Nina's Not So Scary Birthday Trip..an October Trip Report - Villians Dance Party 4/30

[Moira222]

Welcome to my newest Trip Report! I will be up front with you – I am a slow reporter. I just have a lot going on and don’t have nearly as much time as I would like to be online. And I split my online time between reading others’ plans and travels and sharing my own. So relax, enjoy the ride, and the photos. Busy? No worries….I’ll still be here a few weeks from now.

Our trip plan was titled Nina’s Not So Scary Birthday and I confess, I just could not come up with a really funny fun catchy trip report title that would make sense. My word file is called Traveling with the Family during National Sarcasm Month...but I'm not sure I can truly capture for you the amount of sarcasm going on within our little group, or just how many times we said to each other "Well, it is National Sarcasm Month you know".

We traveled 10 days after my sister-in-law’s birthday, [/SIZE
]
Oh but wait, I need to introduce you all!

First up is Katie – our very own little princess. Well, not so little. And probably far more like Vidia than a princess truth be told. Well, okay, maybe Merida. Not for the red hair, but much more for the strong, independent spirit.

When she’s not at Disney World, she is in fifth grade & plays field hockey and basketball (well she took a break from basketball this year).

This was Katie’s fifth trip to DisneyWorld. She is every bit a Disney Addict even at 10 years old. Her favorite character is Pluto – Katie LOVES her doggies!

The handsome guy holding up Katie’s pigtails is her dad &my sweet hubby of 21 years, Joe. He is a totally hopeless Disney addict. I love it.

When he’s not at Disney, he’s a hard working police officer who works part time for two different departments. He works a lot of crazy hours, a lot of 12 hour shifts. We can go days without seeing each other for more than 15-20 minutes. It sucks but, well, it is what it is.

He retired from his fulltime LEO job in 2006, but you just can’t take the man out of law enforcement. He bleeds blue. So he started working part time. He’s worked for a few different departments since 2006, and really did try to work a ‘normal’ job…but he hated it. We’re hoping that one of his PT jobs has a FT opening soon which will mean normal hours, paid sick time…paid vacation days woot woot.


In the past few TRs that I’ve written, I’ve had to blur my handsome hubby’s face. Long story short, I finally have permission to post his photo. Yay (makes my life easier) so I will share a few favorites from our past Disney trips

Finally there is me rounding out our little family – Mary Ellen, Mom, Girl Scout Leader, Disney Planner, full time technology/communications specialist, ugh there are too many hats to mention.


You’ll see some pretty significant changes in Joe and I over the past few years.

By 2009 we had both hit what a friend of mine terms “maximum density”. That’s putting it mildly.

Joe and I joined weight watchers together. He freakin' rocked that program – he lost nearly 100 lbs by following the program and a very consistent workout routine of running and weights, etc. I managed to lose about 60 lbs, and then slowly that started to creep back on me.

After much research, prayer, and contemplation, last December I underwent a surgical procedure (a sleeve gastrectomy) in which I had 75-80% of my stomach removed. The size of my stomach went from say the size of a large butternut squash to the size of a small-medium sized banana. This surgery finally helped me achieve the portion control that I had never been able to get control of.

With a rigorous and consistent exercise program, I have been able to lose 120 lbs since last December, and a full 150 lbs since my “maximum density” in 2009. And more than any appearance related benefit – I feel freakin’ awesome. I have energy. I can be active all day long. My back, knees, feet, arms, and shoulders no longer ache just from carrying my weight around. I don’t have heartburn all the time.

There are some drawbacks to this change – portion control is mandatory.

There is no “pigging out”. A major calorie splurge for me is a grand marnier slushy in Epcot. No carbonation at all. (good bye rum & diet coke! no more hard ciders) No drinking and eating at the same time (there’s no room for food and drink together).

I really just eat to live, not live to eat. I still have to concentrate to make good food choices. I know that I can eat whatever I want, but only small amounts of it, so I have to try even harder to make the bit of food that I do eat be nutritionally wise and worth it.


Is it for everyone? Nope. Am I ever so glad that I did it? YUP and I would absolute make the choice again.



The final member of our traveling party is my sister in law Nina.

Joe’s middle sister (he is the baby) celebrated her birthday in early October, so we wanted to make sure she got the full Disney Birthday treatment.


