A Disney Lover tries to convert a hater... My first PTR with extra TR aspects!

[canfield77]

Hello All! I am so excited to be writing my first PTR! I have been watching the TR threads for a couple of weeks now and finally decided to register with the DIS so that I could do my own! They look like so much fun... and I thought it would be a great way to make friends really fast on here, so here goes...
Oh! Before I go any farther, since I am a brand shiny new DIS member if you notice anything that I do wrong and that I should do differently please don't hesitate to let me know, that's the only way I'll learn

I guess I should introduce myself and who all will be joining me on this funfilled adventure:

Me (Melissa): I am 24 and a SAHM (stay at home mom). I only have about one more semester of college left to get my Bachelor's of Science in Zoology, but because I just had a baby boy 9 months ago and because there is a lot going on now (more later) I have to put that on hold for a little while. That's okay because I love being a SAHM! It is the most taxing and most rewarding job I think I could do for myself... I'm sure you know what I'm talking about. I am also working on starting my own business, called Photos for Life by Melissa that is a digital scrapbooking business. I make Digital Photo books like those made by Snapfish, Shutterfly FOR people. I make layouts (LO's) using Photoshop and design the whole book, saving them the time and energy and giving them a unique specially designed book. I just started this a couple of months ago and have already gotten quite a few orders. I don't make a lot of money on it, but I really enjoy it and can do it from home after the little man has gone to sleep, so its good for me . So, I love digital scrapbooking, horse riding, skiing, reading, and most of all DISNEY! I've been many times and have converted my DH into being a Disney freak as well . I'm working on converting the next victim... but more on that later as well


DH (Chris): My wonderful husband of four years works for an oil rig for Chesapeake Energy. He just got this job last July and really likes it. We are making a lot more money so I like it too! Also he gets two weeks off EVERY month so that is the best bonus ever! The two weeks he does work he works 12 hour days for 14 days straight. Those weeks are hard, but I get through it. We just recently moved back to our hometown from Ohio to PA, and are still working on getting our lives back on track. Chris is a very big guy, he isn't fat by any means, he is just big. He has very broad shoulders and is tall. I'll post pictures later when I figure out how to do it

DS (Aidan): My beautiful 9 month, almost 10 month baby boy. He is the light of my life. He is a very good boy, and hardly ever gets into trouble. Now that he has started crawling, that might change...

BIL(Dusty): Dustin is Chris's brother, and is closer in age by a couple of months to me than I am to Chris (how strange I Know). He is a year younger than me. He also works in the same field as Chris and just got home from a year long tour in Iraq. It took him awhile to get back to his old self, but I think he is finally getting there . He is the hater mentioned in the title, I really have no idea why he jumped at the chance to go with us, but I'm glad he did and hope to change his mind . (hehe). He has only been to Disney once on his senior trip five years ago, so I hope I can show him what a magical place Disney is! Chris is also on the bandwagon to convert his brother woo hoo!

SIL (Brittany): Now, as of right now, I am not 100% sure that Brittany is coming with us... I included her in the reservation because I'm MOSTLY sure, but, well, we'll see. She is 18 and still in high school. Dusty offered to pay for her trip, but I don't think her mom is going to agree that she can go. Now, mind you, she will be 18 and done with school by the time we go, so she is saying that she is going to go anyway. But, we will see about that.... Brit absolutely loves her nephew and likes Disney. She has only been once as well, four years ago when Chris and I took her and her brother (another brother, Erik). She is really excited and I hope it all works out.

So that's the gang! I hope I didn't bore you all with the details, but I thought I should include anything that might be relevant later...

My next post: where to stay, what to do, what to eat and "That jogging strollers coming out of storage!"

When I figure out how to post pics, I will post them as soon as I can.. if you could give me some tips please do and thanks!

Also: What are extra TR aspects you might ask? Well, I decided I would regale you with our last trip to Disney in Dec of 08 while I am giving you details of our next trip. I didn't think I should post it in an official TR thread because I don't have a lot of details or pics, (it was a year ago after all, I don't remember a whole lot) but I have some really funny stories from that trip that I would like to share with you... so I thought I would include it as a mini TR within my PTR! I hope that is allowed...

