Dsnygirl
10-18-2011, 05:01 PM
So.... I have to apologize, it has been WEEKS since I've had the chance to get back on here and finish our trip report!! Such is the life with a tween and a teen! :crazy:
But -- as I began thinking about wanting to do a PRE-trip report for my trip with my DH next week, I figured I'd better get after it, and shorten them up a bit. :blush: Easier said than done, but I'll manage it....
So, on to the challenge....
Saturday, August 27 - day 10
Today we headed to Epcot... not early, as we'd been up so late for our now 13yr old's b'day... but we still got there in time for a reasonable stand-by line for Soarin'. We then headed to Norway for some bkfst snacks, toured around a bit, dropped off my DD13's pearl in Japan after picking a necklace setting for it, shopped a bit in Moroco and met up at Test Track with my DH, who had run for FP's. There weren't any left, so instead we headed to Ellen's Energy Adventure.... after touring the WS with the girls, I was ready for ANYTHING that had a/c associated with it, and it was a MUCH needed break!! We then ended up at Mexico afterwards for more snacks around lunchtime... we were actually trying to kill some time at this point, as the clouds were threatening & we still had time before our DD's necklace would be ready... so while we just relaxed a bit. My DH ran to pick up the necklace at the prescribed time and met us back in Mexico... we then headed to Canada to hear Off Kilter, but unfortunately, the rain started not long into their show, and they had to shutter it. :( I love them, and was sorely disappointed! My girls, however, were relieved... they know how their mom can get at an OK show!! :blush: The rain turned torrential, so we ducked into one of the WS gift shops and waited it out, as did MANY other people... it was crowded in there! Once the rain died down a bit, we headed back to the resort and got cleaned up... and then we were off to the pool to meet an old high school friend of mine and her family. We hadn't seen each other in about 10 years, so I was SO excited... we had a GREAT time, just hung out by the pool for a couple of hours and caught up while her girls and mine swam, and our husbands got to know each other. It was SUCH a nice time. From there, we headed to the Poly to meet our friends from Celebration... our plan had been to have dinner and then head to the beach to watch Wishes, but we didn't get seated for AGES, so Wishes was missed. But it was okay -- we had a great time at dinner, and didn't really mind. Afterwards, we headed back to our room for some much needed sleep...
Sunday, August 28 - day 11
Today, my DH headed out to play golf again with our friend... they were headed back to a course at Reunion, so he was pretty excited. The girls and I, however, were excited to sleep in... We were headed to Animal Kingdom, and got there in time to grab FP's for EE and get on the safari. We then rode Dinosaur, made our way to Kali so I could buy a shirt I loved and then stopped for some slushies at what I now consider one of my favorite stops - the Tea Cart across from the entrance to Kali. I got a msg from my DH while we were here that he was on his way, so the girls went to ride EE while we waited so they could ride it a 2nd time with him when he arrived. I wasn't feeling the need today, and just hung out and relaxed, took pictures. So nice!! Afterwards, we headed to Festival of the Lion King... my absolute favorite show in all of Disney, I ALWAYS cry.... and as usual, it didn't disappoint, although I was sad to see that my two favorite CM's were no longer playing their parts. But the new CM's were great and had beautiful voices, so it was still wonderful. We got some much required Mickey Bars afterwards, did a bit of shopping (also required... ;)) and then headed to Magic Kingdom for our last night. We rode all our favorites, met up with our friends from Celebration for a few rides, grabbed some ice cream and Dole Whips and made one last walk down Main St as the park began to close. :( It was a teary goodbye up on the train station platform as we took pictures... but we knew we'd be back next year, so we held that close as we left. (At this point, my DH and I had no designs on a return trip in October... that happened later...) We got back to our room and packed up as best we could... another perk to driving? Not feeling like everything had to be perfectly put together for an airport trip! :thumbsup:
Monday, August 29 - day 12
Today we were all headed home... my husband by plane, the girls and I by car. But first, we had one last stop -- breakfast at the Kona Cafe! My DH's flight wasn't until 1pm, so we took our time, packed up the car and got to the Poly about 9:15. We had a LOVELY breakfast, and were so envious of all the people we saw just arriving... so funny, how after 11 days, you still want more... ;) I got my wonderful Tonga Toast bkfst, with a Kona latte and the favored Lilikoi juice... yumm!! We all really felt like we needed to be rolled out of there... sitting in a car for the next 7 or 8 hours was not sounding so great!! We left about 10:30, dropped my DH off at the airport at 11:15 and the girls and I were on our way northward. This time, though, we were not headed through SC but through NC, with a two-night stop planned for Wilmington to visit friends and the beach. So off we went! We heard from my DH about 3:30... he was safely home... we were missing having him travel with us, but were glad to hear he was on the ground and fine. The girls and I arrived at our hotel about 7:30... got dinner, and they swam while I got the car sorted and things packed/unpacked for the next day. After some fun TV watching and snuggling, we all tucked in... the beach was calling for the morning!
