Sunday, August 8th, 2010

We decided to go to the later mass today at Mary Queen of the Universe Shrine, so there was no rush to get up and get moving. I still do get up at the regular time, around 7 or so and got myself ready. I wanted to give us a lot of time to get there with traffic on the main highway so we left around 10:45 for the 11:30 mass.  Good thing we did, traffic was a nightmare out there.  The green arrow on to Vineland hardly lets any cars through so it took forever to cross over and then it was bumper to bumper til the shrine entrance.  Joe dropped me off since it was raining pretty good.  I got us a seat in the back off to the right; there were plenty available but it filled up fast.  Another family sat to the left of us and I glanced over and thought they looked somewhat familiar. I even said to Jake that looks like the family that sits in front of us at our regular church at home, St. Marys.  We are new to this church since ours closed a couple years ago but they definitely looked familiar. I saw the boy say something to his mom and then the mom leaned over and said “Excuse me, do you go to St. Marys in New Kensington?”  I said, we were just wondering the same thing!  Is it a small world or WHAT!  What are the chances we would be at the same church, the same mass and the same pew in the same city!  I always look forward to this mass; they have a great choir and the priest always has a great homily.  This particular homily was so good, I was wishing it wasn’t over!  He talked about how to find happiness in every day. You don’t have yesterday, you don’t know if you have tomorrow but you DO have today and you can choose to be happy or not.  I would love to have a tape of it all.

After mass, it was still drizzling.  Jake saw the McDonalds and wanted to eat lunch there. We still had two free smoothie coupons (all from buying sweet tea) so we used those up and got a little bit of lunch. I really wanted to go to the outlets right next door just to see if there were any bargains; it is always hit or miss. Well, we went in the back way where there are always parking spaces but not today.  We drove around to the front and it was completely full. In fact, there was a line of cars lined up waiting for people to leave that stretched from one end of the parking lot to the other!  There isn’t anything I need THAT bad in that store! I told Joe forget it, so we headed out. The traffic going IN to the outlets was unbelievable. It literally stretched from the outlet entrance all the way to the main highway intersection and THAT turning lane extended all the way to Disney property! I have never, in all my years going to Disney, seen it that bad.  I was glad to get out of there!

On the way back to the Fort, we decided to stop off at Old Key West and take a look around at my favorite DVC resort.  Darla’s afghan is still hanging in community hall!  Then Jake mentioned he has never seen Port Orleans Resort. We had stayed there when Justin was smaller but before Jake was born.  We first stopped at Riverside and then backtracked to French Quarter.  We stopped in the food court to have a few beignets, yum, should have got more than 3!

It rained off and on all day and I got the dogs a walk in before it rained harder.  I decided to take a nap for an hour or so.  When I got up, Jake was playing basketball with another kid so Joe and I took the dogs out for a little bit but the dog park would be too wet so we skipped that today.  It was already going on 6:00 by now and we did not eat anything and still wanted to go to Downtown Disney.  Jake wanted to stick around here so he got some chicken nuggets for himself.

Joe and I drove down to Downtown Disney and most of the lots appeared to be full.  I imagine this was going to be a zoo judging from the parking lots.  We got all the way down to Planet Hollywood before finding a space!  We parked and made our way through the extremely busy Pleasure Island area and in to the Downtown Disney area.  It was almost hard to walk at times.  Every few hundred feet, there would be a band  of some sort playing.  I only wanted to look in a few stores but we first had to eat.  I noticed Wolfgang Pucks no longer had the mashed potatoes; there was hardly anybody eating in there which was strange.  Joe wanted Earl of Sandwich and the line was very long but I know it moves fast.  There was no place inside to sit but I remembered seeing a little nook around the corner near Gourmet Pantry that no one was sitting at.  We got our order made in about 15 minutes or so and took our food back to the quiet area.  Someone even commented that we had the right idea!  I got the Italian sandwich and Joe got the original.  We both got a small dessert, chocolate pudding and strawberry shortcake. It was all very good!

After eating, we made our away in to a few stores.  I wanted to check out the Pooh store, TrenD , Team Mickey and World of Disney.  I spotted a few things to keep in mind and will be back when it is less busy, maybe when they open some morning.  We made our way back to the West Side and found our car, where there was someone already waiting to take our space! Aaagghhhh, just get me back to the RV and the peacefulness of the Fort!

Saturday, August 7th, 2010

I woke up early and got the dogs out and walked.  I happen to pull out my National Car Rental confirmation to double check the time and I saw that I was supposed to pick the car up YESTERDAY!! I have no idea why I would make it Friday, when I knew I had a lunch reservation yesterday.  I called them right away and they gave me the number to their desk at The Dolphin Hotel.  He said do not worry, they hold the cars for 24 hrs anyways.  I was so relieved!  I was supposed to have a 3 day rental with coupon for a free day but I was thinking maybe it will just be a two day w/o coupon now.

We walked over to the boat dock to get a boat, which was waiting, over to Magic Kingdom and then hop on a Dolphin bus from there.  It looked like the clouds were going to burst over the Magic Kingdom any minute.  We walked over to the buses and a man asked us where we were heading. I said Dolphin Hotel and he said “leaving already?”  I said well we are picking up a rental car there. He said let me get you a bus then. So he radioed for one for us.  We waited at the stop.  We kept seeing buses that had strange letters on the front like DHCS or DHWL. They always started with DH.  I walked over to that same man and said what does DHCS mean?  He said DH stands for DEAD HEAD and the last two letters are the abbreviation for the hotel.  He said from opening til around 11, they send empty buses to see how many people are going back at that time. So he can dispatch one of those empty buses so people are not waiting long.  Very shortly a Boardwalk bus came and he walked over to ask him to take us to Dolphin and he motioned us to come over.  So we had our own private bus, just us two, to the Dolphin!

We had a small wait at the National Counter and then they put another person on the counter and we were waited on.  They could not have been nicer here.  I told her, I will keep the 3 day rental with coupon if it’s cheaper or I can return in two days, it did not matter.  My coupon was for a free weekend day with min. 3 day stay, one day has to be a Saturday.  She told me she would waive the 3 day requirement and still give us a free day!  So I got a two day rental for $43! Sounds like  a bargain to me!

