Dsnygirl
11-09-2009, 12:36 PM
Don't know how many of you noticed, but I changed the title of my trip report from my pre-trip report... as much as this trip was for our 15th anniversary, and as excited as we all were to be pirates for MNSSHP, it really came down to one thing -- relaxing and enjoying our time at Disney together, and not feeling rushed to "get to everything". I think we succeeded, although by the time the day to fly home came around, I have to confess to being VERY thankful we weren't hitting a park that day!! No matter how much down time you find for yourselves, I'm not sure it's possible to leave Disney feeling truly rested!! (at least WE haven't figured out that magical combination yet!)
So, you all be the judge...
The cast of characters for this trip...
Me (41) - Disney addict, fanatic and crazy planner of all trips
DH (42) - lover of all things Disney but not as crazy as I am! Also was once known on here as CaptJackSparrow, but hasn't been around much...
DD11 - silly, funny Disney-crazed can't-wait-to-get there daughter, closely following in mom's footsteps
DD8 - fun-loving rider of all crazy rides, not as obsessed as everyone else, but heading down that path!
Day 5, Monday Oct 26 - Today we changed things around a bit... we'd decided before we left we weren't sticking to a "schedule", we would just take things as they came and make modifications as things came up we wanted (or didn't want) to do. So, today we started!!
My DH golfed at Disney for the first time in December, and really enjoyed himself. That being said, he wasn't sure this trip whether or not he was going to want to, so instead of bringing his clubs, he just brought his golf shoes (notice -- he remembered the golf shoes, forgot the sneakers... priorities, eh?? :D), etc., and planned to use Disney's clubs if he chose to play, as they were free to rent this year.
Well, last night, as he saw the forecast, he asked if I cared whether or not he got an early tee time for this morning. Being the kind wife that I am (and smart enough to know that a happy Disney golfer is a FREQUENT Disney golfer... ;)) I said sure, the girls and I would just head off to Epcot and do some stuff he wouldn't mind missing.
So, he was up and out of the room before any of us were even close to waking... we never even heard him go! The girls and I slept in a bit, and headed over to Epcot about 9:15. We got FP's for Soarin' and then did the stand-by line, which was about 15 minutes, at the most. We requested the top row and got it -- yeah!! Then it was time for more FP's, so we headed to TT and got some, then did the single rider line and the stand-by line, thus riding twice in about 20 minutes!! Perfect!! From there, it was over to the Universe of Energy... the girls have never been, and I hadn't been since '97. I forgot how well done it is, and we really enjoyed it!! (as well as really enjoying getting out of the heat of the sun while we were in line -- yeeouch!!)
Once we got out of the ride, I got a call from Dan saying he was on his way to meet us, so we headed to the gates to let him in. We rode SE then headed to lunch in the Land, after which we did Living with the Land. I was so excited to take them on -- I'd been for the first time in January, at night, and couldn't wait for them to see all the greenhouses -- I knew they'd love it, which they did! And it was so bright in the daytime... it is SUCH a neat ride, and I was so happy it was open again for our trip. Then it was time to ride Soarin' again (Dan's first time on in years, we rode in the bottom row w/ him, but he declared it good and enjoyed it more than he'd expected to.)
We were headed to TT after we left the Land, but detoured through Innoventions West and did some of the attractions in there... Dan & I did the Segway and now want to do the 2hr tour at Epcot... they are SO cool!! I LOVED it!! The girls wanted to stay and play the video games, but we nixed that idea (I know, mean...) and we headed off to TT, which we rode 2 more times. (Yes, it is another one of our favorites, in case you couldn't tell... )
By this time, evening was approaching and we had plans to head to DTD... so we briefly checked out what The Sum of All Thrills was about on our way out of Epcot, and planned to do it one of the next few days. And then we were off to DTD!!
Once we arrived, we just looked around a bit -- the girls had never been there, and they loved all the stores!! I got a strawberry margarita at the margarita bar (yumm!) and then we headed off to find the Characters in Flight balloon ride. The girls and I couldn't wait for this -- and Dan was going to watch, his feet firmly planted on the terra firma.
