The Disney-fication of our Non-Disney Vacation...an October 2013 TR

So, does anyone have a copy of that Star Wars Christmas special? We've been looking for it for years. We do have the soundtrack and it gets played all year around here. :-) I would love to find an actual copy of the movie.
 

I enjoyed the concert pictures.

The Italian food looks good and, of course, the soup from Canada. I don't think I'd care for any of the others. I'm glad you enjoyed your desserts.

The family picture is absolutely the BEST of all of them! It is terrific. :thumbsup2

I also enjoyed the photos in Canada, and the smooching one. :goodvibes
 
Good morning to one of my bestest Dis friends and her family - I wanted to stop by to wish you...

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D~
 
Guess what I ordered today? Yep, a Disney Cruise Line planning CD! :cheer2: :cool1:

Of course Jim still hasn't decided if he want's to do the Alaska cruise or Las Vegas yet so I also ordered some information for Las Vegas. Still hoping he will pick the cruise of course! ::yes::
 


Goodness gracious, my stomach is rumbling after looking at all of those delicious looking F&W food pictures. They all look so good!

The picture of your parents sneaking in a kiss is so sweet!
 
Oooh - now this is interesting information... popcorn::

D~

Well the gist behind this is that Jim turns 40 in January 2015. Since I got the big Disney trip for my 40th (and our 15th anniversary), he wants to do a big trip too. He is trying to decide between Vegas, an Alaska cruise or Williamsburg, VA. I've pretty much talked him out of Williamsburg because we could really do that in a quick weekend trip plus he's been there before. I also told him if he did pick a cruise, why not make it a Disney one since they are pretty nice. Now I"m just trying my hardest not to influence him towards the Disney cruise because it is his trip after all!
 


Yay! I'm all caught up. Your food and wine photos are awesome! We love going in October for Food and Wine! It looks like you had a great Christmas season! Happy New Year!
 
this is the first report i came to and i am NOT BEHIND!!!! :cool1:

except for Ariana getting a cruise planning DVD... hummmmmmmmmmm
 
awwwwwwww!!!
How precious was that post?!?!?! LOVE your parents smooching! How cute of a picture!!!
i would have tried the snail... a very small tiny bit of it.. just to say i did...

your not raving about the soup!!?!? I remember LOVING that. there isn't much i do remember. as i tried more of the spirits then the food...

I think you take the award for food porn too..

THAT is my parents...they are always smoochy, smoochy. I love that about them!

Why was I not raving about the soup? Well, two reason really: We were already so stuffed from our eating trek around the world :rolleyes1 ...and I make potato cheese soup at home... a LOT. So this just wasn't that much of a treat for me. Don't get me wrong, it was very good, just not that out of the ordinary to me. Sorry. :guilty:


You guys did make the most of your time around World Showcase, you got tons done.

I so wanted to try that Cheese Ravioli in Italy. :( If only I had skipped that awful Lamb Meatball at the New Zealand Booth.

Next time in France, get the Beef Shortribs, they were awesome! My one and only time trying snails was actually in Epcot. We ate at what is now Chefs De France when I was 7 or 8. I will always try something once.

The ice cream your Dad had was probably from the new ice cream shop in France. I've heard the ice cream is really good and they also have ice cream martinis!! Got to try one of those someday.

Such cute pictures of the whole family on the bridge and the ones in Canada. Too bad you were so full for the Canada stuff, it was so yummy!

Well, I don't know if you remember, but our favorite meal from our March 2012 trip was the Beef Shortribs from Chefs. We liked them so much I requested the recipe from the chef...and I have made them at home! :thumbsup2

WHOOOO all caught up yayyyyy

:cool1: Now, if only I could say the same... :rolleyes1


Soooo far behind... I am soooo sorry...

I loved the legos weekend - how cool was that.

Ummm... I was a bit worried about those Tie Fighters, as well... My family would have laughed hysterically at me, and probably refused to eat them. Hahhaha... Glad they tasted good.



Oopsi!!! You are soooo cute!!! I love that photo of you!

Hahaha... I had similar interchangable Converse Cheer shoes too... Of course, you made me go dig out my Cheer photos... YOu can just make out the shoes if you squint really hard. :laughing: And don't mind the big hair/lipstick - I promise, I was totally in style for the times.


Loved seeing all of the food and character pictures!