We walked out with our key to the valet area and a man came right up to go get our car. I reached in my wallet for money and realized, I brought the wrong purse and had no cash for a tip!   Joe said he did not have any either; I wanted to crawl in a hole!  Within a minute, the man came back with our car, he was so nice and fast. I asked his name and if he was working on Monday and he said he was.  I explained I did not have cash on me now but I will be back on Monday and find him.  He seemed appreciative and I promise I will not forget about him!

We drove the car back; we got a silver HHR.  As long as the car does not smell like smoke, I don’t care what kind of car it is.  I picked up my purse where I had the cash and we headed off to Publix.  I had a couple coupons for free smoothies at McDonalds so we stopped in there first and then realized we should probably eat while we were there.  What a difference in prices compared to Disney!

We then went around the corner to Publix and got the things we needed. It didn’t seem like we needed that much, but of course, we left with all kinds of junk.  As we drove back to Disney property, the clouds were getting lower and darker.  It was raining a little bit by the time we got back here and looked like it had already rained a good bit while we were away.  We put everything away  and  I decided to lay down and take a nap.  Joe took Cassie to the dog park and Sandie laid down with me.  It seemed like he was gone 5 minutes but he said it was half an hour.  I got up and took Sandie for a nice long walk so she would be tired too.

We weren’t sure what we wanted to do for dinner. I suggested Caseys for hot dogs so we put dogs away in their crate and headed over to the Magic Kingdom and headed straight for Caseys.  We got our food and ate outside to soak up the Main Street atmosphere.

After eating, we wanted to cool off and ride Pirates.  We had a rowdy boat and they were all singing the pirates YO HO song; it was funny cause they were all adults!  We then got fast passes for Big Thunder Mountain and it was only 45 minutes away.  We walked over to Philharmagic via Fantasyland and walked right in to a show about to start.  There were some foreign people who sat down in the middle and a CM came over and told them to move down; they acted like they didn’t understand her until she motioned GET UP and pointed to the last chair; they finally did move.   We kept walking towards Tomorrowland and road Wedway which was pretty busy!  We picked up some Buzz fastpasses and all wanted some frozen cokes from The Lunching Pad and sat at a table for a little bit.

It was time for Big Thunder, so we rode the trail from toon town all the way back around to Frontierland.  The funniest thing happened in the Big Thunder Fast pass line.  Jake noticed a dad and two sons with Flyer shirts on. Just as he noticed them, the dad noticed Joe’s steeler shirt.  I said to the one little boy in line “hey, do you know you have a FLYERS shirt on?” He looked funny and shook his head yes.  The dad said to me DON”T EVEN START! HE said he already noticed the Steeler shirt! Joe said hey I have a couple CROSBY shirts for your kids if you want. He said he wouldn’t wear a Crosby shirt if he were DEAD! LOL! We ended up in the same train as them and when we got off the ride, he tapped Jake on the back.  Wheeewww, that was a close one. Jake was mad he had his Boston Red Sox shirt instead of his Crosby one.

We walked back to Buzz via the castle hub and through the parade crowds.  Buzz was only a 20 minute stand by but it looked longer. We walked pretty much straight through the fast pass line.  We all got our own separate car.  I had a pitiful score of 3300. I  have never scored that low. I swear my gun was broke. Jake had a high score of 276,800 HE SAID, lol.

We headed out down Main Street. Everyone was coming IN as we were going out. We walked right out to a waiting boat; what luck!  I was sitting on the boat and happened to look up and there was a HUGE spider web above me!  I moved up a row when I saw that!

It feels good to be back relaxing and cool. It amazes me how fast time goes down here.

Friday, August 6th, 2010

We had the luxury of sleeping in a little this morning; although I don’t do that too well. Around 7:30 or so I got up and got things going.  We wanted to be at World Showcase when it opened at 11 or close to it.  We bussed to Epcot and casually made our way back to the entrance near Canada.  It’s nice to not rush off to get fast passes for a change. We even stopped in Club Cool to have some Coke from China; love the watermelon flavor!

We started out in Canada walking through the shops and up the steps and down to the movie, Oh Canada.  We had just missed one and the next one is in 14 minutes; again no hurry, so we waited.  This movie has Martin Short and it’s kind of funny.  It was close to our seating time in France for lunch so we bypassed looking around in the United Kingdom for now and headed across the bridge to France. Only in Disney can you go from Canada through United Kingdom to France!  Chefs De France had just opened and we were called shortly after the doors opened.  We were seated in the room with all the windows that you see as you walk up to the bakery.  I can’t believe we have never eaten here before; I always wanted to and just never bothered.  At first we had a female waitress  but she came over and introduced us to Johann, who would be our waiter. Works for me, Johann is very cute!  I have to really listen when they talk as it is a little hard to understand with their thick French accent.  First they brought us some French baguette bread and butter and it was warm and sooo good!  Jake and I had the ham and cheese sandwich and Joe had a mahi mahi sandwich.   Ours had a small salad that came with it and it was also very good.  As we were eating, Remy came around! What a hoot this rat is! He stopped at our table second ; I taped a little bit of him, very cute and very clever how they do this.  Joe and I decided to have some crème brulee’; what better place than France! It was a large portion and unbelievably good.

We headed over to The American Adventure since it was about 1:30 and I thought there would be a show about then.  We heard Voices of Liberty finishing up as we walked in.  We walked upstairs to the theatre entrance and sat down in front.  Some little girl was sitting in our row and every time Jake moved, she moved, lol.  Finally her sister came and got her and made her stay near them.  She had the cutest little laugh, that it made me laugh.  Once the show started, you never knew she was there.  It was a great show as usual.  We looked around in the store afterwards and I bought Jake a Boston Red Sox shirt that he wanted.  As I was paying, my phone rang and it was Pat!  She was back at her room and was ready to go to the Cast Connection Store.

We all walked back over to Boardwalk and Pat was already pulling up front with the car.  Once Jake figured out how to fold the seat back up, we took Joe and Jake back to The Fort and Pat and I headed off backstage to the cast member store.  First we stopped at Disney University in the Company D store; lots of cute things in here; then we went over to Cast Connection.  First thing we noticed is, they are selling food in  here now! Apples were only .25, OJ was $2.50 (compared to $4.99 in the resorts stores) and water was only .60 !  Pat bought a few things, I only bought some OJ and pretzels.  There was really nothing there this time around.  Pat drove me back to the Fort and I showed her how to get back out again.  I know it can be confusing when you’re not used to it and this resort is literally a mile from one end to the other.

