sure we had in a few years back for breakfast when we came with Skip ….and she was just awful. Sadly I was right . It was her.

 

I just LOVE tomato and mozzarella.

 

 

 

 

I love crab legs and I was really enjoying the all you can eat. At one point, Alexis asked if she could help me crack my crab legs. Well sure thing. Less work for me is good. Claire asked too and we all went to work. Then they asked if they could try it. Well sure, we could go back up and get more if needed. Well they LOVED it and we soon went back up and got them each a plate full to crack.

 

After Abby was done eating, she busied herself with a toy. One of those pollypocket type dolls with clothes. She was having a good time. We spotted my parents were seated at a table actually not too far from us, but Abby’s back was to them, so we just gave a quick wave so she wouldn’t see them.

 

A little dessert.

 

 

After we had filled ourselves I went up to the buffet to take some pictures while we waited for the bill. So far Susan hadn’t been too bad. At least she was clearing plates and refilling. But last time our biggest issue came at bill time and once again we had a similar issue.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gail told her we were waiting on the bill. Abby started to get antsy. Gail packed up the doll set and we still waited. Gail then went and searched for her and actually went through the swinging doors prep area to get her attention. In the meantime, Abby spotted my parents and took off running. We gathered her back after a few hugs and she came back to pull her doll back out again.

Susan then brought the check and Gail was using the dining plan for herself and paying out of pocket for the kids. Originally this whole meal was going to be out of picket, but since Rob missed breakfast she had an extra credit. Well Susan charged it wrong and charged everything to Gail’s room,, including tip. Gail was so furious. She went and found her again and Susan tried to tell her it had to be done that way and Gail told her no it doesn’t. This is the issue we had with Susan last time too. She told Skip that the tip had to be added to the room and he kept telling her no and she insisted. Skip left her nothing then, but I felt bad and left a few bucks.

This was getting ridiculous. She was arguing with Gail and finally Gail got it settled. I think she charged me too and I had it fixed and wrote in bold letters on the tip line CASH. I only left a few bucks again. It was just an awful experience and no waitress should ever argue about things like this. I am pretty sure Gail left her nothing. She was fed up. Also because Abby had pulled out her doll again 3 pieces became missing. We searched the seat cushions and Claire and Alexis were on the floor (yuck) looking and we ended up finding 2 of the 3, but never that last piece. Gail was ticked about that too because it had just been purchased and now we were already missing a shoe.

 

We finally left and Gail took the girls to the Marriot for the night. I know Alexis wanted to swim and Geoff told he would go with her, but I think by the time they got back they were just too tired and saved it for the morning.

 

I did get one picture of Alexis before they left. I wanted both girls to sit in the big chairs, but Claire refused to.

 

[jenseib]

Claire and I decided to explore the Beach Club a bit after everyone left. I wanted to get a few pictures and just check out the lobby.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another picture of Claire NOT looking at the camera.

 

 

 

Back to the Villas.

 

 

Another mermaid shot.

 

 

 

 

I just love Dollhouses.

 

 

 

 

 

 

I really loved this breezeway room

 

 

 

This is such a gorgeous picture.

 

 

Out to the Villa pool.

 

 

 

We then headed back to the room for Claire to put her swimsuit on. She was going to go swimming in Storm-along-Bay!

 

Who knew deciding where to swim was such a big deal? We walked down towards the Yacht Club and started there.

 

 

 

I would get settled in with my Kindle and she would decide to move again.

 

 

I think we moved like 3 or 4 times.

 

 

 

 

 

 

And then the announcement came. Everyone needs to get out of the pool now, it is closed!

 

What? I didn’t know this pool closed at 10 PM. I swore it was open till at least 11. Oh well, nothing we can do about it now. She did get a good 30 minutes of swimming time in at least.

 

We got her out and dried off and it was getting quite chilly out. On our way back to the room we saw some fireworks go off. I am guessing they were for a race because they came from behind Epcot and it was too late for them to be shooting anything off.

 

 

 

A quick shot of the boardwalk and we headed off to our room.

 

 

We got settled into bed once again. It had been a pretty full day for our sort of early night day. We had a lot of fun again, with a few headaches along the way.

 

We got to see Carey, John and Kadence once again today. Oh the people we see!

We went to Hollywood Studios today as well. We are learning to like that park more and enjoyed it more than I ever have in the past. I just wish I had a really LONG trip to explore each park more and take my good ole time enjoying it all.