And that family photo of you all is just fantastic! You can definately see how happy you all are to be there!

But, more than anything - I just love the photos of your parents in the Canada gardens... Wonderful, wonderful! I hope they used those for their Christmas card this year!

D~

Girl, we were just too cool for school back in the day!! :cheer2: :lmao:

Those pictures are just the epitome of WHO my parents are. They are so in love with each other, even after 47 years of marriage. They love to travel, they love to stop and smell the roses, they take pleasure in the little things of life. I am so blessed to have them as MY parents! :cloud9:


I am back on the DIS after having to take a break to get things done for Christmas. I am happy to report that this morning I finished the last of the Christmas shopping and wrapping. Now I can enjoy the next 24+ hours.

I did quickly read about your Star Wars weekend and the rest of your Epcot day. Your Star Wars weekend looked great with more well-themed food. There are three BIG Star Wars fans in my house, too. They would've loved your movie weekend.

I loved the rest of your Epcot day. It looks like everyone had a great time and enjoyed some delicious food. Your mom and dad are the cutest. Love the pictures of them.

I don't want to rush along your TR but I can't wait for you to start your PTR. I have so much to tell you about our trip. It really was awesome and definitely our best vacation yet. I can't wait for you guys to go next year. I look forward to your planning. I need to live vicariously through you. We did rebook another cruise while onboard. I'm not 100% sure we'll be taking it BUT I really hope we do because I can't wait to cruise again.

I have GOT to get this thing DONE! There is so much cruise preparation going on right now, that I am not reporting on! :scared1: I cannot wait to here about your own experiences as well! popcorn::

So, does anyone have a copy of that Star Wars Christmas special? We've been looking for it for years. We do have the soundtrack and it gets played all year around here. I would love to find an actual copy of the movie.

Sorry, we are big SW fans...but not looking for the Christmas special. :rolleyes1 :rotfl:

I enjoyed the concert pictures.

The Italian food looks good and, of course, the soup from Canada. I don't think I'd care for any of the others. I'm glad you enjoyed your desserts.

The family picture is absolutely the BEST of all of them! It is terrific.

I also enjoyed the photos in Canada, and the smooching one. /QUOTE]

I fell so behind on here during the holidays. It really took me this long to psyche myself up to get back on here and get all caught up. It was a daunting task... :crazy2:

Good morning to one of my bestest Dis friends and her family - I wanted to stop by to wish you...

D~

:goodvibes :hug: Thanks, D~!!!

Guess what I ordered today? Yep, a Disney Cruise Line planning CD!

Of course Jim still hasn't decided if he want's to do the Alaska cruise or Las Vegas yet so I also ordered some information for Las Vegas. Still hoping he will pick the cruise of course!

:cool1: :woohoo: Oh, it would be SO cool to compare cruise notes together!!! :yay:

Goodness gracious, my stomach is rumbling after looking at all of those delicious looking F&W food pictures. They all look so good!

The picture of your parents sneaking in a kiss is so sweet!

My parents are like that ALL. THE. TIME. No lie there! Those two are gaga for each other even after 47 years. I am blessed to be part of such a heritage! :cloud9:

Oooh - now this is interesting information...

D~

Sure is!

Well the gist behind this is that Jim turns 40 in January 2015. Since I got the big Disney trip for my 40th (and our 15th anniversary), he wants to do a big trip too. He is trying to decide between Vegas, an Alaska cruise or Williamsburg, VA. I've pretty much talked him out of Williamsburg because we could really do that in a quick weekend trip plus he's been there before. I also told him if he did pick a cruise, why not make it a Disney one since they are pretty nice. Now I"m just trying my hardest not to influence him towards the Disney cruise because it is his trip after all!

Well, I do hope he picks the Disney cruise... :rolleyes1 popcorn::

Yay! I'm all caught up. Your food and wine photos are awesome! We love going in October for Food and Wine! It looks like you had a great Christmas season! Happy New Year!

Guess what I discovered on our cruise FB group today...there are two families going who live in the next town over from me! :scared1: We are going to try to meet up for coffee soon. :thumbsup2

this is the first report i came to and i am NOT BEHIND!!!!

except for Ariana getting a cruise planning DVD... hummmmmmmmmmm

I know exactly how you feel. It has taken me three days to get caught up with it all... now to check my page one index to see where I left off in my updates...