 

[canfield77]

I will have images up of all of us going on the vacation very soon!

 

[canfield77]

Okay let's try this:

Here's Me:

hope it works!

 

[canfield77]

Okay great it worked!

So that last picture was me at our last vacation in Dec 08. We stayed at PO Riverside and loved it, more on that later. This was our first day, and we were actually on our way to check in to our room. I was five months pregnant on this trip and had a great time!

Here is my DH:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

That was right after we arrived in our room. He looks so much smaller there, because he had just finished the police academy and was very skinny and toned. He never ended up using that training in a professional sense, but I think he liked learning all he did there. Anyway! Off topic...

My DS!
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/
This was from our Christmas pictures this year he was almost 8 months old.


My BIL:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/
This is the only one I have of him that is any kind of recent. Sorry, I know you can't really see what he looks like! But like I said, he had been away in Iraq for a year and moved far away before that, so I don't have many. This was the week after he arrived back from Iraq, seeing Aidan for the first time.

And My SIL:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

My most recent pictures are all of them with Aidan! Oh well, I take a lot of pictures of that little guy, gotta capture every moment while I can, they grow up so fast.

So that's the cast...
my next post will be up real soon, drop me a line!

 

[canfield77]

Well shoot! Sorry, I think I fixed it:

DH chris:

DS Aidan:

BIL Dusty:

 

[canfield77]

And last but not least
SIL:

Sorry for so many separate posts: still learning

 

[canfield77]

So I can't sleep one darn tootin minute and I was worried that my PTR was pretty bland so far,,, so I thought I would give you all some stories from my last trip with my husband in Dec 2008. Now, I didn't know about the DIS then, so I didn't take a whole lot of extra pics, I promise I will this next time if my 9 month old will let me!

So, back in Dec, 2008 I was five months pregnant with Aidan and we still lived in Ohio then. We decided that we would really like to go on one last vacation together, before Aidan made his way into the world and so, Babymoon Dec 2008 came about! We went back and forth and discussed a LOT of options: DH really wanted to do a cruise (we've done a couple in the last five years) and of course, I really wanted to do Disney. I will take any chance to go! Well, with me being pregnant and all, I had experienced really bad morning sickness in my first trimester and landed in the hospital. So a cruise was really out of the question. I was not going to spend a vacation hanging over the side of a ship!

So, real sneaky like, I started researching all of the discount codes and other offers available for the time period we were looking for. This was back when Chris was still kind of ambivalent about the whole Disney thing, as he calls it. I ended up finding a great deal - Port Orleans Riverside with a discount code and free dining plans for both of us for a week with my Disney Visa Cardholder offer! So it ended up being really cheap, I can't remember exactly how much, but cheap enough.

But how to convince DH?

So, I went in our room after he had fallen asleep, and said, "Chris?" No response.
"Chris?"
"Whhhaaattt?"
"Can I talk to you for a minute?"
No response.
(Very quickly). "I just found some great deals for Disney and we can go for X amount of money and WE GET FREE DINING, can we go?"
"Sure, sure, whatever." he says.
Yay!.....
"Wait a minute, what did I just agree to" He says. Uh Oh!

I know I'm wicked!

But he ended up being great about it and wanted to go "as long as we weren't going to run around and get up early and act like fanatical fools" in his words. Again, I might be in trouble.

And before you chastise (sp?) me for waking him, it was only 8 pm, Chris can fall asleep at the drop of a hat. He was watching tv and five minutes later he was away in neverland.

So we were off!

We drove down, in order to save some extra money. If you felt bad for DH before about me waking him, be prepared to take that back...He INSISTED that we take his Mitsibishi (sp. again?) Eclipse, that it would be okay and I would be comfortable and it would all be alright. yeah right.

Three hours into the trip my ankles were swollen and I had to take my shoes off.
I think he just wanted to drive his sporty little sports car!

The drive was pretty uneventful...we drove straight through, 16 hours or so, which was another thing, DH had Promised me we would get a hotel....
Well I fell asleep.
So he kept going.