Nina lives close to us & we see each other regularly. And she loves Disney too, though she had not been to Walt Disney World in quite a long time. I think her last time was when her son was about 10 or 11, and he is 22 now.


We’ve imposed on Nina a few times to be our dog & house sitter when we go to Disney, so we wanted to share the fun with her & invited her along for our Halloween trip, which is by far Nina’s favorite holiday!


Now let's get this show on the road!

 

[Moira222]

• Introductions
  
• All Aboard!
  
• Now arriving - Sanford Florida (and the Animal Kingdom!)
  
• Christmas video & R&R at DisneyWorld
  
• Hanging with the Main Man...er Mouse
• Jan 31-Feb 2 Weekend Getaway
• AAAARGH ya ready to Party Mateys?
• Villians Dance Party

 

[Moira222]

October 10/11
Nina stayed over on Thursday, the night before. We have a friend who house & dog sits, and she had the thrill of caring not only for our 110 lb German Shepherd Thor, but Nina’s two dogs – a Boston Terrier named Frank & a Chihuahua mix named Buster – along with her own dog, a Shih Tzu named Suzie. Nina needed to stay over the night before just to make sure the dogs were all settled before we headed out. Thursday of course I was almost an hour late leaving work because, well, what’s vacation without last minute projects, right? So by the time I got home Sharon, our house/dog sitter, and Nina were there, waiting for me just to go over any final plans/details. Sharon has taken care of Thor for us several times, and is a very competent retired Corrections Officer – she can handle things so I don’t feel the need to give her a list or anything like that.

We had dinner, chatted, and horsed around as we went over plans.

see the glasses? Ugh. Not happy when I have to wear my glasses. I’d recently gotten a new supply of contact lenses (I wear disposables) and was having some major issues. Thought it was mostly allergy, and picked up a dr recommended brand of allergy eye drops, but you will see me in glasses way more than I would prefer.
Anyway, we finished what we needed to do for the evening and tried to calm down enough to get some sleep before our trip.
Friday started a lot like a normal work day – Joe and I getting up getting in our work outs, walking the dog, breakfast, etc. Our goal was to be in the car by 9 a.m. We had a four hour drive (more or less) to Lorton Virginia to the auto train, but there was talk of this big tractor trailer “protest” where they were going to clog up all of DC. Joe and I were a little concerned what that was going to do to traffic. Plus it rained, cats and dogs, the whole drive. Ugh.
Rain aside, before long we were at the Lorton Virginia auto train station

we got ourselves checked in and happily were the last or next to last group to get 5 pm dinner reservations. On the auto train, there are three dinner seatings – 5, 7, and 9 p.m. The 7 p.m. usually fills up first and if you have read any of my TRs, you know that there is no way that anyone within 200 yards wants to be near Joe if he had to wait till 9 p.m. for dinner!
We settled in & pulled drinks out of the bags. Here’s the deal for the auto train: passengers are allowed a personal item and a carryon, much like an airline. The difference is that you can put almost anything in your bag. I packed two sodas each for Joe, Nina and Katie (a treat for her, she doesn’t get soda that much), some water bottles, movies, laptops, games, blankets for night time snuggling, pj’s, snacks, nook, homework for Katie, Katie’s Rainbow Loom, all sorts of stuff that we might want/ need on a 17 hour train ride. The coach seats are pretty room – a lot like first class airline seats. They recline, and have leg rests and foot rests, along with very stable “tables” and outlets along the wall of the car for charging phones, laptops, electronics, etc.

I tried to get Katie to hunker down early on to tackle some of her school work. She was not thrilled but I did get her to do some…..until the family behind us got comfortable. UGH. Here was my biggest gripe about the ride down. Our train car was apparently where they sent all the families with children. Ok, my kid is 10, but really you’d have thought she was 16 when you compared her behavior to some of the other kids on the car. The family behind us, three generations, spread out amongst three rows of seats. They called and chatted with each other very loudly, as if they were sitting in their kitchen calling into the living room to ask a question. Seriously? Are you not aware that you are on a public means of transportation? They were noisy, really noisy. AND they did not have the decency to make their children use headphones for their electronic games and videos. I would never permit my daughter to annoy a whole car full of people with the incessant repetitive beeps, blips and bops that these video games make. Talk about annoying! All four of us were getting pretty annoyed, especially Katie who really was trying to concentrate on some school work.
There was no small amount of sarcasm going on amongst the four of us about how quiet it was, how glad we were that Katie could really concentrate on her school work, how great it was to be seated with all of the other families with children... after all, it was National Sarcasm Month.
It didn’t take long before Nina and I ventured down to the club car, where light snacks, hot tea, coffee, and hot chocolate are complimentary all the time, and there are other snacks, and alcoholic beverages, for sale. Yup, nothing like starting the trip with a cocktail!
Before we knew it, the 5 pm dinner was being seated. We happily left the bleeps, blips, bops and kids who didn’t know how to sit still to head do the dinner car.