We chilled out awhile back here at the RV; some new neighbors had moved in around us and they were just loving the dogs.  I gave the one lady Kenny’s number for the carts.  They were renting two from Disney at $63 a day each!

We had no plans for dinner and Joe had been wanting to get nachos so we headed down to Crocketts Tavern.  The settlement area was just hopping with activity.  A Hoop Dee Doo show was lining up, people were playing (plastic) horseshoes, the playground was full of giggling kids, carts were whizzing by left and right and a horse was pulling a carriage. I asked about getting a table for wings and nachos and she said it would be awhile unless we could find an empty high top table, which we did.  We sat there and sat there and no one came over to us. Finally, after about 15 minutes, Joe went up to the bar and ordered some drinks and the food for us.  There was a girl named Barb working there.  I did not think she was that friendly a Cm as they usually are at the Fort.  She sort of made us feel like we were bothering her.  When she came to bring the food over to our table, she practically slammed it down; she said it was hot. Jake went to take it from her and she said “I SAID IT WAS HOT!” Yikes!  It finally slowed down in there but we never got our drinks refilled by anyone. I had to take my empty glass all the way up to the buffet area and ask for a refill at the register. He said our server would take care of us; I said, we do not have a server, lol.  Everything was really good but the service was lacking.  If it were up to me, I would not have left a tip but Joe did anyways.

We were talking about what to do for the rest of the evening and decided to take the dogs over to the dog park while it was still light and not so hot.  We walked them over there and again, the Fort was just hopping with activity everywhere you went.  You could smell food on the grills, bike riders going back and forth, people everywhere!  When we got to the dog park, a few dogs were just leaving and our dogs had a stare down with them, lol.  We stayed a little longer since the dogs had a lot of energy to burn off and it was a nice evening, not hot at all. Again, Cassie insists on carrying her Frisbee herself.  Jake had decided to play basketball for a little while while we were at the dog park.

Another fun day; I wish time would slow down!

Thursday, August 5th, 2010

Well, I am waking up later and later these days! I got up at 6:00 to take the dogs out and get a drink. I really should have just stayed up but I layed back down and next thing I know, it is 7:30!  I made some tea and had a donut and started getting ready for the day.  Our only plans were to hit the Studios for Tower of Terror, maybe Rock n Roller Coaster and have lunch at Sci Fi.  I like going in to a park with a small agenda to accomplish.

We got our fast passes for 11:55 for Tower of Terror.  Rock n Roller standby was 70 minutes and Jake did not want to do single rider, if it was even open.   We headed over to Great Movie Ride and this time there was enough of a crowd that we got to see some of the movie clips.  We almost had the very last row of the vehicle to ourselves but they squeezed in a few more at the last minute.  We walked over to the Muppets Show and walked right in to the ending of the preshow.  Some of the effects were not working; the bubbles were just drips of sticky bubble stuff at first and then tons of bubbles landing on us!  We took our time going through the shops over on Sunset Blvd. towards Tower of Terror.  We had a few more minutes and then our fast pass time came up and we walked right up in to the hotel and in to the library.  There were some goofball teen girls in there, when Rod Serling is talking, cracking their gum really loud.  Not sure what they were trying to prove but they made themselves out to look really immature.  Once people ignored them, they seemed to stop.  We got on our “elevator” and got the first row!  None of us were really sure what to expect with the new drop sequences and effects.  The effects were pretty neat but the drops were not that great.  Instead of 5 or 6 drops, we dropped maybe 2 ½ times.  It is not nearly as good as before.  Maybe it is different each time, I hope so.

Now it was finally time to eat!  We got over to Sci Fi and there was a line to check in.  I had a feeling there were some in line without reservations and I knew they’d be turned away.  After a few minutes, the CM said this is a reservation only line, we are not accepting walk ins today; half the line left!  I gave my name and stood off to the side.  Then a lady and her kids came and said we have no reservations but we are on the dining plan and will sit anywhere; they took her right back! Go figure!  Even took her before us!  Every single person we encounter is on the dining plan these days.

We had a really good waitress at Sci Fi.  She was really getting in to the whole 50s theme and hitch hiker thing. I always think the food here is pretty good but they need more of a selection.  I wasn’t sure why there were so many empty cars when there were so many people waiting to get seated.

After lunch, we took our time leaving, stopping in Sid Cahuenga’s on the way out.  Lots of neat things in this store!  We had a 10 minute wait for  a bus and got back to the RV and walked the dogs a couple laps around.  We all took a small break and then walked them over to the dog park to play some Frisbee.  Cassie carries her Frisbee (not sure why wordpress capitalizes that word) the entire walk over!  This time there was a little Bichon at the park named Bella; she wanted no part of playing with other dogs.  Cassie played for about 20 minutes or so and I hosed them down and they were dry by the time we got back to the RV.

 

We wanted to walk around the world showcase for the evening so we caught a boat to Magic Kingdom and then caught a bus to Boardwalk or Beach Club, whatever came first. It was Boardwalk.  I called Pat on the way, since she was just arriving today. Just wanted her to know I was in the area in case she was too.   We walked around the Boardwalk a little bit and then headed in to World Showcase and went to the right.  It seems we all wanted different things tonight so I headed to Germany for a “frankfurter” and kraut, Joe and Jake got Chinese.  First I went over to the new, just opened today, restaurant in Italy, Via Napoli.  There was a short line and I just wanted to see what the wait was.  It was an hour and a half! No, I did not feel like eating at 9:30. Maybe another day.

After we all ate, we wanted to watch Illuminations ahead of the crowd so we watched it at the entrance to World Showcase and left just after the finale to head for a Fort Bus.  The plan was to take the Wild. Lodge/Fort bus, get off at Wilderness Lodge and get a Fort bus from there and take the back way in since our cart was at the Settlement area.  We got off at the Lodge and a Fort bus pulled right up! We decided to celebrate by buying a box of Entenmann’s Donuts, lol.  It had rained over here while we were gone so Jake dried off the cart for us and we rode back over, a short ride, to our site.