Tuesday, August 30 - day 13
Today we slept in a bit... it felt GREAT!! It was also a bit overcast, so we weren't in a big hurry... we had a nice breakfast in the room, packed up our suits, got in touch with my friend and his wife and planned for a dinner get-together later down in Southport, and we were off to find a beach!! Which we did... Wrightsville Beach was not hard to find, and although it was still overcast when we arrived, it was still beautiful. We hunted for seashells (there were a TON from the hurricane coming through!!) and then as the sun came out, we went and changed and settled in for some serious beach time. We stayed for quite a few hours, soaking up the sun and the sound of the surf, the seagulls... I SO did not want to leave!! We are serious ocean people, and it felt great. But -- we had dinner reservations to go get ready for, so about 3pm we headed back to the hotel and got showered and changed and headed down to Southport. We were meeting with Intercot friends -- people I had known for years at this point, but never met in person. So I was SO excited... I really couldn't wait to finally meet. And we had SUCH a lovely time -- they are a wonderful couple, so sweet and fun to be with, and we hung out over dinner for hours, just talking. The girls really enjoyed getting to know them, as well... they had heard stories about them for years! We then went out and got a mini tour around their town... such a quaint, sweet place... and unfortunately, by this time it was dark, and time for us to head back to Wilmington. So we hugged and said our goodbyes, and off we went, hoping to be able to do this again one day! It felt so good to fall into bed again, and it was a really nice break from the driving to have had an ocean day in the middle of our trip.
Wednesday, August 31 - day 14
Not much to say about today... we slept in a bit more than planned, but it felt great, and knowing I had a 12hr drive ahead of me made it an easy decision to get as much sleep as possible!! It was an easy drive, although it got a bit dicey outside of DC.... even on the outer loop of 495 it was still crazy, and not an experience I care to repeat! But all in all, we still made good time and had a good trip, and were home in our driveway by 10pm. Phew!! What a trip!! My DH met us with hugs and smiles and a couple of gallons of ice cream in the freezer... ahhhh, it felt good to be home!!
But -- as I began thinking about wanting to do a PRE-trip report for my trip with my DH next week, I figured I'd better get after it, and shorten them up a bit. :blush: Easier said than done, but I'll manage it....
So, on to the challenge....
Saturday, August 27 - day 10
Today we headed to Epcot... not early, as we'd been up so late for our now 13yr old's b'day... but we still got there in time for a reasonable stand-by line for Soarin'. We then headed to Norway for some bkfst snacks, toured around a bit, dropped off my DD13's pearl in Japan after picking a necklace setting for it, shopped a bit in Moroco and met up at Test Track with my DH, who had run for FP's. There weren't any left, so instead we headed to Ellen's Energy Adventure.... after touring the WS with the girls, I was ready for ANYTHING that had a/c associated with it, and it was a MUCH needed break!! We then ended up at Mexico afterwards for more snacks around lunchtime... we were actually trying to kill some time at this point, as the clouds were threatening & we still had time before our DD's necklace would be ready... so while we just relaxed a bit. My DH ran to pick up the necklace at the prescribed time and met us back in Mexico... we then headed to Canada to hear Off Kilter, but unfortunately, the rain started not long into their show, and they had to shutter it. :( I love them, and was sorely disappointed! My girls, however, were relieved... they know how their mom can get at an OK show!! :blush: The rain turned torrential, so we ducked into one of the WS gift shops and waited it out, as did MANY other people... it was crowded in there! Once the rain died down a bit, we headed back to the resort and got cleaned up... and then we were off to the pool to meet an old high school friend of mine and her family. We hadn't seen each other in about 10 years, so I was SO excited... we had a GREAT time, just hung out by the pool for a couple of hours and caught up while her girls and mine swam, and our husbands got to know each other. It was SUCH a nice time. From there, we headed to the Poly to meet our friends from Celebration... our plan had been to have dinner and then head to the beach to watch Wishes, but we didn't get seated for AGES, so Wishes was missed. But it was okay -- we had a great time at dinner, and didn't really mind. Afterwards, we headed back to our room for some much needed sleep...