So when I woke up I was so still and my belly hurt so bad from being all squished up like I was in a darn clown car that we stopped, I think it was just over the border into Florida.

I was having DH help me out of the car when I start to hear this:
A truck stopping on the exit ramp we had just came off of, next to the gas station.
A man gets out, and all I hear is:
"BEEP, BLEEPETLY, BLEEP, BLEEP, BEEP, BEEP, ETC."
This guy is going crazy! He is kicking and punching the side of his truck and freaking out. And all those words weren't the mild ones either.
I think, oh god, is that guy coming over here?!
So he gets back in the truck after a couple more BEEPS and yep,
they come right over into the station.

Then the guy slams his door and stomps up to the door and I hear him say,"
Karen, you left my bags in Savannah!"
Over 100 MILES away!

I felt bad for the guy, but we were so tired that we were right at that giggly stage and I just cracked up. Thankfully he didn't see haha.

And to this day, I can look at Chris out of nowhere and say, "You left my bags in Georgia!" and we crack up all over again...

 

[canfield77]

Okay so this really is supposed to be a PTR, I just thought while I'm giving all the PTR info I would keep you entertained with my TR from a year ago. I hope I'm not boring you all as I haven't gotten any responses yet!

So my family, my BIL and SIL are all going to the World on May 14th until the 24th a whopping 10 Days yay! This is the longest I've ever been and I am really excited about it! I love vacations longer than a week, those seven days just feel like they go so fast!

I'm sure the disney reservationists hate me by now. I've changed our reservation at least three times and have called countless times to ask questions since then. I bet they have a little note under my res that says oh no, not this woman Again... Anyway, so at first we wanted to go in November, but we founds some great military deals they are running right now that only last until July. So we decided to change to May. June and July are so hot and crowded so we would rather not go during those months.

At first since we are going so much earlier and will have less time to save.. we reserved a standard room at Pop Century. We've stayed there before and it is really nice, I like it much better than the All-Star Music which we have also stayed at. Then we got to thinking... what are we going to do when Aidan (our baby) goes to sleep at 8 or 9 o'clock? We are going to be so bored...

So we called and upgraded to a pool view room so that we could bring the monitor and maybe be able to sit out and dangle our feet in the pool or something while he sleeps and still be able to hear him with our monitor.

Well then BIL decided he wanted to go. As I said before, I CANNOT believe this. For two reasons: BIL doesn't like theme parks. I know, I know, Disney is more than just a theme park(s) to us lovers, but to him, its the same. And two, he has been to disney once, five or six years ago, and came back and said he wasn't "that impressed." So, I can't believe he signed on, much less to agree to pay for his sister's way. Awesome!

So we had a discussion and decided that we could all stand to stay in the same room together for ten days so that we could upgrade to Animal Kingdom Lodge and basically spend the same amount once we split it halfway. I know, I'm probably nuts to agree to spend ten days with three other (basically) adults and a one year old in the same room, but we all really wanted that upgrade so there you go....

We warned them that once Aidan goes asleep for the night, there will be no talking, watching tv, lights on, etc. and they have agreed to follow the rules... I think they will be good about it. Besides, we will hopefully have a balcony and can sit outside on that, or some of us can go explore or go to the pool, etc. Plus, after a long day at the parks we will all probably be ready to go to sleep early anyway.

So we are going to stay at Animal Kingdom Lodge and get 40% off with our military discount. We also get great ticket prices from the local military base for $125.00 for four days with park hopper. Even if I get 2 of those for each person (you can't get more days on them), we still save at least fifty bucks a ticket. We also added on the dining plan, Chris and I used it on our last trip and loved the convience (sp?) of it.

If any of you have comments about AKL, I would love to hear about them! This is my first time for that resort and I'm really excited!

Sorry such a long post, I get to rambling

Next Post: Day 1 of Last trip Cont'd and PTR ADR's (what a bunch of acronyms!)

 

[canfield77]

Okay, so I left off where we had just stopped at that gas station with the crazy guy screaming in Florida. We drive the rest of the way and finally see the Disney gates! Yes! We went straight to Port Orleans Riverside and checked in. I had never stayed at this resort before, but I ended up really liking it. I wish I had taken some pics of the lobby but that was pre-DIS.