Milk and donuts and lights out! Another fun day in the world!

 

Wednesday, August 4th, 2010

I swore I would not sleep past 7 this morning but sure enough, it was 7:15 when I got up for good.  I did get up around 5 to take the dogs out but we all went back to sleep when we came back in.  Not sure why, but I had my tea as usual but did not realize I forgot my yogurt til we got to Disney’s Hollywood Studios, when my stomach started growling.

We left the house around 9:15 or so and I was worried about what time our Toy Story Mania fast pass would be. I really like leaving the parks right after lunch.  Since this wasn’t our scheduled day for this park (I originally had Epcot planned), we had no ADR for today. It seemed like it took forever for a Studio bus to get here.  Of course, the Epcot bus came and no one got on!  When the studio bus finally arrived, everyone at our stop got on except for a few!  I base my planned park days on experience and knowledge and I don’t mind being flexible but it really does pay to stick to the best days plan.  Tourplans.com had studios as a preferred park for today, but I would disagree.

Anyways, we have a lot of time here so I did not mind veering off course, lol.  We arrived at the Studios and saw a personal vehicle parked at our stop?  Who the heck drives their car up that far and just parks it there! There was a family in there and they were taking their time getting out and the driver finally got him to at least move up.  Apparently, it was an Indian family and they did not understand the signs.  We headed straight for Toy Story Mania and the fast pass area was clear of people; with a return time of 2:03.  So this would be our last ride of the day here, even though it was later than I like to be in the parks in the summer.

We walked on over to the Great Movie Ride and literally walked right down to the doors. Well, sort of…there were 5-6 teen girls that apparently thought the hand rails were  gymnastic parallel bars and were using them to propel themselves forward.  I had noticed they opened up the other side of the queu so I slipped under and went to that side; hoping maybe it was the western version.  This queu took us right down to getting on to the ride car, no time to see the movie clips.   The gymnasts wannabe’s were way back in the other line.  The Great Movie Ride never changes and I really think it needs to shut down for a long time for a major overhaul. I want them to leave The Wizard of Oz in at the end though.

We walked back towards Star Tours, walked around in the book store and got in line for The American Idol Experience first show.  There were two so so girl singers and one good male singer from Miami. He was the one that won, singing the Lion King Circle of Life.  I recognized Phillip from the Comedy Warehouse and he was the “simon” judge.  Of course, the guy  won, he had received standing ovations on his song.  He is going to the Idol tryouts in Texas next week! I would not be surprised to see him on the show!

We walked over to eat lunch at Backlot Express; hardly anyone was in there before noon.  We got some burgers and drinks, ice water for me and Jake.  The burger tasted exactly like the Sci Fi burgers Jake said and they really did.  The fries were awfully salty though and I barely touched them. Should have got carrots; can’t really mess them up!

We then headed over to Sunset Boulevard but Tower of Terror was 70 minutes with fast pass return at 3. We are coming here tomorrow, so we’ll head there first tomorrow.  Did not bother to check Rock n Roller since it would no doubt be the same if not worse.  We walked through the Sunset shops and decided to kill some time in One Man’s Dream.  I enjoy this no matter how many times I go through it. Sorry Walt, I did doze off a few times!

We still had about 40 minutes to kill before our Toy Story fast pass so Jake suggested the backlot tour. He had not done this since he was a kid.  I normally would not bother with this attraction but what the heck; when we were done, it would be Toy Story time.  I would not wait more than 10 minutes for this and that is about what it was for us to wait.  It is interesting to see behind the scenes a  little bit.

We then headed straight over to Toy Story Mania and were on in no time.  I was amazed at the people standing there talking to the CM about “what do you mean there are no more fast passes!”  Um, it is 2:00! They are gone before noon!  So Jake beat us all with 139,000, I had 101,000 and Joe had 93,000. Those are rounded off numbers. I thought I did better than usual, but not really that great, lol.

Well, I was ready to leave this park for the day.  We headed down Hollywood Blvd. walking through the stores to keep cool.  We are bus # 13 and there were a few people there.  I was not about to wait in the sun and found a shady bench.  I saw the line filling so I did eventually  get up wait and then a bus came pretty soon after.  We got the last few seats on the bus and started up a conversation with some little kids who were very cute and talkative.  They got off at the Wilderness Lodge stop and we went on to the Fort and hopped on our cart and back to the cool RV.  The dogs were so happy to see us; this is a little later than normal for us to come back.  We cooled off for a few minutes and then  grabbed a Frisbee and rode over to the dog park.  It was cloudy and a good time of day to let them run.  Sandie mostly drags her ears around sniffing the ground but Cassie was flying after that Frisbee.  A family  stopped and asked if they could take their picture; they were on a scavenger hunt!  Once Cassie stops going after the Frisbee, she is getting tired; she drank some water and we walked back.

I got the dogs situated in their crate and we headed over to the Settlement Depot to catch a bus to Wilderness Lodge. It only takes a few minutes to get there since they go the back way.   We walked down to Roaring Forks and got a couple flatbread pizzas and Jake got a cheeseburger.  We ate in their little dining room which was full of college age kids who seemed to think they were the only ones in there…screaming and pounding the tables…some sort of swim team.  We went up and relaxed in the lobby; Jake roamed around upstairs since he had never been up there. I get nervous just seeing him up that high!  We walked out to catch a bus to the Magic Kingdom which came shortly. Once over there, we caught a monorail to do the monorail resort loop but did not get off at Contemporary; we continued on to the Polynesian.  The guys were thirsty and I wanted a piece of this wonderful looking apple pie.  I heated it up in the microwave and took it outside to eat with the Polynesian music and tiki lights for atmosphere.  I love the theming of this resort; it was the first one we stayed at after the free radio trip, back in 1989. Justin was only 4.

We then walked back up to the monorail station and hopped on for the short ride to Grand Floridian. It is so pretty, especially at night.  The piano player was playing some pretty songs and I really wanted to sit down in the lobby but I knew I would never want to get up.  We looked around in the shops; I saw my Disney Birkies which I did not realize they sold.  Jake and I went up to Basin and used the salt scrub, love that stuff!

