I Can't See a Thing and Tiger Lady, Oh My! A Nov Mother & Daughter TR Update 5/7

[Pluto0809]

Caught up! You have me so excited to leave in March! I did a mother daughter trip in 2008, We had a lot of fun but I wish we would of did the Dining plan for some more bonding/drinking time!

March isn't too far away! We didn't do a lot more drinking on this trip but it definitely was a bonding experience. We both love sitting down for meals so the free dining was great.

 

[Disney9.9.10]

I love the Osborne lights and you got some great shots! I agree though that nothing can compare to actually being there! Great idea for Halloween costumes too!

 

[PhoenixStrength]

Great Osborne lights pictures! I saw over 20 HMs too, and the purple cat, though I forgot to get a picture of the cat.

 

[KatMark]

Great update.

Sorry you were to full when you found the Writers Shop...they hae some really good stuff in there.

You got some spectacular shots of the Osborne Lights. But you are right....pictures do not do it justice.

Love the photopass pictures with your mom.

 

[heaven2dc]

I love the Osborne Lights! I don't recall seeing those lights that were strung overhead (well I do remember some down a left side street as you face the globe and angels). Great pics!

 

[DMGeurts]

Alrighty then... I replied yesterday - I know I did. But it's not here now.

I loved your Osborne lights photos... As a matter of a fact, they prompted me to go search out my girls' school calendar (yet again) to see if there is any way I can make a holiday trip work next year. LOL I spent the majority of the afternoon trying to work on that. So, thank you. LOL

And I think the pictures of you and your mom together are fabulous!

D~

 

[Pluto0809]

I love the Osborne lights and you got some great shots! I agree though that nothing can compare to actually being there! Great idea for Halloween costumes too!

The Osborne lights were so beautiful! We went to a local light show after I came back from Disney and it was so disappointing in comparison.

Thanks on the costume idea but I can't really take credit as it was DH that came up with the idea. I think the costumes are going to be easy to put together.

Great Osborne lights pictures! I saw over 20 HMs too, and the purple cat, though I forgot to get a picture of the cat.

Mom and I had so much fun looking for the HMs. It kind of became an obsession with us during the whole week.

Great update.

Sorry you were to full when you found the Writers Shop...they hae some really good stuff in there.

You got some spectacular shots of the Osborne Lights. But you are right....pictures do not do it justice.

Love the photopass pictures with your mom.

I don't know what was wrong with us this trip but we didn't seem to have much of an appetite for snacks. We spent a lot of time in the different bakeries/sweet shops drooling but didn't end up buying much.

I would love to someday do a trip where we ate nothing but sweets but I'm not sure if my digestive system could handle that.

Thanks on the photopass pics. We got so many good ones, I'm having a hard time picking just one to print and frame from the trip. I'm thinking I should have gotten more than one Disney frame!

I love the Osborne Lights! I don't recall seeing those lights that were strung overhead (well I do remember some down a left side street as you face the globe and angels). Great pics!

The lights strung overhead were down a side street so that's probably what you are remembering. They were so beautiful to stand under when they were dancing to the music.

 

[Pluto0809]

Alrighty then... I replied yesterday - I know I did. But it's not here now.

I loved your Osborne lights photos... As a matter of a fact, they prompted me to go search out my girls' school calendar (yet again) to see if there is any way I can make a holiday trip work next year. LOL I spent the majority of the afternoon trying to work on that. So, thank you. LOL

And I think the pictures of you and your mom together are fabulous!

D~

The DIS boards likes to eat posts, doesn't it?

I want to go back and see the lights again so bad! Well, I want to go back to Disney period! Glad I could provide a distraction for you yesterday.

We got some great photo pass pictures this time! Do you want me to send you some more that have the bags in them?

 

[Grumpy's Wife]

Hi, I'm joining in a little late. It's so nice that you got to vacation with just your mom. Such memories you are making. I'm looking forward to reading along with you.

 

[Pluto0809]

Hi, I'm joining in a little late. It's so nice that you got to vacation with just your mom. Such memories you are making. I'm looking forward to reading along with you.

Glad you joined in. We definitely made some great memories on this trip.

 

[Pluto0809]

So before I post the next update I have a little aside. If you want to skip this, just page down to where the writing is green.