Sunday, August 28 - day 11
Today, my DH headed out to play golf again with our friend... they were headed back to a course at Reunion, so he was pretty excited. The girls and I, however, were excited to sleep in... We were headed to Animal Kingdom, and got there in time to grab FP's for EE and get on the safari. We then rode Dinosaur, made our way to Kali so I could buy a shirt I loved and then stopped for some slushies at what I now consider one of my favorite stops - the Tea Cart across from the entrance to Kali. I got a msg from my DH while we were here that he was on his way, so the girls went to ride EE while we waited so they could ride it a 2nd time with him when he arrived. I wasn't feeling the need today, and just hung out and relaxed, took pictures. So nice!! Afterwards, we headed to Festival of the Lion King... my absolute favorite show in all of Disney, I ALWAYS cry.... and as usual, it didn't disappoint, although I was sad to see that my two favorite CM's were no longer playing their parts. But the new CM's were great and had beautiful voices, so it was still wonderful. We got some much required Mickey Bars afterwards, did a bit of shopping (also required... ;)) and then headed to Magic Kingdom for our last night. We rode all our favorites, met up with our friends from Celebration for a few rides, grabbed some ice cream and Dole Whips and made one last walk down Main St as the park began to close. :( It was a teary goodbye up on the train station platform as we took pictures... but we knew we'd be back next year, so we held that close as we left. (At this point, my DH and I had no designs on a return trip in October... that happened later...) We got back to our room and packed up as best we could... another perk to driving? Not feeling like everything had to be perfectly put together for an airport trip! :thumbsup:
Monday, August 29 - day 12
Today we were all headed home... my husband by plane, the girls and I by car. But first, we had one last stop -- breakfast at the Kona Cafe! My DH's flight wasn't until 1pm, so we took our time, packed up the car and got to the Poly about 9:15. We had a LOVELY breakfast, and were so envious of all the people we saw just arriving... so funny, how after 11 days, you still want more... ;) I got my wonderful Tonga Toast bkfst, with a Kona latte and the favored Lilikoi juice... yumm!! We all really felt like we needed to be rolled out of there... sitting in a car for the next 7 or 8 hours was not sounding so great!! We left about 10:30, dropped my DH off at the airport at 11:15 and the girls and I were on our way northward. This time, though, we were not headed through SC but through NC, with a two-night stop planned for Wilmington to visit friends and the beach. So off we went! We heard from my DH about 3:30... he was safely home... we were missing having him travel with us, but were glad to hear he was on the ground and fine. The girls and I arrived at our hotel about 7:30... got dinner, and they swam while I got the car sorted and things packed/unpacked for the next day. After some fun TV watching and snuggling, we all tucked in... the beach was calling for the morning!
Tuesday, August 30 - day 13
Today we slept in a bit... it felt GREAT!! It was also a bit overcast, so we weren't in a big hurry... we had a nice breakfast in the room, packed up our suits, got in touch with my friend and his wife and planned for a dinner get-together later down in Southport, and we were off to find a beach!! Which we did... Wrightsville Beach was not hard to find, and although it was still overcast when we arrived, it was still beautiful. We hunted for seashells (there were a TON from the hurricane coming through!!) and then as the sun came out, we went and changed and settled in for some serious beach time. We stayed for quite a few hours, soaking up the sun and the sound of the surf, the seagulls... I SO did not want to leave!! We are serious ocean people, and it felt great. But -- we had dinner reservations to go get ready for, so about 3pm we headed back to the hotel and got showered and changed and headed down to Southport. We were meeting with Intercot friends -- people I had known for years at this point, but never met in person. So I was SO excited... I really couldn't wait to finally meet. And we had SUCH a lovely time -- they are a wonderful couple, so sweet and fun to be with, and we hung out over dinner for hours, just talking. The girls really enjoyed getting to know them, as well... they had heard stories about them for years! We then went out and got a mini tour around their town... such a quaint, sweet place... and unfortunately, by this time it was dark, and time for us to head back to Wilmington. So we hugged and said our goodbyes, and off we went, hoping to be able to do this again one day! It felt so good to fall into bed again, and it was a really nice break from the driving to have had an ocean day in the middle of our trip.
Wednesday, August 31 - day 14
Not much to say about today... we slept in a bit more than planned, but it felt great, and knowing I had a 12hr drive ahead of me made it an easy decision to get as much sleep as possible!! It was an easy drive, although it got a bit dicey outside of DC.... even on the outer loop of 495 it was still crazy, and not an experience I care to repeat! But all in all, we still made good time and had a good trip, and were home in our driveway by 10pm. Phew!! What a trip!! My DH met us with hugs and smiles and a couple of gallons of ice cream in the freezer... ahhhh, it felt good to be home!!