The dinner menu offers a choice of three or four different entrees, and the table is set with a pitcher of ice water and of white wine. Yup, a pitcher of wine. Complimentary. And they’d refill it for you on request. (this is important on the ride home) Aaaahhh happiness is….. they also provide iced tea and juice on request. We placed our orders and enjoyed a bit of wine as we chatted and watched the scenery go by.
I actually remembered to take photos of our meals.
Joe had Braised Beef Sirloin

Nina and I both had a Chicken dish that was supposed to have a shrimp sauce with it also but the shrimp were those teeny teeny tiny shrimp, and even then they were hard to see. But it tasted good.

Katie had the “Choo Choo Chewies” aka chicken fingers.

Dessert and coffee were also included with dinner. Joe I believe had a black forest cake, Katie had cheese cake, and Nina and I had sugar free jello with whipped cream which I asked for in a “to go” container so I could have it later.
Since I can’t drink with my dinner (no drinks 30 minutes before or 60 minutes after) I shamelessly took Katie empty apple juice cup (with lid) and filled it with wine for later.

I think I may have left a bit of her apple juice in the cup to make it more like a sangria – it was a very dry wine and (for me anyway) it needed a touch of sweetness. Flame me if you must but a girl likes what a girl likes!

After dinner, we did a variety of things to entertain ourselves -- Katie and I watched Harry Potter, Nina read, Joe watched Sorcerers Apprentice or something else. We played word games, we hung out in the club car, surfed the net, I Dis’d a little. We had a lot of free time, something I am not used to, so we had to fill it.
Unfortunately for Nina and I, sleep was not our friend that evening. The seats were pretty comfy, I’m just not good with light or noises when I am trying to sleep, and there was enough of both to keep me up. The temperature in the car was a bit on the warm side as well, so Nina especially was roasting for most of the night. By 3 a.m. she and I met up in the club car and alternated between trying to sleep there, chatting, and playing word games til breakfast started at 6 a.m.
A note about breakfast on the train. When I checked the menu online, this is what the menu read:

Breakfast & Lunch
Breakfast selections include a variety of entrées such as freshly scrambled eggs, three egg omelets with vegetable-cheese filling, French toast with blueberry compote or continental breakfast service with hot or cold cereal, fresh fruit, breakfast bread selection and yogurt. A rotating chef's hot good morning selection is available on each route. Lunch selections include a spicy chipotle-black bean veggie burger, an Angus steak burger, a fresh made vegetarian entrée salad, a warm specialty sandwich and a rotating chef's hot luncheon entrée special.
​

Now, do you see anywhere in there that not all of this is included in your fare? Or that you have to go to the club car to order some of these? Nope, not at all. So imagine my surprise when I go to have breakfast on Saturday morning (and I was really hungry) to find that the breakfast selections included bagels, corn muffins, special k cereal or some sugary cereal, bananas on the table, coffee and orange juice. No yogurt, no eggs, no oatmeal. What, you might be wondering, does a person with an itty bitty stomach eat for breakfast? Yogurt, eggs, or oatmeal. NEVER bagels or muffins, which would quite frankly swell like a sponge in my stomach making me horribly uncomfortable, gassy, and I don’t even know what else because I have not had a bagel, muffin, roll, or slice of bread in over a year.
I asked the dining car server about yogurt, and was told that I had to purchase that at the club car. Sigh. So I went to the club car, but there was no one there. Ugh. I was hungry. Did I mention being hungry? No food for me. I had a cup of coffee (which makes Nescafe taste gourmet) and maybe some orange juice. Not the best choice as the two together really stirred up the acid in my stomach for quite a while that morning.
At least the scenery was pretty:

more school work for Katie (I wanted her to have most of it done on the train so we wouldn’t have to mess around with it during the week. It didn’t really work out that way.)