I've been going through some pretty serious Disney withdrawal. So over Christmas I started thinking about how I could get back before my October trip. With my Christmas bonus from work and the money I saved by having Mom join me in November, I have just enough saved for a quick trip. I will probably have to stay at a value and keep meals cheap but it's doable.

I spent some time looking at the calendar and my work schedule and without going into too much detail and boring everyone, I came up with either March or June as the best months to go. I've pretty much ruled out June because I don't handle heat and humidity well (just check out how pale I am in all the pictures) and I'm not sure I want to deal with the summer crowds.

It's looking like if I do the trip it will be March. I've never been in March so I'm not sure how the crowds or weather will be. I'm looking at March 7th though 12th, maybe staying at ASMu. I haven't booked anything yet and it's going to hinge on whether or not I can get off of work and also the cost of the airfare. I'll probably ask my boss later this week as she's not in today.

So tell me that I'm completely crazy to try to book a trip with only two months to go! I'm not sure how I will approach DH as he is a little leary about me traveling solo. Plus I can't even imagine telling the people at work that I'm going back to Disney so soon. I know I'll get a lot of comments on that one! Why is it ok to go to the beach two or three time a year but not to Disney?

Ok, enough of that and back to the regularly scheduled TR........

I will start off this post by saying this was our least favorite day of the trip. We still had a wonderful time, but heavy crowds and a certain ride being down all morning made for a less than ideal day. I was also not in picture taking mode at all and only took a total of 39 pictures the whole day.

We were headed to Hollywood Studios this morning and were up at 6 am and out to door to Centertown by 7:30 am. I snapped some pictures of the resort as we walked.

Centertown across the lake:



The bridge from Aruba/Jamaica to Caribbean Cay:



Jamaica:



Another one of the bridge just a little closer:



Caribbean Cay:



Aruba:



The sign for Caribbean Cay:



And thats all I took that morning. I did take some more resort pictures later in the week. We grabbed breakfast from the Grab and Go area which was pretty crowded every morning we were there. Mom got a coffee and some kind of pastry. Im not sure what it was and I didnt write it down in my notes:



I got a soda, a plain bagel and a banana:



Yes, we are very boring with our breakfast choices and I wont bore you further with a review! We both enjoyed our breakfasts then headed out the door to the Port Royale bus stop around 8:20. The bus stop was fairly crowded and it was the last time we used that stop in the mornings. I didnt write down how long we waited for a bus but it must have been pretty quickly because we were at bag check by 8:45 am.

It was already packed with people! I wish I would have snapped a picture of the lines because they were all the way back to the bag check. I lead Mom as far to the left as I could and found a shorter line that was hidden behind one of the ticket windows. They were already letting people in and we made it through the turnstile a few minutes after 9 am.

I told Mom I was going to make a mad dash to TSM and to take her time and catch up with me at the fast pass machines. There was actually very little line for the fast passes and I got a return time of 10:50 am. Mom caught up to me just as I was done and we debated getting in line for TSM but it said 40 minutes already.

Instead we headed down Sunset Blvd to RnRC:



but were stopped before we went under the sign by a CM that said it was down. She said we could still get fast passes and they would honor them when it opened again but since we had TSM ones, we couldnt do that. We headed to ToT instead.



The wait time said 10 minutes but we walked right on. This would be the first real test to see if the Bonine motion sickness pills I took would work. ToT is the ride that makes me the sickest. Well Im happy to report that it worked wonders and I now have a new love for ToT! It is much more enjoyable when you dont come off of it feeling queasy. I did try to take a redneck ride photo but it didnt come out. I got better at them later in the week and got a few good ones.

RnRC was still down which ended up throwing off my whole schedule for the day. This was also when the Disney Mobile Magic App decided to stop working. I didnt want to take the time/waste battery power to delete and reload it so I went without it the rest of the day.

We decided to head to Star Tours next and made our way there via some of the stores on Sunset Blvd. One of the stores had Dooney & Bourke purses! I didnt realize there was more than one store in HS that carried them and I finally found the style of purse I was looking for. None of them had Pluto on the front but they only had 2 or maybe 3 to pick from. I figured some of the bigger stores would have more and I would find it later in the week.