On our way, we stopped & said hello to our old favorite, the Adventurer's Club... so sad, we miss it. :(
Once we got over to the balloon ride, I'll admit to some clammy hands... that baby goes HIGH!! But, we still did it, and I am SO glad we did... it was amazing, the view was spectacular, we could see our building at the Caribbean Beach, even!! And we were lucky enough to be up there as the sun was setting, which was just beautiful. The man operating it was really nice, answered all our questions and took pictures of us up there... we were up with about 6 or 8 other people. Definitely something I'd do again, and I'd LOVE to convince my DH to go up, as it's really calm and nice up there -- but I'm not sure that will ever happen. ;)
Some pics from up in the air...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962398659559394
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962415636493042
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962584546762114
After we were safely back on the ground, we headed to dinner... we had ADR's at T-Rex, and I was excited to see what it was like. The atmosphere is REALLY neat, although at first we were seated in the ice cave. (Yuck.) It's cool to look at from outside of the cave, but once you're in it, everything is blue, and I mean everything!! Everyone's skin, your food... it's even chillier in there. So, I asked if we could possibly move back out into civilization and the CM was nice enough to move us... right underneath a rather hungry looking pterodactyl, but she (I decided it was a girl...) was better than the blue hue area. ;) The food was good, the dessert was to die for (some kind of layered ice-cream sandwich thingy, covered in chocolate fudge sauce... another "roll us out of there" dining experience...) and we left very happy!!
It started to sprinkle a bit on our way back to the resort, but as it was the only rain we'd seen in 5 days, no complaints! We were soon back to our room and had to pack up, as the next day we were headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge!! (:woohoo:)
This night was where we experienced scary part of the trip #2... at 1:30 in the morning, I was awoken by a sound no parent EVER wants to hear in the middle of the night, not to mention while you're on vacation... the sound of your child's dinner hitting the floor as they try to get to the bathroom. :(
Thankfully, our DD8 was fine after this one episode, although I was up for quite a while afterwards... you know, those first couple of hours after it happens, where you wait to see if there will be a repeat occurence.... but she was okay. I was just SO thankful she wasn't coming down with something, I didn't even mind cleaning up (well, not so much, at least...) I called housekeeping in the morning and apologized, wanting to give them a heads-up before they arrived, as I'm sure the carpet needed a special treatment.
(and talk about perfect timing, if there ever is one for that sort of thing, as we were checking out in the morning!! ;))
So, although the night was a bit broken up, at least for my DD8 and I, we were fine and pretty well rested for the next day.
So, you all be the judge...
The cast of characters for this trip...
Me (41) - Disney addict, fanatic and crazy planner of all trips
DH (42) - lover of all things Disney but not as crazy as I am! Also was once known on here as CaptJackSparrow, but hasn't been around much...
DD11 - silly, funny Disney-crazed can't-wait-to-get there daughter, closely following in mom's footsteps
DD8 - fun-loving rider of all crazy rides, not as obsessed as everyone else, but heading down that path!
Day 5, Monday Oct 26 - Today we changed things around a bit... we'd decided before we left we weren't sticking to a "schedule", we would just take things as they came and make modifications as things came up we wanted (or didn't want) to do. So, today we started!!
My DH golfed at Disney for the first time in December, and really enjoyed himself. That being said, he wasn't sure this trip whether or not he was going to want to, so instead of bringing his clubs, he just brought his golf shoes (notice -- he remembered the golf shoes, forgot the sneakers... priorities, eh?? :D), etc., and planned to use Disney's clubs if he chose to play, as they were free to rent this year.
Well, last night, as he saw the forecast, he asked if I cared whether or not he got an early tee time for this morning. Being the kind wife that I am (and smart enough to know that a happy Disney golfer is a FREQUENT Disney golfer... ;)) I said sure, the girls and I would just head off to Epcot and do some stuff he wouldn't mind missing.
So, he was up and out of the room before any of us were even close to waking... we never even heard him go! The girls and I slept in a bit, and headed over to Epcot about 9:15. We got FP's for Soarin' and then did the stand-by line, which was about 15 minutes, at the most. We requested the top row and got it -- yeah!! Then it was time for more FP's, so we headed to TT and got some, then did the single rider line and the stand-by line, thus riding twice in about 20 minutes!! Perfect!! From there, it was over to the Universe of Energy... the girls have never been, and I hadn't been since '97. I forgot how well done it is, and we really enjoyed it!! (as well as really enjoying getting out of the heat of the sun while we were in line -- yeeouch!!)