We walked out to a waiting monorail for the short ride to the Magic Kingdom and got off and sure enough, a Fort Wilderness boat was just pulling up to the dock.  We took a seat in the front to feel the warm breeze and it appeared that there was lightning in the sky that was turning pretty colors.  We realized it must be Illuminations lighting up the clouds.  Once over that the fort, we had to hang back til another boat left the dock.  The Clementine Beach area was bustling with people getting their beach chairs lined up, kids playing tether ball; all waiting for the fireworks to begin, which are going off as I type.  Joe and I stopped in the store for some donuts and ice cream and walked the short walk back to the RV.  We took the dogs out for one last walk around 200 and then 100 loop. It was a pleasant evening for a walk, what better place to stroll around.   On the way in, we talked to our neighbor who had had a cocker spaniel who lived to be 18!  He was petting Sandie and wanted to be sure his wife got a chance to see her.

Another day is done; where does the time go down here.  We will ride Tower of Terror tomorrow and Rock n Roller Coaster and have lunch at Sci Fi. Not sure what the evening will bring, maybe a nice stroll around The World Showcase.

I will have todays pictures on facebook.  Pet peeve of the day: people texting while walking and not watching where they are going.

Tuesday, August 3rd, 2010 – If you can dream it, then you can do it!

I got up a little later than usual for me, about 7:15 and did my usual routine.  By the time every one else got up and out the door it was around 9:15 and I was worried our fast past time for Soarin would be past 1:00, which was around the time we wanted to head back.  It seems like it took forever for an Epcot bus to come and it already had some people on it, we think from Wilderness Lodge, so we had to stand.  Jake and I went through the senseless bag check.  The lady in front of me said the same thing.  We got through that and headed to Soarin, cutting through Innoventions and coming out the other side.  Not only does this save footsteps, it is cool in there!  We headed to the Land Pavilion, got downstairs and the fast pass return time was 1:03 so we would make this our last ride before leaving.  Our plan for today was to hit this right side of the park which is just what we did.

We wanted to see Caption EO since Jake had never seen it.  We walked right in to the preshow about to start.  This is the show that started my Disney craze.  I had won a radio contest back in 1986 being the 10th caller on the last day of a two week contest. It was for a Caption EO promo and we took the trip in January 1987. My how that “free” trip has cost me!

After the show, we decided to ride the Imagination Ride and walked right in to an empty car as usual.  If there is ever a line at this ride, you know it is busy but luckily, we walked right on.  We were all hungry at this point and headed back to the Land to eat at Sunshine Seasons.  I decided on the chicken kids meal but added a piece of strawberry shortcake; my favorite dessert here!  After eating, we headed to the Nemo ride and there was about a 10 minute wait.  The line never stopped, just moved slowly til we got to our clam mobile.  I have to admit, I started to doze off in here a few times, lol.  We then walked around the aquarium for about 20 minutes or so.  It was now almost 1:00, so we headed back to the Land to ride Soarin.  By the time we all went to the bathroom, it was just about 1:03.  Fast pass works great here, we walked right up to a concourse and had about a 10 minute wait. The regular line was at 70 minutes!  We got second row center, not too bad.

Time to leave Epcot for this day. Our bus stop is #4 which is nice and close and a bus came in about 5 minutes.  Today did not seem nearly as hot, or maybe it just seemed like that because Epcot is so open and so many places with attractions are cool. When we got back, I walked the dogs and we all just chilled; I think Joe and took naps.  Around 4:00 I told everyone to get ready since we have Trails End for dinner.  It is really convenient being just around the corner.

We were seated in the downstairs area of Crocketts Tavern, which isn’t my favorite spot; it is not well lit but I have to say, it is very peaceful and secluded down there compared to the main dining area.  We took our time and did not finish up til after 6:00. I got the rest of my sweet tea to go and we sat out on the porch in the rocking chairs for awhile, one of my most favorite things to do EVER here.  We walked over to the store to get a few supplies….milk is $2.95  a QUART!

When we got back here, Joe and I took the dogs for a long walk but it is hard to get very far since all the kids come out to see them. Our neighbors across from us are dog lovers so the little girls were just loving Sandie and she was loving every minute of it. she laid on her back and let them pet her and hug her.  I think Cassie seems a little intimidating to the smaller kids but she is really gentle.  I realized as we were walking around why there are no “poop” stations; 200 loop is NOT a pet loop! I requested 300 but it apparently was full so we got put in 200. Disney reserves the right to make any loop a pet loop if necessary but now I see why we have the only two dogs here!

Around 7:45, Joe and I caught a boat over to the Magic Kingdom for our Fireworks Dessert Party held at the Tomorrowland Terrace.  When I made these reservations, Jake said he did not want to go; of course, now he did. I know they sell out so he would probably not be able to get one now.  He decided to stay in with the dogs and watch something on his computer.

We arrived to a bustling Magic Kingdom but not as crowded as Monday night was.  We had no agenda except the party, so we went and checked in and got our bracelets and had about half an hour til it opened up at 9:00.  It is all reserved seating  so there is no need to stand in line.  We did not go further than the Casey’s area since it is no easy feat getting across Main Street with everyone sprawled out on the curbs waiting for the parade.

We got back over there just as they were letting them in and were taken to our table in the FRONT ROW!  The castle was literally right in front of me; it was so perfect.  We sat down with our plate of desserts and the Main Street Electrical Parade music started and there it was, right across the way; I was loving it!  Everything was really good; they even had sweet tea! We walked up to the railing just before 10 and then the Summer Nightastic Fireworks started; it was a beautiful show and Tinkerbell flew just off to our right!  I videoed it too.  When it was over, we were shuttled behind Main Street, which saved us alot of crowd back up on Main Street.  As we approached the dock, a boat was pulling out but another one came in about 10 minutes.  Just as we boarded there was the water pageant floats right in front of us; it was all timed so perfect!

We walked back to a very peaceful Fort. It was dark along the path but the lady behind us had a flashlight cause she was afraid of snakes! yikes!  We were all tired after the long day and it was lights out at 11:00. Another fun day; I just want time to freeze!