The wait time for Star Tours said 25 minutes but we were on in about 15. I took two pictures while we waited in line.

Trying to be artsy:



R2D2!



I also took one of C3PO but cut his head off so I deleted it. This was the first time I had ridden the new version and Im sad to say I was underwhelmed. While it was nice to finally have a new story line I wasnt all that impressed by the 3D. Mom isnt a big Star Wars fan so she was just confused by the whole thing.

We shopped for a few minutes in the dump shop. I was thinking of getting something for DH but nothing jumped out at me. I had gotten him something from there the last two trips and really wanted to get him something different this trip.

We had about ½ hour until our TSM FP time so I thought we would try the GMR. Nope, wait time was 45 minutes. Mom had never been in One Mans Dream so thats where we headed. It was wall to wall people in there (I dont think Ive ever seen another person in there let alone super crowded like it was) and you could barely move. We enjoyed looking at the displays but needless to say I didnt get any photos.

We skipped the movie and headed to TSM to use our FPs. We actually walked right up to the place where you get the glasses and the CM sent us through the right hand gate and we were on the ride almost immediately. It definitely pays to be a party of two!

I finally took another picture of our scores:



I had the 140,000 and even though I wasnt the highest in our vehicle, I was very proud of that score because it was the highest Ive ever gotten. Guess the I-phone game helped some.

It was about 11 am when we got off of TSM and we wanted to eat lunch around 11:45 am so we could catch the 1 pm LMA show.

We went back to the GMR but it still had a 45 minute wait. So we headed to the Backlot Tour because it never has a line. Nope, it had a 25 minute wait. I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point as I had promised Mom I had a great touring plan and we would not run from one end of the park to the other. We headed over towards the Muppets and finally found a short line. It was only a five minute wait.

I enjoyed the Muppets but Moms only comment was Thats been the same show for years.

When I was planning this day, I told Mom to pick which shows she wanted to see since I had seen them all between my 2010 and 2011 trips. When we were there in 2010 we saw B&TB, Indiana Jones and VOLM. The only one Mom wanted to see again was VOLM. She also wanted to see the two we missed, LMA and AI. Since the first LMA was at 1 pm, we headed to Studio Catering Co for lunch.



Mom had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich:



I had the Pressed Turkey Club but picked off the bacon, red peppers and lettuce. I did take the picture before I proceeded to destroy the sandwich:



We both enjoyed our sandwiches. They were nothing to write home about but filled us up and the fries were really good.

For dessert, Mom got a Marble Cheese Cake but the picture turned out really blurry so I deleted it. I got Chocolate Cake:



Right after we sat down, I was approached by NiniMorris of the DIS boards! Unfortunately I was so shocked to be recognized (well she actually recognized my beautiful Pluto bag) that I went into my super shy mode. Im really pretty shy in real life. We did chat for a few minutes but I didnt even think to get a picture and I didnt even introduce her to my Mom.

I am going to leave off here (I really can be long winded, cant I) and start the next installment with the LMA show. I apologize for the lack of pictures; I promise I took a whole lot more the rest of the week.

Next up: Shows and I make a huge rookie mistake

 

[PhoenixStrength]

First of all, no you are not crazy! I planned my vacation earlier this month in just over 2 months!

Man, DHS was having some issues. My day there TSMM was down most of the morning, which was a EMH morning too!!!! Sorry you had so many problems.

 

[brandihead2012]

Go in March!! I will be there the first theough the eigth. Crowd is supposed to be somewhat low, and temps.mid 70s!!

Great update!! Your turkey club has my mouth drooling

 

[NiniMorris]

So before I post the next update I have a little aside. If you want to skip this, just page down to where the writing is green.

I've been going through some pretty serious Disney withdrawal. So over Christmas I started thinking about how I could get back before my October trip. With my Christmas bonus from work and the money I saved by having Mom join me in November, I have just enough saved for a quick trip. I will probably have to stay at a value and keep meals cheap but it's doable.

I spent some time looking at the calendar and my work schedule and without going into too much detail and boring everyone, I came up with either March or June as the best months to go. I've pretty much ruled out June because I don't handle heat and humidity well (just check out how pale I am in all the pictures) and I'm not sure I want to deal with the summer crowds.