Here is a picture of the Mansion we stayed in:

And another:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

A pic of the Food Court area (exterior) along the Sassagoula river:

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

The water wheel really works, its pretty cool. The parts of it extend into the seating area of the counter service area and you can watch it run.

http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

A bridge looking into the building that houses the lobby, gift shop, and lounge:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

The ferry that goes to Downtown Disney:
http://im1.shutterfly.com/media/47b...nDNm2bMge3nws/cC/f=0/ps=50/r=0/rx=550/ry=400/

We unpacked some stuff in our room and explored a little before catching the ferry to DTD. I really loved the ferry, but man it gets COLD on that thing esp in Dec. I really wished I had brought a jacket, but I was fine as soon as we arrived in the Marketplace. It's just the ride that is a little chilly. We had a ADR at Planet Hollywood so we hoofed it over there. We had gotten free dining plans for being Disney Visa card members.

Planet Hollywood has great theming and its really neat to look around at everything in there. However, I wouldn't recommend the place. If you want to go and look around, do so, but don't eat there. The food isn't great, and we had horrible service. Our waiter wouldn't let me get anything except pop or ice tea because of the dining plan and I was sure that you could get anything except an alcoholic beverage. And that wasn't the problem, his attitude about the whole thing was. He seemed to hate the dining plans and made no bones about it. He hardly ever came to our table, didn't refill our drinks or ask about our meal, AND he tried to tell us we couldn't have dessert on the dining plan. Well, I knew better about that, so I asked to speak to a manager. Well that changed his tune real quick. He said,"Well, you can't get a REGULAR dessert on the dining plan, you can still get a mini-dessert."

Whatever. So we took the dessert he gave us and left. By the way, we had a table right next to us of two I think, thirty-somethings and he treated them much better than how we were treated. I could hear everything he said to them, and he came to their table often. When I tried to flag him down, he pretended to not see me! Not a great start, but we were in DISNEY! (Chris and I have both been servers at some point in our past just so you know we aren't snobs about how hard a waiting tables job can be!)

We looked around at some of the shops, and stopped in World of Disney to use my visa cardholder discount and rewards gift card I had gotten. I got a t-shirt to have the characters sign during our trip and a couple of other little things. I don't even remember now what they were. I think they were xmas present for family. I'll post a pic of the t-shirt if I get time to later. Then we caught the ferry back to the resort and went to our room... but the bad events of the night didn't end there.

Let's just say that we were in the bathroom all night long...

Next post: Mania! Lights! and more bad servers....

 

[canfield77]

I'll get the hang of this picture posting thing I swear I will! Sorry all!

Ferry going to DTD:

Bridge to Lobby, gift shop and lounge building:

A new one! The pool:

Sassagoula River:

Another new one! Signs at POR:

Mansion:

Exterior of Food court with water wheel:

Sorry again...

 

[myasma]

Guess im the first poster. Welcome to the Dis!!! You have a great looking family and can't wait to hear more about your upcoming trip.

 

[canfield77]

Thanks! I hope I'm not breaking any rules about making a PTR that is also kind of a TR... thanks for reading!

 

[myasma]

Thanks! I hope I'm not breaking any rules about making a PTR that is also kind of a TR... thanks for reading!

Nope. People do it all the time. Don't worry about it. I am enjoying your PTR/ mini TR and once you get a couple of responses ppl will be flocking over.

 

[canfield77]

So when I last left you, Chris and I had spent all night in the bathroom... sick, very sick . I don't know if it was the Planet Hollywood food, or something we had from earlier in the day, but it was certainly not agreeing with us. And of course those hotel rooms only have ONE bathroom.... Looking back on it now, it was like a scene from a comedy, and I can laugh, but at the time it was horrible.

Eventually we got over whatever it was and got to sleep. We slept in the next morning and when it was a reasonable hour I made DH get up. Now you will remember from a earlier post that DH agreed to this trip only if "we didn't get up early and run to rides and act like fanatical fools". So I was TRYING to be good and let him sleep. Plus we had been so sick. But eventually I couldn't stand it anymore and it was come on, we are going to Hollywood Studios today! I was so excited to see the Osbourne Spectacle of Dancing Lights, which I had never experienced before. I love seeing new aspects of Disney, since I've been so often. I still love all the classics but there is just something about experiencing something new.