Once we got out of the ride, I got a call from Dan saying he was on his way to meet us, so we headed to the gates to let him in. We rode SE then headed to lunch in the Land, after which we did Living with the Land. I was so excited to take them on -- I'd been for the first time in January, at night, and couldn't wait for them to see all the greenhouses -- I knew they'd love it, which they did! And it was so bright in the daytime... it is SUCH a neat ride, and I was so happy it was open again for our trip. Then it was time to ride Soarin' again (Dan's first time on in years, we rode in the bottom row w/ him, but he declared it good and enjoyed it more than he'd expected to.)
We were headed to TT after we left the Land, but detoured through Innoventions West and did some of the attractions in there... Dan & I did the Segway and now want to do the 2hr tour at Epcot... they are SO cool!! I LOVED it!! The girls wanted to stay and play the video games, but we nixed that idea (I know, mean...) and we headed off to TT, which we rode 2 more times. (Yes, it is another one of our favorites, in case you couldn't tell... )
By this time, evening was approaching and we had plans to head to DTD... so we briefly checked out what The Sum of All Thrills was about on our way out of Epcot, and planned to do it one of the next few days. And then we were off to DTD!!
Once we arrived, we just looked around a bit -- the girls had never been there, and they loved all the stores!! I got a strawberry margarita at the margarita bar (yumm!) and then we headed off to find the Characters in Flight balloon ride. The girls and I couldn't wait for this -- and Dan was going to watch, his feet firmly planted on the terra firma.
On our way, we stopped & said hello to our old favorite, the Adventurer's Club... so sad, we miss it. :(
Once we got over to the balloon ride, I'll admit to some clammy hands... that baby goes HIGH!! But, we still did it, and I am SO glad we did... it was amazing, the view was spectacular, we could see our building at the Caribbean Beach, even!! And we were lucky enough to be up there as the sun was setting, which was just beautiful. The man operating it was really nice, answered all our questions and took pictures of us up there... we were up with about 6 or 8 other people. Definitely something I'd do again, and I'd LOVE to convince my DH to go up, as it's really calm and nice up there -- but I'm not sure that will ever happen. ;)
Some pics from up in the air...
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962398659559394
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962415636493042
http://picasaweb.google.com/Blytheny/DisneyOctober2009#5399962584546762114
After we were safely back on the ground, we headed to dinner... we had ADR's at T-Rex, and I was excited to see what it was like. The atmosphere is REALLY neat, although at first we were seated in the ice cave. (Yuck.) It's cool to look at from outside of the cave, but once you're in it, everything is blue, and I mean everything!! Everyone's skin, your food... it's even chillier in there. So, I asked if we could possibly move back out into civilization and the CM was nice enough to move us... right underneath a rather hungry looking pterodactyl, but she (I decided it was a girl...) was better than the blue hue area. ;) The food was good, the dessert was to die for (some kind of layered ice-cream sandwich thingy, covered in chocolate fudge sauce... another "roll us out of there" dining experience...) and we left very happy!!
It started to sprinkle a bit on our way back to the resort, but as it was the only rain we'd seen in 5 days, no complaints! We were soon back to our room and had to pack up, as the next day we were headed to the Animal Kingdom Lodge!! (:woohoo:)
This night was where we experienced scary part of the trip #2... at 1:30 in the morning, I was awoken by a sound no parent EVER wants to hear in the middle of the night, not to mention while you're on vacation... the sound of your child's dinner hitting the floor as they try to get to the bathroom. :(
Thankfully, our DD8 was fine after this one episode, although I was up for quite a while afterwards... you know, those first couple of hours after it happens, where you wait to see if there will be a repeat occurence.... but she was okay. I was just SO thankful she wasn't coming down with something, I didn't even mind cleaning up (well, not so much, at least...) I called housekeeping in the morning and apologized, wanting to give them a heads-up before they arrived, as I'm sure the carpet needed a special treatment.
(and talk about perfect timing, if there ever is one for that sort of thing, as we were checking out in the morning!! ;))
So, although the night was a bit broken up, at least for my DD8 and I, we were fine and pretty well rested for the next day.