It's looking like if I do the trip it will be March. I've never been in March so I'm not sure how the crowds or weather will be. I'm looking at March 7th though 12th, maybe staying at ASMu. I haven't booked anything yet and it's going to hinge on whether or not I can get off of work and also the cost of the airfare. I'll probably ask my boss later this week as she's not in today.

So tell me that I'm completely crazy to try to book a trip with only two months to go! I'm not sure how I will approach DH as he is a little leary about me traveling solo. Plus I can't even imagine telling the people at work that I'm going back to Disney so soon. I know I'll get a lot of comments on that one! Why is it ok to go to the beach two or three time a year but not to Disney?

Ok, enough of that and back to the regularly scheduled TR........

I will start off this post by saying this was our least favorite day of the trip. We still had a wonderful time, but heavy crowds and a certain ride being down all morning made for a less than ideal day. I was also not in picture taking mode at all and only took a total of 39 pictures the whole day.

We were headed to Hollywood Studios this morning and were up at 6 am and out to door to Centertown by 7:30 am. I snapped some pictures of the resort as we walked.

Centertown across the lake:

The bridge from Aruba/Jamaica to Caribbean Cay:

Jamaica:

Another one of the bridge just a little closer:

Caribbean Cay:

Aruba:

The sign for Caribbean Cay:

And that’s all I took that morning. I did take some more resort pictures later in the week. We grabbed breakfast from the Grab and Go area which was pretty crowded every morning we were there. Mom got a coffee and some kind of pastry. I’m not sure what it was and I didn’t write it down in my notes:

I got a soda, a plain bagel and a banana:

Yes, we are very boring with our breakfast choices and I won’t bore you further with a review! We both enjoyed our breakfasts then headed out the door to the Port Royale bus stop around 8:20. The bus stop was fairly crowded and it was the last time we used that stop in the mornings. I didn’t write down how long we waited for a bus but it must have been pretty quickly because we were at bag check by 8:45 am.

It was already packed with people! I wish I would have snapped a picture of the lines because they were all the way back to the bag check. I lead Mom as far to the left as I could and found a shorter line that was “hidden” behind one of the ticket windows. They were already letting people in and we made it through the turnstile a few minutes after 9 am.

I told Mom I was going to make a mad dash to TSM and to take her time and catch up with me at the fast pass machines. There was actually very little line for the fast passes and I got a return time of 10:50 am. Mom caught up to me just as I was done and we debated getting in line for TSM but it said 40 minutes already.

Instead we headed down Sunset Blvd to RnRC:

but were stopped before we went under the sign by a CM that said it was down. She said we could still get fast passes and they would honor them when it opened again but since we had TSM ones, we couldn’t do that. We headed to ToT instead.

The wait time said 10 minutes but we walked right on. This would be the first real test to see if the Bonine motion sickness pills I took would work. ToT is the ride that makes me the sickest. Well I’m happy to report that it worked wonders and I now have a new love for ToT! It is much more enjoyable when you don’t come off of it feeling queasy. I did try to take a redneck ride photo but it didn’t come out. I got better at them later in the week and got a few good ones.

RnRC was still down which ended up throwing off my whole schedule for the day. This was also when the Disney Mobile Magic App decided to stop working. I didn’t want to take the time/waste battery power to delete and reload it so I went without it the rest of the day.

We decided to head to Star Tours next and made our way there via some of the stores on Sunset Blvd. One of the stores had Dooney & Bourke purses! I didn’t realize there was more than one store in HS that carried them and I finally found the style of purse I was looking for. None of them had Pluto on the front but they only had 2 or maybe 3 to pick from. I figured some of the bigger stores would have more and I would find it later in the week.

The wait time for Star Tours said 25 minutes but we were on in about 15. I took two pictures while we waited in line.

Trying to be artsy:

R2D2!

I also took one of C3PO but cut his head off so I deleted it. This was the first time I had ridden the new version and I’m sad to say I was underwhelmed. While it was nice to finally have a new story line I wasn’t all that impressed by the 3D. Mom isn’t a big Star Wars fan so she was just confused by the whole thing.

We shopped for a few minutes in the dump shop. I was thinking of getting something for DH but nothing jumped out at me. I had gotten him something from there the last two trips and really wanted to get him something different this trip.