Monday, August 2nd, 2010

I woke up around 6:30 this morning and am sleeping well on the pull out couch.  It is padded well, I cannot feel any bars or anything underneath. It is more than a twin but less than a double when it is opened up. One funny thing that happened was, some time in the middle of the night, Cassie jumped up beside me, kissed/licked my cheek and got back down and went back to sleep. What a sweetie she is.  I took them both out, came back in and had tea and yogurt and then got my shower. Joe was up shortly after and we all started getting ready for Magic Kingdom.  We ended up leaving here around 9:15 or so and there was a boat loading as we approached the dock.  I had to pick up Joe and Jake’s annual pass at Guest Services and thank goodness there was no line there. Joe gets the 15 mo. pass but Jake’s was a new one. At first, the CM was going to give him 15 mos. as well but his was too far expired but it was nice of him to try to do that. We thought it expired in June, but it was August 2009.

Once inside the park we walked down Main Street and headed over to Pirates.  There was no line on the right side and we almost walked on.  This ride is cool in more ways than one; it felt so good in there!  We then walked over to get fast passes for Splash with a return time of 11:15, only 45 minutes away.  Jake and Joe wanted to see Hall of Presidents and we all knew it would be nice and cool in there. It was only a 10 minute wait but I would have waited longer since we had  a seat and it was so nice to have the air.  As we walked in to the theatre, everyone bunches up at the back for some reason. I know to go around them and towards the bottom where no one was. We sat smack dab in the middle with no one in front of us. Joe and Jake really liked the new movie; I like it more every time I see it.  One thing I found very interesting was, when Obama was announced, barely anyone clapped. My how things have changed.

We had a reservation today for lunch at the Plaza Restaurant but we were so close to Columbia Harbor House that we just decided to go there.  It was only 11:30 and no one was in line, perfect timing.  I got my favorite tuna on wheat sandwich and we took our food upstairs to the overlook windows and it was peacefully quiet; I was in heaven with my fav sandwich and people watching and cool!  I got the bright idea to pour my ice water from the cup slowwwwly in to my water bottle and the entire cup of ice spilled out on to the table, lol. I cleaned it all up and managed to get a new full bottle of ice water out of it!

It was now time for our fast passes for Splash Mountain and wow, the regular line was sooooo long, we walked right past everyone and right on to a boat. I had the seat to myself. Strange, no water was going down the mountain but the boats still were. No one was getting wet! We WANTED to get wet!  After splash, we hopped on to a train with a few minutes wait and got off at Toon Town and walked the back path to Tomorrowland.  We picked up fast passes for Space Mountain for later.  We decided to leave the park but couldn’t pass up Wedway first.  It gave us a nice rest and cool off before heading back down Main Street.  We walked out to a boat just pulling up. Wow, it was really hot; humans were not meant to live in this climate!

We got back in no time and we took the dogs out and around the loop.  Joe has wanted to take them to the dog park but it was 2:00 and the hottest part of the day.  We rode them over on the cart and we had the park to ourselves.  We threw the frisbee and Cassie ran after it. She did this a few times but I could tell she was too hot.  I hosed her down and we decided to leave. She literally dried off on the short ride back to the RV.  I needed to cool off and fast.  I gave them fresh water and we all had some ice cold drinks. Jake and I took a nap while Joe finished setting things up outside.  I remember hearing the news and waking up once in awhile. Dogs were laying down beside me; that 10 mins. in the park did them in.

It was going on 5:00 so I started dinner.  I had bought a roast chicken in gravy back home and I heated that up with mashed potatoes and buttered corn. It was SO good! It was just enough for the 3 of us. We decided to get dessert over at the Magic Kingdom after using our fast passes for Space Mountain.  Joe and I walked the dogs around 100 and 200 loop and I put them in the crate and we left for the boat. More luck, a boat was waiting!  We get over to Magic Kingdom and lots were coming out but it was still crowded. We headed straight to Space Mountain and the regular line was way way out of the building.  We walked all the way through to the queus and then waited a little bit.  The lady in front of us had been waiting 45 minutes and the line was even longer in that time.  We got on in no time and it was fast and dark! We were next to the last car and it seemed to whip us around back there.  It was fun though. Joe sat that one out since he was afraid it might jerk his back.  It did not seem that rough to me but I did have a slight headache after.

We had noticed the Buzz line was long and picked up fast passes just in case we wanted to ride later.  We then walked over to Carousel of Progress and waited only a few minutes.  I always enjoy this and the a/c felt wonderful!  When we came out, we noticed lines seemed to be growing.  The fast pass RETURN line for Buzz was back to Monsters Laugh Floor! These people are nuts!  We decided to check out Haunted Mansion and somehow made our way through the crazy people sitting waiting for the Main Street Electrical Parade.  I took a few castle pics on the way and took one for a family waiting on the bridge with the castle in the background. She said I looked like I knew what I was doing, not really.  The Haunted Mansion line said 15 minutes but the line was twisted around a couple times. I really did not want to wait but Jake said it would probably move fast and it did.  It was about 15 mins. as the sign said.  Thank goodness for knowing the little ride secrets.  We walked under the parasol picture and when the door slid open, we were among the first couple  people to get in the line for the doombuggy.  Some stupid people were taking flash pictures; wanted to wring their necks!  It is so blinding when that happens.

After Haunted Mansion, we brave the crazy parade crowd and walked over to the ice cream parlor. Jake and Joe wanted ice cream; the line was not long at all.  As we waited, we watched the kids get their ice cream and it would PLOP to the sidewalk in no time.  I felt bad but I have to admit, it was just so funny to see their face. Poor things!  They got their ice cream and I decided I wanted a gingerbread man cookie at the Confectionary.  Oh getting down Main Street was a zoo! They do a good job in getting people to keep moving but it was nuts and HOT!  We finally reached the confectionary and there was no one in there. I got my cookies and found Joe and Jake over by a window as the parade started.  We were nice and cool and could see the parade; works for me!  Before it ended, we started walking out to the boat. We must have just missed a boat; we had quite the wait and the bugs were feasting on us!  Finally the boat came and we sat up front to get the cool breeze and see the stars.  We caught the tail end of the water pageant and just as we docked the fireworks started!  We watched them for a few minutes but we have the private dessert party for them tomorrow.