Oh the places we go!

[jenseib]

Nov. 10, 2012, Saturday, Day 10

 

If I am remembering right, I did NOT sleep well at all this night. What it boiled down to was I was NOT feeling well at all. I felt so sick. I was nauseated, my head was pounding, my body achy, I felt like the starts of a sore throat, and my mind was racing. UGH! I think I caught Rob’s bug. How was I going to do 4 more days of parks feeling like this? And after Saturday the family was leaving and I would be on my own with Claire. I got up at one point and found any and every kind of pill I could and went through them and took a few. Mom woke up and asked what I was doing and I told her and she found some magic pills and gave me one of those as well. I finally did get back to sleep and by morning I was feeling pretty good. Thank God!!!!!

 

I got up early and I think I did some more laundry. Mom wanted things washed before she went home and with 4 of us in the room, we had to keep the towels washed. (I have a phobia of reusing towels, especially washcloths).

 

I showered and felt much better. Then I got Claire up fairly early. She had still mentioned last night that she was planning on hitting Toy Story Mania first thing before heading off to the Magic Kingdom. She is NOT an early bird, but she did slowly but surely get up and dressed. By 8:20 we were heading towards the studios. They had extra magical hours this morning, which we were already late for.

 

 

 

Again there was no boat in sight so we started walking.

 

 

 

There’s the boat we missed.

 

 

I tried to push us a little faster today, but both of us were now starting to suffer from sore legs.

 

 

 

We arrived a little before 9. The crowds to get in were insane. To the left were the general public and on the right the resort guests, but of course the general public were making it hard for those of us trying to get in for the EMH’s. I watched my clock tick away once again as we waited in line. We got next to these people and I found this hilarious. Backpack baby.

 

 

I think we got through the gates about 5 till 9, so we still officially made it in during EMH’s.

 

 

I told Claire we had to step it up a gear so we could make it back to Toy Story before the masses arrived.

 

 

 

The line actually was not bad at all.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

A shot of Mr. Potato Head, who I rarely have seen because going through the fastpass line as I normally have, doesn’t give you much of an opportunity to see him.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

We made it on fairly quickly. I think our wait was only 15-20 minutes, which is not bad at all. Of course by the time we came out the wait had tripled. We had another great time on the ride once again.

 

When we came out we tried to decide what to do. The plan had been to go back and let Claire swim a bit and then head to Magic Kingdom, but now she wanted to ride Star Tours again so we worked our way over there.

 

 

 

 

 

I had to take a quick look through the Osborne light area and Claire posed for me.

 

 

 

 

 

 

We saw Lightening McQueen and Towmator out, but Claire didn’t want to stop, so I took some quick pictures as we walked by.

 

 

 

 

 

Another pose.

 

 

 

 

 

[TBpony414]

Seems like Claire really likes the Toy Story ride! I've never ridden it but on other laser rides I am terrible, always ending up with a pitifully low score. What is YOUR favourite Disney ride? Or top 3 Do you have any trips planned for later this year? I remember you mentioned visiting Williamsburg, VA this past spring so I'll be looking forward to that TR once this one is over... which hopefully won't be for a while, since you are only on day 10 of 14! My family is going to the beach in August for 2 weeks and my mother and I are hoping for a Disney trip next spring together. That seems like a long way away so hopefully you have more in the works that will keep me living vicariously though you until then!

[jenseib]

Seems like Claire really likes the Toy Story ride! I've never ridden it but on other laser rides I am terrible, always ending up with a pitifully low score. What is YOUR favourite Disney ride? Or top 3 Do you have any trips planned for later this year? I remember you mentioned visiting Williamsburg, VA this past spring so I'll be looking forward to that TR once this one is over... which hopefully won't be for a while, since you are only on day 10 of 14! My family is going to the beach in August for 2 weeks and my mother and I are hoping for a Disney trip next spring together. That seems like a long way away so hopefully you have more in the works that will keep me living vicariously though you until then!

 

I am not that great either, but it is fun. I like it better than Buzz.

 

At this point, I do not have any official trips planned for the rest of the year. I am looking at a few options and hope that at least one will work out. I really want to cruise and I am watching a few potentials, if that doesn't work out, I am going to try to talk Skip into going to WDW in Dec for Claire's b-day. But right now I haven't even mentioned it. He would never plan this far out at all.