We ate breakfast in the room, and then got around and left. The weather was beautiful! I think it was this trip that really converted DH to Disney. He loved the weather, the low crowds, and it was the only time he had been with just me. Now, of course, since we have Aidan it will be the last time, but we were easygoing and took our time, (we had to with me being pregnant) and he just had a fabulous time. That was why we took this trip, we knew it would be a while before it was just me and him again. It was about 70 degrees, and the sky was a bright gorgeous blue. Not a cloud in the sky. We headed over to the bus station only five minutes away and caught a bus to DHS.

When we arrived we saw the Christmas tree:

Underneath:

And also saw this:

Took our obligatory Sorcerer Hat picture:

Continued in next post shortly...

 

[canfield77]

Something funny that I wanted to mention: When we were planning this upcoming trip in May I mentioned to Chris to not worry, that we wouldn't run around to the rides. To which he replied, "What are you crazy!? I'm bringing the jogging stroller!" I love it!

So after we had our picture in front of the Sorcerer Hat, I saw a bunch of characters out around it in the square. Now I love me some characters! Always have and always will! I collect autographs, and I know, I'm twenty something and probably too "old" for it, but I don't care I enjoy it. Chris just goes along with it, but I know he thinks I'm crazy. To him, its just a guy in a suit, but to me, its really Donald Duck. Oh yeah, and I believe in Santa Claus too.... Don't judge. ***

So we got in line for a picture with Donald Duck and had him sign our t-shirt. Donald was pretty happy that he was the first to sign our t-shirt and when I gave him a Red marker to sign it with, he refused and got the cast member to give him a BLUE marker to sign it with. Haha silly Donald. Gotta be the blue, not red!

I never realized how short Donald is! Of course, I would never tell him that!

I don't remember exactly what rides we rode that day, but I think we probably headed to Toy Story Mania first. Here are some pics:

Inside the queue area:

Mr. Potato Head was really cool. He will interact with the guests, just like at the laugh floor in the MK. I wish I could remember some of the things he said, but it was too long ago. I remember that it was funny though.

This was really neat, when he took out his own ear and then put it back in!

Outside of Attraction:

I LOVED Toy Story Mania! It was unlike anything I've seen before. I like how its not just shooting the same thing over and over, like at other shooting arcade style rides (though I love them as well). It definitely makes my top five rides at WDW. DH also loved it. We got off and wanted to go right back on, but the wait was really long.

I remember we also rode The Great Movie Ride and watched The Little Mermaid show. I had the Hidden Mickey book and was trying to find the ones in The Great Movie Ride. I found one, the one in the gangster scene, but I couldn't find the others. Try to find it the next time you ride it, its in a window way up high on your left as you round the corner and go into the next scene.

We also watched Beauty and the Beast, which I hadn't seen in years. It was pretty good.

Next Post: The Lights! and The Action! and that bad server...

****DISCLAIMER*** Since you don't me, know that I don't really believe in Santa Claus. I just thought you should know that I'm not crazy. Not that you are if you believe in him..... But Donald Duck IS real. You know, you've seen him.

 

[canfield77]

I think I finally have my final decisions on what restaurants to make reservations at. I've made ADR's on all of the following, but I think I might have change (hopefully not) as I will explain in a minute.

Boma - I've never tried this restaurant, and as we are staying at AKL, I thought it would be easy to try it. BIL and DH are very adventuresome eaters and I think they will like whatever unique might be thrown at them. Dusty has even had live octopus! Yes, you read that right, LIVE, as in... ALIVE. I know, yuck! He likes sushi too.
Plus, I'm sure they will have some common choices for me, who is a little pickier, and for SIL who is WAY picky. In fact, I might have to see if I can get her kid's meals for the duration of our stay, even though she is on an adult dining plan. Oh, well. She is just really, really picky for a 17/almost 18 year old. She won't eat anything that is fish or seafood, doesn't really like beef or pork all that much, and won't eat many veggies. What did her mother teach her!? She is definitely a junk food gal, she loves chocolate and dessert, pizza and mac and cheese. That's probably what she will live on for the duration of our stay. She's not my kid, so I'm not her keeper.
Anyway, so I've heard good things about Boma, and it's right there in the resort so it will be easy to get to.