It felt SO good to get back to the cool RV.  We took the dogs out and are relaxing now. Where does time go here!  Tomorrow is supposed to be Animal Kingdom but with temps close to 100, I am rethinking that.  Everyone knows AK is the hottest park of all. Plans may change. Stay tuned!

Pics for today can be found on facebook. It is taking too long to get them inserted in the reports.

Sunday, August 1st, 2010 – It’s all pure magic wrapped up in pixie dust; welcome to a place where dreams come true….

We are here! Finally!  We left Hilton Head around 9:10 with a 5 hour drive ahead of us.  I had originally told Kenny to drop off cart at 3:00 but he called and I changed the time to 4:00 and we’d be lucky to make that.  The closer we got to Orlando, I realized our trip to Publix was not going to happen.  Normally, we would go to the drive thru check in but as we approached Disney property, it was almost 4; I told Joe just park in the overflow lot and I called Kenny and let him know we were there; we’d be kind of hard to miss, lol.  We signed the paperwork and Jake and I drove over to check in and went inside where we were promptly waited on and checked in.  I did not get the 300 loop but instead got 234 which is fine, it’s one over from 300, closer to settlement area.  The sites are kind of tight and I was worried we’d get backed in but there are even bigger Rvs than ours in here.  All this going on while clouds were getting darker, thunder was booming in the distance and you could see lightning every once in awhile.

After we checked in, Jake and I drove back over and Joe followed me in the cart and I led us to our site.  It really is nice and convenient, not too far from comfort station and basketball court.  It was now close to 4:30 and we had a Chef Mickey reservation for 5:05.  I felt bad for the dogs, we no sooner backed in and I let them out for a few minutes and had to put them back in their crate.  I said time for cage and Sandie went running to the back room, lol. She was trapped and easy to catch, lol. I scooped her up and gave them each a treat and zipped them in.

We carted over to the settlement marina although it is a very close walk. Having the cart will be much more convenient for when we go to the buses at the outpost; it will save us from having to bus to the front.  We apparently, just missed a boat and had a good 15-20 minute wait but it was not raining on us yet. You could see it in the distance so it wasn’t going to be too long before it got us.  As our boat approached, the guests came off while we waited to get on.  There was this one lady that no one could believe! She was literally half dressed! Her “shirt” was low cut to her waist and let me tell you, not much was NOT showing. You could literally hear everyone in line gasp! The people behind us said something and Joe laughed. We ended up talking to them the whole way over to the Contemporary.  They said in the week they’ve been here, they have seen some real sights, including see thru pants!  Anyways, we finally arrived at The Contemporary and was glad to get there dry; we got upstairs and there was quite a line.  We opted to NOT get the picture and that shortened our line significantly.  The beeper went off in no time and we were seated in the main room.  Jake wasted no time in filling up his plate!

YUM!

As we were sitting there eating, the clouds burst with lightning and rain. I noticed there were no more monorails passing thru. Every once in awhile, you’d hear a crack of thunder and everyone would jump, lol.  We had a visit from all the characters as we ate.  This was the one meal that Jake enjoys since it is a family tradition to eat here on the first night of every trip.  As you can see from the pictures, you are never too old for characters. As you will also notice, there are none of me, lol.  I was noticing all of the other guests around us and it appeared there were a lot of first time visitors. Some were yelling for the characters to come to their table as they walked by.  There was one large family in the middle that was just having the best time. They had a little baby and Mickey got down on the floor and positioned the baby in his lap. It was so cute. The one lady in their party reminded me of Carol Burnett and she laughed like her too.  We took our time and it was a nice enjoyable meal. I thought the food was pretty good, but not enough of a selection of different things. The potatoes are still to die for.  The chocolate chip cookies are almost worth the price alone.  Here a few more pics:

Jake's first plate of food

Since wordpress is not loading pictures too well tonight, please see FB for the rest!

After we finished eating, it was still pouring and thundering and lightning. All boat traffic was stopped as was the monorail. The entrance to the monorail was closed and the CM said a “line was fried” and they did not know when it would be back up.  I called my friend, Debbie, and asked her to check the radar. It did not look good. We walked around a little bit more but bad weather brings in all the people, so it was crowded.  We walked down to concierge and asked for alternate transportation options. Not much. Walk to MK and boat back, whenever they started up or take a cab.  We walked down to bus area and it was a steady drizzle.   I got a plastic bag for my purse and we decided to make the best of it and walk over to the buses and see what was up.  The lines were long for the buses and I did not see a Fort stop, which I kind of expected.  As we got near the boat dock, I noticed they were running the boats and one was heading for the dock. No line! We hopped on that boat and were back at the Fort in no time. Of course, our cart was drenched.  Joe and Jake drove back in the cart and I walked.

Approaching the RV, all was quiet.  I opened the door and saw the dogs staring at me from their crate.  I unzipped it and they went nuts running all over the place. I leashed them up and we took them out and walked them around the loop for a little bit. I was so relieved they are ok.  Our original plans for tonight included going over to Magic Kingdom after eating but this bad weather made it necessary for us to come back.  We still needed to finish hooking up and that is hard to do at night.  It eventually did clear up and I just heard the Electrical Water Pageant going by and Nightastic Fireworks are going off right now. There will be lots of chances to see them both!

Tomorrow is Magic Kingdom!!

Saturday, July 31st, 2010

To me, today is the beginning of the real vacation.  We had a short 4 hour drive to Hilton Head; GPS said we’d arrive about 2:30; that would give us time to walk the dogs, relax and then get ready for dinner. While on the road, I got a call from Ken at Kenny’s Tee Tyme to arrange for drop off at Fort Wilderness. You can’t beat his carts; nice and clean and CHEAP, compared to Disney’s rate of $59+tax a day!!  ken charges about a third of that per day; the longer you stay, the cheaper it is. So I told him, we should be ready to pick it up around 3 or so.