We did go to Williamsburg with my Mom and sister Amanda, and my Dad had regrets of not going and at the last minute decided to drive and meet us there. WE had a good time and I will eventually write a report up on it, but sadly I didn't take great notes at all, so I will have to go from memory.

We also plan to travel next year with my parents to Florida on March 22 and stay in their Marriott time share there. Claire and I will mostly do Disney. Probably Legoland too as she really wants to go and I want to get her there before she outgrows that stage. Possibly Universal too,but nothing is set in stone yet. We are staying a week and I am already seeing how it won't be enough time and maybe we'll extend it further and stay longer. But that also depends on if I go anywhere this year as well.

 

Basically at this point, I have enough to keep me writing for several more months even if I don't do anything else this year.

[jenseib]

We finally made our way over to Star Tours.

 

 

I spotted a photopass photographer and basically made Claire pose. She was against it totally for some reason, but we had never gotten these shots before and I really wanted them. I think they turned out great too.

 

 

 

 

See that sort of nasty look on her face. She was glaring at me.

 

 

 

My shots.

 

 

She told me she was pointing her light saber at me on purpose. Isn’t she just a bundle of joy?

 

 

We then got in line for the ride.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

It was another fun ride and this time our adventure was much different than the day before.

 

Another pose.

 

 

We then started to head towards the front, but made a stop. I am thinking that we must’ve gotten a small snack or something because we sat there for a little while. I know I did some texting as well.

 

 

Another one of my co-workers was also at Disney. Jeanne and I are pretty close as co-workers, but we have not met in person yet. We message each other all the time and talk on the phone.

 

We texted back and forth a bit. I think she was heading toward DTD this morning, but most likely would be at MK later in the day. Sadly we never did meet up because her phone battery died and she couldn’t get ahold of me to meet up.

 

 

On our way again.

 

 

 

This time a boat was waiting and we got right on.

 

 

We had a nice relaxing ride back.

 

 

 

On the way back we discussed our options. We could go swimming, and then Claire would need a shower and head to MK. Just shower and head to Beaches and Cream for an ice-cream lunch then head to MK, or a variance of those ideas. I think we settled on a quick swim, shower, lunch and then MK, but time ticked away and we changed our minds again.

 

 

 

As we headed back I told Claire that Kadence’s family was having breakfast at Cape May today and that maybe as we walked by we would see them in there. We did look, but did not see them, but as we rounded the corner to head back to our room we saw them sitting out in the lobby. They were still waiting to be called in. We stopped and chatted for a little bit and of course Claire and Kadence had to make up for lost time and chattered away.

 

 

We said goodbye and Claire went and had a shower. She was getting her hair done later today so we had to be sure she had a nice clean head.

 

We decided to skip the swimming as the time was just going so fast and she was anxious to spend some time with Alexis at MK, so we headed down to Beaches and Cream and were seated right away.

 

 

 

There was really no need to look at the menu, we already knew what lunch was going to be.

 

 

 

A no Way Jose with Vanilla ice-cream. Yep, we went with a healthy option! This is one of my favorite foods in the entire world.

 

 

 

We also brought along a refillable mug since you can refill them at B&C and got pink lemonade. Our waitress just brought it out in a glass for us and we ended dumping the rest in our mug before we left.

 

Let’s just say we had one of the best lunches ever. It was so good, but even with the 2 of us sharing we couldn’t quite clean the bowl. In 2011 I ate the whole thing by myself, I have no clue how I didn’t explode then.

 

After lunch we collected our things and set off for the bus stop.

 

 

 

 

I took this picture because I wanted proof. So many people who use wheelchairs and scooters bring on large amounts of family when they board. I don’t mind waiting for them to board, well sometimes I am impatient, but I understand the need for them, but what drives me batty is when a family group of 20 all feel they can board with Grandma.

 

 

Of course we had to wait a bit for a bus. I think like 4 Animal Kingdom buses came before the Magic Kingdom bus came. Bad bus mojo again.

 

So what was the rest of the family doing while Claire and I had spent alone time touring DHS and lunching on ice-cream? ………

 

Well Alexis had been promised a swim and she was making good on that promise.

 

 

 

Is that a jungle creature creeping up? Nope, it’s Aunt Mary!

 

 

I am not sure what is in Geoff’s hair, but Alexis probably put it there OR Geoff put it in to be funny.

 

 

 

You must always do as many handstands as possible while in the pool.

 

 

They headed back to their room and Geoff took a few pictures from their room at the JW Marriot.

 

 

That pool looks impressive.