We had about ½ hour until our TSM FP time so I thought we would try the GMR. Nope, wait time was 45 minutes. Mom had never been in One Man’s Dream so that’s where we headed. It was wall to wall people in there (I don’t think I’ve ever seen another person in there let alone super crowded like it was) and you could barely move. We enjoyed looking at the displays but needless to say I didn’t get any photos.

We skipped the movie and headed to TSM to use our FPs. We actually walked right up to the place where you get the glasses and the CM sent us through the right hand gate and we were on the ride almost immediately. It definitely pays to be a party of two!

I finally took another picture of our scores:

I had the 140,000 and even though I wasn’t the highest in our vehicle, I was very proud of that score because it was the highest I’ve ever gotten. Guess the I-phone game helped some.

It was about 11 am when we got off of TSM and we wanted to eat lunch around 11:45 am so we could catch the 1 pm LMA show.

We went back to the GMR but it still had a 45 minute wait. So we headed to the Backlot Tour because it never has a line. Nope, it had a 25 minute wait. I was feeling a bit frustrated at this point as I had promised Mom I had a great touring plan and we would not run from one end of the park to the other. We headed over towards the Muppets and finally found a short line. It was only a five minute wait.

I enjoyed the Muppets but Mom’s only comment was “That’s been the same show for years”.

When I was planning this day, I told Mom to pick which shows she wanted to see since I had seen them all between my 2010 and 2011 trips. When we were there in 2010 we saw B&TB, Indiana Jones and VOLM. The only one Mom wanted to see again was VOLM. She also wanted to see the two we missed, LMA and AI. Since the first LMA was at 1 pm, we headed to Studio Catering Co for lunch.

Mom had the Buffalo Chicken Sandwich:

I had the Pressed Turkey Club but picked off the bacon, red peppers and lettuce. I did take the picture before I proceeded to destroy the sandwich:

We both enjoyed our sandwiches. They were nothing to write home about but filled us up and the fries were really good.

For dessert, Mom got a Marble Cheese Cake but the picture turned out really blurry so I deleted it. I got Chocolate Cake:

Right after we sat down, I was approached by NiniMorris of the DIS boards! Unfortunately I was so shocked to be recognized (well she actually recognized my beautiful Pluto bag) that I went into my super shy mode. I’m really pretty shy in real life. We did chat for a few minutes but I didn’t even think to get a picture and I didn’t even introduce her to my Mom.

I am going to leave off here (I really can be long winded, can’t I) and start the next installment with the LMA show. I apologize for the lack of pictures; I promise I took a whole lot more the rest of the week.

Next up: Shows and I make a huge rookie mistake

First of all...as soon as I got back to our table my daughter asked me if I got a picture....I said nope...she told me it never really happened unless I got a picture! LOL!

Second, our very first Disney trip was done with less than 2 weeks planning! I got a free trip from work, and decided on Disney. No advance planning ... other than packing the kids a few Disney ish clothes! Our second trip two years later had a bit more planning...we decided Jan 1 to go the end of February! Now, of course, I start planning before we have even left on the current trip!

Although, I have to admit. I am a bit shy of traveling by myself. I would never do it... although I have started thinking about it!


Nini

PS...I really did feel like I was stalking you that day.

 

[KatMark]

Beautiful pictures around the resort this morning.

My question is: when ISN'T Rock & Roll down? It always seems to be down whenever we are there (I think it is in need of a complete overhaul). I can't believe how crowded One Man's Dream was and a 45 minute wait for the GMR? I can only imagine that threw a real damper on your touring plans.

Lunch looks pretty good (we've not done counter service at the Studios in years).

for a DIS meet.

If I don't get back here,

 

[Pluto0809]

First of all, no you are not crazy! I planned my vacation earlier this month in just over 2 months!

Man, DHS was having some issues. My day there TSMM was down most of the morning, which was a EMH morning too!!!! Sorry you had so many problems.

I probably asked the wrong crowd if it was crazy to go to Disney! Since I'm probably not going to do any ADRs I really think it's possible. Just got to get the boss's permission and figure out how to tell DH so that he doesn't have a fit! I am going to make him Pepperoni bread tomorrow so maybe that will be a good time. It's one of his favorites.