We stopped at a few rest stops for the dogs and had planned on having sandwiches at the one, but it was so crowded and noisy, so we only let the dogs do their thing and then left. Of course, not before Cassie stepped in some other dogs business so it took awhile for me to rinse her feet. Then she was trying to get to me, jake was holding her and she backed out of her collar! We caught her within  a foot of her walking and got her back in it again. The pet area is right next to the highway, they really need a fence along this area. I was talking to a lady with two little white dogs and she said she has always wanted a golden retriever. We also talked to two adorable little kids who asked if they could pet the dogs, which I thought was so smart of them for their age. Of course, Sandie answered them with her wiggle tail, lol.

We finally arrived at our exit but it is still another 20 miles or so til you get actually on to the island.  I went in to check us in and was given the keys to a golf cart to pick out our site. Jake and I drove around a little bit and finally found a nice corner site that I thought would be easier to back in to and it had a nice grassy yard area for the dogs.  All of these sites are “owned” by people that rent them out so they are all nice and beautifully landscaped.  I was wishing I picked a closer site to the front as was Jake, since we were just out of reach of the free internet. Oh well, can’t have it all. Going to Disney for two weeks will just have to suffice . Here is a picture of our site:

Site 92 at Hilton Head RV Resort

On my way back to our site from checking in, I called Dottie and we decided on 5:00; she was coming to pick us up and drive to Hudsons, not too far down the road. The island traffic was heavy, lots of people going in both directions.  We walked the dogs to get them all tired out since this was their first true test of being left alone in their crate. I was a little nervous about this but once we got the restaurant and started talking and eating, I realized I forgot about that til we were on the way back.

Hudsons is right on the waterway and is just a really beautiful setting especially this time of evening and it wasn’t busy! When we went in, we were immediately seated on the far side of the restaurant. We had already perused the menu with with check in packet so we pretty much knew what we wanted. I knew I did not want my flounder fried; I never seem to finish it and thought that would be too heavy with the heat so I got it broiled. It was perfect! Our meals came just as we were almost done with our salad and the waiter apologized for the “almost too fast” service. We thought that was very nice of him; he was very good and attentive to our drinks.  I forgot to take pictures of our meals, sorry! I was so hungry, I just dug right in, lol.  Dinner was delicious and I love catching up with Dottie on things going on in our lives. The sweet tea was the best I have had in my life! She had picked us up in her beemer convertible and the air in our hair felt fantastic! Here is a picture  of the area where Hudsons is.

A blue heron on the edge of the water at Hudsons

Dottie drove us back afterwards and the traffic had died down quite a bit; we were back in no time.  We opened the door of the RV not knowing what to expect. Jake said everything looked fine and he let them out of their crate and they came running out the door to us.  We had to hurry up and leash them up and of course they wanted to see Dottie, a fellow dog lover!  We said our goodbyes to Dottie; Joe is still talking about how much he thoroughly  enjoyed our dinner and I agree!

After Dottie left, it was time to walk the dogs and get them some fresh air and exercise. We did a loop around and with the breeze, it was bearable just very humid.  By the time we got back, both dogs were slowing down. They made some dog friends along the way too! Here are some pictures around the resort:

The harbor on the edge of the resort.

The dogs are getting tired!

During our walk, I saw this cat in the window of their RV.

He looks very content!

It felt good to get back to the nice cool RV; Joe hooked up the cable and the dogs crashed on the floor. Now we are relaxing and I am craving something sweet and wishing I would not have turned down dessert at Hudsons! They had a delicious sounding peach creme brulee that I would kill for now!!

Tomorrow, we drive to Disney; about 5 1/2 hours away. Can’t wait to get there!

Friday, July 30th, 2010

Finally the most anticipated day of 2010 has arrived!

I did not sleep well at all; woke up to the little white dog barking across the street and just decided to get up. I got dishes done, vacuumed and put a few more things in the RV. I had to take my guinea pig to my moms and then go to Fox Chapel Petco to pick up my check and say goodbye to the Petco crew. All this took about an hour and  a half.

Once I got back, Joe had gassed up ($1.90 a gallon with fuel perks!) and loaded the bikes on the back. We took the dogs out one final time and then settled them in the RV. Finally, we were on the road!!

My view from the couch!

We first stopped at McD’s for a sweet tea and smoothie. Joe decided he would take a “short cut” to avoid downtown Pittsburgh.  Let me tell you, this was anything but short. Somehow, he missed the road he wanted and although we came out at the same point, getting there was like Lucy and Desi in the Long Long Trailer!  The road was twisting and winding and up hill and back down; things were sliding that don’t normally slide and I was catching what I could, lol.  I said to Joe let’s never come this way again and he said no he would not because he had no idea where he was, lol.

Anyways, like I said, we came out at the same spot but getting there took forever! Once we hit 79, travels went smoothly until we hit construction in WV that slowed us down a bit. Little angel Sandie slept thru most of the time; if the motor runs, she is out like a light!

After stopping a few times for the dogs, including a stop to make some sandwiches/chips, we finally hit NC and then SC. Joe was getting tired of driving and I was trying to stay awake to keep him awake. We were heading for the Fort Mill KOA which is on the other side of Charlotte. I had emailed Rick Gabauer, an old aol/dvc board friend that we’d be in town and we were hoping to hook up but I let him know we would be arriving waaaay later than anticipated. According to the GPS, around 11:30.  When we finally got there, checking in went quickly but find our site in the pitch black, did not. I finally got out and walked around trying to find site 101 that was lit up from the OTHER side, lol. I directed Joe in, he hooked us up. Jake and I connected to the free internet for a little bit and then lights out.   Cassie  whined a few times and then fell asleep but I heard her again at 3:40 or so and she wanted to go out. I took them both out, grrrrr, and back in the crate. Every time the air would kick on, she’d wake up and then she heard Joe snoring! She has never heard that before since we don’t allow them upstairs when we sleep.  I decided to go out and sleep on the pullout couch and that worked like a charm. They both laid down and did not hear a peep til 7:45.  I had not wanted to do that and I will miss my comfy bed, but it will work much better for all of us and I won’t have to hear snoring!  Here is a pic of them together:

Sandie and Cassie

We are waking up to a nice day here in norther South Carolina; it is on to the Hilton Head RV Resort! We are about 4 hours away; a much better drive for Joe. Yesterday was the worst of it; today will be much more fun!

Here is a picture of The New River Gorge in WV as we crossed the bridge.

The New River Gorge Bridge