 
I am very disappointed in my trip reporting abilities...I forgot a few stops we had made on our trip around World Showcase! :faint:

WE stopped in Japan, because the drummers were out and we had never gotten to see them perform before:



We were all just standing there watching them. We enjoyed it, but Gabe LOVED it. We looked over and he had parked himself down on the pavement and was MESMORIZED by it:



Another stop we made on our way around was in America for a potty break. On our way out, Gabe spotted a hat at a kiosk that he decided to try on...



The really funny part about this photo is that he had no idea Charity had walked up and grabbed that gun until AFTER the photo was taken! We all had a good laugh over that one. :rotfl: :rotfl2: :lmao:

Of course, the hat photo reminded me of the photos D~ has of her DD "V" in a Goofy hat that fell to her shoulders like that the first time she put it on many years ago. :rotfl:

Okay....now on to my regularly scheduled update...

After filling our bellies WAY too full it was time to move on. We were headed out of the park when my mom wanted to get this one last photo:



She and my dad had made a trip to New England for a funeral when I was younger, and got to witness a real cranberry bog. She really liked seeing the bog set up in Epcot, it brought back fond memories for her...of New England, not the funeral. :rolleyes1

After exiting the park we hopped the monorail for another park:



Here is another photo op that the person getting photo'd had no clue about until AFTER the fact:



Yes, that would be my dad napping on the monorail! :laughing:

Where were we headed?



If you couldn't guess from THAT picture...this one will be the dead giveaway:



You didn't think we could go to Disney and NOT make time for the Magic Kingdom did you? Of course not!



The glorious fall decorations were out, so we had to have a quick photo of the occasion:



And then the sight we all dream of while we are whiling our time away between trips to the happy place...



We were HOME!!!! :cloud9: :love:

Where to first? There is only one place I HAD to go this time...I HAD to... because I missed it on our March 2012 trip! We were headed this direction:



To where?



My beloved Jungle Cruise!!!! Standby was about half an hour, and we were fine with that. It was right around the 2-3 pm time when resort folks typically take those breaks in the day, so none of the wait times was bad at all when we arrived. A few photos in line:





We saw MY cruise boat pass several times, and hoped we would get to ride it:



Continued in next post....



 
Alas, it was not in the cards to ride MY Jungle Cruise boat, this would be our cruising vessel that fine October day:



I will just post a couple pictures of the beautiful sights we saw on our cruise down the river:





I tried to get others, but I am just not a good photographer...sorry! :blush:

After exiting the Jungle it was on to the Adventure our Gabe requested for the trip. Any guesses? I will bet you all could guess right away, if not, here is your hint:



We made our way over to the Pirates of the Caribbean at that time. Again, the wait was not long at all, actually shorter than JC. Since I am not a good photographer, I did not even try to get any photos of PoC. :crazy2:

We left POC and beelined across the park to give New Fantasyland a gander. We were all starting to get just a bit hungry at this point, so a snack was in order. I had read about the offerings in Gaston's Tavern. I wasn't really sure what food snack we would get from there, but I KNEW what drink I wanted to try. Our family shared two of the Lefou's Brews:



I had heard mixed reviews, but I wanted to try it for myself. What was our opinion...well, I will make you wait a bit for it! :p

After finding an outdoor table by the fountain, my dad and I headed over to Maurice's Popcorn stand to get some popcorn to go with the drinks. Here was our afternoon snack that fine day:



As you can see from the photo, the family had already made a dent in the drink by the time we had made it back with the popcorn. We LOVED it...unanimously! That drink was delicious. Even Brian raved about it, and he is not one who raves about food frivolously. So, the oopsiFAMILY does recommend the Lefou's Brew wholeheartedly! :thumbsup2:thumbsup2:thumbsup2

As we were finishing our snack I decided to sneak over and get a good photo of Gaston's fountain. This is when disaster struck....I dropped our camera and broke it....like REALLY broke it. It was down for the count, folks. I would have to depend on my mom's camera after this. :sad:

We left Gaston's area and rode Journey of the Little Mermaid. It was a nice ride, but for us it was kind of...meh. :confused3 A typical dark ride. No photos, because I was still pouting about breaking our camera. :crazy2:

After leaving JoLM we split up. Our family wanted to hit up a ride that had been closed during our March 2012 trip. My parents did NOT want to ride it, so they decided to head to a show none of US had any interest in...Hall of Presidents. On our journey from Fantasyland to our next destination Gabe insisted on this photo op even though it just looks...awkward.