We did not have the best day at DHS. I love that park but the day we were there kind of soured the place for me a tiny bit. I don't know what happened with the crowds but the level was definitely higher than predicted. Our afternoon wasn't much better either. But at least we were at Disney and that's all that matters!

Go in March!! I will be there the first theough the eigth. Crowd is supposed to be somewhat low, and temps.mid 70s!!

Great update!! Your turkey club has my mouth drooling

I do think I'm going to go in March as long as I can get the time off. Maybe our paths will cross?

That Turkey club was very good. It was huge though, I only got through about half of it. Had to save room for that Chocolate Cake, priorities, ya know?

First of all...as soon as I got back to our table my daughter asked me if I got a picture....I said nope...she told me it never really happened unless I got a picture! LOL!

Second, our very first Disney trip was done with less than 2 weeks planning! I got a free trip from work, and decided on Disney. No advance planning ... other than packing the kids a few Disney ish clothes! Our second trip two years later had a bit more planning...we decided Jan 1 to go the end of February! Now, of course, I start planning before we have even left on the current trip!

Although, I have to admit. I am a bit shy of traveling by myself. I would never do it... although I have started thinking about it!


Nini

PS...I really did feel like I was stalking you that day.

I think your daughter is reading the DIS boards too much!

Wow, 2 weeks, that would be a little ! But I think I can pull this one off. I just have to convince my boss.

I've been traveling by myself for a while so it doesn't scare me. We had a Schnauzer named Haley who's nickname was Kujo. She was a sweetheart with us but wasn't so good with other people if DH or I was not there. There was no way we could board her and I wasn't about to let a friend get bit.
So DH and I traveled separately for the 10 years we had her.

And I'm sorry you felt like you were stalking me! I certainly did not feel that you were.

 

[Pluto0809]

Beautiful pictures around the resort this morning.

My question is: when ISN'T Rock & Roll down? It always seems to be down whenever we are there (I think it is in need of a complete overhaul). I can't believe how crowded One Man's Dream was and a 45 minute wait for the GMR? I can only imagine that threw a real damper on your touring plans.

Lunch looks pretty good (we've not done counter service at the Studios in years).

for a DIS meet.

If I don't get back here,

Thanks on the pictures. That is a beautiful resort so it was easy to get some nice pictures.

I've never had RnR down before but have read that it's down a lot. As a matter of fact, I think that's the only ride that was down the whole week (that we encountered). It really did get me flustered and made for a rough day. After that, I just relaxed and went with the flow and that made the rest of the week better.

The line for GMR was outside and wrapped around the building! I've never seen that before, even when I went in May 2011. And 25 minutes for the backlot tour? Crazy!

Our lunch was pretty decent. I think that is one of the better places in DHS for counter service.

And Happy New Year to you too!

 

[Disney9.9.10]

How awesome that you might be taking a solo trip! And I also don't understand why people have issues with multiple Disney trips a year… tsk tsk… It is too bad that RnR was down and ruined your plans. Great that the meds worked for ToT though! Good score on TSM! And your accuracy really isn't that bad either… Mine is always in the 30s lol

 

[Pluto0809]

How awesome that you might be taking a solo trip! And I also don't understand why people have issues with multiple Disney trips a year… tsk tsk… It is too bad that RnR was down and ruined your plans. Great that the meds worked for ToT though! Good score on TSM! And your accuracy really isn't that bad either… Mine is always in the 30s lol

I sure hope I get to take the solo trip! I've got to schedule some time with my boss this week and I'm going to run it by her then. Fingers crossed that she says yes!

RnR being down ended up affecting the whole day which was a bummer.

I was really glad that I could ride ToT without feeling sick. It has now moved up to one of my favorite rides.

Thanks on the TSM score, I was really proud of that! I honestly don't worry about the accuracy, I just try to shot as fast as I can so I'm surprised it was that high.

 

[oopsiDAISY]

ToT is such a great ride. Glad you can "stomach" it now!

Your resort pictures are gorgeous. I wish I could take such great pictures. I am a horrible photographer. DH does better than I do, but since we only have a point and shoot camera our pics are never such a beautiful work of art that I see on the Disboards all the time.

And Disney food porn....