Ohana's - This restaurant I have also heard great things about. Again, I think there will be some unique choices for the guys, and enough common stuff for us gals. I think Aidan will really like all the entertainment too, even though he will be too young to participate. And there will characters for me!

Teppan Edo - I reserved this specifically for Dusty, trying to get a wide variety of restaurants during our stay, and one that I know he will specifically like. As I said before, he likes sushi and unique food. I think everyone will get a kick out of how they make it right there in front of you, and I hope there will be at least one choice that Brittany will be comfortable with.

Crystal Palace - I got this one specifically for Brit, as she loves Piglet. We went there with her and Erik (her brother) when we took them four years ago. She really liked it, so this ones for her.

Le Cellier Steakhouse - I can't believe I made it into this one, less than 180 days before the date!!!! Chris and I have wanted to eat here for years and have never been able to get in, so I'm really excited. I want to try the mushroom filet (I love mushrooms!) and Dusty really loves steak too. I wanted to make this a surprise for DH, but he heard me talking on the phone to get the ADR and found out darn it! Oh well, he's excited too now.

Coral Reef - This is another one that DH and I have wanted to try for awhile, more for the atmosphere than anything. I haven't heard great things about the meals, they are hit and miss, but I know Aidan will love the fish so I really hope we can get a table near the tank.

T-REX - I've heard good things about this restaurant, better than its counterpart the Rainforest Cafe. Eager to try something new, and the atmosphere should be interesting.

Cinderella's Royal Table - Can you believe I also snagged this one LESS than 180 before???? I can't, so I grabbed it! I hope this is an indication of a low crowd level the week and a half we are there. But that is probably wishful thinking on my part. At first, I only made it for me, DS and DH, thinking that BIL and SIL wouldn't be interested, since BIL is paying SIL's way. But DH ended up mentioning it to Dusty and he said he was in, so I called, thinking no way am I going to be able to add them. Shockingly, I could! So BIL sent me the money and I added them to our ADR. THIS ONE is for me! I've always wanted to eat here, inside the castle, and since my birthday is going on while we are there, its my birthday present to myself!

San Angel Inn - We all like mexican food, and the atmosphere is good. I might cancel this one though, as I have 11 ADR's already.

Whispering Canyon Cafe - I want to show BIL and SIL the Wilderness Lodge, and I've always wanted to try this restaurant as well, so I'm going to kill two birds with one stone.

And...
1900 Park Fare - I've heard good things about this one as well, and I think it would be a riot if BIL got picked to dance with a stepsister!!!! I don't know if he would hate me, or be amused... We'll see! I might cancel this one as well if we end up using our dining credits for the Royal Table (which takes 2 credits).

So thats the lineup!!! As I mentioned, we have A LOT of ADR's, 11 for a 10 night stay. I will probably end up canceling one or two, but I wanted to make sure we had 10 to use on our plan in case we don't use our credits for the Royal Table. DH and I haven't decided if we want to do that or not. Plus, having a lot of sit down meals forces me to sit down and relax which is good for Aidan, instead of going, going, going all day. Aidan really loves restaurants so I don't think we'll have a problem with that.

Up next... Itinerary!!!

 

[canfield77]

So when I last left you, we had just finished watching Beauty and the Beast and rode TSM! I think I forgot this picture last time of our scores. Chris is the higher one but I made sure he knew that I had better accuracy!

Here are some more of Beauty and the Beast:

So after Beauty and the Beast, I think we saw Indy Jones, and then we watched the parade, Block Party Bash! Now, I hope I don't offend anyone here, I know a lot of people love this parade, but I just wasn't that into it !!! I know I'm in the minority, but I really didn't like it all that much. It wasn't bad to watch once, but I probably wouldn't see it again for it was just me. However, since we are taking DS this trip, he will probably like it so we'll try to see it again.