 

 

 

 

Look what can be seen when you zoom in. Pretty cool.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another zoom in shot.

 

 

 

 

 

I am assuming at some point in time Gail and the girls left and picked up Rob from AoA and then headed over the Magic Kingdom. Geoff and Mary made their way as well. I am assuming they picked up Pete and Vicki, but I don’t think I even saw them at all that day. It was a very busy day all around for all of us.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Rob was feeling better today, but not 100%. He said he was NOT going to miss Abby seeing the castle and all the wonders of the magic Kingdom for the first time though, so he was coming no matter how he felt.

 

 

[jenseib]

Claire and I were now making our way to the Magic Kingdom after our ice-cream lunch.

 

We walked into the park and BAM …it hit me! This is what I have been waiting to see for so many years.

 

 

The Magic Kingdom was all decked out in Christmas décor. It was amazing. Just a week before I had been here and it was all decorated for Halloween and within a few days they totally transformed the park. Amazing!

 

 

This time however, I was not going to pass on the photopass opportunity up front like we had with the Halloween Décor, so we got in line.

 

 

 

I just loved how they turned out too.

 

 

 

We texted family members to let them know we were in the park, but no one was answering us. I think Geoff finally did though. I can’t remember what they were doing exactly, but I think they were in line for something.

We made our way down Main street. It was just so beautiful.

 

 

 

 

We stopped for another photopass shot.

 

 

 

 

And a few random shots.

 

 

 

 

 

 

The Move It, Shake It parade was pulling out, so I took a few pictures as it went by.

 

 

 

 

Another castle shot. You know ….because you have to take as many as possible while there.

 

 

And then we headed back into Fantasyland. It was now around 12:50 and we had a 2:10 appointment at Bibbidi Bobbidi Boutique. So we had over an hour, but we couldn’t wander too far off and do too much for fear of not making it back in time.

 

 

Claire decided it was time to tackle the sword again. There was a line today, so we couldn’t waste too much time at pulling (though others weren’t as considerate), but I let her try and got a couple of shots.

 

 

 

We decided to check out It’s a Small World. I do like this ride and Claire loves it. I know some are not as thrilled, but this is one that brings back memories from my first trip in 1974.

As you can see, it is VERY crowded today.

 

 

 

I can’t remember the wait, but I am thinking it was around 30 minutes posted. I think it moved faster though, but still a long wait for this ride.

 

 

We did make it to a boat eventually and it was nice to sit and relax. I took several pictures, but I didn’t have a good lens for dark rides with me, so most came out pretty blurry. Here is a few of the better ones. Next time I go, I have a new lens to try. I can’t wait.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There were a LOT of boats running today and we actually came to a stop about ¾ of the way through the ride and then it was stop and go from there on.

 

One nice thing we saw was the clock doors opened when we arrived back. I think I have only seen this a few times and I was excited about that.

 

 

We didn’t have enough time to do anything else major at this point, so we just wandered a bit.

 

 

 

We browsed a few stores.

 

 

 

 

 

These guys were all over the place looking for a free meal.

 

 

I think he is giving me the evil eye.

 

 

I then took a look at Claire’s hair and decided she really needed it to be brushed before the appointment, but I had not packed a brush in my bag. I am sure Gail had one, but I just decided to go buy one for Claire. We browsed around the Castle Couture and Claire picked a Rapunzel brush and we then went to work on her mop and got it nice and smooth.

 

We then headed to the castle to meet up with Gail. Originally I had made this appointment for Sunday (the next day) after Gail and the family had left. I also made it for DTD since we had not been to the location yet. I did it for that day because I didn’t want to cause any controversy with the girls. Soon after I made the appointment Gail told me that Alexis had one request and that was to go to BBB, so I changed our appointment and made one for all 3 girls on this day at the Castle. We were really unsure what Abby would do. Abby hates anything in her hair or people doing anything to her hair. But we also knew she would be upset not to be included. When I made the appointment I let them know that we were unsure if she would sit, but at the very least we figured she would let them gel and pixie dust her hair.

 

Soon family members started showing up. We had many who were interested in seeing the girls become princesses.

 

Imagine my surprise when Gail showed up and this was in Abby’s hair.

 

 

 

Abby had just found this headband and just had to have it. Gail said she doubled checked with her over and over, making sure she knew it went on her head and she wanted it and she purchased it with her own money.

 

 

She looked so darn cute in it and we all gave her compliments.