Fortunately, the train made really good time and we arrived at Sanford a bit ahead of schedule.

(continued)

 

[Moira222]

We waited about a half hour or so before our car was taken off the train and we headed off. First stop was for some groceries. We passed an Aldi on our way – do you all know about Aldi? They are a I believe a Swedish chain, very discounted groceries. I was thrilled to see one in Florida because I can get quite a few things here at home and save a lot of $. I can FILL a grocery cart at home for about $85-$100 at Aldi, and the same grocery cart at a “mainline” grocery store will cost me close to $200. Anyway, we stopped in Aldi and picked up some necessities for the week – milk, eggs, cheese, sandwich flats, snacks, chicken salad for me as I was STARVING at this point.
Back in the car, and before you know it we were here (and not a moment too soon because I was really sleepy from not sleeping on the train, and I am the designated Florida driver!)

We were in the lobby and getting checked in before 11 a.m. at Saratoga Springs. I had put requests in on online check in, but my check-in never went through – I tried many many times in the two weeks before but got a “Goofy” message every time. When we checked in, the woman asked if we had a preference or if we just wanted whatever was available right away. Nina and I were SOOO tired, we just needed to shower & refresh to get through the day, so I said whatever is available. And we were in our room by 11 a.m.!!

woohoo! We unpacked and put everything away nice and tidy

okay folks, enough horsing around. We’re in Disney World! Lets go to a park!!!
We hopped a bus, which was very close to our building, and before you know it we were here

Time? 1:54. Not bad!!!
It took us a few minutes to get in. In my sleep deprived fog, I forgot to bring my mini park planner, which had all of my confirmation numbers. I stopped to purchase our annual passes, and the woman was trying to help me check in for MNSSHP later that week but without my confirmation number, and not being able to find it in my email, I finally gave up and told her I’d take care of it later.
We made our way through Discovery Island and past the Tree of Life. We stopped to become Wilderness Explorers, though Katie was not keen on it at all. Little bugger.

First stop was lunch. We were starving (again!) We had a new counter service in our sights for the day.

I waited in line to order with Nina while Joe and Katie scouted out a table for us. Flame Tree is one of the few CS that accepts Tables in Wonderland. Yay!
I think that Katie and I shared a rack of ribs, and she had a chocolate mousse. Joe had a plate with ribs and chicken, and Nina had a turkey leg plate. Everyone thoroughly enjoyed lunch, and we will definitely return to Flametree another trip!

(did I mention we were hungry? LOL)
I didn’t even get a shot of Nina’s meal.
After lunch we, well, we sat on a bench for a few minutes as Katie had a nature call. Nice to do some people watching plus, well I had waited too long to eat and then eaten too fast, so my lunch was not sitting so great. It tasted yummy, but I know better than to wait so long to eat.
Anyway, soon enough we headed over to DinoLand. We stopped to complete a Wilderness Explorer badge on the way, learning all about prehistoric dinos & their fossils.

Honestly this was the first time I had ever encountered a line at Dinosaur! But it moved along fairly quickly, and it was not in the sun, so win win in our book!

(continued)

 

[Moira222]

I kind of liked waiting in the line because it gave me time to look at all the props, theming and geology ‘blurbs’ in the area.

Before we knew it our trip through time, and our hitchhiking dinosaur, were over with nothing but a photo to show for it

Love this little guy

and had to send it to my friend Lesley, who is teased by her hubby quite often, being accused of having tiny TRex arms.
Who can resist the shop on your way out of DinoLand?