We made our way to this beauty:



This was the longest wait of the evening...but well worth it for us, because it is a family favorite. This was Charity's first time "braving" it, and she ended up loving it. :goodvibes

After leaving TMR, we met up for dinner with my parents. We all decided we wanted nothing really heavy after loading up at lunch time, so we ended up splitting several things at Pecos Bills. Here is what Brian and I had:



Yep, nothing fancy or special, just a cheeseburger and fries with some "plastic cheese" to dip the fries in.

We ended the evening with our favorite Disney experience ever...Wishes. Mom took pictures with her camera, but none of them really turned out, so I won't torture you with them. Just know that it was magical for us and we thoroughly enjoyed it. pixiedust:

After wishes we headed out for the journey back to our resort. Thus ends our one day in the parks....but is the Disney-fication over for the trip???? You must stay tuned to find out! :surfweb:



 
With the way Gabe was watching those drummers I'm thinking you might have a future drummer in your household! Not sure if you would think that was a good thing or not. :rotfl:

I already saw that hat picture on Facebook but it still made me laugh the second time around.

The pictures in front of MK turned out really good!

Huh, I didn't know they named one of the Jungle Cruise ships after you!

I wasn't a huge fan of the Le Fou's brew, I just thought it got too sweet by the end. It also may have been because the day I got it it was freezing! Drinking a frozen drink on a cold day was not the best choice. I may give it another try if it's not too cold next month. My brother & SIL need to try it so they can compare it to Butterbeer when they head to Universal.

Sorry you broke your camera. :sad2: I know how frustrating that can be.

It kind of cracks me up your parents had to do Hall of Presidents when they only had half a day at MK. Of course that would have been my brother, it's his all time favorite attraction at WDW.

Yeah for Charity braving and liking BTMR!
 
Great minds think alike, Connie. I did two updates today too!

I love how kids just get into something and just take a seat to enjoy. And the shot of Gabe with his hat is hilarious. Mark would be very proud.

I love how your dad took a nap on the monorail (Mark will often close his eyes for a little catnap on the monorail too).

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: you are home...you are at the MK.

I'm sorry you didn't get on your ship, but glad you got to enjoy JC and POTC! I wasn't a fan of the brew, but I know a lot of people who are...your family included. :goodvibes

I'm sorry you broke your camera; I would have been very upset too. :(

LOVE the photo of Big Thunder, and so glad that Charity loved it. :thumbsup2

It sounds like a great Disney day.
 
What a great update!

I loved seeing how much you all enjoyed your time in Epcot!

Loved the Gabe photo with the hat - Yup, and definite similarity to V's. LOL Makes me chuckle every time.

Ahhh... Our beloved MK... I knew you would go there! WHOOT!

We missed JC last time too - it was being refurbed. It's not one of my favorite though.

Love PoTC though - glad you were able to ride that.

We have not tried Lefrous brew yet... But adding it to our list for next time.

Grrr... That really sucks about your camera. Such a bummer! Thankfully your mom had one though - so all is not totally lost for this trip.

Thanks for the great updates!

D~
 
WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!!! :yay:
Loved seeing all your Epcot pictures.. SO EXCITED you got to go to MK! OHHHHHH that is just amazing!!!!

You guys are all so cute! i didn't know you had your very OWN boat! :lmao: are they going to name the cruise boat after you too?!?! :confused3 you are the celebrity!!!

i personally don't think your done with Disney.. just sayin.

BRING on the awesome updates..


Oh as for your camera.. I cringed.. and shed a bit of tear.. Did you get a new camera?!?
 
Love that you guys got to go to MK, it just wouldn't be right if you didn't go there on your Disney day! It looks like you guys got to do some fun stuff in such a short amount of time :thumbsup2
 
With the way Gabe was watching those drummers I'm thinking you might have a future drummer in your household! Not sure if you would think that was a good thing or not. :rotfl:

I already saw that hat picture on Facebook but it still made me laugh the second time around.

The pictures in front of MK turned out really good!

Huh, I didn't know they named one of the Jungle Cruise ships after you!