Here's some pics:

During the parade, we were standing right next to a bench with a couple of men sitting on it. Now I know I shouldn't feel entitled or anything, but I was five, almost six months pregnant. My feet were swollen and I was tired. But of course... they weren't going to offer me THEIR seats. So DH went to a nearby food stand/drink cart and snatched a seat for me. Isn't he amazing?! Once I sat in my seat next the parade lane, a bunch of people saw what I had done, so THEY all started to go and get seats. Pretty soon, you know it, a CM came over and told us that we had to put the seats back. Now, I hadn't meant to start a mass chair stealing operation! I just wanted to be able to watch the parade and be able to relax without being uncomfortable. So DH asked the CM very politely if we could use the chair because I was pregnant but really wanted to see the parade, and all the benches were full. I couldn't really sit on the ground because then all the king's horses and the king's men were going to have to be there to help me up again. And the CM said, sure. How nice! We made sure to put the chair back right where we found it after the parade.
And those men sitting on the bench? They left garbage all over next to them when they left, and there was a GARBAGE CAN right next to them! Ugh! Oh well, rant over, I promise.

After the parade, we had our ADR at Sci-Fi. The restaurant was very unique and we both really liked the atmosphere and watching the "movies". But our server was horrible.... AGAIN. What was going on this trip? Our drinks never got refilled the whole time, even though we asked for them, but that's not even the kicker. When I ordered, the guy picked on me for being "fat" (because I was pregnant) and said to make sure I left some food for the others. He thought he was being funny, oh yeah, let's make some pregnant fat jokes, but I was steamed. I thought Chris was going to punch the guy, and he wanted to talk to the manager, but I just wanted to get out of there and forget about it. He made some other remarks too, but I can't remember now what they were. So we left in a hurry, and tried to forget about it.

Then we went to Lights! Motors! Action! stunt show. Chris absolutely loves this show so we made sure to make it. This trip we hadn't gotten hoppers, so this would be our one and only day in DHS. Here's some pics:

I think I took more, but I can't find them in my account.

I know we did some other things that day, but I honestly can't remember what they were. I know we missed the Backlot tour, and we saw One Man's Dream but skipped the show at the end because we were really hungry.
We ate at the Backlot Express, and I started noticing it was getting REALLY crowded. Then I realized it was because it was just starting to get dark, and they were going to be turning on the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights any minute.

I took this picture. I seem to take this picture every time I go to DHS. It's like a tradition.

Here are some more pics inside DHS:

I love how they create these:

This was a really cool Christmas decoration in shop window:

And now, what you've all been waiting for... The Osbourne Family Spectacle of Lights!

Continued in next post...
(Don't worry its only a couple of minutes away)

 

[canfield77]

This was AMAZING!!!!! I loved it, and I hope to be able to go back and see it again someday. There was tons of people, but it was totally worth it to be smushed in with a couple thousand other people. For Hidden Mickey lovers, you have got to see this. There were tons upon tons of hidden Mickeys. You'll see some in my pictures. Here they are:

See the Hidden Mickey in this one? I had to take a couple of pictures to hit it just right, as it would blink on and off, with a bunch of other lights, making it kind of harder to miss.

Another Hidden Mickey: It took me a long time to get this, as it was very high up and I had to zoom in pretty far

My Favorite:

Didn't come out too good

Pretty cool, huh? As you probably know, the lights dance to different songs throughout the course of the night, so you could probably stand there and look at them for hours, and never see or hear the same thing twice. You just look and look and look, and there is just so MUCH. A CM was trying to control traffic flow, but no one was listening. People were trying to stop and take pictures along one road, and she wouldn't let them stop because it would create a huge holdup. So if you go, be prepared to take pictures FAST. And you know what? Supposedly there is over 10,000 lights in that display, and I didn't see one light that was burn out! They must have to hire a huge team to just replace all the lights that burn out over each day.
It was really breathtaking and I definitely recommend it.

Next Post: A little more lights, and a lot more Fantaction!!!