Moving along we headed over to try a ride that I had not done before. Primeval Whirl. Joe didn’t think it was too spinny in May so on his say so, I was ready to try it. I love a good ‘wild mouse’ type ride, so was looking forward to it.
Fun shots of the queue.

trying a mirror shot

this was a really fun ride – not spinny at all. I was afraid it was going to be spinning like a tilt a whirl but it was not.
Nice short of the area from the top of primeval whirl exit:

When we got off the ride, we wanted to play some of the games there. But the games don’t take money – they take tickets, and there is no “ticket booth. I asked and was told that there’s “a girl walking around”…really? So I did not want to have to work that hard to spend my money….we moved on.
Where did we go?

oh yeah! Nina was not up for riding Everest, and the three of us decided to try the single rider line in order to avoid a 40 minute wait. It was a good idea. We all rode on the same coaster, and waited only 10 minutes. I got brave with my camera strapped to my wrist & took a few shots:

I managed to get Joe & Katie riding, but not me apparently

oh wait, maybe that is me two cars behind Katie. Hard to tell, its not a great picture.

A little browsing in the dump shop

and out we headed to find Nina and take in more scenery on our way out of the park

 

[Moira222]

We headed out to the buses and caught a ride here

We had our first night’s dinner reservations at Kouzzina

do you love that look on Katie? Can you tell that we were getting more than a bit tired from our busy day – even though she did sleep on the train, I knew my girl was wearing out, and for sure I was not fully functioning.

Want some food porn?

Here you go

Nina ordered Dolmati. ..stuffed grape leaves if you’ve never had them. They were yummy.

Joe ordered calamari

Apparently I did not take any more photos.
Joe and Nina both ordered
Fisherman's Stew - Scallops, seasonal Fish, Shellfish, Fennel, Grilled Bread and Ouzo Butter
Katie was too tired to think, she ordered chicken noodle soup, which she did not like. What does it say about my cooking when she didn’t like the home made soup….she’s a Campbell's girl!
Luckily for her I ordered enough to share:
Kouzzina Trio - Tasting size portions of Greek Style Lasagna, char grilled Lamb Burger and Cinnamon stewed Chicken with Orzo
If you can’t decide what to order, go for the trio. Its delicious. Katie loved the Greek style lasagna (she had it a few years back and I remembered her liking it then), I think we both ate a bit of the cinnamon stewed chicken and I loved the lamb burger.
Our server was nice enough to bring Nina her first Happy Birthday cupcake

and she was nice enough to share it with Katie and I think Joe. We had declined dessert here because I had plans to hit the Boardwalk Bakery.
That place is dangerous. I was sure I took a photo of the dessert case, but can’t find it anywhere. Guess I only meant to!
Katie ordered an oreo cookie Mickey cupcake. She devoured hers as soon as we got back to our resort. I ordered a bit of deliciousness in a salted carmel chocolate tart. It took me a few days to finish it – a bite or two at a time. But ooooh soo good. I could go for one of them now. Mmmm
We didn’t really wander the Boardwalk like we had wanted to because we were soooo freakin’ tired. Seriously!
We took the ferry over to Hollywood Studios, and caught a bus back to Saratoga Springs. Nina crashed big time. I am a die hard and just can’t give in to sleep at Disney! Joe and I fixed ourselves each a drink in our travel mugs, and the three of us headed up to the Paddock Pool for an evening dip. Sitting in the hot tub, enjoying an adult beverage about did me in. I have no idea how long we stayed at the pool, and am pretty sure I passed out when we got back to our room!!
ok I will be back to update more when I can....I need to spend a bit of family time on this lovely snowy Saturday!

 

[MEK]

Wow - You started out with a mega update. I can't even remember what to comment on.

The train ride look kind of cool. I've always thought it would be fun on the way down, but no so fun on the way back. 5, 7, & 9 seatings. I would hate the 9pm time. I can related to Joe.

Glad your room was ready and you headed straight to one of my fav parks. EE alway looks like a ton of fun. Both lunch and dinner sound yummy. Your trip is off to a great start!

 

[KatMark]

I'm here, MaryEllen. I'll be back to catch up later.

My new TR link is in my signature.

 

[mickeystoontown]

Good gosh! You just started and I'm behind already. Seriously, I'm marking my spot and will go back to read. Thanks so much for the p.m. I often miss out when a Diser starts a new report.

 

[Millie12591]

Here! I stink at keeping up with every new post, but I do eventually get to them all.


Off to read!!

 

[Moira222]

Wow - You started out with a mega update. I can't even remember what to comment on.

The train ride look kind of cool. I've always thought it would be fun on the way down, but no so fun on the way back. 5, 7, & 9 seatings. I would hate the 9pm time. I can related to Joe.

