TR - A Gregarious Ghostly Gallivant - Final Thoughts Finally Posted!

[Trentmom]

Yup, all kinds of little things to discover, aye? He has a great eye and took some spectacular pics during the trip.

Yeah, you gotta be ready to get wet - that's for sure! But I've never heard of anyone falling out so I say go for it! Give it anotehr whirl



Yeah, what an idiot ...and yes, he was probably on something. Yeah, I loved the little ele-bee too



He did indeed! Yes, the ride starts and finishes outside, much like IaSW does down there. I don't think that guy was thinking at all.

And I am working on comments for your TR ...still catching up. You know me - it isn't a TR reply unless it's multiple paragraphs

Cool..Looking forward to it

 

[mnmrmustard]

Star Wars Show looks like fun

Awesome shot of Darth Maul

I didn't catch the whole thing but it did look like fun. Ohhh to be a little boy at the parks now, I'd be right out there with them swinging my light sabre like a madman

Cool..Looking forward to it

I have over 3 paragraphs done on it and am not even half way caught up

 

[Trentmom]

I didn't catch the whole thing but it did look like fun. Ohhh to be a little boy at the parks now, I'd be right out there with them swinging my light sabre like a madman



I have over 3 paragraphs done on it and am not even half way caught up

Cool.

Guess what, I did another update

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hello all! I've probably lost most of you as my Fall TR wound its way through Winter until I find myself in Spring! I won't go into details, suffice to say that work and home life have just been crazy the past couple of months.

Things are still busy but I think I've got a better handle on everything and felt it was time to jump back on that horse and finish this puppy up! Now where were we? Ah yes!

The stormtroopers had found themselves all alone after the Darth boys bid their retreat.

Hmmm, maybe we should go?

I moved back so I could catch them as they headed for safety

off they scamper

Guess he didn't like the look of me

...or the guy next to me

A little boy told him to "move along"

So off they went .....to The Kitchen!

One last "oh yeah" and they were gone

Guess they had to go scrub pots or something. Hehehe. The kids were hot and tired and hungry, but I wasn't quite ready to leave yet. So I got Kris and Bean on the Monorail and told them to go straight back to the room and call me when they got there.

I strolled back down Main Street USA. I was there in time to see the marching band march in and the barbershop quartet come out and sing some patriotic songs. It was pretty cool, I'm glad I went that way.

I had a leisurely stroll back through DTD and met up with the fam back in the room. We all had a nice lunch in the room and the kids wanted to go play in the Neverland Pool again. Roxy and I kicked back in the room while Kris, Pumpkin Girl and Bean all went down an cooled off for a couple of hours.

It was our last night and we had still not seen the Halloween fireworks from inside the park. So we packed up and headed out for MK. I stopped off and snapped a couple of shots of the waterfall outside our building, loved the subtle lighting.

I had my timing off and we just missed being able to take the monorail into the park - oops. So we strolled back through DTD and on into the Magic Kingdom

The place was already pretty packed, but we got a decent spot to camp out at. Had a decent view despite a tree blocking a chunk of the castle. Real bummer was that it also almost completely obscured the "orb" they project the villian's faces on. Oh well, we'll just have to get there earlier next time ;-]

While we waited I took a pic of the Astro Orbiter

And the kids found some pavement to collapse onto until the show began - lol

Kris kept Bean entertained with a glowy ball spinning thing he picked up

And then they finally announced the start of the show! I'm sure you've seen the vids on the video sites so I just took some pics.

Be right back with the next batch ;-]

 

[mnmrmustard]

That’s right – more fireworks pics! They’re pretty self-explanatory but I must say it was the best fireworks show I’ve ever been to between the music and the explosions and the theme for each villain.

Only a couple left, I promise ;-]

 

[mnmrmustard]

As promised, only a couple left over.

We were all amazed by the show and all wished we had seen it more than once. I withheld the "I told you so's" as I had tried to get them down there on Wednesday evening but they weren't up for it.

The crowds split with large groups heading towards Main Street and others towards Tomorrowland. We weren't about to walk all the way back again so we got in line for the monorail station. Pumpkin Girl and Kris found a spot on a raling off to the side while we waited.

We slowly made our way up to the platform and awaited our monorail. I took a couple of shots of the neon wonderment while we waited for the gates to open.

Once we got off at the other end we realized that we were absolutely STARVING! Since we had started our trip with a meal at Rainforest we thought 'what the heck' and made our way in.

Unfortunately they stuck us in a back corner so the service wasn't the best, but we were just happy to be sitting again. Kris played with his color ball thing some more

He was pretty happy about the day and the trip in general and especially happy when the food came

Kyra on the other hand was not being very social - lol

Bean was tired but had fries, so all was right with the world for her

Roxy had held up very well considering she was still feeling pretty icky from the flu

Once the kids got some food in them their energy level went up and they started getting a little goofy

Roxy took the camera and got a pic of me and the kids

and then one of me

Either Kyra or Kris took the camera (can't remember which) and took a couple of pics of Roxy and I

smooch smooch

We sat and talked about our adventures for a bit longer while Kris played with his toy some more

By now it was about 10:30pm and we paid the check and headed out. We walked under the magic hat one last time and said 'goodbye' to Tinkerbell.

I stopped and took a picture of the sign for the Dreams building, smiling as I thought of the dreams answered and memories made on our trip.

We wound our way back over to the Wonder building and rode the elevator up to our room. We were all tired but happy and slept the sleep of the exhausted DISer.