 

[canfield77]

When I last left you, DH and I had just walked through the Osbourne Spectacle of Lights and it was waaaayyyy crowded. So, we thought we had better hightail it over to get a seat for Fantasmic earlier than usual. DH and I love Fantasmic!!! The very first time I brought DH to Disney, he was pretty ho hum about everything until he saw this show. So, Thank You! Fantasmic and all your workers for making it a possiblity to get DH back in Disney again. And now, after this trip, it's easy to get him there, he's as much in love with Disney as I am!

So, on the way to Fantasmic, we went through Pixar Place. There was a character spot with Woody and Buzz on the right, and we still had a lot of time to go, so I asked DH if we could stop. I had bought a shirt at DTD for the express purpose of getting as many character autographs on it as possible, and I only had Donald up to that point. He relucantly agreed, as the long was LONG. We probably stood in line for a half an hour, at which point we gave up. We had started outside the building, and after a half an hour, had only just made it inside. And, now we could see, that the line was wound around and around inside, meaning probably another hour at the least. And... well, not to be offensive, but there were a couple of people next to us that had some really bad body odor. So, we left.

We passed Toy Story Mania, and we both really wanted to ride it again, but the ride was still at over a 100 minute wait, I don't remember exactly how much, but I know it was a lot. On this trip, we had decided to save a little bit of money and just do a one day base ticket for each day we were there, which was only five days. So we had gotten a four day base ticket, and then paid the extra for Mickey's Very Merry Christmas Party on the fifth day. So, this would be our last chance on this trip to ride it. But, it was really long and we wanted to catch Fantasmic, so we skipped it.

We made it to Fantasmic, and hoofed it up that big hill and it was still really empty. I asked DH if he wanted to ride Rockin Roller Coaster or ToT, since I couldn't ride them because I was pregnant. He said, no that was fine. I asked him again, "Are you Sure?" A pause. "Well, if you really don't mind..."

So he headed off to ride RnR (I think that's the right abbreviation) and I sat and saved our seats. Now, normally I hate when people do this, but usually that is just in the instance of one person saving like, a whole bench or a lot of spaces. Sorry, if you are one of those people, no offense! It's just that somehow I always end up choosing these spaces, make my way over to them, to find out they are taken, and then I can't find anymore spots!

Then DH got back and we watched Fantasmic! At this point, I realized my camera was doing some very strange things, so I didn't get a lot of pictures, and some of the pictures I did get were messed up. Here's some that I salvaged though:

I know, they're not great, sorry, but its all I've got. My camera was not being kind!

After Fantasmic, we followed the 10,000 other people out to the gates. DH was still going on about wanted to try TSM. I made the mistake of telling him that a lot of the time, if you get in the line before the CM "closes" the attraction, they will still let you ride even if the park is closed. So... you guessed it, we ended up walking all the way back to Pixar Place and getting in line for TSM. My feet were doing good and I wasn't too tired after I had a break sitting at Fantasmic, so all was good.

We rode TSM again, and it was just as fun as the first time. After that, we made our way back to the front of the park to catch the bus back to Riverside. I tried to take a picture of the glow in the dark pictures they draw on the sidewalk, but like I said, my camera was acting up so this is what happened:

You see, half of the picture is of the mickey on the sidewalk, the other half of a picture of the Nemo show that we took the next day!?? How did that happen? The picture of Mickey looked fine that night, but by the end of the next day a lot of my pictures were "merged" like that and no good.

During Fantasmic and the whole next day, my camera was shutting down on its own and running really slowly. So I guess this was the end result. I ended up changing the batteries to some more expensive lithium ones and that fixed that problem.

Up Next: Animal Kingdom Day!

 

[canfield77]

I'm sorry, its been hectic around here! My FIL totaled my DH's car last October, and even with Gap Insurance, its taken us this long to pay the darn thing off! So, since my husband needs a car for work, I get to be the lucky finalist left with no vehicle. Anywho, so the point to all this is... We have been Car searching for me! Yay! And we found the right one, FINALLY!!! I'm so excited to take my new (used) Honda Odyssey to Disney in May!!!! So, soon we will be picking it up and life should return to normal and I can get another post up and.... oh wait, that is way too many Ands. Next post up soon, I promise!