I wasn't a huge fan of the Le Fou's brew, I just thought it got too sweet by the end. It also may have been because the day I got it it was freezing! Drinking a frozen drink on a cold day was not the best choice. I may give it another try if it's not too cold next month. My brother & SIL need to try it so they can compare it to Butterbeer when they head to Universal.

Sorry you broke your camera. :sad2: I know how frustrating that can be.

It kind of cracks me up your parents had to do Hall of Presidents when they only had half a day at MK. Of course that would have been my brother, it's his all time favorite attraction at WDW.

Yeah for Charity braving and liking BTMR!

Oh lawd...I cannot see me getting that boy a set of drums anytime in the near future! :faint:

Believe it or not, the Congo Connie has been around for YEARS!!! My friends used to tease me about it when I lived in Florida years ago. And listen to the very beginning of this:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjq9nQ4dHqI&list=PL85656F02DA2EFD2E

The five of us shared two of the Brews, so maybe we got just enough to be good...maybe you just had too much of the good thing. :thumbsup2

I was just sick to my stomach when I saw that camera go to pieces on the pavement. :worried:

I am thinking my parents just wanted a nice, cool place to nap by the time they decided Hall of Presidents was what they wanted to do. :rotfl2:


Great minds think alike, Connie. I did two updates today too!

I love how kids just get into something and just take a seat to enjoy. And the shot of Gabe with his hat is hilarious. Mark would be very proud.

I love how your dad took a nap on the monorail (Mark will often close his eyes for a little catnap on the monorail too).

:woohoo::woohoo::woohoo: you are home...you are at the MK.

I'm sorry you didn't get on your ship, but glad you got to enjoy JC and POTC! I wasn't a fan of the brew, but I know a lot of people who are...your family included. :goodvibes

I'm sorry you broke your camera; I would have been very upset too. :(

LOVE the photo of Big Thunder, and so glad that Charity loved it. :thumbsup2

It sounds like a great Disney day.

Yes, our family enjoys silly hat pictures, too. My kids love to see pictures of themselves in goofy hats...much like your child, Mark. :rotfl2:

I took the BTM picture with my phone...instagram came to the rescue for that one. Hey, I knew I had adoring Dis-fans to consider... :lmao:


What a great update!

I loved seeing how much you all enjoyed your time in Epcot!

Loved the Gabe photo with the hat - Yup, and definite similarity to V's. LOL Makes me chuckle every time.

Ahhh... Our beloved MK... I knew you would go there! WHOOT!

We missed JC last time too - it was being refurbed. It's not one of my favorite though.

Love PoTC though - glad you were able to ride that.

We have not tried Lefrous brew yet... But adding it to our list for next time.

Grrr... That really sucks about your camera. Such a bummer! Thankfully your mom had one though - so all is not totally lost for this trip.

Thanks for the great updates!

D~

I just love JC because I thought it and 20,000 Leagues were just so exotic and adventurous when I was a kid. It ranks high on nastalgia value for me. :cloud9:

Yes, I was VERY grateful for Mom's camera. I would have been completelly devastated if not for that! ::yes::


WHAT A WONDERFUL DAY!!!! :yay:
Loved seeing all your Epcot pictures.. SO EXCITED you got to go to MK! OHHHHHH that is just amazing!!!!

You guys are all so cute! i didn't know you had your very OWN boat! :lmao: are they going to name the cruise boat after you too?!?! :confused3 you are the celebrity!!!

i personally don't think your done with Disney.. just sayin.

BRING on the awesome updates..


Oh as for your camera.. I cringed.. and shed a bit of tear.. Did you get a new camera?!?

Yes, you had no idea Walt and I were that close, did you? In case you haven't read through all of the replies before this...check this bad boy out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xjq9nQ4dHqI&list=PL85656F02DA2EFD2E

Girl, we got a new camera as soon as we got home...our life is FULL of fun adventures that MUST be photodocumented!


Love that you guys got to go to MK, it just wouldn't be right if you didn't go there on your Disney day! It looks like you guys got to do some fun stuff in such a short amount of time :thumbsup2

Yes, Disney just wouldn't be Disney without a visit to the Magic Kingdom. We thoroughly enjoyed out time in that most magical place! pixiedust:

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Okay friends, I REALLY want to kick this thing into high gear so that I can get my cruise PTR started, so buckle up and hang on. :drive: :moped:

 

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