Glad your room was ready and you headed straight to one of my fav parks. EE alway looks like a ton of fun. Both lunch and dinner sound yummy. Your trip is off to a great start!

That update took me forever to do. Hope I didn't set expectations to high.

I'm here, MaryEllen. I'll be back to catch up later.

My new TR link is in my signature.

Hi Kathy! Thanks for popping in & for reminding me of your TR. I saw when you posted on FB but couldn't get over while I was work.

Good gosh! You just started and I'm behind already. Seriously, I'm marking my spot and will go back to read. Thanks so much for the p.m. I often miss out when a Diser starts a new report.

LOL Lisa...I am ALWAYS behind. I used to have a lot of spare time at work but things changed a lot last spring so I lost all my DIS time at work. boo.

Here! I stink at keeping up with every new post, but I do eventually get to them all.


Off to read!!

Thanks for coming over Camille! Don't worry ...my TR won't challenge you to keep up, trust me. Lisa & Kathy are the updating masters!!

 

[IheartDDuck]

I'm joining! That was a mega way to start the TR!

I've always loved the idea of taking the train to Florida, but it's so expensive for us based on our location in the Midwest that it would never really work out.

 

[KatMark]

Wow, when you start a TR, you REALLY start.

What is wrong with people nowadays? That is just so rude and ignorant in a public place like that.

The dinner food looked pretty good.

for your room being ready.

I'm glad you enjoyed Flame Tree...it's one of our favorites. And I did NOT know it took the TIW card...that is good to know.

You liked Primevil Whirl? I told Cayley that I would NEVER do that again. I thought for sure I was going to lose my lunch after riding that Hurl ride.

Dinner at Kouzzina looks good too. One of these days we will get there (especially if we stay at the Boardwalk again).

You got a lot done on your first day being tired and all.

 

[wiigirl]

Following along!

 

[Moira222]

I'm joining! That was a mega way to start the TR!

I've always loved the idea of taking the train to Florida, but it's so expensive for us based on our location in the Midwest that it would never really work out.

So glad you made it over!!

I think I set the bar too high for myself.

The train was very cool, but for us it was pretty comparable to a flight. I don't even know what it would cost from the Midwest. I should look though incase my sister & her family want to look into it for next June.

Wow, when you start a TR, you REALLY start.

What is wrong with people nowadays? That is just so rude and ignorant in a public place like that.

They really were ridiculous. I wonder sometimes if I am being too uptight by making Katie be courteous when others are not. Sometimes after a while I just give in...if you can't beat 'em, join 'em right? I kind of did that on the way home

The dinner food looked pretty good.

for your room being ready.

I'm glad you enjoyed Flame Tree...it's one of our favorites. And I did NOT know it took the TIW card...that is good to know.

The dinner on the train was really good.

and I was sooo glad the room was ready. even if I am not a day time napper, just knowing that we could freshen up, unpack, brew some coffee...all really helped a lot!

Flame Tree is a keeper, we really enjoyed it!

You liked Primevil Whirl? I told Cayley that I would NEVER do that again. I thought for sure I was going to lose my lunch after riding that Hurl ride.

when I was a kid, there was an amusement park near us, Bushkill Park. they had the most awesome Wild Mouse -- LOVED that thing! and riding Primeval Whirl was a lot like that ride, it definitely took me back to being a kid again.

Dinner at Kouzzina looks good too. One of these days we will get there (especially if we stay at the Boardwalk again).

You got a lot done on your first day being tired and all.

This was our second time eating at Kouzzina....we really do enjoy it. I try to "mix it up" with restaurants and try different ones. This one definitely stays on our repeat list.

I was operating on pure Disney adrenaline by the end of the day. I think that's why its a big blur for me. I know when I said I was going to the pool with Joe & Katie my SIL was shocked.

Following along!

Glad you're here!

 

[eandesmom]

Here! Now to catch up

 

[Moira222]

Cynthia glad you could find me! But how can you have time to read? Christmas is coming and then you're on your way to the Happiest Place on Earth. woohoo

 

[KatMark]

Mary Ellen, to you and the family, I wish you a very

 

[blessedmom4]

Mary Ellen, I am FINALLY letting you know I am here. You look FABULOUS!!!!! We REALLY need to talk, I want to pick you brain.


From our family to yours!


​

 

[blessedmom4]

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