Next up - packing up and saying 'goodbye' to DLR

 

[DizNee Luver]

We've never been able to get good pics of the fireworks......frustrating to say the least! I really enjoyed seeing yours. I'm glad you finally found a couple minutes to get back to your report.
Roxy & the kids definately look worn out......but that's just a sign of having a really, REALLY good time!!!

As for the smoochy pic........GET A ROOM!!! Just kidding.....very cute!!

 

[mnmrmustard]

We've never been able to get good pics of the fireworks......frustrating to say the least! I really enjoyed seeing yours. I'm glad you finally found a couple minutes to get back to your report.
Roxy & the kids definately look worn out......but that's just a sign of having a really, REALLY good time!!!

As for the smoochy pic........GET A ROOM!!! Just kidding.....very cute!!

Hey Laurie

Fireworks pics are the hardest thing to capture. You need to be absolutely still and have a fast lens and even then you have to be lucky to capture them right when they're popping. And thank you, glad you enjoyed them.

Yes, good to have things leveling out if not settling down.

Yup, we were all very tuckered - but you got it right, we had a great time

 

[kaoden39]

Hi there Mike!! The kids were looking so tired by the time you made it to the Rain Forest Cafe. But, that is a good tired.

 

[Trentmom]

YAY, u came back

Firework pics are great. That show looks great


Kids do look exhausted, but definitely a good kind of exhausted

 

[mnmrmustard]

Hi there Mike!! The kids were looking so tired by the time you made it to the Rain Forest Cafe. But, that is a good tired.

Hey Michele You got it, a "I've had a good dose of Disney Fun" tired

YAY, u came back

Firework pics are great. That show looks great


Kids do look exhausted, but definitely a good kind of exhausted

Yup, I didn't drop completely off of the face of the earth

The show was spectacular, a must see in my book. I can tell you we all slept well after that day/night. If you're not exhausted by the end of a Disney trip you're not doing it right


I'm getting my pics organized and will probably post the last day this weekend. I'm happy and sad to be finally wrapping it up.

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

I was *just* asking on the lifer's thread if anyone had seen you lately! Glad to see you back and posting again!

Your fireworks pics were fantastic! I love the shots with the person with the mickey ears on in the foreground!

 

[englishrose47]

Subbing will come back and follow the links !!!

 

[mermaid764]

I was so excited when I saw you'd posted another update. I've loved both your trip reports and it sounds like u guys had a great vacation. I love the pictures of the waterfalls at night...staying on property must have been an awesome experience.

 

[mnmrmustard]

I was *just* asking on the lifer's thread if anyone had seen you lately! Glad to see you back and posting again!

Your fireworks pics were fantastic! I love the shots with the person with the mickey ears on in the foreground!

It is another busy time at work so forum time has been very limited, but i'm still trying to keep up here and there ;-]

And thank you for pointing out the fireworks pic with the mickey ears hilighted - I hadn't even noticed it lol

Subbing will come back and follow the links !!!

Yay, thank you for stopping by. I'm finally getting this thing wrapped up!

I was so excited when I saw you'd posted another update. I've loved both your trip reports and it sounds like u guys had a great vacation. I love the pictures of the waterfalls at night...staying on property must have been an awesome experience.

Oh, thank you very much :-] It always brings a smile to hear people are enjoying my TRs. It was a wonderful vacation for sure and it of course makes me want to go back that much more ...hehehe

And thank you for the compliment on the waterfall pictures, they were very beautiful and serene, watching the changing colors while listening to the falling water.

Being on property was a wonderful experience, and one I hope we can repeat. All of the attention to detail they put into the properties really adds to the experience. Just have to see if we can afford it again as we start contemplations for our next adventure!

 

[mnmrmustard]

After our late night of fireworks and Rainforest fun we slept in as long as we could. Our flight didn't leave LAX until after 1pm so we got up around 9am. We had lots of goodies left over in the fridge/cabinet from Vons so we had a little mini-feast while we slowly started packing.

Roxy was nice enough to give me a neck rub (while Bean hammed it up)

Kyra meanwhile was avoiding packing by playing her iPod Touch

I was going downstairs and got some coffee for us and stopped to take some last pics of our great view

As I strolled around I took in some more of the great Disney art they have on display throughout the hotel

We drank our coffee and finished packing everything and made the “long walk” out of the hotel. We placed our bags at the ME pickup spot and then the kids went over to say “goodbye” to Mickey

Bean looked comfy

All too soon our bus came around the bend

The bus was very sparsely occupied so we spread out and settled in. The kids were still pretty tired and either hibernated

Or were lost in their thoughts like Kris

He took a pic of me …and me and Bean

And then snapped one of Roxy

The camera was put away and we were dropped off back at LAX. The trip back was uneventful with all of us snoozing off and on. We returned to a cloudy day in Oregon, retrieved out luggage and loaded up the rig. In a bit over a half hour we were home and braced to deal with the post-Disney blues – Wheeee!

Next Up, Final Thoughts on our Halloween Adventure!

 

[DizNee Luver]

Leaving DL is the worst feeling ever!!! Even on the tired faces, you could see they really didn't want to go!!!

 

[kaoden39]

I love the pictures. They are kind of bitter sweet though.

 

[Trentmom]

The end of report is always so sad


But it sounds like you all had such a great time

Can t wait to hear about your final thoughts


Love the art work pictures in the hotel

 

[lovebuzzandwoody]

Well Mike, I hope that even though you dealt with the sickie ickies, you look back on this trip fondly. It seems like you had a great time in spite of all of that. Thank you for sharing it with us! It's been fun!

Looking forward to your final thoughts.